Tag: toronto

Artist Asks How’s My Advertising?

Posterchild is a Toronto-based artist who is sick of all the illegal billboards in the city and decided to do something about it by using art. One can hope that other cities follow in São Paulo lead by banning billboards in the city. Until then, we have artists.

Last Monday—using data gleaned from Rami Tabello’s IllegalSigns.ca—Posterchild stenciled solicitations for feedback below three illegally-run fascia signs downtown (“persistent violators,” as he put it). A play on the now-ubiquitous “How’s My Driving?” slogan typically seen on the back of big rigs, the stencils feature the number of the City’s Building Division, which is, among other tasks, responsible for sign permits. Posterchild, an equal opportunity stenciler, hit one sign each of Astral Media, Titan Outdoor, and Strategic Media. (Titan and Strategic, by the way, are the two companies currently suing the City. And Astral Media is a whole other story.)

Shopping cArt Race in Toronto

I’m organizing the Toronto Idiotarod and I like to think that these sort of crazy events function as art.

We’re de-contextualizing the shopping cart which is a device designed to have people consume more than they normally would. In the Idiotarod the shopping cart is not something that you’ll want to fill with objects. We’re taking a tool used for consumption and turning it into something fun.

At each checkpoint the Idiots (racers) will be given information from an environmental organization and condoms from a health organization. We’re trying to educate people about issues in their own city by providing a fun experience.

If you live in Toronto, hop on the TTC or your bike and come to Grange Park for the 4pm start of the race!

Check Marks to Save Lives

An article on the CBC’s website today mentions that intensive care units in Toronto will be using a checklist to ensure the best medical care for patients. Yes, a checklist.

It’s one of three ICU checklists Dr. Damon Scales has adopted in his Toronto hospital.

“When I tell people about these things they sort of have the reaction of saying, ‘How could you ever forget that?’ said the clinical associate in the department of critical care medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. “But this is a busy place with complicated patients and these are the kinds of things that can get lost in the shuffle.”

It’s such a simple solution that most people don’t think the checklist is real. In December the New Yorker ran an article on how checklists are the best thing to happen to medicine since, well, seemingly forever. The New Yorker article is a great read.

Cars Being Used Less in Toronto

Some more information form the 2006 Canadian census has been released and it paints a green future for transportation in Toronto. The census asked how people get to work (car, walk, public transit, bike, etc.). In the city the younger one is, the more likely it is that one is taking a more green approach to getting to work.

Workers under the age of 25 in the Toronto region use public transit 30.8 per cent of the time, walk 9.5 per cent of the time and cycle 1.5 per cent of the time.

That’s a considerably higher reliance on environmentally friendly means of getting to work than the average commuter in the Toronto region, who commutes by public transit 22.2 per cent of the time, by foot 4.8 per cent of the time and by bike 1.0 per cent of the time.

Reliance on the car in the Toronto region seems to increase with the age of the commuter.

Commuters younger than 25 used a vehicle to get to work — either as a driver or a passenger — 57.2 per cent of the time. Those age 25-34 commuted by car 66.1 per cent of the time, and those 35 and over drove or were driven 75.8 per cent of the time.

What really stood out to me was that the desire to own a car is shrinking!

Owning a car used to be a rite of passage for young people, but environmental awareness in that generation has made gas guzzlers uncool, says Dan McDermott, director of Ontario’s chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada. The high cost of gasoline is another factor for those with limited incomes.

“The desire to own a car is diminishing for a number of reasons — environmental consciousness being high on that list,” said McDermott.

I’ve never understood why people want to own cars even if they don’t need one.

Things Are Good Film Screening

Planet in FocusThe Planet in Focus film festival opened last night in Toronto and Things Are Good is proud to announce that we are sponsoring a screening!!

This Sunday we’ll be sponsoring a double-feature of Remember Chek Jawa and Third Ward TX; two films that celebrate positive things that people have done. More info below.

Sunday Oct. 28th
5:00 pm
Innis Town Hall
Toronto

We have only 14 tickets left, so if you’d like to buy one please email me at Adam (at ) ThingsAreGood.com

Continue reading “Things Are Good Film Screening”