City councillor wants to bring in the army—literally—to fight gangs. Torontoist ultimately decided to link to the Star's version of this story over Holy Shit Somebody Actually Said That Weekly. You are welcome. Mitt Romney delivers passionate speech defending religious plurality in America. The gist of the speech is thus: "Don't be intolerant of me because I am a Mormon; be intolerant of those agnostics and atheists over there who should not even be......

This Thursday evening, some of Toronto's finest culture jammers will descend on the Rivoli (334 Queen Street West) for GlobalAware's take YOUR space!, an event that intends to "see how adbusts, culture jams, and reclaiming public space is indeed art in itself." To that end, the night will feature some fantastic local artists, like Torontoist's very own Dan Bergeron (a.k.a. fauxreel)––you may be familiar with his work, be it an in-love Rosie and Donald, a......

If you've ever noticed half of a bike coming out of a wall, naked plywood people screwed into the facade of a building, a portrait of the Gladstone pasted to the Dufferin bridge or a fat rope chain hanging from the next of Adam Beck, then you've seen the work of Specter. A self-proclaimed prankster, Specter's canvas is the city. Always inventive, his art is meant to brighten one's day and cause people to......

On occasion, Daniel Johnston has shed his cult status and entered the public spotlight: it happened when Kurt Cobain promoted him and again with the release of The Devil and Daniel Johnston. And as a recent compilation confirmed, his influence can be felt throughout modern music, including Tom Waits, Beck, and The Flaming Lips. So it was a surreal experience to see Johnston close the Over The Top Festival this past Sunday. On one......

On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? Londonist votes for better skincare, alternative spaces for art, cute little birds and the men who keep them, and concrete. Lots of concrete. Shanghaiist votes for one of the Bee Gees and Air Supply (it's a double-ticket),......

Compared to the past few weeks, this one's a bit quieter in the live music world, but there are still some decent shows to check out. Of note, Beck brings his two turntables and a mic to the Ricoh Coliseum tonight (too bad about the location), you can get Comfortably Numb (in a few ways, we're sure) at the Opera House or check out the moustachiod Killers at the Kool Haus on Friday, and......

As everyone’s favourite girl-about-town Tyler Clark Burke says, “This is really complicated.” Here goes. That sensation we all know and love as Santa Cruz returns this weekend, with not one, but two (count ‘em two) days of fun and adventure. This Saturday at 10pm at the Gladstone Hotel, TCB will host Eagle Eyes: The Party. There will be DJs, games, and “music to make you dance your head off.” Here’s where things get interesting. Those......

It's a busy music week, this one. There's everything from samba to classical music, so all of you anti-hipsters should be pleased. Most importantly, Torontoist's 'Back to School' Party is this Thursday, and we better see y'all there -- especially you anonymous commenters. You know who you are. As always, if there's a show happening that we haven't listed, let us know in the comments. Recently Announced Oct. 4 - The Long Winters @......

Adam Beck did it all. He was knighted, he founded the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario and he was a pimp. With the large statue of him in downtown Toronto that was recently adorned with some of his vintage jewelry, he must have had quite the stable of hoes.......

As featured in the Toronto Star and the New York Times, and just in time for the howl-iday weekend, it's the Islands-as-Geldof benefit CD, Do They Know It's Hallowe'en? There's no real analysis needed here, so here you have the basics: The Islands are two individuals from the Unicorns, who wrote the song to counter the absurdism of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" The track and its four versions feature impressive-slash-slightly unnoticable contributions by David......

The WSFF's program of not oft seen music videos is always a good time, even if it's not always true - it can be a bit annoying to pay good money to see Franz Ferdinand's latest onscreen, when you have indeed seen it on Much ad nauseum. But, for the most part, Scene Not Heard offers up little seen gems. This year, we're curious about Howie Beck's video. To wit: 'A nebbish dance floor neophyte......

Skip over the hooplah surrounding a spate of dumb new Montreal-is-the-new-Seattle articles in places like the NYTimes and Spin and New York Mag, and look at a few more examples of Canadians done good, in the department of cool: - 'Marcel Dzama, where are you?' we wondered. Holed up in the peg with your band of merry artmakers? Probably, but you also found time to design this awesome new Beck album cover. Good work. -......