Toronto Star reporters Robin Doolittle and Kevin Donovan have collaborated in a long, damning “expose” of, they claim, the drinking problem of Mayor Ford. Most of the story is attributed to unnamed sources but at least one source, Councillor Paul Ainslie, has spoken publicly about an incident at the Garrison Ball in February where, it is said, the Mayor was asked to leave because he was apparently drunk. And although the Star story is based largely on the words of people who are not named, there are details which are very specific. The story effectively says that the mayor is a binge drinker and that he is an habitual purchaser of mickeys of Russian Prince Vodka. The information is said to come from those who care about Mr. Ford and wish him well. They are said in many cases to be former staff members. Such information, presented as fact, would most certainly be actionable and would require proof in court if it were not to be very damaging to the Toronto Star. Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday has said that he has never seen the mayor drink, although he says that doesn’t mean that the mayor does not drink. Today the mayor has accused the Star reporters of being “pathological liars” at a news conference at City Hall honouring boxer George Chuvalo. The mayor dared the Star to sue him for this defamatory accusation.
Playbills recall vital years of Bayview Playhouse
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Virginia Cooper and Theatre Museum Canada have been kind enough to let us use some of the many playbills from productions which were staged at the Bayview Playhouse at 1605 Bayview. The Theatre, which has had many incarnations now, was built in 1936 as the Bayview Cinema. As Ms Cooper has noted, the theatre’s life as a film venue ended in the 60s. It was then that the Bayview Cinema became the Bayview Playhouse and began a distinguished additional 30 years as a place of live production. Ms Cooper was present at a recent meeting of supporters of the Leaside 100 film being produced by public-spirited Leasiders Barry H. Samuels and Anthony Regan. Anyone with vignettes or physical recollections (pictures, film) are invited to contact the producers. As to the Bayview Playhouse, it has had a pretty interesting history in recent years as well. It was renovated as a grocery store by Bruno, the well known grocer, and then a couple of years ago became the Bayview Ave Shoppers Drug Mart. Much of that history was recorded as it occurred by the The South Bayview Bulldog and may be accessed here. The composite above shows playbills from Automatic Pilot, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, Harry’s Back in Town, Brel is Back, The World Goes Round, The Desert Song, Growing Up and Tableau. Dutch Finance Minister sets nerves on edge
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| Jeroen Dijsselbloem |
Political blunders will happen. But the Dutch Finance Minister dropped a real clanger this morning when he said that the cash-grab on account holders in Cypriot banks was a “template”” for Europe. A promising day on the markets immediately turned into a horror. Well of course the minister hurriedly backtracked on that, even though the business day was well over in Europe by the time it became clear there that the minister had spooked stock markets all over the world. His name is Jeroen Dijsselbloem incidentally and maybe his name will become a synonym for destroying public confidence in banks. The markets took no notice of his protestation that he didn’t mean it and just kept heading for the cellar. Sigh.
Er Shun and Da Mao arrive safely in Toronto
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Er Shun and Da Mao are here. The two Giant Pandas arrived in Toronto from the world’s Panda Capital, Chengdu, China, at 10.46 this morning There was a fitting ceremony with speeches by Prime Minister Harper and the Chinese ambassador to Canada to mark the much anticipated visit. The panda pair, who have never really lived together, will spend five years at the Toronto Zoo and five years in the Calgary Zoo. It is hoped they will produce one or more cubs. They have been kept apart and therefore there are no pictures of them together. The shots above show the arrival of the FedEx Panda Express this morning and a flashback shot to China last year as Laureen Harper tries to keep control of a wiggly panda cub. Across the city, there was predictable excitement. “Feeling like a kid again with the arrival of the pandas,” one person tweeted. “I was 25 when our last set came to Toronto. Happy days are here again.” As part of the show upon arrival, Mr. Harper was required to sign (electronically) for “proof of delivery” just as he would have done for any other shipment. Customs officers came out to the tarmac to process them. The pandas will now spend about a month getting used to Canada — and to each other — before they meet the public at Toronto Zoo. Er Shun is the female. Her name apparently means “Smooth” which may be better rendered in English as “Smoothie.” She and Da Mao are said to be young (6 and 5 respectively) and highly suitable for parenthood. The mating cycle is brief however and may have passed for this season. Thus it may be next year if there is to be a pregnancy. Ugh! New streetcars don’t fit St. Clair platforms
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It’s an incitement to those who think the St. Clair Ave. West street car right-of-way was an insane boondoggle. Now it appears that the new Bombardier built streetcars, which were ordered in 2009 a year before the right-of-way was built, don’t fit many of the platforms. Newstalk 1010
Chengdu pandas in the air en route to Toronto
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The much-awaited visit to Canada of two giant Pandas from China will begin with the official welcome Monday morning shortly after 10 am. On the left above, video of Er Shun and Da Mao as they departed Chengdu today.The commentary is in Chinese but the video is interesting. On the right, video released last week by FedEx and the Toronto Zoo which is quite informative.
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| Panda Express |
It also shows the nifty FedEx plane with a panda painted on the front. In addition to Mr.and Mrs Harper, the pandas will be met by Zhang Junsai, the Chinese ambassador to Canada. The pandas will take up residence in Toronto and live here for five years before being moved to Calgary, where they will live there for another five years. A complete guest list for the pandas arrival had not been released as of Sunday evening. But, according to the Toronto Star, based on the guest list released by the Prime Minister’s Office the pandas can at least expect a welcome similar in size to that which greeted U.S. President Barack Obama..
Area codes 437 and 365 added to city, suburbs
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As reported previously, the 416 area will soon share the city with another code, 437, and the suburban 905 zone will add the 365 area code. Starting tomorrow Bell, Rogers, Telus and others can begin handing out the 437 area code in Toronto alongside 416 and 647 and the 365 area code in the 905-289 region. It may however take a bit longer than that because there a few old numbers left. “These new area codes reflect the growing use of cell phones and other mobile devices,” says Glenn Pilley. Mr. Pilley has the fascinating title of Canadian Numbering Administrator and he points out that adding a new area code can create more than seven million new phone numbers.
The line between casino and all-day kindergarten
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As we see it there’s a line between the urgent insistence of government that we have a casino in or near Toronto, and the seemingly benign idea of all-day kindergarten. It’s not a direct line, of course, the two parts are symbolic of the way Ontario has spent itself into a huge hole and now hardly has control over how it is going to dig its way out. There are many things on which the government has spent money– some less useful than all-day kindergarten — but taken together over many years they have turned Queen’s Park into a basket case. It’s no secret. When Dalton McGuinty trumpeted his blue ribbon report last year the author of that epic work, former TD Bank top economist Don Drummond, told the Premier to cancel the idea of all-day kindergarten immediately. It was way too expensive given the size of the provincial debt. Willful to the end, the government told Mr Drummond to shut up. There was an election coming and the kindergarten stuff was a yummy good vote catcher. And that’s fine. But as we ponder the scattering of NoCasinoToronto.com lawn signs along Southvale Drive those who, like The South Bayview Bulldog, would rather not have a casino here, should remember how Ontario became so desperate for money.
New Acropolis trolling for recruits on Bayview
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A fresh wave of posters with tear-off tickets for the rather vague organization known as New Acropolis has hit the utility poles of South Bayview (inset below). This time the appeal is for those so inclined to answer the question: What is your Archetype? The answer, as provided by New Acropolis, can lead one to a kind of heaven on earth. Tickets are sold for $25 a pop to a “seminar” and a website makes it sound important:
It is essential to rediscover the profound identity of women and of men through archetypes. Hence, both men and women will be able to embrace their respective strengths, values, and aspirations, in order to build harmony. This seminar is dedicated to the understanding of the feminine and masculine polarities, so as to promote a new art of living together. An activity to free ourselves from misunderstandings and irritants, and to recover our joy and sense of humour!
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| On South Bayview |
New Acropolis appears to be a mostly South American and European body. The hearts of those involved may be in the right place but their simplistic appeal and over-done sense of belonging has gotten them into trouble in the past with government in France and Belgium. Most mature minds will find the New Acropolis appeal roughly like a sad pickup line — “”what’s your sign”” — or someting like that. But those with adolescents whose sense of themselves is not yet fully formed might wish to be aware of this trolling for recruits going on right here on South Bayview.
Lineups at liquidation sale at 1685 Bayview Ave
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Shoppers were lined up to grab decor and furniture items being liquidated at 1685 Bayview Ave. Saturday morning. The nice patterned pillows we photographed yesterday and shown in the picture were snapped up in minutes. And business has been brisk all day at the store, Detail Interiors, as all inventory will be sold. The sale is expected to last about a month. That address is just north of Fleming Cres. and south of Leo’s Barber Shop. The store closed a few days ago after barely 18 months in business and now it appears the landlord has seized the inventory for unpaid rent. The agents are Danbury Liquidation Services. Liquidation NoticeBid for 4 towers on Dawsco’s Eglinton land
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The scent of multi-unit construction along Eglinton Ave. E shouldn’t surprise anyone these days. So the news, as reported by writer Will Ashworth, that the partnership of Diamond Corporation and Dawsco Property might build four towers at the south-east corner of Eglinton and Brentcliffe Rd. seems somehow written in the stars. We may wish it were otherwise but this is what we invite with an LRT along Eglinton Ave. in a city that just has not learned how to stop growing. Those in the neighborhood will know the landscape. The Dawsco buildings stretching west toward the eastern boundary of the Mercedes Benz property. Then south past the pleasant strip mall on Brentcliffe to Vanderhoof Ave. where the development would look across the street at St. John’s Music and the other businesses that take us down to Laird. On this corner, incidentally, the developers are suggesting a 3/4 acre park. The information, as reported by Mr. Ashworth, comes out of a meeting of the Leaside Property Owners Association, which he attended.
Online petition opposes condo at 2 Laird Drive
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A petition opposing the eight-storey condo development on the site of the old Postal Station R at 2 Laird Drive is circulating throughout Leaside. It is also online. So far nearly 650 people have signed it. The petition is a cry from the heart from citizens who fear another “variance” to city zoning may yet approve the structure. The petition, which is here, says: “The proposal contravenes the intent of the Toronto Official Plan on many levels and raises concerns for the future growth of Leaside. We believe the excessive height, density, massing, and the built form’s incompatibility with the existing neighbourhood’s context will have an adverse affect on our community. In the best interest for positive change, please join the Leaside Community and LPOA by requesting that the current 2 Laird Drive rezoning application filed with the City of Toronto be refused.”