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A Guide to the 2013 Toronto Jazz Festival

Tracey Nolan — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:45:41 +0000

The 2013 Toronto Jazz Festival features international legends and local favourites. Plus, the first night is free.

The 2013 Toronto Jazz Festival descends on the city this Friday with a huge “free for all” event. That means all of Friday’s programming at every Jazz Festival venue is, yes, completely free of charge. There will be concerts from local favourites Molly Johnson and Mary Margaret O’Hara, plus a show by Smokey Robinson and Martha Reeves, who will be launching the fest from its epicentre, Nathan Phillips Square.

Here’s a rundown of some of the shows worth checking out on Friday—and during the rest of the festival, when you’ll actually have to pay.

Scadding Court’s Swimming Pool is Now a Fishing Hole

Chris Dart — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:45:41 +0000

Each year, Scadding Court Community Centre fills its swimming pool with fish, so urban families can have a taste of the wild.

Folks who are planning on having a swim in the pool at Scadding Court Community Centre over the next few days may find themselves a little disappointed. Those who want to go fishing, however, will probably be ecstatic.

For the rest of the week, the Community Centre will be holding its annual Gone Fishin’ event, meaning its indoor pool will be an indoor fish pond. The pool has been drained, dechlorinated, and refilled with 2,000 rainbow trout, to be caught by local children and families.

Street Fights And Flashing Lights

Marc Lostracco — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:35:00 +0000

Dundas Square gets a lot of flak for being a cold and soulless expanse of commercial neon and grey granite, and in a new music video for local singer-songwriter-producer Colin Munroe, it still is! But in this case, it’s appropriate for his fantastic cover of Kanye West’s mediocre “Flashing Lights” track.
Directed by Toronto-based street artist, musician, and director Philip Sportel, the super-low-budget video effectively dulls the square down into a generic, industrial, underpopulated space, but actually turns the ubiquitous videoboards (and a garbage bin) into something quite beautiful.
Just posted to Kanye West’s blog and Perez Hilton, the video is bound to rapidly surpass the unexpected summer success of “World of Pain,” Munroe’s buzzworthy clip that stitched together 10,000 still photographs taken over two days in his attic. The homemade video helped attract the attention of Atlanta-based megaproducer Dallas Austin (Gwen Stefani, Janet Jackson, Pink, Madonna), who is now helping to facilitate the upcoming spring release of Munroe’s first album, Don’t Think Less Of Me (Marked Music).

It’s November 1: How’s Your Favourite Team Doing?

Stephen Johns — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 22:08:04 +0000

One month into the new NHL season, and this much is obvious: the Toronto Maple Leafs are a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, dressed in the league’s silly new jerseys. The Leafs are scoring more often than your younger sister, but they’re also leaking goals at a potentially historic rate. They’ve lost two games by 7–1 final scores, but they’ve also got an 8–1 win and consecutive 4–1 road victories against consensus preseason favourites (Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers). The result is that the Maple Leafs are one of the most entertaining teams in the league, even if they’re seemingly hell-bent on driving their doggedly loyal fans to drink.
It’s hard to fathom how a team with such a dearth of genuine offensive weapons could be second in league scoring—but that’s what the Maple Leafs are after thirteen games. Mats Sundin looks rejuvenated (so much for his torn labrum, eh Steve Simmons?), while Nik Antropov, after years of frustrating mediocrity, seems like he’s on the brink of finally realizing his vast potential. (We’re pretty sure we just jinxed him, but it’d be impossible to overlook his contribution thus far.) Sundin is second in league scoring, and both he and Antropov are in the top three for plus/minus. The arrival of Mark Bell, who was suspended for the first fifteen games of the season for a summertime D&D, should alleviate some of the burden from the Big Two; a healthy Darcy Tucker would be nice, as well, provided someone tells him the season has actually started when he gets back on the ice.
Toronto’s unexpected scoring prowess has compensated somewhat for the team’s defensive play—which has been, to put it mildly, utterly wretched so far this year. In theory (or at least if you consider a player’s salary to be commensurate with his ability), defense should be the least of Toronto’s worries. But the Leafs have allowed fifty-two goals already; that’s five more than the league’s second-most generous team, the Atlanta Thashers. Bryan McCabe, who should be anchoring Toronto’s blue line, has been inconsistent, and his hilarious own goal in an overtime game against the Buffalo Sabres was the low point of the season thus far. Pavel Kubina looks lost in his own zone, and is apparently contractually obligated to take at least one dumb penalty every game. Given the Leafs’ defensive ineptitude, it’s been difficult to judge Vesa Toskala and Andrew Raycroft’s performances. Raycroft had an awful 2006/07 season, but he’s been serviceable so far this year; Toskala, meanwhile, has turned in a few stellar performances, but was also the goalie of record for both of Toronto’s 7–1 losses. Again, it’s tough to assign the blame; for now, we’re willing to give the two netminders the benefit of the doubt, although we’ll see if we’re as charitable this time next month.
The Leafs’ next four games, all road contests, pit them against New Jersey, Montreal, Buffalo and Ottawa. It’s a vital stretch, and it could go a long way towards determining whether Toronto has a chance to be good this year. Predictably, the local media had the Leafs dead and buried around mid-October—yet despite what you’ve heard, they’re currently the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. Sure, they’ve played a few more games than some of their nearest competitors, but given how poor they’ve been defensively, it’s hardly the worst fans could’ve reasonably expected. If Paul Maurice can figure out how to shore up his back line, the Leafs could be all right. It’s the least the team’s legions of fans deserve.
Photo by the mkt from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Province Taking Over TTC, If You Don’t Like High Prices Go Shopping, And… the Thrashers? Oh, really?

Christopher Bird — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:08:59 +0000

Will the province take over the TTC? Apparently such rumours are all the buzz in political backrooms. Which are kind of like political bathrooms, except that the backrooms have no toilets or sinks or indeed any serious practical use, which is why they feature so prominently in government. Torontoist’s suggestion, from its own backroom: let Pizza Pizza take over the TTC. Then we would at least get Rip-Off Charity Pizza Days more often.
Jim Flaherty’s plan to help Canadians deal with excessive price disadvantages due to the dramatic rise of the loonie: shop around! That’s right, folks: the federal government’s plan to beat prices down to manageable levels is, and I’m sure you’re shocked here, to let the invisible hand of the market do all the work for them.
More taxes could be on the way for Toronto. Again, this story, with no actual grounding in policy or official statement, comes hot from the political backrooms of Toronto. Does your home have a backroom? Talk to your neighborhood contractor about installing a backroom today!
Today’s global warming news that is horrible: we’re on track for mass extinctions in 100 years if seas continue to warm. In response to this study, the Federal Tories again pointed to the invisible hand of the market, which will do all the work for us. (The invisible hand of the market has been doing crunches with an invisible hand-cruncher machine.)
And finally, the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Leafs last night. Again: the Atlanta Thrashers.
Photo by Alfred Ng from the Torontoist Flickr pool.

The Ponys/The Black Lips Ticket Giveaway

Carrie Musgrave — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:42:10 +0000

Looking for something fun to do tonight and don’t want to spend much money? We have just the ticket (literally). Chicago’s The Ponys will be playing at Lee’s Palace this evening with Atlanta’s The Black Lips and local boys Action Makes, and courtesy of Against The Grain, we have two pairs of tickets to put in your hot little hands. If you can make it on short notice, be the first two people to email carrie@torontoist.com with your full name and the tickets are all yours.
Be warned: there’s a high possibility of being puked on by a member of The Black Lips. Just sayin’.
Show details:
Thursday, March 29, 2007 (tonight!!)
Lee’s Palace
Doors: 8:30 p.m.
Tickets are $13.50 in advance or $15 at the door.

On The Road: Rock Plaza Central

Sasha Suda — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 19:45:00 +0000

Allegedly from Toronto, Rock Plaza Central took New York City by storm this weekend — opening for Oxford Collapse at The Glasslands in Brooklyn on Saturday, and for Montreal’s Malajube and Atlanta’s Snowden at the Mercury Lounge in Manhattan on Sunday. An unbelievably energized ensemble of strings, brass, and percussion, Rock Plaza Central just might be this year’s most exciting musical breakthrough. The New York crowds seem to have corroborated this claim, as they wouldn’t let the band leave the stage without playing at least one encore — now, how often does that happen with an opener?
Rock Plaza Central plays Lee’s Palace tonight at 8 p.m. – check them out yourself and see how long you can keep them onstage before the headliners, Denver’s The Apples In Stereo come on.
Photo of RPC’s Chris Eaton at The Glasslands in Brooklyn, NY courtesy of Amanda Winter.

Take the Raptors Off Notice!

Ken Hunt — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 17:40:00 +0000

Raptors fans have had to suffer a lot of humiliation over the last few years: There was the Vince Carter trade debacle, there was the night that Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points, and there was the 1-15 start last season that had ESPN speculating that the Raptors might be one of the worst teams in NBA history. But, the absolute low-point for the franchise came on the afternoon of October 16, 2005 in a pre-season exhibition game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, the Euroleague Champions. Tel Aviv’s Anthony Parker (who is now a Raptor) nailed a last-second jump shot to down the Raps 105-103. It is the only time that an international squad has ever beaten an NBA team on North American soil.
The embarrassment was such that Stephen Colbert had no choice but to make mention of it during the Threat Down on his very first show. The Raptors have been “On Notice” ever since, one short slide away from being “Dead to Him.”
Well, it’s a year and a half later, and the Raptors have undergone an incredible transformation. Only four players remain from the squad that lost to Tel Aviv. Management has been overhauled. And now, with Friday night’s victory over the Atlanta Hawks, the Raptors are over .500 for the first time in three years. They currently sit atop the Atlantic Division, two games ahead of Vince Carter’s despised New Jersey Nets.

January was one of the best months in Raptors history: The team went 10-5, Chris Bosh was voted onto the All-Star team, and Andrea Bargnani and Jorge Garbajosa were named to the NBA’s All-Star Rookie squad. When the NBA’s monthly awards were announced, the Raptors made an unprecedented sweep. Andrea Bargnani was named Rookie of the Month, Sam Mitchell was named Coach of the Month and Chris Bosh was named Player of the Month. No team in NBA history has ever taken all three of those awards in the same month before. Topping it all off was the most memorable moment of the month: Chris Bosh’s incredible 56-foot heave in the third quarter of last Wednesday’s game against the Washington Wizards.
Raptors fans can finally hold their heads high again. So, it’s time to let Stephen Colbert know how effective he has been and thank him for putting the Raptors on the road to recovery. Please drop by Colbert Nation and send a letter like this to Colbert HQ. (feel free to copy and paste!)

Dear Mr. Colbert,
As a proud Raptor fan and an even prouder member of Colbert Nation, I just wanted to thank you for the part you’ve played in helping to turn around our NBA franchise. The Toronto Raptors have served the longest tenure of anyone on your “On Notice” Board, but they’ve finally learned their lesson. Not only are the Raptors above .500, they are in first place in the Atlantic Division and in January they swept the NBA awards for Coach, Player, and Rookie of the month: that’s the first time any NBA team has ever taken all three of those awards in the same month.
So, thank you Mr. Colbert: YOU DID IT!!
Putting the Raptors On Notice was just the kick in the pants they needed. Mission Accomplished. Now it’s time for them to come down off the big board. This will create an opening, of course, so may we recommend The Toronto Maple Leafs for the vacancy? They are in serious need of your help. Despite a three-game win streak, the Leafs are in danger of missing the playoffs again and a little Colbert butt-kicking might be just the thing they need to get them going.
Yours Humbly,
[your name here]

Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse

David Topping — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 13:00:00 +0000

We don’t know about you, but it’s friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that’s just us. Either way, we’re freezing.
Austinist said goodbye to their co-editor (sell-out) and played rumor monger on the SXSW lineup. And when dozens of dead birds littered downtown Austin, it’s Big Bird to the rescue.
Bostonist concerned itself with law and order. Like a local being arrested in Atlanta for jaywalking or the new commissioner’s lack of a moustache. And the local paper is for street tagging before they’re against it.
Chicagoist got into it with LAist, even over Olympic bids. Maybe it’s because they switched from coffee to tea? At least they still have their hot dogs.
DCist dug around to discover a neighborhood wasn’t getting their mail and a quote from the eminantely quotable Gilbert Arenas. They also envisioned a Metro system of the future and said goodbye to smoking in the Speaker’s Lobby in Congress.
Gothamist was in a weird mood. Maybe it was because NYC got itself its own condom? Or that weird smell in the air? Or maybe it was the weird subway ad featuring Jerry Orbach’s posthumous eye donation? Then there’s their art scene.
Houstonist detailed when things go bad. Like a visit to the a strip club. Or a pizza parlor that accepted pesos and dead people sending e-mail. Oh, and they’ve have had it with these motherf—— scorpions on this motherf—— plane!
LAist sang “let us entertain you” as they reviewed the DVD of “Rome,” interviewed local rapper Pigeon John, dreamed of eating at the new all-you-can-eat section at Dodger Stadium, and discussed Anthony Michael Hall’s dropping of the N Bomb.
Parisist learned all sorts of things this week, just like their cops did when they went to LA. They learned all the fines you could get on their Metro, that the Louvre might be opening an annex in Dubai, and that Parisians love their boots.
Phillyist was embarrassed at a job interview and things overheard while shopping, but not embarrassed about going shopping for vibrators or their Mummers parade.
Sampaist saw a huge crater open up when the walls of a huge hole being excavated for a new subway station in São Paulo collapsed.
SFist had a controversial week when a bunch of choir boys from Yale got beat up on New Year’s It was such a big story, even Sean Hannity jumped in. And don’t even get people started on Chinese New Year shows that might be about the Falun Gong.
Shanghaiist kissed a new ferris wheel goodbye but said hello to a cool new James-Bond like building. Elsewhere, they detailed how the poor live in China and they’re really, really tired about hiring how up-and-coming China is.
Torontoist went looking for awesome license plates, purty lights, and a controversial tagger. And there’s an open casting call to star in a production of Dirty Dancing!
Photo of the Mummers Parade from Phillyist
Compiled by SFist Jon Shurkin

The Daily Photoist: Second Period

Gary Campbell — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:30:40 +0000

Each weekday morning, we pick a recent image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It’s our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve!

Torontoist Flickr Pool member room929 (John Fortin) always keeps us on our toes. Take this photo of our Leafs battling the Atlanta Thrashers. He’s used some tilt-shift Photoshop trickery to transform the rink into a miniaturized dream toy set perfect for any hockey fan. It’s a technique that’s convincingly used: Anyone else think the netting at the ends looks like it’s made from a hobbyist’s clear acetate? The vibrant colours in the pic make the players and fans look as if hand-painted with Testors.
(Speaking of models and toys, the scale of the players reminds us of our childhood playing the british table-soccer game Subbuteo.)
Looking at this photo, who knew there were so many empty seats at a Leafs game? At least Toronto’s not at the bottom of their division. room 929 has another cool hockey photo here.

Later Last Call?, No Drake Hotel in Leslieville, Bombardier Deal Confuses Mayor

Ron Nurwisah, Boy Reporter — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:58:47 +0000

The province has given municipalities the power to set closing time for bars. Toronto even gets the power to add additional taxes to booze. The province might even give this power to other municipalities if it works well in Toronto.
Was there a link between the man who took a shot at police in Etobicoke yesterday and a series of recent sexual assaults?
Council wants to make it illegal to harm law-enforcement animals. The law was spurred on by the death of Brigadier, a police horse killed by a speeding car in February. We also think this is a good time to dredge up Matt Blackett’s comments about why police horses should be phased out of the service.
A new city by-law banning Sunday construction noise passed. Construction industry types point out this’ll make crews busier on the other days of the week and may even raise prices.
Drake Hotel owner Jeff Stober doesn’t want to buy East End strip club Jilly’s. Really he doesn’t want to. He’s never even been there.
An Atlanta man discovered a website with elaborate plans on blowing up a school in Brampton.
The mayor has a disagreement with the premier over sole-sourcing of $700 million worth of new subway cars from Bombardier. The mayor feels that the city must buy the cars from Bombardier’s Thunder Bay plant, McGuinty thinks that deal expired back in 1997.
The SUV-driving, cyclist hating Jacob Richler visits the TTC’s next generation test car at Davisville. He spots a guy clipping his fingernails on the test car (who does this?!), a couple of guys dazzled by flashing lights and worries about the “fate of innocent thin people under attack from fat people attempting to settle into the half of a TTC seat for two.”

YYZ: Deep Pockets Going Nowhere

Rob Shostak — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 21:00:10 +0000

Torontoist knows how crazy rent can be in this city. It’s gotten so bad that Toronto is slowly creeping up and catching up with New York City for
cost of office space. (It now costs $50.47 US per square foot a year to maintain an office in Toronto, up from $37.71 last July, 9% behind New York)
It’s pretty tough, and quite expensive to live here. But imagine having to pay almost $11,000 per visit…
According to Air Transport Research Society survey, Pearson airport is the most costly place to land a airplane. For a Boeing 747, they charge $10,986, which is already 45.5% more than Osaka’s Kansai airport with the second heighest fees, and more than double than LaGuardia which is second heights in North America.
But what really grinds this Torontoist’s gears is that in a report to be issued later this week, Pearson Airport is deemed one of the least efficient airports in the world: number two behind Atlanta’s Jackson Airport, which handles the most number of passengers in the world and is one of the cheapest to land at.
[image: Pearson Terminal One - Robonto's private stash]

According to Tae Oum, president of the Air Transport Research Society, “If you add the capital items, they would be even worse because they invested too much money on terminals and the terminals are not well co-ordinated.” But perhaps the new Terminal One will fix this problem. Apparently a reason for Pearson’s price lags is the low non-aeronautical revenue, which is less than 30%, and should be much more these days.
So next time you fly, park at the airport, eat at the airport, sleep at the airport, rent an office at the airport to save the airlines money… but realistically, don’t expect them to really pass any of the savings to you.