Category: Toronto

David Jacobson

I ran into the U.S. ambassador to Canada in the upper library after dinner. I told him that my mother immigrated from Czechoslovakia to the United States and became a citizen there, and he suggested we get a photo:

When I told her that she now lives in Vancouver, he asked me to tell her: “Things in America are getting better, and the president is going to win”.

‘Cabbage boilin’ tunes’ with Rebecca Bruton, Wednesdays in October

My friend Rebecca Bruton will be performing excellent and intriguing music every Wednesday in October. She is doing a residency at ‘Somewhere There’ – a creative music venue near the Landsdowne metro station in Toronto.

The music

Rebecca describes the event as:

“Cabbage boilin’ tunes with:

  • Rebecca Bruton – Voice, breastbone-fiddle, mandolin
  • Doug Tielli – Voice, banjo, guitar
  • Rob Clutton – Voice, banjo, guitar, bass, plethora”

Getting there

The easiest way to get to the venue is to start by taking the subway to Landsdowne station, on the green east-west subway line.

Do not be deceived by the address: 227 Sterling Road. The venue is not on Sterling Road, exactly, and it certainly isn’t adjacent to either 225 Sterling Road or 228 Sterling Road.

Rather, it is at the nearby corner of Ruttan Street and Merchant Lane.

Here is how to get to the venue from Landsdowne subway station:

And a photo of the venue:

(The dog may not be there.)

The music will be happening at 8pm, every Wednesday night in October. The event is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $10.

[Update: 4 October 2012] You can hear some of Rebecca’s music at: http://lilman.bandcamp.com/

Allocation of TA hours

For the introductory international relations course where I am serving as a teaching assistant (TA), I have been assigned two weekly tutorials with 25 students each.

  • There are six lectures which I am required to attend, over the year (6 x 2 hours = 12 hours).
  • Then there are two hours of tutorial per week for 20 weeks (40 hours).
  • Then, I am to be available for one office hour per week for 24 weeks (24 hours).
  • I have one hour per week to do the course readings (24 hours).
  • I am to grade 100 papers at a rate of 1/2 hour per paper, plus 100 exams at 20 minutes per exam (83 hours).
  • Finally, there are 27 hours assigned for additional lectures, preparation, and reading.

In total, I am to do 210 hours of TA work in order to qualify for the University of Toronto’s guaranteed PhD student funding package.

If I succeed in getting an Ontario Graduate Scholarship or Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council scholarship, I may not need to work as a TA next year.