contact January 3rd, 2009
Yeah, I know that Toronto Rocks already, but I’m talking about the DVD, so let’s see what it’s about:
On July 30, 2003, close to a half a million people gathered in Toronto for one of the most spectacular concerts of all time in fact, the largest ticketed single-day event in history. The Rolling Stones headlined the show, accompanied by 13 other acts, including AC/DC, Rush, the Guess Who, and Justin Timberlake. Now, this amazing day has been captured on DVD. Who steals the show? The Isley Brothers, led by founding singer Ronald and axeman Ernie, who blaze through “Who’s That Lady” and their classic “Shout” with a band of lock-tight musicians and dancers.
The DVD includes the kind of full-size color booklet every concert disc should come with, a choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and uncompressed PCM stereo sound (both great), and a dose of “bonus” backstage ballyhoo. A unique extra is the director’s broadcast call of the camera shots for AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” revealing the frantic, real-time demands of a live shoot.
Find out more about Toronto Rocks and order it
contact October 24th, 2008
Perhaps not the most fun book to read but it’s actually quite interesting and filled with important information if you live in Canada or are interested in Canadian politics. It’s short, sweet and it’s certainly very clear, but most importantly it provides an outstanding explanation of why Canada’s government takes the form it does.
The Canadian Regime: An Introduction to Parliamentary Government in Canada
contact September 27th, 2008
From electronista:
“Two of Canada’s biggest telephone companies, Bell Canada Enterprises and Telus Corp., have began charging their customers for incoming unsolicited text messages on their cellphones, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is passing legislation to end what he calls an unfair practice, says a Thursday report. Harper would allow the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to block unfair charges and the telecommunications act would be amended to include a code of conduct for wireless services.
A spokesman from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association says a ban on unsolicited commercial text messages, or spam texts, is unnecessary, as cell-phone spam in Canada is virtually non-existent. Bell charges anywhere from 10 cents to a dollar for incoming texts, depending on which company sends it, but will cancel the fees at a customer’s strong request, provided the incoming message are clearly identifiable as unsolicited.
At the same time, Harper says loosening ownership restrictions in Canada’s telecommunications industry is not a wise move at the current economically tough times. A government-appointed competition panel in June suggested the industry should be opened up to foreign investors, but Harper believes opening up the market would hurt Canada’s economy, though he admits it would encourage competition.
Harper is under pressure from opposing parties to address such consumer issues, which also extend to other industries.” [source]
contact August 5th, 2008
Bloor Cinema rules. It is a real, traditional, old school movie theatre for true movie buffs – showing classic favorite movies. If you’ve never been to an old theater and want to experience what your parents or grandparents experienced, check out Bloor. Its wonderful sticky floors, movie classics as well as more obscure gems, cheap tickets, squeeky seats, more than 800 seats, true movie house smells, gummy worms… will just make you sigh. In a good way. What is NOT to like about this place!? Tell me.
The Bloor Cinema is a host for gobs of film festivals, movie premieres, special gala events, classic films and Hollywood blockbusters. They showcase a variety of perspectives from across Canada and around the world: independent films, fascinating stories, important documentaries and sometimes just wild, unbridled entertainment.
This historic landmark should be a must-see item on your list when visiting Toronto, whether you go see a movie or not. LOVE this place.
Browsing tonight’s listing, I noticed that Ghost World (with Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi) is playing. Don’t miss that excellent film!
Bloor Cinema
506 Bloor Street West,
Toronto ON M5S1Y2 Canada
(416) 516-2331
- art / design , celebs , events , family , films/movies , good eats / restaurants / cafes , hidden secrets , information , kids , music , outside of toronto , practical , toronto , trivia
contact July 10th, 2008
Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Nova Scotia Canada) has been added to the World Heritage List of new Natural Wonders of the World.
These magnificently exposed layers of rock reveal the world’s most complete fossil record of life in the “Coal Age” when lush forests covered Joggins and much of the world’s tropics, 300 million years ago.|
Preserved in situ at Joggins, “Coal Age” trees stand where they grew, the footprints of creatures are frozen where they once walked, the dens of amphibians are preserved with remnants of their last meal, and the earliest reptiles remain entombed within once hollow trees. Nowhere is this record of plant, invertebrate and vertebrate life within now fossilized forests rendered more evocatively.
The fossil record includes species first defined at Joggins, some of which are found nowhere else on earth. It was here that Sir Charles Lyell, with Sir William Dawson, founder of modern geology, discovered tetrapods — amphibians and reptiles — entombed in the upright fossil trees. Later work by Dawson would reveal the first true reptile, Hylonomus lyelli, ancestor of all dinosaurs that would rule the earth 100 million years later. This tiny reptile serves as the reference point where animals finally broke free of the water to live on land. This evolutionary milestone recorded at Joggins remains pivotal to understanding the origins of all vertebrate life on land, including our own species.
With careful observation and interpretation, you may find your own missing piece of time’s puzzle. As you explore the beach at Joggins, remember that every rock holds the possibility of discovery. [source]
contact May 9th, 2008
From mcleans:
They came from China and England, from India and Mexico — 94 people of every age and race, from 13 countries in all. They arrived this crisp autumn morning at an imposing new office complex in Surrey, B.C., filling neat rows of folding chairs in a second-floor courtroom, Citizenship Judge Shinder Purewal presiding. The judge is a cheerful man in a happy job. He told them about some of his own experiences: the murder of his father when he was an infant, and how he arrived in Canada from India as a 17-year-old because his mother wanted to raise her family in a land of peace and security. Purewal, also a political science professor, told them how difficult it is to move to a country where you don’t speak the language or understand the culture. Give it time, he urged them, and Canada will exceed your expectations. He told them how he built a new life in Canada and earned a Ph.D., and how this country — ranked best in the world, he said — has much to offer them as well. “What makes this country great,” he said, “is your presence.”
They stood and raised their right hands — a little girl with bouncing pigtails and a pink coat, a dignified older man with a flowing white beard and a saffron turban, and all the rest — and they recited the oath of citizenship in halting French. “Now you are 50 per cent Canadian,” joked the judge. Then they recited the pledge again in English. Now you are 100 per cent Canadian, he said. They applauded. Friends took photos. And just before 10 a.m. on Nov. 13, the country gained 94 new citizens, with 94 sets of hopes and dreams and plans.
It was a beautiful thing to see. A visitor to the ceremony couldn’t…”
Read the rest and watch a video
contact April 24th, 2008
From the torontosun:
“It’s time to get over any hang ups with clotheslines.
Ontario will outlaw clothesline bans by this summer to encourage citizens to use the environmentally friendly option when doing laundry.
“We want you to feel comfortable, wherever you happen to live in the province of Ontario, to put up a clothesline and to let mother nature, let the wind and the sun, dry your clothing,” Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday.
Homeowners would no longer be subject to municipal bylaws or homebuilder agreements that ban the lines.
Electric clothes dryers account for about 6% of a home’s energy consumption, and cutting use by 25% would save consumers about $30 per year.
Toronto Hydro’s Take A Load Off program is offering citizens a free retractable clothesline and cold water washing detergent.
At the official launch of the program yesterday, Energy Minister Gerry Phillips was wearing a shirt that had been hung out to dry.
“I think it’s safe to say that outdoor clothes-hanging season’s now with us,” Phillips said.”
Tags: clothesline, dry+clothes+outside, laundry, toronto, weird+law+abolished
contact April 3rd, 2008
From the star:
“It was bound to happen eventually: Air Canada now wants you to pay extra for better customer service.
In an era of continued cost-cutting, the country’s largest airline yesterday rolled out a new service called “On My Way” that, for a fee, promises to help passengers cope with delays and cancellations beyond the airline’s control, including bad weather or airport traffic.
“This is something that many airlines used to do in-house,” said Rick Erickson, a Calgary-based airline consultant. “But since the advent of the low-cost carrier, everybody wants cheap fares.”
Air Canada said passengers who opt to pay an additional $25 one-way on short-haul flights and an extra $35 one-way on long-haul routes within North America will receive “speedy” access to “specially-trained” customer service agents who will help rebook flights on Air Canada or other airlines, as well as pay for hotel stays and meals, if necessary.
Air Canada said the program, which applies to any flight cancelled within 48 hours of the scheduled departure, goes beyond the industry practice of assisting customers affected by schedule changes deemed to be the airline’s fault, such as mechanical problems with aircraft, scheduling glitches or crew members failing to show up for flights.
But while Air Canada is touting the program as an industry-first, at least one observer said it was once common for big North American carriers to go out of their way to help inconvenienced or stranded customers – free…”
Article
contact March 15th, 2008
From the canadian press:
“OTTAWA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Loblaws Inc. have warned the public not to consume certain pear juices for toddlers that may be contaminated with arsenic.
The CFIA says in a news release that there have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of the products.
The two products listed in the warning are the one-litre President’s Choice Organics Pear Juice from Concentrate for Toddlers and the 128-millilitre Beech Nut Pear Juice from concentrate with Vitamin C added.
The products have been distributed across the country, the agency says.
Arsenic is a toxic heavy metal that may be carcinogenic and may pose developmental risks to children.
Loblaws Inc, has voluntarily recalled the affected products and the CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall, the release says.”
contact March 6th, 2008
From cbc:
“Alberta’s privacy commissioner has ordered a Calgary nightclub to stop scanning patrons’ driver’s licences, disputing the bar owner’s stance that the practice curbs violent behaviour.
Nyall Engfield filed a complaint to the office in August 2005 after his driver’s licence was scanned before he could enter the Tantra Nightclub at 3rd Street and 10th Avenue S.W. He claimed his personal information was collected without his permission.
Tantra and its parent company, Penny Lane Entertainment Group, argued the scanning system was for their customers’ safety and discouraged troublemakers from entering.
In a ruling released Wednesday, Frank Work, Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner wrote: “The organization did not provide any evidence to establish that collecting the complainant’s driver’s licence information, or that of other patrons, is in any way a deterrent to violent behaviour.”
Work ordered Tantra to cease scanning licences because “it has no reasonable purpose for doing so,” and to destroy the information it’s already collected from other patrons.
The Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission said it would…”
Continue
contact March 5th, 2008
From chicago suntimes:
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — “Three times in less than a year, three right feet inside running shoes have been found on separate islands in the Strait of Georgia.
Police don’t know if there are any links between them. Speculation in the region is rife, including that the feet were from slaying victims or they were the remains from drownings. Police haven’t reached any conclusions.
”It is very unusual,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Annie Linteau said Tuesday.
”We’re looking into all our missing person files,” Linteau said.
Curtis Ebbesmeyer, a former professor of oceanography at the University of Washington who studies floating objects, said the feet could have drifted as far as 1,000 miles.
He speculated the feet floated away in the buoyant shoes after breaking from decomposing bodies, possibly of people who drowned in boating accidents. Others said they could be from four men whose bodies weren’t recovered after their small plane crashed in the area.”
[source]
contact March 1st, 2008
From the nyt:
“The Canadian military has resumed handing over prisoners captured in Afghanistan to the Afghan government, a practice it quietly suspended late last year over concerns about torture, the military said Friday.
Speaking to reporters in a conference call from Kandahar, Canada’s operational base in southern Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Grant Dame did not say when the transfers had restarted and said they were being made on a “case-by-case basis.”
“In other words, we’ll exercise discretion each and every time we transfer a detainee,” he said.
The resumption of transfers comes as Parliament is reviewing the country’s combat mission in Afghanistan and as two human rights groups are challenging the transfers in court.
The transfers were ended in November after a Canadian prison inspection team concluded that at least one detainee had been tortured and heard complaints of torture from several others. A heavily censored government report said that one detainee showed inspectors a braided electrical cable and a rubber hose that he said were used for beatings…”
Read the article
contact February 29th, 2008
From treehugger:
“Why worry about keeping church and state separate when oil and automobiles already poison North American political culture? Here’s the latest dustup:- a trade war threat by a Canadian official against US presidential candidates. Analysis by category.
Car Making
Canada exports numerous cars that are designed in the US, assembled in Canada, and then sold in the US, bringing many jobs and sustaining a positive balance of trade for Canada (which does not want things messed up by challenges to NAFTA by US Democrats).
Lobbying
Neither do the Detroit-based car companies and the US oil companies operating in Alberta, all of which seem to have positive relationships with the present US Federal and the Canadian National Governments. Tactical similarities between national leaders of the US and Canada are remarkable:- see: Prime Minister Mini-Me Cans Science Advisor
US Politics
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both have been trash talking NAFTA a bit lately, taking a populist stance toward jobs and health and environmental protection. For Ohio’s sake.
Canadian Politics….”
Continue reading
contact February 24th, 2008
From sott:
Most Canadians still proudly believe that their government refused to join the Iraq War. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are some of the ways in which we joined the fray.
How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again! – Mark Twain
On March 25, 2003, during the “shock and awe” bombardment of Iraq, then US Ambassador Paul Cellucci admitted that “… ironically, Canadian naval vessels, aircraft and personnel… will supply more support to this war in Iraq indirectly… than most of those 46 countries that are fully supporting our efforts there.”
Cellucci merely scratched the surface of Canada’s initial “support” for the Iraq War, but he had let the cat out of the bag. As then Secretary of State Colin Powell had explained a week earlier, “We now have a coalition of the willing… who have publicly said they could be included in such a listing…. And there are 15 other nations, who, for one reason or another, do not wish to be publicly named but will be supporting the coalition.”
Canada was, and still is, the leading member of this secret group, which we could perhaps call CW-HUSH, the “Coalition of the Willing to Help but Unwilling to be Seen Helping.” The plan worked. Most Canadians still proudly believe that their government refused to join the Iraq War. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are some of the ways in which we joined the fray:
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