I SURVIVED THE BAPE PARTY moving to Sunday due to high probability of rain and thunderstorms. Sorry for the inconvenience this may cause. Hope you can come tomorrow!

Fête reportée à DIMANCHE MÊME HEURE MÊME ENDROIT.
Désolée pour l’inconvénient et espérant vous voir tous demain!

La Ville et le Temps
Photographies de Rohan Quinby
Le Zigoto Café • 5731 ave. du Parc
10 Juillet au 15 Aout

Vernissage
Vendredi Juillet 10, 20:00h
Le Zigoto Café
…Cities are a product of time. They are the molds in which men’s lifetimes have cooled and congealed, giving lasting shape, by way of art, to monuments that would otherwise vanish with the living and give no means of renewal or wider participation behind them. In the city, time becomes visible: buildings and monuments and public ways, more open than the written record, more subject to the gaze of many men than the scattered artifacts of the countryside, leave an imprint on the minds even of the ignorant or the indifferent. Through the material fact of preservation, time clashes with time…

I Survived The Bape at the Biker’s Garden on Cazelais, Saint Henri, Saturday, July 11, 5-9, BYOB.

Rappel
Ça fête dans le Village des Tanneries!

Samedi le 11 juillet entre 17hres et 21 hres
au jardin des motards

Cette soirée sera l’occasion de fêter entre voisins et voisines, d’échanger de l’information sur la situation, sur des éventuelles expropriations, sur ce que nous voulons faire pour le quartier et pour son avenir.

Nous vous proposerons aussi de prendre des photos et de signer une déclaration commune :

« Des voisins, pas des autos ».
Venez nombreux et nombreuses !!

Tables d’information – Photos– Signature d’une déclaration commune– Surprises…
Chers voisins et amis
Un très grand merci de la part de tous les résidents
du 780 et de la rue Cazelais
pour votre appui et votre généreuse implication ces derniers mois.
Maintenant que nous avons survécu le BAPE ensemble,
il faut que nous fêtons ensemble aussi!
Espérant que vous serez parmi nous

Samedi le 11 juillet de 17-21hres

C’est un POTLUCK BYOB
SVP confirmer votre présence et ce que vous prévoyez apporter avec Lorraine Krupa
tél: 514-583-9603
oubien voir le babillard du site internet (section commentaires)
et inscrire un plat
http://www.freewebs.com/villagedestanneries/apps/blog/show/1256088-i-survived-the-bape-party-#comments
voir l’invitation ci dessous

With over 1 Billion people to service don’t hold your breath waiting for them to stop burning coal. Still, this is very encouraging. Story here.
Is this amazing photograph real?

Ariana Lindquist for The New York Times

“We are not near bankruptcy,” says borough mayor Helen Fotopulus in this gazette article. Seems the Plateau is 4.1 million in the hole over snow removal expenses alone. That shouldn’t be happening in a city that gets snow the way Montreal does. That should be a no brainer that gets taken care of off the top.
Anyway, some documents have been leaked to the media and politicians are feeling the heat, calling the documents “working documents” which appears to be code for “stuff we don’t want the public to see.” Says Fotopulos, “A lot of the documents we have are confidential, they aren’t to be diffused because they are working documents that contain information that can lead the population to all kinds of conclusions.”
It’s an election year so we can expect a lot more of this kind of thing and if, in the process, the citizens of Montreal will clearly be able to see how incredibly inefficient our municipal administrative structure currently is, then it will all be good in the end.

In a related article we get to see politicians beginning to do the run around when it comes to laying blame rather than accepting responsibility. Benoit Labonte declares the Tremblay administration a failure at running local budgets and Fotopulos claims all the fiscal problems of Montreal go back 9 years to a program brought in by then PQ cabinet minister and now candidate for mayor, Louise Harel. It really is getting to be a circus and the election is still 4 months away. What is going to happen when the campaigns go in to high gear? If it wasn’t all so damn stupid, I might even suggest there could be a sharp entertainment edge to this election.

Real fun art project has opened on a plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square.

“LONDON (AP) — It’s art for the people, of the people — and definitely by the people.

A 35-year-old mother-of-two stepped onto an 23 foot-high (7 meter-high) stone plinth in Trafalgar Square on Monday, kicking off an ambitious art project that puts members of the British public on display in the iconic plaza alongside statues of the country’s military heroes.

Artist Antony Gormley, who came up with the idea, said it would provide “a living picture” of Britain “in all its wonderful difference.” Story here.

And have a good move.

Over the years I would have to say the Jazz Festival has become my favorite Montreal thing. It’s free, no cars, tons of great music, and zillions of people looking for a break from everyday reality.

Stevie Wonder addressed the crowd before he started and talked some about his friend, Michael Jackson. Basically he said we should just forget all the bullshit and focus on the great music this man gave the world. He wanted the concert to be a celebration.

He then proceeded to perform one of the most inspiring concerts ever heard in this city. The sound was great, the screens were clear, and the rain let up for the most part. And he probably played your favorite song.

As the show moved towards the end he talked about his friend a bit more, emphasizing the celebration, and as his music began to fade a medley of Michael Jackson tunes began to play for about 10 – 15 minutes as Stevie Wonder and band stayed on stage listening with everyone else.

You are not going to see such selflessness from a superstar very often, literally sending everyone away with someone’s else’s songs for momentum into the night.

This kicks off the 30th edition of The Jazz Festival and was a night for the books in Montreal concert history.

On a personal note the last time I saw Stevie Wonder live was in 1972 at the Montreal Forum when he was the opening act for The Rolling Stones. Tickets were $8.00. Oh how times have changed!

“Chicago, like many urban centers throughout the world, has recently undergone a surge in new construction, grafting a new layer of architectural experimentation onto those of past eras. In early 2007, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago, in collaboration with the U.S. Equities Realty artist-in-residence program, invited Michael Wolf to photograph the Chicago cityscape. Bringing his unique perspective on changing urban environments to a city renowned for its architectural legacy, Wolf chose to photograph the central downtown area, focusing specifically on issues of voyeurism and the contemporary urban landscape in flux.” More here.

All photographs by Michael Wolf

There were those who felt that the opening of the Seaway would turn Montreal into a ghost town seeing as how we would lose our status on being the main terminal for everything going and coming from the Great Lakes. Didn’t happen and that is a great testament to the people of this amazing place. Still, on the 50th anniversary of the Seaway we need to keep in mind that while it was an economic boom for North America on the whole, and many of it’s inland ports, the environmental price has been very heavy indeed.

Fallen hero: the St. Lawrence Seaway at 50

Green groups dredge up the past as St. Lawrence Seaway turns 50

As Seaway Turns 50, it’s Time for a Reality Check

View of Montreal and Seaway at Laprarie Pier by Roger Kenner

Today the Arctic is melting and we have a Prime Minister who drools at the thought of excavating the Arctic ground while cruise ships dock in Nunavut, or will they have built a canal to Banff in another 50 years?

“Lawyers for the developer of a proposed 325-unit residential project on the former site of Marianopolis College on Mount Royal have threatened to sue a local Cégep teacher for slander and libel over her outspoken criticism of the project.

In a legal letter dated June 15th, lawyers for Cato Development Inc. accuse Anushree Varma of inferring or implying that “our client is some how, and/or in some way, involved in scandalous, illegal and inappropriate business practises.” Story<a href="Lawyers for the developer of a proposed 325-unit residential project on the former site of Marianopolis College on Mount Royal have threatened to sue a local Cégep teacher for slander and libel over her outspoken criticism of the project. In a legal letter dated June 15th, lawyers for Cato Development Inc. accuse Anushree Varma of inferring or implying that “our client is some how, and/or in some way, involved in scandalous, illegal and inappropriate business practises.”" Story here.

One of the most puzzling things about the whole sad stupid history of Montreal’s Green Spaces (for an interesting eye opening account go here) is that we do not yet have Mount Royal rightfully zoned off. Such a law should be ironclad, no exceptions! But it has not happened and every mayor who has ever served here needs to share the blame, as they all must in regards to the city as a whole. Makes it seem they are all just puppets in the hands of developers, doesn’t it?

And you can’t blame the developers. Developing real estate is what they do and some of them make a very healthy chunk of change for their efforts. It must be very hard work.

But unless something is done soon, the rest of us can say bye bye to the mountain.

A little catching up…. Couple of Gazette articles about a homeless man run over in alley here and here. The article highlights the need for better services for the homeless – a respite centre was closed because a grant had run out, for example. Downtown construction projects tend to scatter the homeless away for their routine hangouts such as a downtown park currently part of the Quartier Des Spectacles construction. And, in summer, businesses often holler for the removal of the homeless from the streets.

There are shelters and many social workers in the city but it just isn’t enough, nor is the system very effective in terms of reintegration. The city does not have much of an effective plan for dealing with the homeless beyond some outdated techniques such as passing bylaws that prevent people from spending the night in city parks. But this is an issue that has not been well thought out at all levels of government in Canada and a lot of needed housing gets lost in the ideological debates over “Housing”.

“Canada is one of the few countries in the world without a national housing strategy (United Nations, 2009). Many of the federal governments’ expenditures are cost-sharing, one-time only funding initiatives that lack long-term leadership on homelessness” More here.

FEANTSA

National Alliance To End Homelessness

Cities go further to help homeless.

How we treat our homeless will define who we are much more than how we throw a party or treat tourists. We need to care a little more than we have.

Homeless Nation

Wiki

Thanks to Pruned for finding this unique architectural collection of Irish Handball Allies. Most of them are not that old but it is interesting how so many of them have an ancient ruin look to them.

Buncrana Castle, Co. Donegal

Pontoon, Co. Mayo

Ballinalard, Co. Tipperary

Ardfinnan, Co. Tipperary

Tinryland, Co. Carlow

Abbeyknockmoy, Co. Galway

Irish Handball Alley

A reader sent in some photos of tree cutting on a little green space along the Decarie. Apparently they are preparing for the construction of the Superhospital down the road which may actually get built one day. ” Only have french language flyer. The pictures are taken on June 18th and 19th…..location is Prud’homme, from Upper Lachine
south to Crowley…and the construction and killing of trees has started. Residents on Prud’homme and Crowley, are upset….”

(scanned from flyer)
Avis aux residents -

Travaux preparatoires a l’arrivee du CUSM-

Le Service des infrastructures, transport, et environnement de la Ville de Montreal vous informedu debut des travaux preparatoires a l’arrivee du Centre universitaire de sante McGill (CUSM) au Campus Glen, dans le secteur sud – ouest du quartier Notre -Dame- de- Grace.

Ces travaux debuteront au debut du mois de juin et se poursuivront en plusieurs etapes jusqu’a l’automne 2009. Deux chantiers distincts se derouleront en meme temps a deux endroits differents.

CHANTIER de L’AVENURE CROWLEY -
Ce premier chantier permettra de raccorder le chemin Upper Lachine a l’avenue Crowley en croisant l’avenue Prud’homme. Ces travaux sont efectues en prevision de la reconstruction du viaduc ferroviaire du Canadien Pacifique prevue en 2010 – 2011. Cependant le raccordement
au chemin Upper-Lachine restera ferme tant que la reconstruction du viaduc ferroviaire ne sera pas entreprise.

CHANTIER du BOULEVARD DECARIE -
Un second chantier permettra a la Commission des services electriques de Montreal de construire un nouveau reseau electrique souterrain en bordure du boulevard Decarie ( cote est ), entre la rue Saint – Jauques et la boulevard De Maisonneuve. Ces travaux sont requis pour l’arriee du CUSM et l’elargeissement du boulevard Decarie.

ENTRAVE et CIRCULATION -
Durant ces travaux, la circulation locale sera maintenue sur l’avenue Prud’homme. Le stationnement sera interdit sur l’avenue Crowley ainsi que sur le boulevard Decarie. Afin de faciliter la circulation , le boulevard Decarie sera a double sens, entre l’avenue Crowley et la rue Saint-Jacques. La circulation des vehicules lourds se fera obligatoirement par le boulevard Decarie via la rue Saint -Jacques. Aucun camion de chantier ne devra emprunter l’avenue Prud’homme.

UPPER-LACHINE -
Des travaux d’infrastructues a la hauteur du chemin Upper-Lachine, entraineront la fermeture de la voie sud entre la rue Addington et le boulevard Decarie.
Toutefois, la circulation en direction ouest sera interdite et detournee par le boulevard De Maisonneuve a partir du boulevard Decarie.