[URBAN NOTE] Five notes about culture: Jennifer Keesmaat, Lilie Zendel, pirate radio, Diana, G&M

• NOW Toronto notes the huge impact of the departure of Jennifer Keesmaat on the city of Toronto. Who will be next?
• At Spacing, John Lorinc notes that Lilie Zendel, head of Street ART Toronto, is leaving her successful public art job behind.
• Julien Gignac writes about Andrew O’Connor’s pirate radio broadcasting, based from Parkdale.
• On how St. James Cathedral preserves in its archives a guest book signed by Diana, Charles, and their children.
• Why, as Canadaland reports, would The Globe and Mail get rid of Tabatha Southey and Leah McLaren? (And keep Margaret Wente?)

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• Centauri Dreams shares, from JPL, the schedule for Cassini in its last days of existence. Goodbye, dear probe.
• Dangerous Minds shares some classic illustrations from a Persian book called Lights of Canopus.
• The Dragon’s Gaze links to a paper suggesting that gas giants can stabilize debris disks.
• Far Outliers shares excerpts from the diary of a Japanese soldier fighting in New Guinea in the Second World War.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the real suffering that high rents impose on the poor in American cities.
• The Map Room Blog shares some nice X-ray maps of New York City subway stations.
• The Planetary Society Blog shares more vintage Voyager photos of the outer solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune …
• Roads and Kingdoms tells of the marvelous cookies made on the dying Venetian island of Burano.
• Drew Rowsome considers, at length and with personal references, the differences between “art” and “porn”. NSFW.
• Understanding Society considers the latest thinking on causal mechanisms in modern sociology.
• Window on Eurasia wonders if non-Russian languages in Russia are attacked out of anxiety over Russian’s own decline, and speculates that if integration of mostly Muslim immigrants goes poorly in Moscow, the city could get locked in sectarian conflict.

[PHOTO] Six photos of Kew Gardens, Toronto

Toronto’s Kew Gardens, in the Beaches with Queen Street East to the north and Lake Ontario to the south, is a lovely park in summer, dense with greenery and people.

[PHOTO] Three photos of Peakes Wharf, Charlottetown

Charlottetown Harbour at Peakes Wharf is a success. Once a half-abandoned industrial zone more notable for oil drums, it now looks actually pretty.

[ISL] Map of Prince Edward Island, with directions

This map of Prince Edward Island was posted yesterday at The PEI Potato. The directions it provides are quite right.

[URBAN NOTE] Five notes on real estate in a changing Toronto

• blogTO notes that the former location of Pages on Queen Street West finally has a new tenant, a housewares store.
• Margaret Atwood’s opposition to a Davenport Road condo development made headlines.
• Christopher Hume in the Toronto Star makes the point that Toronto needs more midrise housing.
• Global News reports the sad news that Toronto chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat has resigned.
• Toronto Life describes how a lucky young couple in their 20s found an affordable apartment downtown, on Yonge, even!

[URBAN NOTE] Five notes about mass transit and development: Toronto, New York, Sydney

• At Torontoist, a Scarborough transit group notes locals don’t know of the negative implications of the one-stop subway extension.
• Did Metrolinx succumb to political pressure in deciding to locate two new GO stations? The Toronto Star reports.
• CBC describes how Bombardier lost a contract with New York City to sell cars on the basis of its terrible performance in Toronto.
• The New York Times describes how legislators in New York State outside of New York City control the metropolis’ mass transit system, evoking for me Ontario and Metrolinx.
• Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw notes how light rail development in Greater Sydney is driving a property boom.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes how data mining of stellar surveys led to the discovery of a new star type, the BLAP.
• The Broadside Blog’s Caitlin Kelly tells about her enjoyable recent stay at Fire Island.
• Centauri Dreams notes the latest maneuvers of asteroid probe OSIRIS-REx.
• The Dragon’s Gaze links to a paper considering oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres as a biomarker.
• Joe. My. God. notes how racist Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio is upset at being called a racist.
• Language Log notes how China censored images of the Tibetan-language tattoo of MMA fighter Dan Hardy.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how deportees to Mexico are beset by that country’s crime syndicates.
• Marginal Revolution links to a paper considering how many sellers a market needs to be competitive.
• The New APPS Blog considers the racism of Donald Trump in the light of Agamben’s concept of the homo sacer.
• Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw considers the issue of monuments in Australia in the context of Aborigines’ sufferings by the subjects memorialized.
• The Planetary Society Blog shows the Jupiter approach videos taken by the Voyager probes.
• Towleroad explains why Diana, with her embrace of (among other things) fashion and AIDS victims, is a gay icon.
• Arnold Zwicky notes the official registration in Scotland of a tartan for LGBT people.

[PHOTO] Four photos of Ivan Forrest Gardens, in the Beaches

The Ivan Forrest Gardens, its southern boundary delimited by Queen Street East, is a lovely little garden made out of the southern end of the Glen Stewart Ravine. The pond with waterfall is a nice touch.

[PHOTO] Looking east on King Street at Queen, Charlottetown