MARTIN L

Author: Martin L

  • Biidaasige Park: Highlights FROM Toronto’s latest parkland

    Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of visiting Toronto’s latest waterfront park, Biidaasige Park. Biidaasige, which roughly translates to Sunlight Shining Towards Us in Anishinaabemowin, is the flagship park of the Port Lands Redevelopment program. The program is a decades long project to redevelop the Toronto Port Lands into a livable, mixed-use community, whilst restoring the Don River to a more naturalized form.

    The park is a 60-acre green space lining the Don River’s new river mouth, with a variety of amenities to encourage playful interactions with our natural environment.

    What I loved

    There’s a lot of love about this park. The park is intended to be a centerpiece of a massive trail system in the Port Lands, which connects all corners of the city. I particularly liked the variety of trails, which are segregated between faster modes of transportation (bikes) and hikers / walkers. A variety of road surfaces were used as well, which really helps encourage different activities and speeds throughout each area of the park.

    The children’s areas were also playfully designed, with a great variety of swing structures, and even a whole cable structure for kids to play with! There’s also a outdoor fitness center, which is perfect for adults to take advantage of the open space around us.

    The park also features many connection points to the river, which gives it an innate connection to the water. On my day at the park, I saw a lot of people sitting at the river edge, and surprisingly a lot of paddlers. It’s a park that faces the water instead of retreating from it, which I hope helps people realize the connections we have with the land.

    Overall, the park was well designed, with a lot of natural interaction spaces between different groups of people. Although it lacks the traditional open space you’d see in most city parks, it still promotes open play with the large variety of different hang out spaces. The two addition of open leash areas are also useful for fencing off dog areas, which is important as not everyone is a fan of dogs.

    What I Disliked

    Surprisingly, there’s not a lot of things I dislike about the park, but one important thing to remember is that the park is the centerpiece of a community that doesn’t exist yet. As a result, it is very difficult to get to this park. There’s ample connections on the Martin Goodman Trail, but very limited transit access. On the day that I visited, many visitors chose to drive to the site. Currently, it’s a 15-ish minute walk from the closest residential development, which makes it hard to access. This will eventually improve with the development of the community, but serves as a slight barrier of access to the rest of the city.

    Bike Share access also leaves much to be desired, with only two bike share stations nearby (not even at the park). I wish the Toronto Parking Authority was more coordinated with the launch of the park to build out two Bike Share stations nearby. I saw many people waiting for Bike Share slots to open up since it was crowded and many people chose to use Bike Share to the park.

    What I Learned

    Building a park is hard and people will probably be critical about it, no matter how nice the park is. Also, Bike Share is 100% a victim of it’s own success, and I’d appreciate it if they could be better at bike distribution during large, preplanned events. Thanks!

  • My Ideal Weather

    weather

    It’s a partly cloudy day, with a low of 60°F and a high of 72°F. Wind is a maximum of 10 mph gusts. Dew point is around 50°F – 55°F. Slight moments of shade but still really great lighting.

    FEELING

    The temperature should be on the cusp of feeling a bit chilly if sitting still. It should feel comfortable with a 30 minute walk without sweating. At night, it shouldn’t feel explicitly cold, but chilly at times.

    Wear

    Layers should be possible for tops, bottoms can be shorts or long pants. Sweatshirt with shorts weather.

  • Two months later: Embracing the silly life

    Around two months ago, I decided to embrace the silly life by creating silly goals for myself. Today, I am here to provide a update to this article, and reflect on whether or not these goals had an impact on how I live my life.

    For May, I chose goals that were a bit easier to accomplish to ease me in (for example, talking to a stranger, which I do all the time). It was a great way to ease me into this experience as it did remind me to put more of my focus onto searching for these types of experiences. Unfortunately for me, it was also a bit too easy to accomplish these goals, as I finished all of my goals by early May, and the mindset flew out of the window after I no longer needed to look at a list of goals.

    In June, emboldened by May’s progress, I created six goals in a variety of topic areas. These included things like: “Have a picnic with friends” and “Stay off social media for twelve hours”. I only accomplished two out of the six goals this month, mainly due to a very busy schedule that took these goals out of my mind. Overall, I will say that June was not very successful for this reason alone, as I didn’t encompass the silly mindset.

    Lessons

    1. Create goals that don’t depend on other people to accomplish: your goals cannot be contingent on the existence of other people helping you accomplish your goals. The goal of these goals are to embrace creativity
    2. Make it easy, make it hard: your goals should challenge you, but also be approachable in steps. Don’t force yourself to climb up a floor without building the staircase first.
    3. Keep the silly top of mind: It can be hard to embrace the silly energy without prioritizing it. Since it’s a mindset, keeping it in focus by incorporating it into your life is a must.

    Overall, I am still continuing this experiment throughout the summer, and as always, I am inviting y’all to join into the adventure! My goal for July and August is to incorporate this reflection into my life, and get a bit sillier for once!

  • Bike Share – What I’ve Learned to Love

    If you didn’t know, I’m a proud Toronto Bike Share member! Thanks to a plethora of great discounts, I’ve been able to maintain a membership for about two years. Biking is such a great way to get around, and throughout the two years I’ve learned a lot about biking in Toronto.

    • Biking is the fastest way to get around the inner city

    Bike Share is the easiest way to get around the city! Biking is just as flexible as a car, but never stuck in traffic. There’s a decent amount of bike lanes downtown, and if you have a good mental map you’ll find it really easy to get around. I especially love it getting to and from subway stations because the streetcars are so slow by comparison!

    Here’s an example: from Rosedale Station to Little Italy, Bike Share is the fastest way!

    • Bike Share gives you options

    I love that Bike Share now exists as an option. It’s no longer just between taking transit and walking, there’s a new sweaty way to get to my destination. If my TTC transfer is expired, I can just use my “free” bike share pass! It’s especially useful to combine transit and bike share to get around, which is way faster than walking! It truly is a great last mile solution.

    • Bike Infrastructure was better than I thought

    Toronto has a surprisingly decent amount of bike infrastructure. Within the inner city, there’s plenty of bike lanes that create a grid (although it doesn’t connect the entire inner core yet). Many of these bike lanes have been upgraded over the past few years, adding protected infrastructure, signage, dedicated traffic lights, etc. I especially like the new College Street and University Avenue bike lanes, which are very wide and segregated from the rest of traffic. Well done!

    If I have to summarize my experience using Bike Share in Toronto, this quote from Ray Delahanty, the creator behind the YouTube Channel CityNerd: “I’ve never seen so much biking in a place that was so obviously hostile towards it.”.

  • Losing my Lordeginity: A Synopsis of Virgin

    Hi gang, today I decided to review Virgin, the senior album from Aotearoa-based artist Lorde.

    Martin recognizes the adopted name of Aotearoa, the Māori name for the country commonly known in the English language as New Zealand. Aotearoa has no commonly recognized precise definition, but generally refers to a land of a long white cloud.

    As an artist, I have a complicated relationship with Lorde. I really liked her music when her freshman album, Pure Heroine was released into the world. Songs such as 400 Lux or Ribs continue to make up my repertoire of summer songs to this day. I will not be discussing Melodrama and Solar Power in this review, although a TL:DR version: the former is overrated, whilst the latter is underrated.

    In addition, I would like to note that I will not be mentioning the lyricism, as I don’t really have any deep thoughts about it. I heard Lorde wanted this album to be more abstract in lyricism, and I will be respecting this laissez-faire take.

    Track 1: Hammer

    I love Hammer! It’s a very nostalgic summer song in my opinion, very reminiscent of sitting in a field, feeling lost on a summer’s day. Probably one of my favorite songs on the album, and by far the best single released so far. It’s a punchier ballad that almost veers into being a danceable number, but ultimately best enjoyed sitting on a MTR train on a hot summer’s day, braving the long journey from Tsuen Wan to Tuen Mun. 9/10.

    Track 2: What Was That

    This song has its highlights, but I would say this song really does remind me of storming through a city square. Maybe not as mad as Lorde does, but still a quick storm around. I think the pre-chorus is probably my favorite part, the buildup puts you in that position of stomping. 5/10.

    Track 3: Shapeshifter

    LOVE THE CHORUS IN THIS SONG. It is so reminiscent of just encompassing your brave spirit. It starts off very slow, and then builds up to a grandeur spit of lyrics. Tonight, I just want to fall, and I agree with my whole heart. I hope everyone takes the time to sit with this song and live with it. 7/10.

    Track 4: Man of the Year

    I understand that this is a song about loving yourself and realizing that you’re the only person who will ultimately support you, but it’s also not a great song. Maybe a bit too slow for me? 3/10.

    Track 5: Favorite Daughter

    I think this is a very decent middle of the album song. Kinda filler core? But there’s a lot of absenteeism daughter talk that litters in a very strange way that I can’t seem to grasp clearly. The bridge is probably my favorite part of the song, and it reminds me of swinging on a swing set for some reason. 4/10.

    Track 6: Current Affairs

    I really do like this song! It reminds me of regret, like when you nick your finger and suck the blood, wondering why you decided to do this to yourself. It brings you to a lot of levels, and the lyrics wave a story of fear and regret. A solid song in the album, for sure. 7/10.

    Track 7: Clearblue

    Feels like a ballad that’s trying to skin you alive. I really like how it tries to capture the feeling of receiving scarring news. 6/10.

    Track 8: GRWM (Grown Woman)

    This feels like a more classic Lorde song. I really resonate with this song, it feels like you’re stuck in the teenage vortex of time. I personally feel like a 16 year old in a 25 year old body, so this song was probably written for me. A slow, charming melody stops you in the moment that is ever omnipresent in your brain. 7/10.

    Track 9: Broken Glass

    This is mostly a song about being in frustration and trying to let go unsuccessfully, which I live completely in (although I believe this is in reference to an eating disorder, which I don’t have). Musically, it’s a bit boring, one of the more pop songs off the album, but still a soothsayer if brought up from the past. 5/10.

    Track 10: If She Could See Me Now

    Not a huge fan of this song, musically it’s a bit bland and overused in this album by this point. If Clearblue was meant to cleanse your palate, this song was meant to waterboard you with the same tones. I guess it’s a song about growth and seeing how you turned out, but everyone has this song. Not a great penultimate song. 2/10.

    Track 11: David

    David is a great track to round out the album. It traps you into a wave of sonar depth, chipping away at you as you immerse yourself into the waves of Virgin. If you’ve experienced being lost in a sea of thoughts, David wacks a cane into your soul. The chanting of “Am I ever gonna love again” pounds the frustration of being in disappointment to a new generation, but ultimately opens up towards a new start. 8/10.

    Conclusion

    I like Lorde, but since I still have the mindset of a teenager I think I’m still stuck in the Pure Heroine era. Maybe I’ll revisit this when I finally move into Melodrama.