Results tagged “nature”

       

If you're hankering after some urban greenery but you're tired of High Park, then you could do worse than a visit to the Humber Arboretum. It's free, it's quiet, and best of all, there are surprisingly few wasps.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, this pair of Peregrine Falcons has three new chicks. Each year they return to the same nesting spot on a ledge eighteen floors above Etobicoke. The location is equipped with a camera, and the live video feed can be streamed online. Tune in for a feeding session with these baby birds of prey—it’s fascinating.

It seems that some Toronto taggers are no longer content to scrawl their own names on blank concrete canvases around the city and are trying instead to make more of a cultural statement. Last year, references to composer Gustav Mahler popped up in several places around town. This year, a more cryptic stencil has appeared on the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, boldly proclaiming "ISBN 486-28495-6" for all to see and ponder. This International Standard Book Number turns out to be a paperback edition of Henry David Thoreau's Walden; Or, Life in the Woods.

In the hierarchy of beloved Canadian animals, certainly near the top are the beaver, the caribou, and the polar bear. The Canada Goose is much more divisive in its ranking. Sure, having Canada in its name is a pretty slick move, but being an aggressive, overpopulating pooping machine is a strong deficit. Obviously, where the Canada Goose stands will become a contentious issue, soon to join famed debates as, "Is maple the best donut ever?" and "Polkaroo: Was a mystery third person involved?" In case you're ever forced to take a stand on the awesomeness of the Canada Goose, here are some helpful factoids.

One of the biggest complaints that Toronto hip hop artists have is that they are ignored by local media, and, for the most part, they're right. Drop the Needle hopes to help remedy this by checking in with some of the city's finest artists each month to see what's up.

The highly-respected British science journal Nature has called the Harper government's record on science and the environment "dismal." The PM was unavailable for comment yesterday, as he was in an emergency cabinet meeting called after Wednesday night's lunar eclipse to determine why the moon had disappeared.

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Each Sunday, the editors of every site—from LAist to Londonist—choose their most interesting article, a list which is compiled into the network-wide feature Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse.

If anybody remembers last year's Snow Day, an ill-fated attempt to make snow in Trinity-Bellwoods Park with a defective snowmaker that lead to a giant snowball fight, you may be pleased to learn that exactly one year later, there is actually a bunch of snow on the ground, and the plan is the same. It seems the lesson about controlling Mother Nature has been learned, and our collective prayers have been answered.

Waves eroding the tip of the Toronto Islands. A project to keep it from eroding will cost around $14 million, thus reminding us all once again that attempting to combat the effects of Mother Nature is a horribly costly experience, as anybody who has ever bought a jar of Oil of Olay knows full well.

The next time you're walking along the wooded trails near the marsh in E.T. Seton Park, you may find a weathered sign overlooking a wet meadow. Still barely legible, it reads: Trees in this area were planted by the Outing Club of East York in honour of Charles Sauriol who was instrumental in the preservation of this valley August 1980 The Outing Club of East York's Diane Vieira told us that in its early...

The Royal St. George's College "Focus on the Environment" speaker series continues with David Suzuki at the Bloor Cinema on Monday night. This year's series kicked off in September with Jane Goodall and continues through the rest of the school year with guest speakers ranging from writer Roy MacGregor to polar explorer Geoff Green. In contrast, the only guest speakers we remember from our high school years were actuaries and federal civil servants telling us how important it was to study calculus and French.

Microsoft has agreed to buy 1.6% of Facebook for $240,000,000, giving the social networking site a valuation of around $15 billion. The deal is good for both parties, with Bill Gates finally hanging out with the cool kids, and 23-year-old Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg getting to throw an awesome kegger.

When most people think of herbs, they think of cooking. When some people think of herbs, they think of healing. If you have ever had a warm, soothing cup of chamomile tea before bedtime to improve your sleep, you were healing yourself with herbs. Those pesky dandelion plants that are taking over your yard? Guess what—their leaves are packed with vitamin C and iron, and they are bitter, which helps improve digestion. Want an alternative to synthetic food dyes? Many herbs have powerful pigments that can be used to colour food and fabrics naturally. Mother Nature’s bounty is inspiring, if you take the time to stop to smell the herbs.

Two arrests have been made in the shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Manners. The two boys, both 17, were allegedly very close friends with Jordan, and even attended this weekend's vigils and had offered condolences to Jordan's mom. Here's hoping that this does not prompt more ignorant white guys to claim that children of single mothers shouldn't be friends.

This Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., you can enjoy the inaugural weekend of the Don Valley Brick Works Farmers Market. Many of your favorite vendors from Toronto's other organic farmers markets will be there, including Chocosol, who might just let you ride their bicycle powered chocolate blender. You can also buy your weekly loaf from St. John's Bakery or Alli's bread, and pick up your spring veggies from several local organic farms. Once you've made all your purchases, you can munch on some food courtesy of Jamie Kennedy's Kitchens, and enjoy a cup of Merchants of Green Coffee joe.

ARR! Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End hits this week and as the third second sequel to hit this summer it’s got some stiff competition. Nice to see though that they’ve made sure it beats Spider-Man 3 in at least one respect, in that at 2 hours and 47 minutes long, it’s a good half hour longer. It’s nearly as long as Inland Empire (which is finished at the Royal now, so we promise we won’t mention it again) and apparently, almost as confusing. Reviewers have mostly come to the conclusion that they didn’t have a clue what was going on, but we think NOW’s Deirdre Swain put it most eloquently: “It would take the sharpest sword in the armoury to cut through this sailor's knot of a plot; I couldn't explain it if I wanted to.”

In a time when Al Gore is predicting that global warming is the coming of the apocalypse, people are looking for creative ways to maintain a sustainable ecosystem without giving up their consumerist lifestyles. Toronto’s first Green Living Show will inspire ways to do just that.

Tomorrow kick-starts the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s annual National Wildlife Week. Proclaimed in 1947, the festival is about reminding us humans that we must maintain a sustainable ecosystem to preserve what little wildlife we have left. This year’s theme is Canada’s North.

A 12-year old girl who has been missing for two days has been found after an exhaustive search in the city's east end. She had run away after a fight with her parents.

Chief Bill Blair points out that gun crime in the city is down this year. He feels that increased policing, cooperation from the community and a specialized anti-gun task force have put the pinch on gun crime. With a month left in the summer we hope he doesn't jinx us.

The Janet Bellotto curated Nature in the Garage art series has taken over a few Toronto locales the last couple of weeks and in this heat we really don't feel like biking around to City Hall, Fort York, Harbourfront, the Drake and Gallery 1313. Thankfully, there's a bus that'll take our lazy butts to all of these sites. It runs for the last time tomorrow night at 5:00 pm at City Hall (meet inside, in the rotunda).

As mentioned previously, this Torontoist knows nothing of sports. Despite this setback, the willingness to learn (and report on) a thing or two is there.

Despite criticism from the media, many councillors and Rick Ducharme's public admission that his actions as TTC chair made him quit, Howard Moscoe made it clear he won't be stepping down from the Chair. That is until he talked to his wife. Gloria Moscoe, his wife of 46-years, would like him to spend more time with his family which means Moscoe might step out of the TTC Chair's role but not until after the November election. Many say that's not soon enough.

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Comic artist and mail carrier Ryan Richard Carriere was killed Monday night while cycling home from work to take his two young daughters out Trick-Or-Treating. Carriere was struck by a truck at the intersection of Queen & Gladstone, where 24 hours earlier he had happily been exhibiting his wares at CANZINE in the Gladstone Hotel.