Tired of all that boring old painted on graffiti? Bored of tagging with sharpies on old stickers and mail labels and plastering them around town? Why not try knitting? Yup, a new brand of street art is popping up, and it’s made of yarn. Knitta, is a self described “tag crew of knitters, bombing the […] More »

Two recently announced educational institutions to be based in the Vancouver area provide an interesting view of the direction of higher education in 2006. Today, the Dalai Lama is in Vancouver to announce the establishment of the Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education. From the Times of India: “This is purely educational, not political,” […] More »

I just returned from a weekend in the States; Seattle WA to be exact. My friend Gisele and I drove down for Bumbershoot, an annual cultural extravaganza held on the old Expo fair grounds. Thousands of people, hundreds of shows, long lines and sun sun sun. But wait, bragging about my fabulous weekend is not […] More »

Something funny I found tonight: it seems while leftists are criticized by the right for pointless boycotts of corporate baddies such as Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, the cons are engaging in their own consumer activism by organizing “embargoes” such as this one against Wells Fargo bank. Its transgression? Giving mortgages and banking services to illegal […] More »

Monday’s Toronto Star carries a Labour Day feature updating the plight of Hermelindo Gutierrez, a Mexican who worked as a seasonal farm worker in Ontario for several years before kidney failure left him dependent on a dialysis machine—an unthinkable expense in Mexico for the working class. Hermelindo’s story was previously told in the pages of […] More »

CBC News reports that the fashion industry is not just setting the latest fashion trends but also the latest sensation in anti-counterfeit technology. Your latest Louis Vuitton luxury over-night bag may now come embedded with authenticating synthetic DNA interwoven into it’s fine Italian silk inner lining. The technology makes any Canal Street forgery lacking the […] More »

Last night I discovered a wonderful little online tool, LibraryThing, for tracking one’s reading habits. It can search the LIbraray of Congress and Amazon to return info on thousands of books and thumbnails of their covers. It’s simple to add books to your “library,” rate them, and see what others like you have enjoyed reading. […] More »

Spotted in the Lettieri at Queen and Spadina in Toronto early this afternoon — Alice Cooper. Looking… very much in need of coffee. Outside on a nearby bistro, as though performing an homage, a young starlet in training tried to place her Paris Hiltonesque chihuahua on the patio railing, it fell off as soon as […] More »