The bombing of Air India Flight 182 on June 23rd, 1985, did not compare to 9/11. However, if any event is the one that lets Toronto see itself reflected in NYC's suffering, it is the events of 23 years ago... and while they may not compare, comparisons can certainly be drawn up. The killing of all 329 people aboard Flight 182 had previously been the worst terrorist attack to have involved aircraft, and it remains the worst mass murder in Canadian history.

In spite of the magnitude present in those facts, I'd never personalized this reality in any way (a common thread in Canadian treatment of this part of our history). The first time I did really feel something in relation to this attack was when I came across the little-advertised memorial site located in Humber Bay Park East in southern Etobicoke.

I was struck by how optimistic and positive the memorial managed to be when making reference to something so horrible.

While near Humber Bay Park this week I was happy to encounter these rock-balancing sculptures. The first time I saw these things by Ashbridge's Bay a few years ago, they blew my mind... which I think is what they do to everyone the first time. The inclusion of a coconut in this particular set is great, shows a sense of humour on the creator's part.

One might be tempted to blame Peter Riedel or Sunjye for this work of counter-entropy, but as I didn't see them actually being assembled, I can't say for sure. It could have been anyone, really.

I mean, I'm not saying that these two aren't very talented in this regard. They seem to do it more out of creation than imitation and have obviously practiced and developed their skills rather extensively, and that shows in the work. But rock balancing is something that just about anyone can pick up at a basic level and get started with.

Yesterday evening, I joined the Toronto Public Space Committee's Guerrilla Gardeners on a seedbombing outing to try to bring out a little bit more of the 'park' in Parkdale. Dozens of pre-made "seedbombs" (mixed local flower seeds with soil wrapped in biodegradable plastic bags) were thrown alongside train tracks and onto a strip of neglected ground between a chain-link fence and graffiti-heavy wall.

Russians know it as Cosmonautics Day, the official celebration of the first manned space flight in April of 1961 by Yuri Gagarin.

While the original Soviet success no doubt impressed the globe it was also something to be hated, feared and rejected by people on this side of the ocean (Pacific, or Atlantic, or Arctic).

The cold war space race days have moved into history (for now), but even still it might not quite be Dubya's favourite holiday.

Regardless, Yuri's Night is now an international celebration not only of Commie Cosmonautics, but of the first HUmanned space flight and what it meant for the whole human race.

I may have been missing out, but the only Yuri's Night event I can recall in Toronto in previous years was extremely small and low-key.

This year, however, Newmindspace has managed to get the Ontario Science Centre on board as host of the celebration, which will be happening April 5th.

The other day, I was on YouTube and came across this video about UNICEF's Tap Project, a minimum-cost fundraising campaign that was started last March in New York City.

Restaurants across NYC signed up to offer $1 glasses of tap water to customers on March 22, world water day, with the proceeds going towards providing clean water to children in areas of the world without proper access. I liked the idea, but didn't think to follow up on the mention that it would be expanded to other places this year.

Yesterday in Union station, however, I noticed the Tap Project logo and realized all the Harvey's employees were wearing Tap Project t-shirts, so I went in and bought a cup of water.

Click through for my review (ha, ha) and details on the Tap Project in Canada.

Thursday, a group of 35 University of Toronto students organized a protest in Simcoe Hall, outside the president's office, seeking to speak to president David Naylor about current tuition fees and about a planned increase they wanted to see dropped.

Perhaps they were also on some level hoping to get in on some of the sit-in success at York last week, but this situation ended quite differently.

Video of what some students are describing as police brutality after the jump.