Go west to find hope for reopening faster
Discover more from Twelve Thirty Six
The four-step plan to reopen B.C. pegs September 7 as the date when social contact can be back to normal, with offices and events revived like it’s 2019. B.C. already allows much more than Ontario, where a return to school in June is still under deliberation. Quebec already started lifting restrictions that still remain in Montreal.
The aftermath of a kickback
Woodbine Beach became a hot spot for antisocial gathering on Victoria Day weekend, with evidence pointing to teens drawn there by postings on TikTok: “Andrew’s Kickback” was inspired by the “Adrian’s Kickback” that led to 149 arrests in Huntington Beach, California. But the Toronto scene appeared to mostly culminate in city councillor condemnation.
“You have a photo of a guy with his tarp off, you’re definitely positive for something.” Ron MacLean got his turn at Twitter reaction worthy of Don Cherry with this Hockey Night in Canada quip directed at Kevin Bieksa, to the visible discomfort of fellow panelist Jennifer Botterill. “Tarps off” is official NHL lingo for going shirtless.
Gretzky leaves Edmonton again
After his retirement from playing, the media career of Wayne Gretzky initially peaked with a column that originated in the National Post, cultivated by him phoning and faxing ghostwriter Roy McGregor. Twenty-two years later, Number 99 has resigned as vice chairman of the Edmonton Oilers to sit in the analyst chair from TNT’s studio in Atlanta:
Drake’s embrace makes a boldface name of Luisa Duran. The attention followed an intimate Instagram pose posted by the stylist, who also owns the Mercury Espresso Bar—even if the caption read that her fellow Torontonian is “truly like a brother to me.”
Finally, the dancers were tired
The Weeknd got the awards show vindication he wanted at the Billboard ceremony that also feted Drake as Artist of the Decade. After a pandemic year that started with a shrug from Daniel Craig and peaked at Super Bowl halftime, the Weeknd’s lip-synching of “Save Your Tears” cruised into choreography involving vintage vehicles: