An occasional Newsletter from Preserved Stories.

Trees for Life is concerned with the health value of trees

Whenever I hear about a project such as Trees for Life, I attend very closely. The following information is from an October 26, 2012 Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) document (pp. 58-61), which you can access by clicking on the following link: AuthorityAgenda#08-12_October26_2012 I recently attended an all-day conference in Toronto based on the […]

Closing of Mr. Christie’s Bakery

Update A July 7, 2016 post is entitled: On July 12, 2016 Toronto City Council Agenda: Investigation Report Regarding Conduct of Ward 6 Councillor Mark Grimes [End of update]   I learned about the closing of the Mr. Christie’s Bakery when I read an email message from a person who’s on the email distribution list […]

Moose stops to observe visitors on country road then continues on its way

During the summer of 2012, a moose stopped to have a look while crossing a country road. After spending some time observing visitors on the road, it continued on its way. To enlarge each image, click on it. Click again to enlarge it further. Use your ‘Back’ button to return to the page you are […]

Pankaj Mishra describes the arrival of modernity in South Asia

The arrival of modernity has occurred at different times in different places. Prior to postmodernity, as Burke (2005) has noted, modernity held the stage. Charles Taylor, in Malaise of modernity (1992), highlights the cultural origins of modernity. Theodore Rabb, in The last days of the Renaissance and the path to modernity (2006) also outlines the steps to modernity. With regard to […]

Communication power (2009) by Manuel Castells

Update: It may be added that the concept of a networked society is appealing but has limitations. [End of update]   I’ve borrowed a Toronto Public Library copy of Communication power (2009) by Manuel Castells. I borrowed it after reading Burke (2005). As noted in the latter link, Castells argues that networks constitute the new ‘social […]

Jane Jacobs “helped us see that roads and buildings and streetscapes encapsulated information”

I like Alice Munro’s comparison between her way of reading a short story, and the experience a person has when visiting somebody’s house. We all know how a house works, she remarks in the anthology entitled The art of the short story (2206), and “how it encloses space and makes connections between one enclosed space and another and […]

Linda Colley (2002) speaks of the life of the common British soldier in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

In Captives (2002; listed as 2003 at the Toronto Public Library website), Linda Colley discusses the use of the whip as a means to maintain discipline in British soldiery at the height of Britain’s colonial expansion. Sometimes flogging resulted in the deaths of soldiers in the British army. Colley, whose book is subtitled ‘The story […]

Macfie’s overview (2002) of orientalism highlights the forces of individualism

In Orientalism (2002), Alexander Lyon Macfie analyzes the ongoing debate regarding orientalism. This blog post will highlight Macfie’s definition of and his concluding comments regarding orientalism. His comments in the book’s concluding chapter highlight the role of individualism, a topic that appears to be of relevance in relation to the emergence of postmodernity and postmodernism. Definitions […]