Another Stolen Bike

My bicycle was (again!) stolen while parked on a City of Toronto property. It (had previously) survived previous thefts and recoveries and it's a story worth telling.

Best TIFF 2019 movies and a TV show

This year we have a change of guard, but personally, I have stopped paying as much attention as I used to as the Festival is continuing its march to commercialism. For many Torontonians, a more relevant and authentic moment of triumph was Bianca Andreescu’s win over Serena Williams at the US Open, even though she is from Mississauga.

posting photos and videos without permission

A while back, I was contacted by a friend of mine from another country asking for my help regarding a former (or existing? can’t remember) colleague who had created a page on Facebook titled “the incompetent ~”, where ~ was her real name, and also using her photo. She had filed a request with Facebook to have it removed, but Facebook refused, citing free speech rights that did not exist in that country’s legislation. More recently, here in Canada, a friend of mine told me a story of similar blackmail and I decided to take a more serious look at what can you post and cannot post.

Best Toronto City Swimming Pools

I used to go to Alexandra Park outdoor swimming pool (pictured below) every summer, starting with Canada Day weekend, when they open, and until the Labor Day weekend, when they close. There was also the occasional heat wave when outdoor swimming pools would be open at night. That won’t be happening this year, as there’s a different “heat warning” policy and my favorite swimming pool is closed, leaving me searching for another one.

Justice in Toronto 1: quick LTB evictions and Ontario standard lease

There has been a lot of talk about “access to justice” (or a2j), the SRL crisis and corruption / underperformance in Canadian courts. While increasingly case law can be found on CANLII, what is often missing is details, and for obvious reasons: getting the details wrong may result in libel lawsuits. However, we believe that making non-identifying details public - i.e., the “story” - can help shed some light on how the litigation industry works (or doesn’t) in our city.

Ontario Provincial Elections 2018 (June 7)

On June 6, Ontario elected a new premier and made the governing party unofficial. More importantly for me, it was the first election with “electronic polling”, in an act pioneered by the municipal government and soon to be followed by the feds.

Oscars 2017 On The Menu

I usually watch the Oscars, but skipped last year and I haven’t yet decided whether to watch this year’s. But I’ll be sure to check out the nominees.

Canada’s March To Corporatist Fascism I - Fintrac

I have been planning a series on Canadian fascism for a long time, and now events have far surpassed me.

Favour Food Delivery Between Abundance And Scarcity

I had to publish the previous installment in the Favor (or, more specifically, the now defunct Favour Delivery) before being done. I was stirred to finish this story by an article in The G&M on the subject, which chooses to go squarely against my title.

The Pauperization Of Toronto Food Delivery Scene

With news of Favor Delivery closing and Uber Toronto slashing the fees it pays its drivers, is there any future left for courier work or pleasant, cheap deliveries?

my second bicycle stolen

My first bicycle got stolen the moment I left it locked on College St with a crappy lock. I learned my lesson and only used the worst looking (but still functional) bike I could find. I thought it would never get stolen. But it did, and this is its story.

Randall Barrs shooting

The shooting of a criminal lawyer in downtown Toronto in broad daylight has left many of us scratching our heads. Let’s try to add to the speculation, shall we?

Loblaws tapas dim-sum smörgåsbord

Noticing a sale at a local supermarket deli counter, I thought I make it my breakfast. I ended up with 7 small portions of various snacks, costing me, together with a 650g yogurt, $17.67

Toronto European Film Festival 2015

#euff2015 With the recent bad news coming from the heart of Europe (the Paris Attacks), a film festival sponsored by the European Union is a welcome diversion. And Toronto is the perfect host, seeing that this city seems to have at least one film festival going on at any given time.

Working for Elections Canada

When I voted, I had good things to say about the people working at the polling station, as I was not sure whether they were volunteers or they were getting paid. It turns out that they were generally getting paid and that they were unnecessarily strict with my ID.

Voting in Toronto: Chrystia Freeland vs Jennifer Hollet

#cdnpoli #elxn42 Advance voting for the October 19, 2015 Federal election is starting today, continuing throughout the Thanksgiving long weekend, and with that in mind, we'll be taking a brief look at our candidates and the issues of this election.

Food and Booze Online in Toronto

I recently tried to help a sick friend with some grocery purchases. She is renting and has some weird arrangements with her landlord and, long story short, I ended up knocking and messaging her for almost 1h before finally being able to get in. I want to help my friend, but I'd rather not repeat this experience, so I decided to investigate on her behalf the ways one can order food in Toronto, both groceries and cooked food.

Toronto Abortion and Sexual Health Information

I was recently asked to help a friend with choosing whether to keep a foetus or to have an abortion. As a former sex and relationship counsellor, I am appalled at how bad and out-dated the advice she got was.

Toronto and Niagara Falls deals for two

Some of my friends are coming to visit Toronto and they might want to know what is the cost of a hotel room for two. I was happy to oblige and look at such deals for anyone who might be interested.

the debate that changed me

It was the spring of 2001 and I was a member of the Hart House Debating club. Our club organized regular 'show' debates with famous personalities and one such debate involved a Nobel Prize winner. Though I participated in many debating tournaments as both a competitor and a judge, that particular debate stayed with me to this day.