Work goes on daily to complete the stunning new pedestrian bridge over Queen Street between the CF Eaton Centre and The Bay. Completion is scheduled for September and there is lots to be done. Urban Toronto
A toddler let himself out of a daycare in Keswick Wednesday and ran home without staff knowing what had happened. There is the dickens to pay, you may be sure. Then in London, a teen is convicted and may face jail after killing a young mother last year. And, how about the life of times Mavis Wanczy, Powerball Lottery winner Massachusetts. Also enjoyable, the odd bond which has been formed between this monkey and a chicken. Let the video wheel roll.
Quebec artist Claude Bouchard has sued IKEA Canada and UNICEF for $22 million for allegedly stealing her idea of making plush toys in the mould of children’s drawings, a concept she hit on in the 1970s. She filed the lawsuit Monday in Montreal. In it, Bouchard claims to have invented plush toys that are reproductions of imaginary creatures from kids’ drawings. She says her work can be found in museums and are well-known enough that IKEA should have been aware the idea didn’t belong to the company. Bouchard said she was “stupefied” to notice similar plush toys in a Montreal IKEA store in January 2016, according to Canadian Press.
PROPOSED SAME IDEA TO UNICEF
The artist said she sold her work in a UNICEF boutique between 1994 and 2005 in Montreal. She claims to have presented UNICEF with a plan to sell the toys internationally for the organization’s 50th anniversary but was rebuffed because she didn’t have large-scale production facilities. Bouchard says UNICEF has been collaborating with IKEA since 2014 on a project that sells toys she alleges look like her creations. She claims the plush toys could not have been created without the help of UNICEF, which had privileged access to her concept. Neither IKEA nor UNICEF wanted to comment on the case.
Alexa, order apple sauce. Google, get me garbage bags. It’s how Amazon and Google see the future and it’s why Google has partnered with Walmart. They will prosecute this vision of how groceries and household goods are purchased. Consumers — any number of family members — roaming around within earshot of voice ordering devices, shouting out instruction to buy this and that, whatever the heck is short, or comes to mind.
Joanna Lavoie of the Beach Mirror reports on the precarious state of things at the Toronto Newsgirls Boxing Club, Canada’s first female-owned boxing gym for women and trans people, where they are asking friends to help out with the rent and other costs. Savoy Howe, Newsgirls founder, has hung on at the location at 388 Carlaw Ave. south of Gerrard St. for eleven years. As a way to help, Savoy will present her own story at the club in September (see poster). Then, if you’re looking for work it seems that T.J. Maxx, the huge US retailer that owns Winners, Marshsalls and Homesense, is hiring in Leaside. And finally, the name of the new eatery at 1581 Bayview is Untold. Please tell us.
We all remember when Jessica Chastain and the film crew of Molly’s Game visited South Bayview over the winter of 2016/2017. Molly’s Game, directed by Aaron Sorkin, was filmed in numerous locations throughout our great city. Many Torontonians are excited to learn that the world premiere of the film will be at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) this year.
TIFF will also feature a special presentation and Canadian Premiere of Downsizing, starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. Matt, Kristen and crew were spotted in Leaside last summer filming some scenes from this film.
DOWNSIZING: Matt Damon headlines a cast that includes Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Laura Dern, Jason Sudeikis, Alec Baldwin, and Neil Patrick Harris in Alexander Payne’s sci-fi social satire about a man who chooses to shrink himself (literally) to simplify his life.
See you on the red carpet!
Domenic Buttiglieiri and his happy band are open and serving up these burgers at Urbun Eats Company at 874 Eglinton East at Laird Drive. Better drop in.
Thursday’s meeting of the Toronto Preservation Board will consider a recommendation from the Chief Planner, Jennifer Keesmaat, to include as many as 258 low-rise commercial buildings on Bayview Ave., Mt. Pleasant Rd, Eglinton Ave and Yonge Street in what is known as the Toronto Heritage Register. This status provides a measure of protection from demolition. The list of frequently anonymous-looking, but occasionally more distinguished buildings, dates from the 1920s and 30s when the streets north of St. Clair Ave. were being developed. On Bayview, the buildings on the list range from the Subway Sandwich shop at 1489 (and others nearby) to a building at 1575 which houses Must Boutique to 1588 Bayview, a former bank building which for many years housed Elegant Garage Sale. The recommendation is the subject of a release by Ward 22 Councillor Josh Matlow who also provides a link to the agenda for Thursday’s board meeting.
The Toronto Star reports Thursday that Hemant Bhagwani, creator of Amaya Express, Indian Street Food and other Indian themed restaurants has sold all his businesses and retired, at least for now, from the local food scene. Bhagwani has opened 34 restaurants since 2002. “I probably sponsored 40 cooks from Dubai and India, so there’s probably a guy who previously worked at an Amaya in most of the Indian restaurants in the City. But I stopped enjoying it, so it’s time to step back,” the paper quotes Bhagwani.
NEW OWNER AT INDIAN STREET FOOD
He assures everyone he is leaving Indian Street Food Co in capable hands. The staff remains on along with the new owner Vahid Hoseyni. “The future for Indian Street Food Co remains bright,” he adds. The Indian Street Food Co restaurant is at 1701 Bayview Ave. between Dolly Jewellers and the Academy of Culinary Arts.
Toronto Police are warning east end homeowners of a roofing and chimney repair fraud that has appeared at least five times since March. Most recently, the perpetrators, a man and woman appeared Tuesday but failed to persuade a homeowner on Coleman Ave. fix a vent cap on her chimney. She had been alerted to a scam by a neighbour. The couple take money and disappear. This has occurred in various forms on Cedarcrest Blvd., Sibley Ave. (twice) and on Meighen Ave. On one occasion the two used a debit machine to obtain a PIN number and also stole a debit card, quickly withdrawing $800 from the account. The man and woman are described variously as aged 25 to 30, or 30 to 40. He sometimes wears a baseball cap and her hair, which is black, is in a bun. They have been seen on a white scooter.
The arrest of both the bride and groom at their wedding party in Edmonton last Saturday really does seem to be one for the books. It is tweeted that the bride was jailed for the night while the groom was bailed. Yikes. Police are saying little and it is safe to assume that the CTV reporter who begged the still unnamed couple to come forward “if you want to talk about it” has been disappointed with the radio silence. Happily there are no reports of injuries.
Lake Leaside is nearly dry after a slow drain required by the City to maintain levels in the sewer system. The great cavity, dug so deep perhaps to extract possible contamination, now sits muddy and decorated by random junk.
