A painting of me
  • The compelling case for forcing Toronto's drivers to slow down. 

    In an unexpected moment of candour, a police officer confessed to me that nothing is likely to change on Millwood until a child is killed. The officer cited the death of Georgia Walsh, the 7-year-old girl who was hit and killed while crossing an intersection in Leaside in July 2014. Residents had been clamouring for a solution for years. A month after Walsh was hit, the city implemented a right-turn-on-red restriction at the corner where she died.

    This article is pretty depressing.

    If there is one measure guaranteed to reduce pedestrian deaths, it’s slowing cars down. When a pedestrian is struck at a speed of 50 kilometres per hour, the fatality rate is 85 per cent; when the speed is lowered to 40, it’s 25 per cent. In separate reports in 2012, Ontario’s chief coroner and Toronto’s chief medical officer recommended that the city-wide limit drop to 40 kilometres per hour, and on residential streets to 30. Denzil ­Minnan-Wong, then-chair of the public works committee, suggested that the CMO find another line of work.

    Denzil ­Minnan-Wong is such a dirt bag piece of shit.

    (via Angry Robot) #

Mad Max: Fury Road

   27 May 2015, lunch time

At the very last minute I made it into a cinema to watch Mad Max: Fury Road. The latest instalment of Mad Max is easily my favourite, though to be fair I can barely remember the other ones now. The movie seems to distil the essence of Mad Max down to its core. The movie is essentially one long car chase, punctuated by the briefest periods of respite. I can’t recall the last film I saw that was so amped up. (Perhaps the Raid?) Visually the film is stunning. I don’t completely understand how they even filmed this thing. Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy are super cool as the leads in this film. Go watch it!

The official Mad Max: Fury Road website.

Comment  

  • Could the Finch LRT reshape the Sheppard transit debate? 

    Only about 13 per cent of north Scarborough commuters work in downtown Toronto, and an extraordinary 78 per cent of those are already taking transit. By way of comparison, only 70 per cent of Manhattan commuters rely on transit.

    …

    The folks travelling to non-downtown destinations generally do not drive or do not have access to a vehicle. They need improved bus service now — not in 2025

    Oh, Toronto. This about sums it up:

    In truth, he said, politicians from all three levels of government are stalling on the Sheppard LRT. If they actually built it, they wouldn’t be able to keep promising voters a subway.

     #

For Grace

   7 May 2015, early morning

I watched one film at Hotdocs this year, For Grace, a documentary about the opening of the restaurant For Grace. Chef Curtis Duffy closed down Avenue, a two Michelin star restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago to open up his own place. He thought he could do a better if everything was under his control. This was apparently one of the most hotly anticipated restaurants in the world. I was expecting something like the Opening Soon show on TLC. “Oh no, construction delays!” “Oh man, how did we mess up our schedule!” Apparently this is what the directors themselves thought. The film was originally supposed to be a 15 minute short on the Chicago Tribune website. Once they started filming it became clear there was so much more to this story. This film is much more about Duffy than his restaurant. He is so driven when it comes to his career he has sacrificed everything else in his life to be successful. This seems to be how it goes for most people operating at the upper echelons of the restaurant industry. The movie is a great mix of food, restaurant inside baseball, and the human experience. You should check it out.

The official For Grace website.

Comment  

  • UN aid worker suspended for leaking report on child abuse by French troops. 

    The regular sex abuse by peacekeeping personnel uncovered here and the United Nations’ appalling disregard for victims are stomach-turning, but the awful truth is that this isn’t uncommon. The UN’s instinctive response to sexual violence in its ranks – ignore, deny, cover up, dissemble – must be subjected to a truly independent commission of inquiry with total access, top to bottom, and full subpoena power.

     #
  • Subway or LRT? It looks more like Sheppard Avenue will get nothing. 

    Called it. Scarborough elects bozos to city council, and will likely elect the same bozos again in 4 years. Anyway, the people in Scarborough really need a better commuter train system. Being able to take the LRT to the Shepard Stubway seems like half a solution to transit woes in the city.

     #

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