The Bulldog

Sober-spoken Ford finds motherhood in the arts

The ArtsVote mayoral debate revealed a Doug Ford of much more subdued behaviour Monday afternoon at the TIFF Light Box. It was a surprise to see Mr. Ford there much less hear his sobre support for this motherhood issue. In fact, no one is against the arts per se. The only issue is how much public money will be spent and where. In any case, the rather boisterous host of the debate, Damian Abraham, was more reminiscent of Ford Nation than anyone else in attendance.  From reading BlogTO we know he is the lead vocalist of a group whose name can’t be printed in stuffy publications like The South Bayview Bulldog.  Its vulgar shock schtick is to be found in BlogTO however.  Proof again you can say anything in polite company as long you claim its the name of a musical group. The candidates included more than the TCF (Tory, Chow, Ford) bunch. Pleasant outliers Ari Goldkind and teen-wonder Morgan Baskin, a woman mature beyond her years, were also there. One of our favorite Leaside  people, Rudy Limeback was present and said the following. “It was the most civil debate so far this year. Even Dougie was on his best behaviour. Tory tried hard, didn’t register. Olivia lost a lot of points when in her summation she whipped out a napkin with Tory’s transit plan sketched out on it, showing the mistakes. Ari made many points that scored well with the audience. Morgan, in my opinion, had the best performance.” You can see that embarrassing ploy by Ms. Chow at 1.28 on the tape — Ed.  ArtsVote is a volunteer coalition of non-partisan artists, arts workers. The YouTube video below catches the flavour of the event.  

Holt Renfrew says it plans men’s-only store

You’ll have to take it for what it’s worth but Holt Renfrew is going to open a men’s-only store on Bloor Street this week to compete with, well. whomever. It will be located next door to Harry Rosen’s place. Those who watch Holt Renfrew have long given up on the “discount store” concept named hr which was announced two years ago but has not been heard from since.  Globe and Mail   What happened to Holt’s “discount store”?

Rolph alumnae can buy crested shirts, hoodies

Petra  Grantham, organizer of the Rolph Road Public School 75th Anniversary next month, is alerting all alumnae to a great nostalgic chance to buy Rolph Road School stuff. The order form for T-shirts, golf-type shirts, hoodies and women’s shirts is found on the Bulldog’s Twitter account here. Here’s the thing — you’ve got to hurry. The orders must be received by 3.30 p.m. Friday October 3, 2014 at the school office on Rolph Road.  And Petra advises you to hand deliver them to make sure there’s no mistake.

Will Tory call out Ford on his campaign of envy?

With a month to go, a poll on the popular support for the three main candidates for mayor is out today (Monday, September 29, 2014). It shows that John Tory has 37%, Doug Ford 30% and Olivia Chow 21%. It is a robo-call poll done by Mainstreet Technologies and some may find the technology doubtful. But there it is. Most critically, is it the kind of information John Tory might act on to call out Rob Ford on his class warfare election campaign? Tory is down somewhat in this poll, Ford up. Tory has been playing it cool in the face of Ford’s naked appeal to envy and resentment at a mythical class of people which is out to oppress the  little man. Mainstreet Technologies

Death by debate? Here comes ArtVote Talk-fest

A glossy affair this Monday, September 29, 2014, at the TIFF Light Box is called ArtVote Toronto. It goes at the noon hour. But keep in mind, it’s a mayoral debate. We believe that John Tory and Olivia Chow will be there. Doug Ford? Not sure really. It seems like such a juicy target for another his attacks on the imaginary civic elite, those who oppress the real people of Toronto. ArtVote 

Brooklyn Honderich found safe near her home

Police say Brooklyn Honderich, 2, has been found safe and apparently in fairly good condition after her overnight disappearance. She was found by a volunteer searcher beside a corn field some distance from where she disappeared. Brooklyn wandered off from her parents farm about seven kilometres east of the village of Norwich, which is just south of Woodstock.. Hamilton Spectator  CBC

Democracy protest still rages in Hong Kong

The Chinese bosses in Beijing have a lousy hand to play as troops fire rubber bullets and tear gas at democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong. The demonstration has been going on all day and although diminished, the demonstrators have not gone home as requested. Many of them are students. And while support for democracy is high in Hong Kong, most established people do not want the stigma of violent protests damaging the business atmosphere or stable lifestyle. For Beijing, the challenge continues to be making sure China does into fly into pieces. It is easy to imagine a genuinely free Hong Kong deciding that it wants to separate and live like the Taiwanese. This weekend the president of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou told Chinese president Xi Jinping to forget about re-unification with the little island democracy. The Taiwanese have what they want already — freedom, prosperity and elections every couple of years. It must sting Xi Jinping to suffer the Taiwan president’s moral superiority. He after all, unlike Xi, is elected by the people.

Presidents of Taiwan and China (left and right) shake hands but the Taiwanese are having nothing to do with China’s one-country, two-political systems scheme to re-unite.   

FLASHBACK: Dare we venture down Canvarco Road?

It is an especially curious feeling when you get just a few feet into Carnvarco Road off of busy Laird Drive. You know it’s Leaside and perfectly safe, but the surroundings seem somehow creepy. There can be no doubt that this forlorn corner of the Leaside Business Park is merely marking time until it is redeveloped like so much of the property east of Laird. Because its a dead end, there is no through traffic. It is a laneway-like street that time seems to have forgotten. The 1940s Quonset hut and similar wartime remnants are scattered around. Large sinister courtyards extend to the north. One can only imagine the activities beyond those ancient doors. But, starting at the far end with Rosedale Landscaping Company and counting off Otto’s Masonry, Wilkin’s Chimney Repair (since 1977) Good Bones Antiques and Kayak Sport Canada, they are all worthy businesses. It is a revelation to peek through the thickly grown-over metal fencing to see huge stacks of firewood and 1950s wrecker cars. Some just sit out on the street. There’s no traffic. All of this was the preserve of the once mighty Canada Varnish Company (Canvarco) now long gone. It is said that the land on the east side has recently been sold and may yet emerge as more retail development. Some say a grocery store is the works. Hard to imagine considering the overflowing bounty of food stores in South Bayview. Still, if you hold to the view that Loblaws on Redway Road was one of the more serious business mistakes made in Leaside, you can begin to see how that firm might want to be back on the street, so to speak. The property on Redway is well suited in the short term to parking TTC buses. All of this speculation out of the way, one thing is certain. It’s an education to venture down Canvarco Road. Try it.