Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of The Wizard of Oz opens Thursday December 20 at the Ed Mirvish Theatre at 244 Victoria Street. This is the cast (left) looking good in some pre-opening publicity activity. It is noted that the Lloyd-Webber production contains “all the beloved songs from the award-winning movie score, all the favourite characters and iconic moments..” That would make sense. It would be just just like them to leave out Ding Dong The Wicked Witch is Dead. To the right, a nostalgic extra in which Judy Garland sings Over The Rainbow. Notice the well trained doggie playing Toto. See you at the Ed Mirvish.
Sleeping in a dumpster, man thrown into truck
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What can we say. CBC
Bedford Park Town Homes on Roslin Avenue
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A somewhat unusual project on Roslin Ave in what is loosely called Bedford Park will see these four single family homes demolished and replaced by six town homes as pictured. The development is the work of Balder Corporation and has been named Bedford Park Town Manors. It may be an overly grand name but there seems little doubt the project will improve the street and increase values. Roslin Avenue is a somewhat spotty street of older homes that will probably benefit from some redevelopment. Key to this change is the great location between Yonge St and Mt Pleasant Road and north of Lawrence Ave.
Will Cody kids sing at Starbucks this season?
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Residents and parents will be waiting to see if the morning concerts normally held at Starbucks on Bayvew Ave. will take place this year. Each December pupils of Maurice Cody Junior Public School sing Christmas and other seasonal songs for patrons. Statements from the elementary school teachers union suggest today that such things as concerts outside of school hours will be one of things that teachers will boycott. All involvement in extracurricular activities, field trips and administrative tasks mandated by the Ministry of Education will be refused. The Minister, Laurel Broten, said today that the Government will use legal “tools” to make sure children are not left behind. This suggests she is considering back-to-work legislation. Two years ago
Illustrator Dewar sees City Hall as it really is
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Sue Dewar in the Toronto Sun has produced a illustration that will speak to a lot of taxpayers. Take look at the link here at her vision of City Hall being carted away by a salvage helicopter to the City Dump. Perfect. Cartoon of the Year It accompanies a story by Mike Stroebel suggesting that the whole of council gets 14 days to clean out desks and not come back for two years. Seriously, he says, who needs this? Meanwhile, the legal team representing Mayor Rob Ford has filed written arguments with the divisional court, asking for a stay order which would keep him in the city’s top job, pending the appeal of his conflict of interest ruling. RBC logs truly regal $7.1 billion in 2012 earnings
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The Royal Bank has logged record annual profit in 2012, including $1.9 billion of net earnings in the fourth quarter. Q4 profit amounted to $1.25 per share of net earnings, or $1.27 per share.. For the full-year ended Oct. 31, RBC had $7.5 billion of net earnings. That’s up 17 per cent from 2011 and equal to $4.96 per share of net earnings or $5 per share on an adjusted basis.
Planner finds council speeches “insufferable”
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| Jennifer Keesmaat |
Toronto’s new high-profile City Planner has tweeted out an opinion that the speeches of Councillors are “insufferable” now that jockeying for a run at the Mayor’s office is on. The tweet has embarrassed Jennifer Keesmaat because bureaucrats are not supposed to criticise council. Makes sense but she’s right. Much of the posturing at City Hall is downright nauseating. It seems likely Ms Keesmaat will survive the little boo-boo unscathed however.
Starbucks in U.S. selling special brew for $7/ cup
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Starbucks Corp. has started selling a specialty coffee that costs $7 for a 16-ounce “grande” cup, making it the company’s priciest brew, as customers demand more premium products. The Costa Rica Finca Palmilera coffee costs $40 for a half- pound bag and $6 for a 12-ounce “tall” cup, Lisa Passe, a Starbucks spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. It’s made from a rare, difficult-to-grow varietal called Geisha. The new coffee is available at only 46 locations in the U.S. Northwest with expensive Clover brewing machines. Bloomberg
Elementary teachers talking tough
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Elementary teachers have reminded all Ontarians that they are going to go on strike in December. They’ll give us “ample notice” before the classrooms go dark but it seems certain that there will be darkness. The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario issued a release saying there are currently work-to-rule strike actions occurring in four Ontario school boards, but “teachers in all other boards will also be in a strike position during December.” When that happens, planned strikes by union locals will “affect operations in each public elementary school throughout the province,” ETFO said. Then there is smarmy stuff in the release about how unfortunate it all is.
Now City Council quashes its own bag ban
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Municipal process is a thing full of surprises. So, Surprise! The bag ban is off. For now. 680 News
What’s really driving the “heritage” lobby
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Those who wonder why it is that undistinguished and in some cases dilapidated houses are the subject of desperate attempts to declare them heritage sites are probably looking in the wrong place for an answer. As recent history in Lawrence Park shows, preservationists are having trouble convincing committees that the properties in question really have much value to our history. Why? Bluntly stated, it’s because the properties have no such value. The fuller explanation based on three recent cases seems to be that these houses are valued by preservationists not for themselves but out of fear for what might replace them. Three cases perhaps serve to demonstrate this. They are 140 Dinnick Crescent (since demolished) 102 Wanless Avenue (top) and 19 Saint Leonards Avenue (bottom). It is a subjective thing, of course, but it seems reasonable to say that to many people none of these houses had, by itself, any claim to heritage status. Each had been sold and application made for demolition. It was at this point that “heritage” became an issue. Soon the issue was reduced to a desire to retain the character of the neighborhood. It is a reasonable goal, but a broad concept. Affluent neighborhoods, such as ours, are better positioned to retain their character in the face of change because property values are so high. But, it is a free market. The same dynamic that makes our homes valuable also drives change. The best way of ensuring the character of neighborhoods is with the building code.
Sun newspapers to move behind the paywall
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Sun Media says it will launch a metered pay-per-view system for online readers of its daily tabloids next week. The move folows announcements earlier this year by the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star that they were moving to so-called paywalls which would require readers to pay for their online news.