For the first time in 15 years a litter of six Arctic wolf pups have cautiously emerged from their den to see the world. They’ll only come out for short periods of time “until 8 to 12 weeks after they were born,” said Zoo spokesperson AMANDA CHAMBERS. They’re protected by their mother, DORA. A second wolf, named AUNT VERA, is allowed to babysit the litter, while the father, IMIQ, patrols the perimeter of the den. From the Zoo – a YouTube video of a weary Dora and her pups –
https://www.youtube.com/embed/_d_AERv50Uc
Monthly Archives: May 2018
DENMARK’S ‘HIPPIES’ ARE BRINGING IN THE CROWDS TO CHRISTIANIA – COPENHAGEN’S FREETOWN
<PHOTO – Jan Grarup for the New York Times> Hundreds of thousands of tourists have visited counterculture world – aka CHRISTIANIA – a unique community built among lakes and trees in central Copenhagen. Its houses are assembled from discarded bits and pieces of other houses.
The city government is all for this brightly painted neighbourhood because it shows that Denmark’s capital isn’t so conservative and gray after all – unlike the exteriors shown in the television series ‘Borgen’. In fact, Copenhagen is a very tolerant city and Christiania has become its centrepiece.
TORONTO ROADS ARE SELDOM ENNOBLED BY POETRY – STERLING RD. IN THE WEST END IS AN EXCEPTION
‘A Love Letter to Sterling Road’, a fast-becoming go-to destination in the West End. The poem was written by ERIC MUTRIE and published in 2017 by DESIGNLINES – https://designlinesmagazine.com/sterling-road/
From factory to funhouse,
Our new building’s got some history.
A century’s worth of stories –
Some remain a complex mystery.
We admire next doors’ designers
As though they’re famous wrestlers.
Our concierge desk is custom-made
By the one and only Dresslers.
To the south is MOCA’s reno
Of a 1919 tower.
Among the art it’s soon to welcome:
Abstract depictions of a flower?
A ‘nabe of new arrivals,
but also gems quite old.
Sterling may be the colour of silver,
But to us it’s solid gold.
So raise a pint of Henderson’s
To all that’s brewing on the street.
To neighbours here and coming soon,
Whom we just can’t wait to meet!”
THIS 1928 BUICK – USED EXTENSIVELY BY ROYALTY – WAS MADE IN OSHAWA, ONTARIO
<1928 model year McLaughlin-Buick 496 Tourer>. From 1876, OSHAWA was home to the McLaughlin Carriage Company, which produced more than 25,000 carriages a year. By 1915, under the presidency of “Colonel” Sam McLaughlin, the company was turning out roughly one horseless carriage every ten minutes. The McLaughlin-Buick 496 Tourer (ABOVE) was one of only two built for a royal visit to Canada. Custom-built McLaughlin-Buicks, designed and detailed with elegance in mind, were used extensively by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), his brother the Duke of York (later King George VI) and shipped from province to province by train. Somehow they ended up in the United Kingdom.
TORONTO’S R.C. HARRIS WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN THE BEACH NEIGHBOURHOOD – WHAT A BEAUTY!
The R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in the East End produces 950-million litres of drinking water every day.
COMING TO OUR CITY THIS SUMMER? SAVE SOME $$$$’S WITH TORONTO SAVVY’S TRAVEL TIPS
BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK HEADLINE – “TORONTO MAKES NEW YORK LOOK CHEAP”. WHAAAT?
According to BLOOMBERG, TORONTO is the world’s fifth most unaffordable housing market relative to income. “There are a handful of cities that make New York housing look cheap by comparison. Among them: Hong Kong, London, Miami, Los Angeles, Sydney and TORONTO. Home prices in Canada’s biggest metropolis have soared almost 60% in the last five years and are up another 3% already this year.”
TORONTO’s residential property market ranks as the fifth most unaffordable relative to income, according to consultant DEMOGRAPHIA.
CONCRETE CAN BE BEAUTIFUL – OFFICE BUILDING, 180 BLOOR STREET, DECEMBER/2015
<PHOTO – Vic Pahwa, City of TORONTO Archives>
THE PARKSIDE STUDENT RESIDENCES ARE ABOUT TO ADD SOME COLOUR TO TRAFFIC-HEAVY JARVIS ST.
The Residences are housed in a former 1970’s-era Brutalist hotel, not far from the University of TORONTO, OCAD University, George Brown College and Ryerson University in or near downtown. The precast concrete building now provides beds for 620 and several communal spaces – a gymnasium and cafe among them. <PHOTO ABOVE – Lisa Logan/Contactdesign.com>
Knightstone Capital Management enlisted TORONTO-based Diamond Schmitt Architects to “establish a dialogue with the previous architectural character of the building,” says Bryan Chartier, DSAI’s director of interior design.
Coming this summer – a brightly coloured mural by Spanish street artist OKUDA, on a blank eastern Parkside wall, facing traffic-heavy Jarvis Street at Carlton. The project is a partnership between STEPS (a public art-funding charity), the City of TORONTO’s StreetART program, and Parkside’s property owners. The city will provide $50,000 as part of its Graffiti Management Plan.
For OKUDA’s biography and more examples of his work go to http://www.streetartbio.com/about-okuda-biography
MERRIL RESEARCH COLLECTION OF SCIENCE FICTION, 72,000 ITEMS, IS ONE OF THE PLANET’S LARGEST
Housed in the state-of-the-art Lillian H. Smith library at 239 College Street, the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy, is made up of 72,000 items. A gift to our city from Judith Josephine Grossman (1923-1997), pen-name Judith Merril, this archive is one of the planet’s finest popular culture collections. Its focus is science fiction fantasy, speculative fiction, magic realism, experimental writing, parapsychology, UFO’s, etc.
“Judith Merril was not only a vital member of the literary community, but a vital person in the largest sense of the word. She lived her times and places thoroughly and enriched us all.” <MARGARET ATWOOD>. A founding resident of TORONTO’s Rochdale College, television broadcaster; magazine, book and short story writer; anthologist, activist – Judith Merril was all of these and much more.
American-born, she became a Canadian citizen in 1976, and spent 40 years writing about and researching science fiction and the paranormal. A book on the life and times of Judith Merril – “Better To Have Loved . . . ” – is available on Amazon.
Toronto Savvy 