There I was, reading David Cayley's thought-provoking commentary on the plight of Toronto's outdoor artificial ice rinks, when a little bird landed on my balcony and broke the news that MasterCard had just offered the city a cool $160,000 to open all outdoor rinks as scheduled in December. The mayor quickly accepted the offer, but cautiously stated that "You can't fund basic public services through charitable donations."

One of Toronto's shopping gems is a glimmering oasis of technology in the desert bounded by The Annex, St. George Campus, Kensington Market, and Little Italy. Along this small stretch of College St, between Spadina Ave and Bathurst St, there are almost 30 stores selling computer systems, parts, and related gear.

I first took notice of this clustered computer colony when wandering between lectures in search of food. Years later, I've saved a couple hundred dollars on computer-related purchases, and have successfully dodged the eye-popping price gouge of the Future Shop/Best Buy monstrosity.

The close proximity of two dozen computer stores creates a fierce price war, unlike the major chains that have uniform pricing throughout the city. Just by walking from store to store it's possible to compare and find the best deal for a specific part. However, it always helps to do some online research beforehand...

Day 2 of the Virgin Festival was a stark contrast to Saturday's sunny sweaty shindig. The clouds and winds were hanging around, making things quite cold. Luckily, the grounds were not too wet and I could sit on mostly anything with only a bit of moisture creeping into my pants. I started the day at the 3rd-tier Budweiser stage to catch some local acts, and then hopped over to the main stage for Canadian indie superstars Stars and Metric.

I spent the afternoon over at the 2nd-teir stage, affectionately called the Future Shop Stage. The lineup was peppered with lesser-known acts that spanned a spread of genres. Bands featured on the FS stage could probably fill a moderately-sized venue without a problem, but the audience failed to materialize except for the acts that had enough local buzz.

It's safe to say that grocery stores are outside the scope of my usual writing, but I couldn't resist after T&T Supermarket finally opened its new downtown store. After all, this isn't just the latest offspring of Loblaws or Dominion. T&T is the undisputed king of the Asian supermarket world! All of the dingy stores in Chinatown bow down to its shiny, antiseptic aisles and professional service. This is a Bizzaro World where the entire selection of Chinatown (and then some) can be found in 41,000 square-foot supermarket format.

First things first: how the heck can I get to 222 Cherry Street? The location of the new T&T only suits people with cars. Though there is a dedicated bike lane that crosses into the Portlands, the routes are only suitable for those living along the waterfront, the south-east core, and immediately east of the Don Valley. Everyone else can bike to Chinatown much quicker and with less hassle. The same goes for Transit: there are only 2 buses that reach the Portlands, 72A and 172, but they are so infrequent that it's hardly worth mentioning. Alas, like its brethren on the outskirts of Toronto proper, downtown's T&T is an automobiles-only affair where the distance from your parking spot to the front door is a yardstick for success.

We've decided to fight the inexorable passage of summer with a weeknight getaway. The Toronto Islands is my preferred place to get away from the city within the city, but tonight our destination is Trinity-Bellwoods Park.

Gingerly loading my bike to the teetering brink of collapse, it's time to hit the road and enjoy the great outdoors. I'm living on the edge with a cooler full of hand-made cucumber tea-sandwiches precariously balanced on my rear bike rack--only a bungee cord holds it fast.

Biking around the streets of Toronto is an experience considerably changed when any bump could spell disaster. In my mind I've got a box full of nitro-glycerine, and any mistake will trigger an explosion of de-crusted bread and cucumbers all over the road as my helmet bounces across the ground in slow-motion (am I thinking of that CP railway heritage minute?).