Sun July 24th – [Online] Why You Should Make Useless Things

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

We’ll be watching and then discussing two videos featuring YouTuber Simone Giertz, who makes “useless” machines.  The topic will be introduced by Toronto Oasis volunteer Ryan Zhang.

Also, this Sunday we will be having live music! Our featured musician will be Cassie Norton, a Toronto-based singer-songwriter, violinist and climate activist.

Cassie is also the music director of Toronto Oasis. She has recorded two full length albums as a solo artist, Little Strength (2009) and Quiet Wilderness (2010). Cassie and her band released their first EP: Lullaby for the End of Time in February 2019. When she isn’t busy making her own music, Cassie shares her love of music with others through teaching. She teaches a variety of private and ensemble classes at Regent Park School of Music, and through her private studio. Her website is: https://www.cassienorton.com/

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/286690429/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Our guest musician has been recorded: GMT20220724-153117_Recording_640x360.mp4

Sun July 17th – [Online] Abortion Rights for Women in Canada

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

Given that Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in the US, how safe are abortion rights for women in Canada?  Our featured speaker on this topic will be Catherine Francis.

Catherine Francis holds a Bachelor of Arts (1981) and Bachelor of Law (1985) degrees from the University of Toronto and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1987. Catherine is a long-time partner at Minden Gross LLP, a mid-sized downtown Toronto law firm, practicing principally in the areas of commercial and insolvency litigation. Her website is: https://www.mindengross.com/our-people/details/catherine-francis

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/rpgzssydckbwb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting has been recorded: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_y9Hm0xY5rAhqsl18BycWUBAjuDd9HaO/view?usp=sharing

Sun July 10th – [Online] Economic Justice

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

We will be watching and then discussing YouTube videos, including a TEDx talk, by Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi banker and economist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank.  The topic will be introduced by Toronto Oasis organizer, Tania Akon.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/286690429/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun July 3rd – [Online] We Should All Be Feminists

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

We will be watching and then discussing a TEDx Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian writer and feminist.  The topic will be introduced by Toronto Oasis organizer, Dan Cooperstock.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/286546977/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun June 26th – [Online] Gay History 

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

For our featured presentation this Sunday, we will be watching and then reflecting on and discussing YouTube videos about the Stonewall Riots – the significance, historical context, and a key personality associated with it, Marsha P. Johnson.  The topic and videos will be introduced by Toronto Oasis organizer, Tania Akon.

We will also be having live music this Sunday! Our featured musician will be Reenie Perkovic. Reenie is a queer folk-pop artist. With a soulful edge, she composes heartfelt songs that are both fun and introspective. Infusing her classical background with jazz harmony, folk rhythms, and pop sensibilities, Reenie and her guitar weave together stories of the human condition, connection, and social justice.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/rpgzssydcjbjc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun June 19th – [Online] Spa Excess: Canada’s Largest Bathhouse for Men 

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

Join us this Sunday for a talk about Spa Excess, Canada’s largest bathhouse for men – how it got started, and some of the challenges and triumphs along the way.  Our featured speakers will be the creators and owners of Spa Excess, Robert Knight and Michael Dorman.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/286241788/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting has been recorded: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19li92puIBL4153Jebu_7dX4e7FtYerE1/view?usp=sharing

Sun June 12th – [Online] Coming Out Stories  

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

Join us this Sunday as five Toronto Oasis participants share their coming out stories – how they came to terms with a difficult part of their identity, such as sexual orientation or religious status, and shared it openly with other people.

As always, following the presentations, there will be time for a lively discussion on the topic, hopefully including lots of us sharing about our own coming out stories.

This topic was suggested by and will be introduced by Dan Cooperstock, a Toronto Oasis organizer.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/285991052/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun June 5th – [Online] Who Really Started Christianity?  

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

The history of early Christianity used to be viewed as a straight-line record of success, from Jesus through Paul to the formation of the Church and its eventual triumph as the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century. That view has been upended. How so?

Our featured presentation this Sunday will focus on what we now know – and, more importantly, don’t know – about Jesus and Paul and how this changes our view of how early Christianity developed.

Our featured speaker on this topic will be Barrie Wilson, PhD and Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies, York University where he taught courses on the Biblical Studies, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Varieties of Early Christianity. He is the author of How Jesus Became Christian (2008); The Lost Gospel (2014); Paul vs James (2018); Searching for the Messiah (2020). Barrie has appeared in numerous documentaries as the on-camera expert including several episodes of The Naked Archeologist.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/285605975/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting has been recorded: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k_RBiv4-dux45cIvt2LqmxnNqpygI7Xl/view?usp=sharing

Sun May 29th – [Online] Favourite Genres

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

Join us this Sunday as five Toronto Oasis participants talk briefly about their favourite genres of books, TV, and/or movies, and why they love them. As always, following the presentations, there will be time for a lively discussion on the topic, hopefully including lots of us sharing about our own favourite genres.

This topic was suggested by and will be introduced by Dan Cooperstock, a Toronto Oasis organizer.

Please RSVP on meetup:

https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/rpgzssydchbmc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun May 22nd – [Online] Self-Love, Self-Acceptance and Non-judgment

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

This Sunday we’ll be watching a TED talk by Lizzo, and several YouTube video clips featuring Lizzo, an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and flautist (Lizzo – Wikipedia). The themes are self-acceptance, self-love and non-judgment. The video clips were selected and will be introduced by a Toronto Oasis organizer, Tania Akon.

Also, this Sunday, we will be having live music! Our guest musician will be Wesley Blondin-Doan, whose stage name is Kid Grit. Kid Grit’s folk songs are quiet and pensive reflections of a life lived. From the depths of isolation possible in a digital age, to the heights of exaltation, living and growing up in nature. His music travels through the processes of life and how we heal, through gentle whisperings, swelling warm harmonies, and sometimes painful personal admissions – attempting to find peace and truth in the smallest of things. 

https://kidgrit.tumblr.com/Music
youtube: youtube: youtube.com/channel/kidgrit
vimeo: vimeo.com/kidgrit
facebook: facebook.com/kidgrit

Please RSVP on meetup:

https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/285653118/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!