How on earth did it take me so long to find this!!!

The Dr. B. Pietraszek Regatta

3 days in a limo - well, actually, a Chevy Suburban

Took three days off regular work this week to drive the Scottish MSP Michael Russell and his entourage around the Golden Horseshoe. Not only was the money phenomenal, but the entire party was great, and I received some thank you gifts as well! A very fun and successful few days. Thanks to all those that made this possible.

Pretty cool webcam interaction!

http://david.weebly.com/1/post/2009/03/ge-augmented-reality-ad.html

Wow, endless possibilities. Really well done and surprisingly responsive for such a new technology!

Hire a consultant??!! - 2 years work??!!

Is that a man or woman holding that cup? The nails indicate woman, but those look like man hands... anyway.. .

Councillors found the issue too hot to handle in December, when facing a proposal to ban paper cups with plastic lids and force coffee shops to give customers who bring their own mugs a 20-cent discount.

Instead, council set up a task force with city and industry representatives to find a solution by this month. Then it extended the deadline till June.

But following a closed-door meeting yesterday at city hall, some members said they doubted they would be able to cobble together a policy by then.

"There's business and economic issues that have not been studied," said Joe Hruska of the Environment and Plastics Industry Council. "They're going to need more time."

He foresees an "18-month to two-year" process to come up with a solution that embraces not only coffee cups but many other materials, and meshes with evolving provincial policies and directives.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/614809

So the smoking ban you were great with, lead by example even (well, with examples.. ), but here, for clear and present environmental issues that could easily be fixed and added to the price of a cup, you need a consultant??!! Torontonians are already charged a recycling environmental tax ("additonal charge to cover recycling") on computers, beer and wine bottles, vehicle tires, house and building construction, and garage repair work (I'm sure I'm missing a ton more.. ). What's so hard here?

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They also disputed the 20-cent refund. Tim Hortons currently offers 10 cents for customers who bring a mug, and that's about how much that's saved by not having to supply a cup, according to the industry. Forcing shops to dole that much out would eat into profits, they said.

No shit?

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/536020

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And on top of that, this?!:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/090311/canada/canada_newbrunswick_nb_tim_hortons_rims629

http://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/866qy/anyone_else_notice_tim_hortons_coffee_lids_being/

Tim Horton's Ban.

Prediction: Mayor Miller's Downfall

Amendment: Not large enough to be the source of the sole downfall.. film industry money, which really isn't big enough compared to the other city woes. It's like someone coming up to a "model" and telling them that if they pay upfront, they can have an "audition"; prints included.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090407.wfilm07art2250/BNStory/lifeMain/
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/04/07/9035596-sun.html

"The public purpose here is to ensure that screen-based industries thrive in Toronto," he said. "We don't, in the long run, want to run a film studio, that's not what we're good at," he added. "We view this as a transition measure, but the transition may be several years."

okayyyyy\ Cuz the city money had so much to do with having it here in the first place. And really, who cares who it's run by and where it's run? Have we not learned the lessons of marketing and distribution companies from the music industry?: People and location are nothing; money is everything.

Get your shit together. Investing $60+ million in a film company that can't even pay its rent? This is a volatile risk at a time where money would be better used elsewhere. Small budget short term location movies are not where it's at for job creation in Toronto. Non-local company buying (future speculation)? Wow. Actually, thinking about it, trying to put 2 and 2 together.. is this a stock market play? Did the councilors get bought in by stock speculation with the impeding purchase by a larger company. This has nothing really to do with Toronto; this is stock market money.

update; more here: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/04/07/city-s-love-story-with-film-industry-turns-into-horror-flick.aspx

Good quick read.

Sands got his first chance to demonstrate his convictions professionally in 1998. He was in Paris, for the unveiling of his grandfather’s gravestone, when he received a call asking him to represent Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator. He told his wife, Natalia Schiffrin, about the offer. “Philippe, if you do,” Sands recalls her saying, “I will divorce you!” (She is American, and the daughter of the book publisher André Schiffrin, a founder of Students for a Democratic Society.) Sands declined the case. Instead, he signed on to represent the other side, and helped pursue Pinochet for violations of international law. The case became a turning point in international law, establishing the principle that there is no immunity even for the highest-ranking former government officials when they are accused of torture.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2009/04/13/090413ta_talk_mayer

Is this for real?

25-Apr-09 Hanson Brothers Horseshoe $13.50