Blog Posts by Jordan Chittley

People at buskerfests can usually expect to see machete jugglers, mimes and acrobats, but people at one in Ontario got to see a man escape a straight jacket while suspended upside-down by a helicopter.

International street entertainer and escapologist Rob Roy Collins was in St. Catherines on Wednesday to kick off the city's busker festival, which runs this weekend.

"This is much bigger than anything I've done before," Collins said to The Standard. "There are obviously elements of risk and drama to all of this."

Collins has never performed the stunt hanging from a helicopter, but he has performed it hanging from a roller coaster in England where he beat Houdini's time.

As much as it is the same straight jacket escape as has been performed before, he said in another online video, "The main challenge is that it is from a helicopter, which is moving."

The other danger is that if Collins is left hanging upside down for too long he risks blacking out.

He was put in the regulation straight

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While people in Canada are reading about the riots in the U.K., the British are reading some unflattering things about Canada.

The Guardian posted a story on Aug. 11 stating that Toronto has started a war on cycling and Mayor Rob Ford is doing little to diminish tensions.

Writer Anna Soper gives her take on the city's recent budget cut proposals, Doug Ford's comments about Margaret Atwood and the removal of bike lanes.

She writes that "relations between cyclists, pedestrians and drivers have grown fraught," especially after Ford's inauguration.

"Ford's invited guest speaker confirmed the concerns of many cyclists. Don Cherry, CBC Television's colourful ice-hockey pundit, made a typically brash appearance. Cherry referred to Ford's opponents as bike-riding 'pinkos' and wished the Mayor luck against this formidable bunch."

She recognizes that cyclists are also part of the problem, as some fail to obey traffic rules,

The article quickly racked up more than 100 comments, setting off a

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Work has just started at the base of the CN Tower on what will become Toronto's newest tourist attraction, but it will be a lot less death-defying than the EdgeWalk.

Although people will get to see sharks and stingrays close up.

The grass has been dug up 356 metres below the ledge of the EdgeWalk to make room for the Ripley's Aquarium.

Officials are keeping most facts secret until the official groundbreaking on Aug. 17, but past reports show the facility is expected to house more than 10,000 species of marine animals including sharks and jellyfish. In addition, the aquarium will feature fish of the Great Lakes and other parts of Canada.

Ripley's is reportedly investing $110 million for the 150,000 square-foot building and all three levels of government are expected to chip in an additional $10 million each.

Ripley's aquariums also exist in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. While Ripley's is often associated with unbelievable animals and events, the two other

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An anthropologist and his students from the University of Northern British Columbia believe they have discovered a 10,000-year-old village on the B.C. coast.

Farid Fahemtulla, a professor at the university, knew he would find clam and mussel shells when he began digging into the forest floor on Calvert Island, but he ended up finding evidence of human life dating back thousands of years.

It is believed to be an ancient village of Luxvbalis, which was told in the oral history of the Heiltsuck First Nations people. Much of the story was lost after a smallpox epidemic in the late 1800s left too few people to tell the story.

"Based on the oral tradition and how old it was, we think this might be that village - but we need to work with the elders of the Heiltsuk nation to conclusively establish this," told Fahemtulla to the Vancouver Sun.

The group found fishing tools including harpoons, bone points, fishing hooks and weights made from deer bone and antler. Similar bone tools have been

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Why stand on a glass ceiling when you can walk out on a ledge 356 metres above the ground and see Toronto from a whole new vantage point?

While EdgeWalk doesn't officially open to the public until Aug. 1, a group of journalists got the chance to preview Canada's newest tourist attraction.

EdgeWalk3-screen-cap_crop

Before riding up the elevator, we get a safety briefing, which includes a breathalyzer. You definitely don't want to be stumping around up there. Once passing the test, we put on walk suits and harnesses. One of the workers joked that while they look like jump suits, they can only be called walk suits.

Even riding up the rocket ship of an elevator my knees were shaking. Then all of a sudden the doors opened and one by one we slowly inched toward the edge.

Once outside participants are encouraged by guides to push their limits by leaning over the 116-storey ledge and looking straight down over the city.

This means leaning backward over the edge and looking down and also doing the Titanic pose. As I

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Showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford how you feel about the job he is doing may not get you a favourable response.

Ottilie Mason was driving with her daughter when they pulled alongside Ford on Dundas Street Friday evening, reads a post on Facebook.

Ford was driving while talking on his cell phone, it states.

"My six-year-old daughter and I have a game of thumbs up and thumbs down when we like or dislike something," Mason writes. "We aptly give him a thumbs down and say, 'Get off your cell phone!! Rob Ford'."

Mason says Ford responded to the disapproval in a way most politicians wouldn't - by flipping them the bird.

Mason says she again shouted at him to get off his phone, but alleges Ford kept giving the pair the one-finger salute and started swearing.

"I can see him swearing words through the window," she writes. "I only wish I had taken a picture with my camera but as you know that would be illegal while driving a vehicle."

A Toronto Star article says, "The mayor's office would not

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While most Canadian women report being stressed and overworked, the percentages are significantly higher in emerging countries.

Canada ranks 12th in a new survey conducted by the Neilsen Company with 52 per cent of women saying they are time-strained.

"Women across the globe are achieving higher levels of education, joining the workforce in greater numbers and contributing more to the household income," said Susan Whiting of Nielsen in a release. "Women tell Nielsen they feel empowered to reach their goals and get what they want, but at the same time, this level of empowerment results in added stress."

All three of the countries with the highest percentage of stressed women are in emerging markets. India is at the top with 87 per cent, followed by Mexico at 74 per cent and Russia at 69 per cent.

"Many women today are wearing multiple hats by balancing both career and home/family responsibilities," states the report. "In many emerging markets, this revolutionary change is in the early

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Toronto has been named the most expensive city to live in Canada, taking the top spot away from Vancouver.

Consulting firm Mercer conducted the annual survey that looks at the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing and entertainment among hundreds of other items.

An increase in demand for rental properties leading to a rise in rent in Toronto is the main reason it surpassed Vancouver.

Worldwide, Toronto ranks as the 59th most expensive city, while Vancouver ranks 65th.

This is a big jump for both Toronto and Vancouver, which ranked 76th and 74th in 2010 respectively.

Ottawa is the least expensive big Canadian city, ranking 114th in the world. Montreal and Calgary rank 79th and 96th.

The title of most expensive city in the world continues to belong to Luanda, Angola because of the high cost for accommodation. Foreign workers in the oil-rich nation push up already high prices.

"In Luanda, rental prices hit records and over there a house may cost more than $20,000 US per month,"

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