South Bayview Bulldog Admin

Roehampton-Bayview beer store demolished

by  • 

The Beer Store at 609 Roehampton Ave. (at Bayview) has been demolished. The saga of the long-standing beer store saw it close about two weeks ago and then there were reports that it would re-open. It might even have a Tim Hortons in the new store according to talk in the neighborhood. That would take about a year. All of this might still happen and the time it takes would be explained by the fact they’re actually going to re-build the place. But as you can see, it’s gone now.

Open Streets 2 attracts larger turn-out Aug. 31

by  • 

Those who were there certainly were loving it but the question the City must answer is whether there is enough interest in the Open Streets concept to justify it another year. There was a larger turn-out at Bloor and Yonge for Open Streets 2 than the first Sunday closing two weeks ago. Events of Sunday August 31, 2014 saw a lot of chalk drawing on the pavement, much as you would find at any neighborhood street party during the children’s playtime. Difference here is that come 5 p.m., nobody has a martini hour ready to go. This event ends at noon and there is no alcohol allowed (a good thing). A modest concern again this week as bicycles mixed freely with pedestrians, including families with kids. It was a welcome sight that most riders were taking it very slowly as the conditions required. But some were not. We only have to look at the bylaws to know that bicycles are not allowed where pedestrians go. The odds seem high on a bicycle colliding with a pedestrian at some point. Call us alarmist if you like but the scene is set. Photos from left: Witty host John Catucci of the Food Network’s You Gotta Eat Here was in good form as he solicited votes for David Soknacki. Lady in pink seems well-prepared for her cycling day and two proud residents of South Riverdale. A big South Bayview salute folks.

Sorting out the turkeys from the TIFF movies

by  • 

It is a special thing to line up all night for a ticket to see a movie at the Toronto International Film Festival. Special, and in a way, quite unnecessary if all you want to do is see the movie. It’s not like those people who used to line up to get a free turkey at Honest Ed’s. They probably needed the turkey more than the average TIFF-goer needs the movie. And critically, if you didn’t line up for the turkey, that free bird was gone forever. Gone. The movie, we hardly need to tell you, will be with us for as long as there are theatres and Netflix and, well, you get it.   

Canada limited coins mark 75 years of Superman

by  • 

A nice complement to the FanExpo this weekend was the Royal Canadian Mint’s display of commemorative coins (some still in the making) to mark the 75th anniversary of the creation of Superman. Superman was the cartoon invention of a Torontonian, Joe Shuster, who later went to the U.S and became an American. Along with a collaborator he worked up the character and sold it to Detective Comics. The rest is history. The story is told by The South Bayview Bulldog at the link below in a story from last summer about the Post Office commemorative stamps of the same anniversary. The coins are limited edition and quite elaborate selling for between $30 and $750 even though they have a face value of $20. They sell quickly.  Previous Superman posts Also check the informative post at the U.S. publication  Comic Alliance

After the storm came a lovely sunny Saturday

by  • 

William and Margo 
We are having a lovely late summer Saturday all across South Bayview where sunny skies have taken over from the morning thunderstorm. In South Bayview’s lower ranges, The Bulldog purchased some excellent pink lemonade from William and Margo. They were doing business at the corner of Rose Park Drive and Welland Ave. Up on the high street, things were moderately busy We found customers in Dolly Jewellers at 1699 and someone looking to buy a bicycle for his daughter in Sports Swap. Many service businesses had closed early for the long weekend however.

Twitter chat of need for crosswalks in Leaside

by  • 

Wendy Weston and Thomas Veith have been  talking on Twitter with Jon Burnside, candidate for council in Ward 26 about more crosswalks. Ms Weston mentions the corner of McRae Drive and Sutherland Ave. This is indeed a wide and busy intersection where any pedestrian has to be careful. In recent years a study was done by the City to see if lights were needed here but apparently nothing came of it. Mr. Veith mentions traffic on Southvale Dr., another very busy street and especially the odd intersections at Astor Ave. and Mallory Cres. Curiously, there a stop sign for westbound traffic at Astor but none for eastbound traffic. At Mallory, the reverse is true. Thus pedestrians crossing Southvale at Astor face through traffic from the west while at Mallory, pedestrians have to deal with through traffic from the east. It is a tricky bit of roadway.    

Thorncliffe tenants back-to- school fair Sunday

by  • 

Thorncliffe Park Tenants Association will hold its yearly Back to School Fun Fair tomorrow (Sunday, August 31, 2014) on grounds at 71 Thorncliffe Park Drive. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be live music, clothing and food vendors on site and many activities like free face painting, free henna and a jumping castle for children. There will also be a free draw for 100 backpacks.  Abbas Kolia of the tenants association says the fair gives kid an chance to have fun with family and pals before heading back to school. As many as 7000 residents could attend.  Information may be had by calling Abbas Kolia at 647-960-9178.

Public comment on wingy ladies is illuminating

by  • 

The two woman charged with disrupting Thursday’s Sunwing flight to Cuba are now both out of jail on bail of $2,500 each. At such times, many people would echo Dr. Phil in asking: “What were you thinking?”  Pubic opinion as represented by a review of comments to the CBC story is illuminating. One man thought the pilots were “air-heads” for turning back to Toronto when they were only about an hour out of Cuba. Yes sir, but it’s the captain’s job to make flying safe and you can see how he might have wanted these two right out of the system. They are not going to be buying a charter to sunny beaches again soon. Other readers wanted to see the two, 25 and 26, severely punished. “Drunk drivers don’t get a break,” one fumed. The judgemental tone of those demanding the two pay restitution was strict. Another reader said that mom and dad would ground them, and he enjoyed his pun greatly. On the other hand, are mom and dad even around? One of the women had to spend a second night in jail because no one would sign for her bond, which at $2,500 was not that much. Other suggestions ranged from equipping all airline attendants with a taser (yikes) to placing the two in strict plastic hand and ankle cuffs and stowing them like so much luggage. Maybe not. Was it necessary to call out a jet fighter at whatever cost because of these two? Who knows, but as a reader said in reply to that question, it’s part of the same kind of procedure that gets one arrested in an airport if he make a joke about a bomb. It doesn’t help to smile. Finally, a reader concluded the ladies had “no class” and wondered how they could  behave that way. It’s a fair question but as those who travel much will know, it is fairly common for vacationers to go a little wingy when turned loose from the day-to-day duties and undefined stresses of their lives. Previous post

Garbage begets garbage on St. Clair right-of-way

by  • 

Garbage begets garbage

Hard-headed realists like to scratch out the term computer glitch where they see it and insert human error. It’s a truth that is older than the home computing revolution of the 1980s. The first recorded use of the term garbage-in-garbage-out was noted in April 1963. It describes the way humans make mistakes that computers can’t fix. And so it is that the St. Clair streetcar right-of-way, that multi-million dollar disaster imposed on Toronto by our transportation betters, is suffering from a massive case of garbage-in-garbage-out. Somewhere along the line, the system that regulates the transit traffic signals (the streetcars have their very own lights of course) was fouled up with garbage data. It was done by a human, or maybe several humans. As a result, it now takes eight minutes longer than it should for the 512 St. Clair streetcar to make the round trip from the west end to Yonge Street. As the scriptures might say, garbage begets garbage.