There are many arguments to be made in favour of the Transit City plan, mainly focusing on capital expenditures, the viability of light rail, and the size of the transit network that can be built. Those arguments have been made and continue to be made very capably by others, most recently at last Wednesday's council debate. What no one seems to be talking about though, is the practicality and long-term upkeep costs of buried stations vs. surface level stops, and how that will affect the TTC's operating costs. To me, these are questions that anyone hoping for a revival of the Fords' "vision" should ask, because ultimately a line that costs significantly more to run, is going to cost more to ride as well.

Hamlet Live is both a live theatrical performance of Hamlet and a livestream of the play for those who are unable to attend the performance in person. The play is set in 2080, in a post-apocalyptic world, and seeks to contend with issues of decay, madness and rule, motifs generally associated with Shakespeare's best-known tragedy.

I admire the ambition of this undertaking: to be the most watched Hamlet in history (on account of the delivery method). A theatrical livestream event is groundbreaking in and of itself for small-scale productions, the likes of which we only see at movie theatres and performances at the Met for example. Stratford and BBC take note: streaming may be the way to increase your relevance and audience. Actor Kyle McDonald argues that livestreaming allows "audiences to find [live performance]. Theatre becomes open to those who can't afford it and to those who live far away." But my praise for this livestream ends here. Although I saw an early version (and thus later versions will have technical glitches solved), I much preferred the in-person play.

Like Sisyphus and his boulder, Torontonians seem condemned to forever push transit plans forwards and backwards in a never-ending struggle. Proposals for rapid transit along Eglinton Avenue have been seriously promoted and rescinded for nearly thirty years now, and although work seems to finally be starting on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, the last year has been consumed with debate over the configuration and operation of the line. And with good reason, since besides the ongoing legal and political issues, the entire concept of burying of an entire LRT line is an engineering contradiction in terms, forgoing the lower cost and easy expandability of light rail but retaining the expensive tunnels and stations of a high-capacity subway, sans the capacity.

Many coffee aficionados get turned off by specialty (and flavour-added) espresso-based drinks, largely because of their perceived low quality and high sugar content. And yet creative baristas around the world are always concocting new mixes and substitutions. When it comes to coffee, new ideas don't necessarily have to result in heavy-handed and tacky drinks.

This brings us to The Slow Room's own invention "The Mandoccino." What is a Mandoccino? Short glass (similar to what might be used for a cortado), espresso, steamed almond milk, chocolate. There's a balanced intensity that defines this drink, which is very much worth its $3 price tag.

The Toronto Maple Leafs. Where to begin?

In the interest of full disclosure, let me start off by saying that I don't know a whole lot about hockey. To me, icing comes on top of a cupcake, Face/Off is a John Woo movie (and an excellent one at that!), and hooking is the oldest profession in the world.

It's damn near impossible to avoid hockey in Toronto. Despite limited exposure prior to my arrival in this city, I've learned a few things about the sport in my two plus years here and have had numerous debates with Torontonians on both the Leafs and hockey in general.

There's been a lot of ink spilled the last couple of days as a result of the city's public works and infrastructure committee meeting on Wednesday. The topic? The possibility of the city introducing a regime to license cyclists. Yesterday, this site laid out five reasons why licensing cyclists in Toronto is a bad idea. Since this idea is essentially at the brainstorming stage, a a time at which it might be fair to say there's no such thing as a bad idea, I thought it was worth posing a counter-argument.