Postal Station K on Yonge Street at Broadway Ave. was the scene of a polite gathering of politicians and others on Tuesday. They were demanding, apparently, the permanent retention of the 1937 building in the interest of history. They also protested against any more high rises. It’s doubtful that either of these concerns will carry the day. But those who were there should find inspiration in the way another post office, the Central Delivery Station on Bay Street, was incorporated into Air Canada Centre. The downtown building (lower inset) was a much more handsome structure than Post Station K. But that’s no reason for not trying to save the edifice of the Yonge and Broadway post office.
Canada’s badminton girls will be playing to win
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| Alex Bruce Michelle Li |
It’s no doubt heart-breaking for the eight women badminton players who have been expelled from the Olympics by the World Badminton Federation. These young people from China, South Korea and Indonesia are naive and were foolishly influenced. It’s a shame they were tricked — or tricked themselves — into thinking it was okay to intentionally lose. Their teams had already qualified and by losing, the badminton women were trying to succeed to a match against a weak team still left in the competition. But sports is about playing the game strenuously to win. The judges were right to disqualify. The two Canadian athletes who have been the lucky beneficiaries of the match-fixing won’t be tempted to make a similar mistake. Alex Bruce of Toronto and Michele Li of Markham received another chance in the doubles tournament because two of the offending teams had been in their group. The Canadians were thus launched into the quarter-final, and they took advantage. Ms. Bruce and Ms. Li beat the Australian team in three sets (21-9, 18-21, 21-18) to advance to an unexpected semi-final appearance against Japan. Win or lose, the IOC can be sure that Canada’s girls will be giving it everything they’ve got.
1962 Mercury M-100 on seen at home on Bessborough Dr
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1962 Mercury pickup truck
Always a surprise in the driveways of South Leaside as we spot a 1962 Mercury M-100 pickup truck beside someone’s home. This model was among Ford’s most popular Mercury trucks and in 1962 came with the stylized “M” as a hood ornament. Ford manufactured the Mercury truck beside the Ford pickup from 1948 to 1968.
445 Heath E. dressed in sand coloured bricks
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We’ve been keeping tabs on this modern home under construction at 445 Heath Street East in Bennington Heights since the original was knocked down. It now appears in a nice cladding of sand coloured brick. The structure was designed by real estate agent Tracey Fines, who owns the property with her husband who is building it. They live just down the street. Tracey also designed the similar spacious home at nearby 8 Evergreen Gardens (inset). 445 Heath should be on the market in September, Tracey says.
“I lied and lied,”says author of Dylan quotes
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A staff writer for The New Yorker has resigned and his bestselling book has been halted after he acknowledged inventing quotes by Bob Dylan. Jonah Lehrer released a statement Monday through his publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, saying that some Dylan quotes appearing in Imagine: How Creativity Works did “not exist.” Others were “unintentional misquotations, or represented improper combinations of previously existing quotes.”Lehrer said he acknowledged his actions after being contacted by Michael Moynihan of the online publicationTablet Magazine, which earlier Monday released an in-depth story on the Dylan passages in Imagine. “I told Mr. Moynihan that (the quotes in question) were from archival interview footage provided to me by Dylan’s representatives. This was a lie spoken in a moment of panic. When Mr. Moynihan followed up, I continued to lie, and say things I should not have said,” Lehrer wrote in his statement. “The lies are over now. I understand the gravity of my position. I want to apologize to everyone I have let down, especially my editors and readers.”
Microsoft changes Hotmail to Outlook.com
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Still the most popular mail in the world, Hotmail faces growing challenges from g-mail, social media upstarts like Twitter and mere texting. CNN Money
Synchronized “sisters” bring home bronze
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Meaghan Benfeito (right) and Roseline Filion, of Montreal, receive their bronze medals for women’s 10m Synchronized Diving. The two have worked together as a team since 2005, a long hard road to see their dedication finally pay off. Yesterday they were asked if they were sisters to which Meaghan said “no, but we will be tomorrow when we’re in the pool.” YouTube
Trees on east side of Bayview? We live in hope
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Last fall we wondered innocently when the folks on the east side of Bayview might see a tree or something in those rectangular plots of asphalt along the curbs of the new sidewalk. It seemed a reasonable hope that there might be some work done this summer. We live in hope, of course. Previous post
Long odds that local voters info at risk
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The odds are long, but real, that local voters in Don Valley, Don Valley West and Toronto Centre, may have had their personal information compromised by carelessness at Elections Ontario. The privacy commissioner, Ann Cavoukian, is outraged about the loss of two USB keys containing unencrypted personal information for as many as 2.4 million voters. Elections Ontario could not establish which of some 25 electoral districts out of a possible 49 were impacted. The privacy breach affects potentially four million voters, including the local ridings mentioned above. Elections Ontario says the information could only be accessed with internal software. There was no indication that such a compromise had occurred.
Stylish, out-front woman named City Planner
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A stylish, out-front woman is Toronto’s new chief planner. Jennifer Keesmaat was appointed today. She has led city planning projects in Vancouver, London and Halifax, and has been involved with international projects in the U.S., Ireland and Greece. Earlier this year, Keesmaat was a guest speaker at the TEDx conference in Regina, where she presented on the societal benefits of children walking to school, which she called a “simple, hopeful, powerful act.” She is a planner and partner in a well-known local firm, Dialog, as well as a commentator for CBC Radio. Professional publicity pictures of Ms Keesmaat abound and those above are but three. Notes from a symposium on Ms Keesmaat.
IOC hints Ye Shiwen did not test positive
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Blazing swim time raises drug speculation
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The IOC reacts to calls for a doping test for 16-ear-old Ye Shiwen, who swam faster than anyone thought possible..Ye astounded the world Saturday when she completed the final 50 metres of the 400 IM — her weaker event — in a blistering 28.93. Report by Sophie Foster.