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Earlier this week, the Globe and Mail’s “Caption Writing Person” set off an online frenzy with a series of epic one-liners mocking Hollywood excess in the age of the Occupy Everywhere movement. But it wasn’t long before people began wondering—for no good reason, really—whether the Globe had been hacked. For its part, Gawker published a post saying the caption writer had gone “rogue” (an adjective we think remains best reserved for failed vice-presidential candidates). Of course, we’re just grateful that this Can Con moment was far less embarrassing than the usual appearances. Nonetheless, some Toronto Gawker headline highlights, after the jump.
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Gawker gotchas: a roundup of Toronto’s most embarrassing moments according to the gossip giant
EARTHQUAKE! Once again, Toronto hit by a lunchtime summer tremor
Office workers mill around after evacuating a building in Arlington, Virginia (Image: Mrs. Gemstone)
If the hundreds of reports on Twitter are to be believed (and the reports of about half of the Toronto Life office), Toronto just experienced this summer’s lunchtime earthquake (last June, we had a similar tremor). According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Virginia was at the epicentre of a 5.9 magnitude quake about 10 minutes ago. We wonder how long it’ll be before the inevitable ironic commemorations begin.
UPDATE: MSNBC reports that parts of the Pentagon and the White House were evacuated following the quake.
UPDATE 2: Well, that was fast. The “committed capitalists” over at Spacing have already mocked up some commemorative buttons »
Did you feel the earthquake where you were? Let us know in the comments.
Is six storeys too tall for a condo? Opponents of a Glen Davis Ravine development say yes
An interesting anti-development fight has quietly been simmering in the city’s east end, where a handful of local community activists are fighting a condo development along Kingston Road. What’s so new about that? Not much, except that their argument is that the condo developer will be ruining the ravine that serves as their backyard, and they want the city to protect it by forcing a smaller development. Oh, and the proposed development in question? It’s only six storeys.
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Stuck in the ’90s?: Sun papers leave the Ontario Press Council, citing “political correctness”
Sun papers: never fond of political correctness (Image: torontocitylife)
This is all a bit insider-y, but we can’t help but detect Kory Teneycke’s hand at work here: the Sun chain of papers has pulled out of the Ontario Press Council, following the lead of parent company Quebecor, whose papers in other provinces had done the same with their respective councils. The OPC is basically a self-regulating body set up in the 1970s to deal with complaints to the press. Apparently, even the coziest self-regulation is as intolerable to the Sun papers as a human rights tribunal is to Ezra Levant.
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Because nothing in this city happens without Twitter anymore, that’s where the news of Christie Blatchford’s Globe departure breaks
The man behind the Mondoville Twitter account, Marc Weisblott, caused something of a media tizzy this afternoon with a single-sentence tweet: “Christie Blatchford gone from ‘The Globe and Mail’…” Reporters and other media types had two basic reactions: confused glottal noises and wondering aloud how Mondoville got the story first (these are reporters, after all).
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Bell TV and Sun News Network caught in a cat fight. Now, if only there was a way they could both lose
In this conflict, we’re not sure which side to root for. Apparently Bell has pulled the Sun News Network, Canada’s newest 24-hour news channel, from its satellite TV service after neither side could agree on what Bell should pay for the privilege of showing the Quebecor-owned channel. The dispute came to a head last month when Quebecor sent a strongly worded letter to Bell Canada Enterprises, demanding the channel be removed if an agreement failed to materialize by May 3. So yesterday at 10 a.m., Bell yanked Sun News.
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Repealed laws, unreleased reports and plea bargains? Thursday is apparently G8/G20 news dump day
The infamous fence (Image: Yeshwant from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool)
We’re only a few months away from the one-year anniversary of the G8/G20 summits that were ever so much fun for this city. In case anyone needs a hand remembering what kind of festivities we put up with last year, the provincial government and the news media have conspired to remind us all with a trio of stories that involve that magical weekend last summer.
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Check out BIXI Toronto’s 80 downtown bike locations on one interactive map
Click map for interactive version
BIXI is slated to launch in Toronto on May 3 with 1,000 bikes spread out over 80 stations. While we’re all for bringing the Montreal bike-sharing company to the city’s congested streets, the initial offering is a little limited. All 1,500 docking stations are confined to the area between Bloor, Spadina, Queens Quay and Jarvis Street, with a pair of outliers at Jarvis on Queen Quay and in Kensington Market.
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Ford and friends want a municipal by-election in Downsview. Get ready for a “referendum” on the mayor’s term so far
Maria Augimeri and Gus Cusimano
Last week, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that Maria Augimeri’s narrow Ward 9 victory (89 votes!) in last October’s municipal election was invalid because of irregularities in the voter list. City staff are saying they’ll appeal the case, but if the court’s decision stands Toronto could be heading for a by-election in North York that would be a showdown between a Rob Ford critic and a Rob Ford supporter—in this case, we’re assuming Gus Cusimano will be running again. To make the situation even more juicy, the man credited for getting Ford elected—erstwhile electoral mastermind Nick Kouvalis—has offered to run Cusiamo’s campaign, should the by-election go ahead.
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Shenanigans in Eglinton-Lawrence: Liberal caught taking and trashing Green Party literature
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Here’s something the Grits didn’t want: one of the few GTA ridings that’s a possible pickup for the Conservatives sees the Liberal incumbent in hot water for elections tomfoolery. Basically, the story, as documented by Green Party canvasser Orla Hegarty on her Picasa page, is that while out canvassing for the Liberals, a volunteer working for (and only metres away from) Joe Volpe was taking Green literature in people’s mailboxes and throwing it out. This is both tacky and entirely unnecessary. Are the Libs really worried about Green vote splitting?
Orange crush: Canada’s sudden NDP love-in leaves Toronto cold
Tangerine tide: Jack Layton at a Saskatoon rally (Image: Matt Jiggins)
Remember when the writ dropped and the national press spent 48 hours wondering if NDP leader Jack Layton could stand up to the punishing campaign schedule with his health troubles? Neither do we. The notion of a weak Layton seems downright quaint after a weekend where most polls point to a surge in NDP support. The one part of the country withstanding the orange tide so far is Ontario—and given the history of Liberal polling, it seems like the Grits’ last redoubt is the reliable Fortress Toronto and the suburbs around it. If the polls are right, the party of Wilfrid Laurier and Pierre Trudeau is now the party of the 416 and 905, and the NDP are the opposition to Stephen Harper in the rest of the country. Ouch.
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Vandalism of Liberal signs and cars hits four Toronto ridings
A tire flattened at the home of a Liberal supporter in St. Paul’s (Image: courtesy Bennett campaign)
Until late last week, Toronto had been spared the election-themed vandalism that’s hit other ridings (notably Ottawa, where a Liberal sign had cross-hairs spray painted on to it). That’s all changed over the past few days as Liberal supporters were allegedly targeted in four Toronto ridings: signs were apparently stolen or defaced, cars keyed and tires slashed.
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Election sleeper issue #73: who will appoint Canada’s next Supreme Court judges?
The Supremes: judges of the Supreme Court of Canada (Image: Philippe Landreville/SCC)
Whoever wins the next election is going to have a bunch of things to deal with over the next [insert unpredictable number] months. One that has some groups freaking out is the question of what kind of judges the next prime minister will appoint to the Supreme Court of Canada. Theoretically, the next PM could appoint as many as four of the nine justices on the country’s highest court. Philip Slayton spoke with the CBC’s The Current yesterday about this issue; the interview can be heard here.
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Astral Media finally admits that its sidewalk rubbish bins are garbage
Changing of the trash guard: the pedal operated bin (right) replaces an older model (Image: Neil Ta, from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool)
When the city started rolling out its new streetside garbage cans four years ago, we were taken with them in a “huh, that’s new” kind of way. It didn’t take long for us to find that many of the bins had broken foot pedals that had to be forced open by hand, making the foot pedals a waste. Astral Media, which is providing the bins to the city as part of an advertising contract, has finally admitted that, yes, the bins have some serious engineering problems.
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Elections Canada reminds Canadians it exists, and will charge them $25,000 for tweeting voting results
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The time has come for one the country’s political traditions: Elections Canada trying to stop people from spreading information about voting results on election day. The good people at EC are reminding the nation’s broadcasters, as well as every Internet user, that sharing such information is strictly prohibited, and could earn violators a $25,000 fine. According to the Montreal Gazette, few are thrilled about the prospect.
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