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July 23, 2008
Is Toronto a dangerous city? And is it getting worse? This week for Metrocide, Torontoist is examining a sea of homicide data and trying to come up with conclusions based not in fear or fantasy but fact. Photo of Toronto from the CN Tower in 1981 by retroman. Though it's difficult to ethically explain away, homicides tend to affect people less the further away they happen, on both on a global scale and a local...
Continue Reading "Metrocide: Location, Location, Location"
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Every Wednesday, Torontoist receives transmissions from the travel log of Gleebax, the alien Urbanaut, as he explores the foreign land of Toronto....
Continue Reading "The Urbanaut"
Something about this picture is about to change. As reported by Spacing's Wire this morning, new signal lights due to start working about a month from now will be the first sign of a new type of intersection in Toronto. It’s known as a “scramble intersection,” because traffic from both directions is periodically stopped at once, allowing pedestrians to cross whichever way they want. Turning cars will no longer have to compete with pedestrians,...
Continue Reading "Scram!"
Friday's episode of Canadian drama Flashpoint managed to bring back about 85% of the audience for round two and was the most-watched program of the night on both sides of the border. (The decline could be attributed to the Joker Effect, as ratings for Friday were depressed compared to the previous week, while 10 million people took in the newest Batman film.) In a sign of confidence, CTV and CBS, which broadcast Flashpoint in...
Continue Reading "Flashpoint Flings Swingtown"July 22, 2008
Is Toronto a dangerous city? And is it getting worse? This week for Metrocide, Torontoist is examining a sea of homicide data and trying to come up with conclusions based not in fear or fantasy but fact. Photo from 1986 by .allen from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. 1981 was the first year for Canada's Wonderland and NOW, the year of the Toronto bathhouse raids, and the year that Terry Fox died. That year, Toronto the...
Continue Reading "Metrocide: A History of Violence"Advertisement: Torontoist Continues Below!
July 22, 2008
Every Tuesday afternoon, Torontoist rounds up the city's literary news, including book deals, events, local sales, author happenings, and insider information from the book industry. The 25th annual Hillside Music Festival happens in Guelph this weekend and Toronto's Coach House Books will be along for the ride. The indie press will be packing up some of its authors and bringing them to the site, allowing attendees to catch some lit alongside great musical acts like...
Continue Reading "The Literati: Coach House Hits Hillside, Good Calls Gillers Incestuous, Gowdy Gets Out Of Town"
Not so many of those bright red packs would be seen at an Argonauts game nowadays due to legislation, unless one pokes out of a fan's pocket. The 1969 edition of the Boatmen (10 wins, 4 losses) finished in second place in the East, a game behind the Ottawa Rough Riders. Four players were named to the CFL's all-star team: running back Dave Raimey, offensive guard Charlie Bray, defensive end Ed Harrington, and defensive...
Continue Reading "Vintage Toronto Ads: Where There's Smoke, There's Football"
In Toronto, a lot of people like to eat street meat. This is a fact. With a selection of sausages to brag about and toppings to tumble for, Toronto's meat reigns top dog even over bigger breeds like NYC. With juicy, succulent sausage and that perfectly-grilled, mustard-coloured bun, it's easy to dress your own decadent hunk of street meat. And when there's a million ways to craft the perfect wiener, you know someone's going...
Continue Reading "A Real Smart Dog"
These photos, of a garden constructed atop a bus shelter on Greenwood Avenue between Gerrard and Dundas, were recently uploaded to one of the Facebook groups of the Toronto Public Space Committee's Guerrilla Gardeners. More after the fold....
Continue Reading "Green Me Shelter"July 21, 2008
In her introduction to August's Toronto Life, Editor Sarah Fulford writes that "numbers alone can't communicate the impact of gun violence—on the families of the victims or on the city itself. We hope that our cover, which commemorates the people killed by guns since the spring of 2007, will do what statistics can't." Setting aside that cover—which, with a few dozen bullets representing a few dozen murder victims, is by definition dehumanizing—Fulford's logic might...
Continue Reading "Metrocide: Introduction"
Sarah Lazarovic—curator of the garage-based Montrose Portrait Gallery of Canada—is painting a portrait of a Torontonian every day. Each Monday, we'll feature one of those portraits here. Suggestions for subjects welcome. The strange, sad story of Albert Fulton took an even stranger turn on Saturday, when the Wychwood Park resident and former Neighbourhood Watch chief, charged with ten counts of mischief, disappeared. He was last seen driving his Daewoo Lanus....
Continue Reading "Portrait Project: Call Me, Al"
Election-style signs urging people to "Vote Mookie Canadian Idol" have started popping up on the lush and exclusive lawns of Rosedale in the last few days. If you're like us, you're probably thinking, "Who the hell is Mookie?" And why are so many Rosedalians admitting to watching lowbrow reality shows? Shouldn't they be taking their doses of reality schlock in secret shame like everybody else? The signs are part of Mookie Morris's Mom's campaign...
Continue Reading "Mookie's Mom Takes It To The Streets"
Each week, Torontoist examines the upcoming TV listings and makes note of programs that are entertaining, informative, and of quality. Or, alternately, none of those. The result: Televisualist....
Continue Reading "Televisualist: Soccer, Bea, and De Lancie"July 20, 2008
Once home to the railroad-guarding CN Police, this 1920's building sits at the lonely intersection of Cherry and Front Streets. In recent years, it has served as a location for film and television shoots, including the Oscar-winning Chicago. As part of the West Don Lands project, the CN Police Building and the former Canary Restaurant building have been recommended for preservation. Illustration by Kevin McBride....
Continue Reading "Illustration Sunday: CN Police Building"
The name George Michael generally conjures up images of a guy in tight jeans and black jacket, stuck in the 80s, crooning lightweight pop fluff. It might also conjure the memory of the guy who got arrested for indecency. Or the guy who was busted for drugs after passing out in his car. But go back to when CFTR wasn’t all news, when acid wash was in, and when pop music (good pop music) was...
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July 19, 2008
If your bike's been stolen in Toronto, there's a chance that it's one of the 150 recovered from a police raid at The Bicycle Clinic (927 Queen Street West) on Thursday night—and that you can get it back this weekend. The day before the raid, police arrested Clinic owner Igor Kenk after (allegedly) watching him tell another man to use a bolt cutter to steal two bikes. (Rumours had been circulating around the Clinic for...
Continue Reading "Recovering From Clinical Depression"
When Dylan Thomas began writing Under Milk Wood, his famous "play for voices" about the sleepy Welsh community of Llareggub and its inhabitants, he intended it to be performed as a radio play with a full cast of actors. Over the years, the play has been both recorded and performed for stage in a variety of productions (including a film version with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole), sometimes with a cast as...
Continue Reading "Welsh On Welsh"
Every Saturday morning, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today. Photo of The Grange, 1907. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 304. D'Arcy Boulton Sr. recalled his sentiments upon first arriving in Upper Canada in his reminisces, Sketch of His Majesty's Province of Upper Canada. He wrote: "When I first...set my foot on British ground, after residing in the American states,...
Continue Reading "Historicist: An English Estate in the Heart of the City"July 18, 2008
Once a week, Vandalist features the best street art and graffiti from around Toronto. You should contribute. By KATSUNEAR RICHMOND AND McDOUGALLPHOTO BY POST...
Continue Reading "Vandalist: Don Katsu"
You know what sucks? Burning significant quantities of helicopter fuel for the purpose of towing around an ad. You know what's cool? Seeing the Batman logo flying across the sky. Life is complicated sometimes. So, yes, The Dark Knight comes out today. Well, actually it came out about fourteen hours ago, with midnight screenings that we assume were packed, as the movie set a new Canadian record for advance ticket sales. It'll almost certainly...
Continue Reading "Film Friday: Three Potential Fathers, Two Potential Faces"
In the United States, rising fuel costs have forced airline carriers like Delta and American Airlines to cut both routes and jobs—with executives happily playing the victim by reinforcing the myth of speculation causing higher oil prices. (Speculation actually decreases volatility and the blame for surging prices sits squarely on that boring old idea of supply and demand.) In Canada, two airlines will be cutting jobs: Jazz Air by 270 and its parent company...
Continue Reading "Earth to Air Canada"July 17, 2008
Toronto Public Health's Antoine Nikolopoulos has gotten back to us; he's the Entertainment District's Environmental Health Officer, and yesterday he inspected Second Cup's 307 Queen Street West location after Kate Bowen spotted a mouse inside the store on Sunday morning and sent photos along to us. First and foremost, Nikolopoulos concluded that the store has "adequate pest control." (And Second Cup told us that they were immediately taking additional steps at that particular location to...
Continue Reading "Second Cup Has "Adequate Pest Control," But Gets Conditional Pass"The TTC has "cancelled the Request for Proposal process to purchase 204 new low-floor streetcars." Says their release: "The TTC received two submissions for the $1.25 billion project. TRAM Power Ltd. and Bombardier Transportation submitted bids, but upon review TRAM Power failed to pass step one of the bid review process as it was not commercially compliant. Bombardier Transportation failed on step two—a technical evaluation that required a pass/fail on key criteria related to negotiating...
Continue Reading "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Still listening to indie rock? If so, time to get amped for that other cellular service provider–sponsored outdoors concert: the Rogers Picnic. This year's spread includes the usual grub—ubiquitous preps Vampire Weekend and local flavour-of-the-year Tokyo Police Club—as well as finer treats, like the lovable, esoteric Animal Collective, or Cat Power and her smuggled-whiskey voice. The egg salad sandwich, if you will—love it or loathe it—is headliner City and Colour, the Dallas Green solo...
Continue Reading "To Rogers' Picnic, Bring an Appetite for Twee Instruments"
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July 17, 2008
If Reba McEntire and Tony Bennett come to Toronto to play, why shouldn't tourists follow suit? Two decades ago, Metro Toronto urged tourists to "discover the feeling" while sampling its neighbourhoods and attractions. The focus of the late 1980s television spot that we've dug up today is the multitude of leisure activities the city off