how Vegas is a city of creativity

at the Creative Places + Spaces conference, am completely astonished to find Sir Ken Robinson talking about Las Vegas. he was speaking about allowing ourselves to be passionate about what we do, about how we need to make innovation a habit. And he brought in Vegas as an example of creativity, of the imagination...mirroring what i've been thinking & writing about Vegas, much to my delight. Here's Sir Ken's view, from the Venetian casino: "There is no strategic reason for Vegas to be where it is... Vegas illustrates one of the most distincitive features of human intelligence...the power of imagination. Las Vegas began as an idea. But human beings find ideas contagious. And imagination is the wellspring to everything we’ve ever done as a species...the capacity to stand outside our current circumstances & bring to mind alternatives."

creative places + spaces

i'm thrilled to have a media pass for tomorrow's Creative Places + Spaces conference. Richard Florida is the keynote but i'm especially looking forward to hearing from some of the artists involved this year--like Katerina Cizek, the documentary-maker currently Filmmaker-in-Residence at St. Michael's Hospital, and Spencer Tunick, whose well-known photographs of naked crowds around the world seem perfect for "creative spaces & places", no? there's even local poet Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, whose best work focuses on the question of sustainable cities, and our city, in particular.

'sustainable' is such a peculiar term, used for so many things, appropriate & less so, and tomorrow will probably bring some interesting discussion on that topic, even as the sessions focus on collaboration & change.

as a secret thrill for me personally, the conference takes place tomorrow in my very favourite Toronto location: the Carlu.
i am seriously considering wearing fingerless gloves as a tribute to Glenn Gould, who wouldn't have been out of place on tomorrow's speaker roster.

350 Poems

today, pleased to be part of the 350 poems project, as part of the international day of climate action.

of course, ask poets to write 3.5 lines & the resulting line breaks can be open to interpretation, but the symbolic structure holds.

(my contribution to the collaborative project is entry #204)

and RATS is launched!

wow, it's been a week since the RATS OF LAS VEGAS launch party, hosted by This Is Not A Reading Series at the fabulous Gladstone Hotel, and i've mostly gotten the feathers out of my hair...

that's me, in the dress, and Craig Davidson, on stage, hoping i answer his question coherently...

Bremner Duthie sang the crazy Dyin' Crap-shooter's Blues (my special request) and then burned up a set of lounge lizard standards with his jazz trio...

a blurry photo of the divine Alejandra Ribera singing a knock-out Stormy Weather

the burlesque grrls waiting to do their tribute to Vegas...

Skin Tight Outta Sight had a little somethin' for everyone in their Vegas-inspired end-of-the-evening show...

getting into the spirit of things before the poker game (no cash, just points) organized by Joe LaFortune...yes that's really his name...the problem with fiction is, if i used a name like that for a poker player in the novel, no one would believe in him!

lounge singers, poker chips, burlesque dancers, and an audience that actually laughed at my jokes...it was one helluva launch & i owe BIG thanks to everyone involved.

Urban design awards in Toronto

Toronto's urban design awards were announced Monday night at the highly fabulous Palais Royale.

built in 1922, the Palais was originally a dancehall with a boat house downstairs. the building on the shore of Lake Ontario hasn't changed that much--though the view from the verandah probably has...
considering these awards focus on new buildings' context and the evolution of the Toronto's urban fabric, the Palais location seemed peculiarly appropriate--a gorgeous corner of the city's history, marooned by poor planning decisions. of course, the good people at the ceremony were far too polite to mention that fact.

no huge surprises at the awards. i was delighted to see two of my personal city faves being singled out for further glory: the 40R_Laneway house and the Spadina wavedeck.


and this is the Palais at the end of the rainy evening, when there was a special city bus to drag revellers back to Union Station. instead, i braved the crazy pedestrian bridge across the Gardiner Expressway (easier to get home, from there.)

for more about the Urban Design awards, check out my article for blogto.

RATS is here!

my copies of the book have arrived...very exciting...

a really really BIG rat

while i'm waiting for the first copies of my book RATS OF LAS VEGAS to arrive, i couldn't help noticing this great tidbit of RAT news in the world...

there's a newly-discovered giant rat in Papua New Guinea, living in the crater of a volcano. and the rat is quite friendly, as you can see on the BBC website's video. hopefully it won't meet too many humans who pull its tail (that might influence how friendly it feels towards us.)

and in case you think i'm exaggerating with the word "giant"...the rat is 82 cm long.

Rats of Las Vegas - the book trailer!

i'm thrilled to be back in Toronto for the launch of my new novel, Rats of Las Vegas. i'm gearing up for the first Rats-related event, on September 28th...a cabaret at the Gladstone Hotel, hosted by This Is Not A Reading Series. curious about the book? Kit Pasold, a Toronto-based television producer & graphic designer (& by amazing good luck, he's also my brother), has created a fab book trailer, which is a great intro to the novel: