Upper Room does their "every second week" thing

Every year, for a few months, the upper room, on the north side of queen just west of Bathurst, goes from every Saturday evening to every second Saturday evening. So the calendar on this site has been wrong about it for months.

Community BBQ @ Queen West Health

This is pretty late notice, but tomorrow (Friday, July 27th), there's a community barbecue at Queen West Health, on the west side of bathurst, just south of Queen, from noon 'till 4pm!

Good shepherd breakfast falls short even if you show up early

It's not like there's much competition for a good free breakfast in town. Once a week, the Lawyers at Osgoode Hall serve up a great one for early risers, and the Corner Drop-in's Kensington
Market breakfasts are alright, mainly because they have soup with veggies in it. And The Stop's breakfasts can be pretty good. But the only breakfast you can get every day of the week is at the shepherd, and unless you arrive right t the beginning, your chances of getting anything beyond coffee, donuts and peanut butter sandwiches is pretty slim. Every once in awhile, they go the extra mile, but 90% of the time, it's the schizophrenia-inducing carbs, sugar, caffeine mix you see here.

Oh and don't come in without a shirt. It's not ok.

Good shepherd needs more real food

This extreme white flour, ground beef, chicken, pastries, milk, peanut butter and coffee with white sugar thing at the shepherd, and most of these other places, has got to change. It's not just a matter of cheapness: what about chic peas, lentils, beans etc? What about cheap fresh produce? You don't have to give everyone below the poverty line schizophrenia in order to afford to feed them, but with the staples I mentioned above, that's the effect.

Dr. Abram Hoffer told me that if you want to make a sensitive person crazy, just make sure that milk, bread and sugar dominate their diet. A Toronto police officer brutalized a handcuffed suspect in the back of his cop car with a tazer, on video, and got away with it because he's hypoglycemic, and he skipped lunch and had a pastry instea because they were working him too hard. And that's not a bullshit defense: that's nutrition and neurochemistry.

Good shepherd comes through again!

This is why it's worth camping out in the Don Valley instead of Humber, even though the Don river is more toxic: one epic trip through the shepherd at dinner time, if you go through a few time and bag up a ton of food, is the only trip out of the bush that you absolutely need to make. And you can do it every day of the week. And they're the least likely to fuck you over on holidays.

No Evangel Hall dinner this Sunday!

Evangel Hall isn't doing its dinner this Sunday evening... So maybe it's a good time to check out that church at roncesvalles and wright! Unless they're taking the day off too.

Best hotspots

Here's two great places to grab free wireless. If you need a wireless device, the best thing to get is a second-hand iPhone. Their batteries last longer than android phones or blackberries and they're the least frustrating to use. Why get a smartphone instead of a small laptop? Because it's easier to just Stan outside and scam their wireless. You just look like you're texting.

Then grab an offline map app, and remember: the iPhone's compass and the offline Toronto maps app can tell you exactly where you are, without any onnection or contract. So don't get a contract. Get wet wipes instead.

Payday at the Shepherd

It's Friday, June 29th. The welfare cheques went out a few days ago, and the ODSP ones went out yesterday or today or something.

If you showed up at the shepherd last Friday at 2:06, the line would stretch through the hall, out the door, down th street and around the corner.

Today? No line. So the question is, when do the lines start to ramp up again? For those camped out in the wretchedly toxic Don Valley, where the foxes play in the forest, the turtles chill in the bushes next to the path, and the poisoned river of doom is patrolled by Canada Geese by day and Beavers (are those Beavers?) by night... it's easy to find out.

Some of them live like aboriginals, others like raccoons (and with raccoons), and some live like hobbits.

The ones you'll never see live like wolves. Others live like ravens. Few people know what ravens are all about.

Anyway: if you're on welfare or ODSP, do yourself a favor: skip your monthly payment party period. Leave your wallet at home. Make an arrangement with your banker. Get a trustee. Whatever. Pay your rent, pay your bills, keep living off nothing, and save all your extra cash. Save it 'till the last few day before your next payday, an before your buddies' benefits paydays. Do all your buying when others are desperate to sell. Do all your debt repayments when everyone else is hurting, physically and mentally and chemically an psychically hurting, for their cheque. Nobody needs an extra smoke during the first half of the cycle. But that six two-six and that half quarter and that big cheek rock two days before payday, and help your buddies get through those days. Just dole it out bit by bit. Don't break it out all at once. That danger time is when all the worst stuff happens, and it's because of withdrawal, hunger and anticipation.

Save your cash 'till just before payday: save your people from their circumstances and weaknesses.

Save your cash: save your people.

Chicken Lunch at the Taoist Institute parking lot

Every Monday at 4pm, the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism serves chicken, rice or noodles, and steamed vegetables, in its parking lot in the alley behind the LCBO on Spadina, north of Dundas. You're not allowed to smoke on the property. People line up for seconds after the initial serving, but if you're just showing up, they let you skip the "seconds" line. It's the cleanest food this side of Sketch Open Studio.

It's supposed to open at 4pm. Here I am at 3:58. The line stretches from the locked gate, west to the end of the alley, around the corner and maybe 20 feet south down the other alley. Few of my friends who really need this food are willing to come. Let's see how long I takes to get to serving #1, and how long it takes to get to serving #2. Last time it took about 20 minutes to get from one to the other, and the only thing they had then was rice.

I just heard someone say "no more chicken left: rice only," which is pretty worrying, since the only other meals within reach cost $1. My skin is burning from the lack of shade. I can only see a few other non-Asians in line. The mood is chilled and friendly.

At 4:05, the line starts moving. In about 2 minutes, the line has shifted to the parking lot, and stopped.

By 4:20 on the dot, I'm out of the alley with my chicken leg, boiled bok chou and a bunch of white rice. And a styrofoam cup of green tea.