The Storefront: urban re-generator

Think Tank class; 4th-year interdisciplinary design; OCAD Toronto.

semester brief: make a change; design action; intervene

realproblem: Bloorcourt Village; underdeveloped business district in Toronto (between Christie to Dufferin on Bloor)

Join our online network: The Storefront — a strive for our physical space on the streetfront.

If you’re interested in how our class has moved from idea to actualization, you can subscribe to my podcast in iTunes. On the left bar, click ‘Podcasts’, under ‘Advanced’, go to ’subscribe to podcast’ and paste:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/thestorefront

Filed under: activism, art, bloorcourt, community, creativity, design, humanity, podcast

candy podcast

I love Chuck; he’s just so awesome. Chuck is the invaluable web developer (alongside Jason — the right-brain and left-brain super hero in the office) at SamataMason and since day one we’ve been right up there with the tech talk; everyday I take a couple breaks and go in their corner of the office and knock off some jokes and chillax. Chuck introduced me to Second Life, Twitter, cool websites and he also informed me of him and his family’s Candy Podcast and invited me to be a guest on their next show — which had been on hiatus since last October. Chuck’s mother-in-law Pamela owns a candy shop in Algonquin Illinois — a small town with cute little shops. Chuck always has candy in the cabinet by his desk that he brings from her store and shares with the office — no, that’s not the reason why I’m in their corner of the office twice a day.

Last Thursday, Chuck and I took our lunch break at Hi Sweetie — (no we didn’t have candy for lunch) we picked out some candy for the Candy Podcast show that we were going to record at Chuck’s house in the evening. We picked up some mandarin salads from Wendy’s on the way and headed down to the shop.

Hi Sweetie is like candy antique store. Pamela has a colourful and collections of candies from all around the world for all different tastes buds. I hope the pictures speak for themselves.

After our quest to Algonquin for some sugar, we went back to work and Chuck emailed me and let me know that his lovely wife Dayna had ordered Chinese food and her son Charlie, baby Carson and Val were awaiting our arrival at their awesome-looking home.

Yummy dinner followed by yummy dessert. The Candy Podcast is about Chuck and his family with occasional featured guests to part take in rating candy from 1 to 5. This was a super cool experience. I had so much fun! Thanks for having me guys! I know you’re reading this.

Okay so everyone, listen to our show: Candy Podcast 36. You can subscribe to their fun show on iTunes of you can just play it right off of candypodcast.com Here are the results and the candies we tried.

Filed under: experience, podcast, work

Adrienne Clarkson – The Society of Difference

This podcast of Canada’s Governor General Adrienne Clarkson is one of the most amazing speeches I have ever heard from a politician. Please take time to listen to her and what she has to say about how we can come together as a people and live amongst our differences.

Listen here

This is from the CBC website

Canadians have come to believe that the diversity we enjoy in our country is familiar and reassuring. But, what about the future of a Canada which lives with difference but does not understand it? Is it necessary to prepare for a future in which contrasting values and expectations could clash? In the 2007 LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium, The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson reflects on the challenges we must face individually and as part of the community we have created around us.

Filed under: life, podcast