
Canada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...

The bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
The story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...

Canada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...

The bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
The story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Tomorrow is opening day for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in Park City and Salt Lake City. This year it takes place from January 23 to February 2. For those of you who maybe aren't familiar, Sundance is the largest independent film festival in the US. In 2023, it had 423,234 combined in-person and online viewers, and, last year, it saw 72,840 in-person attendees (in a city with just over 8,000 people). So even though there's an online component, it's still very much an IRL experience.
If any of you have been before, you'll know that it's an awesome time to be in Park City. I have vivid memories of singing Phil Collins in a karaoke Uber. The bars and restaurants are also packed and the sidewalks are overflowing with people. So much so that, this year, Main Street is going to be converted to pedestrian only, which I understand is a first. The urbanist in me was obviously happy to hear this, and I now look forward to seeing it play out on the socials.
If any of you are interested in attending, Parkview Mountain House still has some dates available during the festival. Here's the link.
Cover photo by Kirby Taylor on Unsplash
Tomorrow is opening day for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in Park City and Salt Lake City. This year it takes place from January 23 to February 2. For those of you who maybe aren't familiar, Sundance is the largest independent film festival in the US. In 2023, it had 423,234 combined in-person and online viewers, and, last year, it saw 72,840 in-person attendees (in a city with just over 8,000 people). So even though there's an online component, it's still very much an IRL experience.
If any of you have been before, you'll know that it's an awesome time to be in Park City. I have vivid memories of singing Phil Collins in a karaoke Uber. The bars and restaurants are also packed and the sidewalks are overflowing with people. So much so that, this year, Main Street is going to be converted to pedestrian only, which I understand is a first. The urbanist in me was obviously happy to hear this, and I now look forward to seeing it play out on the socials.
If any of you are interested in attending, Parkview Mountain House still has some dates available during the festival. Here's the link.
Cover photo by Kirby Taylor on Unsplash
1 comment
The Sundance Film Festival opens tomorrow in Park City and Salt Lake City. Any of you going? https://brandondonnelly.com/sundance