October 19th, 2009
On Friday, I noticed that the sidewalks around the Yonge-Queen intersection have been painted with stenciled ad messages promoting the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This is certainly not the first time we have seen …
December 10th, 2008
As Torontonians negotiated snowy and icy sidewalks this past week, some were no doubt reminded of the problems the city had last winter with clearing sidewalks. One of them was the Toronto Star’s entertainment columnist Antonia Zerbisias, who …
September 26th, 2008
Clever graffitti really should inform more of the debate in our federal election. There I was, tearing my hair out trying to understand how anyone can think that giving young people longer criminal sentences is the most important issue facing the country, when crime rates are dropping and global warming threatens the future of all youth (plus everyone else).
But then I came across an on-line mini-lecture by Dan Gilbert — best-selling author, Harvard Psychology professor and author of the title of this rant. Sadly (for me), he has some pretty good reasons why we are blind to the danger posed by rising greenhouse gas levels, while the threats of tooth decay, terrorism or youth crime trigger immediate responses.
It’s well worth a listen, but he sums it up as: “ Global warming is a deadly threat only because it fails to trigger the brain’s alarms. It leaves us sleeping in a burning bed. It remains to be seen whether if we can learn to rouse ourselves to battle an impersonal, slow and quiet enemy that is indeed more dangerous than any our ancestors ever imagined.â€
Alas, the record of our ancestors on this score is not promising. But not entirely hopeless either. Archaeologist/historian Ronald Wright sums up the historical evidence in his brilliant little book A Short History of Progress with a single line stolen from a piece of graffiti: “Each time history repeats itself, the price goes up.â€
I’ve tacked this line onto the wall by my desk because I think it is both clever and wise – and the placement seems appropriate for an academic thesis that started as a piece of street art whose creator the get-tough-on-youth-crime crowd would have us jail.
Clever because it plays upon our familiarity with the expression “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.†So it highlights the possibility of avoiding paying the price by actually learning from our mistakes, even while cynically doubting that this is probable. But at least our unknown graffiti artist retained enough hope to bother writing his warning on a wall.
January 29th, 2008
There was an interesting article in the Wheels section of the Saturday Star about speed traps and the tradition of flashing headlights at oncoming cars to warn them of the imminent radar. I recall that …
December 4th, 2007
In Toronto and much of Canada, the introduction of CCTV by police to monitor public space is still in its infancy, passionately supported in some quarters, denounced by others, with the rest either indifferent or (myself …
November 12th, 2007
While I’m very happy about yesterday’s GreenTOpia launch and the upcoming Building Sustainability series, I’m saddened to see this Star story also published yesterday on a new “sport” …
November 6th, 2007
Surface parking lots are possibly the most problematic use of space in a city — their vast impervious surfaces create runoffs of polluted water; they absorb heat; although you have to walk out of them, …
October 2nd, 2007
There is a great article published yesterday on Salon.com about the North American compulsion to build parking lots. It includes a look at “minimum parking requirement” legislation and how many American cities are starting …
September 2nd, 2007
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Earlier this week I was on CP24’s “Hour Town” promoting Spacing Votes and got to hang out back-stage with one of the CNE’s execs. We talked about what each other …
August 30th, 2007
Summertime and the biking is easy…on Friday, at least. Commute to work with me and others this Friday, August 31, for the last BikeFriday this summer!
Last month, Alternative Grounds (at 333 Roncesvalles) and …
