torontoist

http://feeds.gothamistllc.com/click.phdo?i=fd3dbc4410e46bcde4e1a6fc1dddd211

http://torontoist.com/2009/12/toronto_womens_bookstore_on_the_brink.php

Photo courtesy of Toronto Women's Bookstore.

The store’s economic woes are primarily recession-related, says chair of TWB’s board Robyn Bourgeois, but other factors have contributed. Internally, the non-profit has undergone recent structural changes and a massive turnover in board and staff—an upheaval that left the organization unsteady and unprepared in a difficult economy. There is also a crisis in the independent bookselling industry overall, Bourgeois says, with smaller, alternative stores unable to compete with their large-scale competitors and, in particular, online purchasing.

One of the last and largest non-profit feminist bookstores in North America, the thirty-six-year-old TWB has weathered its share of troubled times: in 1984 the store was firebombed along with a then-attached Henry Morgentaler abortion clinic, in the 1990s it pulled itself out of the red in a time when most of North America's feminist bookstores went under, and in the early years of this decade it resisted a post-9/11 wannabe boycott waged in response to the sale of politically controversial buttons.

If the store closes, it will be a loss of something more than just purveyor of books. "We’re not just a bookstore," Bourgeois says, "Our mandate has always been to fight oppression. Bookselling is what allows us to stay alive as a non-profit organization, but it’s just one part of what we do. We hold events of all kinds: book launches, workshops, readings. We have a great relationship with the academic community, and we also partner with other organizations doing meaningful frontline work with some with of the most disadvantaged members of this city. We’ll be losing a member of a thriving community if the Toronto Women’s Bookstore closes."

The store needs $40,000 in order to stay open for the next three months. "We’ve been working internally to make cuts anywhere we can,” says Bourgeois, “but now we need help from the outside community."

musicforrobots

http://music.for-robots.com/archives/002613.html

softerworldfeed

http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=512

back

buy this print digg facebook reddit stumbleupon

next

torontoist

http://feeds.gothamistllc.com/click.phdo?i=f8fa2fc86995b6da1ad1faedb31506c9

http://torontoist.com/2009/12/tfca_picks_nic_cage_as_best_actor_of_2009_renders_lesser_critical_circles_shit_b.php

Still courtesy of First Look Studios.

Anyone who woke up at 12:01 this morning to read the results of the Toronto Film Critics Association 2009 awards may have been a bit disappointed. It’s not that this was a particularly miserable year for films. It’s just that anyone who stays on top of these things may find the results a bit ho-hum. Steve McQueen’s Hunger and Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds seems a pretty sensible split-vote for Best Picture, and Kathryn Bigelow was a shoe-in for Best Director. Ditto Christoph Waltz, whose star turn as the scene-stealing “Jew Hunter” in Basterds made him an obvious pick for Best Supporting Actor. But in a list with few surprises (apart from all the support for Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air), there emerged one dark horse.

When mulling over the Best Actor award, who did the TFCA ultimately honour? It sure wasn’t George “Movie-a-Week” Clooney or Hunger’s Michael Fassbender. Nor was it the consistently impressive Viggo Mortensen as the bedraggled Omega Dad in Hillcoat’s The Road. Nope. It was Nicolas Cage, honoured for his manic histrionics as opiate-abusing cop Terrance McDonagh in Werner Herzog’s fantastic Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

So what’s the big deal?

Well, for one, it proves the TFCA willing to take chances. While many will write off Cage as a hopeless hack who's managed to make a cottage-industry out of movies dealing with treasure-hunting and predicting the future, this year’s sort-of remake of Abel Ferarra’s Bad Lieutenant proved that Cage still has the sort of chops that netted him an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas back in 1995. And even though Cage has emerged as something of an online meme these days—with YouTubers gleefully cutting together the most laughable bits from 2006’s The Wicker Man or pop artist Brandon Bird selling Nic Cage playsets on his website—appreciating his performance in Bad Lieutenant doesn’t rely on your having recuperated Cage ironically.

Weighed against other performances this year, Cage’s is truly exceptional. Sure, Clooney’s charming half-smirk may say something about the geist of this disposable, digitally drenched culture, and Fassbender radically transformed himself as the starving IRA organizer Bobby Sands. But Cage does something more. He acts. Like, he really acts.

As Lieutenant McDonagh, Cage is electric. He embodies both his character’s slumped posture and bent morality with conviction. He nails the whole corrupt/corrupted dichotomy. He moves between states of drug-addled disorder with believability. He swings between effortless cool and Magnum-waving frenzy with schizophrenic precision. He smokes crack with Xzibit. He calls perps “shit-bird.” He half-assedly tries to rescue a prostitute (Eva Mendes) while also fuelling her coke habit. Most importantly, he entertains. He makes you imagine how fun and exhilarating it must have been to first see Brando in On the Waterfront, DeNiro in Raging Bull, or Herzog’s own Kinski in Aguirre. Cage also proves just how talented he can be when he’s not chasing pay cheques to make mortgage payments on his Bavarian castle, aviary, tropical island, and haunted house. If you haven't caught him in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (or BL:POCNO to fans) yet, do yourself a favour and see why Cage is so deserving of the TFCA's accolades.

So let the other major cities and their local cabals of critics have the all Clooneys, Firths, and Fassbenders. Toronto will take Cage’s Terrance McDonagh, lucky crack-pipe and all.

torontoist

http://feeds.gothamistllc.com/click.phdo?i=c55caa58c4183388643b166c68b9a062

http://torontoist.com/2009/12/just_like_the_ones_he_used_to_know.php

Books@Torontoist is proud to announce the publication of an original story by Robert J Wiersema, bestselling author of the novel Before I Wake and the novella The World More Full of Weeping. The story of a man who makes a mysterious journey to his home town on a stormy Christmas Eve, “Just Like the Ones He Used to Know” revives the Victorian tradition of ringing in the holiday season with a story of the ghostly and the miraculous—and will be serialized on the site in eight daily posts, beginning on Thursday and ending on Christmas Eve. Rob was kind enough to provide us with an introduction to his holiday tale. Read on and return tomorrow for the first installment of “Just Like the Ones He Used to Know.” READ MORE >>

torontoist

http://feeds.gothamistllc.com/click.phdo?i=27c6b6a802303173f7fd1ad33f10da1f

http://torontoist.com/2009/12/polling_booth_hockey_headshots.php

It's not a shock to hear Don Cherry referred to as a negative influence, but a renowned neurologist is pointing a finger at the high-collared commentator for fostering a culture of violence in professional hockey. Referring to studies showing an increased frequency of concussions among pro hockey players, Dr. Charles Tator insists that Cherry's "rock 'em, sock 'em" schtick promotes dangerous head injuries, and that the broadcast icon should be calling for a moratorium on head shots. The comments were made at a Hockey Canada meeting last week in Regina.

Hockey Night In Canada jumped to defend Cherry: "Everything from championing on-ice rules and equipment changes to leading the STOP sign campaign," a CBC press release states. "He has been the leader in teaching tough, smart hockey."

Dr. Tator believes that Don Cherry could spearhead a movement to help reduce concussive brain injuries in the same way he once spoke out about aggressive hits from behind, which were causing neck damage in players. When asked by 680 News reporter Colin D'Mello what he thought of the doctor's accusation, Cherry answered with his trademark subtlety: "I don't give a fuck about him."

new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/7e2b54c/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cdn1830A0A0Esliding0Eink0Ecould0Eboost0Espeed0Eof0Eprinted0Eelectronics0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18300

new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/7e283ba/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A0A90C120Ctoday0Eon0Enew0Escientist0E160Edece0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/12/today-on-new-scientist-16-dece.html

new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/7e253f4/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg20A4273910B60A0A0Ealices0Eadventures0Ein0Ealgebra0Ewonderland0Esolved0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427391.600

new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/7e253f2/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg20A4273930B60A0A0Ebattle0Efor0Eclimate0Edata0Eapproaches0Etipping0Epoint0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427393.600

new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/7e253f0/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg20A4273910B30A0A0Ebill0Ebryson0Eeverything0Ethat0Ehappens0Eis0Eamazing0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427391.300

new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/7e253ef/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg20A4273940B0A0A0A/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427394.000

new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/7e253ee/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg20A4273940B70A0A0Eknow0Ea0Egenes0Eparent0Eto0Eimprove0Edisease0Eprediction0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427394.700

new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/7e283bb/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cthesword0C20A0A90C120Cnuclear0Ephysics0Ehit0Ehardest0Eby0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/thesword/2009/12/nuclear-physics-hit-hardest-by.html

sciam

http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=847ec47445477acab2265c7378cac1bb

A clone of Earth, or even a rough approximation, has proved a difficult thing for scientists to find. The catalogue of planets orbiting other stars grew to more than 400 entries in October , but the goal that drives much of the research into extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, is the discovery of a habitable world, and that goal remains unmet. Some rough approximations, however, are starting to come into view. [More]

musicforrobots

http://music.for-robots.com/archives/002611.html

torontoist

http://feeds.gothamistllc.com/click.phdo?i=b21a27ab673e65e4674add1c6e56796d

http://torontoist.com/2009/12/temporary_deforestation_on_bloor_street.php

Passersby on the portion of Bloor Street just south of Yorkville are in for an unnerving sight. The stretch of road between Yonge Street and Avenue Road that last week was lined with trees in sidewalk planters is now decked by long rows of tree stumps. The clear-cut is a result of the ongoing Bloor Street Transformation Project, which will see sidewalks on Bloor Street between Church Street and Avenue Road widened and paved with granite, and new planters for trees and flowers installed. New trees will be planted to replace the ones that have just been chopped down.

The replacement planting is scheduled to be completed in 2011, according to a recent newsletter from the Bloor-Yorkville BIA [PDF]. In the meantime, the sight of so many decapitated trees—some, as of yesterday, left uprooted and sitting askew in their planters—might seem alarming to anyone with an attachment to Toronto's urban forest. It's as though a crew of crazed lumberjacks convened on the spot and went on an arboreal killing spree. In reality, the trees are a casualty of progress. They've merely taken one for the team.

The sad, dilapidated sight stands in contrast to the moneyed boutiques that front on the affected sidewalk. Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Prada all have shops there, to name just a few. The giant green Christmas tree in front of the William Ashley store in the Manulife Centre, a temporary decoration and not a part of the transformation, is practically the last tree standing in the area, with the exception of a trio of trees just west of the intersection of Bloor and Yonge streets, already planted as part of the project by construction workers earlier this year.

Construction on the transformation project began in 2008, between Yonge and Church streets, and renovation on that section of road is already nearly complete. Fifty-eight new London Plane trees have been planted there, in granite planters. The planters are outfitted with what the Bloor-Yorkville BIA website refers to, impressively, as "innovative and sustainable soil cell systems." These cells are so-called Silva Cells, and are designed to allow tree roots to spread relatively unfettered underneath pavement.

The design for the project, developed by architectsAlliance and Brown + Storey Architects, and funded jointly by the city and by members of the Bloor-Yorkville BIA, calls for eighty more of the new trees to be planted, most of which will be placed west of Yonge Street, to replace those that were just chopped down. For now, though, Bloor Street denizens will need to put up with a bleak, treeless winter streetscape. Not that it wouldn't have been bleak, anyhow.

Photos by Remi Carreiro/Torontoist.

Hat tip to Martin Reis.