Yes, I have to admit that believing me to be dead would be a natural conclusion at this point. The gears have all but ground to a halt here at TCL, the Toronto City Life Twitter feed has barely seen the light of day over the past couple of weeks, and for all intents and purposes I may as well be pushing up the digital daisies.

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Michael Peddle, one of our founding members, is moving away to pursue further education abroad. But before he leaves he is paying tribute to his home province of Newfoundland, giving the world a new anthem to know his homeland by.

Here’s the Newfoundlander theme: Right On.

Right On

“This is just glorious!”, exclaimed the unidentified cyclist as we stood in the middle of Jarvis Street, referring to the empty center lane he was casually occupying.

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…continued from previous part.

Okay, it’s now been well over two weeks and I’m just about ready to put this puppy to bed.

But before I do, let me round out the G20 weekend for you, dear reader. Let’s start with the Black Bloc, the attention whores of the summit.  While I was trying to figure out who they are and where they came from, a few glaringly obvious pieces of evidence jumped out at me with a, “zut alors!”

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With the dog days of summer bearing down on us like a pack of rabid dogs and bears, there’s one thing we can all agree on: It’s Hot! And believe me, as the reigning Michael Mann Trivia champion two years running, I know a thing or two about Heat. Everyone’s going loopy! My brain is melting! So we asked you folks — our loyal readers — to write in and share with us your creative ways of staying cool. Nobody sent us anything in so this is what I imagined people would say!

Wanda T. from Bloor West Village writes,

“I work as an arts and crafts consultant at a day care centre in the west end. I love my job but our building doesn’t have A/C and when it’s hot, the last thing you want is a bunch of sticky little brats climbing all over you grabbing at your home made jewellery. So when our poor little fan finally died I, turned cooling off into a game and got my kids to take turns blowing cool air on the back of my neck. Paradise! The best part is that after about 15 minutes of constant exhaling, a four year old is definitely going to pass out from heat exhaustion. It’s like we skipped blocks and went straight to naptime!”

Thanks Wanda! I hope you returned your used and discarded children to the store for your deposit back. Recycling isn’t a chore, it’s a way of life!

Harold S. from Lesliville writes,

“When the weather gets hot, my wife Jann and I usually get into an argument. ‘Take out the trash, this,’ ‘Your toenail clippings are everywhere, that.’ I’ll admit that my quick temper and penchant for in-home littering are parts of the problem, but the heat goes straight to my hot little head. I couldn’t take the constant bickering anymore so I started walking around the house with a wet towel draped over my crown. What a relief! A cool head and no more arguing — that is until my wife started calling me King Abdullah. THAT’S RACIST! There’s one thing I won’t tolerate and that’s intolerance, so I shipped her back to Kyrgyzstan in the crate she came over in. I can finally live the life I want – alone in my underpants with my garbage.”

Wow Harold. So creative and brave. It’s people like you that make me proud to call myself a hero. I am a hero, you know.

Sanjeet R. from North York writes,

“There’s no better way, in my opinion, to spend a Saturday afternoon than playing 3-on-3 basketball with five of your best friends (the sixth person is you). I do just such a thing almost every week at the park around the corner from my parents’ house. But last week it was so hot that my friends never showed up! I was left to alley without an oop. So, in an effort to entice prospective players to the court, I promised them all ice-cold sports drinks to soothe what ailed them. I knew they wouldn’t be able to resist. We played our hearts out for 25 minutes before my sweat drenched comrades took a break to replenish their electrolytes. Little did they know that I had replaced their beloved “Blue Blast” with Anti-freeze. Talk about an offensive foul-play! Sure I was still hot, but it’s true what they say, “Revenge is a dish best served in a refillable squeeze bottle.” Or whatever it is that they say. Alls I know is they embarrassed me so they deserved to die.”

Nice one, Sanjeet! Way to keep a cool head. If you’re looking for new teammates to shoot hoops with, there are always, like, eight guys hanging around on the far side of the parking lot outside my work. They’re not very tall but they look like they could use something to do.

Steve W. from The Annex writes,

“I bought a 40-pint dehumidifier and a ceiling fan for under $200. With a fresh breeze and no humidity, my apartment is like an oasis. Money well spent.”

Steve, I’m disappointed. I feel like you’ve frittered away a really great opportunity embedded within our call for letters here. You’ve wasted my time and – as a result – all of our wonderful readers’ time as well. Please do not writer to us again. We do not wish to hear from you.

- Mikey Kolberg,
The Raisin Gang

On the 4th of July, we went to Pride Parade here in Toronto. It’s always a beautiful display with great music, gorgeous colors everywhere, lots of people expressing themselves through colorful outfits (or hardly if any clothing at all).

I wasn’t able to watch the entire parade or see it from any great vantage point (I’m short!) but I wonder, why isn’t there mention of Harvey Milk at this event? Perhaps there is during other celebrations of Pride Week? I just think of his impact and also the gains fought for that have also been lost. & other activists, too. I think I’d like to see some booths that share information about the history of the movement – less promotional booths of businesses (unless they’re giving away lots of pretty buttons, ha!)

The reason why I mentioned Harvey Milk is this moment for me when police were walking in the Pride Parade. They wore the pretty rainbow beads and were advocating LGBT rights. I said out loud, “isn’t it nice to be able to demonstrate for what you believe in?” because I was thinking of last weekend when the police had become a militant force in our city and inflicted serious pain on peaceful demonstrators. I realize this was their job – they were on the clock, being paid – but doesn’t that make it worse?

So in that moment of seeing police in the parade, I felt conflicted. On the one hand, it’s fantastic if they are actually gay and able to be open in their occupation and participate in Pride. People protested for that right. & yes, maybe their participating inspired goodwill among some citizens? On the other hand, I couldn’t help but wonder… since the police forces were often wearing riot gear, shields for their faces, how do we know if they weren’t part of the attacks against demonstrators last weekend? How do they reconcile it in their minds? For me, I guess, it just felt OMGTOOSOON.

I’m curious as to whether there was greater attendance this year as opposed to the last time I went in 2008?

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