Pretending I’m Walter White from Breaking Bad

I took my pants off on Bloor St. today. It was pretty chilly.

Here’s my ridiculous, rushed attempt at recreating some iconic Breaking Bad imagery. How’d I do?

“Let’s cook!”
—outside the Breaking Bad RV 
The classic image from the first episode of the series:
Walter White in his tighty-whiteys.

I didn’t have a lot of time to get it done, but—sometimes you just do things for a laugh.


Walt and Jesse’s first lab rolls through town
The highly-recognizable camper from the hit AMC television series Breaking Bad was appearing in various places around the city, as a promotional marketing push accompanying the release on DVD/Blu-Ray.

The tour is being touted on Facebook and Twitter as:
“Your chance to interact with the vehicle used as Walt and Jesse’s first lab and where the story began.”
I saw a whole series of photographs of people posing around and inside the camper wearing yellow Haz-Mat suits. My immediate reaction as a fan of the show was, those shots aren’t authentic!

Oh dear.
The yellow suits are from later seasons of Breaking Bad.

When Walt and Jesse cook in the camper during the first season, they’re basically only wearing green aprons and gas masks. Having the yellow suits around violates the continuity—which is important if you’re a true geek like yours truly. It’s just wrong.*

So I thought I’d do my own guerilla shoot, after discovering where the camper was appearing today. The result is as above.

“I just want you to know, no matter how it may look, I only had you in my heart.”

Green shirt: check. Facial hair & glasses: check. [Dollar store] Gun: check. Tighty-whiteys and argyle socks: check!

Note to Sony overlords: the onsite staff explicitly told me that they “could not condone” the shot and they refused to assist me in any way (though they didn’t interfere, either). You could tell them they should’ve embraced the fan spirit and helped out!

It’s amusing that the subject material of the show is so incredibly graphic, yet when it comes to marketing, any hint of edginess is verboten. For heaven’s sake, you are pretending to cook meth inside the camper, as part of this promo campaign! A guy standing outside in his underwear isn’t going to get you fired. It’s a funny set of standards to uphold, don’t you think?

The yellow suits are fun, but...
And nevermind the barrels.

Thanks to random-passerby ‘Alex’ for taking the photos. Several people I asked were not comfortable—as soon as I mentioned I was going to remove my pants, they declined, duh—which I found unsurprising but still interesting from a cultural perspective. It’s just underwear, folks. But the schoolyard taboo remains strong.

If any photoshoppers out there want to help me make this a little more ludicrous with effects or messing around with the hues/saturation, please be my guest. It’s rather incongruous to have ‘Holt Renfrew’ in the background instead of the desert...

* In season 2 episodes 5 and 9 Walt and Jesse do wear pale grey zip up 'clean suits'. But the bright yellow suits are from season 3 episode 6 onward...

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Time to resign, Mayor Ford

Mayor Ford, you have besmirched the reputation of this fair city with your behaviour. It is time for you to do the right thing and resign.

Rob Ford meeting with drug dealer Sandro Lisi, from Toronto Police surveillance

As a citizen, I am profoundly disappointed, and embarrassed. Toronto deserves better from its elected Chief Magistrate.

Resign, Mayor Ford. And get help. Your ‘leadership’ of this city is a sad, shambling joke, and you have lost whatever trust was ever placed in you.



See:
Toronto Police have the video showing the Mayor smoking crack

Editorial positions of the major Toronto papers:


(And I’m sure even the most rudimentary googling will bring up a host of other related stories)

A Pair of Wistful Farewells

Goodbye Iringa, Toka and Thika. It looks like the three surviving elephants of the Toronto Zoo are finally going to be leaving us. A challenging journey to California awaits them, sometime before the end of this month.

Goodbye elephants! You’ll be missed.

The move follows a protracted and often farcical tussle that has lasted years. I hope that the elephants don’t suffer during the trip. Regardless of how you felt about their captivity here, they were amazing and majestic to witness in person, and I thank them for their service.

Goodbye OLF
The other farewell I want to make is to the Ontario Longboarding Forum, a.k.a. OLF, which shut down about a month and a half ago.

OLF was an online bulletin board forum for skateboarders. It was a key hub for the community and an important gathering place for skaters of all ages and backgrounds.

The classic OLF banner with its square-jawed Aryan skaters

My half-hearted description fails to do it justice, unfortunately. At a different time I might have written a lengthy panegyric, but I haven’t the energy. With the rise of Facebook and other social networks, as well as my own declining skating, I have to admit I drifted away over the past couple of years.

Founder Chris Barrett’s notice about the Ontario Longboarding Forum’s demise

Nevertheless OLF was an influential piece of the Toronto skate scene for almost a decade, and I’m happy that I got to participate however peripherally as the site waxed — and waned — in popularity.

I made a lot of friends on OLF. I’m grateful to Chris Barrett and his conspirators for running and administering the site over all these years. Thanks Chris, Adam, Bill, and the other mods. You guys were great, and I salute your efforts and passion. Be proud of your contribution.

There’s a brief history of the origins of OLF in Michael Brooke’s examination of the Toronto longboarding scene, Half the Hills All the Skills; the entire article is well worth reading.

Meanwhile the scene has moved on. More and more people are skating, and OLF’s time came and went. Like the sand patterns in a Zen garden, perhaps OLF’s existence was meant to be ephemeral—no trace of it remains except in our shared memories.

See previously
No more elephants at the Toronto Zoo
City Council Votes to Send Elephants Away

Past Skate Articles From Me
• The Return of Longboard Haven Skate Shop
• Profile: Justin Readings, Downhill Skateboarder
• Is skateboarding illegal in Toronto?
• The Toronto Board Meeting: A Short History
• The rise of Patrick Switzer, Downhill Skateboarder
• Letter to Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon: Why Jeopardize the Ashbridges Bay Skate Park?
• Concrete Wave’s Lame ‘Pin-Up’ Cover
• The Banana Split -- Four Years Later
• Grappling with another longboarding death
• Our first longboarding tragedy
• Speed! Thrills! Women! FUBU Skate Race Recap
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I went to jail today...

This afternoon I went to jail. It was a fascinating trip — but one I’d obviously rather not repeat.

The occasion was the public opening of the massive, newly constructed Toronto South Detention Centre.

Toronto South Detention Centre main entrance

Slated to begin accepting inmates later this fall, the $594m facility can house 1,650 offenders, plus another 320 in the connected Toronto Intermittent Centre (by comparison, the Don Jail’s capacity was 562, though counts often exceeded that).

A model aerial view shows the sheer scope of the complex.
Image courtesy EllisDon 

The maximum-security jail features state-of-the-art construction, even boasting a LEEDS Silver certification. Its modern design (by Zeidler Partnership Architects) has been specifically implemented to control and minimize the day-to-day movement of offenders within different areas of the building.

Warning sign at the TDSC
As a (mostly) law abiding citizen who values his liberty and personal privacy, let me tell you that I would not want to involuntarily spend any time in this building. Touring the jail firsthand will make you reflect on how we treat prisoners, as well as contemplate the tension between rehabilitation and punishment — regardless of how you feel about the efficacy of the system.

The site of the jail was formerly occupied by the Mimico Correctional Centre; it has a correctional history dating back at least 100 years.

Imagine spending two whole years confined to this block.
Photo by Tyler Anderson / National Post. View original here.

Public tours are continuing Saturday and Sunday this weekend; I recommend it if you’re at all interested in Ontario’s correctional infrastructure and approach. It was particularly edifying, from the perspective that every aspect of the building reflected a practical ‘designed’ purpose.

“How do you build and scale a safe living space where you can control and supervise every waking moment of 1,650 men?”

Observationally I found that people’s inclinations about jail were reinforced by the tour (i.e. if you think humane treatment and a focus on rehabilitation is important, you still thought that at the end; if you think prisons are where criminals should rot away suffering for their misdeeds, ditto).

More reading & photos
Although the general public isn’t allowed to take in any cameras, the media was permitted to photograph the interior of parts of the building. You can see more of the jail at these links:


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A pleasant surprise...

Yesterday I was idly leafing through the summer issue of Spacing magazine, only to discover I’m in it! It’s kind of funny to find myself on the opposite page of Steve Munro, the city’s wise luminary on transit.


The referenced blog post was one I wrote last year, What Does A Decade of TTC Metropass Designs Look Like? Check it out!
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Want to go to a Toronto Historic Museum for Free?

Here’s a good deal for you! How would you like a free family admission to any City of Toronto Historic Museum? Toronto Historic Sites is giving away passes for a limited time.

Hurry while supplies last...
The passes are valid for a single family visit before October 31, 2013, to one of the ten museums, which include Fort York, Colborne Lodge, and Mackenzie House. It’s a great way to see the city’s rich history firsthand, and to learn about its past.

Follow this link to catch the offer while it’s on.


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How to climb for 40 days and 40 nights

For whatever reason, this dusty two-year-old video of yours truly has recently gone (weakly) viral; about 80,000 people have now seen me climbing on the treadwall at Boulderz.


[LINK]

According to YouTube’s analytics, this has resulted in over 60 thousand estimated viewing minutes—roughly 40 days’ worth of climbing. No wonder I feel tired.

The traffic seems to have mostly originated from this post on the Cheezburger network:


as well as the videos page on MSN (where another 10,000 views have accumulated:



Sadly, I’m not a regular at Boulderz—a great gym incidentally—so my endurance hasn’t gotten any better. Ha. At least it’s not an embarrassing moment.

Here’s my original post about this video: Humiliation Machine at Boulderz

While we’re on the topic I might as well link to two other moments of unintentional 'fame' (yes I suffer from self-absorption):

Other Climbing Posts of Interest
Why is Tree Climbing Illegal in Toronto?
The Secret Life of Iyma Lamarche, Rock Climber
Hurrah For The Ontario Access Coalition
Bring a Bouldering World Cup to Toronto
Interview with Rock Oasis' Founder and President
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Martin Luther King’s 'I Have a Dream' Speech Should Belong to Everyone, not SONY

MLK orating Aug. 28, 1963
People around the world have been marking the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech.

What I find absurd is that the King speech — one of the most important civil rights speeches in history — is under copyright in the U.S. and will be so until the year 2038.



[LINK: MLK I Have a Dream speech]

Free at last, free at last? Nope. Pay a licensing fee to use it in its entirety. Want to listen to the whole 17 minutes, legally? Shell out $20 for the DVD. Pay out enough money, and you can use the speech in an advertisement like Alcatel did in 2001...




[LINK: Alcatel I Have a Dream ad]

The speech should be in the public domain. It belongs to all of us. Yes, I understand the desire to keep anyone from misappropriating the text. But I think a larger social good comes from people being able to access, share, and interpret the text in their own way. The content transcends.

P.S. SONY is the current copyright enforcer. SONY! [I believe the King family retains ownership of the copyright itself]

More reading
Why MLK’s 'Dream' Is So Hard to Find Online [National Journal]
‘I Have a Dream’ speech still private property [Washington Post]

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Liona Boyd — The Toronto Song! Cheese or Magic?

There’s been some harsh criticism levelled at Liona Boyd’s newly released tune celebrating our city, The Toronto Song!, premiering at the start of this year’s Taste of the Danforth festival.



Torontoist calls the treacly melody “bizarre.” Spacing magazine describes it as “maybe the most soul-less piece of schlock ever produced.” Other online commenters use the adjectives surreal, embarrassing, lame, and awful.

I say, stuff it, haters.

Liona Boyd: so in love with Toronto
Boyd’s work here is so earnest I can’t bring myself to dislike it; my usual jaded cynicism is defeated by the video’s wholesome sincerity. Yes, the song is hokey and saccharine. But that’s how these songs are supposed to be.

It’s meant for families and tourists. It’s meant to welcome strangers and embrace us all.

Compare past songs with similar intents, and you’ll find they share a penchant for wide-eyed boosterism:
Even Let’s Go to the Ex, which has that catchy jingle, is super corny.

Just like these other 'anthems', Boyd’s song reflects a certain time and place, and conveys a relentlessly enthusiastic perspective about Toronto. And perhaps one day we’ll look back and laugh together.

Listen to: Liona Boyd being interviewed about the song on 680 News (To download: right-click --> save as; MP3)

See also: Ed Keenan’s reaction.

Bonus links
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What would Google Maps for Toronto look like in 1858?

It amuses me to present the following zoomable, scrollable online version of the 1858 Boulton Atlas of the City of Toronto and Vicinity, surveyed and compiled by W.S. and H.C. Boulton.

Scroll around, and zoom in & out using your mouse—just like you would in Google maps!

View the map in full page mode here.



I’m not sure how useful this is as a historical tool, but it merits at least 30 seconds’ worth of hey this is neat. Try your scroll wheel! (Sorry iPad users; this demo requires a full featured browser)

Thanks go to Carrie Martin for volunteering to help stitch this together and putting up with my nattering edits.

[Note: if you’re into historical maps, you might want to check out my larger projects:


Update: Media Coverage

This post generated a fair amount of online discussion and coverage. Here’s a sample of the chatter:
and a mention on the CBC Metro Morning show:




The Background Story

Earlier this spring, I made an online gallery of the Boulton Atlas, a set of 30 detailed map plates of Toronto created in 1858 by WS Boulton.

But I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the way it was presented. Although I created a key map to help users, I still found it awkward to look up an individual plate.

I wanted to make a composite version of the Atlas—that is, to stitch together all of the plates to form a super-map of the entire city.

Of course I’m not the first person to have this notion. In 2009 E.R.A. Architects created a huge wall-map version for their Harbourfront exhibit, Found Toronto.

I asked the kind folks at E.R.A. if they still possessed the original file from the exhibit, and if I could acquire it to put online. They were extremely helpful, and graciously took the time to search for it, but unfortunately, all they had left on their system was a low resolution copy.

Similarly, a composite was done for the book Historical Atlas of Toronto by Derek Hayes, but the resolution was scaled down (as it only needed to fit in a coffee-table size book) and all the useful detail was lost.

So, I decided to recreate my own stitched-together-version. Lacking a computer with sufficient horsepower, I inveigled my friend Carrie to help me out — she actually did the labour. Thanks again Carrie! [A small nod also goes to the several others who volunteered to assist]

The resulting image is modestly hefty—24,108 x 11,405 (about 275 megapixels) in size.

Challenges

There were some unavoidable issues and compromises.

The Boulton maps are each lithographed onto separate physical plates. Although they are ostensibly all drawn at the same scale, they are not exactly so (at least not with modern precision in mind). As well, the physical plates have aged differently depending on their individual exposure to light and air, resulting in colour contrasts between plates. Finally, the digital scans to which I had access were not all at the same scale (major pain in the neck!).

As a result, the stitching is far from seamless. Imagine putting together a puzzle where the pieces don’t actually fit together.

We tried our best to preserve alignments where possible, but (deliberately) sacrificed accurate placement along certain streets/seams. Subtle changes in scan orientation wind up being grossly magnified when trying to stitch together multiple plates.

In my view the sole truly egregious problem is just east of Carlton and Parliament; the street formerly known as Elm gets semi-obliterated; everything else is ‘close enough’. Queen and (the modern) College St., being the two horizontal seams, suffer the most. Meanwhile several north/south streets (e.g. Yonge) are allowed to wax and wane in width (to a degree that some may find disturbing) in order to force neighbouring streets to align correctly.

I’m comfortable with the minor distortions introduced; it’s a lot harder than it looks! If you think you can do a better job, you’re welcome to download the plates and try it yourself. Anyway, please blame Carrie for any errors (haha).

The scan images are courtesy of the Toronto Public Library: 912.71354 B594 1858.

Enjoy!

[personal aside to any geographers / cartographers out there: Yes, I know this should properly be done as some kind of layer in ArcGIS, then re-made into new map tiles, for browsing via open street maps or whatever, which would allow all kinds of interesting data overlays etc. You are cordially invited to invest the effort to do so. I’ll probably get around to it, if and when zoom.it ceases working.]

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Incredible zoomable high-resolution panorama of Tokyo

My friend Elise sent me a link to this eye-popping 360° panoramic photo of Tokyo. It’s 150 gigapixels and zoomable. Best viewed in full resolution mode (not in the tiny version in this post):


[LINK]

Is this cool or what?!

[The reason she sent me the link is because I’m trying to put together a much simpler zoomable map of the 1858 Boulton Atlas of the City of Toronto]

More info: io9 spoke with Jeffrey Martin, the creator.
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Help Wanted: Access to a computer with LOTS of RAM

Help wanted: Access to a computer with a LOT of RAM and a graphics program. Can compensate in: coffee, cupcakes, beer, errands, skateboard wheels & parts, Timmies, karma, etc.; we can work something out. Any graphics/design/webby friends out there who can assist?

Context

What I'm looking to do is stitch together 30 images of 1400x1900 pixels, into a 3X10 grid composite image roughly 14,000x6,000 pixels in size.

The images are the individual plates of the (public domain) 1858 Boulton Atlas of the City of Toronto. This has been done previously as part of a 2009 Harbourfront Exhibit called Found Toronto by E.R.A. Architects (see photo), as well as for the book Historical Atlas of Toronto by Derek Hayes.

The 2009 'Found Toronto' exhibit by E.R.A.
compiled the plates for the 1858 Boulton Atlas

I want to put this online, because it doesn’t exist anywhere (in composite form) on the web [I contacted ERA to see if they still had their digital file from the exhibit, but it has since been misplaced and they only retained a low resolution file. And Hayes’ version is in a super tiny resolution (since it had to fit onto a 11x16 sheet of paper for his book)].

The 30 images can be examined here.

I intend to use a tool like zoom.it to allow users to interactively scroll & zoom in and out, around the compiled map, just like you would in Google-maps. It’s going to be totally cool (the end result would get posted to the above page on my Historical Maps of Toronto project; you would be credited for providing assistance).

You would not need to do the stitching (unless you can help with that too); I just need access to a machine that can handle that size image manipulation. It would probably take 1-2 hours to do — the plates need to be aligned visually/manually as they are not 100% aligned, as can be seen in the photo.

Any helpers? Contact me!

Fire at Broadview and Gerrard Destroys Century-old Corner Building

A four-alarm blaze at Broadview and Gerrard this past weekend has caused major damage to the south-east corner building, which has stood there for about a hundred years.

'Cai Yuan pano 4' by Craig Jenkins; used with permission.
View additional fire photos by Jenkins here. 

Work crews are now busy demolishing the structure, which housed the Cai Yuan supermarket and numerous residents above it. It’s unclear whether the building can be saved. We’ll see!

Work crews assessing the damage and and beginning demolition.

This may eventually lead to a change in the tenor and character of the East Chinatown neighbourhood. I’m not going to pretend that it was a ‘pretty’ building; nevertheless the structure has anchored that corner for a century and is accordingly part of the fabric of the area. It has seen many uses and will be missed.

In 1914 the building was used by Fred Jacobs, chemist (pharmacist).
Image courtesy City of Toronto Archives. (h/t: @wherethestory)
A postcard view looking south on Broadview circa 1911.
Image via Chuckman's collection
Entry for Jacobs at 361 Broadview
in the 1906 Might's City Directory for Toronto

I’ve passed by this building countless times in the past couple of years, en route to my local climbing gym. While it may not be a designated heritage property, it has become a familiar mental landmark for me. I hope the former tenants are able to find a new place to live.

An oft-busy supermarket in Toronto’s east Chinatown
Image courtesy Simon Fraser University

While East Chinatown may appear somewhat ragged and run-down to the outside observer, it is really like a charming village. The atmosphere is laid-back and unassuming, a contrast to the bustle of the downtown core.

I hope that whatever takes shape on the intersection stays true to the neighbourhood — please, no stucco or glass monstrosities!

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How to Host Your Twitter Archive on Google Drive — and Keep It Automatically Refreshed

I recently made an online public archive of every tweet I’ve ever posted, that automatically keeps itself up to date:

My online Twitter archive—click to view

Setting up this up was surprisingly easy—even for a non-technical person. I’m sharing the steps below, so you can try it out yourself.

Admittedly, this is not really a useful thing to do, other than to satisfy your introspective curiosity.

But sometimes trivial pursuits are amusing (how many times have I posted about Waffle House, anyway?).

Step 1: Download your Personal Twitter Archive

Twitter lets you download a complete snapshot of all your past tweets, with an index that you can browse, search, and analyze offline.

It’s simple—follow Twitter’s instructions on downloading your archive.

Twitter will then e-mail you a link to a zip file. Download and unzip the resulting file. This creates a local folder called tweets which contains your exported archive, in two formats: CSV (comma separated value), and a JSON export with all the corresponding metadata—a full representation of all your tweets as returned by the Twitter API.

A look inside the 'tweets' folder. Open the index.html file to browse the archive 
To access the archive, open the index.html file using any browser—double click it, or use File-Open from inside your browser (Alternately, use the CSV file to import the archive into the spreadsheet or database of your choice).

Step 2: Upload the Archive to Google Drive and Share It 

Did you know that you can host webpages and images using Google Drive? You can.

This functionality is super handy for a mini-project like this one (I’m also using Google Drive to host the images for my map sites). There’s potential for all kinds of possibilities here which I have yet to explore fully. And it’s free. I learned about the idea for doing this via Kevin Marks.

You’ll need a Google account to do this, obviously.

1. Log in to Google via Gmail (or whatever your preferred entry point for Google is). Click the 'Drive' option in the top menubar.

2. Upload the entire tweets folder (from Part 1 above) to your Google Drive (it doesn’t have to be at the root level, incidentally).


3. Share the uploaded tweets folder as 'Public on the web' using the Share button. (Checkmark it in the document list, then press the Share button)


4. Copy the 'Link to share' text. Paste this text into an editor (Notepad, Textedit, or whatever is handy).


5. The text will contain a long string of characters that looks like what’s shown above (first line). Take this string of characters, and append it after this URL:
googledrive.com/host/

You'll wind up with something that looks like:
googledrive.com/host/0BwadvTiFXSLcU1Y4YVVybjJGekU

This ungainly address is the web link for your online twitter archive, which you can now share with anyone you like. Keep in mind that the archive is now public on the internet, and theoretically discoverable.

You can use an URL shortener like bit.ly to mask the ugly web address if you’re so inclined.

Step 3 (Optional): Set up a Script to Automatically Synchronize the Archive

Without some mechanism for periodically updating it with new tweets, your archive will only reflect posts up to the moment when you download it. Which obviously is not an entirely satisfactory state of affairs.

To rectify this, set up a Google Drive script to monitor your tweets and update the archive automatically. That might sound tricky, but luckily for you, someone else has already done that work.

Martin Hawksey has created an excellent Google Docs spreadsheet implementing such a script, along with instructions on how to get it running.

Follow Hawksey’s instructions to set things up.

You can inspect the code if you want, to verify what the script does. Along the way, you’ll be creating a Twitter app! [Note: the instructions are clear enough so that non-developers can successfully complete them; you merely have to follow the steps.]

The end result: a self-updating, online archive of your entire Twitter history. You can configure the script to update at an interval of your choice; I set mine to run once every morning in the wee hours, but you may prefer a faster or slower synchronization schedule.

Is this worth doing? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Despite the general banality of most tweets, a person’s personality and interests do get expressed to a certain degree by what they tweet. By examining your posting history, you might gain insight into your own mindset and weltanschauung.

Good luck, and enjoy your archive. Share it with me in the comments if you like!

See also
Twitter Omphaloskepsis
If This, Then That—Connecting the Semantic Web

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Congratulations to RaBIT! A Big Step Forward

Congratulations to the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto (RaBIT):

RaBIT button!
The vote was 26 to 15. It’s an important step forward in the timeline for this reform to occur by the 2018 election. There are still hurdles remaining in this lengthy process — but it’s happening, slowly but surely.

Congratulations to the team of volunteers on their accomplishment! Thanks also to Councillor Paul Ainslie for his leadership on this initiative.

On to the next phase... getting Queen’s Park to approve. If you’d like to support this reform, check out RaBIT here.

See also
Why I Support the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto (And Why You Should, Too!)
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IFSC Bouldering World Cup in Hamilton a success

Yesterday, I attended the semi-finals and finals of the IFSC Bouldering World Cup in Hamilton. Hearty congratulations to everyone involved in the organization and execution of this event!

Anna Stöhr on Women’s Finals 1, en route to her eventual victory

It was an invigorating experience to witness some of the world’s best climbers first hand, in action. As a climber, this level of performance is something that you dream of and secretly (if impossibly) aspire towards.



It was an Austrian-topped podium as Kilian Fischhuber took the Mens gold medal, while Anna Stöhr was the winner for the Women. While the hometown crowd cheered wildly for Sean McColl, it just wasn’t his day for victory.

I’d like to express my sincere admiration of all of the inspiring competitors over the weekend (and especially of Stacey Weldon, Kerry Briggs, Elise Sethna, Miles Adamson, Sean McColl, and the other participating Canadian team members).



Full results: Men. Women. The Hamilton Spectator’s recap. UK Climbing’s recap.

I sincerely hope the future holds more World Cups hosted in Canada. This particular competition was held at the 'new' Gravity Climbing Gym in Hamilton. The crowd was filled with familiar faces whom I’ve met at comps and gyms across Ontario and Quebec, and I’m certain they shared my enthusiasm.

Full replays on YouTube of:
Check out these amazing photos by Ruby Photo Studio (yay Aidas!), and this set by Bonuel Photography from the competition.

Dustin Curtis writes his perspective as one of the setters for the comp.

What a great event. Congratulations again to the participants, organizers, and supporters.

Thanks to Kate Smith for the invitation!

Other Climbing Posts of Interest
Why is Tree Climbing Illegal in Toronto?
The Secret Life of Iyma Lamarche, Rock Climber
Hurrah For The Ontario Access Coalition
Bring a Bouldering World Cup to Toronto
Interview with Rock Oasis' Founder and President


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Why is tree climbing illegal in Toronto?

Last week a man was fined $365 for climbing a tree at Bellevue Park in Kensington Market. Could it be that tree-climbing is illegal in Toronto?

The answer, it turns out, is yes. Several bylaws prohibit climbing of various kinds within the city. This was a surprising discovery to me, as someone who has occasionally clambered up statues and done easy (only non-sketchy) ‘buildering’ just for fun. And who hasn’t climbed a tree?

Out of curiosity I looked up the applicable sections of our municipal code. Here’s what they have to say...

Climbing in parks (mostly) prohibited
City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 608 (Parks), section 6, established under BY-LAW No. 854-2004, states:
No person shall in a park: a) Climb a building, structure or equipment, unless it is equipment designed for climbing; [...] c) Unless authorized by permit, climb, move or remove the whole or any part of a tree, rock, boulder, rock face or remove soil, sand or wood.
Apparently you can’t climb stuff in Toronto parks! I wonder if it’s even possible to obtain a permit. It would be funny to apply to Toronto Parks for one and see what happens. Incidentally according to clause e) of this section, you can’t throw snow inside a park either. No snowball fights, kids—it’s illegal.

Climbing stuff in Yonge-Dundas Square prohibited
In Article III, 636-11 (Public Squares) from City of Toronto By-law No. 1001-2001:
No person shall, within the limits of a square: a) Climb or be on any, tree, roof of a building or any part of a building, structure or fixture, except any portion which is a public walkway.
This bylaw appears to specifically pertain to Yonge-Dundas Square [Minor note: this used to be Ch. 270, which was deleted by the above Bylaw] rather than all public squares. I find it mildly amusing that 'being' on a tree or building is impermissible as well.

Climbing street trees and posts prohibited
Under City of Toronto By-law No. 375-2012, Chapter 743-9, Fouling and obstructing streets:
... k) No person shall climb on or over a railing, bridge or fence located along or across any street, or climb on any tree located in a street, or on any post, pole or structure installed on any street.
Of course there are plausible reasons for bylaws like these. You don’t want people damaging trees, injuring themselves or others through dangerous behaviour, or messing up structures. Further, our municipal code is filled with historical cruft (though, in the case of the tree climbing clauses these are relatively recent updates).

It seems excessive. When you have so many obscure laws like this, it creates the potential for abuse by authority through arbitrary and discretionary enforcement.

And besides, if I fall out of a tree and break my arm—that’s my own fault. I don’t need a bylaw to tell me that. At least there seems to be room for climbing trees on private property.

Will I think twice the next time I look at a section of wall or a nice sculpture and say to myself, “I bet I could climb that!”? We’ll see...

Original photo credit: Tree Climbing by Alec Couros. Modified and used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Related:
Is skateboarding illegal in Toronto?
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Happy Star Wars Day!

Sometimes what we consider to be great cultural touchstones are simply works that have managed to physically survive through the ages. Literature is rife with such examples.


One day, will beleaguered students analyze George Lucas the way we do Shakespeare? Like it or not, you can easily make the case that Lucas’ work will still be kicking around 500 years from now, such has been its popularity.

In honour of this bright and sunny Star Wars day, I present you with the following videos—I do seem to enjoy collecting them...

May the Fourth be with you!

Lego Star Wars

[LINK]

Existential Star Wars [funnier if you don't understand French]

[LINK]

Galaxy of Passion - A Star Wars Telenova [or spanish]
[LINK]

Luke’s Change [9/11 conspiracy parody]

[LINK]

Star Wars animation done Japanese anime style
[LINK]

Star Wars Day Attack Ad: Say No to May the 4th
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Bonus link: Behind the scenes photos from The Empire Strikes Back.

Other Star Wars posts of mine
Imperial March: Dogs versus Floppies
Star Wars Uncut -- Director's Cut
Top Ten Star Wars Spoof Videos
Top Star Wars Spoof Videos Continued

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Why I Support the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto (And Why You Should, Too!)

Very few people are passionate about—let alone interested in—municipal election reform. Probably 50% of my regular readers will never make it past the first sentence of this post.

I concede that it’s an eye-glazing subject.

Nevertheless, I want to inform you about a simple, incremental improvement to the way we could do voting in Toronto, that needs your support.

The proposed change is known as Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). It is championed by a group called Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto, or RaBIT for short. And it’s actually pretty close to happening.


The Plurality Problem

A major issue with our current 'first past the post' system for city elections is that council candidates are often elected with less than an absolute majority of votes within their ward. In races with 3 or more strong candidates there is a tendency for vote-splitting to occur, with the result that some candidates take the victory, even though an absolute majority of voters would not have voted for them.

This video featuring Dave Meslin explains the issue, and the proposed solution:

[LINK]

How IRV Works

Instant Runoff Voting uses ranked ballots in an attempt to eliminate vote splitting. What happens is that voters submit ballots with their choices in ranked order of preference. If no one wins an absolute majority, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and those ballots then have their 2nd preferred choices counted in a second round. This process continues recursively until one candidate has attained an absolute majority of support. [Oh, and you can still just vote for one candidate. You don’t have to submit a ranked ballot if you don’t want to.]

It’s not a perfect approach, but here’s why you should support it:


The Benefits of IRV 

  1. It eliminates vote splitting. People are free to vote for the candidates they truly support, without the fear of ‘wasting’ their vote on a candidate who isn’t going to win.
  2. It promotes participation and diversity in elections. Candidates who might otherwise drop out or be dissuaded from participating, can now run without being perceived as ‘taking away’ votes from other candidates with similar support bases.  
  3. It promotes a more positive and substantive approach to campaigning. Candidates need to consider attracting the '2nd rank' votes of their opponents. The best way of doing that will be through persuasive communication of ideas, not by adopting negative tactics and name-calling. 

And there’s one more advantage to IRV that may be the most critical element of all: it’s practical and pragmatic—it’s an easy to understand improvement. Other approaches are too unwieldy and complicated to implement, at least within the timeframe for the 2018 municipal elections. The reality is that we won’t achieve a radical overhaul of the system. But we can take a solid step towards something better.

Importantly, this change is about process, not specific candidates or political/partisan affiliations. It’s about making the voting system work better. This initiative isn’t even about the next election—this is about reforming the system for the 2018 election. It’s not a fringe idea—it’s happening.

Lastly, it’s key to note that this change is about municipal elections in Toronto—how we elect our mayor, to start with—where we don’t have political parties, and it is not about voting at the provincial or federal levels.

Here’s a lengthier video of Mr. Meslin discussing ranked ballots with Steve Paikin on TVO:

[LINK]

Drawbacks

There are theoretical drawbacks to IRV—mostly in certain edge cases. Voting system nerds will smugly inform you about the catastrophic possibilities for ‘monotonicity failure’, at which point you should just nod as if you see their point, while inwardly rolling your eyes. 

Logistically, ranked ballots can get unwieldy if there are a lot of candidates. But I’m confident that a reasonable solution can be adopted in time for the mayoral election of 2018.

And lastly, certain reform advocates are vehemently against implementing IRV (or any other non-proportional system) for Toronto. I don’t find their tactics or arguments convincing—but readers would be well served to investigate further and come to their own conclusions.

IRV is flawed, but it’s better than what we have now (and to reiterate, some very learned people don’t agree).


Broad base of support

A wide base of support for IRV has developed throughout Toronto—across ideological lines.  The penultimate goal is to get >50% of councillors to endorse it, so that the process can get underway to prepare the 2018 municipal mayoral election for the change.


Find out more about Instant Runoff Voting


Disclosure

Last year I attended a RaBIT volunteer meeting. In that sense I have been indoctrinated by the polished, mellifluous words of Mr. Meslin, one of the key organizers. Although I signed up for a number of initiatives, I haven’t contributed any efforts to RaBIT beyond occasionally re-tweeting stuff. I’m out of the loop—one of those loafers who enjoys the idea of helping out...

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The 200th anniversary of the Battle of York!

Image: Commemorative Medallion for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of York

Image: Commemorative Medallion for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of York (reverse)

Two hundred years ago an American force attacked York, the provincial capital of Upper Canada. It was a formative episode in our city’s history.

Check out:
And of course, my ongoing project:

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Thanks for stopping by!

I’m happy to see that lots of people have been visiting my Historical Maps of Toronto site. Thanks for your support!

Fort York Maps
You’re invited to check out my followup mapping project: Fort York and Garrison Common Maps, a collaboration with Stephen Otto and The Friends of Fort York.

Created to coincide with the bicentenary of the Battle of York (Apr. 27), the site visually explores the evolution of usage and ownership of Fort York and the surrounding military reserve. Highly recommended for history buffs!

Other stuff I’ve written... 
I like to write about a broad range of material. Here are some suggestions for you to read:

What Does A Decade of TTC Metropass Designs Look Like? - A very popular post about my TTC monthly pass collection...

The Secret Life of Iyma Lamarche, Rock Climber - an interview with rising local climbing superstar Iyma Lamarche

The Return of Longboard Haven Skate Shop - a profile of a fantastic indie skate shop on Queen Street East



A Thoroughly Enjoyable Guest Appearance on the CBC’s Lang and O’Leary Exchange aka that time I got on TV

A Pratfall of Monumental Indiscretion aka the time Canada’s most decorated citizen personally notified me, in writing, that I had made an egregious error. And also cc’d the Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Lieutenant Governor.




If you don’t see anything you like, try looking in the archives or use the 'View Random Post' option in the sidebar!

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