I don't think it is a secret that the ROM Crystal is not Jack Diamond's favourite Toronto building. Even worse, the architect—designer of the popular new Opera House—must have had fits when Libeskind's Crystal was anointed as one of the "seven new wonders" of the architectural world.

That's why I think Mr. Diamond is delighted by his new design for the Museum Subway stop. After all, most of the people who come to the ROM come by TTC, and the first space they'll encounter on the way to the Crystal is Jack's.

Here are some pictures of the new stop as provided by the architect.




The inscription contained within the letters on the track wall is from a limestone relief in the tomb of an ancient Egyptian nobleman named Met-jet-jy. Dating to approximately 2300 BC, the original artefact is housed in the Egyptian Gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum.

This is what you’ll see when your household exceeds the bandwidth quota allotted by Rogers.

You’ll be sure to see it. Rogers will hijack your browser and show it to you.

And your browser window will wind up looking like this:


But I refused to believe it this morning when it happened to me. What -- over 60 gigs? Just in March? No way. I monitor every last drop of bandwidth percolating through the router. No way.

That’s what I said when I finally got through that crazy voice recognition system of Rogers’. No way.

“Well,” replied their living and breathing tech support fellow, “what does your record show?”

“20 gigs -– give or take a few,” I growled. All indignant.

So we compared daily bandwidth records. And it turned out I was totally wrong. The 20 gigs I’d been looking at? Corresponded with the last 10 days’ use. Only.

“Alright, fine,” I relented. “But how confident are you guys in tracking everyone’s bandwidth? And what will you do when individuals dispute your readings? How will you resolve that?”

“Pretty confident,” he said. “We’ve been testing the hell out of it. Of course, computers do make mistakes. And in such cases, customers self-tracking their bandwidth will stand a good chance of getting credited.”

“Ok, but why do it at all?” I asked. “Didn’t your high-speed customers sign up for unlimited use?”

“We have no choice,” he replied. “We pay for bandwidth and now it’s getting to the point where some customers are using 200 gigs. More even. That’s what’s wrecked it for everyone else.”

Ok. Fair enough. But still. The link provided by Rogers to view one’s bandwidth usage -- rogers.com/keepingpace –- is not accessible. In fact, Rogers’ website has been down all day. How to trust Rogers’ bandwidth tracking everyone –- when Rogers can’t even keep their own website up?

I’ll keep right on self-tracking, thank you. And this whole browser hijacking thing? I’ll have to think about that some more. Because, going by first impressions –- it just seems like some sort of security nightmare. But first, I’m gon’na find out who’s been abusing the torrents @ my household last month. That’s one mystery won’t require much brilliance detecting.

[Peter Fruchter teaches in the Division of Humanities at York University.]

The Scope Art Fair phenomenon continues this year. The popular forum for emerging artists has reached $125 million in art sales since it began some six years ago. It is now the world's largest art fair according to organizers. Is there more compelling proof that people love art—especially art that is fresh, new, and outside of the often sterile walls of arts institutions. The first Scope event of the year took place in New York last week. Think of it as a mash-up for artists who mostly work outside the gallery system.

Scope even has a Toronto connection. According to reporter Ted Loos:

One of the more eye-catching works on display was found at the booth of Space Other from Boston. Peter Schmitt’s 004#03-7 (2007) is a kind of techno-Calder: a large metal “tree” from which three dozen or so light green boxes hang. Each unit is a little machine that prints out white receipt paper. As they get clipped, they fall, creating an autumnal paper pile on the booth floor. (No word on who had to rake them up.) The work sells for $36,000, and on the fair’s first morning at least two collectors were already sniffing around it.

Natalie Kovacs, a Toronto-based curator at large for SCOPE who was involved in selecting the galleries and works, says that Schmitt’s work nicely captures her goal: “With 30 fairs, the work has to be an immediate out-of-body experience, or there’s no point in taking it out of the box.”

Can we expect a Toronto version of the Scope road show? Does anyone know?

In the city of stories, every page spills a new narrative. And so: After twenty-nine years in business, and after 22 years at its Church Street location, storied independent bookseller This Ain't the Rosedale Library is moving to Toronto's Kensington Market. The bookstore will continue operating at its current location until late May, while the new location, at 86 Nassau Street in the heart of the Market, will open in early May. To facilitate the move, This Ain't is offering 30% off regularly priced hardcovers and half price on their stock of bargain books.

This Ain't's move is stimulated, reportedly, by economic factors and also by partner Dan Bazuin's desire to step back and focus on gallery and literary events. BlogTO reports that partner Charles Huisken will run the new store alongside his son. Huisken told the National Post about his optimism that the new Kensington Market location will bring new life to the store.

As someone with close ties to Kensington Market, I can hardly wait for the new location to open. It is easy to sympathize with the tears of This Ain't's Church Street regulars grieving the loss of their neighbourhood independent, but Kensington Market will welcome the store with equal warmth. Currently Kensington Market is underserviced in terms of books: locals must travel up to Harbord to visit stalwarts such as the Toronto Women's Bookstore or Ten Editions at 698 Spadina, or all the way to Bloor to browse at David Mirvish Books or BMV (471 Bloor).

For those unfamiliar with This Ain't, the store specializes in small press, counterculture and independent fiction, and also sells large press titles and a good stock of remaindered books. Befitting its Church Street location, This Ain't also offers the city's best selection of LBGT titles. These specialities will be retained at the new location, with an added focus on rare books as well. I am curious how Kensington Market will add to This Aint's flavours. My personal preference would be to see a Toronto literature section, highlighting novels and poetry depicting Kensington Market itself.

[Amy Lavender Harris is the author of Imagining Toronto, forthcoming in 2008 from Mansfield Press. She writes regularly about Toronto literature and the imaginative qualities of cities.]