Jack Layton, former Toronto Councillor and deputy mayor (and most recently leader of the NDP), lying in state at City Hall on Friday night was surrounded by an outpouring of support.
Sarah and I went to see Jack Layton on Friday evening as he lay in state at City Hall. The outpouring of support was impressive.
So there’s this guy I’ve been chatting with on Twitter over the last couple of days named Troy Oakley (@OakleyInc) who convinced me that maybe, just maybe, not all conservatives are heartless jerks.
Okay, so it might seem like I’m name dropping here — Troy did after all manage to land country-wide headlines today over this little bit of body art:
…but that’s not the case. You see, our discussion started around the awful direction that the conservatives seem to be heading in in this country. Everyone from Rob Ford to Steven Harper come across as callous axe-wielding maniacs bent on destroying every vestige of humanity in this great country.
Then, almost as if by magic, Troy stepped out of the Twitterverse and agreed with me, all the while claiming he was also a conservative. He even admired the recently departed Jack Layton of the NDP party (the mainstream Commies of the Canadian political spectrum) — someone almost anathema to the Progressive Conservatives.
I was, like, come again?
Yup, seems like you can still believe in not wasting money, being responsible, and all that other stuff without being a bloodthirsty bureaucrat. In fact, the final words Layton wrote as he was on his deathbed resonated with Troy so much that he had them tattooed on his arm. And I gotta say, despite being generally averse to marking up my own flesh, this is something I could never fault anyone for etching on their skin. Beats the hell out of meaningless Chinese symbols or fancy geometric patterns.
And holy fuck if it doesn’t give me hope for the future.
If you happen to be around tonight, tune in to Newstalk 1010 at around 9:45 to hear an interview with Troy, or just pick up a paper tomorrow and read about how the world may not quite be ready to go to hell in a hand basket just yet.
The Toronto Police Service launched their social media initiative this afternoon with a live presentation from Deputy Chief Peter Sloly.
In a nutshell, they’ve put / will put a few services online that were traditional in-person — background checks and such — but mostly the announcement was about the TPS’ now-official use of social media like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Chief Bill Blair was a bit more detailed:
Despite having more people on the force with Twitter accounts that you can follow, the police are still saying that you have to call 911 for emergencies or get a hold of a specific division if you have less serious stuff to talk about, but this will allow you to follow what cops are doing on the streets as well as giving you a more direct channel for general questions. I’ve chatted with a few of them via Twitter over the past year and they definitely are approachable (and they respond!), so that could work out real well in the community relations department.
The only concern I’d toss out there is in seeing these new channels become saturated and eventually becoming stagnant as responding to everything becomes impossible (you can see this with very popular Twitter accounts). Guess only time will show how prepared the TPS is for this possibility.
Until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know that the Mitsubishi City Chase even existed. Apparently, though, it’s a pretty popular event.
…a stroll through Chinatown East (Gerrard and Broadview) is a workout. The breeze up from Riverdale Park East (the big panorama below) is usually refreshing except, of course, when it’s like a blast from a hot oven.
Whew! Too damn hot to type any more.
After spending the afternoon sweating it up in our non-A/C’ed apartment, Sarah and I decided to skip the Pride parade. I didn’t shed any tears … I’d gone with tripod and sweaty brow in previous years and just didn’t feel like fighting the inevitable crush up Yonge Street.
Besides, the party on Church Street which, around Wellesley, is basically gay/lesbian-central in Toronto, is really the main event. Oh sure, you can enjoy your fill of assless-chaps along the parade route, but it’s really the after-parade party where the thing really gets going.
That’s right, you read it here first … Rob Ford will be attending Pride after all! Here’s the official statement:
Gotta say I was starting to lose faith in our new(ish) mayor, but it looks like he’s gonna come through after all. And he’ll even be dressed for the occasion!
That’s the spirit! I dunno if I’d have the courage to strut around with assless chaps and a hand betwixt the pillows, but good on Rob, eh?
We owe a debt of gratitude to Paula Corbett of Bad Bunny Puppets for convincing Rob to be a part of the parade. She and our risqué mayor will be hanging out in front of St. Lawrence Market’s north hall for the next couple of days and, of course, you can drop by her site to pay your respects for all her hard work too.
Now, I am usually not public with my dislike for out new MAYOR (Robert Ford, ick!) but this one I MUST be vocal about. Now, I keep my personal issues with this chubby guy between Ollie and I but Ford’s latest elitist stunt has PISSED ME RIGHT OFF.
Now, he could have said a multitude of things such as “my wife is sick” or “I have a headache” but this one takes the cake.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/06/22/mayor-ford-chooses-cottage-over-pride-parade/
A lame, elitest excuse such as a weekend to the cottage is no reason to skip out on this city’s MAJOR LGBT event, one that rakes in MILLIONS OF $$$, dollars he is bound to spend elsewhere, such as the refurbishment of his office, y’know, making it BIG ENOUGH to fit his large rear into.
If you ever find out just how the PRIDE dollars get spent, please let me know. I am already choosing my words for my letter the Mister Mayor’s office.
Cheers,
SarahD
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