Social Order & Disorder – Page 18

Collingwood’s population on the rise, faster than Canada’s

2012-02-08 2012-02-08 Collingwood / Municipal Politics / Urban Design & Growth2 Comments

Statistics Canada has released some of the key data data from its 2011 Census. In the five years since our last census (2006), Canada has grown in population size almost 6% to 33,476,688. That’s ten times larger than we were in 1861. Once again, our growth rate was the highest among G8 countries. According to the StatsCan analysis of the data, “every province and most territories saw its population increase between 2006 and 2011.” However, it notes that, “The rate of population growth increased in all provinces and territories between 2006 and 2011, except in Ontario, the Northwest Territories and ……… click below for more ↓

Bad Lao Tzu meme adds to growing list of mis-identified quotes online

2012-02-07 2012-03-18 Atheism & Spirituality / Memes; Internet & Social / Personal Reminiscences / Religion / Science & Technology

This bad meme is going the Internet rounds: “If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself, if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.” Lao Tzu Well, although deep – if a bit saccharine – it’s not from the Tao Teh Ching, the only work that the Old Master (the literal translation of his name) ever produced. The Tao Teh Ching is a notoriously difficult book to translate. Although ……… click below for more ↓

Why Admiral Collingwood should go ahead

2012-02-05 2012-02-05 Collingwood / Municipal Politics / Urban Design & Growth5 Comments

Juxtaposition. That’s the issue Collingwood Council has to wrestle with, Monday: what effect will the juxtaposition of the proposed development’s size and height have on the existing, smaller buildings? Some people are afraid our existing heritage buildings will be diminished by this project. Last week I was in Toronto. At the corner of York and Wellington Streets, I saw the Toronto Club; a beautifully preserved, late 19th-century red-brick, three-storey building. It’s in the, heart of financial district, surrounded by tall, modern skyscrapers, some 30 or more storeys high. What made this building stand out was the contrast with, not the ……… click below for more ↓

Make it happen, crowd tells council about Admiral Collingwood

2012-01-29 2012-01-30 Collingwood / Municipal Politics / Personal Reminiscences / Urban Design & GrowthOne Comment

Four hundred people, perhaps more, packed the Collingwood Legion, Sunday afternoon, to support the Admiral Collingwood development, at Hume and Hurontario Streets. It was arguably the most important public meeting of the last 18 months. The clear message, both from speakers at the rally and audience members, was “make it happen.” So many people packed the Legion hall that it was standing room only, with some forced to watch and listen from the alcove. The rally was called by a group of citizens to counter the recent opposition to the proposed developments at Hume and Hurontario Streets, within the heritage ……… click below for more ↓

Google Earth 6.2 gets somewhat better, but it still needs work

2012-01-29 2012-01-29 Arts / Science & Technology / Urban Design & GrowthLeave a comment

It was big news this week that Google Earth 6.2 was released with a bunch of new pictures, and an improved satellite mesh that removed some of the previous patchwork of scans that made up some of its maps. The media are full of articles praising Google Earth’s new release. CNET noted, “The result is a more realistic and less distracting (though still optimistically cloudless) view of the planet. Update: It turns out that by turning on the weather layer, you can dispel Google Earth’s sunny optimism and see if it’s really cloudy by showing live weather data.” As much ……… click below for more ↓

Slowly dies: another bad Internet meme

2012-01-26 2012-03-20 Arts / Books & Reviews / Language & Grammar / Memes; Internet & Social / Personal Reminiscences3 Comments

I came across a fascinating poem, translated into English as “Slowly Dies.” There are numerous translations online, many by amateurs, but some very well crafted. It goes something like this (a portion from one translation): Dies slowly he who transforms himself in slave of habit, repeating every day the same itineraries, who does not change brand, does not risk to wear a new color and doesn’t talk to whom doesn’t know. Dies slowly he who makes of television his guru. Dies slowly he who avoids a passion, who prefers black to white and the dots on the “i” to a ……… click below for more ↓

Musing on mixed heights in urban environments

2012-01-03 2012-01-03 Collingwood / Municipal Politics / Urban Design & GrowthLeave a comment

I recently spent some time looking online for images of cities where mixed building heights could show me how a varied skyline looks when buildings of significantly different heights are close together in an urban environment. This is, of course, because Collingwood council will soon consider allowing a six-storey building downtown, set amidst what are mostly two- and three-storey buildings. The mix of high and low in the core is common in cities, less so in smaller towns. That’s simple economics, however. All of these images here were borrowed from various sites to showcase the mix. It’s a simple effect, ……… click below for more ↓