In this month's extra-juicy edition of Toronto Life, John MacFarlane continues his winning streak of breaking down the barriers of this city's WASP-laced preconceptions by launching a monthly Toronto Poll, in the mould of George Gallup. Indeed, Macfarlane admits, 'the media love polls, because polls allow them to make news instead of merely reporting it.' Sounds good to us. John, assume soapbox-position!... [continue]

The City presented its annual Architecture and Urban Design awards at a gala dinner last week presided over by Mayor Miller and the city's poet laureate Giorgio di Ciccio (no, we weren't aware of this either). Of particular note: the coveted Building in Context Award of Excellence was presented to Will Alsop's OCAD Sharp Centre, praised by the judges for being 'cocky and attractively humorous, an element in the urban scene that holds its... [continue]

Surely, there are people who have found themselves benefitting from the woesome vulnerability of our minority government: Stephen Harper, Jack Layton, Bono, and now, the Toronto Waterfront Revitaliation Corp. In most likelihood as a result of the government's fear of an election, $20.5 million in public funds was committed last week to the cleanup of the portlands, allowing the undertaking to switch from years of tedious planning to preliminary action. $20.5 million is merely... [continue]

If you toil at your job by day and secretly aspire to enthrall the masses with your artistic oeuvres, here's the incentive to create you've been awaiting. Schools Without Borders is seeking artists to display and sell their work as part of a fundraising event to be held June 9th at Artweave Gallery. All forms of visual production welcome.... [continue]

Yesterday afternoon, in between alernating spurts of sunshine and rain, TOist ducked into Brassaii hoping to catch a glimpse of the Contact Photo exhibition and, especially, everybody's favourite Talking Head, David Byrne. Alas, we missed Byrne's lecture, but did show up in time to watch a very stylish- in an high tech Prada-clad cyclist way- Byrne ride off into the sunset with his adorable (and young) female companion. About 20 minutes later, deciding to... [continue]

Dose has officially infiltrated the city, with its cute pill-shaped distribution boxes dotting every corner from North York to Parkdale. Some people have complained that the CanWest-backed rag has taken with it all of our young, smart writers. To celebrate its launch tonight, DOSE throws a quiet 1,300-person party at the Guvernment (remember the days of the other Dose parties at the Guv?) featuring Talib Kweli, DJ Mark Ronson, Rhymefest, Baby Yu & RG.... [continue]

John Macfarlane has been blowing (no pun intended) us away with his alacrity and journalistic balls lately. First, a dazzling re-design, and now this month's tour de force- just check out the jitters-inducing coke-rails on the cover! Indeed, this month's Toronto Life presents the shocking confession of an 'unlikely drug dealer' who 'is from a good family, has a BA from McGill and a house in the suburbs' (the McGill and Western U. contingents of... [continue]

We’ve discussed our concerns about the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Committee in earlier posts: the project’s liability to be stalemated by the presence of foot-dragging bureaucrats including the King of the Hall himself, Mayor Miller, whether the establishment of a ‘design steering committee’ is an unnecessary additional formality, etc. Last week’s meeting of the publicly-owned TWRC marked an important step towards the project’s actual implementation: Daniels Corp., Tridel Corp. and Concord Adex Developments Corp were... [continue]

The NY Post's sole point of interest with regard to last week's Juno awards: 'Canada's most famous lesbian' k.d. lang's especially portly appearance of late. TOist is unimpressed. Richard, Paula, Chris, et al: Leave your catty fat-jokes to your own Britneys and Tobeys: K.D. is an artist, and totally above caring about the South Beach or Hamptons diet or whatever other excuse for narcissism you're employing these days. She wears black capes. She does... [continue]

Maybe celebrity architects are trying to tell us something when they come to our city and refurbish us with zany pole-vaulted matchboxes or a giant steel "O" looming over Harbord Street. TOist has always felt such examples of architectural swagger bring more good than harm despite being aesthetically distasteful, especially in the case of Thom Mayne's U of T Graduate House. Built in 2000, it was adored by critics for its boldness (Lisa Rochon,... [continue]

Saturday, April 2, Gypsy Co-Op (817 Queen Street West): Celebrate the launch of Entrepôt, the proud brainchild of Saturday Night editor Benjamin Leszcz and Neil Rogachevsky. The Spring 2005 issue juxtaposes discussion of politics, polygamy, and a few too many Dylan references, but the combination of Leszcz's pragmatism and Rogachevsky's literary erudition is pleasing at very least. Michael Budd spins house, breaks, and hip-hop till you don't stop. We all know these media-kids do... [continue]

The U of T is currently in the midst of a major project to transform all three of its campuses, and so far, TOist is impressed with the results: the New College Residence at the corner of Spadina and Willcocks is nothing short of inspiring, and their selection of architects - from Saucer+Perotte to Andropogon - has been contemporary and tasteful. TOist has taken particular interest in the Great Spaces committee's proposal to create 'a... [continue]

We were shaking our heads in disappointment when Mayor Miller announced that the city would support empowerment of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. (TWRC), but only if he was placed on its board- a familiar story of bureaucratic stalemate. The recent announcement of the Waterfront Design Review Panel, however, is surely a sign of hope in repairing this city's post-war urban planning faux pas. The best part? Bruce Kuwabara, an eminently talented architect's architect,... [continue]

Many of us associate ‘neo-Art Deco’ with tasteless condo developments across the city, and for good reason. The ick factor, though, is really a result of attempting to marry blank expanses of glass with crude Dick Tracy stylings than an honest appropriation of the early North American skyscraper motif- which was graceful, sculptural, and feminine in its aesthetic. John Bentley Mays, TOist’s favourite U of T architecture prof and Globe columnist, reports on Burka... [continue]

The Green Barn initiative currently underway at Toronto’s west-end Wychwood Park is a veritable deluge of debate for city-space geeks: the role of preservation in urban space, the value of ‘pure’ green space free of buildings, and the preponderance of urban myths. Five car barns represent the oldest surviving artifacts of late-19th century Toronto’s civic railway: in fact, the park was built in 1888 as part of the City Beautiful movement to promote the erstwhile... [continue]

This week marks the countdown to next weekend’s opening of the much-anticipated and much-debated Massive Change exhibit at the AGO. Everyone has criticized Mau’s bizarrely utopian and woolly optimism. Mau’s 2001 book, Life Style, focused on shaping design’s role in individual lives, recognizing that ‘lifestyle’ in the post-war period had come to be defined solely in terms of consumptive patterns rather than class or occupation. The argument was loosely patched together by brilliant aesthetic design... [continue]

Let the cattiness begin! Wednesday marks the new season of America’s Next Top Model over on CityTV. And producers are promising this season will be the bitchiest one yet. Super model turned drag queen Tyra Banks is back as host, along with a gaggle of "celebrity" judges. This time around the girls are a more varied bunch. At least job wise that is. We have a janitor, a 22-year-old mother and a wrestler. But of... [continue]

They say our generation will make around five major career changes in our lifetime. If you are considering a move toward science-fiction alien design consultancy, you'll want to be at the U of T Rotmann Centre on Monday (Feb. 7) at high noon to meet Dr. Jack Cohen, who scored that gig already. The foremost expert on the hypothetical physiology and behaviour of aliens will be visiting from the UK and speaking on the topic... [continue]

The Canadian Medical Association has been giving prostitution law a lot of play in its journal recently. Having always been progressive on issues like marijuana legalization, the CMAJ is hosting a dialogue about the patent absurdity of laws that punish solicitation (communication about sex for money) without promoting public health or safety of sex workers. A letter from U of T prof Benedict Fischer this month is the latest in a series of criticisms calling... [continue]

The last time Torontoist set foot in the Ontario Science Centre, it was 3 a.m. and thousands of ravers were trashing the place. Glowstick juice smeared over slanted furniture in the Krazy Kitchen and candy kids gapped out to liquid nitrogen demonstrations in wide-pupiled awe. We may have hung up our phat pants, but the Science Centre remains an authority on waves of destruction. This Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., David Sugarman will explain... [continue]