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2009 Adventure: 560K for Kids 1

For approximately $270, you could purchase a return flight from Toronto to Montreal, arriving in 1 hour and 14 minutes. Alternatively, for $140 you could take a VIA train and arrive in about 5 hours, while driving takes about the same. Rather than using these “typical” methods of transportation, I’m planning to paddle the entire ...

Sketch It: Recession Lounge 2

Sketch it! is a fun new section on The Urban Country where we feature random napkin sketches from our resident sketch artist and writer, George Pechtol (Against his will). Today’s sketch features a downtown Toronto lounge during the current economic recession.

Sustainable Living: Celebrating Earth Day 2009 2

Earth Day was officially born in 1970 after a proclamation by its founder, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson in September 1969 that stated a “nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment” would take place in Spring of 1970.  Thirty-nine years later, Earth Day is alive and well and nothing gets me more excited than knowing that billions ...

Recession Ready? Relief for some, Anxiety for others

In a series of articles entitled “Recession Ready?”, The Urban Country is interviewing people around the world who are affected by the recession to understand how different people are coping. On the morning of March 26th, AutoCAD Operator Megan Howlett arrived at work at a downtown Toronto Architecture firm as if it was any other ...

White Wolf – Classic Canadian Rockers 2

Back in 1980, a band was formed in Edmonton Alberta called White Wolf. Many remember White Wolf as a talented, yet underrated Canadian Heavy Metal acts of the 1980’s. In 1984 they signed with RCA and their debut LP “Standing Alone” which went on to sell 250,000 copies worldwide. The band enjoyed much success and ...

Change is on the Horizon 2

Photo by James D. Schwartz, Algonquin Park Sunrise, 2008 You might have noticed some changes that have been happening on The Urban Country over the last couple months. This is no accident. I’m expanding the site to offer a much a wider variety of topics from a more diverse group of people. I’ve already recruited ...

Sketch It: Mountain of Coffee Cups

Sketch it! is a fun new section on The Urban Country where we feature random napkin sketches from our resident sketch artist and writer, George Pechtol (Against his will). This week’s sketch symbolizes the 1 million coffee cups that are trashed each day in Toronto that end up in landfills in a “Mountain of Coffee ...

Can’t Be Indifferent about Dead Ducks

(Photo Courtesy of ViaMoi on Flickr) Last spring, a large flock of ducks landed on a toxic basin of bitumen residue and other byproducts of oil sands extraction before drowning. Early estimates placed the size of the flock at 500, and the story made headlines around the globe, severely undercutting the Alberta government’s frantic efforts ...

Human-Powered Hydrofoil Kayak 2

The 4-man Olympic-style K4 boat gets off to a good start against the 1-man Hydrofoil “Flyak”. It doesn’t take long however for the Flyak to burst ahead of the 4-man boat at a speed of 27 KM/hour to win the 200M race. The Flyak starts out like a regular kayak, but once the paddler reaches ...

Sketch It: Urban Food Chain 1

Sketch it! is a fun new section on The Urban Country where we feature random napkin sketches from our resident sketch artist and writer, George Pechtol (Against his will).   “Urban Food Chain”, by George Pechtol