No Barbeque For You!

I noticed a post on the Mercury's From the Editors blog the other day that interested me in light of the whole robocall controversy. Apparently there is no local Conservative Party barbeque this summer. Now political parties of all stripes usually use Parliament's summer vacation time to jazz up the local support and thank volunteers and party members for their hard work. But the resounding silence from the upper leadership of the local Conservatives seems to be having a trickle down effect on their supporters.

Fresh Water Jam This Weekend

With all the drought lately, and the City being on Code Red water use-wise speaking, it's understandable that H2O issues are foremost in our minds. So it's with good timing that this weekend the Fresh Water Jam takes place at the Concert Shell in Riverside Park. Nothing says cherish our water resources like a long day of good times and good music, I know that sounds like sarcasm, but it's not.

On the schedule is a great line-up of musicians including: Bamidele Bajowa, Chynna Lewis, Anthony Damiao, Gayle Ackroyd, Peter Slack, Space Crayons, Shane Phillips, The Lullaby, Cornelius & The Damn Dirty Apes, and Éva LaPrairie. Below is the information straight from the event's website.

Front Row Seating

If you've seen any of the Olympics so far, you will have surely noticed that they invited a lot of empty chairs to this year's games in London. One would think that a major urban centre like London (versus places in "the middle of nowhere" like Salt Lake City, Utah) would have no problem attracting people to watch the games in person, but here we are, like in Athens and Beijing, with a lot of empty sold out events.

New GO Station Coming to Acton

The system seems to be working. Metrolinx, operators of the GO Tranist system of trains and buses, has announced that they will building a new train station in Acton, which will allow commuters in the area to get a train in their own backyard as opposed to driving to Guelph or Georgetown.

So this is kind of huge. Obviously, Metrolinx sees new growth opportunity here, especially since train service to Acton, both VIA and GO, was discontinued in the 1990s (about the same time GO trains stopped coming to Guelph). Sadly, the historic Acton train station is no longer there to send off or receive riders, its home at the corner of Mill St. E. and Eastern Ave. having been turned into a vacant lot for a long time ago. You'll note in the above picture the architectural similarities between the old Acton station and others along the old Grand Trunk rail line.

A Dark Night Rises

The preference for a lot of people today in discussing The Dark Knight Rises, one of the most hotly awaited movies of the year, should have been whether or not it's a good movie on it's own or whether it falls short of the rather high water mark of Christopher Nolan's last Batman film, The Dark Knight. Instead, a real life madman barged into a midnight screening of Rises in Aurora, CO, set off tear gas and proceeded to shoot over 70 people, killing 12, with the small arsenal he brought with him. It's now the worst mass shooting in American history.

Aside from the visceral anger towards the perpetrator, and the outpouring of sympathy for the victims and family members, there are a number of questions persisting this evening. Here are a few:

MacDonald Wants to Be PC for Guelph

Coming up on one year since the election of Dalton McGuinty's minority government, perhaps it's timely that we get renewed interest in people running in the eventual provincial election. To wit, the Progressive Conservatives of Guelph have a new name to mull over to represent them in that election when it comes, Anthony MacDonald.

"Ballot Box" Olympic Follow Up

Maybe you listened to this morning's "Beyond the Ballot Box" on CFRU, and maybe you were saving it for later, but either way, I wanted to add a couple of end notes to our - rather vicious - Olympics discussion. 

Red Alert. City Water Issues Troublesome

In case you haven't noticed, we haven't had a serious rain in a while, this afternoon's thunderstorm notwithstanding. But by my reckoning it rained a mere 20 minutes or so, which is not nearly enough considering its been weeks without a significant rainfall. On cue, the city has sent out the following warning. You see, no rain means less water - for everything. So to the idiots who live up the road from me who water their lawns and then brazenly leave their sprinklers out as if daring anyone to call on their selfish desire for green grass, you've been warned. 

City Approves Sale of Old Civic Museum

It appears that the arts community in Guelph has cause to celebrate, as the sale of the Civic Museum to a company that plans on turning the space into a multipurpose arts centre has been approved. It's one of several proposals by local arts groups to build an arts centre in the core, but it's the first one to get approval. 

This Block is Hot

Despite the Canadian inclination, I don't like complaining about the weather. It's pointless. Of all the things in the world to complain about, the weather is the one thing you can't change, so what's the point of expending precious resources? Especially when its so damn hot outside.

This morning, the city issued both a humidex advisory and a heat alert. They also advise you to keep cool out there today, which may be easier said than done considering that according to The Weather Network it will feel like 40 degrees out there at its hottest.