August 2006 Archives
From Toronto:
- Under the advice of outside consultant, Scarborough councillors and TTC staff agree that a subway is not the best option for replacing the aging Scarborough Rapid Transit Line.
- TTC closer to striking a deal with Bombardier to purchase new articulated subway trains on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.
- Weston residents want the restructuring of bus routes on 73 Royal York, 89 Weston Rd, 165 Weston Rd North and 96 Wilson.
- Toronto and York officials are pressuring federal conservatives to fund its share of the Spadina subway extension.
From York:
All from YRT's MyTransit bulletin.
- YRT changes its 'YRT/Viva 1system' imprint logo to a new bubbly "Y" Viva-like typeface.
- Viva rapid transit celebrates its first birthday.
- YRT to introduce online trip planning this fall.
From Mississauga:
- Use Click 'n Ride, MT's online trip planner, and enter to win an iPod Nano.
From Brampton:
If you see only one movie this year, this one would be it.
Little Miss Sunshine is a pseudo-dark comedy featuring an American dysfunctional family who must endure and support each other while they take a road-trip to California to attend the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant-- which seven-year-old Olive, the family's cutest and youngest member, hopes to win.
In the movie, each member of the family has its share of problems, but for the sake of the little Olive, they manage to set aside everything-- including the displeasure of dealing with each other-- and cram themselves in Volkswagen van for several days.
Of course, the family is encounters some serious issues as well as some silliness along the way.
A tremendously laugh out loud movie.
I don't know whether it is truly related to the movie or not, but the main theme of the story parallels a book by Roger Hargreaves. Many of you might recall the Mr Man and Miss Little book series as a child-- Mr Happy and Mr Messy are definitely the most popular.
In one of the collections, a character, Little Miss Sunshine, finds herself in a place called Miseryland. Even though she was in such a sad place, she finds herself always happy. During her adventures, she meets King of Miseryland, manages to make him laugh, and renames Miseryland to Laughterland.
During the movie, you really sense how the plots are similar, Olive's bright and lovable character enables the family to overlook its differences and manages brings the family together.
What makes the movie so great, aside from the laugh-out-loud situations, is that little Olive, like Little Miss Sunshine, is able to remarkably change the family around to the better.
You just come out of the movie feeling really good-- my body felt all happy and gooey.
Little Miss Sunshine - [imdb.com]
Little Miss Sunshine (Book) - [amazon.ca]
A pretty darn good show, methinks.
Dylan had his AGO pass this weekend, so I definitely jumped to the opportunity to see Andy Warhol. The show, Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters, showcased a small collection of his video and famous silkscreen pieces of celebrities like Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor.
There were no soup cans featured in this exhibit.
Curated by film director David Cronenberg (A History of Violence), the show, really helped to better understand Warhol and his intrigue to themes related to facial expressions, celebrities, and its odd but fitting relationships with elements of 'disaster'. What really struck a chord with me is his way of creatively communicating (whether it was intended or not) to us that everyone can be "celebrated" in some way-- just that it however might not be as glamourous as what one might think, some twisted but effective.
The feeling is weirdly comforting but also wonderfully disturbing.
Fascinatingly weird, no?
I don't divulge anymore; just go see it. The show opens until October 22.
Andy Warhol - [ago.net]
Andy Warhol - [wikipedia.org]
I have really neglected this blog for the past week-- so hopefully, you guys didn't miss my long-winded entries about nothing.
I'm currently on lunch here in the North York Central Library and I am here to announce that, because of my previous and partly inaccurate entry regarding the need for better regional planning, I am a happy owner of a Toronto Public Library card.
It's so exciting that I have 99 branches of books in the palm of my hand! Say goodbye to Chapters!
Did you know that according to Wikipedia, the Toronto Public Library and the second busiest, by number of visits, in the world? We only trail after the Hong Kong Public Library. Whether or not this is because of the sheer size of the library system, it's quite exciting to actually know that Torontonians are reading and using the most out of out our public resources.
If you've ever stepped into a public library in the GTA recently, you will find that there is really something for everyone-- not just a place for little toddlers to scream and attempt to read storybooks. There are your usual books you find at Chapters, there are multilingual books for newcomers, there are video resources for the non-avid readers, there are references books for the academically minded, there are archives for the inner historian. All in all, I really commend library systems, such as Toronto, who have to strike a balance between the increasingly disperse range of interests of citizens. I'm always curious as to how money is allocated to specific groups, like Chinese books, for example? It seems to be that it could be quite a controversial task.
Anyways, because I love the TPL so much, I thought I might make a contribution by donating some of my old books that are accumulating dust. I asked the library attendant about this, and unfortunately, they do not accept old used books-- they only take new titles. She wasn't able to provide me an explanation. Too bad-- I'm sure there might be a logical explanation though-- your comments are encouraged about that matter.
That's it for now. For your curiousity, I borrowed a fiction title called Londonstani by Gautam Malkani.
Toronto Public Library -[tpl.toronto.on.ca]
Toronto Public Library - [wikipedia.org]
After days of scorching temperatures it's such a relief to see rain tonight.
I have to walk 15 minutes from Steeles to my Markham home every afternoon, and lately it seems like I'm in a mirage. I come home and I'm sweating from every inch under my pair of slacks and a shirt.
So gross.
Rain. I love looking out the window when it rains.
Do you know how Hollywood often shoots actors looking out a raining window when they have someone or something on their mind? A older episode of Friends comes to mind when Joey moved out of the apartment-- we find Chandler and Joey were thinking about each other upon a window sill.
This isn't the case for me-- well sort of. I usually don't think of anything worthwhile. Most times in these window watching situations, I find myself staring at the rain droppets falling on the plants we have in the backyard. I think it's really entertaining to watch the leaves wiggle. Beacuse I still have the imagination of a nine-year-old boy, I would imagine what our perennials would say to each other when they wiggle in the rain.
"Oh my gosh, I can finally get a cleaning, feels so good"
"Ew, acid rain, I can't drink this."
"Oh shoot, the owner already watered us. We're going to drown."
You get the idea-- I would make dialogue between my hostas. But really, I bet plants do communicate with each other in some way.
Wiggle wiggle wiggle.
I also enjoy sleeping when it's pouring outside. I love hearing the hard dropplets on the roof, and I love hearing the rainwater fall onto the gutter. That sense of being protected from the elements knowing it's hell outside brings me real comfort. When I was younger, I would imagine that my bed was a large floatation device, and that I was on this continuous flowing river. I would buckle myself up along with my stuffed animals-- Hugsie (Remember this picture from my first year rez room?), Garfield, and my little panda. I recall that I would actually talk to them and assure them that there would be nothing to worry about, since I had "seatbelts" which is the blanket, and "stabilizing fins" which are the underlying drawers.
To this date, I still find myself mentally assuring them on occasion but with a few "maturity adjustments"-- I no longer tuck them in beside me, and my conversations with them are not as elaborate.
But crazy enough, I still do it. Those very dolls are still on my bed--although only Hugsie comes with me to Waterloo.
Instead of tucking Hugsie in, I use it as a sleep-hugging device.
The forecast calls for thunderstorms into Thursday morning and afternoon. Sweet. More wiggling.