Design seems to be Toronto’s buzz word this weekend. Besides Come Up To My Room at the Gladstone, there’s that event that all Toronto designers with an asymmetrical haircut and a closet full of black clothing wait for like Christmas day: The Interior Design Show. IDS07 began Thursday night with a bang. Their kick-off party, the White Gala, was a fete complete with acrobats and fire breathers that roamed the many design kiosks which housed... [continue]

We bet few of you have been to the Toronto Archives. We didn’t even know where it was until last night, when we attended theToronto Book Awards. But stepping into the foyer to be greeted by a room covered in photos and maps of our city’s history, it struck us at just how fitting it is to hold the ceremony here -- books honoured for their fluent portraits of Toronto stories in a building that... [continue]

When she's not auctioning art to build a house, Cap'n Hook-Up (aka Tyler Clark Burke) is throwing love-fests on boats and makin' indie kids dance. That can mean only one thing: Santa Cruz, baby. Saturday, August 26th @ Captain John's Ship. 10pm. $10. Go here.... [continue]

Toronto has exploded in festivals this weekend. Scream, Toronto Outdoor Art Expo, Fringe, uh, Molson Indy. Not to mention The Big Game. But there is another festival happening right now that is worth making time for: Beats, Breaks and Culture. This Harbourfront festival focuses on urban electronica, global flavours, and touches on the 4 pillars of hip hop, including live graffiti creations and the largest breakdancing competition in Canada. Yesterday was a vibrant day at... [continue]

Theatre people often get a bum deal. Humiliating auditions, selling the car for acting classes or singing lessons or to fund a play, producing blood, sweat and tear-filled work and for what? To end up emotionally drained, penniless and with nothing but a collection of tap shoes and wigs to keep them warm at night? So is life on the stage. And, damn it, they deserve recognition for it. They got it last night... [continue]

Sisters are doing it for themselves this week and today marks the opening of The 5th Annual Female Eye Film Festival. Running until June 18th, the fest boasts 68 short and feature films by female-only directors from around the world. Held at The National Film Board Cinema( 150 John St.), each showing offers a few shorts, a feature and Q & A with the directors. Special to this fest is the 1st Young Filmmaker... [continue]

Tyler Clark Burke, host of indie kid fave Santa Cruz and art director of eye weekly, is unveiling Shimera, her first solo show in two years. Expect 3-D laser cut glass sculptures, paintings, fibre optic drawings and original musical compositions by Gonzales. If it's like everything else she does, we know it'll be fabulous. Tonight at The Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects (1086 Queen St. W.), 7-10 pm. Runs to July 1.... [continue]

Torontoist was recently invited to take a peek inside at the soon-to-be-opened Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, better known as Toronto's opera house. Being one of the most highly anticipated buildings in Toronto history, we have to say we were more than a little curious to a look inside. The "city room space", or lobby, is well named. The open concept interior has the feeling of transparency, made mostly of steel, wood... [continue]

Looking for something to do Saturday afternoon besides antiquing? Check out the Toronto Small Press Fair at Trinity St.Paul Centre (427 Bloor St W.) between 11am-6pm. Stroll around different tables set up with some of our favorite indie rags like Kiss Machine and puddlepress. For extra indie lit points, go see Emily Schultz, John Terpstra and more read later that day at The Victory Cafe, 6-9pm.... [continue]

From their no-doubt hilarious training centre,Second City launched a new bunch of comic hacks into the world yesterday with Da Tory Code, their inaugural comedy writers showcase. With a healthy balance of political debate and general Canadian hosery, the players joked about Osama becoming a Scientologist, used five-pin bowling and Korn to describe electoral reform and sang the praises of the Terry Schiavo diet (too soon?). But the undoubted highlight of the show was when... [continue]

Wanna welcome summer with a tickle of the funny bone? Check out Second City's Da Tory Code, their political CanCon version of The Da Vinci Code, this Sunday May 28th at 4pm, 51 Mercer St.... [continue]

The story goes that editors Carol Shields and Marjorie Anderson were having lunch one day when they decided that, even with all the good the feminist movement had done, there were still so many unanswered questions; ones that some were afraid to ask or that took them by surprise. They commissioned a number of women writers to give it a voice and Dropped Threads: What We Aren't Told was the result. We've now come... [continue]

Tonight Pontiac Quarterly unleashes its second issue this year at The Drake Hotel (8pm). For those of you unfamiliar, PQ is a performance magazine where writers read their fiction, feature stories - even advice columns - on stage in front of a live audience. Coming around only four times a year (it's right there in the title!), The Torontoist looks forward to it like our mom looks forward to gardening season. This issue's theme... [continue]

Today Joe Fiorito launched his new book, Union Station, at the Nicholas Hoare book store. The launch was full of the older literati crowd in their slightly rumpled clothes who muttered things like "Charlie! I haven't seen you since the Giller Prize!" So we did our best to mingle and sip the wine, chomp the asparagus sandwiches and smoked salmon fillet, flip through Andy Goldsworthy coffee table art books and enjoy the people sightings... [continue]

Equal Voice honored Flora MacDonald yesterday at The Royal York Hotel and we were there, applauding wildly between forkfuls of white chocolate-cranberry cake. Equal Voice, a multi-partisan group working to get more women involved in government, awarded the first Canadian female Secretary of State for External Affairs (and one of the first female foreign ministers anywhere in the world!) an EVE award to recognize her pioneering efforts to further women in politics. Hearing stories... [continue]

Shameless magazine--"For girls who get it", of course--is launching their spring issue in style this Friday night at This Ain't the Rosedale Library (483 Church). The all-ages party features the comedy stylings of Sabrina Jalees, a bake sale and lotsa music and dancing. Having gone to a couple of these things before, we can honestly say that we've never seen girls have so much freakin' fun. And the $5 cover gets you a copy of... [continue]

Although this past Wednesday was officially International Women's Day, the city will be celebrating it in style this Saturday (presumably to cash in on the sunny weather). The International Women's Day rally begins at 11 am at the OISE building, 252 Bloor W. and will include music, speakers and entertainment. The march itself, beginning at 1pm, is being led by UNITE HERE Hotel Worker's Rising (T.Oist posted about their feminist rally earlier this week.... [continue]

If there was ever any confusion, NOW Magazine clears it up in this week's issue: Gentleman Reg is a local homo heartthrob. That's right. A bona-fide heartthrob of the homo variety. So when someone asks, "Who's this Gentleman Reg character?" You need only respond with three words: 'Local,' 'homo,' and 'heartthrob' (in that order). This question-answer scenerio may even come up this weekend, as G-Reg plays Alexander Parkette on Sunday at 6 pm. The heartthrob,... [continue]

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