This weekend’s TCAF was a lesson in facial hair and anxious hovering (refer to Karen Whaley's photo recap). Most comic artists are known for their self-loathing and surrealism (what artists aren’t?), but never have so many accomplished beards gathered in one place. Knowing that comics have traditionally been a boy’s club, it was especially great to see so many women artists come out and make it a more gender-even atmosphere. However, the female presence did......

Every weekday, we pick an 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! James Helmer has absolutely nailed the passion, anger, and drive in this protest photo, taken last Tuesday at Queen's Park at a rally organized by "Black Youth Taking Action" (that we mentioned in our news roundup). While an entirely respectable goal......

L’Oréal Fashion Week officially ends today, but for all intents and purposes it's already over. While work commitments kept us from attending most events, we've been following news coverage keenly and have assembled the following recap. Clap Your Hands, Say "Meh" Fall/Winter 2007, as a whole, left buyers happy as there was plenty of "wearable" (also known as sellable), yet less-than-visionary clothes. As a result, the fashion media was underwhelmed. Off-the-record, journalists covering the event......

When searching for a new place to live, what is the first thing you look for? Location? Lifestyle compatibility? Enticements? A blank slate to shape in your unique style? Groovy wallpaper? Judging from today's ad, the latter may have been a key condition in North York back in 1970. This was the era of "swingin' singles" apartments, promoted in areas of the city like St. James Town. Think of this ad as the late 1960s......

Call it cultural tourism, voyeurism, a geek fest, call it what you will. But when we heard that I Maid Cafe—a Cosplay restaurant—had opened up in Scarborough last December, we knew we would be taking the trip to Kennedy and Finch very soon. For those who don’t delight in Japanese pop culture, “cosplay” is short for costume play. It started with kids getting dressed up as their favourite anime characters, which, if you’ve ever been......

The word on the street is that the hottest ticket in town is The American Astronaut, screening tonight at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex) as part of U of T Cinema Studies Student Union’s Free Friday Film. Screening in 35mm, this black and white sci-fi western rock opera is “the best thing ever” according to Todd Brown from Twitch Film. If you don’t think your hands are suitably insulated to hold the hottest ticket in......

We've got an invite to pass along for a launch party, exhibit, and book signing for photographer Geoffrey James' newest effort, Toronto, on Thursday night. James has travelled around the city taking shots of some of the underappreciated places in the city with his wide-angle panoramic camera. Torontoist's favourite local philosopher, Mark Kingwell, provides the introduction. The exhibition that accompanies the book launch features large black and white prints by James and some other......

Friday, we caught the 9:15 pm show of Mutual Appreciation at the Bloor Cinema. Shot in grainy black and white, we follow the story of Alan, a musician who's just relocated to New York from Boston. He's finding his way in a new city with the help of his old friend Lawrence and Lawrence's girlfriend Ellie. Alan's band has broken up, he's got a gig to play, and he needs to find a drummer.......

We’re pleased to say we managed to reach day five of the Toronto International Film Festival before succumbing to a migraine. Of course, the result is that we missed whatever exciting happenings were going on in the evening, including the Planet Africa party, always one of the most popular TIFF parties (which is why they continue to run it two years after ending the Planet Africa programme.) We heard the entire Raptors team were invited,......

Now that we're in the final days of the Festival Cinemas remaining open, the Bloor Cinema took the opportunity to offer some interesting programming: the 1965 cult-classic "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" and Michael Winterbottom’s “9 Songs”. Their scheduling was a welcome change from the second-run films that have characterized the Festival chain for some time. On last Wednesday, the Bloor screened “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” The black and white cult-classic would have been a fine......

Queen or Leah McLaren? Tonight, McLaren will be sharing the stage at the Gladstone with Katrina Onstad. Canada AM's Seamus O'Regan might want to wear a black and white ref's jersey just in case a fight breaks out between the two of them, seeing how Onstad makes not so veiled insults at McLaren in her new book. That being said bashing McLaren and Rebecca Eckler is a popular media past-time more popular than drinking at......

This Halloweekend is packed with scary activities. - On Sunday the Mexican Consulate is helping Harbourfront with Day of the Dead celebrations, which include dancing, food and a workshop on how to make 'sugar skulls.' Also, a claymation short about a man who realizes being dead isn't so bad. - On Saturday there's a superstar graphic novelist panel with Seth, Chris Ware, Charles Burns and Chip Kidd, to be moderated by the delightfully exhuberant......

Industrial documentary photography has a long and distinguished history. The works of Lewis Hines, Margaret Bourke-White and Walker Evans, among others, loom large. Recent Canadian photography has had two extremely capable practitioners of this genre. Edward Burtynsky takes large format, full colour photos of quarries, industrial dump sites and other places where the human hand has been overly influential. Many of these photos are stunning, in size, execution but also in subject matter for they......

Two photos stand out in Irwin Oostindie’s exhibit Axis to Grind: Inside North Korea showing at Gallery 1313 until Feb. 27. In one, a soldier stands at attention, bayoneted rifle by his hands. This photo is what most of us think of when we think of Kim Jong Il’s ‘rogue state,’ a country with a Stalinist security apparatus and a Maoist cult of personality, arguably combining the two worst aspects of Communist ideology. But......

Not since David Cronenburg's 1986 film The Fly (starring Jeff Goldblum) has Canada received such appreciation for our stylized insects. Toronto artist Peter Schafrick picked up international recognition yesterday for his still life photography of dead insects. The 2004 Spider Awards are a prestigious international awards competition recognizing excellence in black and white photography. Schafrick won first place in the still life category for his photo Roadkill, which depicts the demise of a house fly.......

**Warning: due to the sexually explicit nature of this post and this place, Torontoist does not endorse taking ones children or prudish friends here, unless for purely educational and nutritional purposes. Diner discretion is advised.** To really GET Laide, you have to embrace the fact that this lounge will satisfy you sensually, rather than physically. Well, they’ll take care of your senses; the rest is up to you. A few doors west of Jarvis......

Perhaps we're self-absorbed, but we think the Globe heeded our call. Globe 7, we read you loud and clear, and we think this unofficial dialogue has made us all better people. This weekend's cover is a marvel of graphic restraint. And the colours are nice too, though that's a whole lot of Depp neck, and his shirt is some kind of fug. We're still getting a constructivist vibe, which is good because Torontoist's a sucker......

Guy Maddin, the Peg's master moviemaker, and the genius who came up with glass legs full of beer will be live from excrutiatingly far York University, on Thursday at 7 pm, as part of the Independents, a monthly film series on Independent Canadian film. U of T silent cinema scholar Charlie Keil will host, and Maddin will screen a handful of short films, like Sissy Boy Slap Party (2004) and Cowards Bend the Knee.......