[URBAN NOTE] Four links about Toronto Nuit Blanche 2017 (#nbto17)

• Kevin Ritchie noted in NOW Toronto that this Nuit Blanche will be dominated by the theme of protest and revolution.
• Chris Rattan talks with different curators and artists about what public art in Toronto should aim to do.
• NOW Toronto lists its top ten exhibits for Nuit Blanche.
• Toronto Life lists some cool places to visit for Nuit Blanche.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Bloordale towers, St. Regis, Toronto design failures, North Market, books

• There will be huge changes at Bloor and Dufferin, including one proposed tower a few dozen stories high. blogTO reports.
• The St. Regis, the former Trump Tower, is set to offer very high-end luxury condos in the Financial District. The Toronto Star reports.
• In the aftermath of a string of pedestrian deaths, Shawn Micallef notes the design failures of Toronto leading to loss of life.
• Spacing talks about what the North Market of Toronto can learn from the historic El Born of Barcelona.
• blogTO notes that an abortive scandal over the placement of a Little Free Library came to nothing in the end.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes the discovery of activity on distant comet
  C/2017 K2.
• Centauri Dreams notes a new proposal for an orbital telescope that could detect Earth-like worlds at Alpha Centauri A and B.
• D-Brief notes a new research finding that chimpanzees can learn to use tools on their own, without teaching.
• Dangerous Minds notes the interesting Detroit character of Gundella, the Green Witch of Detroit.
• Language Log tries to decipher some garbled Hebrew at an American wedding.
• The LRB Blog looks at the continued aftershocks, social and otherwise, from the recent earthquake in Mexico.
• Marginal Revolution argues that North Korea is set to become more China’s problem than the United States’.
• Roads and Kingdoms notes the simple pleasures of soy milk in China.
• Seriously Science notes a study looking at the different factors in the personalities of cats.
• Towleroad notes the recent discovery of an antibody effective against 99% or so variants of HIV.
• Window on Eurasia argues Russian politics play a central role in getting Russophones in Ukraine to become Ukrainian.

[CAT] Shakespeare, against the blanket

[NEWS] Five links about vulnerability: parrots, Uighurs, indigenous peoples, fangsheng, Jones Act

• Hundreds of parrots in a Surrey sanctuary are still waiting for permanent homes. Global News reports.
• NPR reports on how many Uighurs in China find success through their racially mixed appearances, as models.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer explains the rationale behind the Jones Act, with its stiff shipping charges for Puerto Rico.
• The Chinese Buddhist fangsheng ritual, involving the release of captured animals into the wild, has issues. The Guardian reports.
• Tyson Yunkaporta’s essay takes a look at the appeal of SF/F, and post-apocalyptic fiction, for indigenous peoples.

[URBAN NOTE] Four community links: Newfoundland politics, goldfish, Grenfell tower, water disasters

• Politics in a small Newfoundland community seem to literally be a family matter, of Crockers and Blakes. The National Post reports.
• Goldfish are taking over the water systems of the Alberta city of St. Albert’s. The National Post reports.
• This BBC feature looks at the lives of the inhabitants, survivors and not, of the 21st floor of Grenfell.
• This Guardian feature looks at ways cities can protect themselves against disaster, especially with water.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Videoflicks, ghost service, Rob Ford football, parks, real estate

• blogTO notes that video rental store Videoflicks, on Avenue Road, is set to close down.
• The TTC, blogTO notes, has begun “ghost service” on its half-dozen new subway stations.
• Edward Keenan thinks that we may as well name a football stadium after Rob Ford. Why not? If it makes Ford Nation feel better …
• Spacing Toronto features John Lorinc looking at how community parks organizations, like at Ramsden, can exclude outsiders.
• VICE notes on recent study suggesting the real estate market of Toronto is the most overvalued of world cities.

[BLOG] Some Friday links

io9 looks at the surprising things we are continuing to learn from Tycho’s supernova, SN 1572. https://gizmodo.com/a-famous-supernovas-mysteries-are-still-unraveling-hund-1818816208

Anthrodendum has a thoughtful interview between two anthropologists about their experiences as ethnographers. https://savageminds.org/2017/09/25/explaining-ethnography-in-the-field-a-conversation-between-pasang-yangjee-sherpa-and-carole-mcgranahan/

Centauri Dreams reports on the LIGO/VIRGO detection of gravitational wave #GW170814 https://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=38557
D-Brief also notes the detection of #GW170814 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/09/27/gravitational-wave-virgo/
as does Starts With A Bang https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/09/27/ligo-virgo-detects-the-first-three-detector-gravitational-wave/

The Crux notes how ancient rocks on the Québec-Labrador frontier have preserved traces of very early life. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2017/09/27/earth-oldest-rocks-life/

D-Brief notes the potential discovery of a biomarker for CTE, something that may well help professional athletes. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/09/27/cte-biomarker/

Dangerous Minds looks at the time the Pet Shop Boys and Liza Minelli collaborated on an album. http://dangerousminds.net/comments/results_when_the_pet_shop_boys_met_liza_minnelli

The Dragon’s Gaze looks at evidence that a sub-Saturn gas giant is forming around T Tauri star TW Hydrae. http://thedragonsgaze.blogspot.ca/2017/09/tw-hydrae-is-forming-subsaturn-gas-giant.html

Hornet Stories looks at the four lessons a professor took from gay porn, about sexuality and its representation. https://hornetapp.com/stories/gay-porn-professor/

Language Log looks at how Joseon Korea once used the wrong Chinese dialect to talk officially to China. http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=34693

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes an odd defense of Hugh Hefner by a conservative. http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/09/hugh-hefner-good-now

The LRB Blog notes the oddly convention nature of Hugh Hefner. https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2017/09/28/august-kleinzahler/the-conventional-mr-hefner/

The Map Room Blog argues that faults found with fantasy maps actually reflect deeper issues with fantasy literature. http://www.maproomblog.com/2017/09/the-territory-is-not-the-map/

Marginal Revolution notes that IBM employs more people In India than in the United States.
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2017/09/india-fact-day-3.html

The NYR Daily notes a new art exhibition of work by Peter Saul dealing with Trump. http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/09/27/a-carnival-of-desecration-peter-saul-trump/

The Planetary Society Blog notes the Earth pictures taken by the OSIRIS-REx probe. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2017/0928-earth-flyby-osiris-rex.html

The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer notes a worrying new analysis justifying an American strike on North Korea, despite Seoul. http://noelmaurer.typepad.com/aab/2017/09/the-hawks-make-their-case-to-fight-north-korea.html

Drew Rowsome notes an amusing-sounding mystery, Undercover, playing at the Tarragon. http://drewrowsome.blogspot.ca/2017/09/undercover-case-of-comic-mystery.html

Towleroad links to fascinating ethnographic work of LGBT members of American street gangs. How do they do it? http://www.towleroad.com/2017/09/gay-gang/

[PHOTO] Four photos of the site of L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish Home

The Site of L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish home marks the place where infant Lucy Maud was raised by her grandparents following the death of her mother. The home itself is gone, but the museum/gift shop holds some artifacts of note.

[PHOTO] Déjeuner sur l’herbe: Canada geese feeding at Humber Bay Park East