In recent months I have become an expert on Ms Rachel episodes and can say she is a delight. When Blippi is on it's like a revival of the spirt of Pee Wee Herman.

Our brief flashbacks to the culture wars of 20 (in Canada) and 10 (in USA) years ago is over, now back to the current atrocity machine.

Did you know that in Canada, if a budget doesn’t pass the government doesn’t shut down? Federal workers aren’t furloughed. Funding for social services doesn’t dry up. Failure to pass a budget triggers an election. It puts the politicians jobs on the line. They get the budget passed.

"Meet me in the middle," says the unjust man. You take a step towards him, he takes a step back. "Meet me in the middle," says the unjust man." ~ A.R. Moxon

“As conspicuously selective as this kind of heritage protection is, so is who gets listened to at city hall. Some very vocal residents groups opposed the neighbourhood business proposal… but it’s rarely clear if they represent the whole neighbourhood’s feeling…”

Another absolutely bang on piece. Thank you Shawn! Here’s the Apple News link for those who subscribe: apple.news/AbL-cBzi0TFK...

That is by Jiri Georges Lauda! He also did the bronze at the Berri-UQAMA metro everyone sits on. I briefly dated his grandson, the painter JF Lauda (he recently had a lovely solo in TO at Daniel Faria gallery) and met him before he passed, he gifted me some of his experimental photography books;)

Overheard 2 convos in mtl lamentingly dissecting the jays loss. The two solitudes is over.

There are 2 suburban councillors who have tried to lay claim to progress while repeatedly voting against change. Councillor Kandavel moved to add parking to affordable housing, tried to delay apartments that no one opposed & reposted videos threatening sixplex areas would be "swarming with tenants."

A good summary of several recent disappointing votes at Council that have made it feel like we're constantly defending the little that we have. The article names some disappointing Old City progressive councillors. I want to add comments about the suburbs as we head to election next year.

The best and most overdue sentence in this essay: Why not forget the compromises and take an actual stand on some of these issues? Municipal politicians stand for nothing. Everything is pandering to somebody. In that fashion real progress never happens. Thanks.

"It’s important to note that some of this rather conservative watering down is being led by councillors, and happening under Mayor Olivia Chow, who are all perceived, nominally, as progressive." Or Cycle Toronto's push for a more ambitious cycling plan rather than Tory-era status quo. (We lost.)

Great article by @shawnmicallef.bsky.social about how Toronto killed Sesame Street (the style of urban living, not the show). I'm sad Toronto decided against neighbourhood retail but it's heartening they even had the conversation. We're still years away from even talking about that in Regina. #yqrcc

In Toronto last spring, there was the curious case of “Protect Bathurst”: An anti-bus lane business owner seems to have used angry “AI”-gen personas and mobile video campaigns to fake “resident concerns”. It was @shawnmicallef.bsky.social who found the videos questionable.

Maltese pal’s band in Montreal tonight at la sala rossa. Hoping to make it. Tickets available. (/hypeman for Maltese diaspora) tickets.venuepilot.com/e/etnika-mal...

How Toronto killed Sesame Street. My column on the retreat from allowing shops in neighbourhoods & other watering down of good ideas. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Ha… went to the 25th anniversary screening of waydowntown in Cowtown in February and it was a trip. I think it’s the 2nd largest after St Paul MN, I think. Interesting detail: Calgary’s +15 network only connects commercial properties, though that’s changing with residential conversions in the pipe.

Went to my first game there earlier this year. You turn a downtown corner and BAM, there’s the Bell Centre out of nowhere. Kind of cool how it’s tucked away.

I would love write a Toronto + Mtl + Calgary comparison of connected downtowns. Fun. Maybe add Hong Kong in. Need large grant for research project.

Stayed there in spring once, watched mother ducks herding the ducklings and fending off the bigger ones, for hours.

I have lived in Montreal for over 30 years now after living in Toronto most of my life and it's the thing I never get used to, especially at this time of year!

I've poked around this building a bit (a few photos here... www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/15802395...) but didn't get to see the hotel. Now I know where to stay next time I return to Montreal.

His photos often remind me of this tweet. Forever one of my favourites.

My favourite hotel on earth (at least in Montreal). It is really a brutalist low rise motor hotel high a top of a concrete plinth. It remains gorgeous & perfect 60 years later. Heaven.

Had a roomie at Queens in 92 from Madrid on exchange The only thing he knew about Kingston was that it was 1/2 way between Toronto & Montreal “Those were the only Canadian cities I’d heard of, so I thought this would be great. Zip out to either with ease” He was there Oct-March. It was not great

How is MAGA so bad a make up? You’d think they’d want to show off American prowess. This and Giuliani’s melting face. Is it because they’ve alienated all the gays?

I'm taking a day trip to Hamilton with my son. We could take a Communauto car share car, or a hypothetical car we own, or GO train and then a bus, or GO train and then taxi. Which will be cheapest and fastest? Let's calculate!

WATCH: Seriously, if you’re following ANY bike-lane debate, you HAVE TO WATCH this news story. You actually can’t make this up. Ford claims without evidence that bike-lanes are bad for small business, and THE ACTUAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION obliterates him with data. Safe bike-lanes mean business.

East into the 401 darkness / riding shotgun in the sky

I once asked a TPS why he parked in the bike lane instead of the empty layby 1 meter ahead. Because he was causing the exact situation pictured. “I don’t believe in bike lanes” Oh ok.

Presumably he'll leave NYC now too. Only Mar-a-lago as refuge for such scoundrels

I mean the fix was in. There was no penny to drop.

A gift from an American friend: a War of 1812 scented candle. Yes that is the White House. Via @ektaroc.bsky.social

Tucker Carlson to Nick Fuentes: “You’re clearly ascendant.” I wrote about MAGA’s mask-off moment, and what the decision to welcome white nationalists into the tent tells us about modern conservatism

I heard a similar line from @profgalloway.com, who seems a bit offended that Mamdani wouldn’t come on his show for an interview when Galloway persistently misrepresents Mamdani’s grocery policy and consistently mispronounces his last name (6 times on todays’ Pivot alone).

A beautiful November day for river cruise. Large building in background is Detroit's US post office where a young me mailed a money order to Woodstock Ventures for tickets to Woodstock '94. My first & only USPO experience.

Finally found the ICE video that I fully could not watch and it was the man having the seizure while they pulled a child from his arms. Countries are fake, borders are fake, nothing can justify this inhumanity. It’s all just for the abstract comfort of withering country clubbers and their pawns.

Classic.

Shawn is referring to one of my favorite examples of unusual mayoral leadership. It's 1918-19. Germany surrenders after its sequential wars of aggression. Cologne is facing chaos from several directions. The German central govt isn't answering its phones, w/ chaos in Berlin. Meanwhile...

Hi Bluesky 👋 Small life update: I’m at the centre of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Alberta launched by a failed candidate for Jason Kenney’s UCP It may be the longest and most expensive media trial in Canadian history I’m ready to go public about it and I want to share more details with you 🧵

Incredible to watch this play out, cities/states mobilizing to defend against Federal gov't. I've seen @stateofthecity.bsky.social talk about his research into mayors/cities & this reminds me so much of other historical moments, like (as mayor) Konrad Adenauer keeping Cologne fed & stable in WWI.

Sorry to Liberal partisans who will have to defend this as is their rote function after a decade of talking up climate change mitigation.

I'm finding it harder and harder to keep an open mind about AI with stories like this. We're using up vast amounts of our precious fresh water resources for what, exactly? www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

I’m a broken record on this, but Peter Drahos predicted this outcome in his 2021 book Survival Governance: The US (Canada even moreso) are simply too embedded in a carbon economy to resist the all-encompassing political and economic pressures. And so we get short-sighted policies and politicians.

I've never been to a place with as much attn to detail and craftsmanship as Japan.

Harbord cyclists beware: in the new lanes some sewer grates have been put in the death position by contractors. This @ Manning just ate my tire but luckily was coming to a stop. Jarring still. At speed I’d be over the handlebars. There were others along way.

Among the things to take from this post is the excellent phrase, "bovine podcast discussion". 🤌

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