Monday quick hits

Jonathan Ross — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:01:46 +0000

Matching up this “headline” with the reality of what actually went down on Saturday is yet another example of how hollow this guy’s “breaking news” truly is. And before he starts to assert that he was the driving force behind ensuring that the fly-over occurred (this is the kind of claim he might be prone to making), let me assure you that there was never any danger of the Canadian Forces not being able to put a show for the fans. Word from my sources who the Canadian forces personnel reached out to for help is that all involved were very upset to learn more about the individual that they had chosen to take up their story. I am going to try and get some details on how those pieces of correspondence were obtained, and what those personnel were told by said blog owner.

After touring the city with my sister who is spending the summer in Vancouver after not living here for more than two weeks at a time since 2003, I heard how impressed she was as to Vancouver’s transformation through “loosening up” and becoming a lot more fun. In fact, the new atmosphere of festivals and events and people truly experiencing the city is something that is being noticed by many of my contacts from a variety of different social circles. Yes, the Olympics have had a lot to do with this, but just as important is the current City Council and Mayor, who might just have figured out exactly how to permanently change Vancouver’s “no-fun city” branding.

Why did they have to call it “Rogers Arena“? It would have been so much cooler for ticket holders to be able to say “We’re heading over to Rogers place to watch the game.”

Meggs’ trip to Portland on the high speed rail was interesting, and in spite of the delay, tomorrow I will have a post up on the proceedings and what the future might hold for such a transportation link through the Cascadia region. I promise.

This guy’s laziness shows through in a poorly thought out, American-styled “I don’t need to tell the government anything” type of rant. Frances has got it right when she describes the federal government’s decision to cancel the census as “a serious blow to our ability to understand who we are as a nation, what we’re doing collectively, and how to plan for the future.” Absolutely – the better we know ourselves, the better we as citizens can figure out what kind of country we want. Governments fumbling in the dark without reliable information on trends, demographics and how Canadians are living is downright scary – particularly with this government that is currently in place.

Not sure when Kitsilano became a nude beach (maybe I should check it out later on today), but this writer’s take on Vancouver from a typical Toronto perspective is fun. The commutes of Toronto’s freeways are a nightmare as anyone can attest, and being able to traverse a city without the hassle of getting onto one still continues to remain as one of North America’s true urban anomalies. I might hate how traffic has increased over the past five years, but it is still a city of neighbourhoods that can easily be traversed without too much punching of the steering wheel.

Embarassing? Sure. The Mayor is going to have to offer some kind of apology for this one, I am sure. But the amount of misinformation being pedaled around the west end by a few dozen diehards is absolutely stunning. This advisory council is an idea that will help to provide balanced representation (not voted in by those who would tirelessly organize to have all anti-Stir members on the committee) that will hopefully cut through the swath and get some real facts out into the community.

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