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Bana-rama
Photo by Val Dodge/Torontoist.
Obama Cybernet is no more, in name at least. Owner Amveson Fitsumbrahn made good on his promise to change the name of his Internet café on the Danforth to avoid confusion with the Obama Café just a few steps away. The “O” and one stroke of the “M” have been scratched off the original sign with surgical precision, neatly morphing Obama Cybernet into Bana Cybernet.
Fitsumbrahn says that some members of the community were upset when he changed the name of his business following last month’s kerfuffle, but he’s happy with the new name and about settling amicably with Emmanuel Debass, whose Obama Café is just three doors down the street. While insisting that his business and the Obama Café are completely different and that there was never any danger of people confusing the two, Fitsumbrahn says that making nice was the right thing to do. “We’re used to solving problems within the community” rather than calling in lawyers, and drawing out the battle any longer would have resulted in “damage to both of us.” Despite the name change, pictures of Barack Obama still line the wall behind the main desk. No word on when they’ll be replaced by pictures of Eric Bana.
Now about the new sign, Joe Clark would like to have a little chat with you about that “N.”