JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

So here we are, just a little over a month before Rob Ford officially assumes the duties of Mayor of Toronto. Based on the numbers from Monday night, there were slightly more people walking around Tuesday with long faces (or nursing hangovers) than those giddy at the prospect of derailing the gravy train (and nursing hangovers). The results capped a campaign where anger reigned supreme and both candidates and voters did their best to imitate the Incredible Hulk. *** I admit it. I drew a line to connect the two stumps of arrow next to Joe Pantalone's name. Not my ideal candidate, but as the sort-of-stand-in for the outgoing administration, I could live with myself if I voted for him. Neither Ford nor George Smitherman were enticing prospects. The only thing I discerned all along from the former provincial cabinet minister's campaign was that he was running for mayor just to become mayor. Give Ford credit: his policies were unpalatable, but there was no question about wh...

Based on an ad that appeared during the 1969 North York municipal election campaign . - JB

The last Sunday of summer. Sunny skies, comfortable temperatures. Good conditions to spend an afternoon reaquainting myself with certain parts of downtown. I went on an amended version of the old "Sunday constitutional" route I used to walk most Sundays—instead of starting at Osgoode station and succumbing to the lure of a cheap Indian buffet, I took the Spadina car down to the top of Kensington Market. From there, it was a meandering trek down to Queen West, followed by a (brief) stop amid the crowd at the art show in Trinity-Bellwoods (the tight cluster of those browsing proved claustrophobic). From there, I strolled up Montrose to College, passing neighbours shooting the breeze on their porches and men pruning front yard foliage for elderly residents. And then there was a sight that provides a good opportunity to haul out a well-worn logo used on this website... Election signs will soon become chic decor items in apartment windows and on city lawns. The odd poster ...

Timing is everything. For weeks, local media has mused on whether John Tory would enter the race to replace David Miller as Toronto's mayor in this year's municipal elections. As late as Tuesday, the Globe and Mail 's Marcus Gee was confident Tory would join the fray . Yesterday I posted on Twitter that it was surprising no media outlet had devised a graphic to measure Tory's level of certainty about running. I imagined what a "Tory-o-meter" might look like and wrote it down on my lengthy list of things to do. Murmurs surfaced the night before about his decision not to run, but I figured it was more speculation. Within ten minutes of posting, reports surfaced that Tory wasn't going to run , opting to chair the Toronto City Summit Alliance . Given Tory's crash-and-burn electoral track record, this was likely the right decision—we'll see how he does in the realm of civic advocacy. Still, I couldn't let the idea die, so here's a quic...