September in Toronto is a month of festivals and restarting the regular pace of life.
Toronto, Ontario
TUJazz: Multipad @Larnell_Lewis@TUJazzFest masterclass, making music with 12 triggers rolling each through 4 banks of samples in suspended chords. Previewing concert later in the evening, where most of new album will be played. Session started with some drumming, then counting to 3 while clapping to 4, followed by questions and answers in the philosophy of learning to become a musician. (Toronto Undergraduate Jazz Festival, Mel Lastman Square, North York, Ontario) 20180908TUJazz: Main stage @TUJazzFest@marilou.buron from Montreal. Bandleader calling out solos from the keyboard. Ensemble relaxed, filled out program to finish with the blues. (Toronto Undergraduate Jazz Festival, Mel Lastman Square, North York, Ontario) 20180908TUJazz: Professionals @TUJazzFest@Larnell_Lewis said @TaraKannangara would perform unrehearsed. Beside @robnchrisca in a smooth performance. Busy musicians lining up gig schedules. Years are flying by, as Don Grolnick’s “Nothing Personal” (1987) by Michael Brecker has become a jazz standard. (Toronto Undergraduate Jazz Festival, Mel Lastman Square, North York, Ontario) 20180908Richmond Station: Chef’s table facing an open kitchen with a New Canadian repertoire. Custom tasting menu, accommodating a smattering of non-dairy, gluten-free and vegan dietary restrictions, each dish coming as a surprise based on the chef’s judgment. The start of a leisurely 3-hour family celebration of RDI’s 25th birthday. (Richmond Station, Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180910Richmond Station: Fifth course into the custom tasting menu, rare beef tenderloin as another surprise dish. Our server asked if we were getting full, and we asked for bags for leftovers. About 2.5 hours into the 3-hour family celebration of RDI’s 25th birthday. (Richmond Station, Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180910CSI 215: Housecooling party @csiTO@tonyasurman reminiscing over 14 years in this venue, vacating occupants to move 459 feet across the street to the purchased and renovated property at 192 next week. Asked members to bring the spirit of this place to the new building. Broke her train of thought abruptly, noticing the newborn cradled by father, foreseeing a next generation of social innovator. (Centre for Social Innovation, Robertson Building, 215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20180914Roncesvalles: Crowds @PolishFestival steady with families. Walked slowly northbound from Queen Street to Bloor Street, passing multiple music stages, church book sales, restaurant kiosks. Pierogi and sausages abound, with Toronto multicultural cuisines well represented at other stations. Long bike ride cross town, called for rest before riding back. (Roncesvalles Avenue at Wright Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20180915 Lane S College E Euclid: Late afternoon #LightUptheLaneways @lanewayproject@StART_Toronto unveiling of murals on garage doors by local street artists. Painters started in morning, some still in progress on larger surfaces. Discovered this laneway doesn’t yet have a distinctive name, an opportunity for the motivated. (Lane South College East Euclid (south of College Street, between Euclid Street northbound and Palmerston Street southbound) Little Italy, Toronto, Ontario) 20180916 The Ossington: Interview @mervatim by @emilymkeeler relates history of Katherine Briggs and Isabel Myers leading to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, for the launch of The Personality Brokers book. Entertaining stories from English professor author and audience on misuse of projective personality techniques by managers. My teachings express human beings as more multidimensional, and I prefer the Keirsey temperament sorter more strongly aligned with Carl Jung. (The Ossington, Ossington Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20180917St. Michael’s Eye Clinic: Ophthalmological surgeon @StMikesHospital with model of eye, explaining posterior capsule opacification that was causing haziness in the left eye, following surgery for a trauma-induced cataract repaired in 2006. Performed YAG laser capsulotomy to open up an aperture through epithelial cells proliferating towards the visual axis. Procedure was painless, with a minor sensation of hearing clicking inside my head, when the laser was on. Preparation took a few years, working through prescription eye drop variants that would eventually reduce eye pressure. (St. Michael’s Hospital Eye Clinic, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20180918 Systems Thinking Ontario: Debriefing by @AllennaLeonard@redesign@zaid___khan on @ISSSMeeting@asc_cybernetics conferences this summer. Impressions on the content of the meetings, plus extra context filled in for those who don’t know the organizations. Trial balloons in discussion, as we all tried to make sense of #systemsthinking. (Systems Thinking Ontario, Lambert Lounge, OCADU, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180919 Onsite Gallery: Measuring and Being @pete5000 lecture, visiting from London while @ONSITEatOCADU had programmed Diagrams of Power exhibition. Quantified Self now records statistics digitally, the data assemblage can reinforce a belief system, or be a critical visualization of unexamined ways of thinking. Historically, this goes back to industrialization, when clocks also changed perceptions of time. This talk may evolve on the way to publication as a book chapter. (Onsite Gallery, OCADU, Richmond Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180920Victoria College: En route to @VicCollege_UofT booksale, noticed Northrup Frye bench statue by Darren Byers and Fred Harrison installed in 2012. Browsing through non-fiction selections, discovered but declined to buy three cybernetics books obscure for even university libraries, by researchers I know. Saw an inscription inside one book, that may have revealed the original donor. (Victoria College, University of Toronto, Queen’s Park Crescent, Toronto) 20180921Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto: Hiba Abdallah + Justin Langlois (2018) “Failing is a matter of perspective” dartboard idea doesn’t quite ring for preschooler. Opening data for new arts institution in a 55,000 square foot former industrial space, attracting large crowds. (Museum of Contemporary Art, Sterling Road, Lower Junction, Toronto, Ontario) 20180922Dentonia Park: Before sunset People & Trees @SarvenazRayati still setting up installation @artsinparksTO. Figures of bamboo sticks and paper mache are undoubtedly more impressive lit up in the dark, but then the trees would be harder to see. (Dentonia Park, Crescent Town, Toronto, Ontario) 20180924 CSI 192: First salad day @csiTO, second official day in new building after the move across the street. Acknowledgement of traditional lands, plus back stories from DECAs. Conversation tables set up with suggested discussion starters on the theme of home. Contributed homemade daikon carrot pickle resulting from spouse having bought too many root vegetables. I’m not Vietnamese, but can follow a simple recipe. (Centre for Social innovation, 192 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20180925 Regis College: Agenda @RegisCollege film series, led by Monty Williams, S.J., departs from previous sessions. Spiritual conversation isn’t discussion about the movie, it’s about the ways each individual is touched by the work, and then observing the responses from others in a small group. The 2016 documentary of “Fire at Sea” tells a story of villagers in Lampedusa, the southernmost island of Sicily, closest landfall for migrants crossing the sea from Tunisia. (Regis College, Wellesley Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180926Toronto City Hall: Pre-dusk @nuitblancheTO, @ibrahim_mahama drapes jute sacks over the roof edges of building facing @npstoronto, drawing attention to complex trade networks of a global economy and invisible labour. I’ve previously seen Coal Sacks by this artist @saatchi_gallery in London, so both the materials and the observers move. (Toronto City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square, Queen Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180929
St. Charles Clock Tower: Firehall #3 tower built in 1872 has heritage designation, in progress of restoration integrated with the new Halo Residences. Steel reinforcements are visible inside the front doorway, and the base is surrounded by yellow beams, probably related to a relocation slightly north. Venue was famous as a tavern from the 1950s into the 1970s, with the rise of the gay movement. (488 Yonge Street at Grosvenor Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180930
Summer in Toronto, close to home. Transport almost exclusively by bicycle.
Toronto, Ontario
Riverside district: Backyard visitors coming through garage for Betty’s Paper Arts Estate sale. For 2 weeks, DY has been sorting through contents originally packed away and stored after Betty’s basement flooding. Then Betty unexpectedly passed away from surgical complications. This Sunday, the scrapbooking community has come together to redistribute the supplies. (Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20180603Koffler Gallery: Show+tell @KofflerArts Kimberly Rose, Mona Filip, Sameer Farooq, Jared Stanley, Lisa Ellis on Objects of Affection panel. Response to Esther Shalev-Gerz (2016) The Gold Room exhibition, Mona brought an artifact for interpretation. Museum conservator Lisa spoke of metal composition, poet Jared admired curved edge, visual artist Sameer wondered about users sociopolitically, shaman Kimberly saw it as one in a set of 80-year old culinary utensils. It’s a sieve that Mona’s great-grandfather tinsmith made that now is a kitchen ornament. (Koffler Gallery, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto, Ontario) 20180603 Centre for Social Innovation: Tried “Innovator for a Day” at @csiTO 215 Spadina. Got building orientation by a Community Animator. Picked a good day to visit, with Salad Day community building, then Town Hall as the move to 192 Spadina in September advances. Lots of energy in the place. (Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20180605 Mattamy Centre: Official B.Comm. with distinction for @Ryan_Ing, in Business Technology Management co-op program at Ryerson University. Two older brothers and parents observing the proceedings, while the eldest brother is on a plane crossing the Pacific from China to California. This convocation was the first that Ryerson has held in the former Maple Leaf Gardens. (Mattamy Centre, Ryerson University, Carleton Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180612Airship 37: Patio beside The Silver Bus in summer late afternoon, relaxing is between afternoon sessions leaning towards managerial, and the evening sessions leaning towards technical. Hangar-like space has garage doors opening up with south exposure. Event venue just south of the Distillery District and north of Lake Shore Boulevard East will probably eventually be transformed, with rezoning applications for sliver towers with the City of Toronto, and Ontario Municipal Board. (Airship 37, 37 Parliament Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180614Fortune Seafood: Father’s Day early dinner, as bookings at Chinese restaurants are heavy. Double lobster, clams, pork chop, chicken, plus stir-fried mushrooms and a tofu casserole for me to maintain a plant-based diet. (Fortune Seafood Restaurant, Midland Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20180617 Systems Thinking Ontario: Demonstration Syntegration led by @allennaleonard with trigger question “”What will it take for us to trust our most personal information and important life decisions to artificial intelligence?”. Briefing then two short rounds at two tables in about 2 hours, in contrast with the real event that could take 3.5 days. Concluding review on process, comparing with other systems methods that are knowledge-creating and dialectic. (Systems Thinking Ontario, OCADU, 205 Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180620Korea House: Intercept @antlerboy@pnahar1970@redesign@allennaleonard SCiO UK meets Systems Thinking Ontario meets National Institute of Design India, post #systemschange Wasan Island meeting. Triangulating on experiences having individually met prominent figures in the systems thinking community, comparing observations to confirm findings. Server first said they don’t see tea in the summer, and then brought the Englishman his own pot. (Korea House, Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180621 Movenpick: New framework with NB and @oscillize, talking systems thinking approach in progress for upcoming workshops with social enterprise entrepreneurs. Unsure where our output artifacts might lead, a slower-pace longer translation towards understandability may work better. (Movenpick, Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180622The Rex: Duo @beccastevensbsb@boutwillismusic@rexhoteltoronto not with bass, drums, and extra keys playing in BC last night. Rush off airplane for show, sips of beer on stage for calories. On to New York tomorrow. So much music from two pairs of hands, two voices. (The Rex, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180624The Redeemer: Live @JosephShabason@TorontoJazzFest@TheRedeemerTO of ambient jazz mostly originally recorded in the studio. Playing with Nicole Rampersaud, Phil Melanson, Kieran Adams, Bram Gielen and Dafydd Hughes, a complex of samples, programming and loops recorded with pedals on the floor. Technology makes music together as a band harder, not easier. (Church of the Redeemer, Bloor Street West, Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario) 20180625 SystemsThinkingTO: Games night @DerailleurAgile#SystemsThinkingTO group learning with exercises from the Systems Thinking Playbook. I led a modified Group Juggle for experiential Bateson proto-learning, deutero-learning and trito-learning. Open space technology posted parallel groups who chose to huddle together around tables, rather than roaming. (SystemsThinkingTO, LoyaltyOne, King Street East, Toronto) 20180628The Redeemer: Solo @Giom_Perret@TorontoJazzFest first tour across Canada with digital effects pedals for loops. Saxophone and blowing mouthpiece into microphone is a big change from scoring music for other players as backing, this show is more immediate. He has found Canadians to be friendly, unlike his hometown Parisians. (Church of the Redeemer, Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180629
Heliconian Hall: Calm Otterville project @TorontoJazzFest, led by Andrew Downing. Slow melodies evocative of a summer day in a quiet village in a Southwestern Ontario. Relaxed pace, drew more laughter as the band was to “slow things down” on the next tune. (Heliconian Hall, Hazelton Avenue, Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario) 20180630
A special issue on “Sustainable, Smart and Systemic Design Post-Anthropocene: Through a Transdisciplinary Lens” in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics edited by Marie Davidová, Susu Nousala, and Thomas J. Marlowe has been released. In that issue, the journey of the Systems Changes Learning Circle from 2019 through 2022 is reviewed. The editorial team, […]
In the ISSS 2022 Plenary talk, the first 25 minutes were a blast through (a) the rising interest in system(s) change(s); (b) appreciative systems (Vickers); (c1) the philosophy of architectural design; (c2) the philosophy of ecological anthropology; (c3) the philosophy of Classical Chinese Medicine; (c4) the philosophy of rhythms; and (d) methods of multiparadigm inquiry, […]
The theme for the February online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario was sparked from the discussion from the January session on Root Metaphor and World Hypotheses. What does it mean to have a theory? How does sensemaking contribute to this? Gary Metcalf volunteered to guide a conversation on these topics. Two prereadings were to serve […]
Philosophy underlies the distinction in the three volumes of the Tavistock Anthology: founded on the World Hypotheses of Stephen C. Pepper, the Socio-Psychological Systems Perspective and the Socio-Technical Systems Perspectives are based on Organicism, while the Socio-Ecological Systems Perspective is based on Contextualism. This thread on contextualism can be traced from the association between E.C. […]
Researching the philosophical foundations of systems theory to understand the meanings of “causal texture, contextualism, contextural” from the Tavistock legacy led to philosopher Stephen C. Pepper. The philosophical lineage and contributions of Pepper were the focus for the January online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario. A deep reading of Pepper’s work (over a month!) was […]
The first Systems Thinking Ontario session for 2023 is scheduled for January 9, on “Root Metaphors and World Hypotheses”. This is philosophical content, for which a guided tour and discussion will be better than attempting a solo reading of the World Hypotheses wiki on the Open Learning Commons. Upon announcing the session on social media, […]
In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
For the @ArchFoundation, #TimIngold distinguishes outcome-oriented making from process-oriented growing, revisiting #MartinHeidegger “Building Dwelling Thinking”. Organisms are made; artefacts grow. The distinction seems obvious, until you stop to ask what assumptions it contains, about the inside and outside of things…Read more ›
In web conference, #HermanDaly says #EcologicalEconomics used to get attacked from the right, now it's from the left. Panel @revkin @jon_d_erickson @ktkish @sophiesanniti #TimCrowshaw #KatieHorner livestreamed #sustainwhat .Read more ›
Complementing the idea of a @longnow , @nfergus provokes the challenge of a #shortthen as the online social media platforms distract the larger perspectives on history.Read more ›
In a recording of the debate between Michael Quinn Patton and Michael C. Jackson on “Systems Concepts in Evaluation”, Patton referenced four concepts published in the “Principles for effective use of systems thinking in evaluation” (2018) by the Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group (SETIG) of the American Evaluation Society. The four concepts are: (i) […]
How might the quality of an action research initiative be evaluated? — begin paste — We have linked our five validity criteria (outcome, process, democratic, catalytic, and dialogic) to the goals of action research. Most traditions of action research agree on the following goals: (a) the generation of new knowledge, (b) the achievement of action-oriented […]
After 90 minutes on phone and online chat with WesternUnion, the existence of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland is denied, so I can’t send money from Canada. TicinoTurismo should be unhappy. The IT developers at Western Union should be dissatisfied that customer support agents aren’t sending them legitimate bug reports I initially tried the […]
An online version of a special issue of Paunch (1980) on "Root Metaphor: The Live Thought of Stephen C. Pepper" has been preserved on the internet Archive
