I must admit, I was skeptical. The invitation to explore The Bentway neighbourhood through “the building of the route across the city as well as the big set off or ‘fall’ of the dominoes!” seemed contrived. However, the limited-time nature of the conceptually simple event proved to be rewarding. Maybe even genius.
Pretty sure everyone’s familiar with the cascading row of dominoes setup so you get the idea of what this event was about. Simple on the surface.
It’s a little oasis on the edge of an international airport and a bustling tourist sector.
It’s neat to see what actually exists right now — not just what can theoretically exist — at the heart of a modern urban metropolis.
I don’t know to what extent this event was advertised but it seemed to bring out a good number of people. I daresay, there was anticipation in the air.
When that last block went over the edge there was a hearty cheer.
Props, Toronto. Props.
P.S. In case you were wondering the bricks were made of aircrete (or something similar), a lightweight type of concrete that’s less dense than regular concrete. I picked up one of the blocks and although it was lighter than I expected, I suspect that if I’d dropped it on my foot from a carrying height I’d still probably break a toe or two.
With all of the state-level attention this lowly blog seems to be getting lately I’ve decided to maintain the trend of password-protected content. The extra step is regretful but necessary.
To view the “Secret agency research” post I just published simply use the following password (without quotes):
On the one hand, “Criminal Organization” seems like a pretty harsh indictment. In the simultaneous contexts of Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024, however, it makes for an interesting opening.
If you’ve watched, and listened to, the /sectionb shorts then you’ll probably recognize the musical motif but if not then maybe you’ll be experiencing it for the first time, in which case that’s maybe for the best.
This tune also happens to rather happily coincide with the 25th anniversary, more or less, of Lola rennt. If it sounds like the film may have been an inspiration for the track, that’s just pure speculation. Great movie though.
If you happened to be on TCL during a very specific and brief window of time in the past day or so you may have read the entirety of a post entitled “Philip and the agency”.
It’s an entry about some of the more obscure research, done right here in Toronto (much of it before my time), that went into /sectionb. Tied into this is a sneak peak about what’s coming up in the story. I also talk a bit about character baselines, motivations, etc.
I feel that /sectionb does just fine on its own but I think that posts like the “Philip” one bring more richness and depth to the narrative, so I decided to password-protect it. But I’m going to give you the password … it’s “/s3ct10nb” (without quotes).
Initially I considered asking for your email but then I thought, nah, too invasive. Disposable addresses require quick turnaround, which I can’t guarantee. I thought about a few other options but all of them required more effort than I’d be willing to make just to read a post, so I nixed them too.
Password protection seemed like the most frictionless way to gauge your interest. Just access the post with the password (see above) and hopefully the signal will get through ;)