Platform 327

The Toronto Star reported yesterday that the organizers of the insipid Wakestock event (no link because I don’t want to give them the hit count) that took place on the Islands this past weekend hacked the limbs off of old-growth trees in a public park so that a bunch of jerks could jump their little motorcycles higher. Torontoist and Spacing are hosting discussions on the subject.

So someone in the city who has a tree on their own property that they want to cut down can’t do a damn thing about it, but a one-day event in a public park can hack trees down willy-nilly, no problem? Since I haven’t seen any reaction from the city in today’s news, it seems like that’s the case. I’m surprised the usually-vocal Toronto Islands residents haven’t raised a big stink about this themselves.

What gets me is the fact that even if the City levied fines against the organizers and sponsors of Wakestock, they would just list it as the “cost of doing business,” write it off on their income taxes and get their fines paid for by the Federal government (read we, the taxpayers).

How difficult would it be to change the tax laws to that fines for criminal behaviour are not considered tax-creditable losses? If fines actually impacted the bottom line of a corporation, the shareholders would be more motivated to ensure that their company acted in a responsible manner, would they not?

I’ll forgo the rant about politicians and corporations for now. On the Wakestock issue, I only do business with one of their corporate sponsors, Telus, and the alternative service providers in the cell phone industry aren’t much better. Maybe I’ll write them a letter, or maybe I will change cell phone providers. Primus has cell service, and they give Air Miles.

I was in Oakville this weekend with W, and she took me to The Moonshine Cafe for a quick drink and to hang out with some friends of hers.  While there, we met some dude named Bill (if I remember correctly, which I probably don’t) who had a bicycle parked outside that was loaded up with about 100 pounds of equipment.  Turns out he had stopped in for a beer while on a bike ride… from Edmonton to the East Coast of Canada.

Kinda makes my wee jaunt to Glen Rouge a little less impressive.

Still, that’s not going to stop my trip to Bronte Creek in a couple of weeks.  Who knows, maybe one day after I’ve won the lottery and had a few months with an insane personal trainer, I could do something like that.  Until that happens, the occasional bicycle camping trip in the GTA will have to do.

Oh, also while in Oakville, W and I watched Superman: The Movie.  It wasn’t some weird-ass director’s supermax collector’s redigitized edition, just the basic DVD from the 2 for $20 sale at the local home-entertainment shop.  I’d almost forgotten how good that movie was, even 30 years later, in comparison to last year’s fiasco.

All the old Livejournal posts have been imported into the new blog. Enjoy.

I think I’m going to like WordPress… once I get things figured out to the point where I can get a custom template created.

… but I just got my Grade 9 math marks back on the first unit I’ve completed through the Independent Learning Centre.  93%!  Woo-hoo!  I never got a 93% in math before in my life.  Maybe age and experience do count for something.

I have imported all of my Livejournal posts from 2007.  A slow and tedious process,  but at least there’s some content here now.

Relive the memories of the past year, and feel free to add your comments to any article you see fit to comment on (unfortunately LJ won’t let me import comments).

And now time for bed.

Seeing as I’m starting a new blog and all, I figured I’d start off with a pretty good story rather than my usual blog rants. Well, I think it’s a good story, anyway.

I took a couple of days off work this week. You know, summer, enjoy it, blah, blah, blah. I like taking 4 day weekends here and there rather than taking all of my vacation time off in one big block. Anyway, I had booked a couple of days off, and wasn’t too sure what I was going to do with them. And then, just before the time off came, it hit me.

I had just recently found out about the Glen Rouge campground here in T.O., and when I heard about it, I thought it would be cool to ride my bike out there, camp for a night, and then ride back. I decided to use my extra time off to take this little trip.

After a few days of checking the outdoor stores and looking at $300 tents, I made a trip to Wally World and got me one for $24 (pictured above). After all, I haven’t done anything close to camping since I was 13, and I wasn’t going to invest a whole lot of cash into something that I might not even like. I then went to my parents’ place to get my old sleeping bag (which, incidentally, is now in the trash due to the fact that no amount of Febreze could get could get the camping smells of days gone by out of it), and reserved me a camping space. Read the rest of this entry »

If it wasn’t enough that the city bought a theatre in the face of a dire budget crunch, now they want to slash the TTC and cut police services to pay the bills.

The Toronto Arts Council sucks nearly $10 million out of the city, according to their financial statements. Why are they untouchable? Margaret Atwood, Molly Johnson, Sam Sniderman and David Mirvish are but a few names on the TAC advisory panel. Do these people not have the means to create their own non-profit organization to continue funding the arts without being a drain on the city’s finances? Again I ask, how dare they ask the city for money?

This is just more proof that the NDP can’t administer a government. I especially like the “Miller days” suggestion. As much as you may hate the guy, this city needs Mike Harris for mayor, at least for one term, in order to straighten things out.

When will people see through David Miller’s fear-mongering bullshit? He got into office on the bald-faced lie that if the Island Airport wasn’t closed, the sky over downtown Toronto would be full of jet planes, even though planes entering and leaving the airport do so not over the city, but over open Lake Ontario water. Recently he tried getting new taxes approved using the fear tactic of more property taxes for everyone if he didn’t get his way. When he didn’t get his way, the fear mongering started right away when he threatened cuts to police and emergency services.

And then this bullshit.

Maybe this theatre company does do good work, and maybe the city is a better place with them here. But a theatre company is people, not a building. If they can’t afford the building they’re in, they can do their good work elsewhere, if they truly feel their work is worth doing. How dare they even ask the city for money? What gives them the right to a free building? If their revenues aren’t keeping pace with costs, they should either increase revenues or decrease costs like everyone else. That money could have bought a subway car, which would have been of a lot more use to a lot more people.

I gotta get out of here.

If anyone out there knows of a camping store in the City of Toronto that’s having a good sale, please let me know. I’m planning a weekend cycling trip and am looking for a one-person tent or bivy sack to sleep in for a night. Alternatively, if you happen to have something like that sitting in your attic that you feel will never be used again, let me know and I might take it off your hands.

Thank you, and good night.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is 20.

Anyone wanna dress as a Klingon and accompany me to the next convention?