Torontoist got a sneak peak at the newly redeveloped Wychwood Barns earlier this week and our verdict can be pithily summarized as "yippee!" A veritable playground for the ecologically and socially conscious, the newest Artscape endeavour lives up to the hype and anticipation. The Barns project represents a new and particularly hopeful kind of urban redevelopment, and we can only hope to see many more such ventures breaking ground soon.... [continue]

Photo from the NDP's Flickr photostream. If ever there was a fixture in the Toronto political scene, Jack Layton is it. A city councillor for the better part of two decades and a former head of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, he is an expert on housing and homelessness and among the most influential left-of-centre figures to come out of Ontario in the past quarter-century. He has been at the helm of the federal... [continue]

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. One gallery clears the dust while another bites the dust.... [continue]

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On Wednesday, Condoleezza Rice gave a press conference about the South Ossetia war, taking the opportunity to gently chastise Russia on behalf of the American government for not ending military operations in the region. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, like many other news organizations, had a live feed from the White House to televisions across Canada during the conference—that is, until the feed got knocked out mid-question, just as a reporter was comparing Russia's moves... [continue]

A fire broke out on Queen Street West and Cameron Street at around 11 p.m. last night, with February's block-consuming fire just up the street nowhere near forgotten. SoundProof Magazine staff photographer (and Torontoist Flickr Pool contributor) Stephanie Cloutier arrived just before the firefighters did. She writes on her photo's page:My friend Connie and I were leaving the Cameron House when a group of people standing on the sidewalk and street were screaming across the... [continue]

When you're feeling the need to flip through a comic, but good and clean Calvin & Hobbes won't curb your controversial cravings, and Manga shows off more than you bargained for—worry not, we've all been there. And after years of pursuit of the perfect graphic saga, we've finally come across a strip with the just the right amount of moral compromise. Jesus: The Awkard Years is the web comic started last year by a couple... [continue]

Seen at the Shoppers Drug Mart on the corner of Walmer Road and Bloor Street West. Photo by Andrew Pulsifer... [continue]

There's a real estate company called Prestige Living, founded earlier this year by 22-year-olds Philip Sywash and Casper Larski. As the company name suggests, it's an upscale-only kinda deal, with houses—well, mansions—starting at $1 million. A vast majority of the houses offered are classy and sophisticated, just what you'd expect and hope for on the outskirts of Toronto for the deep-pocketed. And then there's 2400 Doulton in Port Credit, Mississauga. Currently on the market for... [continue]

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 Orange Parade at Queen's Park in 1912. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 1388. Nowadays, the Orange Order is thought of as a quaint anachronism, a benevolent society that marches every twelfth of July to commemorate the victory of William III at the Battle of the Boyne. But the... [continue]

Every Wednesday, Torontoist receives transmissions from the travel log of Gleebax, the alien Urbanaut, as he explores the foreign land of Toronto.... [continue]

Freddie Mercury, tied down on a flatbed trailer, was removed from the Canon Theatre on Yonge Street yesterday where he has been perched over the entrance during the 61-week run of the Queen musical We Will Rock You. We Will Rock You is moving to the Panasonic Theatre, a few blocks north of the Canon, and reopens July 16. The Canon gets ready for Spamalot, opening September 9. See more photos after the jump.... [continue]

Amid all the cute overloading our recent Internet history, all the LOLcatz and YouTube Charlies, we began to feel that something very important was missing. We just couldn't figure out what it was. Did we need more plush? More anime? More stuff on our cats? No, no, no. We needed... Cute. Boys! Yes, there is now a blog devoted exclusively to the pursuit of happy, daydreamy, or hipsterishly sullen boy faces. Honest, we don't... [continue]

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It took them two days and thirteen hours, but Nancy Situ and her friends have joined the Every Station Club in style—with brilliant photos of themselves posing on the platforms of every one of the city's sixty-nine subway stations. The project, Situ wrote when she posted the entire set of shots to the Toronto LiveJournal Community last night, was done "out of curiosity and sheer boredom." On September 1 last year, Situ, Marcela Slinin,... [continue]

Photo of Ben Stein by Patrick Metzger. Just so you know, Torontoist did not ask Ben Stein to say "Bueller? Bueller?" for the tape recorder, and we'll go to the grave regretting that failure of courage. Nevertheless, we spent an interesting 20 minutes with the monotone lawyer/writer/economist/actor/game-show host when he was in town last week promoting his documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed which opens in Toronto this Friday. The film argues that scientists willing... [continue]

Do you know what this is? This is one of those articles in which a member of the media tells the public to catch the "next big thing" before they start selling out large venues. In this case, it’s a comedian by the name of Jeff McEnery. Like all other Canadian comics, you probably recognize McEnery from the plethora of commercials he has done and the obligatory stint on Video on Trial. He hasn’t had... [continue]

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The best things in life, everyone knows, aren't free. The best things in life are things other people have to pay for, and you get for free. Like the 1,000 bottles of beer at the latest of Toronto's legendary Vice parties, if you were early or lucky or special enough to get into the Deleon White Gallery on Friday night. Or, say, the three hundred Microsoft Zunes given to young "influencers" (bloggers, DJs, other... [continue]

It's Victoria Day Monday, and what better way to celebrate that old queen's birthday than by watching a bunch of gay movies at Inside Out? Things kick off at noon with a gay daddy doc double-bill at the ROM. We didn't get a chance to check out Fatherhood Dreams, a Canadian film about four gay men who are all fathers in different ways, but we did see Daddy's Love, a film about a Norwegian... [continue]