The South Bayview Bulldog

It’s still possible to buy that venerable lager beer known as Black Label. Black Label is part of the fabric of the male culture in Canada, as the above prehistoric television commercial attests But now here comes Loblaws with a whole new line of Black Label food under the President’s Choice umbrella. And while its true that beer is an acquired taste, we can only ponder how long it might take to develop a hankering ‘for Bacon Marmalade. You will be able to tell for yourself in a few weeks as Loblaws rolls out its Black Label gourmet items at its stores, presumably including Moore Ave and Redway Drive.. Read more about Black Label (the food).

Charlene Kalia, chair of the arena expansion committee reports that the Paul Henderson event on Sunday was huge success. Here is part of her mail: “We raised over 62k not including the SmartCentres top up…” (They committed to matching $25,000 but maybe now they’ll go higher — Ed) “Paul Henderson was amazing with the kids/adults taking pictures and sharing stories. John Parker and Nick Kypreos stopped by. Special thanks to Trembletts Valumart for the BBQ and Mike and Christine Occhipinti for the coffee.”

This is a typically enchanting look at the lifelike full-size puppets of War Horse. They portray horses drafted into the British army in the 1914 war. The effect created by these puppets, and puppeteers, is extraordinary. They even have the sounds correct. Notice how the crowd responds as if the horse is real. It is said the puppets for the Toronto performances are on their way to the city. War Horse is slated to begin performances with a homegrown cast on Feb. 10, 2012 at the Princess of Wales Theatre. More

No doubt the philosophers at Social Planning Toronto mean well when they suggest that affluent parents should no longer be permitted to raise money so the local school can give their kids the best education. This is what the “non-profit” body is suggesting and the Toronto School Board is nibbling at the bait. Schools in South Bayview do quite well at raising money so their pupils can benefit in ways which, perhaps, other children cannot. It is an inequity, for sure. And for Social Planning Toronto, inequity is the enemy. But our society lives in a real world that is full of economic inequities. Inequity is inevitable. The question is not whether there are inequities, but whether those inequities are unconscionable. There is a world of difference between trying to address unfairness and trying to make every school, kid and parent the same. There is no lack of compassion in South Bayview. People here are among the most decent in the City. It is wrong for educators to say that we’re “on dangerous ground” as things stand. If they want dangerous ground, the Utopian notion that donations should be pooled and spread around like taxes is a good place to start. For starters, donations would dry up. Indeed, some of the ideas floated are so outrageous it is hard to take them seriously. But it is safe to say, that if any such foolishness becomes policy, there will be a veritable earthquake among trustees at the next election.

Thanks to reader rudy for tipping us to the confirmation that the space junk over Calgary was indeed a hoax. A story in the Vancouver Sun has chapter ansd verse on the phony story which originated with some joker calling himself “Reporter Cal Phillips.” And once again the popular signalling system Twitter was used to get the tale out there before it could be checked. The Sun called it a “scene reminiscent of Orson Welles’ famous War of the Worlds broadcast, an Internet hoax early Saturday had a NASA satellite the size of a bus crashing to Earth on a farm near Okotoks.”

The Liberal Government at Queen’s Park has announced that it will halt construction on the natural gas electric generation plant in Mississuaga. The news was delivered by the local candidate and is clearly related to the tight contest between the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives for Toronto area seats. A poll apparently shows the two parties in a dead heat for support as the Thursday, October 6, 2011 General Election looms. Those concerned about whether we’re going to be able to keep the lights on in Ontario may take some solace in the knowledge that such proclamations are not always set in stone, so to speak.