This is one of those posts I write only for myself. This blog functions as my travel diary, and I like that diary to be complete. So here I am. Feel free to ignore. Which of course you always are, and you don’t need me to tell you that. I
Continue readingTag: New York City
wmtc: new york, bruce springsteen, and other things i love
We are here! Staying here. Going to this! Also here, scene of many past celebrations. Ah, New York. And Bruce!! That is all.
Continue readingwmtc: kevin baker in harpers: "the death of a once great city — the fall of new york and the urban crisis of affluence"
Everyone who cares about cities, about privatization, and frankly, about humans and our ability to live on our planet, should make time to read the July cover story in Harper’s magazine. New York writer Kevin Baker unpacks “The Death of a Once Great City — The fall of New York and the
Continue readingwmtc: welcome to the allan and laura new york city history reading club
The theme of this year’s TD Summer Reading Club — a national program (developed by Toronto Public Library) that more than 2,000 Canadian libraries participate in — is Feed Your Passions, or as some are calling it, geeking out. Allan and I are going to join the fun with our
Continue readingwmtc: rip fred bass, who gave nyc a priceless gift
Is there a New Yorker alive who hasn’t spend time in The Strand? A New York City tourist who didn’t thrill to their first visit to The Strand? The man who gave NYC this unique gift died recently at the age of 89. Although his father founded the store, Fred
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: city on fire
I finished City on Fire, Garth Risk Hallberg’s astonishing debut novel, a few days ago, but stories from the book are still playing in mind. I initially didn’t want to commit to reading a 900-page tome, but as I savoured the last scene, I was sorry to put it down.
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the new jim crow by michelle alexander
When I first heard the incarceration of African Americans in the United States referred to as a “new Jim Crow,” I thought it must be hyperbole. So did Michelle Alexander, a fact she discloses in the introduction to her book. As Alexander researched the concept, the more she learned, the
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Playground Where Kids Play With Tools
Kids need places to play, and those playgrounds need to encourage community, exploration, and more. Designing a good playground can be harder than it sounds, it’s not as easy as putting a slide in a park and hoping that’s enough. A good playground has risk and challenges the players. In New York City there is […]
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Continue readingwmtc: in which the death of a rock legend makes me think about how our world has changed
When this came out, I hung the cover on my bedroom wall. Sharing memories of David Bowie, as so many of us were after his too-early death this week, led me to think a lot about the world I lived in when I was a big Bowie fan.My world thenI saw Bow…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Fast food and fair wages: What happens when a good idea from Alberta hits the big time in New York?
PHOTOS: New York, New York … You gotta love it! Below: Fast food, New York City style. Below that: New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Alberta’s New Democratic Party government got a powerful boost from an unexpected quarter yesterday for its plan, which is controversial
Continue readingwmtc: joseph mitchell, master writer of the master city
My desire is to get the reader, well, first of all to read it. That story [“The Bottom of the Harbor”] was hard to write because I had to wonder how long can I keep developing it before the reader’s going to get tired of this. Here and there, as
Continue readingwmtc: subway tokens, greek coffee cups, and me: missing nyc
This week I received email from my friend Alan, formerly known in this blog as Alan with one L, or AW1L. Subject line: Re: 34th Street/Penn Station Just Now Out-of-Towner [leaning into packed Uptown Express [2 or 3] train]: “Does anybody know if this goes to Times Square?” About 10
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Taking a Call for Climate Change to the Streets of New York City
Richard Hughes-Political Blogger Read Lisa W. Foderaro’s comprehensive New York Times report that saw 100,000 demonstrators that hit the streets of New York city calling for action on ‘Climate Change.’ Leaders from throughout the world attended the Summit Meeting on Climate Change. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper underlined his indifference
Continue reading350 or bust: Climate Disruption: Why Do We Do So Little When We Know So Much?
* This weekend in New York City, and at solidarity events around the globe, the People’s Climate March:
Continue readingwmtc: tommy ramone, and how can it be the ramones are gone from this world?
Back-to-back obituaries again. Obits are taking up a large percentage of wmtc real estate these days, yet another indication of how little I’m writing. The passing of Thomas Erdelyi this week, better known as Tommy Ramone, brings an uncomfortable reminder of mortality for people my age and younger: the last
Continue readingwmtc: ruby dee, 1922-2014
Ruby Dee was a towering figure in the American theatre. She was a great actor, a poet, playwright, and screenwriter, and a steadfast voice for equality. Along with the actor Ossie Davis, her husband of nearly 60 years, Dee never stopped campaigning for full civil rights for all people. Dee
Continue readingwmtc: memo to porter airlines passenger who needs lessons in new york city
Dear suburban GTA resident flying on Porter Airlines from Newark to Toronto: Since you were not talking to me, I was unable to respond to your erroneous statements. But since you were speaking loud enough for the entire plane to hear, I was easily able to determine that you have
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: just kids by patti smith
Just Kids is a memoir by the artist and musician Patti Smith, about her life and relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe. The book is a memoir of both Smith’s and Mapplethorpe’s coming of age as artists, and of the path of their relationships, both with each other and with other people
Continue readingwmtc: before the onion, before the yes men, there was the post new york post
One day, as I was getting off the subway on my way from Brooklyn to my workplace on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, people were handing out these tabloids. I never learned who made them, where they came from, or where they went. But I’m so glad I saved
Continue readingwmtc: you know her life was saved by rock and roll: lou reed, 1942-2013
Lou Reed, 1942-2013Songwriter, Musician, New Yorker “One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz.” – Lou Reed “The first Velvet Underground album only sold 30,000 copies, but everyone who bought it started a band.” – possibly Brian Eno I was shocked and very
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