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Friday afternoon, the clouds were gathering to the north of the famed intersection at the heart of the gaybourhood.
I visited Seaton Village this afternoon to see a friend, and walked around the neighbourhood even as the first snow of the season had begun melting. The leaves, dislodged by earlier storms, were everywhere.
- 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.
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[BLOG] Some Thursday links
Jun. 13th, 2019 04:44 pm- Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait looks at Abell 30, a star that has been reborn in the long process of dying.
- Centauri Dreams uses the impending launch of LightSail 2 to discuss solar sails in science fiction.
- John Quiggin at Crooked Timber, as part of a series of the fragility of globalization, considers if migration flows can be reversed. (He concludes it unlikely.)
- The Crux considers if the record rain in the Midwest (Ontario, too, I would add) is a consequence of climate change.
- D-Brief notes that the failure of people around the world to eat enough fruits and vegetables may be responsible for millions of premature dead.
- Dangerous Minds introduces readers to gender-bending Italian music superstar Renato Zero.
- Dead Things notes how genetic examinations have revealed the antiquity of many grapevines still used for wine.
- Gizmodo notes that the ocean beneath the icy crust of Europa may contain simple salt.
- io9 tries to determine the nature of the many twisted timelines of the X-Men movie universe of Fox.
- JSTOR Daily observes that the Stonewall Riots were hardly the beginning of the gay rights movement in the US.
- Language Log looks at the mixed scripts on a bookstore sign in Beijing.
- Dave Brockington at Lawyers, Guns, and Money argues that Jeremy Corbyn has a very strong hold on his loyal followers, perhaps even to the point of irrationality.
- Marginal Revolution observes that people who create public genetic profiles for themselves also undo privacy for their entire biological family.
- Sean Marshall at Marshall's Musings shares a photo of a very high-numbered street address, 986039 Oxford-Perth Road in Punkeydoodle's Corners.
- The NYR Daily examines the origins of the wealth of Lehman Brothers in the exploitation of slavery.
- The Planetary Society Blog shares a panorama-style photo of the Apollo 11 Little West Crater on the Moon.
- Drew Rowsome notes that classic documentary Paris Is Burning has gotten a makeover and is now playing at TIFF.
- Peter Rukavina, writing from a trip to Halifax, notes the convenience of the Eduroam procedures allowing users of one Maritime university computer network to log onto another member university's network.
- Dylan Reid at Spacing considers how municipal self-government might be best embedded in the constitution of Canada.
- The Speed River Journal's Van Waffle pays tribute to the wildflower Speedwell, a name he remembers from Watership Down.
- Strange Maps shares a crowdsourced map depicting which areas of Europe are best (and worst) for hitchhikers.
- Window on Eurasia notes the distribution of native speakers of Russian, with Israel emerging as more Russophone than some post-Soviet states.
Tags:
- agriculture,
- astronomy,
- blogs,
- canada,
- chinese language,
- cities,
- clash of ideologies,
- comics,
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- democracy,
- demographics,
- environment,
- europe,
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- former soviet union,
- genetics,
- glbt issues,
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- israel,
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- links,
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- migration,
- moon,
- oddities,
- ontario,
- photos,
- popular music,
- russian language,
- science fiction,
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- space science,
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- united kingdom,
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- weather
- Jamie Bradburn looks back at vintage coverage in the Toronto press from 1952 about some fortunate raccoons.
- blogTO notes that this weekend will seek peak bloom in the cherry blossoms of High Park.
- Edward Brown at Spacing writes about the decades-long struggle to get dog parks accepted in Toronto.
- CBC Toronto notes controversy in Etobicoke surrounding a local brewery's decision to process medical marijuana on site.
- This National Post article by Sadaf Ahsan looks at how now-defunct Queen Video contributed hugely to pop culture in Toronto.
[BLOG] Some Friday links
May. 10th, 2019 02:36 pm- Bad Astronomy identifies the most distant globular cluster known to exist around the Milky Way Galaxy, PSO J174.0675-10.8774 some 470 thousand light-years away.
- Centauri Dreams looks at the strange ring of the Kuiper Belt dwarf planet Haumea.
- Crooked Timber looks at an ill-constructed biography of Eric Hobsbawm.
- D-Brief notes an experiment that proves antimatter obeys the same laws of quantum mechanics as regular matter, at least insofar as the double-slit experiment is concerned.
- Earther notes that life in Antarctica depends critically on the presence of penguin feces.
- Imageo looks at awesome satellite imagery of spring storms in North America.
- The Island Review interviews Irene de la Torre, a translator born on the Spanish island of Mallorca, about her experiences and thoughts on her insular experiences.
- Joe. My. God. notes a new deal between Gilead Pharmaceuticals and the American government to make low-cost PrEP available to two hundred thousand people.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the many ways in which The Great Gatsby reflects the norms of the Jazz Age.
- Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money is rightly critical of the Sam Harris suggestion that white supremacism is not an ideology of special concern, being only a fringe belief.
- Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution solicits questions for an upcoming interview with demographer of religion Eric Kaufmann.
- Russell Darnley at Maximos62 shares cute video of otters frolicking on the Singapore River.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel asks when the universe became transparent to light.
- Arnold Zwicky shares photos of his blooming flower gardens.
Tags:
- antarctica,
- astronomy,
- birds,
- blogs,
- california,
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- video,
- weather
The sky that I could see above me at Yonge and Eglinton Saturday afternoon was the most perfect blue I could imagine.
- The Daily Hive Toronto notes that Toronto is definitely seeing more snow than normal this winter.
- Urban Toronto notes that different levels of government are seeking public input into what to do with Ontario Place.
- Richard Longley writes at NOW Toronto about the history and heritage of the now-demolish Davisville Public School.
- This Canadian Architect article is an interview with architect Karim Khalifa, involved with Sidewalk Labs.
- CBC reports on the many factors leading to unchecked fare evasion on the TTC.
- Ryan Porter writes for the Canadian Press about how the booming Toronto film and television industry is facing a lack of studio space.
- Edward Keenan writes at the Toronto Star about how increased property taxes are a perfectly workable solution to the revenue problems of Toronto.
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- Netflix is opening up a new production hub in Toronto, creating as many as two thousand extra jobs. CBC reports.
- The inquiry into a policeman charged with unfairly dismissing a 2016 report of an attempted choking by Bruce McArthur continues. The National Post reports.
- Is there a possibility that Downsview Park might undergo a renaissance as a hub of aerospace industry? CBC reports.
- CBC Toronto reports on this year's iteration of Winter Stations, this one based around the theme of migration.
- Freezing rain is expected for Wednesday night, contributing to a winter that so far as been quite full of precipitation of all kinds. CBC reports.
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- Yesterday saw record-breaking snowfall in Toronto, with more than 25 centimetres of snow, and today saw cold. CityNews reports.
- That Bruce McArthur has pled guilty to the eight charges of first-degree murder against him, avoiding a trial, is a minor blessing. CBC reports.
- The homeless people living under the Gardiner are apparently not facing imminent risk of eviction from their encampment. The Toronto Star reports.
- blogTO shares this map showing home and condo prices near each of the stops of the TTC.
- Ricardo Tranjan at NOW Toronto makes a point that, especially after the costly privatization of Highway 407, any transformation of the TTC must need to be approved by the people of Toronto.
- Toronto has been intensely cold this weekend past, continuing today. I can say, from my fortunate position, that it has at least been beautiful, bright blue skies and clean white snow. CBC reports.
- Transit Toronto examines the press reports about plans for accelerating Downtown Relief Line construction.
- CBC Toronto reports on how parents in Regent Park find local community rec programs are being overwhelmed by non-residents, people from other neighbourhoods.
- Aparita Bhandari at The Discourse writes about problems with the Scarborough Health Network.
- CBC interviews TTC users in Scarborough to see what they would want from the TTC. Do they even want a subway, and why?
- Jennifer Pagliaro at the Toronto Star seems skeptical of the idea that land sales above the Scarborough subway extension could provide a substantial contribution to funding, given construction patterns and land prices.
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- Vice's Motherboard reports on how we do not understand the storms of the Anthropocene era, fueled by climate change.
- Vice suggests that the very sharp and continuing fall in the price of solar power might well allow the Earth to escape ecological ruin, by providing energy alternatives.
- The Guardian reports on the prediction of Stephen Hawking that technological advances will lead to the emergence of a race of superhumans that might well destroy--at least, outcompete--traditional humanity.
- Over at Tor, James Nicoll recently contributed an essay arguing that technological challenges and the lack of incentive mean that the human colonization of space is not going to happen for a good while yet.
- Universe Today highlights a new paper suggesting that panspermia unaided by intelligence can work on a galactic scale, even across potentially intergalactic distances.
The strength of this early evening's rain in the ambient environment of bright light lent a weird hyperrealism to the scene as I left work today, a certain quality to the light that I have usually seen only in photoshopped images.
- Matt Elliott at CBC Toronto asks what, exactly, the City of Toronto is doing to prepare for the increasingly erratic and dangerous weather hitting the city.
- NOW Toronto reports on how Jodie Emery plans to start expanding her marijuana empire, and her wider influence, after opening a new café in Kensington Market.
- This NOW Toronto article reporting on some of the restaurants of Little Jamaica, along Eglinton Avenue West, is informative.
- I honestly have to say that I have taken note of Three Points Make Two Lines, down at Vaughan Road and St. Clair Avenue West. I will. Murray Whyte at the Toronto Star makes the case.
- Suresh Doss describes the Mnandi pies sold by Evis Chirowamhangu at Wychwood Barns.
- Bon Appetit has a mostly accurate listing of things to do and places to see and eat on Prince Edward Island.
- The warm dry summer means that Prince Edward Island faces a serious potato shortage with economic consequences. Global News reports.
- CBC Prince Edward Island notes that, according to Environment Canada, what counts as a heat warning on the Island might not be such in Toronto. Local conditions matter.
- A federal government probe has been opened up into immigration practices on the Island, as it is alleged that some immigrants connived with some motel owners to provide fake addresses. The National Post tells the story.
- The Guardian notes that senior citizens on the Island, with fixed incomes, are hit hard by the shortages of affordable rental housing.
