When I recently headed out to Montreal, one of my plans included getting a Siphon coffee from Myriade Cafe (more on that later) and to take a spin on the popular bike sharing service, Bixi, across town (more on that now).

The system itself is pretty simple, you swipe your credit card and you get a ticket with a code on in. You punch that code into one of the keypads where a bike is attached to a rack, and after unlocking it, you ride around. When you are done, you take the bike back to any station, and lock it in. It's not too expensive (5 bucks for 24 hours of access, with a 250 dollar hold on your credit card).

Because of the system's success in Montreal (seriously, there's Bixi locations everywhere), they're trying to launch it here in Toronto. Sounds great right? Get people out of their cars, off the over-packed TTC streetcars and onto Bixis to get around Toronto.

Except Bixi has a number of drawbacks, that in Montreal are relatively forgivable, but absolutely won't fly in Toronto Besides the fact that two out of four stations I visited in Montreal were "out of service" at the time, the main issue I have with the Bixi program is that lack of safety measures.

Strike one: When you rent a Bixi, you don't rent a helmet, which is the biggest must any bicyclist should have on the roads. Strike two: No bells/horns. Strike three: The brakes are total crap. Of the Bixis that I rented, all of them seriously lacked in stopping power, and if I wasn't cruising lightly, I could imagine myself getting into hairy situations pretty fast.

Now in Montreal, you're likely to overlook most of these safety faults because of the wonderful efforts their city has made in terms of constructing a bicycle network downtown, highlighted by generous bike-only lanes that are totally separated from traffic. So even though you don't have a helmet or other things you need to ride safe, the separated bike lanes more than compensate for those problems.

But compared to Montreal, I wouldn't advise anyone to jump on a bicycle without a helmet or any other safety measures in Toronto... we don't have anything like Montreal's separate bike lanes downtown, so bikers here always battle with traffic, people cutting too close, parked cars with opening doors and vehicles swerving into the bike lanes when they do exist. Even the existing bike lanes tend to be in such decrepit shape (I'm looking at you in particular Sherbourne bike lane), that it's hazardous just riding on some of these bike lanes by yourself.

Regardless, I doubt that we'll see much traction from Toronto's city hall even if the Bixi is moderately successful here: I don't know why people think that a city so unwilling to give up space for bike lanes will give up parking spaces for Bixi lots.

Here's a better idea: take all of those bikes that Igor Kenk stockpiled, take them out of storage, melt them down, and build some bike-only lane barricades. Let's protect our existing population of riders before finding new ways to get casual bikers on the street.

Photo by mysticchildz

It was a beautiful weekend in Quebec, and to mark the occasion, I've complied a podcast of covers of the artists I enjoyed the most on Saturday, featuring tracks by Kathryn Williams, Lackthereof, Final Fantasy, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Joy Electric, Owen Pallett, Ben Gibbard and Tindersticks covering Pavement, The National, the Arcade Fire, Jimmy Cliff, Keane, Final Fantasy and Stars.

Click here to listen: Put Yr Heart Into It 048

Just a few quick snaps while I headed to Montreal before Osheaga. Check out the set here on Flickr.

I've never been to PRIDE before in Toronto, and while I skipped out on the parade, I took a quick walk down Church before checking out Diamond Rings and Katie Stelmanis (with her new band) at the "Alterna-Queer" stage. I felt too voyeuristic to take any photos, and considering that I don't drink or enjoy house music and overall dislike hot summer weather, I didn't get a whole lot out of it personally. But the primary reason I went down there, two see these two performers, was well worth it. Diamond Rings had a great set of his moody electro rock... and finished his set without doing "All Yr Songs." As if! He relented and looked a little bored doing it to close out his set. Katie Stelmanis and her awesome band were up next, and they were so awesome. Katie has made leaps and strides in terms of on stage confidence, and is growing into being a consummate performance, and the trio of musicians backing her up must give her that boost -- including her drummer, which hands down is one of the best drummers I've heard in a while. Her new material is fairly dark and gothic, but is still pretty uptempo... I'm really curious to hear what the new record is like. P.S. Did you see her on the cover of Xtra? I couldn't believe it was her it the glittery bodysuit.

A relaxing day was had when the Farmers' Market was open Canada Day! Locals on the East Danforth came out and celebrated the holiday while also checking out some of the regular produce on sale. Check out the photo set here on Flickr.

At least these friendly cops had good taste in coffee.

In between services yesterday I took a few pictures of our Sunday morning/evening space. The above is what Dan gets to stare at every time he speaks.

• Photo gallery: Grace Toronto Church

Including a look at Victoria Harbour, my first (and potentially last) look around the Organic Underground, and a hidden garage on Maitland Drive.

• Click here to check out the set on Flickr

In my opinion, the 1984 film adaptation of "Dune" by director David Lynch is a pretty messy failure. Even though it speeds by in two hours, it still feels like it needs another two hours to explain everything properly (and supposedly there was an original 4-hour assembly).

My favourite part of the film turned out to be Virginia Madsen's portrayal of Princess Irulan, and her neverending monologue at the beginning of the film, which provides a decent "Dune for Dummies" explanation of the background and the plot. It should fail epically, but there's something about her enrapturing gaze that grabbed me, and brought me much deeper into the film than I had any business in being. I wish she'd do a reading of the entire book like this.

The 2000 miniseries featuring William Hurt does a better job of portraying the expansive plot, but the film has way better sandworm special effects. But of course, you should just go ahead and read the book in the first place.

The box. I had a hard time choosing a shirt from the variety of designs available, but I think moose scream "cottage" so I figured I'd start there.

The box promised that it contained one perfectly folded shirt inside. A shirt was inside.

And the money shot. It's surprisingly comfortable and long, and I feel very "Northern Ontario" when I wear it. I might just make it sleeveless too, to make it extra intimidating, but for now, I like.