rfmcdonald | Entries tagged with books

Abandoned books now, 1076 Dupont Street #toronto #dovercourtvillage #dupontstreet #abandoned #books #bookstagram

(A day late, I know; I crashed after work yesterday.)

Antipope's Charlie Stross has a thought experiment: If you were superwealthy and guaranteed to live a long health life, how would you try to deal with the consequence of economic inequality?

Vikas Charma at Architectuul takes a look at the different factors that go into height in buildings.

Bad Astronomy notes S5-HVS1, a star flung out of the Milky Way Galaxy by Sagittarius A* at 1755 kilometres per second.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly shares photos from two Manhattan walks of hers, taken in non-famous areas.

Centauri Dreams looks at habitability for red dwarf exoplanets. Stellar activity matters.

Maria Farrell at Crooked Timber shares words from a manifesto about data protection in the EU.

Dangerous Minds shares photos from Los Angeles punks and mods and others in the 1980s.

Bruce Dorminey notes a ESA report suggesting crew hibernation could make trips to Mars easier.

Gizmodo notes that the Hayabusa2 probe of Japan is returning from asteroid Ryugu with a sample.

Imageo shares photos of the disastrous fires in Australia from space.

Information is Beautiful reports on winners of the Information is Beautiful Awards for 2019, for good infographics.

JSTOR Daily explains how local television stations made the ironic viewing of bad movies a thing.

Kotaku reports on the last days of Kawasaki Warehouse, an arcade in Japan patterned on the demolished Walled City of Kowloon.

Language Hat notes how translation mistakes led to the star Beta Cygni gaining the Arabic name Albireo.

Language Log reports on a unique Cantonese name of a restaurant in Hong Kong.

Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money links to an analysis of his suggesting the military of India is increasingly hard-pressed to counterbalance China.

The LRB Blog notes the catastrophe of Venice.

Marginal Revolution notes a paper suggesting states would do well not to place their capitals too far away from major population centres.

Justin Petrone at North! remarks on a set of old apple preserves.

The NYR Daily looks at how the west and the east of the European Union are divided by different conceptions of national identity.

Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections reports from his town of Armidale as the smoke from the Australian wildfires surrounds all. The photos are shocking.

Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog lists some books about space suitable for children.

Drew Rowsome reviews the Canadian film music stand, inspired by the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting that, in Switzerland, parenthood does not make people happy.

The Signal notes that 1.7 million phone book pages have been scanned into the records of the Library of Congress.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains the concept of multi-messenger astronomy and why it points the way forward for studies of astrophysics.

Strange Maps looks at how a majority of students in the United States attend diverse schools, and where.

Strange Company explores the mysterious death of Marc-Antoine Calas, whose death triggered the persecution of Huguenots and resulted in the mobilization of Enlightenment figures like Voltaire against the state. What happened?

Towleroad hosts a critical, perhaps disappointed, review of the major gay play The Inheritance.

Understanding Society's Daniel Little looks at the power of individual people in political hierarchies.

Window on Eurasia shares an opinion piece noting how many threats to the Russian language have come from its association with unpopular actions by Russia.

Arnold Zwicky explores queens as various as Elizabeth I and Adore Delano.

The novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is available on bookshelves again, this time as a handsome trade paperback.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 49th Anniversary Edition #toronto #books #sciencefiction #startrek #sttmp #startreki #generoddenberry #alandeanfoster

The Guides Ulysse 2019 guide to Ottawa and Gatineau, the two cities of the National Capital Region, seemed a wise purchase tonight. I would be lying if I said that the new Confederation Line LRT was not making me think seriously of a visit north to the metropolis of the Ottawa Valley, but there are so many reasons for me to go north beyond the LRT, too!

Planning #books #travel #ottawa #gatineau #ottawagatineau #nationalcapitalregion #regiondelacapitalenationale #guidesulysse

Visiting the Sunday Antique Market down by St. Lawrence Market this past weekend, I considered myself fortunate to find a
1973 paperback edition of the Graeme Gibson book Eleven Canadian Novelists. I had looked forward to having a chance to reading these interviews, to see what these people were saying abut their craft. I also looked forward to reading, if I had to admit, the interviews with the authors who did not rise to prominence. Gibson's interview with Margaret Atwood, at the time of the anthology's writing his still-new partner, was also something I looked forward to reading. All this for $C 5!

Graeme Gibson, Eleven Canadian Novelists, 1973, front cover #toronto #canlit #book #canadianliterature #graemegibson #inmemoriam #elevencanadiannovelists

Graeme Gibson, Eleven Canadian Novelists, 1973, back cover #toronto #canlit #book #canadianliterature #graemegibson #inmemoriam #elevencanadiannovelists

And then came the news yesterday of Gibson's death in London. Now I really have to read this.

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.

I was surprised to run across author Jack Fritscher's semi-autobiographical 1998 novel Some Dance to Remember at the Glad Day Bookshop earlier this week on that store's used books shelves, and very happy to find it was still there yesterday for me to buy.

Jack Fritscher, Some Dance to Remember #toronto #gladdaybookshop #usedbooks #books #lgbtq #queer #sanfrancisco #jackfritscher #history

Architectuul writes about the exciting possibility of using living organisms, like fungi, as custom-designed construction materials.

Bad Astronomy looks at first-generation stars, the first stars in the universe which exploded and scattered heavy elements into the wider universe.

Caitlin Kelly writes at the Broadside Blog, as an outsider and an observer, about the American fascination with guns.

The Toronto Public Library's Buzz lists some top memoirs.

Centauri Dreams considers the vexed issue of oxygen in the oceans of Europa. There may well not be enough oxygen to sustain complex life, though perhaps life imported from Earth might be able to thrive with suitable preparation.

The Crux looks at the well-established practice, not only among humans but other animals, of using natural substances as medicines.

D-Brief looks at the NASA Dart mission, which will try to deflect the tiny moon of asteroid Didymos in an effort to test asteroid-diversion techniques.

io9 reports George R.R. Martin's belief that Gandalf could beat Dumbledore. I can buy that, actually.

JSTOR Daily takes a look at the local reactions to Woodstock.

Language Hat looks at the language in a 19th century short story by Nikolai Leskov, concerned with the difficulties of religious conversion for a people whose language does not encompass the concepts of Christianity.

Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money links to a book review of his examining the Marshall mission to Nationalist China after the Second World War.

Marginal Revolution links to survey results suggesting that, contrary to the Brexit narratives, Britons have actually been getting happier over the past two decades.

The NYR Daily reports on an exhibition of the universe of transgressive writer Kathy Acker in London.

Drew Rowsome reviews the innovative new staging of the queer Canadian classic Lilies at Buddies in Bad Times.

Towleroad reports on the progress of Pete Buttigieg.

Window on Eurasia notes that Russia and Ukraine are becoming increasingly separated by their very different approaches to their shared Soviet past.

Arnold Zwicky looks at the latest evolutions of English.

Bloor/Gladstone Library, as seen from Gladstone #toronto #bloorcourt #bloorgladstonelibrary #night #bloorstreetwest #gladstoneave #lights #latergram

If you are a subscribing reader to the New York Review of Books, read this Sue Halpern review essay on the public library.

CBC Hamilton reports on how Ontario provincial cuts will hurt many libraries around Hamilton, especially rural ones.

Many libraries, in the area of eastern Ontario Kingston and Perth, will also suffer from the cuts. Global News reports.

This CBC As It Happens interview with Dayna DeBenedet, CEO of the Dryden Public Library, looks at how the cuts will hurt already underserved communities hardest.

Jane Gerster at Global News notes how the library funding cuts will have a much larger negative economic effect than many might think.

Bad Astronomy notes a push by astronomers to enlist help for giving trans-Neptunian object 2007-OR10 a name.

Centauri Dreams reflects on M87*, the supermassive black hole at the heart of M87 recently imaged, with its implications for galactic habitability.

Crooked Timber is right to note that Kirstjen Nielsen, architect of the cruel border policies of Trump, should not be allowed to resume a normal professional life.

The Crux looks at the Event Horizon Telescope Project that imaged M87*.

D-Brief notes that one-quarter of Japanese in their 20s and 30s have remained virgins, and explains why this might be the case.

Far Outliers notes the process of the writing of U.S. Grant's acclaimed memoirs.

Mark Graham highlights a BBC documentary, one he contributed to, asking if artificial intelligence will kill global development.

Gizmodo explains why the image of black hole M87* does not look exactly like the fictional one from the scientifically-grounded Interstellar.

Hornet Stories explains the joys of Hawai'i in fall.

io9 notes that the new Deep Space Nine anniversary documentary is scheduled for a one-day theatrical release. (Will it be in Toronto?)

JSTOR Daily makes the point that mass enfranchisement is the best way to ensure security for all.

Language Hat looks at the kitabs, the books written in Afrikaans using its original Arabic script kept by Cape Malays.

Language Log notes, with examples, some of the uses of the words "black" and "evil" in contemporary China.

Lawyers, Guns and Money makes the point that having a non-octogenarian president is a good idea.

Marginal Revolution shares the thoughts of Samir Varma on the new technologies--better computers, faster travel, artificial life--that may change the world in the near future.

The NYR Daily explores the subversive fairy tales of 19th century Frenchman Édouard Laboulaye.

The Planetary Society Blog notes the sad crash of the Beresheet probe on the surface of the Moon.

Drew Rowsome engages with the body of work of out horror writer John Saul.

Peter Rukavina maps out where Islanders will be voting, and the distances they will travel, in this month's election.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel engages with the possibility that we might be alone. What next? (Myself, I think the idea of humanity as an elder race is fascinating.)

Arnold Zwicky looks at the sort of humour that involves ambiguous adverbs.

Jamie Bradburn looks at how the newspapers of Toronto in 1918 greeted the arrival of 1919.

CBC Toronto notes that the question of uploading the subway--indeed, the question of what that means--will take top priority in Toronto in 2019.

What will the homicide rate be in Toronto in 2019? The Toronto Star considers.

The raccoons of Toronto deserve to be celebrated. The Toronto Star looks at this.

Guardian Cities looks at the extent to which the unique ecologies of the Toronto ravine system are undergoing a slow-motion collapse, and considers what can be done to stop this.

The Toronto Public Library's The Buzz shared the top book picks for 2018.

D-Brief suggests that, in an era of climate change, waves of simultaneous wildfires may be the new normal in California.

The Dragon's Tales shares some news items looking at the history of the Precambrian Earth and of ancient life.

The Island Review shares some Greenland-themed poems by Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese.

JSTOR Daily looks at how the introduced Callery pear tree has become invasive in North America.

Language Log considers language as a self-regulating system.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw notes his new magpie friend. What name should he have?

The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer notes that the democracy of Mexico is in such poor shape that, even now, the democracies of Poland and Hungary despite far-right subversion are better off.

Drew Rowsome reviews the 1993 novel The Night of the Moonbow by Thomas Tryon.

The Russian Demographics Blog notes the falling fertility rates in Syria, and takes issue with one statistical claim.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes that gravitational waves are affected by gravity, and looks at what this implies for physics.

Towleroad reports that Sarah Silverman has rethought her use of the word "gay" in her comedy routines.

Vintage Space notes the evidence confirming that many--most, even--Apollo astronauts had tattoos.

Window on Eurasia notes how the boundaries of the "Russian world" continue to contract, with the status of the Russian language receding in the education and the media and the public life of neighbouring countries.

Arnold Zwicky considers which part of Europe Switzerland lies in. Is it central European, or western European?

Transit Toronto notes that GO Transit has introduced regular weekday train service to Niagara Falls.

Average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto has hit #C 2260. blogTO reports.

Revenue from the much-needed land transfer tax that supplies City of Toronto budgets is below expectations, the Toronto Star reported.

NOW Toronto shares a list of the most-borrowed books from the Toronto Public Library system in 2018.

Spacing celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Prince Edward Viaduct, also known as the Bloor Street Viaduct, arcing across the Don River.

Urban Toronto shares a drone photo of Yonge and Eglinton, here.

Jamie Bradburn takes a look at Toronto Illustrated, a 1957 b ook looking forward at the Toronto of tomorrow, here.

The Unzipped Toronto pavilion on King Street West is set to host a Christmas market. blogTO reports.
Fashion Santa, incidentally, has secured a trademark to his image and persona. blogTO reports.

The MOCCA will be getting a light therapy room to counter seasonal depression. blogTO reports.

The Buzz celebrates Esi Edugyan's winning of the Giller Prize for the second time, for her amazing novel Washington Black.

Centauri Dreams notes the unusual rings of outer-system body Chariklo.

The Crux looks at the long history of unsuccessful planet-hunting at Barnard's Star, concentrating on the disproved mid-20th century work of Peter Van De Kamp.

D-Brief notes evidence that Mars knew catastrophic floods that radically reshaped its surface.

Bruce Dorminey visits and explores Korea's ancient Cheomseongdae Observatory.

The Everyday Sociology Blog notes the death of long-time contributor Peter Kaufman.

L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing considers the things--quiet, even--that modernity can undermine before transforming into a commodity.

Imageo notes that global warming has continued this American Thanksgiving.

Joe. My. God. notes the sour grapes of the Family Research Council at the success of the moving film about "gay conversion therapy", Boy Erased.

JSTOR Daily links to a paper considering if the zeitgeist of the world is into major monuments.

Language Log considers a news report of "arsehole" geese in Australia. As a Canadian, all I can say is that geese are birds that know they are dinosaurs.

The LRB Blog reports from the scene of the recent unrecognized elections in the city of Donetsk, run by a pro-Russian regime.

The Map Room Blog reports on how Atlas Obscura is exhibiting some amazing maps produced in Dungeons and Dragons campaigns.

Marginal Revolution links to a paper noting how black teachers can help boost achievements among black students.

The New APPS Blog looks at how the political economy of our time combines with social media to atomize and fragment society.

Nicholas Lezard at the NYR Daily talks about his experience of anti-Semitism, as a non-Jew, in the United Kingdom.

Casey Dreier at the Planetary Society Blog suggests families would do better to talk about space at Thanksgiving than about politics, and shares a list of subjects.

Drew Rowsome talks about the frustrations and the entertainment involved with Bohemian Rhapsody.

Window on Eurasia notes that fifty thousand ethnic Kyrgyz are being held in the Xinjiang camps of China.

Arnold Zwicky shares some Thanksgiving holiday cartoons by Roz Chast.

Robyn Urback writes at CBC Toronto about the, sadly, unsurprising scandal at St. Michael's College School regarding the abuse and sexual assault of students.

Many of the tenants displaced by the 650 Parliament Street fire will find themselves homeless very soon, if they cannot find a way to pay for their unwanted hotel stays. CBC reports.

The CodeRedTO report on the TTC makes the point that mass transit in Toronto is vulnerable, particularly needing secure funding and more effective governance. CBC reports.

blogTO takes a look at what is next for politician and Twitter star Norm Kelly, after he lost his seat in the Toronto elections.

Spacing announces its upcoming launch of its first fiction anthology, Toronto 2033, in an event next week in the Junction.

The Buzz shared a list of recommended books, from the Toronto Public Library, looking back at the First World War.

CBC Montreal describes how the Belgian city of Mons greeted the inheritors of their Canadian liberators.

CBC reports on how the grief of one Newfoundland family at the loss of a son in the First World War spelled the doom of the entire community of Three Arms.

CBC Montreal describes how the city of Montréal greeted news of the armistice back in 1918.

Crooked Timber notes the centenary of the armistice that ended the First World War. Have we forgotten the lessons, or did we ever learn them?

L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing notes how the mechanization of the First World War set it apart from other conflicts, inspiring (for instance) Tolkien.

Global News reports on the nearly one million Muslims who served as soldiers in the First World War.

The Guardian reports on how Islander Leo Cheverie went to France to pay respects to his two great-uncles, killed in the First World War.

Lawyers, Guns and Money reports on Henry Gunther, the American who was the very last casualty of the First World War.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares a map showing the casualty rates of different European combatants in the First World War.

Adrian Phillips at Spacing Toronto uses Remembrance Day as a frame to examine monuments both permanent and temporary in Toronto.

Katie Daubs at the Toronto Star reports on the fake news that caused Toronto to prematurely celebrate the end of the First World War.

Window on Eurasia notes how many key elements of the modern world, from borders to ideologies, were created by the First World War.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes the frequency with which young red dwarf stars flare, massively, with negative implications for potential life on these stars' planets.

Centauri Dreams shares a proposal for probe expeditions to Pluto and Charon, and to the wider Kuiper belt beyond.

D-Brief explains just how elephants manage to eat with their trunks.

JSTOR Daily answers the question of just why so many American states--other subnational polities too, I bet--have straight-line borders.

Language Hat links to a recent blog post examining the very specific forms of language used by the Roman emperor Justinian.

At Lawyers, Guns and Money, Paul Campos looks at where the whole concept of "political correctness" came from, and why. (Hint: It was not anti-racists who did this.)

Geoffrey K. Pullum at Lingua Franca describes the circumstances behind his new book, _Linguistics: Why It Matters.

At the LRB Blog, Caroline Eden writes about the shipwrecks of the Black Sea, preserved for centuries or even millennia by the sea's oxygen-poor waters.

Gabrielle Bellot writes at the NYR Daily about how she refuses to be made into an invisible trans woman.

At the Speed River Journal, Van Waffle describes--with photos!--how he was lucky enough to find a wild growth of chicken of the woods, an edible bracket mushroom of the Ontario forests.

Window on Eurasia suggests that the loss of Ukraine by the Russian Orthodox Church will contribute to that church being increasingly seen as a national one, limited by borders.

blogTO shares some vintage photos of Dupont Street, here.

Toronto Life profiles the fantastic new location of Type Books in the Junction, at Dundas and Keele.

Weyni Mangesha has been appointed new director for Toronto's Soulpepper theatre. NOW Toronto reports.

The Toronto Public Library's Book Buzz notes that David Chariandy has won the 2018 Toronto Book Award with his fantastic novel Brothers.

blogTO notes a new book, Tomorrow Is Too Late, that takes a look at the Toronto punk scene of the 1980s.

blogTO highlights a fascinating new book project by Toronto writer Shari Kasman, assembling a hundred photos of the beloved Galleria Mall.

Chris Selley notes how the promise of mayoral candidate Jennifer Keesmaat to tear down the eastern Gardiner speaks directly to her progressive supporters, over at the National Post.

The Conversation hosts this well-reasoned article arguing that the City of Toronto must keep resisting the Ford government's intrusions.

Steve Munro has many questions about the idea of a takeover of the TTC by the Ontario government.

That more than three thousand people joined a lottery for less than one hundred apartments at the new Toronto Community Housing location at 110 River Street speaks to the new for affordable housing in Toronto. Global News reports.

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Page Summary

[PHOTO] Abandoned books now, 1076 Dupont Street
[BLOG] Some Friday links
[PHOTO] Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 40th Anniversary Edition
[PHOTO] Planning for Ottawa and Gatineau
[PHOTO] Graeme Gibson, Eleven Canadian Novelists
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
[PHOTO] Jack Fritscher, Some Dance to Remember
[BLOG] Some Saturday links
[URBAN NOTE] Five library links: libraries, Ontario, costs
[BLOG] Some Saturday links
[URBAN NOTE] Six Toronto links: 1918/1919, subway, homicide, raccoons, ravines, books
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: GO Transit, rent, land transfer tax, books, Viaduct
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toromto links: Y&E, Toronto Illustrated, Unzipped, Fashion Santa, MOCCA
[BLOG] Some Friday links
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: St. Michael's, 650 Parliament, TTC, Norm Kelly, Toronto 2033
[NEWS] Thirteen more links about the First World War (#ww1)
[BLOG] Some Friday links
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Dupont Street, The Junction, Soulpepper, Chariandy, punk
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Galleria Mall, Keesmaat on Gardiner, anti-Ford, TTC, housing

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A Bit More Detail

Assorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottings

Entries tagged with books

[PHOTO] Abandoned books now, 1076 Dupont Street

[BLOG] Some Friday links

[PHOTO] Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 40th Anniversary Edition

[PHOTO] Planning for Ottawa and Gatineau

[PHOTO] Graeme Gibson, Eleven Canadian Novelists

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

[PHOTO] Jack Fritscher, Some Dance to Remember

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

[URBAN NOTE] Five library links: libraries, Ontario, costs

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

[URBAN NOTE] Six Toronto links: 1918/1919, subway, homicide, raccoons, ravines, books

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: GO Transit, rent, land transfer tax, books, Viaduct

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toromto links: Y&E, Toronto Illustrated, Unzipped, Fashion Santa, MOCCA

[BLOG] Some Friday links

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: St. Michael's, 650 Parliament, TTC, Norm Kelly, Toronto 2033

[NEWS] Thirteen more links about the First World War (#ww1)

[BLOG] Some Friday links

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Dupont Street, The Junction, Soulpepper, Chariandy, punk

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Galleria Mall, Keesmaat on Gardiner, anti-Ford, TTC, housing

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February 2021

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