Old Bennington home gets a re-build

by  • 

An amazing re-build is going on at No. 2 Lumley in Bennington Heights. Amazing because of the location, which is right beside the Cat’s Eye footbridge to Moore Park. Also amazing for the size of the foundation of the new structure. Right, you see workers in very hot weather trying to control the concrete chute which has just been primed and is blowing concrete around outside the forms.

Expressing himself on the price of meat

by  • 

Livestock analyst Scott Shelley had no trouble expressing himself sartorially or on the price of meat today. Pressure on livestock costs is affecting the price of food generally. Statistics Canada reports that last month food increased 4.8 percent from June of 2010. The overall annual inflation rate was 3.1 per cent in June, down from 3.7 per cent in May. And while food prices rose 4.8 percent, energy prices were 15.7 per cent higher than a year earlier. The price of gasoline was 28.5-per-cent higher on a year-over-year basis, although it actually dropped slightly compared with May.

Rogers outage story well-read

by  • 

For a modest little blog like the South Bayview Bulldog, the response to our story from last night about the Thursday local outage of Rogers cable, Internet and wireless phone service has been considerable. Some took the time to comment. Thanks to them we can surmise that the outage effected Moore Park and some points to the west. Two readers from St. Clair-Yonge wrote to us. But more than 150 readers have checked the story indicating, perhaps, that the event had some relevance to them.

Temps down a little as heat continues

by  • 

South Bayview and all of Toronto will be still be very hot today, even though the temperatures are somewhat lower than yesterday. The fall of three or four degrees in the predicted high represents a fair drop in the way we feel. Celsius degrees carry quite a wallop. Importantly, the humidex index will plunge after Thursday’s record-breaking heat. But will be hot over the weekend. Environment Canada has cancelled its weather warning, but Toronto’s extreme heat alert remains in effect.

One-time baseball great now a mere fraud

by  • 

The New York Daily News is reporting this morning on how a baseball great has fallen into a life of fraud. Former Mets outfielder Lenny Dyksta is said to have faked a $37,593 balance on an overdrawn bank account as part of his alleged scheme to defraud dealerships of luxury vehicles. Dyksta was one of the heroes of the New York Mets 1986 World Series victory.

The rich still ride the subway north and south

by  • 

The launch of the new subway trains on the Yonge line today recalled the somewhat cynical observation that in Toronto the rich ride north and south while the poor ride east and west. Not nice but you might find it hard to get the clearest of reasons why TTC bosses did what they did. Of course only a few of the new trains went into service Thursday. It seems likely that for the next few weeks most riders will do their commuting in an old train. Inveterate strap-hanger Sandra Zhang promises to take some pictures and give us a review as soon as she sees one of the new trains. But naturally there is lots of comment out there already. One man, who stands six foot four inches, thought the headroom at the doors was a bit lacking. Others said how much they liked the visual read-outs of station names. So much better for those listening to music. You still have to pay a little attention. The new trains won’t automatically rescue you from a feckless iPhone daydream all the way to the end of the line.

Rogers cable and Internet service down

by  • 

According to the company, Rogers cable and internet service was out for the day in what Rogers calls a fairly widespread outage. TV screens turned to hash about 8 am. Thursday and lit up again with full service again shortly before 7 pm. This report is from Moore Park. Readers are invited to comment with other locations where service was down.

Break-in on Alexandra Boulevard

by  • 

Toronto Police Services Report: A resident of Alexandra Boulevard reports that between 2000 hours, July 16, 2001 and 1100 hours, July 19, 2011, entry was gained into the premises by unknown means. Removed was a quantity of jewellery, a vacuum and cash. This occurrence is nearer Homefront’s Eglinton store than it is South Bayview. Nonetheless, it’s a reminder that when you go away for a few days, as these people did, it’s a good idea to get someone to keep an eye on the house.

Complete, totally phony Apple stores in China

by  • 

It will be a long time before we see an Apple store on South Bayview. Apple doesn’t plop stores down just anywhere. That’s why it seemed odd to an American living in the obscure Chinese city of Kumming that three Apple store had opened while she was back home for a couple of months. They looked just like Apple stores should. “They had the classic Apple store winding staircase and weird upstairs sitting area. The employees were even wearing those blue t-shirts with the chunky Apple name tags around their necks,” she said. But the American, known on her blog as Birdabroad, began to put it together. The whole thing was a fake. How could there be three Apple stores in a place like Kumming? Those signs. They said Apple Store. The real Apple outlets just hang up the logo. (In one case the sign said Apple Stoer). No question, these places were a fraud.

Google Trike can spy under your buttons

by  • 

The Google wonks know how to spin a story their way, alright. The tricycle camera platform (it has nine high speed snappers) that hit Toronto yesterday is a good thing because — because why? It reduces pollution? Sure but that’s incidental. It won’t add to traffic? Nope. Friends, the reason the Google trike is just great is that it can sneak around laneways, patios, parkettes and parrot perches like no four-wheel vehicle can do. It can wheel down Wally Crouter Walkway with ease and probe what’s happening in the parking lot of our Lady of Perpetual Help School. Hey, the world wants to know.