Weekly Blend: October 2, 2015

The Weekly Blend is your ‘weekly’ source covering real estate news that you just may have missed. Our hard at work Weekly Blend crew scours the web, newsgroups and forums looking for obscure, bizarre, interesting and informative real estate (or real estate related) stories. If you have one you’d like to share please feel free to share it in our comments section or tweet about it using the hashtag #WeeklyBlend. So brew yourself a fresh cup of coffee and enjoy these stories…maybe even share them with friends or colleagues. Happy reading!

Here are my weekly picks:

I would be remiss if CREA Café failed to mention that Tuesday (September 29) was National Coffee Day. So, here are 16 facts about the beverage we all love.

Did you ever want to visit the location where The Dead Zone was filmed? What about The Hitcher or Play Misty for Me? This Tumblr account (with the help of Google maps) gives you the filming locations of a variety of movies (some more recent than the ones I mentioned).

More specific … from Breakfast at Tiffany’s to Ghostbusters, here is a mapping of some of New York City’s most iconic buildings seen on film.

Canadian Senator and former Mayor of Toronto Art Eggleton wants to make affordable housing a Federal Election issue.

CTV News offers up some pictures of Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Conservancy’s $200-million redevelopment plan.

Are pigs pets or livestock? Two pot-bellied pigs are being forced from their Victoria home because bylaws prohibit urban livestock. (VIDEO)

If passed, a new Vancouver city zoning bylaw would give the city the power to say no to the demolition of homes built before 1940.

This handy-dandy map and article will show you which Canadian cities have the most affordable housing.

Why mess with a great opening line? “One of London’s fastest-changing neighbourhoods is echoing with the snap, crackle, and pop of conflict.”

The University of B.C. has approved building an 18-storey residential tower for students out of wood on campus … the tower will be aptly named “Tall Wood Residence.”

Have you ever wanted to wrap a gift and have it look like a building? Then this cleverly-illustrated gift wrap from Suck UK is the product you need.

Owings and Merrill (the architecture firm behind One World Trade Center) has spent the last year designing a 3D-pritned building that can be powered by a 3D-printed vehicle.

This 3D printer (developed by WASP – World’s Advanced Saving Project) hopes to build homes in developing areas.

Science can explain lots of things including why you can’t smell your own house.

Would you go to an open house if it was disguised as a dinner party? It’s a thing and it’s happening in (where else?) New York City.

For many shoppers, a good pun-based business name is key to decision making. That’s why Atlas Obscura has come up with the ultimate crowdsourced map of punny businesses across America (like Hannah and her Scissors).

Win an Inn, win a waterfront cabin, win a house … and now, a Toronto woman is selling raffle tickets with the grand prize being her restaurant.

It’s not listed on Airbnb but people have been known to live inside the legendary Paris bookstore, Shakespeare & Co.

More about bookstores … here are 11 unusual ones you can visit.

From the written word to the silver screen, here are 21 of the world’s coolest outdoor cinemas.

From prisons and bridges to border crossings and churches, here is a list of 12 strange things you can review on Yelp.

It wouldn’t be a Weekly Blend if there wasn’t an Airbnb story. This one is about tax collection in Washington State.

It was inevitable that The Foo Fighters would one day make an appearance in the Weekly Blend. Here’s the story about Dave Grohl losing money on his California home.

This story is sort of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears except its one man and he broke into a house, fed the cat, showered, and was arrested.

It’s too late to buy them now (sold out) but fans of Harry Potter could have bought tickets for Christmas dinner in Hogwarts Great Hall.

Holy Roy Lichtenstein! Aizone – a Lebanon based department store – has brought pop art to life with this (non-photoshoped) ad campaign.

A massive urban-renewal project has transformed London’s Canary Wharf into a thriving business district with a number of luxury apartment towers in the works.

In preparation of renovations to the Trump Turnberry Resort Hotel on the west coast of Scotland, at least 1,000 items, ranging from plasma televisions and chandeliers to more mundane beds, mattresses, and sink units, have gone up for auction.

More Trump related news … one of his campaign busses can be yours for just $15,000.

Jonathan Baker, our former Speech Writer, contributed to the development of speeches, advertisements, and communications to our membership. Our staff knew him as the go-to guy at 200 Catherine for some comic relief. Prior to joining CREA, Jon worked in the radio industry in Ottawa. If you meet Jon, be sure to ask him to tell you about his encounters with many famous musicians while volunteering at a local music festival for more than 10 years.


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