Jay Fitzsimmons

I'm watching The Best Movies Of All Time (according to me) with my teenage son. Re-watching The Matrix was still awesome. And seeing his mind get blown when they show the farm of humans as batteries was a great way to relive that moment of Whoah!

Bassett is a great player, and this is a good signing. But it's a weird one for their inaugural big signing, when their branding is all about Toronto. Toronto players, Toronto academy, Toronto this and that. Bassett is many good things, but Torontonian is not one of them.

I prefer the left because the spaces are easier to see. Personally I'd prefer even more contrast to make them even easier to see (making their background not transparent), even if that makes it less pretty.

Looks good!

Banning street hockey in Canada?

This isn’t about protecting kids. It’s about protecting drivers from having to think about kids.

imagine how much better our city would be if more mayors and councilmembers and department heads actually rode transit and bikes.

this is flat out our local leaders saying "we don't care about putting pedestrians, cyclists, people using wheelchairs, or kids in strollers in danger"

and nearly all our cities do it

Good news!

Every time we choose to subsidize parking we make other choices less attractive. Why would I walk, bike, or take the bus when there's an abundance of parking at every stop?

This leads to people thinking that cars are the best choice, but they've just been subsidized the most.

What the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group promised Ottawa residents versus what OSEG actually delivered:

The difference in the time it takes a streetcar in Amsterdam vs. Toronto to clear an intersection after servicing a nearside stop.

The Region should keep them up and regularly publish data on how fast cars are going and how different speeds are from when the cameras generated fines for drivers who broke the law.

I also love Jordan Wilson for colour commentary and analysis. Great enthusiasm, and evaluation as a former player in the league. Some analysts focus on Controversial Takes, and it's annoying. Wilson focuses on the game he clearly loves.

Jenkins & Wilson both seem like good people too. That helps.

Watching some #CPL playoff soccer on @onesoccer.bsky.social. The Canadian Premier League is good soccer.

Play-by-play guy Adam Jenkins is great. Perfect level of enthusiasm, knows the Laws of the Game, pronounces players' names correctly, and gives credit to refs for good calls/games.

YouTube video by MEUTE MEUTE - Araya (Fatima Yamaha Rework)

If you're looking for something completely different...

Meute is a German marching band who do electronica.
In fact they're the BEST German marching band doing electronica. 😂 Got to see them in concert last year, it was unreal.

Whatever music floats your boat is good.
youtu.be/sdVpRvf-Vpc?...

YouTube video by TBTDuluthVEVO Trampled by Turtles - Midnight on the Interstate

Most modern country is awful. Throw darts at the dartboard of stereotypes for most modern lyrics (beers, girls, etc).

One modern bluegrass-ish band I love is Trampled By Turtles. A bit like Blue Rodeo. Here's a slow sad song of theirs.
youtu.be/6_6M_6KStEw?...

I was journal manager of Canadian Field-Naturalist when we partnered with Biodiversity Heritage Library. BHL was great to work with. Make older issues freely available so they can be used. Win for authors, readers, the journal, and biodiversity knowledge. Great team at BHL!

The Biodiversity Heritage Library doesn't just provide access to historic literature. There are publications on BHL from 1469 to 2025. The Canadian Field-Naturalist is one of many in-copyright publications we've made freely accessible online (with permission from the rights holders of course). 🧪 ©️ 📖

That final game was ridiculous drama. I can't imagine the incredible highs and lows that Gagnon-Laparé went through.

These are beautiful!

This seems reasonable and considerate.

That's pretty!

She's wonderful. She shows us it's ok (great even) to have bright-eyed wonder about science. Her episode on the Taxidermy Championship is one of my favourites.

Unfortunately data is never enough for people who make decisions based on culture wars.

The data could show 100% compliance and 0 accidents after installation and they would still try to rip these cameras out to make our streets more dangerous.

It is still amazing to see how clearly these work!

And sorry for all the questions, this is just interesting to learn how the system works in another Ontario city.

That's great that they're actually responsive!

How'd you learn that tickets came from your complaints? They share that info on the app?

Thanks. Do you find Ottawa takes action based on your 311 reports?

What is the mechanism for reporting bike lane blockages to the city of Ottawa? Is it futile?

I'm in Peterborough and I doubt the city would care.

Snow sweeper streetcar in the museum. Big sweeper in the front.

Close up view of the sweeper bristles.

My family and I had a great time at the Halton Streetcar Museum near Guelph @streetcarmuseum.bsky.social.

Lots of old streetcars to see, and ride a track through a forest. Learned lots from the volunteers. I love this car with snow sweepers. The bristles were made from special non-hollow bamboo!

#Ptbo

Great to see a city councillor openly explaining the rationale for decisions. Thank you Ottawa's @arieltroster.com.