Where to Dump Garbage? Our Best Parks Will Do! #stupid
Published June 25, 2009 @ 15:54 in The T.Dot

Have you heard Toronto's garbage peeps are on strike? I'll bet you have. We're only a few days into this thing and already everyone is bitchin' and complainin'. Premature panic is what we do best.

Toronto has unveiled 19 new temporary garbage drop-off locations that residents can use as dumping sites during the strike. This is in addition to the seven drop-off locations I wrote about on Monday. Here are the 19 locations where we can dump our garbage:

• Ted Reeve Arena
  Northeast corner of Main St. & Gerrard St. E.
• Villiers St.
  Paved roadway between Saulter St. and Cherry St.
• Sunnyside Park
  Parking area south of Lake Shore Blvd. W., between Ellis Ave. and Colborne Lodge Dr. (must be east-bound on Lake Shore to access)
• Sir Casmir Gzowski Park
  Parking area south of Lake Shore Blvd. W., west of Sunnyside Park (must be east-bound on Lake Shore to access)
• Eglinton Flats (1)
  Enter off Eglinton Ave., east of Jane St.
• Eglinton Flats (2)
  Enter off Emmett Ave., west of Jane St.
• Etienne Brule Park
  Old Mill Rd. at Catherine St., east of Humber River
• George Bell Arena
  215 Ryding Ave., south of St. Clair Ave. W., east of Runnymede Rd.
• Christie Pits
  Enter off Crawford St., north of Bloor
• North Toronto Memorial Arena
  North of Eglinton Ave., east of Oriole Pkwy., enter off Edith Dr.
• Moss Park
  South of Shuter St., north of Queen St. E., west of Sherbourne St.
• North York Centennial Centre
  580 Finch Ave. W., in parking lot
• Caledonia Park
  1135 Caledonia Rd., in parking lot
• Earlscourt Park
  West side of Lansdowne Ave., north of Davenport Rd.
• Taylor Creek Park
  Enter off Haldon Ave., in parking lot at end of roadway
• Scarborough Arena
  75 Birchmount Rd., in parking lot
• Wishing Well Park
  In parking lot, north of 401, west side of Pharmacy Ave. (south of Sheppard Ave. E.)
• York Mills Arena
  2539 Bayview Ave., enter off York Mills Rd., east of Bayview
• Highland Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant
  51 Beechgrove Dr., in parking lot at end of Beechgrove Dr.

Are you kidding me? The city thinks it's a good idea to make Etienne Brule Park a temporary dump? My Etienne Brule Park where I spend many hours walking, playing and enjoying the summer? Beautiful, serene Etienne Brule Park?

There shouldn't be parks on this list. The seven original drop-off locations plus a few other strategic sites should have been suffice.

Sometimes, Toronto ain't got no class.

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Garbage Strike, What To Do
Published June 22, 2009 @ 11:35 in The T.Dot

I remember an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati where there was a garbage strike in Cincinnati during a hot summer and Dr. Johnny Fever told his listeners to take their garbage down to City Hall. We're being asked not to do that.

24,000 City of Toronto workers are now on strike, meaning garbage collection has stopped and daycare services have been shut down. I no longer require daycare services, but I do produce garbage. It's actually not the garbage I'm worried about, it's the green bin. That's where the stinky stuff goes, and our green bin is filled to the brim every week. The City of Toronto has drop-off locations if your green bin overfloweth. Here's what I extracted from toronto.ca.

Garbage drop-off locations

Transfer Stations
Two transfer stations will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to accept both residential and commercial garbage:

Bermondsey Transfer Station
188 Bermondsey Rd
(Eglinton Ave. E. & Victoria Park Ave. area)

Ingram Transfer Station
50 Ingram Dr
(Keele St. & Eglinton Ave. W. area)

• All residential waste will be accepted free of charge. All must be double-bagged.


• Yellow bag customers may deliver their waste to a transfer station free of charge and without use of yellow bags. Proof of registration in the yellow bag program is required.


• All other commercial waste must be weighed and will be subject to a $100 per tonne tip fee. All odorous commercial waste must be double bagged.

In addition, five transfer stations will be open 12 hours a day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week, to accept both residential and commercial garbage. Remember to double bag.

Disco Transfer Station 120 Disco Rd (Dixon Rd. & Carlingview Dr area) Dufferin Transfer Station 35 Vanley Cr (Chesswood Dr & Sheppard Ave. W. area) Victoria Park Transfer Station 3350 Victoria Park Ave (Victoria Park Ave & Finch Ave. E. area)

Commissioners Street Transfer Station 400 Commissioners St (Lake Shore Blvd. E. & Logan Ave area) Scarborough Transfer Station 1 Transfer Pl (Markham Rd & Sheppard Ave. E. area)

Additional residential drop-off locations will be announced should the labour disruption continue for more than five days.

I'm told by friends and family in Etobicoke that their garbage is contracted out so they'll get their garbage picked up. Maybe I'll just haul my bins over to my bro's!

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My Stab At The Toronto Fun Guide Cover
Published June 11, 2009 @ 20:13 in Humour, The T.Dot

I'm still laughing at the fact our city Photoshopped a black guy onto the cover of the current Fun Guide. It really happened. Click here to see the before and after images.

Some are laughing at the terrible Photoshop job, others are laughing at the need to do it in the first place, and some are laughing at all of the above. That's me, so in the past 5 minutes as I dried off from a wet softball game, I took my own stab at making the Toronto Fun Guide cover as diverse as the city I love.

My name's Pitt. And your ass ain't talkin' your way out of this shit.

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Fun! Toronto Style (Now With Photoshop)
Published June 10, 2009 @ 15:43 in Humour, The T.Dot

Andrew (with the capital "A", not the commenter with the small "a"), directed my attention to Mike Stafford's latest blog entry.

As Mike writes:

The smiling, ethnically diverse family featured on the cover of Toronto's latest edition of its summer Fun Guide was digitally altered to make the photo more "inclusive," which city officials say is in keeping with a policy to reflect diversity. Judging by the father's gaze, the policy must also reflect a high level of creepiness!

Here's that cover:

As Andrew pointed out, it's reminiscent of an Onion bit.

In the spirit of celebrating diversity at Iowa State University, a black guy was digitally added to the cover of the school's 2001 spring-semester course catalog, school officials announced Monday.

Our beloved city is now ripping punchlines from the Onion's grasp. Has it really come to this, Toronto?

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Skydome Turns 20
Published June 4, 2009 @ 21:55 in The T.Dot

A lot's been said about the Skydome turning 20 this week. I still have my Domer turtle from that opening ceremony somewhere. I didn't attend the opening, but a friend of the family did and gave us Domer.

I caught two Jays games during the first week of games at Skydome and I still remember how awesome it looked as I first entered from the concession area. Compared to Exhibition Stadium, it was all so bright and modern looking. Sure, it would soon be known as the concrete convertible, but it was our concrete convertible.

The Good Point put together a list of the top 20 Skydome / Rogers Centre moments. Here they are so we can debate them in the comments.

1. October 23, 1993 - World Series, Game 6
2. October 14, 1992 - American League Championship Series, Game 6
3. October 20, 1992 - World Series, Game 3
4. March 24, 1996 - Toronto Raptors vs. Chicago Bulls
5. June 29, 1990 - Toronto Blue Jays vs. Oakland Athletics
6. May 31, 1997 - Bailey vs. Johnson
7. November 26, 1989 - The 77th Grey Cup
8. November 3, 1995 - Toronto Raptors vs. New Jersey Nets
9. September 25, 2003 - Toronto Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
10. November 9, 1997 - CFL East Final
11. September 30, 1989 - Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles
12. September 27, 2003 - Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Indians
13. April 1, 1990 - WrestleMania VI
14. October 7, 1989 - American League Championship Series, Game 4
15. August 17, 2001 - Toronto Blue Jays vs. Texas Rangers
16. December 7, 2008 - Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins
17. July 9, 1991 - The 62nd MLB All-Star Game
18. March 17. 2002 - WrestleMania X8
19. November 25, 2007 - The 95th Grey Cup
20. November 29, 1992 - The 80th Grey Cup

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Your Guide to Finding High Park's Best Cherry Blossoms
Published April 29, 2009 @ 19:40 in The T.Dot

It's Cherry blossom season in High Park, so many Torontonians will be grabbing their camera and making the trip to snap great shots like these.

I know High Park very well, so I can tell you where you'll find the best Somei-Yoshino cherry trees. Take Cherry Hill down from West Road to Grenadier Pond and you'll find this.

You can thank me later. Here's where those kick ass cherry blossoms are on the map.

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Earth Hour 2009 - The Big Picture
Published March 30, 2009 @ 17:39 in The T.Dot

Earth Hour 2009 made for some nice photos at The Big Picture.

Here's the skyline of downtown Toronto before and after Earth Hour on Saturday, March 28, 2009.

Before

After

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CP24 Breakfast Is Not Breakfast Television
Published March 27, 2009 @ 19:11 in Television, The T.Dot

I don't watch television in the morning. I never have. Even though I don't watch morning TV, I know Breakfast Television.

BT debuted on September 6, 1989, with host Ann Rohmer and news anchor David Onley. When CablePulse 24 launched in 1998, Breakfast Television was simulcast on both Citytv and CablePulse 24. This was true until yesterday. Yesterday morning, CablePulse 24, now CP24, debuted a BT clone called CP24 Breakfast.

You see, CTVglobemedia bought CHUM Limited back in 2006, and CHUM Limited owned Citytv and CablePulse 24, but the CRTC told CTVglobemedia that they had to sell Citytv. Rogers picked it up in 2007. If you're still with me, that made CablePulse 24 and Citytv rivals working in the same building. I envision body checks in the hallways.

That brings us to yesterday. CP24 was launched, featuring faces familiar to viewers of Breakfast Television, including original host Ann Rohmer. They're even simulcasting on 1050, another pick-up from 2006. That enables CTV to go after Rogers' Breakfast Television and 680 News with the same 299 Queen Street West stone.

But make no mistake about it. CP24 Breakfast is not Breakfast Television, even if CTV doesn't want you to notice.

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Earth Hour 2009 is March 28 @ 8:30pm
Published March 19, 2009 @ 14:44 in The T.Dot

I enjoyed Earth Hour 2008. Here's how I spent my first Earth Hour, on March 29, 2008.

The people behind Earth Hour 2009 want to kick it up a notch this year.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.

I'm not naive enough to think one hour with the lights off will make a difference in the grand scheme of things, but I think this is a huge opportunity to educate and promote conservation. I make it a big deal for my kids and use it as a tool to discuss other things we can do to reduce the strain on mother earth's natural resources.

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Ice Age Cometh to Etienne Brule Park
Published March 15, 2009 @ 14:14 in The T.Dot

I finally got around to visiting the scene of the apocalypse that was Etienne Brule Park with my camera. My son and I made the walk by the Humber River near the Old Mill where recent flooding has created an ice age of sorts.

The massive chunks of ice make for a very cool obstacle course. It's quite the challenge and just dangerous enough to make it super fun. I think glacier hopping should be considered as a non-medal sport in Vancouver next winter.

Here's a photoset from our visit to Etienne Brule Park. If glacier hopping intrigues you, get down there before it all melts away.

Related:

• Inukshuk on the Humber River

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