TAKING A POWDER

A friendly p.r. person sends me a press release, and it seems there's a web site out there where folks can rate public washrooms all across Canada.

Sometimes, of course, it's all about proximity and timing, especially for those of us of a certain age. But if you've got time to walk that extra block, why not indulge in something a little more exotic?

The website, www.powderroom.ca, has reader reviews on washrooms around the country, from Bonavista to the Queen Charlotte Islands and from everything from McDonald's to Holt Renfrew.

Here's one person's description of the Restoration Hardware store on Yonge Street, north of Eglinton from a couple months back:

"Best publicly accessible washroom in Toronto. Always pristine and stocked with their own high-end products."

The ten top-rated places are singled out and given the "Powder Room Seal of Approval," along with a silver plaque. Yorkdale Shopping Centre copped the top award for Ontario last year, in case you want to check it out.

TWIN TOWERS

Okay, today is the 175th anniversary of Toronto, the city with the (formerly) tallest freestanding symbol of malehood on the planet, that being the CN Tower of course.  But did you know this year marks the 10th anniversary of Viagra in Canada?

Coincidence? I don't think so.

GO NOW. I SAID "NOW!"

Interesting but depressing item a couple weeks back from cnn.com/travel talked about five places people shouldn't miss before they're ruined by global warming. Cnn spoke with Bob Henson, author of "The Rough Guide to Climate Change," and came up with a list based on changes that already are taking place around the globe and others that are expected soon. Here's the list and some comments:

1. The Great Barrier Reef, Australia. "Many of the world's reefs already are experiencing 'bleaching,' in which algae living in the coral die and leave behind whitened skeletons."

2. New Orleans, Louisiana. Henson says rising sea levels "could spell trouble for tourists and residents alike."

3. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Pine beetles are "destroying large patches of trees."

4. Alpine Glaciers, Switzerland. "The European Alps sit at a lower altitude than the Rocky Mountains, and their glaciers and ski resorts are therefore more susceptible to melting."

5. Amazon Rain Forest, Brazil. "Deforestation continues to be the major environmental issue in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rain forest. But as locals and corporations chop down the Amazon's rich forests to create farmland to harvest biofuels, climate change may make things worse."