South Bayview Bulldog Admin

Put all-news channels in one place says the CRTC

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The CRTC, Canada’s TV gatekeeper has turned down the application by Sun News to be seen on basic cable. But in doing so it has come up with an idea which seem so sensible you wonder why it has taken so long to come forward. Put all the news channels in one place on the cable menu. News consumers would have a convenient, coherent way of checking the news in multiple places and give every service a chance to strut its stuff. The CRTC is calling for public and industry in-put and adds it will “act swiftly” to create this “Information Alley” as the Bulldog has named it. 

“Small overlap” tests: Honda Civic wins top spot

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Small overlap test
The U.S. insurance agency known as the  Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has said that the Honda Civic earned top scores in “small overlap” crash tests. “Small-overlap” is a test that sees the full force of a head-on impact against the driver’s side of the car. The institute says this replicates 25 percent of head-on fatal accidents. It says similarly sized cars from Kia and Nissan fared poorly. The Institute put 12 new compact cars through the test, including two- and four-door versions of the Civic and two Kia models. The Kia Soul and Forte, as well as the Nissan Sentra, earned the worst  rating of “Poor” in the test. Kia and Nissan both pointed out that their cars have performed very well in other Insurance Institute and government crash tests. Kia also noted that the “small overlap” crash test “goes well beyond federal requirements.”  

Lawrence Crescent theft reported to police

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Toronto Police Service report: A resident of Lawrence Crescent reports that between February 1, 2013 and August 6, 2013, a quantity of jewellery was removed from the premises.

Bryant designs Scotiabank Carnival costumes

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A local man, Bryant Sinanan of Forman Ave. has just completed another exciting contribution to the Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival. Bryant, shown here with friends at the festivities, is a costume designer and producer, creating the stunning creations seen each year during the exciting times down on the lakeshore. But the real work is done well in advance of the Civic Holiday fun in warehouses in the Toronto suburbs. This year Bryant, 44, spent months designing costumes such as the one so well-shown by the reveller at the right. “It’s just part of  my culture,” say the upbeat Bryant. He came to Canada as a child and was schooled from primary to high school here in the South Bayview area. Bryant attended Maurice Cody, Hodgson Senior Public School and Northern Secondary School. After graduating from NSS he pursued his passion in design and graphic art, graduating from Seneca College. Bryant knew he had to be part of the annual festival at an early age. “I am from Trinidad,” he says proudly. He found his way into the carnival through a cousin who was playing in a band. That was many years ago. Now Bryant has his own ticket to ride at the Caribbean Carnival. 

From Snuffy the seal to a total whopper

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It’s a bad week to be Discovery
They say the so-called “mockumentary” about a fictional monster shark called Megalon is the kind of mistake that makes people ask: “What were they thinking?” As part of its annual summer Shark Week festival the Discovery network apparently set out to make viewers believe that it had evidence that Megalon existed. People are furious. Many of them have correctly skewered Discovery for a  collapse of journalism in the interests of bucks. The opening night program had the largest audience of any such program in 26 years — 4.8 million viewers. It was, as some Discovery members said, programming better suited to channels that sell scary “Martian stuff” to simple people who frankly don’t know any better. But here was the attempted hoodwinking of a high IQ and well-heeled audience. Discovery spent millions promoting opening night with its Snuffy the seal commercials in which a rescued seal about to be returned to the sea is eaten by a shark. In his defense Michael Sorensen, Discovery’s senior director of programming. said: “The stories have been out there for years, and with 95 percent of the ocean unexplored, who really knows?” 

“To door” enters the language riding a bicycle

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Now that the new verb “to door” has entered media usage thanks to cycling interests, one can see more such inventions from the same field of activity. For those who don’t read stories about “cycling safety” the latest term conveying opprobrium for a motorist is “dooring.”  It means that a motorist has carelessly opened his door and knocked down an unsuspecting cyclist. Will we be likely to hear about pedestrians being “sidewalked” by cyclists? Will drivers soon report “fender-riding” or cyclists who “bus-truck” in the doubtful space between such vehicles? Yes, it isn’t a terribly happy subject. But it makes a point about how language is used to colour the facts. The Toronto Star has written a few stories about dooring and they have even transformed previously unclassified accidents into examples of dooring. The horrifying death of a cyclist on Eglinton West near Avenue Rd. a couple of years ago is cited as an example of dooring. The driver opened her door and a speeding cyclist swerved to avoid it.  He lost control and went under the wheels of slow moving but lethal traffic to his left. The salient fact in this terrible accident is that the cyclist was speeding along in a narrow corridor between parked cars and traffic that was stopped for the light at Avenue Rd. This is forbidden by the Highway Traffic Act. Witnesses recounted the painful story. The driver said she just didn’t see the cyclist and maybe it was because he was going so fast. Call it dooring if you like, but be careful what you mean.  

What’s the condition of your home condition?

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24 Sussex Drive
Sales of Toronto new condos are down 18 per cent in the second quarter over last year. Does anybody still want those glass balconied boxes high above the Gardiner Expressway? Gee whiz. Second, because the federal government seems to think that the housing market (that’s the one with a front lawn) is recovering pretty smartly. CMHC, the Crown corporation that insures mortgages will limit banks to $350 million of “new guarantees” under the National Housing Act mortgage program.  Let’s see how much that worries the market. We’re thinking South Bayview mud is still looking pretty pricey.  And lastly, the Ottawa media snoops are just scandalized that the prime minister doesn’t want to move his family out of 24 Sussex Drive so the old home can get an energy fix.  The place has 34 rooms and is 150 years old. It is said to be a mite drafty in the winter. The media is so thoughtful. Gary Marr in the Financial Post notes the Harpers could live in the government home at Harrington Lake. Of course Harrington is at least half an hour by car from Ottawa while 24 Sussex is two minutes from the House of Commons.  Hey listen, make them pitch a tent by the tulip beds on Parliament Hill. 

Megantic clean up a body blow for MMA

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The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway is filing for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Canada. It is the most unsurprising outcome of the Lac-Megantic disaster in which an MMA tanker train crashed and burned killing 47 people and incinerating a large part of the community. The MMA was formed from orphan-like rail lines which themselves were facing bankruptcy. It was and remains a case of the small railways being super-vulnerable to the risks of business. The Lac-Megantic catastrophe was a  business body blow by any measure. The CNR would gulp at the clean-up costs.    

Taste of the Danforth closures this weekend

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Toronto police are warning that there will be many closures on roads leading to the Danforth between Broadview Ave. and Jones Ave. this weekend.  From Friday, August 9, 2013 to Sunday, August 11, 2013 the Danforth BIA will run the 2013 Taste of the Danforth. Danforth Ave. will be closed but so will streets leading to the Danforth from intersections 30 metres north and south. The popular event will proceed regardless of weather.

Shatner to receive “legacy award” from Stratford

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Canadian actor William Shatner will be honoured at a gala dinner October 21 in Toronto this year with what is called a “legacy award” from the Stratford Festival. Shatner, who was born in Montreal, trained as a Shakespearean actor and spent three seasons with the festival company beginning in 1954.  Wikipedia 

Noisy and expensive — but is it all necessary?

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Things at King St. and Spadina Ave. were pretty awful Tuesday night and they will be that way for at least two weeks. The replacement of 15-year-old streetcar tracks in the complex pattern of rails on this corner is a noisy, dirty and expensive job. The roads are closed, traffic is a nightmare and people who work in the area are looking for ear-plugs. If you own one of those lovely condos on King — well — good luck sleeping. The work goes on at all hours. You will have seen this on the television news. It is the price we pay for what many people call the heart and soul of Toronto — the streetcar. Us? We’re agnostic when comes to the Gospel of the Steetcar. Just saying. 

Matlow removes signs for unapproved condos

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Josh Matlow (Ward 22)  is angry about condo developers who advertise and take deposits on units in buildings that have not been approved for construction. He has decided to act personally, removing sidewalk signs and tweeting the developer to come and pick them up. He calls the signs illegal. His complaint seems reasonable. Potential buyers are misled into thinking they are on their way to a new home. It is legal for developers to take a deposit and they’re required give it back if the development is not approved. The developer apparently has no obligation to tell the potential buyer about such pending approval at the time the deposit in made. The CBC has published a series of pictures tweeted by Mr. Matlow including the one inset. The sidewalk sign has been closed and placed behind a mailbox. CBC.