Disqus - Latest Comments for sabbatical

Re: The 100 Best Christian Albums Of The 90s

Adam King — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 15:51:05 -0000

Great stuff. Hadn't even heard of a few of these.
I'd add a few to the list though, myself:
Bleach – Bleach, Tonéx – Pronounced Toe-nay, PFR – Them, Geoff Moore & The Distance – Threads, Eric Champion – Transformation

Re: Announcing Power-Ups For All!

Adam King — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 17:45:34 -0000

I just signed up for Gold because of this post (so that I could enable two "power-ups" on a new board), but I still can't enable more than one. What's the deal then? Do Gold members have to be manually switched over to escape the limit, @Lauren?

Re: CSS Abbreviations

Adam King — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 17:51:33 -0000

Seems to make Espresso crash for me when I expand the snippets. Anyone had the same problem?

Re: With 6.5m paying subs, Apple Music has kept 60% of initial free trial users

Adam King — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 11:20:32 -0000

Why isn't Rdio on the spread? Seems like way more people use that than a couple of these.

Re: Jamie the Very Worst Missionary: Burn Down Your Inbox

Adam King — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 18:34:13 -0000

"Inbox zero"? More like "Inbox Nero"! Eh? Am I right, guys?
— Jamie when first pitching this article to her editorial board

Re: Brantford unveils new logo | Brantford Expositor

Adam King — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 23:35:17 -0000

True identity shown! Now how about you? Hopefully you don't work for the marketing co who designed this big ol' batch of hilarity. :)

Re: Brantford unveils new logo | Brantford Expositor

Adam King — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 22:34:24 -0000

Lucky number 13? Didn't know Brantford had a favourite number!

Re: Brantford unveils new logo | Brantford Expositor

Adam King — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 22:15:14 -0000

As a professional designer, I'd say this is nearly as bad as that Gap logo redesign!

Re: LIVE BLOG: French Immersion at GEDSB | Brantford Expositor

Adam King — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:23:49 -0000

Really wish a French Immersion program would be added in the south end of the city.

Re: Ontario’s new lesbian Premier promises to bring back explicit lower grades sex-ed curriculum

Adam King — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:39:57 -0000

Hm, as far as the possible things that could be said on the matter of the fact that we live in communities where divorce, single parents, and gay marriages are realities, seems pretty understated. A stretch to call it "explicit", anyway.

Maybe I'm just a bit less sensitive about the topic. I mean, we're not in Toronto or anything, Brantford's a pretty small city, but we see gay families when we go out around town from time to time — surely at some point my daughter's going to figure it out unless we keep her locked in the house. And surely there must be more of it in bigger cities.

Couple months ago a woman bought a bed from us off Kijiji, and talking to her (and what turned out to be her lesbian spouse) when she was picking up, found out her 2nd grade son was switching schools again because he keeps getting beat up. So kids from these families are real, and they're being picked on, so I don't blame the schools for not just ignoring it. I doubt I randomly met the only one of these families.

Re: Ontario’s new lesbian Premier promises to bring back explicit lower grades sex-ed curriculum

Adam King — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:19:03 -0000

Thanks. Looking at the ones for our school board (Grand Erie) and not seeing anything weird... Haven't looked at any other boards though. http://www.granderie.ca/Por...
http://www.granderie.ca/SCH...

Re: Ontario’s new lesbian Premier promises to bring back explicit lower grades sex-ed curriculum

Adam King — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:25:21 -0000

With a daughter going into grade 1 next year, I decided to read the actual, proposed Ontario sex-ed curriculum that Premier Wynne is supposedly bringing back and which so many people are fired up about.

I really can't find anything in it that I'd consider inappropriate. Do I have the wrong document or something? http://www.canadianvalues.c...

Re: Fast4Change shows support for Idle No More | Brantford-Brant | News | Brantford Expositor

Adam King — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 21:05:09 -0000

Glad to see this happening, and sad to see so much negativity on the comments here. And no, I'm not an NDP supporter — why must everything be about party lines with some of you folks? If it's a good cause, then people should support it, regardless of who got it going.

Re: $18 Peanut Butter. What’s wrong with this picture?

Adam King — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 22:55:34 -0000

Great article. Reposted here: http://b.aking.ca/post/2547...

Re: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/06/18/arts-block-grant-held-up-again

Adam King — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:10:11 -0000

The arts and culture sector are huge economic revitalization drivers. You can see this in city after city after city, the dollars in versus dollars out are a handsome ratio — so this is much less a gift to some nice art people than a smart investment in a better future for all of Brantford. I'm guessing council has been shown the evidence and knows (likely in some cases begrudgingly) that it's true, or they wouldn't be putting in their part to see it happen.

Re: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/06/18/arts-block-grant-held-up-again

Adam King — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:03:49 -0000

(Arts Block, however, is a charity, in case anyone is wondering.)

Re: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/03/30/cockshutt-buildings-history-nears-an-end

Adam King — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:33:37 -0000

If you don't call Bell or Hillier titans of science and technology, I don't know who you would. If you don't call Lawren Harris a titan of art, I'm not sure who you would. If you don't call Gretzky a titan of sport, I'm not sure who you would, etc. And yes, we generated lots of wealth — apart from our output, which as I mentioned was the second largest in Canada at one point, ever wondered why you don't see row housing in Brantford where the factory workers lived, while in other Ontarian cities that were similarly industrial, that is what you see? It's because Brantford had both a high degree of affluence and a high degree of (you'll hate me for saying this) community pride. Anyway, I could go on with more details, but I know I'm not convincing anyone here — not even sure why I continue to post when topics like these come up.

I'm sorry to hear you feel my message was one of coercion — I don't mean it to be. But I do feel it's a true message. I'm not trying to trick anyone or give false hope for what Brantford could be, or a false representation of what it was.

In any case, I've invariably been on the losing side of every local planning and policy discussion I've engaged on in my years since moving to Brantford, so who knows how long before I'll have eventually had enough and end up being kicked off (or kicking off) to other parts like so many before. It's tempting at times, I won't lie. There are likely places where my views wouldn't be seen as so fringe and unrealistic. It'd be nice to not feel an overwhelming urge to waste my time on fruitless debates like this one.

But speaking of my unrealistic views: renovating a few highly historic old buildings is hardly unrealistic, and wouldn't seem to be nearly as expensive as some posters here make it out to be. Take a look at the recent Waterloo study I linked to for a sampling of figures on that.

Civic pride has nothing to do with buildings in particular, you're right. But if a building is a significant totem of our community's story, it becomes a useful touchpoint for building civic pride, a tangible, highly visible link to our past and a way to provoke storytelling and a sense of being part of something continuous and greater than our own individual lives. Of course, buildings aren't the only touchpoints, but they're highly effective ones.

Basically, the management of this property and of Brantford's historic built industrial and commercial fabric in general was completely avoidable and I believe will be regretted down the line as a shortsighted mismanagement of what could have been great assets for our community. (If anyone ever becomes aware of what existed

Re: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/03/30/cockshutt-buildings-history-nears-an-end

Adam King — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:18:58 -0000

Let me try to explain where I'm coming from, @Great Save. I believe the best way forward for Brantford includes tangible, built connections to our past tied right into the urban fabric we live in. This was a fantastic city, and has a lot to be proud of — home to so much innovation, creation of wealth and industry, having been the second largest industrial center in Canada at one point, a major cultural spoke, and so on. Yet I lived here for years before I learned even the basics of Brantford's past and had any clue it would once have been called a great city. Once I did, let me tell you, as a young person it inspired me to think that I might in some way follow in the footsteps of our titans of invention, art, sport, science, technology.

We were a city of builders and dreamers, but now so many Brantfordians seem bent on forgetting that past, content to resemble another "Everytown, USA", dreaming of little more than maybe a larger Walmart — or maybe "someday" (wistfully spoken) even an IKEA — over anything with a degree of local flavour above a damp slice of Domino's Pizza. This city has so much more potential than what most of us are willing to see, and our past informs and reinforces that potential.

Forgive me if my characterization of "Browntown-downers" is mischaracterization of you personally, Great Save, but even if that doesn't describe you, I've met too many people like that in Brantford to ignore its a reality. It's almost as if there's an internal self-loathing that taints the perception of the potential of anything that might be uniquely tied to Brantford. And I think that malaise couldn't help but be made massively better if our people became more aware and connected with our city's past greatness. And yeah, buildings and places don't have much value in of themselves (other than the increasing market desirability of heritage renewal development aesthetics, and the environmental and economic math around modern heritage redevelopment, I suppose). But the past they represent and provide tangible connection to — that does have value.

Building stock like the Cockshutt and Massey structures would add colour, character, weight and reminders of our story as a community (and even country) to any redevelopment projects, and additionally, heritage redevelopments generally add little if any additional cost vs comparable new build projects (at least according to at least one recent survey of local data: http://www.environment.uwat... )

We've got little enough connection to our past as it is, and yet I see lack of connection to the past given as an additional reason *to* obliterate what little's left, rather than reason *to not*. I can't help but feel we're letting go some of our largest opportunities to really reincorporate a sense of civic pride into these neighbourhoods. It's shameful how our city government has sat on these designated buildings, but even in their current state, it's a big lost opportunity to just give them all the axe.

Re: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/03/30/cockshutt-buildings-history-nears-an-end

Adam King — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:53:46 -0000

Wow. This sort of thinking is the kind of thing that keeps some people thinking of Brantford as a backwater. Forbid anyone have a little sense of community pride or responsibility.

Re: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/03/08/brownfields-tear-em-down

Adam King — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:20:46 -0000

The plan, eh? Well, maybe I would. Who ever said it will necessarily cost more? Heritage reuse often costs less than new builds, even if we're just talking straight up-front dollars here. But we're not. We're also talking about potential neighbourhood appeal, community history and cultural connectedness, and, yes, even tourism potential, considering the character, size and historical significance of this building cluster. We'd be losing a lot of value if we dump the heritage buildings on this site.

Re: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/03/08/brownfields-tear-em-down

Adam King — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:58:32 -0000

Haha. You gonna pay for the bulldozing?

Re: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/03/08/brownfields-tear-em-down

Adam King — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:48:18 -0000

Really hope the older buildings on these sites can be saved. I've been through all of them and they could add so much character and presence to a redevelopment project if they're reused. Lets not sell short our city's connection to its history for the sake of misplaced impatience. Bull-dozing won't likely make redevelopment happen any faster.

Re: In Toronto, a Major Victory for Light Rail - Commute - The Atlantic Cities

Adam King — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:17:56 -0000

Faster, smoother ride than buses with much higher capacity (keep in mind these LRT routes are mostly planned for where bus routes cannot keep up with demand.)

Re: In Toronto, a Major Victory for Light Rail - Commute - The Atlantic Cities

Adam King — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:03:43 -0000

Like @the_lemur points out with his photo, the new LRT are sans overhead tangles. (The article photo here is of an old-style streetcar.) http://www.blogto.com/uploa...

Re: DISQUS

Adam King — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:57:38 -0000

I am intrigued by your theories and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.