This article from the Toronto Star goes nicely with what I said before about the former village of Weston. It says what I’ve been saying about the unfairness of the plight facing this area; it has so much, and yet it is so sick.
Royston James gives some history and some theories about why Weston has suffered. The competition of the Yorkdale shopping mall was one item I hadn’t considered. Royston also goes into what the local residents are doing to fight back, and it seems like they have had some successes.
I wish the villagers of Weston all the luck in the world. The area deserves far better than what it’s getting.
Erin Wins Milton Acorn Award
I am pleased, pleased, pleased to announce that Erin has won the Milton Acorn Award for her poetry book Ghost Maps. Other top-notch poets to have won this award include John B. Lee and Robert Priest. Erin had to beat John Lee in order to win this year.
The late Milton Acorn was sort of a “poet of the people” kind of guy who lived in Toronto, and in his honour a national award was set up to celebrate poetry books that don’t require an English degree to appreciate and which are “populist” in subject matter.
For her award, Erin receives $500 and an engraved medal. There will also be celebratory readings here in Kitchener-Waterloo and down in Toronto and Hamilton in the coming weeks.
Oh, Sweet!! I Want Some!
Dan was telling me, just the other day, that the :Angel: DVD collection has one serious flaw. The DVDs themselves are very well put together, with good picture quality and nice extras, but the boxes, frankly, suck. They’re flimsy and don’t hold the DVDs well. They’re a frustration that may well be damaging my quality DVDs.
Along comes Henry at the World of Henry’s Inexplicable Meanderings who thinks as we do, and has access to Paint Shop, and tremendous talent in graphic design. He creates his own custom boxes. And I’m salivating.
Have a look:
I want some!
How Do You Lose 58,000 Absentee Ballots?
The American election is today, thank God. I’ll be glad it’s over.
Erin’s already voted. She voted absentee, in Florida, in Broward County (her last registered American address), where apparently 58,000 absentee ballots went missing. Erin got hers, so her vote got (will get) counted, at least.
How does one lose 58,000 ballots? I’m assuming you’d have to lose them in a truck or something. How do you lose a truck?
Election Predictions
Overall result: Nuh-uh! No way I’m guessing this one. I doubt we’ll know the final results before midnight.
Florida: Will go to Bush.
Ohio: A mess.
Biggest Surprise: Virginia will go to Kerry. It’s showing surprising weakness for Bush and it’s not currently considered a battleground state.
Big Irony: If the proposition to split Colorado’s electoral votes by popular vote (applies retroactively to this election, and is opposed by Bush supporters) fails, and Kerry wins the state by a hair.
Even Bigger Irony: If the proposition to split Colorado’s electoral votes by popular vote (favoured by Kerry supporters) succeeds, Kerry wins the state by a hair, and loses the electoral college by four votes or less.
We shall see what we shall see.
Further Reading
- What happens if the Electoral College splits Bush 269 / Kerry 269. And you thought a Canadian minority government was interesting. Link courtesy the very readable Andrew Coyne
- What if we chose between Bush and Kerry and got General Schwarzkopf instead? A potentially hilarious race to the bottom thanks to the strategy of “faithless electors”