Category: Uncategorized

Thrills, fears and foreboding at Upper Canada

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It has been, from all appearances, a thrilling evening for many students at the live video appearance of Edward Snowden at Upper Canada College tonight (February 2, 2015). The event was organized by 18-year-old Conor Healy who sent an invitation to Snowden. A snippet of Mr. Snowden’s reception as seen on CP24 was reminiscent of a rock star’s welcome. A sampling of the linked video exchanges between he and the students focused largely on a world view which Snowden typically expresses. It features a kind of foreboding about what government collection of meta data (information) may mean for personal freedom. This outlook is a modified Orwellian vision which is often accompanied by Mr. Snowden’s explanations of himself: “It all depends what you can live with,” he said at one point tonight by way of justifying his decision to flee the U.S. with his secrets.  The nature of the perceived issue — the government spying on people for the purposes of controlling them — leaves lots of room for the imagination.  Upper Canada College 

NSS offers dance class for hearing impaired

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Tiffany Caprarella
A story in the Toronto Star by writer Nick Westoll and with files from Kristin Rushowy tells of an imaginative program as Northern Secondary School. Dance classes for the hearing impaired appear to be among the many innovative ways of teaching for which Northern is known. At the front of this class for the 2015 year is Tiffany Caprarella, whose background is in physical theatre. The program uses lights, rhythms, vibrations and visual cues on a smartboard to teach the hard of hearing to dance. “They can all hear sound on a vibrational level in their bodies, or feel it underfoot,” Ms. Caprarella told the Star. “When we work on movement in class, we have a heavy bass sound system that literally makes the windows shake in class.” Caprarella said the school’s gym offers the best place to feel vibrations. Westoll write that besides dancing, teacher Caprarella and the students talk about how movements affect one another and how people pick up movements from friends and cultures. “It’s perfectly natural for deaf and hard of hearing students to be dancers, but … it did make me — a hearing person — challenge my automatic entry points into dance,” Caprarella said. Nick Westoll Toronto Star 

Super Bowl ad’s nasty ending burns Go Daddy

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Loving, all-american dog-loving lady turns into a heartless she-wolf who is ready to peddle her darling puppy on Go Daddy. There may be a problem here. Clearly no way to advertise your business, this ad also gives another glimpse into the fairly common cruelty-for-fun approach used in some media circles. “Blackmail” wireless ad makes some feel uneasy

Information meeting Feb. 9 on Laird development

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The eight and seven storey towers planned for 146 to 150 Laird Drive will be the subject of a public information  meeting Monday, February 9, 2014 at the William Lea Room in the Leaside Arena. It is a chance for the public to learn and ask questions about the proposed development. The buildings are designed as rental apartment living and a residence for the elderly. Click to enlarge notice