Year of Monkey merry-making for Chinese in Markham

The CBC has published this glimpse into the merry-making of GTA’s large Chinese population as they get ready to welcome the The Year of the Monkey.  This took place Saturday at the Pan Am Centre in Markham. It is a mark of our changing society that so many English-speaking tongues easily say Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin) or Gong Hey Fat Choy (Cantonese).

Cab collision and rollover disrupts dinner on Fairlawn

cab over

Fire person washes down pavememt courtesy Lorne Simon

The Sunday evenng quiet of Fairlawn Ave. was broken about dinner time when two cars collided at Fairlawn and Elm Road. The taxi rolled over. No one was hurt.

Select teams play late Sunday evening at Leaside Gardens

The Leaside Invitational Select Tournament was playing out late into Sunday evening at Leaside Gardens. Other rinks have been busy Sunday as well but were finishing  up sooner. Organizers at the Leaside rinks said they expected to see the last contests finished by no later than midnight. Sunday evening saw a happy Whitby Wildcats powerhouse take the Minor Bantam trophy by beating the Ted Reeve Tornadoes 4-0. The Wildcats were decisive champions having earlier defeated Ted Reeve 8-1 and Leaside flames White 10-0. It was one of hundreds of stories out of the Select. The video certainly recalls that old sporting expression about the thrill of victory.

FINDING A TEAM

The enormity of the Select tournament is clear and the Wimgloo site does a valiant job of finding a team. Best to start on the page linked as shown which is Arenas  Go from there to find a particular team and keep clicking to see how it finished.

15 cars sink into lake as sun warms up Winterfest event

In Wisconsin, as many as 15 cars crashed through the ice of Lake Geneva Saturday as their drivers and families attended a Winterfest event on the shore which featured the national snowsculpting contest. Luckily no one was hurt or even soaked. It happened about 2 p.m. as the sun warmed the ice. There was a mighty crack heard and cars sank into the lake.

Italian actor hanged by accident during theatre production

actor

The Italian actor who accidentally hanged himself on stage during a performance has been declared brain dead by doctors.  Raphael Schumacher, 27, was appearing in Mirages, an experimental theatre production staged in Pisa when the incident occurred. Doctors said Friday that the 27-year-old is now clinically dead, after spending nearly a week in a coma. Mailonline

 

Merging public, catholic schools pure political gelignite

No one will ever know exactly what was in the minds of the fathers of Confederation when they decided to create a separate school system for the Catholic church. But nearly 150 years later this quite unusual arrangement continues to be an issue. The linked Canadian Press story tells of how the topic arrived at the very top of an online budget survey sponsored by the Ontario Government. Then, suddenly, it sank to last place — 1715th. Previously aghast MPPs were much relieved see this lump this political gelignite descend softly to the bottom of the ocean. .

Carolyn Ireland: Moore Park acre now listed at $8.8 million

Carolyn Ireland writes in chapter and verse form about the dwelling structure at 514 St.Clair Ave. E. That’s the ravine acre that lies at the corner of Harper Ave. and St. Clair in deepest Moore Park. The South Bayview Bulldog tipped you to this property in September when it was listed for $10 million. Now the official asking is $8.8 million. Make an offer. $10 million asking for secret place at the foot of  St Clair E.  Carolyn Ireland, Globe and Mail

Drake and Rihanna were the real thing at The Real Jerk

The Real Jerk is close to South Bayview in miles and a lot further away in other respects. But the Gerrard St restaurant was focus central as Drake and Rihanna shot a music video there.. The video is said to be for Rihanna’s new single titled “Work.” Courtesy CBC here is the restaurant’s owner who was of course floored by the event.

It’s the Carolina Panthers vs Denver Broncos (by the way)

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. CBS, which is originating the game, has programming running all day from noon until well after the actual contest.  SB Nation  All leads 

Critic favorably reviews Winter’s Tale at Coal Mine Theatre

Critic Martin Morrow has written favorably about a production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale by the Groundling Theatre Company.  It is being presented now through to February 20, 2016 at the Coal Mine Theatre at 1454 Danforth Avenue east of Monarch Park Ave. Morrow says in his review that the small theatre reminds him of the 487-seat Tom Patterson Theatre at Stratford and that the production “is packed with current Stratford stars and Stratford alumni”. A groundling incidentally is a spectator or reader of inferior taste, such as a member of a theater audience who traditionally stood in the pit below the stage.

Twin boys dead, six hurt after break in at bobsled track

Teenage twin brothers, 17, died after using their own sled to go down a bobsled track after hours at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. The two seventeen-year-olds crashed into a large gate used to separate the luge and bobsled tracks, police said. Mailonline 

Obituary published for Leaside native Robert (Bob) Fleming

Dennis Priestley has written to note the obituary of Robert C.A. (Bob) Fleming  in Toronto Star. Mr. Fleming was born in Leaside and spent the first 20 years of his life there.