“Most entertaining airport delay ever” at Pearson

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Megan and Bryan

As passengers endured the downed computer at Pearson Airport Saturday, Megan McMillan, who describes herself as a proud Maritimer and avid sing-along participant” called her airport delay “the most entertaining ever”. That’s because she was thrown together in passenger Hell with Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. We don’t know if Adams thinks this delay Cuts Like A Knife but he has already had a lot of good fortune in life so maybe he could handle it. Megan arranged to get a picture of herself with the musical star as a nice souvenir (inset). Adams rose to fame in North America with his album Cuts Like a Knife and turned into a global star with his 1984 album Reckless.  In 1991, he released his popular Waking Up the Neighbours album which included “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”, one of the best-selling singles of all time. With Wikipedia..

How are you managing so far, South Bayview?

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How are you doing so far South Bayview? The conditions are sloppy and the atmosphere is opaque but at least you can go outside without turning into a human Popsicle. On Twitter, Ingrid McGaughey says she is hoping the thaw will last long enough for her to chip the ice off her steps. But she fears the kids outdoor rink is gone. Melinda (not Melissa) Maldonado is saying she enjoys the mild temperatures of “le grand thaw” and sends a picture inset. Vraiment, Melinda. Kim Randall thanks drivers for sharing the road with “this puddle jumping runner.” Hey, we can relate, Kim.  But no matter how you smush it, we have mild temperatures across the area with a resulting mushy mess. Environment Canada is calling for 15 to 25 mm of rain as temperatures sore to a high of 8 C. Many residents awoke Saturday morning to a thick fog across much of the region, creating limited visibility for motorists.

Gripping video of escape from small plane crash

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This video of a small plane crash into coastal waters in Hawaii is no like no other you have seen. You would never know from the events recorded here that a woman died in the crash. She was Loretta Fuddy, 65, the state’s health director. It is the intense activity of passengers as they grapple with life jackets and calmly struggle to escape that seems so improbable. Ferdinand Puentes, 39, was on the 2002 Cessna Grand Caravan and captured the footage of passengers’ bracing for impact moments before the plane crashed into the water Dec. 11. The plane departed from Molokai, Hawaii, bound for Honolulu with nine people on board. 

ABCs of the 97 Yonge bus service not for kids

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The familiar 97 bus which used to take passengers all the way up Yonge Street from downtown to Steeles Ave has been turned into a kind of alphabet soup by the TTC. They say it is for a good cause. There is serious construction on north Yonge. The changes are intended to make things run smoother. But it means the 97 bus no longer turns into St. Clair Station.  Last Monday the TTC split the 97 into two separate north and south services. Buses on the northern section now operate from Steeles Avenue to Lawrence Station via Yonge Street, on a 97C (Steeles-Lawrence Station) branch. On the southern section, seven day a week service is now operated on the 97A (Davisville Station-York Mills Station via Yonge Blvd) branch. Monday-Friday peak period service will be operated on the 97B (Queens Quay-York Mills Station) branch. Service between Davisville Station and St Clair Station, which previously operated in the midday from Monday to Friday has been removed. Service levels will change slightly. An apple for the teacher please. TTC map. 
Escalators at York Mills Station  
Still on Yonge Street, Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) is passing on a TTC note that both escalators at York Mills subway station are out of service until the Fall for renovation. Oh joy!  The old trundlers have passed their 25-year life and need an overhaul.

Toronto Zoo has happy lowland gorilla event

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Ngozi with her newborn
Happy times at the Toronto Zoo a Ngozi, a western lowland gorilla, has given  birth to a baby overnight Thursday. Mom and baby are both healthy and are doing well. The father of this newborn, whose gender has not been determined, is Charles. The zoo says this is Ngozi’s second birth; her son Nassir was born in September 2009. Ngozi arrived at the Toronto Zoo from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle in 2008, specifically to breed with Charles. Their newest baby is the 10th of this endangered species to be sired by Charles and born at the Toronto Zoo. “There has been a decline in wild populations of gorillas worldwide because of hunting, disease and habitat loss, according to the zoo’s curator of mammals. The zoo said western lowland gorillas are found in the rain forests of Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. An adult male can weigh 200 kg and adult females about 100 kg. Females mature at about eight years old, but typically don’t breed until they’re 10. They usually give birth to a single baby, after an average gestation period of 265 days. With the new unnamed baby’s arrival, the zoo is home to seven gorillas: three adults and four youngsters.

“Toronto Eaton Centre” reinforces its name

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Further to our post about the Eaton Centre’s new billboard campaign to capture the Twitter generation comes the release of a statement and video (right) which seeks to reinforce the name of the mall. After all, in the demise of Eaton’s, and Sears short-lived successor of the same name, the image of the Eaton Centre has become a little fudged. Now Owners Cadillac Fairview are out to make you remember (and like) Toronto Eaton Centre. The Toronto is an addition to the name so proudly broadcast in the halcyon days of the shopping mecca (left)    

Perils of the season as woman knocked down

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A woman lies on the cold and frozen surface of Macpherson Ave. near Yonge Street Wednesday after she was bumped by a car while walking on the road. It appears she was on the road because the sidewalk was too icy. It is a peril of the season and despite warming temperatures conditions are still tricky. She was taken to hospital by ambulance to be checked out. Much of Ontario will climb out of the deep freeze this weekend, with some places forecast to see daytime highs above 5°C. “A deepening low pressure system will approach southern Ontario this evening and move north of the regions Saturday,” said Environment Canada in a special weather statement early Friday. “Several weather typeswill occur before rain spreads across the region.” Light snow picked up across southern Ontario early Friday, resulting in slick and slow conditions for the morning commute.  Photo: Yonge and Roxborough News correspondent William