Can 6-fingered family help Brazil win World Cup?

Fourteen members of a Brazilian family, the Da Silvas, were born with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot thanks to a rare genetic condition called polydactyly. The family, who live near the capital, Brasilia, are staunchly proud of their additional digits, and say they believe they can help the national team win their sixth title in Rio de Janeiro next month.

Thousands at Pride live in the shadows at home

There was a rather poignant moment on CP24 Saturday (June 21, 2014) which seemed to set the spectacle of World Pride Week in perspective. A resident of Barbadoes spoke candidly about the very different life lived by LGBT people in the Caribbean. “You still have to be very much under the table,”  said the man as he was interviewed in costume and makeup on Church Street. A trip to that busy thoroughfare may or may not be in everyone’s plans but the people who will party there tonight do so in a special place. Many of them will return to places all over the world where they must live their lives in the shadows. You don’t have to celebrate World Pride to understand how much more decent is this place we keep here in Toronto

Twin towers at Yonge-Helendale go to OMB

It is the fate of Yonge St. north and south of Eglinton Ave. E. that developers will be pushing the limits. Post Magazines

It was a great day for a BBQ on South Bayview

It was a perfect day for hiking along South Bayview, checking out the shops and activities. Here is a sample of the early doings at Chad McDowell’s BBQ outside the Valu mart where the burgers and hot dogs were moving fast. That’s Chad himself at the BBQ.  

37,000 celebrate sosltice at Stonehenge

The BBC says an estimated 37,000 people gathered to watch the sun rise on the longest day of the year at Stonehenge today. There were few arrested made during the large event which featured Druids, drug users and pagans as well as more conventional celebrants. Just why the monument is open at all was the question from some commentators. It is almost always closed for fear of the damage people cause to the prehistoric site. But the gathering went peacefully today.  “We are pleased that the solstice celebrations have been enjoyable events for the majority of people attending,” said a spokesman for Wiltshire Police.

North by northeast festival road closings

Lower Yonge St. and other streets like Shuter and Victoria will be either closed or restricted this weekend because of the North by Northeast music festival. Police notice 

City has traffic not gridlock and drivers know the difference

Here we have candidate David Soknacki joining the political pack yet again by re-defining words in the hope of getting elected. He insists that the thing everyone else recognizes as mere traffic is in reality a black beast named gridlock.  The dictionary says gridlock happens when motion is locked, everything stops moving indefinitely because cars — or maybe bicycles — are arranged in such a way that none of them can  move. The truth about gridlock? There is none in Toronto. There is gridlock in Beijing where they don’t know how to drive. In Toronto we have traffic. It may be heavy or light, annoying or unimportant but it’s traffic, not gridlock. In Toronto, everyone gets home at night without gridlock locking them out of seeing their families. In fact, where gridlock even threatens, well-trained Toronto drivers  figure out how to make it go away. So David Soknacki is doing what municipal politicians typically do. He is seizing on an annoyance and trying to make it into an election issue. He says ban all parking on downtown streets. Get rid of the cars except for the ones speeding through. Oh sure, the parked cars will have drivers and passengers who are buying dinner or shopping in stores. If there is no traffic there are no people, no businesses, no payroll and no taxes from businesses that thrive from the people who arrive in cars. This is not hard to understand. 

Leaside Magical Gardens open at 11 a.m. Saturday

Jean Ko Din reminds us from her article in InsideToronto of the self-guided summer highlight known as the Magical Gardens of Leaside on Saturday. It is a nice little walk to ten residential gardens in the old part of the town and it takes place tomorrow, Saturday, June 21, 2014. As usual you need a $10 passport but they are easily found at the many local merchants who always sell them. Before you start off, pop into Gentry Clothiers in the Sunnybrook Plaza,  Royal LePage, 1391 Bayview Avenue at McRae or the Urban Nature Store in the nice little plaza on Brentcliffe (the number is 939 Eglinton Ave East). Urban Nature has been a Bulldog advertiser for a long time. They carry a lovely selection of garden and outdoor necessities. The hours of the tour are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and you will find the gardeners who created locations available to educate you as you go. As Ms. Ko Din reports, there is tri-colour beech tree, a weeping larch, a 30-year-old caragana tree, perennials, peonies, hydrangea, trillium, and over 20 types of roses to be seen.

Love of animals leads to road death conviction

A  Montreal woman is guilty of negligence causing death and dangerous driving for stopping her car on a Quebec highway to “rescue” and take home some ducklings she saw by the side of the road. Her car was stopped in the left lane of a highway south of Montreal when a motorcyclist and his young daughter, riding as a pasenger, slammed into the back of the vehicle in 2010. They both died. The woman, Emma Czornobaj, has no prior record of any kind. She will be sentenced in August. Canadian Press 

England still has chance to join World Cup last 16

You’ve got to have faith, say supporters. Guardian

Break-in by forcing door on Garland Avenue

A resident of Garland Ave. north of Blythwood Rd. tells 52 division police that there was an afternoon break-in at his home on Wednesday, June 18, 2014.  It is said to have occurred between 2.30 and 3.30 p.m. The thief forced a door to make off with a quantity of jewellery.

Who pays for dry cleaning after poutine cab ride?

For those who haven’t been to taxi business school there’s Halo (cabs you see on your phone) and something like Halo called Uber, but it wants to be different. And there’s Beck. Never mind. The story is that for visitors to the North by Northeast Festival going on now in Toronto Uber is offering fresh and tasty poutine on demand to help you enjoy the ride and take pride in Canada. Stay with us. Uber Toronto told Citynews that it was looking for a fun way to help celebrate national pride while providing a service that is closely related to what they do. Okay. Who pays for the dry cleaning?