I’ll be kicking around SFContario 2 this weekend. Looking forward to it.
Tag Archive: toronto
Nov
18
Nov
15
Occupy Toronto Live
occupytoronto on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free Today, the city of Toronto served the occupation in St. James Park with eviction notices for midnight tonight. Call the mayor at 416 397 3673 & leave your message of support of the movement & the need to remain.
Nov
02
ROBOTS RULE at the Ontario Science Centre November 12 and 13, 2011
I’m gonna file this one under – when it’s not evil to blog straight off a press release . . . November 1, 2011 (Toronto) – Robots of all shapes, sizes and skills will take over the Ontario Science Centre November 12 and 13 for the annual Robots Rule extravaganza. Some 20 of Canada’s top …
Oct
19
Technicolor Ultra Mall Launch
If you’re in Toronto this Saturday, I’m launching my novel, Technicolor Ultra Mall. Here’s the details: When: Saturday, Oct. 22, 3pm Where: Bakka Books. 84 Harbord St. What: You’ll get to meet and chat with me, buy a book, have it signed, hear me give a short talk, then after, we’ll all head down the …
Jun
03
Bespoke Oxblood Shoes
I have my first pair of bespoke shoes. These were made by Peter Feeney, who apprenticed in Italy and is now working out of my tailor’s shop. They feel great, look great and the whole experience was a pleasure. The experience started with a series of foot measurements and then the ordering of some custom …
May
06
FAT: Done. What’s Next?
It feels like I’ve been attending and complaining about FAT (Toronto’s Alternative Fashion Week) for years. Double checking that feeling against my blog archives, I’m surprised to learn that my memory is correct. My first mention of it is back in 2006 and now it’s, um, a different year. Also: Holy shit, I’ve kept this blog for …
Nov
29
The Impractical Choice (New Suit)
I wanted a simple grey suit. Something dark and conservative. A counterbalance to my more outlandish choices. It is a classic choice and a male style staple. This potato of suits looks good. I have not given up on the idea. But I have slightly delayed it. Because, when I entered my tailor’s shop and had a …
Oct
25
Oct
15
Philip Sparks: 8-Hole Lace Up Boots
During my most recent closet purge, I tossed out quite a few pairs of shoes. This left me with two pairs for work, one pair of slippers and three pairs (in the fundamental colors of black, brown and silver) for leisure. A perfectly fine base but a collection that I wished to carefully expand. I wanted a …
Oct
08
Roy Halladay: Unmix Your Feelings
A lot of Toronto fans have a lot of mixed feelings about Roy Halladay. Some are rooting for him, some are indifferent, some bitter and some still find it tough to look at him in another uniform. A lot of people have all these feelings at the same time. Two things seem to be agreed …
Aug
19
Rob Ford: Deranged Demagogue
Rob Ford squints at the world through little swine eyes while wearing novelty ties. In a panicked, squealing falsetto, he says things like: ”I can’t support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.” He …
Jul
02
Pictures of a Man in the Flare
As I take people like Oscar Wilde, Cicero and Friedrich Reck-Malleczenwen as my models of political dissent, I think it’s important to remember that even in horrible times, especially then, beauty, dignity and basic human decency are of paramount importance. Although they are the first things to become improbable, you must never allow your better parts to …
Jul
02
Queen’s Park Anti-Cop Picnic
Made by Don Fabien Lee Bespoke Black Suit from http://www.trendtailors.com/ // “Queen’s Park Anti-Cop Picnic” by Ryan Oakley // LOOKBOOK.nu.
Jul
01
Canada Day
It’s Canada Day and I usually like to mark the occasion with some flag vandalism, a rant against the nation state in general and this one in particular, and then spend the next six months sifting through a selection of insults, threats and various other comments. I’m not in the mood this year. Usually, my …
Jun
29
Happy Birthday George
Friday was George Orwell’s birthday. We have an odd way of celebrating such things in Toronto. We like to mark occasions like this with large art installations featuring performances by the local police. There was a moment,when I thought of the old fellow. Not in a This is so 1984 sense (that got old about …
Jun
28
Clarity
On the twitter, I’ve recently heard many people declare that “Toronto has become a police state.” If you’ve said something along those lines, you need to take a deep breath. You are only experiencing clarity. It will pass. Canada has been a police state for years. Over the weekend, we just saw how a police …
Jun
28
Oh Canada
Peaceful G20 protest at Queen & Spadina from Meghann Millard on Vimeo. Peaceful protesters sing Canada’s national anthem, riot police respond with force.
Jun
27
Impolite Police: The Rule of Manners
In all the hub-bub about burning police cars and smashed up Tim Hortons, we’ve missed something rather important: Our police officers are impolite. Forget enforcing the rule of law, many of these “gentlemen” do not even subscribe to the rules of manners. Just today, I was in Queen’s Park with the wife and there was …
Jun
26
G20 T-DOT
G20 T-Dot from Ryan Oakley on Vimeo. A short video about the G20 Summit (Copstock) in Toronto featuring never before seen footage of my sock.
Jun
25
Jun
23
Jun
21
G20 Fortress
g20-fortress-new.jpg (1000×1663).
Jun
09
Recipes For Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook
Recipes For Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook: Download as PDF Not sure if I’m breaking any laws by distributing this book, but if I am, it’s probably a good idea to say I don’t condone any of the practises in it. Not even the nice ones or the stuff about turning a bike into a record …
Jun
08
Just the Numbers
Compare the security cost of Canada’s G8 and G20 summits to those in other countries. Almost a billion dollars to protect the leaders from the people they lead. There is a problem here.
May
31
Cats: Canon Theatre
On Saturday night, while Roy Halladay was pitching his perfect game in Philadelphia, I was sitting in the Canon theatre watching Cats. Have you seen Cats? I have. It’s shit. If any of my cats acted like that, I’d have them put down. Slowly. By a dog. There’s no point discussing the so-called plot, the …
Although Ryan Oakley began his career as a simple rake (drunk) he has since become Toronto’s most renowned flaneur (no car) and notorious dandy (overdresses). A misanthropic composer of psycho-geographical fictions (sci-fi), he is also a server of food, a tender of bar and a washer of dishes. While performing all these functions with efficiency and elegance (disdain and malice), he somehow finds the time to publicly criticize friends, strangers and cultural crap.
