This morning’s financial district “visit” by a lost deer was shocking enough. The police were attempting to capture the doe and release it outside the hustle of the dowtown core. After consulting with experts, like veterinarian from the Toronto Zoo, police tried subduing the animal tranquilizer dart. After all, a runaway deer could cause a traffic accident, injure itself or an innocent bystander. Things took a turn for the bizarre after that.

The “take down” escalated when the dart didn’t seem to work. When the doe didn’t calm down it was then shot with a Taser stun gun. Whoa! The Police didn’t kill the deer but it is being monitored before being released back into the wild.

Despite the taser, it seems that the TSX, the doe and others financial types on Bay Street will survive.

Toronto may be the new venue for the G20. The Globe and Mail is reporting that the Feds are now realizing that Muskoka may not have the resources to house and secure guests arriving for the G20. Oops. It should have been obvious that even a modest make over would fall short of delivering the necessary requirements.

The Conservatives have been trying to frantically upgrade Muskoka’s infrastructure via a $50 million G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund founded in February, another $5 million in security upgrades for the North Bay airport and other funding initiatives under the Economic Action Plan. More fuel to critics fire on the current government’s priorities favouring Conservative jurisdictions. This of course is Tony Clement’s home riding.

The trough of course looked deep enough for locals, close to $450 million worth of applications were chasing $50 million worth of the gravy. On the upside some short term construction jobs have been created. It is hoped that local tourism would get a boost as thousands of officials and media types migrate up to the area. It’s more likely that when the summit kicks off next summer that rich government officials will be enjoying cottage land while high paid security police block off potential protesters, terrorists and cottage goers. At least the local communities will benefit by having new facilities to host future events along with improved infrastructure.

Sad that by trying to snub Toronto and move both the G8 and G20 events to cottage country they will have to put at one here anyway. All lot of added expense for nothing. No question there will be immense pain with such a move for Torontonians. Traffic and security for these events, a nightmare! Perhaps the Government were trying to minimize the numbers of protesters close to the meetings by moving the summit away from an urban area? Well a private web-chat or conference call would have been preferred to the mountain of wasteful deficit spending for this circus ride.

Thomas Morgan keeping it Canadian in an Alien Workshop ad for his pro model back in the 90's..

I was pleased to see Thomas Morgan ripping again this past Spring at CBMK. For those who don’t know he was one of only a handful of Canadian’s that managed to make it into the pro skateboarding ranks in the 80’s and 90’s. He started out as a vert skater riding for Alien Workshop and later adapted to become one of their most technical and stylish street skaters.

Good to see that Thomas is killing it still (along with other OG’s like Bokma and Hoffman)!

George Smitherman made it official. The Ontario MPP has said he will present himself as a candidate for mayor. Smitherman is the MPP for Toronto Centre and intends to serve his community in that capacity, at least until March 1st. He stepped down from his role as deputy premier and Ontario’s minister of energy and infrastructure on Sunday.

The potential big name challengers are Glen Murray and John Tory. Glen Murray is the chief executive officer and president of the Canadian Urban Institute and former Mayor of Winnipeg for six years. John Tory is the host of The John Tory Show and of course the former leader of the Ontario PC Party. There will likely be several more confirmations of candidates, so far Giorgio Mammoliti has put himself forward as a candidate.

While last week’s Angus Reid poll showed John Tory at the top of the list of decided voters that’s hardly cause for any celebration for his hopefuls. The poll showed that 47% of all respondents were undecided as to whom the next mayor should be. It’s early yet but I’m sure this race will be heated.

One of my favourite venues in the city celebrates a special anniversary this week. The St. Lawrence Market turns 205 this week. Stop by this piece of the city’s history on Friday and Saturday to catch up on the festivities. On Friday Bruce Bell will be leading a tour through Old Town Toronto bringing familiar Toronto landmarks to life. The fun continues Saturday with music, buskers and more. Rediscover the core.

Of course one can’t forget the the food! There will be specials and anniversary features to sample so don’t miss it. All the more reason to check out the St Lawrence Market.

St. Lawrence Market 205th Anniversary
Friday, November 6, 6 p.m., and Saturday November 7, 2009, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This Sunday is the 5th Annual Human River. A free event explores the natural history of our city incorporating art and education. Human River is a project of the Toronto Public Spacing Committee in partnership with Coach House Books, LEAF, Lost Rivers of the Toronto Green Community, RiverSides, vanishingpoint.ca and wade.

Put on some blue clothing and join the volunteers as they explore the history of the Garrison Creek, a creek that still flows beneath our homes and roads. The walk begins on Sunday at 1:00 pm, leaving from the Pavilion at Christie Pits Park and finishes at Historic Fort York Blue Barracks with a closing reception at 5:30 pm.

One need not walk the whole downhill route, but those who do will be rewarded with different perspectives of Toronto. You will learn how the city continues to be shaped by Garrison Creek even today. Organizers can let you know points along the route to catch up with the “blue parade” if you can’t make it to Christie Pits for 1pm. Just email them at contact@humanriver.ca. You can also go to Fort York at 5:30pm. All are welcome at the closing reception.

This a great family event put on by some excellent volunteers (donations are welcome). This year blue Human River T-shirts will be available for a $15 donation, 2 Human River buttons will be available with a $5 donation.

Human River – Sunday October 25th
Free
Donations are welcome ($5 will buy 2 commemorative buttons, $15 at T-Shirt)
Starts at Christie Pits Pavillion at 1pm
Closing Reception at Fort York, Blue Barricks at 5:30pm

I was talking to Mark Appleyard about his new site during the Flip Premiere. It’s finally live, Werd Life. The new site is a collaboration between Mark, Geoff Rowley and artist Todd Bratrud. With these strong skateboard personalities the site should be epic and live up to the definition.

The success of the iPhone is unquestionable. Mac vs. PC, Blackberry vs. iPhone… All users of computers and mobile phones are potential customers for the mobile giants. If Rogers loses it’s exclusive rights things could get pretty good for consumers (of expensive gadgety cell phone thingys).

In this economy service and selection are a welcome commodity. Big Bell has upgraded their network and may be realizing it can’t just throw away customers any longer. Looks as though we soon may see if Apple haters have changed their tune in November.

Today is last day of the Manifesto Festival. The main event, runs noon till 10pm. A free concert at Nathan Phillips Square. The highlight of the festival so far was Friday night’s Chapter III art show. AMAZING. Three floors of music and art. Great pieces by Elicsor, Fathom and Chor Boogie. If you miss out on today’s show be sure to at least head back to 52 McCaul before or during Nuit Blanche.

The Manifesto Festival – Main Event
Nathan Phillips Square
noon till 10pm
Featuring Talib Kweli & HiTek,
Grand Analog and many others.

Been waiting for this all week. Gordon Ball graces us with a visit from Montreal for his latest photo show at Sleeping Giant.

It’s always a pleasure to see a well crafted photo in person. PIKTO is providing a special treat in time for the film fest. Head down to their space and see a collection of Karsh portraits showing until November 6th. If you missed the exhibit at the McMichael this will be a great opportunity to see a great collection of Karsh’s famous portraits.

You’ve no doubt by now noticed that the sites got a bit of a re-design and some things got changed around last week. We wanted to highlight two changes to make sure everyone knows what changed.

The first and biggest is COMMENTS! Registration is no longer required to post a comment on any post. Of course if you already have an account you can still login to ensure your comments are attributed to you, but those who don’t can now post a comment without any long term commitment. Also, on the right you can see some of the recent comments so you’ll always know what the active discussions are. This was the most requested thing we’ve heard from people since our last redesign and we’re excited to see where it leads.

The next change is also something that was heavily requested, and that is a change to the ADS on the sites. You’ll immediately notice fewer of them, but what might not be as obvious is those smaller square ones to the right are specific to this city only and are being sold for a flat rate for a period of time rather than a confusing CPM/traffic/network model. Depending on the city, these range from $7-$175 for a full week. If you purchase one, during that time your ad will be the only one in that spot and will show on every page. We set these up both to make it easier for smaller local businesses to get their ads on our site, and also to help us bring in ads that relate better to our local audiences. Also, keeping these sites online is expensive and every little bit helps.

There are a bunch of other things we changed but we’ll leave those to you to investigate and take advantage of. Hope you like it, and we look forward to seeing you in the comments!!

Love,
The folks at MBHQ

I always cringe when I hear about a bicycle or pedestrian accident. The latest high profile incident featuring Michael Bryant is no exception.

Road rage gone horribly wrong?! I’m sure a major investigation is not required to figure that out. Whether alcohol or other factors are at play here there is no doubt that this incident, among about 1,000 that occur every year, was preventable. It never matters “who’s fault” a minor faux pas on the streets is caused by. The key is minor driver vs. driver (or bike or pedestrian) mistakes don’t escalate into the death, trauma or damage to those who share the roads. Considering how this case escalated I hope people can recognize how fast things can go so wrong.

I still shoot digital here and there but considering how fast photo “innovations” hit the streets I don’t mind looking to the past and simpler times. I’ve been a fan of half frame cameras and photographers who use them like Bob Kronbauer, Andy Mueller and Isaac Mckay-Randozzi for years. After drooling over these camera gizmos for some time but got my first one on ebay a few months back.

It’s nice getting twice as many pictures crammed on to a roll of film. The “relic” of a camera I hooked up was probably one of the best point and shoot cameras of 1962 and still works well today! The reality is that whether your camera is a metal, plastic or pinhole it’s a photographer’s imagination that’s at the soul of a good picture.

When Lomography announced the release of a new plastic half frame camera, the Diana Mini, I pounced. Their remake of the classic Diana is quite good but they seem to have out done themselves with this mini version. 120 (medium format film) is harder to come by so a cute 35mm version of a Diana is a welcome surprise.

The camera is in the mail, just in time to catch the madness at The Ex. For those allergic to carnies and mail order I’m sure that Urban Outfitters or the good people at PIKTO will be stocking the Diana Mini for your own photo adventure soon enough.

Pleased to hear a track from Saint Dirt Elementary School on this month’s Zunior Music Sampler. Saint Dirt Elementary School are an interesting mix of lap steel and jazz best seen and heard live at the cozy Tranzac club. Their latest release, Ice Cream Man Dreams, is a solid album.

As always Zunior is a great place to get quality independent Canadian Music via download. A lot of out of print releases are available often at higher resolution than iTunes and cost less! Toronto bands and labels are well represented but it never hurts to browse and discover others. The monthly sampler is a great way to start!

Saint Dirt Elementary School @ The Tranzac
292 Brunswick Avenue
Tuesday August 18th
$5 or PWYC