Nature in the city by Lionheartedboy

A few years ago when I still lived on the farm (pretty close to a farm anyways), I spent many hours driving around the countryside looking for abandoned houses, mines, warehouses, factories; basically any structures left to nature. On the periphery of the suburbs these were a dime-a-dozen.

For whatever reasons (I’m guessing economic), people just picked up and left their residences, sometimes leaving everything behind. I mean, most of the time the houses were empty and dilapidated; still fun if you’re into testing your skills in dangerous environments (the mines were especially enjoyable), but other than photos, not much to walk away with. But there were prized finds too, locations with dusty books, old photos, antiques, coins – I have more than a few items in my collection from those times.

The way I looked at it was like this: if I didn’t save those items, they’d now be destroyed by the elements, mildew, or asshole-initiated fires. And because these structures were located on the edges of the burbs, they were more often than not slated for demolition anyway, so whatever was inside would’ve ended up in landfill (at best). Even designated historical properties were often left to complete ruin while new subdivisions sprung up around them – sometimes coming within a foot of the old structures, and sometimes even damaging them. In a very real way I considered my incursions a way to preserve history.

The same philosophy is behind the movement known as Urban Exploration, or UrbEx, which got its start in Toronto (at least in terms of being organized and public). As the name implies, exploration of this kind is usually reserved for urban environments like abandoned or boarded up buildings, unused subway stations, old factories, and even sewers. If it’s off-limits to the public, it’s fair game for UrbEx.

Technically, anyone involved in UrbEx is breaking the law – it’s still trespassing. Plus, some locations are incredibly dangerous (crumbling walls/floors, exposed electrical wiring, asbestos, etc.), so the pastime doesn’t always attract people with the best intentions or the most brain cells. But there do exist organizations and individuals who think the same way I do, who took the pains to explore properly, and it’s thanks to their efforts that we now have Doors Open Toronto.

This year, 150 buildings opened their doors to the public during the weekend event, giving almost unlimited access for people to explore typically off-limits areas.

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Can you believe it, dear reader? Another contributor? And this time it’s a whole gang!

The vigorous young go-getters preempted my typical introductory post; unusual, but great!

So, please allow me to go back in time a couple of days and introduce to you The Raisin Gang, a Toronto comedy troupe with connections to Ryerson University. The gang is comprised of Marissa Caldwell, Kye Fox, Mikey Kolberg, Daniel Kurland, Michael Peddle, Mary Kelly, Tom Conway, Dan Ramos and producer James Boyd.

I don’t remember exactly how I discovered The Gang (and they are 100% genuine gang), but it was laugh at first sight. When James Boyd returned my email saying he’d be interested in contributing to the blog, I was over the moon.

As with previous contributors, I don’t want to go into too much detail. The Gang have a Feature Contributor account here which means they can post, comment, etc., almost as if they own the place.

Understandably, producing video of this caliber takes a little more time so James suggested that The Gang post on a weekly basis. Or less. I know, I know, I want more too, but what can ya do?

tour cn by -nikkon-

The only sport I watch with any regularity or enthusiasm is Formula 1. I’m not really even sure if it really qualifies as a sport – I know that the drivers have to be physically fit, but that fitness isn’t the major contributing factor to them winning races. In Formula 1 it’s truly a team effort requiring a skilled driver, skilled pit crew, and skilled engineers. If just one of those elements is missing, the race is pretty much over.

The other reason I like Formula 1 is because it seems much more fair than most competitive sports. I like to compare it do downhill slaloms, for example, where differences in athletes’ times can be in the tenths of seconds — easily accounted for by an errant gust of wind. The athlete’s training, the coaching, the equipment, etc., can all be negated by something completely beyond the athlete’s control. Luck, in other words. In Formula 1 the whole aim of engineering is to mitigate the effects of luck, but even more important, all the drivers race at the same time so that elements like wind, rain, etc., affect everyone equally.

The Toronto Criterium is very similar to Formula 1 in these respects.

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Ants on the Green Roof by Bryson Gilbert

In retrospect it’s obvious why I had to at least attempt the journey.

You see, the Aga Khan is putting in an Islamic history centre, with a special nod to Ismailis, in the community of Leaside, a woody central-eastern patch of the city running along the Don Valley.

The Aga Khan. Not Aga Khan. The Aga Khan. With a title like that, I don’t see how one could resist going to see what this man will install in our city. Apparently it’s supposed to be the first of it’s kind anywhere around these parts, and it has been described as a “gem”. All out of the Aga Khan’s love for Canada.

I tend to walk until I come to a major intersection and then stop to look at Google Maps on my mobile phone to figure out my next turn. I guessed I must’ve misjudged the majorness of a few intersections because I soon wound up in a neighbourhood adjacent to the Science Centre. Having gotten there, on foot, from Yonge-Dundas Square, I was starting to feel a tad worn out. Plus I had the return trip to think about.

So I decided to call it a day, vowing to return. But it wasn’t a total loss. The highlight of that part of town is definitely the awesome vista from the Don Mills Road bridge over the DVP:

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DSC_0077 by proofer2008

Unfortunately I missed this gentleman’s name and some of his earlier comments, but this is ultimately what it boils down to, in a nutshell, the crux and the nexus, as it were:

The police are always giving the same message, if you break the law, be prepared to be prosecuted for it. There’s no excuse for something like this [recent G20-related vandalism]. People can… the legal right to protest is there in Canada, the freedom of speech is there, you can say what you want, you can march, you can do those things, but as soon as you cross that line, police are going to have to deal with you.

There you have it, terse and policey. At this point the details of the police plan, and that line being alluded to, are probably already out there although no one really has much info otherwise. Hopefully this doesn’t come as a big surprise to anyone.

By the way, did I wish you a happy Friday yet?

In the past few days anyone stepping off a plane for the first time at Pearson or City Centre Airport probably got a bit of a rude awakening to the real Toronto.

I do my best to try to warn people that, no really, it gets pretty fucking hot here in the summers, but usually I just get an incredulous expression in response. When I compare recent Toronto temperatures (31 Celcius  / 88 Fahrenheit) to, say, The Bahamas (30 Celcius / 86 Fahrenheit), they just kind of look at me funny, like maybe I’ve been spending too much time in the igloo or something.

It’s a bit warm for May, granted, but not by much.

“Yeah, but it’s not a humid heat like they get on the islands”, is often the next follow-up. Once again, spoken by someone who hasn’t been to Toronto in the summer. No, it really is. It can get as soupy here as it does in Hong Kong or Jamaica. I mean, did you ever wonder how south Asians, East Indians, West Indians, and people from similar countries could manage to live in Toronto if it’s some dreary northern podunk town? That’s because it’s not so foreign to them. In the winter they’re usually a miserable bunch, but in the summer they’re right at home. Right from the horse’s mouth that.

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