Painting telephone boxes may not be anything new, but that doesn’t make these any less awesome. Local high school artists from Rosedale Heights School of the Arts, Monarch Park, and Malvern Collegiate took part in a project fronted by the Beaches BIA to paint fourteen of the usually drab brown phone boxes, bringing a little sparkle of colour to the East Toronto neighbourhood. Odds are the high school students worked for free, so why......

An early Easter this year means you may be looking under snow banks instead of shrubs for your chocolate eggs. The Beaches is a great place to hold your own egg hunt, and while you’re there be sure to catch the Easter Parade. Rumour has it that the big bunny himself will be making an appearance. Illustration by Kevin McBride.......

Every day this week, Torontoist is exploring the future of repertory cinema in Toronto. We spoke to the theatre managers of four major rep cinemas to hear if rep cinema is dying, what it's like to exist in a YouTube society, and what original programming has them most excited. Today, we look at the renovated Fox Theatre and its battle! against! the! killer! dvds! Photos by Jonathan Goldsbie. When Festival Cinemas flopped in 2006, the......

Every day this week, Torontoist is exploring the future of repertory cinema in Toronto. We spoke to the theatre managers of four major rep cinemas to hear if rep cinema is dying, what it's like to exist in a YouTube society, and what original programming has them most excited. Today, we look at the fall of Festival Cinemas, which sparked fears that rep cinema would disappear from the city. In 2006, the future of repertory......

Just because you're being indulgent doesn't mean you have to ignore environmental, human rights, and health concerns. That's the philosophy of the Kakayo Chocolate Company, a fantastic new truffle shop that opened last week. Located at 1584 Queen St. East, right at the edge of the Beaches, Kakayo is a truffle shop with morality in mind. Not only can you fulfill your cravings for delectable, high-quality chocolate, but you can do it ethically. Founder......

There are a shitload of pedestrian- and public space-themed events going on Sunday afternoon: P.S. Kensington, Word on the Street, the below-mentioned Not Blanche, and the "Our Streets – inserting oneself into the municipal process" pre-Walk21 workshop. But for raw pedestrianism, nothing is going to beat the Great Queen Street Psychogeographic Walk, organized by Spacing and the Toronto Psychogeography Society. Essentially, it's a walk. A big walk. Along Queen Street. All of Queen Street.......

Beyond its picnic areas, tennis courts and manicured gardens, High Park is a thriving ecosystem. The Western Ravines and Beaches Discovery Walk explores some of the park’s wild areas, as well as some of the neighbouring regenerated wetlands. The walk starts at the Bloor Street entrance to High Park. Passing the picnic areas and a concession stand, the Discovery Walk signs lead you down into a ravine beyond the domain of cyclists (in theory)......

Haydain Neale, 36-year-old singer of Toronto-based band jacksoul, is in hospital in critical condition following a vehicle accident on Friday evening at the intersection of Eglinton Avenue and Kennedy Road [map]. The performer's injuries are serious, but he remains stable. His family has requested that details of his injuries and the hospital he has been admitted to remain private. Hamilton-born Neale currently lives in The Beaches with his wife and daughter, and won a......

Saturday, June 9 is International Knit in Public Day, the holiday for people who view knitting as a lifestyle rather than a hobby. Fibre fanatics will be taking to the streets for a "yarn crawl" to spread the good word (of knitting, that is). The Toronto Knit Rabble will holding a crawl divided into West, North and Central teams which will slowly make their way across the city via TTC, hitting every yarn store......

The Toronto Public Space Committee last night Art Attacked every single Astral pillar in the city. Photos are here and here, with more to come. The revulsion with which Torontonians responded to last week's sudden advertising invasion got us wondering: If that's how the public reacted to forty street-level ad structures in place for two days, how will people feel about the one hundred twenty new "info pillars" that will be in place for......

The West End has its share of arts events in the upcoming months but what’s happening in the East? The Riverdale Art Walk will feature art from over 100 artists on June 2 and 3 in galleries, shops and parks of the Riverdale and Leslieville areas. This juried arts exhibition is organized by the Artists’ Network of Riverdale along with businesses, friends and neighbours of the local community. Get involved with the event by volunteering......

Dethroned! Ed the Sock will no longer be serving as grand marshal of the Toronto Beaches Lions Club Easter Parade this weekend. After dozens of complaints that the bawdy sock was an inappropriate choice to host the children's parade, the Lions Club replaced Ed with the less-offensive Luba Goy and Craig Lauzon of CBC's Royal Canadian Air Farce. David Miller's 5 per cent city tax is hiking the price of your beer, your cigarettes, your......

Every weekday, Torontoist is facing off local memes and blog drama in a tournament-style ladder and you, the reader, decide the outcome. View the full ladder here. Some highlights: ROM Crystal's sharp edges cut Miller's Hair (104 - 101): In the closest and most depressing match of the tournament so far, a napkin sketch gone wild shears the mayor's golden locks from atop his head. The late game upset may qualify for a recount......

Each weekday for the next two weeks, Torontoist is facing off local memes and blog drama in a tournament-style ladder and you, the reader, decide the outcome. View the full ladder here. Today's matches, Region I + II, 2nd Round: The Giambroney vs. St. Clair ROWCN Tower Ice vs. ParkdaleThe Beaches vs. Toronto IslandsJane Jacobs vs. Gas-Fired Power PlantWest Side Lofts vs. Condo Boom416 vs. Queen WestYonge Street vs. Anagram MapMiller's Hair vs. ROM......

Each weekday for the next two weeks, Torontoist is facing off local memes and blog drama in a tournament-style ladder and you, the reader, decide the outcome. March Madness begins today! View the current ladder here. Suggestions for next year will be recorded! Today's matches, Region I, 1st Round: The Giambroney vs. One Cent Now St. Clair ROW vs. York Subway The Gardiner vs. CN Tower Ice Starbucks vs. Parkdale The Beach vs. The......

Because there are only a handful of Canadians in the NCAA, (and who really cares about college basketball, anyway?) we thought we'd cook up a little March Madness of our own - Toronto style. We have created a tournament ladder of recent memes, blog drama and local news and for the next two weeks, you will decide the winner of each match. Sure beats betting on Kansas State. You can view the ladder full......

Whether you're Scottish or not, it's always fun to celebrate Robbie Burns Day on January 25th. The day is to celebrate the life and death of Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland who wrote such ditties as Auld Lang Syne and Comin' Thro' the Rye, the poem which is said to have inspired J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. He is also known for drinking a lot and womanizing even more, and......

There are a number of shows rolling through Toronto this week. If you're jonesing for some live music, here are a few shows that still have tickets available: July 25 Ozzfest (System of a Down, Disturbed, etc.) @ Molson Amphitheatre, $39.50-75.00 - No Ozzy. Wha?! July 26 ** The Futureheads w/ Tapes 'n Tapes @ The Phoenix, $15 Mission of Burma w/ Republic of Safety @ Horseshoe Tavern, $18.50 July 26-30 Beaches Jazz Festival......

In this post, Torontoist mistakenly implied that the Yard Sale for the Cure was happening only in the The Beaches/The Beach. It's time to clear up the confusion. Las year the Yard Sale for the Cure held it's inaugural event in the Beaches, but this year it has spread to 28 different places, including Edmonton, Oakville, Lorne Park, Bloor West Village / High Park, Leaside / Victoria Village, Thornhill, The Beaches and Peterborough .......

Reports of a student flashing a handgun forced a shutdown of three east end schools yesterday afternoon. The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun. This was the second incident at Victoria Park Collegiate in the last month. Three students were arrested. A terrible bus-car crash last night has killed one woman and injured two others. Rescuers had to use the jaws of life to free the trapped passengers. The TTC driver was not......

Torontoist doesn't want to touch this argument with a ten-foot pole. But if you want to there's this story in the Spacing Wire and you can vote on the signs right now. So if you live in the Beach/Beaches go, or you might be stuck with a name you don't like!......

On Monday night most NDPers were pretty happy. The party got more seats, more votes and Olivia Chow was elected. One let down was Marilyn Churley's defeat in the Beaches to Liberal incumbent Maria Minna. Churley had given up her seat at Queens Park to run federally and now her political career is in doubt. We expect Churley to be a little bit upset but threatening to run against the mayor as reported in......

In the absence of any 'Rock Against Harper' campaigns (which of course would be taking cues from Rock Against Bush), the only role Canadian music has in this election is in regards to that file-swapping scandal. Perhaps Canadian politicians realise the counter-effect partisan media had in the 2004 US presidential election, or note how ineffective Bono was at garnering the Edge 102 vote in the last election. In any case, Marilyn Churley, NDP candidate for......

What's a summer in the city without the Jazz Fest? Torontoist confidante Paolo has absolutely no answer to that question. He can, however, provide some details as to how this year's Fest went down. Here's his reportage: The Toronto Beaches International Jazz Festival once again closed down Queen St. East for three days over the weekend. Live bands were playing at every street corner. Thousands of people were dancing in the streets. And roasted corn......

Who can promote a irresponsible multinational corporation? Sprinkle it in dew? Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? - Dalton's buddies lift energy alert. But that doesn't mean you can leave the microwave on all night. - Buy all the booze you can, right now. - Dear Summer, Jay Z is en route to Much Music. Rick the Temp is going to be grilling him, although VJ Hannah might have made a better......

Traditionally Canadian literature has been divided into two very logical halves, English and French. But within English Canadian Literature there really should be another division, one that reflects this city’s overwhelming dominance in English Canadian letters. The bulk of the country’s publishers are here. The country’s influential critics, journalists and chattering classes live, write and pontificate in the cafes and bars of the Annex, the Beaches and Queen St. West. This dominance translates into a......

Craig White, Graphic Designer...

The sisyphean task of maintaining the city's streetcar tracks continue. This time it's Beaches residents that'll have to contend with welding crews and jackhammers. Until June 30 track construction will shut down streetcar service East of Queen and Lee and Queen and Lark. But to the brilliant marketing people at the TTC this isn't just track reconstruction. They're "Jazzin' Up the Track." No word whether they'll be blaring Norah Jones to soothe affected business owners.......

We can’t all be humanitarian celebs, donating US$1M to the Red Cross’s good work (Sandra Bullock) or warbling on a fundraising single (Boy George, Cliff Richard et al.). Enter Nathalie-Roze Fischer, go-getting local columnist (and chief glamazon of her accessories fempire). With a little help from designers-about-town, she’s organized a massive designer jumble sale taking place this Saturday at Bellefair United Church (2002 Queen St. East in the Beaches, across from Kew Gardens), 10am -......

Polémique à l'est de la ville reine? D’une part, il y a la Beach Home Owners Association qui s’oppose à consacrer le quartier The Beaches comme un lieu historique. D’autre part, la Balmy Beach Residents Association est désireuse de sauvegarder le caractère de leur communauté. Au cours des dernières décennies, beaucoup de changements se sont opérés dans cette partie de la ville, tel la destruction du fameux bidonville au bord du lac Ontario, la construction......