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The Green Report: An eco sanctuary inside an urban city
January 29, 2009
by Meagan Thibeault
From day one students were warned about the dangers of the Humber Arboretum. It became the no man’s land that separated innocent students from the crime infested streets of Rexdale. Some students were worried that if they entered alone they risked the chance of never returning to the security guarded walls of their residence room.
But the Humber Arboretum and its Centre for Urban Ecology (EcoCentre) are environmental gems in the heart of an industrialized city. The large expanse of diverse protected wildlife areas and the gold standard sustainable learning facility provide important opportunities to learn about and enjoy nature. Besides offering a place for field trips and summers camp for children, they also provide opportunities for college students to get involved.
“We offer a lot of environmental workshops for adults and we take them on walks to show them outdoor activities like bird watching and snowshoeing,” Nature Interpreter for Humber’s EcoCentre, Jimmy Vincent said. “We’ve also just started an environmental certificate course for students and adults.”
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When artsy goes fartsy
January 29, 2009
In the simulated gesture of resting their cheeks inside their palms, women and men draped in navy and black, adorned with rectangular horn-rimmed glasses and pointed leather flats, concentrate an inquisitive gaze on the composition before them.
In their Fustian-toned, intellectual art critiquing jargon they quibble about the various geometrical arrangements that reveal the inner-workings of the artist’s mind and inevitably impress upon them, the intended profound message.
They’re looking at a white canvas with three black lines on it.
I swear there’s a hidden camera embedded in it so gallery workers have something to laugh at in the lunchroom.
Art has always been my fuel for life and I stand by my belief that everyone is an artist. But after visiting the newly renovated Art Gallery of Ontario last weekend, I understand why many people object.
The building, designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, is stunning. Empty, expansive wood floors; wide, winding staircases; vast, arching hallways of glass; and embellishments of steel conjure a sense of cutting-edge contemporary culture. But, drifting around with mismatching boot laces and patch-work pants I felt as small and insignificant as a stick person.
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Crackberrys: the latest addiction
January 29, 2009
You see them everywhere, wrapped in their colourful skin tight cases. It seems like everybody these days has one—if they need it or not. Blackberries have swarmed the mobile market and are giving good old cell phones a run for their buck.
Whatever happened to the Blackberry being a device for top business executives? People who are too busy and important to ever have their e-mail inbox out of sight. Now it seems that all demographics across the map have their own Blackberry.
High school students have upgraded from their once trendy flip phone to the new Blackberry Pearl, Bold, Curve, or whichever one they decided to choose to drain their piggy banks. College and university students have definitely caught on to the trend, as well as adults.
It really comes as no surprise that ever since the iPhone made its way onto the scene that Rogers has upped the ante with Blackberries. Targeting young adults in their catchy commercials could make anyone want one, even if nothing is wrong with their current cell phone.
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Winter is not my friend
January 29, 2009
by Corey Johnson
Currently we sit in the middle of my least favourite season: winter.
My distaste for the coldest time of the year dates back to when I was in kindergarten. As a child, I was always more of Nintendo-player than a hockey-player, meaning I enjoyed being indoors. I remember my babysitter insisting I stay outside and build a fort with the other kids, and wouldn’t allow me back in the house until it was time for dinner.
I remember entering the house for dinner with icicles frozen around the sleeves of my coat. I was so cold and extremely angry at my babysitter for not letting me in the house. 15 years later, I am still scarred from that experience.
Every October, when we experience our first snowfall, I convince myself that places like Arizona and California desperately need hockey reporters and that is where my future will take me. For now, however, I’m stuck braving the disgusting winters that Canada brings each year.
Going back over my life, all of my worst moments happened during winter.
In grade six I attempted skiing for the first time. While speeding down my first hill, I realized I didn’t know how to stop. Doing like any person would do in a time of crisis (and yes, I was in a time of crisis), I fell down. Sure I stopped, but I remember both polls flying out of my hands and both skis detaching from my feet. Not only was it embarrassing, but I think my poles and skis took out a couple of bystanders like shrapnel.
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Cheer up, it's not all bad
January 29, 2009
by Mark Millard
Many of my conversations have been fairly repetitive of late. It seems that a lot of the people I hang out with say something similar to this every time: “Man, what’s going on with the world? This is messed up!” An intellectual conversation usually proceeds.
It’s not that my friends have nothing better to do then complain or speak about the financial crisis we are currently surrounded by; it’s that whenever I chill out with them (in different scenarios with different people), something consistently happens to spark the discussion.
Whether we are driving by the roller coaster ride gas prices, listening to news about another terrible day on the market, or hearing about $1 bus rides from Mississauga to Montreal in order to fill seats, it seems like a fairly consistent subject.
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