One of the things that makes The National's music so brilliant—and what might make the band's latest album, Boxer, the best release of 2007—is its ambiguity. Boxer may or may not be about war (the song "Start A War" is one hint, lines like "Invite me to the war every night of the summer / and we’ll play G.I. blood, G.I. blood" in "Gospel" are another), national pride ("Fake Empire"), media control ("Apartment Story,"......

Click any of the photos to view them larger. Like much of Toronto, we've been a little ROMsessed this week with the opening of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, and now that the public has been allowed in for a peek while it's empty (until June 10), some fantastic photos continue to be added to the Torontoist Flickr pool. With all the hype around our jagged new conversation piece, what tickles us most is how......

With the end of the academic year looming, Three Ring Paper Productions and the Transgendered, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay Association at York University (TBLGAY) invite you to put down your books on Wednesday evening and make your way to Study Hall: A Night of Queer Readings. The event features new and previously published works from authors Derek McCormack, Debra Anderson, R.M. Vaughan, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. The reading is organized by Debra Anderson, who is......

You wouldn't expect to hear the words "AC/DC's Back in Black" and "recital" in the same breath, but that's exactly what goes on each month at the Phoenix's Classic Albums Live concerts. The series features musicians performing an entire album from the classic rock canon, one song after another in a note-perfect recreation that includes (if warranted) reciting between-song banter, bringing in extra musicians to cover overdubbed parts, and sticking as closely as possible......

The Ryerson Review of Journalism is one of the most acclaimed magazines in the country – and it’s run entirely by the students of Ryerson University’s school of journalism. Running a national magazine is a costly endeavour, so to fill the coffers the RRJ is hosting a black-tie fundraiser this Tuesday night. It promises to be a good one. In honour of the 40th anniversary of Truman Capote’s Party of the Century, the RRJ is......

...

One lucky Wednesday evening every other month, a wonderfully eclectic hoard of musicians, comedians, dancers, and all other manner of performer descends on the Lula Lounge for RED: A Night of Live Performance. Tonight is that lucky night this month. Wonderwoman Lisa Pijuan-Nomura has been curating and hosting RED for almost three years now, when she decided there weren't enough venues for performers and artists to simply play. Pijuan-Nomura, a dynamic performer in her......

Persuant to Friday's discussions of the merits of Eckler and McLaren, and who would win in a blindfolded mud wrestle, TOist would like to enter yesterday's NYTimes style piece by Rebecca Eckler as exhibit A in the case for Eckler. Yes, Leah has both a farm and a perky nose, but Eckler has two men, a little lady, and the skills necessary to expose her shambling affairs to anyone who has the patience to stomach......