The death toll from the Sichuan Earthquake on May 12 has well exceeded 50,000 people, the population of many towns in Canada. To give you a sense of the enormity of this tragedy, it would be the equivalent of losing the entire population of North Vancouver and part of West Vancouver all at once, or almost half of Prince Edward Island.

BBC World News: China earthquake toll jumps again

Officials say more tents are needed to help the millions of homeless. The death toll from the massive earthquake in south-west China rose again, as an official said more than five million buildings had collapsed. The vice-governor of Sichuan province said 55,239 people were now known to have died in the 12 May quake.

Millions of people are homeless, and the American Red Cross states that this earthquake is the worst natural disaster in China in 30 years.

If you live in Canada, you can make an online donation for Sichuan Earthquake Relief through the Canadian Red Cross. You can pay with both credit card and Interac (with major banks).

https://www.paypaq.com/redcross/new/index.php

You can also make a donation over the phone: 1-800-418-1111

If you live in the U.S., you can find information at the American Red Cross website, including a direct link to donate online.

If you live elsewhere in the world and would like to make a donation to support relief efforts in China, you can donate directly to the Red Cross Society of China (English version).

I donated through the Canadian Red Cross, but there are also many other charitable groups working hard in China to bring aid to the people affected by this disaster. I encourage you to help in any way you can, if not through the Red Cross, through any effective emergency response organisation.

Of course, the cats get the FedEx box.

Remember my Nokia 6682 that I got from a marketing company and was nicked in Cuba? (I really liked that phone *sob*) Yep, the same marketing company sent me a boatload of Dove chocolate to try.

Am I going to share? Why, yes!

Pho Hung Vietnamese Restaurant
350 Spadina Ave., Toronto

Their lemongrass chicken is pretty good… mmm-m-mm, lemon grass. I like the option of fresh hot peppers, although I’m more likely to take a photo of them rather than add them to my dish.

I uploaded a few videos from Havana to the Flickr servers, until I have more free time to devote to post-processing photography. They’re all pretty short, and shot in this order:

1. riding in front of the Capitol building
2. riding around the Capitolio, into Barrio Chino (Chinatown)
3. riding in Barrio China (about 1% of Cuba’s population is Chinese)

I’m riding in a scooter the shape of an egg. You’ll see some go by in the videos.

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This is probably my favourite shot of City Hall thus far (from my cameras, anyway). Taken from Nathan Phillips Square on a chilly Victoria Day holiday Monday night while sightseeing with a couple of visitors and Garry. I took a few film shots with my recently-purchased Chinon CE-4, but I’ll have to finish off the roll before I see the results.

I got a chance to spend time with Miss Shatzi again this weekend while my neighbour is out of town, which is a pleasure since Shatzi’s such a well-behaved pooch. She doesn’t stir up other dogs or chase birds and squirrels, which gives my leash hand a break and I can enjoy the park without getting pulled hither and yon.

And of course, who should be waiting to ambush me when I got home:

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The long weekend isn’t over yet, but I have a boatload of pictures already. This will be a quick preview while I go through the memory cards.

First of all, the circus is in town from Saturday to Monday:

Toronto International Circus Festival 2008

A couple of short videoclips from this afternoon at the Queen’s Quay Terminal:

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Oshiya, or “pusher”, is an informal Japanese term for a worker who stands on the platform of a railway station during the morning and evening rush hours, and pushes people onto the train. This video is a good example of just how crowded it gets on Japanese trains.

–as seen on my “The Best of YouTube” podcast.

I discovered this place while walking last night and went back this morning to take some photos. The light wasn’t that great, so I’ll return when the light’s better and try again.

Two Xena posts in a row! Go Xena!

This is typical Xena: getting herself stuck somewhere and taking five times as long to wriggle her way out. Sometimes I have to assist, but I was curious and amused enough to watch how she would do on her own. By the time I got my camera to shoot this video, she’d already been gingerly stumbling around up there for a couple of minutes, going back and forth across everything.