Toronto gets to join the Party Safari with Tom & Gary's Decentralized Dance Party.

The Rhubarb Festival
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander Street)
February 8 to 19
Wednesday to Sunday evening passes $20, Sunday afternoons PWYC

For quite some time now, artists have said that this isn’t the most friendly time to be a theatrical risk-taker. For example, there was the SummerWorks funding crisis last summer, which survived on the back of its nationwide support and renowned reputation. Now two Canadian icons, playwright Michael Healey and Tarragon Theatre, have split due to worries that Healey’s latest script Proud could draw the ire of the Prime Minister’s office yet again. Shit, as they say, got real.

Which makes institutions like the annual Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre so refreshing as a forum for new and established artists to push their own boundaries without fear or judgement. In its 33rd incarnation, and the second time up for festival director Laura Nanni, the event doesn’t shy away from provocative, political, queer, and diseased issues in its mainstage shows, many of which are still in development. This year also adds fresher elements to the lineup, like visual artists and musicians, the return of the successful Mobile Works, and introducing the new One-To-One series.

This particular Rhubarb patch is full of very promising buds, so here is a small selection of slices that Torontoist thinks will leave the strongest flavour:

Read: What to Catch at the 33rd Annual Rhubarb Festival

Photo by Daifuku Sensei from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

In April 2011 the Ontario Superior Court dismissed a class action lawsuit, filed on behalf of local merchants on St. Clair, alleging that they had suffered personal and business damages due to construction of the St. Clair right of way. Unhappy with the decision, the merchants filed an appeal; in a decision released this afternoon, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld that ruling.

The $100 million lawsuit was filed by Curactive Organic Skin Care, a St. Clair salon, and alleged that the damages were sustained due to the prolonged construction period for the transit line. Today’s decision backed up the previous ruling that the matter of damages fell under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Municipal Board, and further found that there was no evidence of impropriety by the City. From the ruling:

Read: Ontario Court of Appeal Dismisses Class Action Lawsuit Regarding St. Clair Transit Construction

If you had to name an early winner following the announcement of the 2012 JUNO Award nominees, it would have to be William Shatner.

The Montreal native, best known to those under 25 as “the Priceline guy,” received the biggest pop when he was announced as the host for the 43rd edition of the awards. Say what you will about Captain Kirk’s famously wooden acting style, but the man is clearly a Canadian icon.

The reception was considerably less generous for LMFAO. The crowd of journalists, artists, and record industry-types who crowded the trading floor at Bay Street’s Design Exchange were scarcely able to restrain their laughter when the Californian electro-pop duo’s album Sorry for Party Rocking was announced as one of the nominees for International Album of the Year, along with Rihanna, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, and Adele.

For those interested in the local scene, Toronto-based artists did fairly well in terms of nominations.

Read: Few Surprises Amongst JUNO Nominees

It feels weird to refer to Quanche as a veteran of the local hip-hop scene. The Toronto rapper—real name Zack Gomez—is only 20 years-old. That said, he’s already put in a lot of work. He first popped up on the radar back in 2005, when he made a guest appearance on a mixtape by T-Dot underground stalwart Kamikaze and released his own debut mixtape, Youngest in Charge, back in 2007.

His latest release, Parish Boy’s Progress, cements Quanche’s veteran status. It is a strange study in contradictions that proves, once and for all, that he is one of the elite lyricists in Canadian hip-hop. Yeah, there’s still all the goon shit we’ve come to expect from him. He’s still reppin’ Vaughan Road, still servin’ fiends, and still talking about his bail conditions in his rhymes. On the other hand, Parish Boy’s Progress is also a remarkably smart album, both in terms of content and references. The title of the tape is from Oliver Twist, he repeatedly references former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s famous “just watch me” line, and he shouts out Toronto’s first mayor, William Lyon Mackenzie.

Read: Sound Advice: Parish Boy’s Progress by Quanche

Source: Rolling Stone, March 15, 1973.

“Outrageous” was one of many terms applied to Frank Zappa during his musical career. One album, he’d be in a smutty satirical mode, the next was full of serious compositions. When he and the latest incarnation of the Mothers of Invention arrived in May 1973, Zappa was on the cusp of what proved to be his most commercially rewarding period, when the naughtier aspects of his music caught the public’s ear.

Read: Vintage Toronto Ads: The Most Outrageous Mothers of Them All

In the confusing realm of musical sub-genres, it could best be referred to as dance-rock. Or electro-pop. It’s so hard to tell anymore. But whatever it’s called, you’ll know it by the chest-pounding kick of the bass drum that doesn’t seem to flag even when the singer announces “a slow one.” Or the incessant hiss of the hi-hat propelling a rolling bass-line. Or the snaky guitar runs blending seamlessly with the shifty, echoing synths and textures that are now often played through the newest of instruments: the MacBook. That’s why the kids packed into the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern this Friday night: to catch a bill of well-matched talent in a showcase of a unique sound.

Read: A Brave New Empire

Spunk is a new support group that’s been started by ACT, the AIDS Committee of Toronto, for gay and bisexual men who want to better manage their drug and alcohol use, especially during sex.

In slang, a session of having sex while under the influence of drugs—often, but not limited to, meth—is know as “party n’ play,” shortened to PnP. One problem with PnP is that it leads to “risk-taking behaviour” due to the drug use, says Adam Busch, Gay Youth and Gay Men’s Harm Reduction Coordinator for ACT, who has shepherded the creation of Spunk. Predominantly (but not exclusively) associated with gay culture, PnP had been linked to unsafe sex practices, leading to increased rates of HIV infection and sexually transmitted infections.

Read: The AIDS Committee of Toronto Encourages Men To Show Some Spunk

Read: Newsstand: February 7, 2012

Atom Division. Photo by Adam CK Vollick.

Read: Urban Planner: February 7, 2012

Photoist is the first post we publish every weekday morning. In it we feature an image (or two) by a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool, to show off their great work and begin the day with something pretty.

Photo by Yani Ioannou from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

• As we learned last week, the province has decided to shut down Ontario Place, effective immediately, and focus on revitalization plans for the site. The National Post asked nine urban thinkers what they would do to Ontario Place, and got some pretty interesting responses.

Read: Extra, Extra: Imagining Ontario Place, Bracing for a TA Strike

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