The rumours of our demise, dear reader, have been greatly exaggerated. (Looking at you here, @TOblogwatch)

That’s not to say that we’re entirely out of the woods, certainly I’m not, but when I mentioned that the gloves are coming off, I meant that I had no intention of going down without a serious fight. When stuff like this happens I don’t sit and cry and wallow in misery, I get good and pissed off. Thankfully, in the fight, I’m managing to land a few punches, and have in the process discovered what a wonderful and supportive community this blog has.

To all of you who have offered your sympathy and suggestions, I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart — it really does make a difference. And to all of you who have been asking about ways to donate, here it is (and a BIG thank you to you too!):

As part of round one of this fight I’ve made arrangements to have the blog remain online for at least another month. I’ve also received very generous offers to move hosting, should it come to that, so I’m able to breathe a sigh of relief. Heck, I can go without food for a few days, but the blog … I couldn’t even imagine.

My major problems have once again become personal so I won’t dwell on them. I’ll post updates once in a while, though. I figure, if nothing else, it’ll make for interesting reading. Cautionary tale. That kind of thing. Plus, if you’ve been around up until now, you’ll be able to say, “yeah, I was there for Toronto City Life’s darkest hour.” (Sure hope this is the darkest hour)

So, once again, I’d like to thank everyone for their outpouring of support, it gives me confidence like you wouldn’t believe. We’re not out of the woods yet, but I’m starting to see a dim light somewhere in the distance, and I’m walking toward that light a lot more confidently. In the meantime, let’s get back to blogging!

I’ve been trying to avoid this day for a while, dear reader, but both myself and TCL now have suddenly been pushed into a corner with few options.

Before I begin, I should point out that none of what you’re about to read is intended to be humorous, ironic, exaggerated, or untrue – I have ample documentation and evidence to support every single claim and I don’t find anything funny about the situation. I’ve tried to maintain some levity on TCL, even when dealing with heavy subjects, but in this case I just can’t. I’ve had just about enough of being ground into the dirt and treated like sub-human shit.

Up until this Friday my issues were mostly personal so I’ve tried to avoid bitching too much about them, but now they’ve coalesced together to pose a very real threat to not only my own existence, but also to the existence of Toronto City Life.

So please, if you’ve enjoyed visiting the blog over the past year and a half, if you’ve enjoyed the content on any level, if you’ve found the topics to be insightful or at least to provoke some thought or discussion, then I urge you to continue reading, re-blog, re-post, Tweet, and disseminate this post as much as you can. Send this to your friends, co-workers, and anyone else you think might be able to help (and there’s plenty to help with). If ever you’ve thought about supporting Toronto City Life in any way, now is the time to step forward. The situation is indeed critical, and my fate, as well as that of Toronto City Life, hangs in the balance.

Your help is urgently needed!

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So as I was saying yesterday about convenience, here’s a terrific example.

I was planning to do a post about urban public gardens. I know, it seems a little bent at the wrist, but I wanted to do it more in the context of the unforgiving city. Those little squares of land nestled in between caverns of glass. Had a great story ‘n everything. Then this happens:

I know it’s not war-torn Bosnia, but still, you don’t get many brick walls coming down in such a prominent location, in the middle of the day. Extremely convenient for me, if I may be frank. So I believe this proves my point. Unless someone’s suggesting I brought the wall down just to prove a point.

Anyhow, can I get a little personal here? I felt totally legit today – schedule ‘n all. I weaved in and out of the news crowd like it was nothing, had conversations with a few of them. Also witnessed a Ryerson student being turned back at the yellow tape. One of the camera guys joked with me with a “nice try, eh? You’re not from Ryerson, are you?” To which I replied, “Hell no.” Reply, *nod*.

That’s how it’s done. No one stopped me when I ducked under the yellow tape. Or stood on the wall. Or the electrical box. QED.

I probably don’t need to tell you what happened if you listen to local news. But if you don’t, it’s pretty straightforward. This wall came down on a street just north of Yonge-Dundas Square, so good foot traffic. Plus it’s the edge of Ryerson University. Some time early this afternoon, it slumped. And then came down. No one was hurt, so very lucky.

See? Simple. Probably the sign attached to the front from what I heard.

I had dinner at the place next door a few weeks back and I don’t recall the building bulging any. Also didn’t notice anything every other day I walked past there either. I use that corner a lot, is what I’m getting at, and can’t say I saw anything untoward.

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The exact sequence of events yesterday at the Bickford Centre are still a bit hazy.

Some time in the late morning a gunman, or gunmen, stormed the adult ESL school and took the principal hostage. The school went into “lockdown” although none of the articles I read about the incident explained what “lockdown” means. Let’s assume that it involves locking the doors, keeping everyone huddled in the corner, and asking them to pray to whatever heathen gods they pray to.

This next part is what’s not quite clear to me. The Star seems to insinuate that the police showed up only after everything was over and only after calling the school to warn them that a threat was present. Presumably the Emergency Task Force took up positions outside the building, aimed their semi-automatics, and did their tactical entry thing.

Some time elapsed; a pregnant woman was carried out on a stretcher moaning; worried friends, relatives, and neighbours stood behind the police cordon nervously awaiting news. The atmosphere was thick with tension. And thickness (read on).

About an hour later it was all over. No shots had been fired and no one had been hurt. And that’s because it was just a drill.

Well, it was a drill according to the school’s administration; they just didn’t tell anyone about it. They said that they wanted to see how people would respond in a real-world emergency situation and so they didn’t provide anyone with advance notice. The real-world part seems reasonable but some of the other stuff…not so much.

For example, didn’t anyone in the school’s administration think to call the police just to let them know what was going on? Apparently this happens (minus the ETF), twice a year so it’s not like they haven’t done this before. It also happened at a school where, at the very least, I would expect someone to exercise a modicum of critical thinking. I mean, I’m not qualified to be a teacher or anything,  but the equation that led to this incident seems fairly straightforward:

Secret simulated hostage crisis + People with cell phones = High probability of serious police involvement

I’d use the word “embarrassing” but that requires the ability to be cognizant of the embarrassing circumstances; that seems not to be the case here. This is a school being run by people who are in charge of teaching newcomers to the Canada how to communicate (oh dear!). Furthermore, if the Star story is right and the cops called only after it was all over, I think we can agree that the ball was dropped by someone somewhere. Calling the potential victims of a crime after that crime has been perpetrated is pretty ball-less if you ask me. Lotta boobs though; especially the school administration.