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June 30, 2008
Beginning Wednesday, the newest "librarians-in-residence" at the Toronto Free Library will be the conceptual comedy duo Life of a Craphead (Amy Lam and Jon McCurley). These are the guys responsible for installing the most remote Queen Video location ever at the Leslie Spit (near the lighthouse, where someone actually went to rent Y Tu Mama Tambien). They've also erected a giant exploding paper-mache volcano at Trinity Bellwoods and carved out rumble strips on Yonge...
Continue Reading "Don't Touch the Red Book at Toronto Free Library"
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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. Why aim for Miss Universe when the Ms. Pizza Pizza title is out there?...
Continue Reading "Portrait Project: Ms. Pizza Pizza"
Things between Anonymous and the Church of Scientology have been getting downright nasty lately. Vindictive, even. For much of the last week, Project Chanology's local adherents have been holding court at Scientology's Yonge Street chapter, carrying out what they call "flash raids." Unlike the broader, theme-based demonstrations of the past few months—addressing everything from the Church's notorious Fair Game policy to its very own, admittedly hilarious private navy—the community-targeted, information-based flash raids are, in...
Continue Reading "Anons Flash Scientology"
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: Spaceballs, Wing, and Pro Wrestling"June 29, 2008
Torontoist favourites Emily Schultz and Brian Joseph Davis have launched a new web portal for original short fiction, hoping to thwart the idea that short stories are a dead scene by giving them a new venue for distribution. Dubbed Joyland, after Schultz's 2006 novel of the same name (but mostly because she already owned the sweet domain name and decided to double-dip), the site combines "a strict mandate (only short stories) to some principles...
Continue Reading "A New Hub For Short Fiction"Advertisement: Torontoist Continues Below!
June 29, 2008
They could be the next big thing, if only they could get a gig. This humorous online series follows Matt and Jay—Nirvana the Band—and their ongoing efforts to break into Toronto's music scene. Five episodes and various extras are currently online, with a sixth episode presumably in the works. First the Rivoli, then the world! Illustration by Kevin McBride....
Continue Reading "Illustration Sunday: Nirvana the Band the Show"June 28, 2008
June's Critical Mass ride this past Friday was a tad less eventful than May's, but that doesn't make the sight of cyclists dominating downtown streets any less spectacular. Two great videos of the ride have popped up: one from RebootYourComputer, and another from Martin Reis....
Continue Reading "Mass Romantic"
Snappy Answers runs every Saturday afternoon. Send your questions, be they tough or trivial, to snappyanswers@torontoist.com. Dear Snappy, Yesterday I saw three different girls in the exact same pair of gladiator sandals. Serious gladiator sandals, too: mid-calf height and made of some kind of snakeskin. I love them, but is too late to get my own? Should I just wait for the next major sandal trend (what is the next major sandal trend)? xoxo Adrienne...
Continue Reading "Snappy Answers: When In Rome..."
Pride weekend is an event which fosters imbibing—both the "spirited" and non-alcoholic kind. When stopping into a store for some hydration after burning under a hot sun, Pridegoers need to watch what they drink for an important reason: they may not like where their money is going when it comes to two popular beverage companies—Rockstar and Bolthouse Farms....
Continue Reading "Watch What You Drink At Pride"
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. Mechanics' Institute, William Notman, 1868. Photo from Wikimedia Commons. Canada Day weekend is upon us, with the nation's birthday serving as the perfect excuse to celebrate the start of summer. Fireworks, public meals, outdoor concerts—Torontonians will be out in force for these events over the next few days, much as they were...
Continue Reading "Historicist: Canada, Day One"
You know, that unspeakably grotesque misgonyist (né James Sears) who lost his medical license after being convicted of sexually assaulting female patients? Who—after creating the persona of Dimitri the Lover—founded Toronto Real Men, an organization that teaches courses titled stuff like "Worship the Cock" and that is thus obviously unaware that Magnolia was not an instruction manual? Well, good news: the whole world hates him too, now that two unbelievable voicemail messages from Sears to...
Continue Reading "Remember Dimitri the Lover?"June 27, 2008
It’s been (warning! understatement alert!) an interesting week in Toronto Blue Jay Land. Seven days ago, they were floundering under a lame duck manager. This week, the team is still floundering—but at least they're showing signs (albeit tentative ones) of turning things around. One week—six games—is a negligible sample size; it’s barely sufficient to draw any sorts of conclusions, let alone meaningful ones. Still, as fans, we’re cautiously optimistic. Cito Gaston was bound to...
Continue Reading "A Sort of Homecoming"
Once a week, Vandalist features the best street art and graffiti from around Toronto. You should contribute. By TeethAT DUNDAS AND MARKHAMPHOTO BY TEETH...
Continue Reading "Vandalist: Operator? I'm Looking For The Man That Shot My Pa. "
Wizard needs weekend plans, badly. Clever wizards know that the place to be this Friday and Saturday (June 27-28, 12–5 p.m.) is Evolution: 30 Years of Computer Games at InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre (9 Ossington Avenue). 20 PC games are on display and available for play on their original consoles, showing how gaming technology has evolved since 1978. The games and PCs are on loan from the Personal Computer Museum in Brantford, Ontario,...
Continue Reading "Clicking It Old Skool"
Since an enlarged heart is such a dangerous medical condition, how on earth do Pixar get away with causing people's hearts to swell so much with each of their new releases? With Wall*E, the tale of a lonely little robot that falls in love, we're worried our chests will burst right there in the cinema! It just sounds too adorable. Critical response is (as to be expected) positive, though there is a dissenting opinion...
Continue Reading "Film Friday: Everyone's A Wall*E"Advertisement: Torontoist Continues Below!
June 27, 2008
[murmur], the "documentary oral history project that records stories and memories told about specific geographic locations" (God help us if we try to explain it any better than they can), has installed six new stories in the Gaybourhood just in time for Pride. The stories were done with help from Chris Bentley, "a researcher from York University looking into queer oral histories in the neighbourhood who thought it might be a good idea to do...
Continue Reading "[murmur] is so gay"
With news of environmental disaster a daily reality, artistic response on the topic couldn’t be more timely. But instead of poe-faced polemics and dour finger-wagging, The Rumoli Bros. have concocted a delightful, fun, and super-smart musical. With inspiration from a certain Oscar-winning film with a remarkably similar-sounding name, An Inconvenient Musical, playing at the Factory Theatre’s Studio Theatre (it closes Saturday night), is shrewd for its simultaneous milking and mocking of both sides in...
Continue Reading "Saving The World With A Song"Rogers has unveiled its iPhone 3G plans, and, as anticipated, they're really not that great. No unlimited data plan, mandatory three-year contract, no pie, and the best plan—2 GB data allowance with 800 minutes of talk time and unlimited evenings and weekends—will cost ya a cool $115 a month, not including those nice extra charges Rogers always slaps on. [via Dead Robot.]...
Continue Reading "Rogers Finds Way to Suck the Awesome Out"
Photo by John Griffiths. The CFL is a league of second chances. And, more than most teams, the Argonauts are willing to grant an opportunity to players who've discovered how unforgiving other leagues can be towards injuries and indiscretions of personal conduct. With the new season kicking off this evening, the Argonauts look to improve on last year, when the team finished first in the East, but fell apart in the playoffs. Despite an...
Continue Reading "A League of Second Chances"June 26, 2008
If you notice a more concentrated prevalence of Wayfarers and Vans around the College/Spadina area over the next month, it's because that's where Manhattan skate photographer/documentarian Patrick O'Dell is plunking down his first solo photo exhibit starting tomorrow. O’Dell has essentially built a career around having more fun than you do. He’s been called “the most important person in skateboarding who doesn’t skateboard” because he has a good camera and travels around taking good...
Continue Reading "Epicly Later'd at Studio Gallery"
This Saturday, Pride Toronto has teamed up with The Word On The Street for the second annual Proud Voices Reading Series. It's a talent-packed day-long celebration of queer writers, showcasing the best of Canada's literary skill by bringing both established veterans and emerging authors to the James Canning Gardens Stage (Gloucester and Dundonald). The series starts at 3:00 p.m. and features back-to-back readings by a variety of authors, including the award-winning Ivan E. Coyote, celebrated...
Continue Reading "Proud Voices, Perfect Line-up"
The Laugh Resort—one of Toronto’s few clubs devoted entirely to stand-up comedy—is closing its doors after this Saturday, possibly for good. The venue has known for some time that they would be shut down sometime this year, but the shock came last week, when they were told they had vacate the location as soon as possible. Ever since the Hyatt purchased the Holiday Inn where club is located, they knew their days were numbered....
Continue Reading "The Laugh Resort's Last Laugh"
The third annual Toronto Independent Game Development Jam ran from the 9th to the 11th of May this year with over 125 developers managing to produce 34 different games across the intense three day period, and their pain is now our pleasure as all of the successfully completed games have been released online. As if trying to produce a full game in three days wasn't hard enough, developers were asked that their game relate...
Continue Reading "TOJam and Cheese"
One of the greatest and most frustrating things about street art is that its lifespan is inherently finite. Especially in high-traffic areas, no piece is permanent, static, or safe. Take the wall on Queen Street West just out from below the railway and just west of Gladstone. Kevin Steele, who has spent much time documenting Queen Street West (his beautiful stitched-together photos of the block of buildings that burned down earlier this year remain the...
Continue Reading "A Year in the Life of a Wall"
Many of you have sat behind, beside, adjacent to, or perhaps even in front of (on a particularly unlucky day) that one doofus at the ball game who will not shut up, constantly exhorting his precious "team" to "win the game." He is only able to continue this abominable behaviour due to a combination of the celebrated Torontonian reserve and mild inebriation of his fellow fans. You've probably seen him at the Leafs or...
Continue Reading "Loud, Obnoxious Fan Still Gotsta Gets Paid"