Events: February 2009 Archives

FILM: Filmmaker Edgar Wright, who's currently in town to direct Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, is taking Kevin Smith's initiative by curating a mini film-festival of his own at the Bloor Cinema. "The Wright Stuff" runs sporadically until April 12 and will screen Wright's favourite films (among them Shaolin Soccer, Drunken Master 2, and The Brood) alongside a few of Wright's own films. Being screened tonight in a double bill are Wright's 2004 zombie parody Shaun of the Dead and his 2007 crime-medy Hot Fuzz. Wright will stick around for a Q&A after the screenings. Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), doors at 6:30 p.m., $18.

FILM: Shake off the February blahs at the World of Comedy Film Festival this weekend (on through March 1). Gut-busting animated and live-action shorts (plus a few features) from around the globe treat us to humour with universal appeal. This year's line-up includes three new shorts from Wallace and Grommit creators Aardman Animation, the new Matthew Modine–voiced piece Santa: The Fascist Years from Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton, and full-length documentary Certifiably Jonathan featuring veteran comedian Jonathan Winters trying to rediscover his lost sense of humour. Comedy production novices can get into the act with professional development seminars on Saturday and Sunday. Innis College, Town Hall Theatre (2 Sussex Avenue), 9:30 p.m. (opening night program), $10 per screening.

MUSIC: We've been following the qualifying rounds since the first week, and tonight the Fifth Annual Karaoke Superstar Contest Finale hits the Gladstone Hotel's Melody Bar. Go cheer on your favourite finalists from the previous three weeks as they battle it out in front of a panel of local celebrity judges, featuring two former Canadian Idol contestants (Sebastion Piggot and Katelyn Dawn), the "trashtastic" Ryan G. Hinds, and the Gladstone Cowboy himself, Hank Young. The winner will receive a grand prize of $1,000 and the coveted title of Karaoke Superstar! Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street West), 9 p.m.–2 a.m., FREE.

Each week, Drama Club looks at Toronto's theatre scene and tells you which shows are worth checking out.

At a time when some writers are accusing the Canadian publishing industry of not doing enough to promote and market their books, the Toronto Public Library is helping to fill in the gap by presenting a Can-Lit reading series at library branches all across the GTA this Spring. The timing for the cutely named “eh List Author Series” couldn’t be better; as the economy falters and more and more readers turn to the TPL in search of free reading material, what better way for local Canadian authors to self-promote than by giving free readings at your nearest library?

MUSIC: The Phonemes present the last of their Wombat Wednesdays tonight, raising the question of who will take up next month's humpday slack. HANK's Magali Meagher hosts the final show featuring warm and fuzzy music from HANK, Mister Nobu and the Mighty Sparrows, and PDF Format. Tranzac Main Hall (292 Brunswick Avenue), 8–11 p.m., $6.

WORDS: As part of Freedom to Read Week, This Is Not A Reading Series is proudly presenting the Canadian launch of Michael Muhammad Knight's The Taqwacores, a controversial novel about the Muslim punk-rock movement. Knight will appear this evening in conversation with Montreal filmmaker Omar Majeed, whose still-in-progress documentary Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam will feature the real-life punk bands whose stories inspired Knight to write his novel. Advanced footage from the film will be shown at the event, and Knight will partake in an extended Q&A session with the audience. Gladstone Hotel Melody Bar (1214 Queen Street West), 7 p.m., $5 (free if you buy the book).

...But they do want your lunch money. On Thursday, February 26, Second Harvest volunteers will be at TTC stations asking Torontonians to donate the money they’d normally spend on lunch to help feed the hungry in our city. The campaign is in its eleventh year, so most TTC riders are familiar with it, but in the morning rush there is little time to stop and find out what Second Harvest is all about.

STAGE: Internationally acclaimed acrobatic troupe the National Acrobats of China make their Massey Hall debut tonight. Founded in 1956, the troupe has won numerous acrobatic competitions over the years and thrilled audiences the world over. Their stage show combines martial arts, illusion, and (duh) acrobatics, set to traditional Chinese music. Massey Hall (178 Victoria Street), 7 p.m., $29.50–$49.50.

FASHION: Studio Gallery showcases the newest ideas and latest trends in contemporary art, design, fashion, and music. Each season, the gallery selects twenty of their favourite vintage fashionistas as vendors to open up their closets and sell some of their goods. The public can peruse the racks today at the winter edition of the Toronto Vintage Fashion Bazaar, where men’s and women’s clothing, shoes, and accessories are on sale. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their own shopping bags, and refreshments are available for purchase. Studio Gallery (294 College Street), 1–6 p.m., $5.

DANCE: Improv Everywhere enthusiasts and ex-ravers unite! Improv In Toronto is throwing their second annual Subway Dance Party. Participants are told to bring their own music and headphones, meet in Queen's Park at 3 p.m., and proceed to get on the subway one by one until the train unites in an epic but silent dance party. If you're interested in participating, check the Improv in Toronto site for further instructions. The statue in the middle of Queen's Park, 3 p.m., FREE.

Next month, Clinton's Tavern is hosting a concert with Fox Jaws, The Dufraines, ill.gates, Stéphane Vera, and Hollywood Swank. But unlike your typical indie-ish concert, this show won't be the type where people stand with crossed arms, nonchalantly tapping their toes to the beat. Attendees will have no choice but to be moved by the music―literally.

PARTY: Weekly culture mailing list Gracing the Stage has reinvented itself as a full-time blog, vaulting into the spotlight with a two-night launch of crowd-pleasers (see Torontoist's Drama Club for more details). Tonight’s Bread and Circus roster is thick with musicians, comedians, musical comedy, and funny theatre performed by the likes of Gravity Wave, Convergence Theatre, Maylee Todd, Carnegie Hall, and much, much more. Tomorrow's "night two" at Comedy Bar boasts more of the same, with an equally exciting line-up that includes our hero Melissa D’Agostino. The fun-filled affair seeks to pad the site's production costs while unapologetically celebrating some of the hottest gems on the Toronto culture scene. Bread and Circus (299 Augusta Avenue), 9 p.m., $15.

Erin Bury and Sarah Prevette have had a very long month. The two women were the chief organizers behind the Toronto version of Twestival benefiting charity: water, which builds wells in impoverished nations. The event, held last Thursday at CiRCA, included live video streaming of Twestival parties from around the world; a community fair that showcased organizations that were, according to Prevette, "harnessing social media for social good"; and three rooms for dancing, networking, and photograph-taking.

If memory serves, high school Canadian history classes always struck us as a little wimpy. How, we felt in our drama-loving teenage hearts, could coureurs des bois and Trudeau hold a candle to Napoleonic exploits and JFK? With age comes wisdom, fortunately, and we now find Canadian sagas as compelling as their flashier counterparts elsewhere. Helping us along are organizations like Heritage Toronto, whose mandate is to get us excited about our fair city’s past. In a first for the organization, it is currently co-hosting a photography exhibit showcasing some of Toronto’s most interesting and vulnerable heritage buildings. It’s one of those ideas which works so well that it's a wonder no one thought of it before: get some of Toronto’s great photographers—in this case, members of the Shadow Collective—and send them for a ramble through a few of our most architecturally compelling landmarks. "Building Storeys" is the result, an exhibit which, in the words of Heritage Toronto historian Gary Miedema, gives us “a unique way of looking at these buildings.” Part history lesson and part artistic adventure, "Building Storeys" had its opening party Tuesday night and early indications are that the show will be a hit.

FILM: The Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum presents Next: A Primer on Urban Painting by director Pablo Aravena. As part of the Street Art Film Series exploring the history, politics, and future of street art around the world, the film uses footage of street artists in action and interviews with various participants in the subculture to convey the dynamism and creativity of this emerging artistic movement. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director. Royal Ontario Museum (100 Queen's Park), 7 p.m., $10, $8 students & seniors, $6 Friends of ICC.

Each week, Drama Club looks at Toronto's theatre scene and tells you which shows are worth checking out.

WORDS: Authors at Harbourfront kick-starts its 2009 weekly program with three very different authors reading from their new works. Canadian Giles Blunt intrigues us with his new El Salvador–set thriller Breaking Lorca, UK author Chris Cleave describes the fate of his tragic heroine in Little Bee, and Canadian Ken Rivard amuses us with office politics in his short story collection Missionary Positions. York Quay Centre, Brigantine Room (235 Queens Quay West), 7:30 p.m., $8 (FREE for students with ID).

Toronto's reputation as a city bent upon destroying its past is well-deserved. But an exhibit at Harbourfront Centre suggests that this reputation is becoming a thing of the past. Given the opportunity to reflect upon history's place in architectural practice, in "Building on History," three of the city's leading firms provide remarkable insight into how architects think about heritage and value heritage buildings in different ways.

ART: "Building Storeys: A Photo Exhibit of Toronto's Aging Spaces" opens today at the Gladstone Hotel's second floor gallery. The free exhibit, presented by Heritage Toronto in association with the Shadow Collective, aims to serve as a visual documentation of the city's cherished yet often overlooked heritage buildings and sites. "Building Storeys" is sponsored by Spacing Magazine and will run daily until February 22. Gladstone Hotel Second Floor Gallery (1214 Queen Street West), 12–5 p.m., FREE.

FILM: It's Family Day, and the NFB Cinema is celebrating with two free programs featuring a great mix of new and classic award-winning shorts. Screening at 12 p.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m., program one features The Log Driver's Waltz, Léon in Wintertime, The Sweater, and The Danish Poet (winner of the 2007 Oscar for best animated short). Program two (screening at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.) features an equally strong lineup, with Asthma Tech, Glasses, The Dingles, and The Cat Came Back. As always, NFB Mediatheque also offers thousands of titles that can be viewed any time at their digital viewing stations. NFB Mediatheque (150 John Street), various times, FREE.

ART: From massive multimedia installations to intricate pieces of glass and tapestry, Judy Chicago’s work has been influential for decades, and it’s still going strong. Torontonians have the opportunity to get a double-bill of Chicago in the upcoming weeks: the Textile Museum of Canada just opened an exhibition of the artist’s works in thread, "When Woman Rule the World", and yesterday, the Rouge Contemporary held an opening reception for a survey of her pieces in paper, ceramic, and glass sculpture. Textile Museum of Canada (55 Centre Avenue), 11 a.m.–5 p.m., $12 or $6 for students/seniors; Rouge Contemporary (732 Queen Street East), 12–5 p.m., FREE.

CRAFTS: As we mentioned in our Valentine's Day preview post last week, there is lots to see and do today. For a relatively inexpensive but unique shopping experience, there’s the Gladstone’s annual Erotic Arts & Crafts Fair. The event showcases romantic and erotic art in the form of handmade lingerie, jewelry, cards, silk-screened prints, posters, and other memorabilia. Check out their website for a sampling of sale items from last year. Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street West), 12–8 p.m., FREE.

CIRCUS: If you ever wanted to run away to the circus after hours to catch the swinging bordello singers as they hit the vaudeville stage in burlesque outfits, this is your chance. Lunacy Cabaret throws an adults-only monthly fundraiser for Circus Without Borders that takes place at Centre of Gravity circus-training school. We were tipped off about this one by our (most excellent) hair stylist. Centre of Gravity (1300 Gerrard Street East), 8:30 p.m., $12.

ART: Funktion Gallery scores a coup with the opening of A Mysterious Date with Anser today. Anser is the engimatic artist behind the faces that have been popping up around the city for the past year (we featured them twice last year on Vandalist). The show continues to February 21 with various hours. Funktion Gallery (1244 Bloor Street West), 11 a.m.–11 p.m., FREE.

Each week, Drama Club looks at Toronto's theatre scene and tells you which shows are worth checking out.

On any given Sunday, at least since we were all babies and The Simpsons started sucking, the best place in the city to squeeze the last few minutes out of your weekend is at Sneaky Dee's. While the Dakota Tavern has been getting more attention (and line-ups) lately for its weekly Barn Dance, Dee's is home to the most delicious veggie nachos ever in the whole world, but, more importantly, the indie-cool mecca Wavelength Music Series. The tried-and-true weekly party turns nine this week and is celebrating in its usual style with an anniversary festival, this year spanning four nights (Thursday–Sunday), five venues, and hosting nineteen bands. As newer weekly showcases such as Two Way Monologues start to build their legacy with local music fans, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say the task might be daunting: the taste-making Wavelength series counts among its success stories a pre-Polaris Final Fantasy and pre-kings of everything Broken Social Scene (who, as Wavelength co-founder Jonny Dovercourt told us on a past anniversary, played their first show at the series in 2000 at original venue Ted's Wrecking Yard. Holy cred!).

In the hustle and skelter of Toronto's (unofficial) Design Week—comprised of a massive IDS 09 and its younger alt-bro of a show, Come Up to My Room at the Gladstone, plus MADE's Radiant Dark and a smattering of smaller exhibits and excuses to party—playing favourites is work. How to choose from the million-and-one objects and projections of desire proffered by our city's proliferation of designing minds? It's trickier still when you're dazzled and confused by Swarovski installations or Castor in-jokes, to get to the point of purchase. It's one thing to admire, another to sanely advise someone else to buy.

FILM: Doc Soup presents the Canadian premiere of Milking the Rhino. The film documents an alternative trend in Kenyan wildlife conservation that seeks to include the people of the Serengeti in the solution to threatened animal species instead of ignoring or villainizing them as with the traditional—and dysfunctional—system of game parks and wardens. The film's director, David E. Simpson, will be in attendance for question and answers following the screening. A handful of free tickets will be released to students with ID at 5:30 p.m. Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., $12.

MUSIC: Tonight at the Beaver, Gentleman Reg is throwing an advance listening party for his upcoming LP, Jet Black. The free event will also feature a screening of two music videos (shot from songs off Jet Black). If you can't make it, you can hear Reg play the songs live when he performs at Soundscapes on Tuesday, February 24, the album's release date. The Beaver (1192 Queen Street West), 11 p.m., FREE.

The concept was pretty simple: appoint an eclectic curatorial team; pool together some of Toronto’s leading designers; assign each team one room to transform; invite the masses to poke around the re-conceived spaces. And, bingo: a design show!

Man, watching Clerks again for the first time in a blajillion years on a big screen with an audience makes you realize that Kevin Smith was actually pretty solid out of the gate in '94 ('sup haters. You wish you directed one of the most stolen videotapes ever). Or at least it makes you realize why studios thought it wise to start handing their dollars to a twenty-something Vancouver film school dropout.

MUSIC: Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, indie-pop up-and-comers High Places touch down at the Horseshoe tonight. Touring in support of their self-titled full-length album (released in September 2008), the duo of Mary Pearson and Robert Barber use samples, stuttering beats, found sounds, and household objects to shape their distinctive sound. Soft Circle round out the bill. Horseshoe Tavern, (370 Queen Street West), 9:00 p.m., $12.

COMEDY: After NDP Leader Jack Layton speaks at the Ontario NDP leadership debate this afternoon, he'll shake up the comedy scene on the improv stage. As a guest star on the talk show Monkey Toast, Layton follows the likes of Mayor David Miller, Canadian Idol's Jake Gold, and Royal Canadian Air Farce’s Don Ferguson, whose interviews have all served as comedy fodder for the show in the past. BNN’s Kim Parlee and comedian Ron Sparks will also be guest starring tonight. Don’t miss it. Gladstone Hotel Ballroom (1214 Queen Street West), 8 p.m., pay-what-you-can.

KIDS: BunnyEars.tv, a web-based TV station that broadcasts old children's programs, is throwing a craft-ernoon at the Palmerston Branch Library Auditorium today. Part of the continuing WinterCity Festival, the event will feature cartoons and crafts, all suitable for children aged three and up. Did we mention there will be real live bunny rabbits hopping around? What better way to spice up your toddler's Facebook page (you know, the one you made yourself) than a photo album dedicated entirely to photos of your baby with a fucking BUNNY? Seriously, how cute would that be? Palmerston Library Auditorium (560 Palmerston Avenue), 1–4 p.m., FREE.

            

This weekend the Wintercity Festival comes to an end with your last chance to see the fiery Pi-Leau by Dutch street theatre troupe Close-Act. Pi-Leau is a sea-borne love story played out amongst the audience by performers on stilts in futuristic costumes or wielding flares and featuring environmental themes.

MUSIC: Record label Hand Drawn Dracula presents a night of musical favourites at the Whippersnapper Gallery. Headlining are Contrived, who have just released their newest CD Blank, Blank, Blank. Holy Fuck’s Brian Borcherdt goes intimately solo with his new CD Coyotes. He and Contrived are joined by Julie Fader and Off the International Radar. DJs Graham Walsh (also of Holy Fuck) and Shit La Merde spin between live sets. Whippersnapper Gallery (587A College Street), 9 p.m., $7.

            

Elegant Corruptions, the best-named art show in town, opened last night with resounding success. It's the second in a now annual series of exhibitions called Radiant Dark and the brainchild of MADE partners Julie Nicholson and Shaun Moore. As Nicholson told us, while the "radiant" part of that equation is probably clear, the "dark" might need more explaining. It refers to the "perceived obscurity of Canadian design"—the exhibits are something of a call to arms, a vivid demonstration of just how active a design community we have. (Toronto, as she points out, is the second-ranked city in North America for design work.) While the notion sometimes gets short shrift, Nicholson believes that there is undoubtedly a Canadian aesthetic, which she characterizes as clean, rooted in modernism, and "definitely concerned with a question of identity."

Recent reality TV shows have skewed our conceptions of talent contests. Gone from recent memory are the days where you could waltz onstage for two minutes, hum a few bars, and shuffle offstage with scattered applause. Nope, now it's always at least fifteen minutes of fame, good or bad―whether you wanna be on top or watching your work from the wings. In our very scientific study of new-fangled TV "talent" contests, we've discovered that they tend to devote roughly fifty per cent of on-air time to he-said she-said drama, thirty per cent to commercials, fifteen per cent to advertising during the show, and a measly five per cent to showcasing actual work, mostly done by actual contestants. Where have all the real, raw expositions of ability, the show-off spots for those born with the magic musical touch, gone? Fortunately for you and your ear drums, they're not on display at a public school talent show where brand-new violinists practice onstage (we can feel the collective cringe from here). Better yet, you don't have to waste your time on Ben Mulroney and the latest display of Canadian idolatry. Instead, turn your ears to Queen West, where the local baritones and balladeers take turns wrapping their hands around that sweaty, shared microphone.

Most holidays are commercial, but Valentine's Day, shamelessly so. It's not statutory. It's not political. It's not religious, unless love is your religion, in which case you probably live in a commune in middle Saskatchewan, and you refuse to go on the internet because it makes you nervous, and oh, my god, how are you reading this? Ahem. Where were we? Right. Valentine's. It's not even really a holiday. All the more reason to celebrate, we say: if ever the economic clime called for a Buy Sweet Nothings Day, it's now. ("Stimulus package" has an erotic frisson to it, no?)

If you're an animal lover, the December fire that ravaged the Durham Region Humane Society's shelter, killing more than one hundred and fifty animals, probably broke your heart. Now, more than a month later, the organization still has no facility and is virtually inoperable without one.

ART: Cut to the Drummer, a month-long exhibit at the Steam Whistle Gallery, opens tonight with a reception and drumming event. The show, a charity benefit for the MS Society of Canada Scholarship Program, features "50 portraits of 50 drummers by 50 artists," including such drumming legends as John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Neil Peart of Rush, Questlove of the Roots, and jazz great Buddy Rich. The evening is hosted by two drummers (naturally)—Darrin Pfeiffer (of Goldfinger and 102.1 The Edge) and Aaron Solowoniuk (of Billy Talent). A VIP preview/silent auction begins at 7:00 p.m., followed by an opening reception/"Drum-o-rama" at 9:30 p.m. The Roundhouse (255 Bremner Boulevard), 7:00 p.m. (VIP preview, $150) and 9:30 p.m. (opening reception, $10 in advance and $15 at the door).

Each week, Drama Club looks at Toronto's theatre scene and tells you which shows are worth checking out.

                    

Last week, Adam Vaughan held a party. Its full title, according to the now-deleted Facebook event, was "SORRY! A fundraiser to celebrate Adam's apology from Rob." Rob, you see, is Rob Ford, who on the morning of Thursday, September 25, of last year, used his weekly spot on AM640's The John Oakley Show to accuse Vaughan of a rather serious conflict of interest.

Nothing beats watching cartoons on a Saturday morning—unless you're actually watching impressive student demo reels at Max the Mutt Animation School. This past weekend, the public was invited to tour the Queen and Shaw facility, which offers diplomas in 3-D Computer Animation, Concept Art for Animation and Video Games, and Illustration for Sequential Arts (think comic books and graphic novels). The programs are hardcore, not something for the hobbyist who fancies himself the next Stan Lee or Matt Groening: students don't even touch a computer during their first year, which is devoted entirely to classical drawing, and they can expect to spend thirty-four hours a week in the studio. Says Development Director Carla Drmay: "The people who succeed are those who have passion and are able to keep up with the constantly changing technology. But above all they must be strong in visual arts. Too many students become seduced by the digital component and don't maintain their drawing level, which is the most important thing."

THEATRE: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre hosts the kick-off bash for the 30th Rhubarb Festival, following tonight's launch performances. An evening pass will get you in to see the shows plus admission to the party. Performances for the festival’s first week cover (or uncover, as it were) everything from voyeurism to ventriloquism. Party performers include Sasha Van Bon Bon, Daddy K and the Rhythm Method, Ina Unt Ina, and more. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander Street), 8 p.m. (performances) and 10 p.m. (party), $17.

Outside: driving wind, plummeting temperatures, mermaid-chasing sea monsters on stilts. Inside: googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and that heady mix of scissors, glue, and lip-biting concentration known to craft-making kindergarteners the world over.

FOOD: Tonight at Coupe Space Event Gallery, author/chef Jennifer McLagan and Cumbrae Farms proprietor Stephen Alexander will team up to present "Fat: A Misunderstood Ingredient." The fat-, meat-, and wine-tasting event complements McLagan's new book, Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes. McLagan and Alexander will guide patrons through a history of different lard and meat styles. There will also be a guest appearance from Martin Malivoire, proprietor of the Malivoire Wine Company, presumably to give advice on wine-tasting. Coupe Space Event Gallery (998 Queen Street East), 7-9 p.m., $75.

Besides the odd beer-fuelled 2 a.m. dispute about the existence of God and perhaps an undergrad course on existentialism, most of us have fairly little by way of daily exposure to philosophy. Examined Life, a film by Astra Taylor and co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada, attempts to bring philosophy out of the ivory tower and restore it to its original place at the centre of ordinary life. The documentary had its world premiere at last year's Toronto International Film Festival and is now back in Toronto for a run at the Royal Cinema. It consists of a series of conversations with relatively well-known philosophers (Cornel West, Judith Butler, Peter Singer, Slavoj Žižek, and a few others), each giving a glimpse into the kinds of questions they wrestle with. The conversations are all thoughtful without being heavy-handed: they serve as handy primers for novices to the field and offer interesting snapshots of notable personalities for more experienced students of philosophy.

MUSIC: After wowing fringe festivals across the country in 2008, meta-punk-pranksters Die Roten Punkte (German for “The Red Dots”) bring their “Robot / Lion Tour 2009” to town for two shows this week, tonight at Supermarket (and moving to the Tranzac Tuesday night). Self-described as a “lipstick-smeared, narcissistic tantrum–loving, sonic collision between Plastic Bertrand, Kraftwerk, and early Ramones,” their performance is sure to amuse and entertain (unless you’re over the whole “meta” thing). Supermarket (268 Augusta Avenue), 8:00 p.m., $15 cash only.