From Cork to Toronto

Last night Nicole and I took in The Departed at the Fox Cinema on Queen Street East. We both agreed that Leonardo diCaprio did an excellent job even though he's not an actor either of us usually like. Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen were their usual immense selves and Mark Wahlberg was incredibly (and amusingly) rude. I did feel Alec Baldwin's character was too much like an extension of a 30Rock/SNL sketch. Personally I would have liked to watch it in a small theatre a couple of rows behind Matt Damon with Ben Affleck making fun of Damon's character through the movie. This morning I read that the same neighbourhood , which had to have a plebiscite to figure out what to officially call itself , was going to have an Out of the Cold shelter set up in a local church until a group of concerned residents hired a lawyer , who tells us "The program itself is very praiseworthy, although it might be questioned on the level of whether or not this is the best way to use ....

saved from the NIMBYs that is. The Divisional Court handed down its reserved decision (PDF format - hat tip Spacing Wire for the link) in the rehearing of the attempt by Save Our St Clair to derail the Streetcar Right of Way project. SOS' antics have cost the city millions and created disruption for the locals by interrupting the construction. The Ontario Muncipal Board's thumbs up to the Transportation section of the 2002 Official Plan a month ago seems to have demolished the last doubts. Biking Toronto has more analysis but hopefully this will be the last bump in the road - for streetcars to work they must be able to move efficiently - indeed the clustering caused by traffic congestion and consequent lost travel time is one of the reason people criticise streetcars!