Weekly Photo Challenge Catch Up: Light

Improv with Improv in Toronto

Every month-ish I go to Improv in Torontos’ monthly meetup. We do some improv and plan other future Improv in Toronto events. Here are some pictures and videos from this month.

Here are the pictures

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This is a video of an improv game called “Hitchhikers”

Questions Only

Weekly Photo Challenge (Catch Up): Broken

Another Catch Up. The theme is “broken”. I didn’t want to just take pictures of objects so I got a bit creative.

this one is fairly self explanatory.

A familiar sight in Toronto. Construction. Usually means something is broken

Weekly Photo Challenge (Catch Up): Waiting

Here’s an extra photo challenge post using a theme posted before I actually started the challenge.

Nothing says “Waiting” like rush hour traffic on the DVP.

Do you wait when the big red had says so?

And of course, waiting for the bus.

Social Media Unites to Feed The Hungry With #HoHoTO

Image by Matthew Burpee via Flickr

In 2008 some twitter friends decided to do something about people who couldn’t afford to eat. Through social media connections HoHoTO was created, and was a big success.

HoHoTO is a big party held each year in december to raise money and collect food donations for the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank so people who can’t afford a Christmas (or any other holiday) dinner, can have one. Each year millions of people go to the Daily Bread Food Bank and HoHoTO is a great way for you to help out… and attend a great holiday party.

So get tweeting, blogging and networking, donate if you can, or find some other way to help out. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #HoHoTO. Lets make the world suck a little less.

Stuff For Twitter People

Tomorrow (june 20th) is the tenth Tweetgasm, a monthly tweetup for twitter people of toronto. It takes place at the gladstone hotel usually in the melody bar at 7:30. This month the theme is “Pretty In Pink” which means that if you are wearing pink you get in free. If not you have to pay a $5 cover.

Here are some pictures from a previous Tweetgasm

Tweeting

 

A performance by @misslatejuly

Dancing

The always present DJ's

Thats just a taste of some of the things that go on at tweetgasm. You should all consider dropping by this month or maybe another time. Theres a facebook event here or follow @photojunkie who organizes it and will give you more information

The Amazing Pocket Contents and A Screwdriver

Image via Wikipedia

I found recently that I have an odd habit of putting most things in my pocket. Not shoplifting or stealing but stuff thats mine. Examples would be things like bus transfers, wrappers, recipts, and flyers. Little things that most people would throw out at the first possible opportunity.

This might sound like hoarding or some form of OCD but I assure you its not. I don’t keep these things for long. Only until I empty my pockets, which is usually when I’m going to wash the article of clothing. It still sounds weird doesn’t it? But I kind of find it interesting. Its a lot like getting incredibly drunk and then the next day looking at a camera you had with you and seeing all the pictures you took of things you can’t remember or cleaning your house/apartment and finding something from many years ago. You’d be surprised what things you forget.

Still sounding weird? But it makes a bit more sense though right?

Its not so great with everyday clotes that you wear for a day then wash but with things like coats which you might wear for a while or backpacks which you might use on many days for years can be full of stuff. I recently threw out an old backpack and before I did I went through all the pockets. I found an incredible amount of stuff. I found two packs of batteries each missing a battery, a barely used bottle of tylenol, a bubble gun, a bottle of bubble mixture, countless flyers and tickets from places and events I must have been to, and a phillips head screwdriver.

these things might seem a bit random but I remembered that I bought the bubble gun and bubbles for the bubble battle that was held in Toronto. I also bought the batteries so the bubble gun would work and the screwdriver was so I could install the batteries. This all bought back the memories from a great day I had a few years ago.

I know this is a bit of a rambling post but I recommend you try something like this. Go to your closet and look for an old backpack or an old coat, I’m sure you’ve all got one, and look in the pockets to see what you’ll find, you might just be surprised.

Update: Moving Taxes To The Ones Who Can’t Afford Them

Image by Zolk via Flickr

I mentioned yesterday that in the Toronto budget, it was announced that there would be a TTC fare hike 10 cents. Well today, the TTC chair, Karen Stintz, announced that all the money they needed to avoid the fare hike had been found and so the hike wouldn’t be happening.

It all seems a bit convenient doesn’t it? One day after they said “we won’t be able to freeze property taxes without this fare increase” they suddenly found millions of dollars to avoid it. If they were planning this, you think they would have at least waited a few days instead of just one. That way everyone would start saying “Ford is talking out of his ass when he says he wants to avoid the hike” then BOOM, no fare hike, people are on his side and it makes the media look like they hate him. But this just looks too planned.

This doesn’t mean there won’t be a fare hike. It just won’t be on January 30th.

 

Movie A Day: Day 10

Cover of National Lampoon's Going the Distance

continuing the Canadian theme for another day, today’s movie is National Lampoons: Going The Distance

This movie is not to be confused with the new movie called Going the Distance which has Justin Long and Cameron Diaz. It is a story about a boy who travels from a small island in British Columbia to Toronto in order to see his girlfriend at the Much Music Video Awards.

This is a typical road trip movie. It has fun, adventure and of course naked women. A few times. What more could you want in a movie? How about some Canadian celebrity cameo’s? Like Avril Lavigne and George Stroumboulopoulos.

This is a movie you should watch. Although it might not be a movie to buy.

Recommendation: Download (if you can find it)

Don’t forget. If you have movies to recommend, send me a tweet at @william_penman or email somethin.somethin.blog@gmail.com

Moving Taxes To The Ones Who Can’t Afford Them

Image via Wikipedia

Today, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford revealed his first budget and big shock, the TTC fares are going up 10 cents.

So far in his few months as mayor, Rob Ford has cut the $60 car tax and… well that’s about it. Now he is talking about closing libraries, raising the garbage tax and now he has raised the fares to use Toronto public transit.

The sneakiest thing he has done, and this really got me upset, is raise the price of an adult metropass by $5. Now you’re probably wondering why that in particular makes me mad. Well let me explain. If you buy a metropass, you most likely buy one every month. So do the math, 12 months times $5. What does that equal? Big surprise $60. Its the car tax but other people are paying it. People who don’t drive. People who can afford it even less than people with cars. The whole reason lots of people take public transit is because they can’t afford cars or they have no need for a car. Now they are paying for a tax that other people didn’t want to pay.

Of course the budget has other things in it. Fees for city services going up, cuts to services. The usual bad things that no one wants.

Mayor Ford says that this budget is “in the interest of taxpayer”. If this is what a budget “for the taxpayer” looks like then I want one that isn’t for the taxpayer. Hopefully people will start to see through Ford’s facade before it’s too late.