rfmcdonald | Entries tagged with public art

Back alley thanks #toronto #bloorstreetwest #bloorcourt #alley #laneway #anarresapothecary #form

Urban Toronto looked at indigenous uses being proposed for the West Don Lands, here.

That Toronto has become a major hub for Shopify is a significant economic factor. Global News reports.

There will be an emergency exercise held at Union Station. Global News reports.

Transit Toronto notes the opening of a new York Regional Transit bus hub at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.

Transit Toronto shared video of a recent TTC public art project, "A Streetcar Called Toronto", here.

Venerable Toronto movie rental store Videoflicks will be closing. blogTO reports.

The Evergreen Brickworks in the Don Valley will be hosting a winter village this season. blogTO reports.

Matt Gurney wonders if the losses of votes for the Conservatives in the Greater Toronto Area will doom Andrew Scheer, over at the National Post.

Jamie Bradburn took a look at the opening of the Ontario Science Centre, here.

Spacing shares an argument for density transition zones in Toronto, here.

The Village Idiot Pub in Toronto, across Dundas from the AGO, will rebrand itself the Village Genius. Global News reports.

Queen and Coxwell will soon host some new affordable housing. Global News reports.

The closure of a flea market on Old Weston road, a year after a tragic shooting, is a shame. The Toronto Star
I am going to see at least some of the works in this year's Toronto Biennial. NOW Toronto reports.

I do hope Toronto does something with the abandoned foot court on Queen West and John. blogTO reports.

blogTO looks at the new Villiers Island set to occupy the mouth of the Don River in the Port Lands.

An Ossington laneway is going to be repainted after a botched improvement project destroyed its public art. The Toronto Star reports.

Steve Munro fisks a defense by the Toronto Board of Trade of the proposed Ontario Line, here.

Andrew Cash, sadly not elected in my riding of Davenport, writes in the Toronto Star about the importance of Toronto having active local MPs.

National Observer looks at how the City of Toronto is encouraging residents grow gardens for pollinators.

Samantha Edwards writes at NOW Toronto about how the long-closed Paradise on Bloor theatre is set to reopen in December.

blogTO looks at the Toronto of the 1950s, when Highway 2--Lake Shore and Kingston Road--was the way into the city.

Jamie Bradburn takes a look at a 1950 tourist guide to Ontario, specifically focusing on its descriptions of Toronto.

Jamie Bradburn looks at how, in the post-war era, dining at the Coxwell Kresge in-house restaurant was a thing.

blogTO notes how many in Leslieville are unhappy with the idea of the Ontario Line being built above-ground.

Samantha Edwards at NOW Toronto notes that there is going to be a Pride rally outside of Palmerston library where Meghan Murphy will be speaking.

Spacing looks at the connections between Nuit Blanche and the Toronto Biennial, for Toronto as an artistic city.

NOW Toronto shares some photos of Honest Ed's in its dying days.

Toronto Life tells the story of Peperonata Lane, a west-end laneway that took its name from a popular neighbourhood pepper-roasting event.

blogTO notes a new movie being filmed in Regent Park, here.

blogTO shares photos of the new Garrison Crossing pedestrian bridge, here.

io9 notes that Taylor Swift is co-writing a song for the new Cats movie.

Japan Times looks at a newly translated work by Taiyu Matusomoto, Cats of the Louvre.

CTV News reports that Vancouver cat cafe Catfe offers life drawing classes featuring its cats as models.

D-Brief shares a list of diseases that cats can pass on to humans, and of prevention measures.

Global News looks at the feral cats of Little Bay Islands, a Newfoundland outport community about to be abandoned. What will happen to them?

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes how a photo of the Large Magellanic Cloud makes him recognize it as an irregular spiral, not a blob.

Centauri Dreams celebrates the life of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.

John Quiggin at Crooked Timber takes issue with one particular claim about the benefits of war and empire.

The Crux looks at fatal familial insomnia, a genetic disease that kills through inflicting sleeplessness on its victims.

D-Brief looks at suggestions that magnetars are formed by the collisions of stars.

Dangerous Minds introduces readers to the fantasy art of Arthur Rackham.

Cody Delistraty considers some evidence suggesting that plants have a particular kind of intelligence.

The Dragon's Tales notes the expansion by Russia of its airbase in Hneymim, Syria.

Karen Sternheimer writes at the Everyday Sociology Blog about the critical and changing position of libraries as public spaces in our cities.

Gizmodo looks at one marvelous way scientists have found to cheat quantum mechanics.

Information is Beautiful outlines a sensible proposal to state to cultivate seaweed a as source of food and fuel.

io9 notes that, in the exciting new X-Men relaunch, immortal Moira MacTaggart is getting her own solo book.

JSTOR Daily notes how the now-defunct Thomas Cook travel agency played a role in supporting British imperialism, back in the day.

Language Log notes that the Oxford English Dictionary is citing the blog on the use of "their" as a singular.

Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers the grounds for impeaching Donald Trump.

The LRB Blog looks at the politics of Mozambique at the country approaches dangerous times.

Sean Marshall notes the southern Ontario roads that run to Paris and to London.

Neuroskeptic notes a problematic scientific study that tried to use rabbits to study the female human orgasm.

Steve Baker at The Numerati looks at a new book on journalism by veteran Peter Copeland.

The NYR Daily makes the point that depending on biomass as a green energy solution is foolish.

The Planetary Science Blog notes a 1983 letter by then-president Carl Sagan calling for a NASA mission to Saturn and Titan.

Roads and Kingdoms interviews photojournalist Eduardo Leal on his home city of Porto, particularly as transformed by tourism.

Drew Rowsome notes the book Dreamland, an examination of the early amusement park.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper considering, in broad detail, how the consequence of population aging could be mitigated in the labour market of the European Union.

Strange Company reports on a bizarre poltergeist in a British garden shed.

Window on Eurasia notes the new strength of a civic national identity in Kazakhstan, based on extensive polling.

Arnold Zwicky, surely as qualified a linguist as any, examines current verb of the American moment, "depose".

South face, northwest corner of Church and Wellesley #toronto #churchandwellesley #churchstreet #wellesleystreet #mural #rainbow

blogTO shares photos from Yorkdale Mall during its power outage Saturday.

blogTO reports that Toronto hosts, by one measurement, one of the biggest housing bubbles in the world.

The story of how a neighbourhood project painted over the Ossington Laneway, vandalizing the graffiti there, is a sad one. blogTO has it.

Judging by his filmed confession, the only chance Alek Minassian has to avoid a very lengthy prison sentence is a perhaps-unlikely insanity plea. CBC reports.

NOW Toronto reports on the climate strike protests held Friday in Toronto.

The Toronto Star reports on the mass protests held on Sunday to keep homophobic Christians from marching into Church and Wellesley.

Steve Munro reports on the statistical sleight of hand apparently used to make the TTC Bombardier streetcars of the TTC look better.

Hamilton, Ontario, now has a wall open to public street art. Global News reports.

An early immigrant to Kingston, Ontario, explains what it was like to move to this eastern Ontario hub. Global News reports.

MTL Blog notes that Montréal mayor has cancelled the construction of a condo tower because it was not including social housing.

A museum exhibit in Saskatoon is offering free HIV testing and blood donation services in the fight against stigma. Global News reports.

Ellen Mauro at CBC explains to readers the movement to make Washington D.C. into the 51st American state.

The Ottawa Citizen reports on the first week of the Confederation Line LRT.

The New Brunswick city of Moncton now has new affordable housing--20 units--for vulnerable people. Global News reports.

CityLab looks at one photographer's perspective of the New York City skyline, changed by the 9/11 attacks.

An alleyway in Calgary is being transformed by art. Global News reports.

Birth tourism might become an election issue in the British Columbia city of Richmond. Global News reports.

blogTO notes that this fall in Toronto is likely to see erratic temperature swings.

This sign on the lawn of a church on the Danforth warning off trespassers might have a defensible rationale, but it still seems off to me. The Toronto Star reports.

This rental at 51 Metcalfe Street does seem sad to me. blogTO describes it.

I rather like this No Name mural. blogTO shows it.

As argued here at the Toronto Star, the Toronto Zoo probably should also be understood as one of the key elements of Scarborough.

MacLean's reports from the GTA suburban city of Milton, a key battleground in the federal election.

Hamilton police continues to be caught up in controversy over its handling of Pride. Global News reports.

CityLab profiles new murals being created in New York City's Harlem, on 125th street, here.

Guardian Cities considers some ambitious plans for remodeling Mexico City, with vast new neighbourhoods and airports, which never came off.

Atlas Obscura looks at a notable library of books and other documents in the Yiddish language, housed out of a decrepit bus terminal in Tel Aviv.

blogTO notes that there is, for a short while, a Toronto-themed version of Monopoly available for sale.

The iconic Toronto sign in front of City Hall is set to be replaced with a more cost-effective one. The Toronto Star reports.

I like the controversial statue of a man 25 feet tall placed in front of a new condo development on St. Clair Avenue West. The Toronto Star reports.

The National Post reports in depth of the plans of Google's Sidewalk Labs to transform the Portlands.

Sean Marshall looks at how the concrete barriers put up in front of Union Station disrupt, particularly, non-car traffic there.

Yesterday at Yonge-Dundas Square, just across from its flagship store in the Atrium on Bay, MUJI Canada was sponsoring an event, encouraging passers-by to create an ema bearing their wishes for the future. Why not, I thought?

"May the way forward be clear." #toronto #yongeanddundas #yongedundassquare #mujicanada #mujiwellwishes #ema #wood #marker

The Buzz shares a TIFF reading list, here.

Centauri Dreams notes the growing sensitivity of radial velocity techniques in finding weird exoplanet HR 5183 b, here.

The Crux reports on circumgalactic gas and the death of galaxies.

Dead Things notes the import of the discovery of the oldest known Australopithecine skull.

Dangerous Minds reports on pioneering 1930s queer artist Hannah Gluckstein, also known as Gluck.

Gizmodo notes that, for an unnamed reason, DARPA needs a large secure underground testing facility for tomorrow.

JSTOR Daily looks at how Jim Crow laws affected Mexican immigrants in the early 20th century US.

Language Hat looks at a new project to study Irish texts and language over centuries.

Language Log shares some Chinglish signs from a top university in China.

Lawyers, Guns and Money shares an interview with Jeffrey Melnick suggesting Charles Manson was substantially a convenient boogeyman.

Marginal Revolution shares a paper suggesting marijuana legalization is linked to declining crime rates.

Susan Neiman at the NYR Daily tells how she began her life as a white woman in Atlanta and is ending it as a Jewish woman in Berlin.

The Planetary Society Blog looks at Hayabusa2 at Ryugu.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel celebrated the 230th anniversary of Enceladus, the Saturn moon that might harbour life.

Window on Eurasia notes how global warming is harming the rivers of Siberia, causing many to run short.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes the Elon Musk proposal to terraform Mars by dropping nuclear weapons on the planet's ice caps is a bad idea.

James Bow writes about how the introduction of faeries saved his novel The Night Girl.

Centauri Dreams looks at the storms of Jupiter.

The Crux explains the mystery of a village in Poland that has not seen the birth of a baby boy for nearly a decade.

D-Brief looks at the exoplanets of nearby red dwarf Gliese 1061.

Cody Delisraty talks of Renaissance painter Fra Angelico.

Drew Ex Machina commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune.

The Dragon's Tales shares links to some papers about the Paleolithic.

JSTOR Daily hosts an essay by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger suggesting that Internet rot might be good since it could let people start to forget the past and so move on.

Language Hat questions whether the phrase "free to all" has really fallen out of use.

Language Log takes a look about immigration to the United States and Emma Lazarus' famous poem.

Dan Nexon at Lawyers, Guns and Money takes issue with the suggestion of, among other, Henry Farrell, that we are headed away from globalization towards fortress economies. Redundancy, he suggests, will be more important.

Marginal Revolution links to a disturbing paper suggesting users of opioids use them in part for social reasons.

The NYR Daily features an exchange on a new law in Singapore seeking to govern fake news.

The Power and the Money features a guest post from Leticia Arroyo Abad looking at Argentina before the elections.

Drew Rowsome takes a look at a new play by Raymond Helkio examining the life of out boxer Mark Leduc.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers if we can test gravitational waves for wave-particle duality.

Arnold Zwicky shares photos of the many flowers of Gamble Garden, in Palo Alto.

La Presse looks at the challenges facing changing Lachine-Est, here.

The small New Brunswick town of Hillsborough may lose its only grocery store. Global News reports.

Guardian Cities looks at the vexed question of how, or if, the Northern Ireland city of Derry should celebrate its political murals.

Guardian Cities notes that Paris will soon host a substantial rooftop farm.

Tom van Laer and Elif Izberk-Bilgin at The Conversation explain why reviews of facilities in holy cities, like Mecca, tend to be so inflated.

Friday afternoon, I took myself on a leisurely walk south, down Dovercourt Road and then--above Bloor--down Ossington Avenue to Queen Street. It was a fine summer walk, taking me through an ever-changing string of neighbourhoods that is still familiar, ending with the Antikka coffee shop on Queen. The final photo was taken to the west of this, at the Lumber Loop where Queen streetcar passengers need to transfer to get to Long Branch, the towers of Humber Bay Shores always visible just beyond.