Flippant Friday: Signs of Insanity

People often ask me what I do for fun in Hogtown. After all, the cost of living is high here compared to most other Canadian cities, and we have a reputation for being stodgy and uptight. The subways only run until 1:30 and last call is a ridiculous 2 am. But I find ways to amuse myself. Most of those ways involve wandering around the neighbourhood gawking at the craziness around me.

Like other cities infected with the virus of post-industrial capitalism, public space is always being contested in Toronto. On the one hand, you have billboards and stupid new garbage cans that are actually 12-foot-high advertisements for a website no one cares about. On the other hand, you have some guy's Engrish-laden poster about his lost ferret providing hours of amusement for passersby. Cops and city councillors always want to ban the latter type of graphic communication, but fortunately, they're too apathetic to actually try to ram that kind of legislation through.

So the theme of today's Flippant Friday is Visual Pollution. Lots of photos, low on the snarky commentary 'cause I'm running late.


We had a meeting at OISE last night. There were some great posters
on the walls. We had a good laugh about them. At the bottom left-hand
corner, you'll see a political statement about Cyprus.

Continued below the cut to spare your eyes.
( Togas, Tamils, and Totalitarianism, oh my! )

Flippant Friday: Signs of Insanity

People often ask me what I do for fun in Hogtown. After all, the cost of living is high here compared to most other Canadian cities, and we have a reputation for being stodgy and uptight. The subways only run until 1:30 and last call is a ridiculous 2 am. But I find ways to amuse myself. Most of those ways involve wandering around the neighbourhood gawking at the craziness around me.

Like other cities infected with the virus of post-industrial capitalism, public space is always being contested in Toronto. On the one hand, you have billboards and stupid new garbage cans that are actually 12-foot-high advertisements for a website no one cares about. On the other hand, you have some guy's Engrish-laden poster about his lost ferret providing hours of amusement for passersby. Cops and city councillors always want to ban the latter type of graphic communication, but fortunately, they're too apathetic to actually try to ram that kind of legislation through.

So the theme of today's Flippant Friday is Visual Pollution. Lots of photos, low on the snarky commentary 'cause I'm running late.


We had a meeting at OISE last night. There were some great posters
on the walls. We had a good laugh about them. At the bottom left-hand
corner, you'll see a political statement about Cyprus.

Continued below the cut to spare your eyes.
( Togas, Tamils, and Totalitarianism, oh my! )