rfmcdonald | Entries tagged with in memoriam

One year ago, and still so missed.

Shakespeare, cradled and in a cone (alternate take) #toronto #dovercourtvillage #shakespeare #cats #catsofinstagram #blue #cone #inmemoriam

Towards the Earlscourt war memorial #toronto #earlscourt #corsoitalia #prospectcemetery #firstworldwar #ww1 #memorial #inmemoriam

Relic, six months later #toronto #dovercourtvillage #shakespeare #claw #caturday #inmemoriam

Shakespeare, framed, from Jim #toronto #shakespeare #cats #catsofinstagram #inmemoriam #photo #frame #framedphoto

Shakespeare passed, peacefully and quickly, at 7:20 pm at the Bloorcourt Veterinary Clinic.

I was the better for him, and I think he was the better for me. I began to miss him the moment he passed, and the world around me somehow no longer seems to fit the way it should.

Still: Shakespeare had a good death, at the end of a good day spent mostly at home in comfort with people who loved and cared for him, and he had a better life. I would like to think I was good for him, and I know he was good for me; our voyage together from September 2008 on is one I would repeat.

(One major exception to this: I would make sure this time to expose him to Caitians, including M'Ress, at an earlier date. Positive role models matter.)

I grieve him, but I celebrate his life.

I am very deeply moved by the way that you have responded, celebrating with me his life in the past and supporting me and him in this hard time. The staff at the Clinic helped make this terrible thing bearable. I would also like to thank particularly Jim for supporting me at the Clinic, and Paul for managing today's costs, across the Atlantic even. There are so many others who helped, in private chat and comments, that I fear the SHIFT-2 combination on my laptop keyboard would give out. I am grateful to you all.

I will be thinking of a way to appropriately commemorate his life. More info will come later.

Even after this sad day, I consider myself lucky. Thank you all.

I was lucky.

blogTO reports that Toronto has been testing Eglinton Crosstown trains, here.

What TTC routes might be changed by the Eglinton Crosstown? A map illustrates, over at blogTO.

The new tower proposed for 888 Dupont, at Ossington, will even include a vertical farm. blogTO reports.

Venerable Agincourt Mall is going to be a new condo development. blogTO reports.

Is co-ownership actually the only way most people in Toronto will end up owning a home? blogTO considers.

Residential tenants in a Leslieville building who complained about their landlord may end up getting evicted from a building never zoned for residents. CBC reports.

The City of Toronto has taken over the deserted shopping arcade at Queen Street West and John. CBC reports.

Katrina Onstad at Toronto Life tells the story of Katharine Mulherin, the Queen Street West gallery owner who changed her neighbourhood but was broken by gentrification.

The bar Tequila Bookworm is closing, displaced by rising rents. NOW Toronto reports.

NOW Toronto interviews night mayor Michael Thompson, here.

Steve Munro considers the TTC's express bus services, here.

Terra Lumina, the nighttime cultural event at the Toronto Zoo, looks fantastic in these photos over at Toronto Life.

Oh, what the map of Toronto subways could have been if only we planned! blogTO shares one.

Steve Munro examines the TTC's plan for 2020-2024, here.

The TTC may not act to decrease overcrowding on some routes. blogTO reports on why.

Transit Toronto celebrates the life of photographer John Bromney, here.

blogTO explains, with photos, the cause of the subway shutdown on Line 1 Wednesday night.

blogTO notes that the TTC wants to create five transit corridor for buses, including one on Dufferin Street.

Toronto is apparently the top tech city in Canada. blogTO reports.

John Lorinc at Spacing considers what affordable housing actually is, especially in the context of real-world constraints less generous than often imagined.

The displaced residents of Gosford have seen nothing from their apartment block's owners about housing options. Global News reports.

The TTC plans to have even more subway closures in 2020 than in 2019. Global News reports.

Architectuul looks at the Portuguese architectural cooperative Ateliermob, here.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at how white dwarf WD J091405.30+191412.25 is literally vapourizing a planet in close orbit.

Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog explains
Centauri Dreams looks at the slowing of the solar wind far from the Sun.

John Holbo at Crooked Timber considers the gap between ideals and actuals in the context of conspiracies and politics.

The Dragon's Tales reports on how the ESA is trying to solve a problem with the parachutes of the ExoMars probe.

Far Outliers reports on what Harry Truman thought about politicians.

Gizmodo reports on a new method for identifying potential Earth-like worlds.

io9 pays tribute to legendary writer, of Star Trek and much else, D.C. Fontana.

The Island Review reports on the football team of the Chagos Islands.

Joe. My. God. reports that gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy will compete for the United Kingdom in 2020.

JSTOR Daily looks at how early English imperialists saw America and empire through the lens of Ireland.

Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money does not like Pete Buttigieg.

The LRB Blog looks at the London Bridge terrorist attack.

The Map Room Blog shares a map of Prince William Sound, in Alaska, that is already out of date because of global warming.

Marginal Revolution questions if Cuba, in the Philippines, is the most typical city in the world.

The NYR Daily looks at gun violence among Arab Israelis.

The Planetary Society Blog considers what needs to be researched next on Mars.

Roads and Kingdoms tells the story of Sister Gracy, a Salesian nun at work in South Sudan.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting continued population growth expected in much of Europe, and the impact of this growth on the environment.

Strange Maps shares a map of fried chicken restaurants in London.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why a 70 solar mass black hole is not unexpected.

John Scalzi at Whatever gives his further thoughts on the Pixel 4.

Window on Eurasia notes that, last year, 37 thousand Russians died of HIV/AIDS.

Arnold Zwicky starts from a consideration of the 1948 film Kind Hearts and Coronets.

NOW Toronto reports on the long-time independent weekly's sale to a venture capital firm, here.

The Yonge-Eglinton Centre now hosts a venue where people can nap in peace. Toronto Life has photos, here.

The family of North York van attack victim Anne-Marie D'Amico hopes to raise one million dollars for a women's shelter. The National Post reports.

Toronto Community Housing, after a terrible accident, has banned its tenants from having window air conditioners. Global News reports.
blogTO reports on the ridiculous heights to which surge pricing took ride fares on Uber and Lyft during yesterday morning's shutdown.

blogTO notes that the Ontario government has provided funding to study the idea of extension of the Eglinton Crosstown west to Pearson Airport.

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait shares a stunning photo taken by a friend of the Pleiades star cluster.

The Buzz, at the Toronto Public Library, shares a collection of books suitable for World Vegan Month, here.

Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber considers, with an eye towards China and the Uighurs, how panopticon attempts can stray badly on account of--among other things--false assumptions.

Gizmodo considers how antimatter could end up providing interesting information about the unseen universe.

Joe. My. God. reports from New York City, where new HIV cases are dropping sharply on account of PrEP.

JSTOR Daily shares a vintage early review of Darwin's Origin of Species.

Language Hat examines the origins of the semicolon, in Venice in 1494.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money shares a critical report of the new Jill Lepore book These Truths.

The LRB Blog reports from the Museum of Corruption in Kyiv, devoted to the corruption of the ancient regime in Ukraine.

Marginal Revolution shares a new history of the Lakota.

The NYR Daily looks at the photography of Duane Michals.

The Russian Demographics Blog looks at population trends in Russia, still below 1991 totals in current frontiers.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why some of the lightest elements, like lithium, are so rare.

Window on Eurasia shares the opinion of a Russian historian that Eastern Europe is back as a geopolitical zone.

Arnold Zwicky considers Jacques Transue in the light of other pop culture figures and trends.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait observes that a team may have discovered the elusive neutron star produced by Supernova 1987A, hidden behind a cloud of dust.

Chris Bertram at Crooked Timber shares a photo he made via the time-consuming 19th century wet-plate collodion method.

Drew Ex Machina's Andrew LePage looks at the Apollo 12 visit to the Surveyor 3 site to, among other things, see what it might suggest about future space archeology.

Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the story of rural poverty facing a family in Waverly, Ohio, observing how it is a systemic issue.

George Dvorsky at Gizmodo looks at how Mars' Jezero crater seems to have had a past relatively friendly to life, good for the next NASA rover.

Joe. My. God. reports on the latest ignorance displayed by Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter, this time regarding HIV.

JSTOR Daily looks at how Climategate was used to undermine popular opinion on climate change.

Language Hat links to an article explaining why so many works of classical literature were lost, among other things not making it onto school curricula.

Language Log shares a photo of a Muji eraser with an odd English label.

Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money suggests Pete Buttigieg faces a campaign-limiting ceiling to his support among Democrats.

The LRB Blog argues that Macron's blocking of EU membership possibilities for the western Balkans is a terrible mistake.

The Map Room Blog shares a map depicting regional variations in Canada towards anthropogenic climate change. Despite data issues, the overall trend of oil-producing regions being skeptical is clear.

Marginal Revolution links to a paper examining the slowing pace of labour mobility in the US, suggesting that home attachment is a key factor.

Frederic Wehrey at the NYR Daily tells the story of Knud Holmboe, a Danish journalist who came to learn about the Arab world working against Italy in Libya.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why thermodynamics does not explain our perception of time.

Understanding Society's Dan Little looks at Electronic Health Records and how they can lead to medical mistakes.

Whatever's John Scalzi shares a remarkable photo of the night sky he took using the astrophotography mode on his Pixel 4 phone.

Window on Eurasia shares an opinion that the Intermarium countries, between Germany and Russia, can no longer count on the US and need to organize in their self-defense.

Arnold Zwicky shares a photo of his handsome late partner Jacques Transue, taken as a college student.

Renovating the Oratoire St. Joseph will surely be costly. CTV News reports.

CBC Montreal looks back to when the Montreal Expos seemed like they might not be bought.

Le Devoir notes how, in Québec, the Liberals are concentrated on the islands of Montreal and in Laval, in their fortress.

An old Montreal metro car has been repurposed as a hangout for Polytechnique students. CBC reports
CBC Montreal reports on the proposal of Matt McLauchlin to name a plaza at Frontenac metro station after murdered activist Joe Rose. I like the idea.

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".

Adam Fish at anthro{dendum} compares different sorts of public bathing around the world, from Native America to Norden to Japan.

Charlie Stross at Antipope is unimpressed by the person writing the script for our timeline.

Architectuul reports on an architectural conference in Lisbon.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares stunning photos of the eruption of the Raikoke volcano in Kamchatka.

Centauri Dreams looks at what the Voyager spacecraft have returned about the edge of the solar system.

John Quiggin at Crooked Timber takes issue with the idea of bipartisanship if it means compromising on reality, allegorically.

The Crux counts the number of people who have died in outer space.

D-Brief notes that the Andromeda Galaxy has swallowed up multiple dwarf galaxies over the eons.

Dead Things notes the identification of the first raptor species from Southeast Asia, Siamraptor suwati.

The Dragon's Tales notes a paper tracing the origins of interstellar comet 2/Borisov from the general area of Kruger 60.

Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about the privilege allowing people access to affordable dental care.

Gizmodo tells how Alexei Leonov survived the first spacewalk.

io9 looks at the remarkable new status quo for the X-Men created by Jonathan Hickman.

Selma Franssen at the Island Review writes about the threats facing the seabirds of the Shetlands.

JSTOR Daily looks at what led Richard Nixon to make so many breaks from the American consensus on China in the Cold War.

Language Log notes an undergraduate course at Yale using the Voynich Manuscript as an aid in the study of language.

Abigail Nussbaum at Lawyers, Guns and Money explains her recent experience of the socialized health care system of Israel for Americans.

The LRB Blog looks at how badly the Fukuyama prediction of an end to history has aged.

The Map Room Blog shares a few maps of the new Ottawa LRT route.

Marginal Revolution notes a paper establishing a link between Chinese industries undermining their counterparts in Mexico and Mexican social ills including crime.

Sean Marshall reports from Ottawa about what the Confederation Line looks like.

Adam Shatz at the NYR Daily looks at the power of improvisation in music.

Roads and Kingdoms looks at South Williamsburg Jewish deli Gottlieb's.

Drew Rowsome reviews the new Patti Smith book, Year of the Monkey.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper looking as the factors leading into transnational movements.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers the question of the direction(s) in which order in the universe was generated.

Window on Eurasia shares a report noting the very minor flows of migration from China to Russia.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell looks at the politics in the British riding of Keighley.

Arnold Zwicky looks at some penguin socks.

Citizen Science Salon highlights Australian Michelle Neil, here.

Ingrid Robeyns argues at Crooked Timber that the idea of punitive taxation of the superrich is hardly blasphemous.

The Crux looks at the ongoing debate over the age of the rings of Saturn.

io9 notes the sad death of Aron Eisenberg, the actor who brought the character of Nog to life on DS9.

JSTOR Daily shares a debate on the ego and the id, eighty years later.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how Mitch McConnell may have started the movement of Elizabeth Warren towards the US presidency.

The Map Room Blog takes a look at the credible and consistent mapping of Star Wars' galaxy.

The NYR Daily looks at Springsteen at 70 as a performer.

Peter Rukavina shares a photo of a New England forest in fall.

The Volokh Conspiracy notes a sticker that straddles the line between anti-Muslim sentiment and misogyny, trying to force people to choose.

Window on Eurasia notes the strong anti-Russian sentiment prevailing in once-independent Tuva.

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.

La Presse notes the restoration of the old Archambault sign to its location at Sainte-Catherine and Berri. (I am reminded of the Sam the Record Man sign in Toronto.)

HuffPostQuebec notes that some of the strings of balls from 18 nuances de gai are up for sale.

Expelling Hong Kong activists from the Montréal pride parade should not have been done. CBC Montreal reports.

Camillien-Houde Way, on Mount Royal, will become more difficult for cyclists with the removal of a traffic light. CTV reports.

Les Forges de Montréal, heritage to the city's blacksmithing tradition, has been saved. Global News reports.

Historian Desmond Morton, of McGill, has died. CBC Montreal reports.

The City of Montréal is trying to fight against food insecurity. CBC Montreal U>reports.

Craig Desson at CBC Montreal reports on the lasting legacy of Moshe Safdie and Habitat 67, and the replication of this prefabricated concrete model in rising Asia.

Actions of clients are the leading causes of delays on the Metro. CBC Montreal reports.

Author Peter Watts bids farewell to his noble companion cat, Minion.

Narcity notes that Toronto Animal Services is offering cats (and dogs) at a discount.

An Alberta organization aiming to rehouse cats from older owners has found itself overwhelmed. CBC reports.

A parasite spread by housecats, Smithsonian reports, is responsible for mass deaths in sea lion colonies in California.

The suffering of the stray cats of Marrakech, Morocco, prone to all sorts of illness and cruelty, sounds terrible. Morocco World News has it.

Centauri Dreams considers the recent study of near-Earth asteroid 1999 KW4, looking at it from the perspective of defending the Earth and building a civilization in space.

Ingrid Robeyns at Crooked Timber continues a debate on universal basic income.

The Dragon's Tales considers if India does need its own military space force.

JSTOR Daily looks at how foster care in the United States (Canada, too, I'd add) was also synonymous with sending children off as unpaid farm labourers.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money shares a proposal, linking immigration to high-income countries to the idea of immigration as reparation for colonialism.

The LRB Blog considers the ever-growing presence of the dead on networks like Facebook.

Muhammad Idrees Ahmad at the NYR Daily looks at how Bellingcat and other online agencies have transformed investigative journalism.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares a speech by the head of the Bank of Japan talking about the interactions of demographic change and economic growth.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes the mystery behind the great mass of early black hole J1342+0928.

Strange Company looks at the unsolved Christmas 1928 disappearance of young Melvin Horst from Orrville, Ohio. What happened?

Window on Eurasia notes that Uzbekistan is moving the Latin script for Uzbek into closer conformity with its Turkish model.

Architectuul notes the recent death of I.M. Pei.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes what, exactly, rubble-pile asteroids are.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes about definitions of home.

Centauri Dreams considers white dwarf planets.

The Crux notes how ultra-processed foods are liked closely to weight gain.

D-Brief observes that a thin layer of insulating ice might be saving the subsurface oceans of Pluto from freezing out.

Bruce Dorminey notes the critical role played by Apollo 10 in getting NASA ready for the Moon landings.

The Dragon's Tales notes the American government's expectation that China will seek to set up its own global network of military bases.

Andrew LePage at Drew Ex Machina reports on the Soviet Union's Venera 5 and 6 missions to Venus.

Far Outliers looks at the visit of U.S. Grant to Japan and China.

Gizmodo notes a recent analysis of Neanderthal teeth suggesting that they split with Homo sapiens at a date substantially earlier than commonly believed.

io9 notes the sheer scale of the Jonathan Hickman reboots for the X-Men comics of Marvel.

Joe. My. God. shares the argument of Ted Cruz that people should stop making fun of his "space pirate" suggestion.I am inclined to think Cruz more right than not, actually.

JSTOR Daily notes the wave of anti-black violence that hit the United States in 1919, often driven by returned veterans.

Language Hat shares a recognizable complaint, written in ancient Akkadian, of bad customers.

Language Log shares a report of a village in Brittany seeking people to decipher a mysterious etching.

This Scott Lemieux report at Lawyers, Guns and Money about how British conservatives received Ben Shapiro is a must-read summary.

Benjamin Markovits at the LRB Blog shares the reasons why he left his immigrant-heavy basketball team in Germany.

Marginal Revolution looks at one effort in Brazil to separate people from their street gangs.

The NYR Daily looks at how ISIS, deprived of its proto-state, has managed to thrive as a decentralized network.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw tells of his experiences and perceptions of his native region of New England, in southeastern Australia.

The Planetary Society Blog notes how the Chang'e 4 rover may have found lunar mantle on the surface of the Moon.

The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer notes that while Argentine president Mauricio Macri is polling badly, his opponents are not polling well.

Roads and Kingdoms shares a list of things to do in see in the Peru capital of Lima.

The Signal examines how the Library of Congress engages in photodocumentation.

Van Waffle at the Speed River Journal explains how he is helping native insects by planting native plants in his garden.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes how scientific illiteracy should never be seen as cool.

Towleroad notes the questions of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as to why Truvada costs so much in the United States.

Window on Eurasia notes how family structures in the North Caucasus are at once modernizing and becoming more conservative.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell notes how the distribution of US carriers and their fleets at present does not support the idea of a planned impending war with Iran.

Arnold Zwicky examines the tent caterpillar of California.

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A Bit More Detail

Assorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottings

Entries tagged with in memoriam

[CAT] Shakespeare, cradled and in a cone (alternate take)

[PHOTO] Towards the Earlscourt war memorial, Prospect Cemetery

[CAT] Relic, six months later

[CAT] Shakespeare, framed, from Jim

[CAT] On Shakespeare

[BLOG] Fifteen Toronto links

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links

[BLOG] Some Friday links

[URBAN NOTE] Six Toronto links

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[BLOG] Some Monday links

[URBAN NOTE] Five Montréal links

[BLOG] Some Friday links

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

[PHOTO] Graeme Gibson, Eleven Canadian Novelists

[URBAN NOTE] Ten Montréal links

[CAT] Five links about cats: Peter Watts and Minion, Toronto, Alberta, sea lions, Marrakech