Clean energy deal signed by Canada, U.S. and Mexico

Posted on by gregchow28

The first ever trilateral clean energy deal is in the books as representatives from Canada, the United States and Mexico have been meeting in Winnipeg. Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Mexico’s Secretary of Energy, Pedro Joaquin Coldwell signed a memorandum of understanding on North American climate change today.

Emphasis was placed on achieving a low-carbon future. The North American nations have been working towards this initiative since last May. Topics brought up in the announcement this morning included climate change solutions, pipeline regulations in Alberta and continent-wide commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“It’s the fact we are recognizing that our energy relationship is more than just oil, and there is more to the Canada-U.S. relationship than the Keystone XL pipeline,” says Head of Greenpeace Canada’s climate and energy campaign Keith Stewart.

This understanding represents the importance of a greener future. This is evident among the three nations agreement to take action on using as much renewable energy immediately.

“It shows how seriously our countries will be starting to take clean energy. It could create a bigger market for Canadian renewable energy,” says Senior Policy advisor for Clean Energy Canada, Clare Demerse.

The timing of this announcement is no coincidence, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with premiers in Vancouver next month to talk about national climate strategies.

Today’s agreement puts the involved parties back on the same page.

“Now we are finally catching up to where our allies are and that will make the conversation and relationship a more effective one,” Demerse said.

D.L. Warfield’s take on art and the American flag

Posted on by gregchow28

D.L. Warfield’s latest artwork could be a major conversation starter during the 2016 presidential election year

While many know the iconic album cover artwork of OutKast’s Aquemini and TLC’s Fanmail, few are familiar with the man behind the art: Atlanta native D.L. Warfield.

With his latest project, the “American Flag Remix” collection, he is looking to once again bring his art to the forefront.

For the whole story, click here .

DJ Power: Crowd Moving and Beat Crushing

Posted on by gregchow28

DJ Power isn’t interested in being pigeon-holed.

The Toronto-native has traveled around the world DJing for crowds in Sydney, Mumbai and Shanghai off of his ability to fuse genres ranging from dub and electro to trap and dancehall, and make it sound good.

Last fall, he released the uplifting “Warriors” with reggae veteran Junior Reid and U.K. based production/DJ duo, Nightcrashers, warming up his listeners for the EP he plans to release in 2016.

To read the whole article, click here .

Leg Injury Spoils Historic Run for Raonic

Posted on by gregchow28

Canada's Raonic puts his hand on Britain's Murray's shoulder after losing their semi-final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park

Canada’s Milos Raonic (L) puts his hand on Britain’s Andy Murray’s shoulder after losing their semi-final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park, Australia, January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

After four hours of fast-paced, well-played tennis, Canadian Milos Raonic failed to qualify for the Australian open finals after losing to Scottish phenomenon Andy Murray.

Raonic in fact led 2-1 after three sets and was poised to take control of the match until a gruelling fourth set which included what appeared to be a serious leg injury for Raonic. He was set to be the first Canadian male tennis player to make it to a Grand Slam singles final.

Wayne Ho-Fang, the Head of the High Performance program at Blackmore Tennis Club, stresses how important the lower body is, especially the legs, in the sport.

“Aside from the racket, they’re the next most important thing.”

Midway through the match, Raonic seemed to be favouring the upper part of his right leg, particularly the forehand side. This was a substantial blow as the Canadian’s plan seemed to be to serve through his opponent as he had throughout the tournament. His second serve against Murray clocked in at 213 km/h compared to Rafael Nadal’s or Roger Federer’s quickest first serve which came in at 207 km/h. Raonic’s serve never looked the same from there.

Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) James Gomez of Athletes Care: Sports Medicine Centre in Toronto shed light on the possible reason why the dominance of Raonic’s serve slowed.

“In the game of tennis everything pretty much takes place below the waist before the contact of the ball. Lower body disfunction could definitely hinder the overall game. It’s going to change the mechanics of the swing. It’s going to change the mechanics of the whole game.”

The injury of Raonic is not yet disclosed. According to Gomez it’s due to the fact leg injuries are usually kept hushed until doctors can confirm the ailment. Until then, the tennis world will be left in the dark.

 

The Base and the Beard

Posted on by gregchow28

If you haven’t heard of Lil B or the BasedGod, as he’s more commonly known, you’ve probably have heard of his curses. Not only a cross dressing rapper, Lil B also boasts a bevy of hexes that have done wonders but also disasters for major sports teams and their athletes.

As a Toronto sports fan, it was generous of him to bestow whatever anti-curse remedy which he keeps in the sleeves of his ridiculously coloured, circa 1995 sweaters, on the Blue Jays. Yes indeed, the infamous “Taylor Swift Curse” was lifted. Every time she played a show, the baseball team in that city would find its way into the losing column. But in Toronto, we saw the Jays come back against the Texas Rangers, and give those rib loving Royals a run for their crowns.

Many athletes, such as Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant, also took a major loss on route to the 2011-2012 NBA Championship (The Thunder loss). Durant has also suffered injuries that have limited him to half a season or less since he called B’s music “wack” on Twitter.

Most importantly, and why I’m bantering today, is that Houston Rockets guard James Harden received his second curse today. Oh yes! The first in the history of B. The REAL reason Harden bolted from the Thunder was to escape the plague of constant diss tracks being thrown Durant and company’s way in OKC, right? Harden was initially cursed for copying Lil B’s “cooking dance.” It seems a bit odd that a fella that has clearly stated his favourite snack is pizza rolls, do so much stirring after draining long range bombs. I’m sure rolling make believe pizza dough would look way less dumb anyways. Was this a case of inception?!

For the whole article, click here

 

How much is Tristan Thompson worth?

Posted on by gregchow28

I’m not only a basketball fan, but a Canadian as well. It’s as both of these things that I say, the Cleveland Cavaliers overpaid Tristan Thompson.

At 6’9 and an athletic 240 pounds, he fits the prototypical NBA power forward mould. Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes were in the starting frontcourt for the reigning champion Golden State Warriors, in a finals that saw the Cavaliers succumb to the small-ball lineups of their opponents. Keep in mind neither Green or Barnes stands taller than 6’8 and weighs more than 230 pounds. Whatever reference point Tristan and his agent Rich Paul chose (great name for an agent, eh?) it should not have been those games against the Bay. Yes, he played fantastic, but the argument is that he still didn’t get the better of any of the Warriors’ frontcourt players and looked at certain points like a weeping willow down on the block. His branches, I mean arms, waved in the wind but caught nothing but air.

I’m not sure how any team can justify paying this much money while already buried in cap debt to someone who started all of 15 games in place of the injured Kevin Love, and who only managed 9.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. This stat is particularly vomit inducing when factoring in Cleveland played without star point guard Kyrie Irving. He was, by default, the second best player on the Cavs but was instead left in the post to be out played by a bunch of small forwards.

When the Toronto Raptors were rumoured to be after him, I cringed and remembered all the times I yelled at my laptop due to him being on my fantasy squad. Thompson, despite all his hustle and bounce, managed only a block per game, only when playing more than 30 minutes. Every team values rebounding and being able to grind in the post, especially in a bench player who is a fringe starter.

The fact is though, Cleveland got out shot, out rebounded and basically outplayed at every turn in the most recent NBA finals. Tristan was responsible in large part for letting this happen. If he couldn’t force Golden State’s hand by his size and rebounding ability, how much money is he worth? According to ESPN, that worth is set as 34th highest paid player in the ENTIRE league. Thompson will be getting paid more than close to 120 other players who are starters. Just because the leagues cap goes up still doesn’t justify misusing money. Both Al Jefferson and Joakim Noah averaged more rebounds than Thompson but get paid less.

The Cavs big man isn’t in a game changer or leader like Steph Curry and Kyle Lowry BUT got paid more. Thompson has one advantage, and that’s that he’s still young and has enough upside to improve in areas that were left blank on stat sheets last year. If that doesn’t work he also has enough money to retire about two decades before any of us.

For more from ATF, click here

Sneakerheads are Everywhere, you just have to look for them

Posted on by gregchow28

My father, he has 50 pairs of different coloured Chucks, so is he not part of our sneaker culture?” asks Dion Walcott, co-founder of Toronto Loves Kicks (TLK). He is referring to the widely known adaptation of North American sneaker culture, where shoes baring the names of Lebron James and Michael Jordan reign supreme.

The concept of what sneaker culture means specifically in Toronto varies because the term ‘culture’ is “such a loose term,” according to Walcott. What can’t be denied though is shoe stores now flood downtown Toronto. The brightly lit Dundas Square is home to the galvanizing House of Hoops, which was formerly only found in the U.S. A mere few blocks away in the unsuspecting corridors of Yorkville are high-end and specialty boutiques like Capsule.

It hasn’t been all growth though. Nike Toronto, located in Yorkville, closed its doors in 2013, a shocking demise for one of the only flagship stores in Toronto. The influence of these boutiques has led to speculation that stores like Capsule and former hotspot North Trooper were part of the reason Nike’s flagship store in Yorkville closed. Nike was unable to comment about the store closure….

Full story and gallery here