Category: Toronto

Empty promises, phallic symbols, indie darlings and a state of readiness

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Some issues are important to society at large and legitimately worthy of changing/swaying someone’s vote. Others are not.

.:.

Torontoist has a good piece on the CN Tower, which will only be the world’s tallest free-standing structure for a few more days or weeks.

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I don’t know why, but I feel guilty for liking Vampire Weekend. And really, I only like three songs (“Walcott”, “Campus” and “A-Punk”) but I’ve been listening to them a lot lately. Still, I feel like a bandwagon jumper.

.:.

As of tonight I have finished all my pre-work for my course. Well, 99.9% of it. ~15 minutes tomorrow night and I’m set for Sunday. I also picked up a French road map today, and bought a new shirt & tie…finally starting to feel somewhat prepared for everything.

[tags]religious school funding, february holiday, cn tower, vampire weekend, mba[/tags]

There will be no rocket science

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This is all the detail my brain can muster today:

  • The Matador (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was ok, but not great.
  • I think it’s time for The Ex (the Canadian National Exhibition, for those of you not living in Toronto) to just close up shop. It’s looking it’s age.
  • If you know use an RSS reader and you have some basic technical skill, you should really check out Yahoo Pipes. I’ve been playing around with it since it came out, but now I’m finding it useful and not just kind of cool. For example, I aggregated all my various Montreal Canadiens news sites into one feed, and I found a patched Pitchfork feed so that I don’t keep seeing the same stories over and over.
  • I hope the film festival puts more tickets on sale. The few that I have a chance to see and that look interesting are already sold out after the advanced draw.

[tags]the matador, the ex, cne, yahoo pipes, tiff07[/tags]

The air show wasn't yesterday after all

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

It was today. I tried taking a few pictures but I’m not quite skilled enough to manage a good picture of silver objects against a bright blue sky moving at hundreds of miles per hour with a point-and-shoot. I did manage to get a half-decent one of the F-22, F-16 and P-51 (that I mentioned yesterday). Click on the image to see it bigger or download the original.

By the way, BlogTO has much better pics.

[tags]canadian international air show, F-22, F-16, P-51, blogto[/tags]

"Thank you, bank robber!"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Some entertainers taking part in Buskerfest, just down the street from me. I didn’t have my camera when I walked by them earlier so I shot this when I got home.

.:.

Fatblogging check-in :

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 225.5
  • Weight this week: 224.5

I seem to be holding steady at one pound lost per week. At this point I can’t possibly get to 214 by Sep 1 (unless I go on some kind of crazy-ass weight shedding regimen to make a fight weight) but in the two weeks before I go away on course I should be around 220. The tricky part is maintaining weight while on course; we never get to use the gym anymore, and as a (near) vegetarian my meal options aren’t great so I usually end up snacking a lot more.

I really haven’t changed my eating habits too much, but I’ve noticed lately that my brain has retreated from the insanity that got me to 238 last Christmas. For example, I no longer feel the need to eat every piece of chocolate in a 10-metre radius…just some of it. Now, when I’m about to overindulge I usually hear Yoda saying “Control, control, you must learn control!” in the back of my mind. I realize that sounds geeky (and kinda dirty too) but whatever works.

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Watched Inside Man (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night. That was some gooooood movie-watchin’. Just Spike Lee enough to be a Spike Lee joint, but not too over-the-Spike-Lee-top. Good plot, good pacing, and the cast was like an all-star game. Highly recommended, if you haven’t already seen it.

[tags]buskerfest, fatblogging, inside man[/tags]

Like the ghost of Jacob Marley, but with a tail

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

This morning, as the fog and haze lifted, all the buildings seemed to be breathing strangely.

.:.

Listen, I’m all for supporting our troops, and I have no problem with a stretch of the 401 being renamed to honor them. But really, can we not come up with something a little less cheesy than Highway Of Heroes? That sounds like a fucking Hallmark movie. Please, Ontario government, I’m begging you: give the highway a name that doesn’t sound like a Valerie Bertinelli vehicle.

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My mother just sent me this email. For context: Stryder is my parents dog (a very big rough collie with a snout like an anteater), Tigger is my cat who died five years (who, for some reason, Stryder always idolized) and my mother is deathly afraid of mice and the like.

“I’m still shuddering. Someone had come for maple and we were talking in the yard when I see Stryder coming with something in his mouth. He drops it at my feet and it is a mouse! Still alive! The humans are trying to get away from him and he keeps bringing the mouse closer, trying to pick it up in his mouth. He must have had memories of his teachings from Tigger on how to catch and torture a mouse! I finally got him to drop it and come in the house. It might be playing ‘possum’ but right now it is lying belly-up. Stryder wants back outdoors but I’ll keep him here until it revives or your father comes to remove it.

I can see Tigger’s spirit watching, ‘That’s my boy!'”

I feel bad for the mouse, but I have to say, that made me smile.

[tags]401 highway, highway of heroes, collie[/tags]

Seul

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Sometimes it’s the ones you weren’t trying to take that you end up liking best. I was taking pictures of some fireworks going off over the Distillery District, et voila.

Seriously, though, I can hardly rely on this kind of serendipity next month. I need to learn to use the friggin’ camera.

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Nellie’s away camping with the girls this weekend, so I have the run of the place. I can’t enjoy it too much, really; whether she’s here or not I’d be stuck in front of the computer all weekend learning about bond duration and Basel II. Still, it’ll be nice to play Mogwai all night and sprawl across the whole bed.

[tags]fireworks, distillery district[/tags]

"Should I run?" "Yes!"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

BlogTO used one of my flickr photos as a headline picture yesterday. Seeing that was a nice way to start off the day.

.:.

Nellie, T-Bone and I saw Superbad (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night. Holy mother of god, it was funny. It was incredibly crude to the point that Jonah Hill’s character became kind of unlikable (although one of the best parts was hearing how many variations of “vagina” he could come up with) and there were too many scenes with the two cops, but those were small complaints in the face of pretty much nonstop laughter. Describing it as a cross between American Pie (minus the toilet humour) and The 40 Year Old Virgin is actually pretty accurate. If you can deal with ridiculously foul language, go see it. If you can’t, relax and then go see it.

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We had dinner and a couple of pints at Smokeless Joe’s after. I love that place. I love sitting at the bar and listening to the blues and eating green pesto pasta and chatting with the friendly staff and drinking beer that I can’t get anywhere else. I’m glad it’s closer to us…now if only it weren’t smack in the middle of clubland.

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I previously blogged about Walk Score, the site that tells you how pedestrian-friendly your home is. A friend recently brought it up again, and the scores coming out (our new condo, for example, scored only 80/100) led me to think they’d fixed their previous data issues (see the comments in my original post) so I gave it another whirl. Lo and behold, our condo scored a 95/100. I guess the data issues have been solved.

[tags]blogto, superbad, smokeless joe’s, walkscore[/tags]

I just not that into your mov…Oh hello, cast list.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

My birthday present has finally been installed: outdoor speakers. We can now listen to music on the balcony, or even watch TV with full sound. They sound really good, maybe even a little better than I expected them to sound out there. Thanks baby!

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I have no interest in Kanye West’s music, but like my friend Joe, I may just buy his new CD when it’s released next month. In fact, I might buy multiple copies. Why? ‘Cause Curtis has been runnin’ his mouth, that’s why.

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There’s a movie being adapted from the book He’s Just Not That Into You (amazon). Men have not heard of this book, but many women have, especially those (based on what I’ve heard about it) those who lack in self-esteem and/or functional synapses. I could imagine no situation in which I would watch this film…until I saw the lineup. Now I’m almost considering it: Jennifer Connelly (who would be on my all-time top five laminated list, if I had one), Drew Barrymore (umm…backup list?), Ginnifer Goodwin and now Jennifer Aniston. Madre de dios. If Scarlett Johansson or Parminder Nagra join the cast I may quit my job and just hang around outside the film set.

[UPDATE: guess I’d better write out my resignation]

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Spacing asked a very good question yesterday: why hasn’t Toronto mayor David Miller imposed — or even seriously considered — road tolls? With the city in such dire financial straits, wouldn’t a few hundred million dollars come in handy? And that’s forgetting the environmental benefits, the reduced traffic, the fewer (in theory) pedestrian/cyclist deaths, etc.

Even The Economist is asking the question. Spacing goes into Miller’s explanations for rejecting the idea, but none of them pass the sniff test, especially coming from a Harvard graduate in economics. In my opinion he’s either getting pressure not to do it, or is afraid of the pressure which would inevitably come.

[tags]sonance, outdoor speakers, kanye west, fifty cent, he’s just not that into you, jennifer connelly, drew barrymore, ginnifer goodwin, jennifer aniston, spacing magazine, david miller, economist magazine, congestion charge[/tags]