Category: Toronto

Let's all hate polar bear cubs

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I don’t think it’s any secret that I like animals. However, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m an animal activist, especially when people who describe themselves as such claim it’s better to euthanize this polar bear cub than to raise him in a zoo. Now, I don’t think animals should be in zoos in the first place, but if the cub was born in a zoo and was rejected by his mother, I can only think it would be better off experiencing a life of some kind than to be put down because it’s not living the predictable life.

If the question were whether we should be going into the wild to adopt abandoned bear cubs, I’d say no, that’s disrupting the natural cycle. But, as I said, I also don’t think we should be putting animals in zoos, so until that practice ceases I don’t think we should be euthanizing healthy zoo-born animals just because, all other things being equal, they’d die in the wild.

.:.

There’s a new crosswalk in the Annex. Why is this interesting (to me, anyway)? Because I (and many others) damn near died crossing the street there to get to the Dominion. I don’t get back up to that neighbourhood very much anymore, but at least on the few occasions when I do (like the occasional concert at Trinity/St. Paul’s, or when I want to trade some coins for cash) I won’t be muttering “This &%#$ intersection needs a crosswalk!” as I dodge Hyundais.

I expect a hallelujah from Duarte on this. Stanzi and T-Bone used to live over there too; I suspect they dodged cars there more than once. It’s like a Toronto rite of passage.

.:.

Actually, one good reason to go back to that neighbourhood: the Hot Docs documentary festival. If you live in Toronto and you haven’t been, you owe it to yourself to go. I’m bummed that we won’t really have time to see many films this year as we’re moving right in the middle of the festival. Too bad; I really want to go see the reaction to Let’s All Hate Toronto.

[tags]knut, polar bear cub, annex crosswalk, hot docs, lets all hate toronto[/tags]

They look so innocent

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

As the reality that we’re moving in six weeks (!) sets in, I’ve begun thinking about what I’ll miss in this neighbourhood.

  • The Varsity theatre Hands down the best theatre in the city. Big, comfortable, great sound, good selection (not as indie as the Cumberland, not as mainstream as the Silver Cities), super-close and hardly any kids. The lack of good theatres downtown will make this loss even more painful. link
  • Fieramosca Obviously our favourite neighbourhood-y place. They know us there, and give us shit when we let 2 months go by without visiting. We’ll have to make special trips up here just to see them…and to have the delicious food, of course. link
  • M0851 The best clothing store around, on a quiet little street off the Bloor strip. Simple, well-made, understated clothing that I won’t see on GAP-clones. link
  • Whole Foods I don’t shop there for the organic produce (well, except for raspberries). I shop there for the ready-made salads, the corn-bread that’s almost as good as my mom’s, the Green & Black’s chocolate and the delicious little pakoras. link
  • Roy’s Square Jammed into this little alley around Yonge & Bloor are three of my favourite take-out restaurants — the Salad House, the Biryani House and Ritz Caribbean — as well as my main dry cleaner (shirts only; my suits go to Dove) and a whole bunch of other restaurants and shops that I don’t visit. link
  • The Dessert Lady The cappucino cinammon cookies, the espresso brownie bites, the pies, the mousse, the truffles…actually, yeah, it’s probably better than I move away from this one. link
  • Summerhill Granted, it’s not technically in my neighbourhood, but it’s a 20-minute stroll (or 1.5 subway stops) north and once I’m living south of here it won’t really make sense to pop up there like I can now. But between the ginormous LCBO, the Rebel House, and stores like All The Best Fine Foods, I might just spend the odd Saturday up there.
  • Hot Docs Again, this festival mainly takes place a few subway stops away from the neighbourhood — around Bloor & Bathurst — but since we have no intention of not participating, we’ll miss being able to zip home from a late-night screening in 5 minutes. link
  • Nick & Ralph These two funny old European men cut my hair and keep me entertained for half an hour every month or so. I’ll miss Nick teasing me about being some freak Maritimer who doesn’t like fish. link
  • Drunk guys stumbling out of the Brass Rail at 2AM Just kidding. I will miss them like I miss plantar warts. link

.:.

While perusing Ron Shevlin’s blog this morning I clicked on this link, and proceeded to laugh my ass off. Jessica Hagy draws little graphs and Venn diagrams about life; it sounds weird, but they really are hilarious little bits of life. One of my favourites is on the right.

.:.

Die Hard reference of the day: there’s a band called Nakatomi Plaza. I haven’t even heard their music, but I’m fairly certain they’re the best band ever to pick up instruments. You don’t pick a name like that unless you own.

.:.

The Onion’s AV Club lists some of the more interesting movies coming out this year, and it looks to be a good’un. New work from David Fincher, Quentin Tarantino, the Cohn Brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ridley Scott, Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach, Francis Ford Coppola, Kimberly Peirce, Michel Gondry, Neil Jordan, David Cronenberg, Ang Lee, Danny Boyle, Robert Zemeckis and Steven Soderbergh (even if it is Ocean’s Thirteen) make 2007 look pretty promising. Plus, as they say, Spider-Man 3 and the Simpsons movie.

.:.

By the way, I just remembered that the title to my post where I talked about Me And You And Everyone We Know should have been “)) <> ((“. If you’ve seen the film you’ll understand why.

[tags]yonge and bloor, ron shevlin, indexed, jessica hagy, die hard, nakatomi plaza, onion av club, 2007 films, spider-man 3, simpsons movie[/tags]

I sprained something this morning, so kneeling will be difficult

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Dinner at Fieramosca again last night. Superduper as always, if way too much food and way too much Limoncello. Made it kind of tough to get out of bed this morning.

.:.

However, get out of bed we did and made it down to the Paramount Scotiabank theatre to see 300 (imdb | rotten tomatoes) in IMAX. A note on IMAX: it’s a great movie-going experience, but jeebus, do they ever need to get rid of the cheesy pre-film laser & sound show. Anyway, on to the main event: 300 was just slightly better than I expected it to be, and I expected it to be pretty good. This wasn’t classic, traditional cinema, but it was clearly a compelling story, and was skilfully, even artfully done.

Yes, it’s covered in blood and completely lacks nuance, but is it really any more mindless or formulaic than Music & Lyrics, which was playing across the hall? Or does it simply trade in male fantasy instead of female? In any case, the visuals of 300 — which are stunning — put it a step above most films solely in terms of craft. My biggest complaint: in a couple of scenes the “long moving scene as a female soloist sings something in latin” disease which infects so many epic movies flared up.

300 did $70 million at the box office, and broke the March opening weekend record, but it’ll fade quickly as all the fanboys would likely go in the first weekend.

.:.

After the film we decided to walk a bit and enjoy the weather, so we took the subway to Museum station and picked up a few things at Whole Foods. On the way out I checked Hero Burgers to see if they have veggie burgers; they do, and they’re quite tasty. Walked home from there, enjoying the sunshine & near-spring temperature, picking up a few things here and there. Caught up on some reading, watched the Selection Sunday show and am now trying to avoid reading another chapter of my %#@& textbook.

.:.

While Facebook’s been around for quite a while, it finally appears to be replacing MySpace as the preferred social networking site, just as MySpace replaced Friendster. Personally I find them all boring; unless you’re a teenager (or a musician, in the case of MySpace) I just don’t get the attraction. Then again I have a blog, so perhaps I just have a different strain of the disease. I guess I just find the friend-count popularity contest on those sites a little sad.

[tags]fieramosca, limoncello, 300, whole foods, hero burgers, facebook, myspace[/tags]

If I find a stick I'll put it in your mama's butt

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’ve watched two episodes of The Sarah Silverman Program. I think I’m hooked.

.:.

Earlier this week we watched Me And You And Everyone We Know (imdb | rotten tomatoes) and I’m still not sure what I think about it. It was different, and certainly interesting, but it was almost over-quirky. I don’t know if I’ll remember liking the movie so much as I’ll remember it, full stop. There was a lot about it that was memorable.

It’s also weird to see former Deadwood actors in non-Deadwood roles.

.:.

Toronto city councillor Rob Ford: superdick.

“I can’t support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.”

[via BlogTO]

[tags]sarah silverman, me and you and everyone we know, deadwood, rob ford[/tags]

I, on the other hand, do NOT want my Nancy Grace

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

A new bookstore — a real bookstore — set to open in downtown Toronto this spring.

Ben McNally Books will sell that and only that – no magazines, no CDs or DVDs, no candles or stationery and no coffee (“There’s already a Tim Hortons down the block”) – and, in most instances, they’ll be sold at full price since “I think you do a disservice to publishers if you [discount],” he said.

I think bookstores like Nicholas Hoare (McNally used to manage the Toronto location) are fantastic for browsing, but unless the store carries titles difficult to find in Indigo or online, I question the business model. Still, it’ll be almost as close to the new condo as Nicholas Hoare, so I look forward to the opening.

.:.

One of the more interesting podcasts I’ve been listening to is the San Francisco Chronicle’s “Correct Me If I’m Wrong” series, where they publish voice mails left by customers. The episode from Feb 28th made me howl…you just have to listen to it.

[tags]ben mcnally books, nicholas hoare, san francisco chronicle, correct me if im wrong[/tags]

Congestion: media & traffic

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I used to think John McCain being the American president wouldn’t be too bad, but between his continued support for the Iraq war and his recent statements about overturning Roe v. Wade, he’s become as unpalatable as the other candidates. OK, maybe not as unpalatable as Sam Brownback, but unpleasant nonetheless.

And I, like most people, am shocked to find myself agreeing with something that Newt Gingrich said:

“Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Friday said the early kickoff to the 2008 presidential race was ‘stupid’ despite a recent poll putting him in third place among Republican candidates.

‘I think the current process of spending an entire year running in order to spend an entire year running in order to get sworn in in January 2009 is stupid,’ Gingrich said at a news conference for his new book, ‘Winning the Future.'”

Amen. Or something.

.:.

Once again, the topic of a congestion charge for driving in downtown Toronto has been raised.  This time we get the hilarious input of CAA spokesperson Faye Lyons:

“In our view, this is just another tax on the already overburdened motorists.”

Absolutely. Overburdened motorists are tragic figures in today’s society, what with how they’ve been forced to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for a comfortable vehicle in which they can ride to work alone. I mean, c’mon, what do you expect them to do? Car pool? Work closer to home? Take public transit? I ask you, sir, have fascists taken over? Is that what’s happened?

Ahem.

Obviously I’m all for this idea. I do think you have to be careful about how you charge people living downtown but still have legitimate needs for a car (families, for example) but if you make the charge a flat fee — say, just over twice the price of two TTC metropasses — I think that’d be fair.

[tags]john mccain, sam brownback, newt gingrich, toronto congestion charge[/tags]

Birthday decadence, part II

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Well…so, that dinner last night was pretty amazing. Yeah, it cost a lot, but we’ve never had a dining experience like that before. Besides, Nellie only turns 31 once.

CBGB, Nellie and I arrived at Splendido first, with T-Bone joining us shortly after. From the second we arrived we knew the service would be expert in every possible sense of the word. Once we settled in and the ladies had set their purses on the padded bag stools (no, I’m not making that up) we ordered drinks: the ladies chose from the champagne trolley (no, I’m not making that up either) while GB and I each had a cocktail called a Cape Bretoner (Glen Breton whisky, maple syrup, ginger and blood orange), which I quite liked. From there the fun began. The service buzzed in and out constantly, clearing plates and placing new dishes, never bothering us except to describe the dishes and accompanying wines, pulling out chairs for the ladies and folding napkins before you’d even made it five steps from the table. Even the physical placement of the dishes was something I hadn’t seen before: perfect coordination by the three servers with one issuing hand signals to the others to ensure the timing was right. The meal took four hours, but the food was incredible, the service impeccable and the company — of course — perfect.

As it turns out, friends of ours happened to be having dinner there that night; today, thinking about it, I realize we hadn’t seen them since this time last year when they had us over for dinner. Perhaps we only congregate around food. To that end, I made plans to meet up with him for lunch soon.

Anyway, back to Splendido: they were nice enough to write down the entire menu for me (they don’t normally write out the vegetarian tasting menu since it’s prepared, according to our server, a la minute) so I can recount it for you here*:

  • 3 canapes (which they didn’t write down, so I’m kind of going on memory here): cauliflower soup, a crispy wafer with rapini and a cheese & onion tartlet
  • comfit beet carpaccio, fennel, arugula, parmagiano salad
  • shallow friend bean curd and dried soy bean, chili oil, sesame oil, coriander
  • Cookstown vegetables in a truffle broth, herbs, ovile oil
  • potato wrapped courgette carrot galette, cumin scented Hawaiian papaya, coriander yogurt
  • house made linguini in a woodland mushroom sauce
  • cheese plate: Stilton, Selles-sur-Cher goat cheese, Cru de Clocher Quebec cheddar
  • Grand Marnier Soufflé, chocolate infused whip cream, chocolate sauce
  • peanut butter & chocolate truffle

* The standard (read: meaty) tasting menu is on their website. There was an amuse bouche in there as well, which wasn’t written down…it was julienned vegetables in a nori paper wrap, but I don’t like nori paper, so I just ate the vegetables. They were tasty.

After four hours we finally wrapped up the meal and decided to go for a drink. Our server hailed us cabs; when I say hailed, I mean was standing in the middle of Spadina waving them over; needless to say his tip was well-deserved. We stopped in at Panorama, where the great view doesn’t quite make up for the cover charge (wtf?!) and overpriced drinks, before saying goodbye at the subway. We walked home, another birthday done, and by all accounts a good one. If Nellie ever wrote in her blog these days you could hear it from her. 😛

.:.

Halifax has probably set the new record for the world’s largest pub crawl. The story made me think of how it must’ve been at Pizza Corner last night; I assume it was like that scene from The Simpsons where Bart’s elephant is charging the peanut factory and the plant manager starts to give a speech about how “this is the day we’ve all been preparing for” before the elephant smashes through the wall.

.:.

Looks like the 60-story condo planned for the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor might finally go ahead. While I’m glad I won’t be around for all that construction, I’m happy the corner will finally get a facelift. That intersection deserves better.

.:.

Dumbassedness of the day: a theatre in Florida, faced with complaints about the title of a popular play, is now set to present “The Hoohah Monologues” instead.

[via Boing Boing]

[tags]spendido, panorama, halifax pub crawl, pizza corner, yonge bloor condo, hoohah monologues[/tags]

Long live the Thunder Pit

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I worked from home today, so I could see the “construction” workers milling around in the condo building site across the street. I’ve mentioned this hole before: my brother named it the Thunder Pit after some pipe bombs went off there, and I commented on how freaking long it’s taking to build. It’s now been 4.5 years since I visited the sales center, and the site is still just a hole in the ground. Oh, they make plenty of noise in there, and built pretty ramps into the pit, and weld lots of stuff…but there’s still no building there!

Our condo was sold, begun, built (all 45 floors) and is about to receive the first occupants, all in the same amount of time it’s taken these guys to square off the corners of the Thunder Pit. I feel better about our decision every time I look out my window.
[tags]bloor street neighbourhood, spire, condo construction[/tags]

56.41%

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m all stats-d out and it’s only Wednesday morning. I spent about 3 hours doing sample problems last night, and today should be pretty much the same thing, so…whee!

.:.

What the hell are Cobra Boxes?!?

.:.

This story bugs me:

A Toronto councillor has earned a powerful ally in his fight for a ban on panhandling in the city’s tourist areas.

Because where tourists come from they don’t have panhandlers? Because a tourist’s right to a beggar-free stroll from the Holiday Inn to Milestone’s trumps the beggar’s right to ask for change?

You want to make the entertainment district more tourist-friendly, Case Ootes? STOP THE MURDERS!! Also, keeping fratboys from puking on the street as they stumble out of clubs would probably help.

[tags]stats, cobra boxes, panhandlers[/tags]

"Because of this, she is not a real Seeing Eye bitch, and is also mentally deranged."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

The Onion A.V. Club sums up what’s wrong with 21st century game shows:

There’s something about Deal Or No Deal that’s more insidious than its molasses-pace and spotlit emptiness. Like 1 Vs. 100—like our culture, increasingly—it neither encourages nor rewards actual intelligence and talent. It rewards hope, self-regard, and blind persistence.

Idiocracy, here we come. Really, when you consider the success that game shows like Deal Or No Deal and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire have enjoyed recently, it’s a tribute to ABC that they’ve kept Jeopardy on the air for so long without dumbing it down.

.:.

While the story about Toronto Transit Commission chair Adam Giambrone accepting a challenge to let the public make suggestions for the TTC website revamp was in all the Toronto blogs last week, it’s finally seeped into the mainstream media. This story makes my inner geek all warm and fuzzy. Congratulations to Robert Ouellette of Reading Toronto for getting something done, and well done Adam Giambrone.

.:.

The Doha round of World Trade Organization talks may still have some life, though the clock (on President Bush’s “fast-track” authority, specifically) is ticking. Ultimately, this is a case where a lame-duck president could come in handy; if Bush were facing re-election in 2008 there’s absolutely no chance he’d cut $20 billion in farm subsidies.

.:.

The Canadiens are now mired in what can only be called a slump. They’ve lost 3 straight, partly because of the flu bug that’s floored half the team, and partly because New Jersey just has their number. The Habs need to locate their scoring touch, and soon, because the Senators and the Rangers are turning on the jets.

.:.

Last night we watched Everything Is Illuminated (imdb | rotten tomatoes), the movie adaptation of a book I read a few years back. I wondered how director Liev Schreiber would deal with the third, most fantastical storyline; it turns out he ignored it altogether. It was the right choice, if also the boring one; there was no good way to put that on the screen and still hold the other storyline(s) together, and yet that storyline was the only thing that made the book stand out from the rest of the story which had been told hundreds of times before. What remained in the film was good, but not new.
[tags]deal or no deal, 1 vs 100, who wants to be a millionaire, jeopardy, ttc, adam giambrone, robert ouellette, wto, doha round, canadiens, everything is illuminated[/tags]