Hope is a cruel thing for a sports fan: no matter how bleak the situation, as long as there's a straw in sight we'll happily clutch at it. Case in point: Leafs Nation, of which we're proud, occasionally defiant members. We've been flip-flopping over the Leafs all season long. A few weeks ago we'd written them off, then watched as the team put together an impressive run (which included comprehensive victories over the Ottawa......

If you're like us (and, God willing, you’re not), then you're utterly exasperated by the ongoing steroid scandal in Major League Baseball. You're puzzled that the United States Congress has nothing better to do than to interrogate multimillionaire athletes who might've used performance-enhancing drugs. Moreover, you're wondering why, this past Wednesday morning, no fewer than three Canadian sports networks were showing live coverage of the Roger Clemens hearing. Is it really that important? Regardless,......

The Raptors have reached the halfway point of the season, and almost every news outlet in town has been engaged in the mid-season ritual of handing out report cards. Jose Calderon gets top marks across the board, and deservedly so. His name is even being mentioned as a potential reserve selection for the All-Star Team. Of course, on his own blog and in interviews, Jose has tried to remain humble about the whole thing. That's......

Ottawa to introduce new fuel economy standards. They will be "at least" as stringent as American fuel economy standards. In response, David Suzuki blew upon a party horn sarcastically and waved a tiny flag, his derision apparent to all and sundry. Bobby Fischer dies at 64. The former world chess champion was famous for beating the Russians, and for being quite possibly fairly insane, which inspired the nifty little film Searching For Bobby Fischer.......

The rumour mill is swirling around the Maple Leafs this week, as a less-than-stellar season and mixed signals from club ownership lead to daily reports about the fate of the team's management and captain. With all signs pointing to a third straight early vacation at season's end, the team's followers are steamed. Fans 70 years ago may also have been frustrated with the club, though in their case the problem was a team that......

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Each Sunday, the editors of every site—from LAist to Londonist—choose their most interesting article, a list which is compiled into the network-wide feature Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse. Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's......

In the best campaign commercial since HuckChuckFacts, Chris Bosh has assumed the identity of a Texas used car salesman in order to try to drum up votes to make it to this year's NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. Bosh has appeared in the All-Star game for the last two years. Last season he was voted into the starting lineup for the first time, but achieving that feat again became nearly impossible when Kevin Garnett......

Toronto's extensive work on the silver screen reveals that, while we have the chameleonic ability to look like anywhere from New York City to Moscow, the disguise doesn't always hold up to scrutiny. Reel Toronto revels in digging up and displaying the films that attempt to mask, hide, or—in rare cases—proudly display our city. Toronto is cheaper to film in than Boston. How do you like them apples? Good Will Hunting does it right. See,......

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Each Sunday, the editors of every site—from LAist to Londonist—choose their most interesting article, a list which is compiled into the network-wide feature Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse. A towering bench mysteriously appeared in Manhattan, and New York City officials are baffled. Chicago tragically lost one of its most recognizable neighborhood icons, the pigeon man of Lincoln Square.The Los Angeles Police Department left a body......

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Once a week, the editors of each site—from LAist to Londonist—compile some of their most interesting posts into a brief blurb. It's Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse, and it appears, across the network, every Sunday. Austinist attended a town hall meeting about proposed noise ordinances that could undermine the city's future as the Live Music Capital of the World, and lamented the possible loss of......

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Once a week, the editors of each site—from LAist to Londonist—compile some of their most interesting posts into a brief blurb. It's Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse, and it appears, across the network, every Sunday. Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without......

Scandinavian Airlines says that they will permanently ground their fleet of Canadian-made Bombardier Q400 turboprops following three accidents involving problems with landing gear. In response, Bombardier will no longer market the plane as the Q400 Skid. The Dalai Lama is in Ottawa, where he will spend three days meeting with Tibetan exiles and politicians. The world's cutest religious leader said during a speech that war is obsolete, noting, "We all come from our mother's......

While the rest of the city ferried their way to Toronto Island for this weekend's Virgin Festival (Torontoist will have more on that later!), art-rock darlings Animal Collective stopped by at the Phoenix (early!) last night on their world tour for their latest album, Strawberry Jam. After an Alec Empire-like opening set of apocalyptic industrialism by Eric Copeland (from Black Dice), the boys hit the stage. Contrary to audience scuttlebutt, Animal Collective did not sport......

The last few years have seen a steady erosion of the stuffy formalities associated with sharing information. If you haven't already heard, the lecture is yesterday's news. Young artists and designers would rather share ideas in a more relaxed and less hierarchical environment. You can see evidence the world over with "open-source" collectives like Dorkbot, Share, Pecha Kucha and Le Placard, which allow artists and the curious public to come together to perform, present......

Even though Brooklyn has been part of New York since 1898, the calibre of talent that comes out of there these days almost makes it seem like a separate city again (and if it were, it would be the same size as Toronto!). Tonight, Brooklyn-based Project Jenny, Project Jan are performing at our very own Horseshoe Tavern for the Toronto stop of their tour, which has already taken them to Philly, Boston and Montreal. Joining......

Ever since the creation of the Greater Toronto Transit Authority (GTTA) last year we have been eagerly awaiting some information about what it is they actually do and/or when/where they will actually do that thing. So, last week when Dalton McGuinty announced that (if re-elected) he would invest $17.5 billion in transit programs to be administered by the GTTA we decided it was time to do some serious research (i.e. Google them). Alas, we......

If you like Honda Civics modded with blue neon, enormous spoilers and V-Tech stickers, you're gonna love what's happening to Toronto's most iconic structure. Management of Canada's National Tower (formerly the Canadian National Tower) have begun testing the unfortunate new animated LEDs that were recently installed, dramatically transforming a brilliant exercise in modernist subtlety into a cheap, plastic martini spear. The "intelligent LED" colour effects will permanently go live after a launch event at......

For a Monday night show at the Horseshoe, there was quite a bit of enthusiasm for the excellent bill of The Rosebuds and Land of Talk. Even though the attendance was a little lacklustre, both bands gave inspired performances that provided for a strong double-bill of energetic rock that got the week off to a good start. As much as their fans are pining for a follow-up to the Applause Cheer Boo Hiss EP, it’s......

There is good advertising and there is bad advertising. There is even good guerilla advertising—depending on who you ask. Take, for instance, Boston's "Mooninites" promoting the Aqua Teen Hunger Force film, which polarized (and paralyzed) the city; last week's Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Tees, which polarized Torontoist commenters; or, now, GJP Advertising's party streamer installation on Queen Street, just outside of Nathan Phillips Square. Earlier this month, as a promotion for the party store......

The nicer the weather gets, the busier we get across the Ist-A-Verse. But we like being busy. Here's a peek at what we've been up to since last week! Chicagoist had an interview with Audrey Niffenegger, whose popular book, The Time Traveler's Wife, was based in their fine city. They also had a heated discussion about Rush Limbaugh's controversial Barack Obama parody, talked about whether Uncle Julio's Hacienda is a good place to get......

Did you hear? Nuit Blanche is back! Transit officials are considering a bus-only lane on the DVP to promote mass transit. "For a passenger, it's very attractive. There's nothing better than sitting on a bus and going by stopped traffic," says GO Transit managing director Gary McNeil. High five to that. Much like the Regent Park revitalization, Lawrence Heights is getting an overhaul. The Jays suffered their ninth consecutive defeat last night with an......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay tribute......

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, strong winds attacked LA on the same day the Feds raided the Crips. Not to fear, though: the Japanese version......

From pristine wetland to industrial transportation hub and the confluence of major urban expressways, the Lower Don Lands area has gone through many changes throughout Toronto’s history. The mouth of the Don River is about to change again. Back in February, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation announced a competition to redesign a 40-hectare area located at the mouth of the river and the entrance to the Port Lands (pictured right). The teams invited to......

You are more familiar with street artist Posterchild's work than you realize. Visit his site Blade Diary, and you'll immediately recognize his posters, stencils and outdoor installations. Like fellow stenciler Banksy once said, "If you have a statue in the city centre you could go past it every day on your way to school and never even notice it, right. But as soon as someone puts a traffic cone on its head, you've made your......

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend... Gothamist spent the week writing about New Yorkers behaving badly: at the post office, at the Garden, and at the fertility clinic. Calvin Klein may not be misbehaving, but he's just a little dirty, and in a completely different way than some NYC kitchens. SFist had its share of misbehave-rs, too, like......

It may be the least-sexy part of an already un-sexy concept (i.e. The Provincial Budget) but the end to GTA pooling is quite significant indeed. For the last few years the 905 municipalities have put hundreds of millions of dollars into a big pool to pay for Toronto's social program costs. The provincial government used to pay for social programs across Ontario (and now will again) but as part of one of his many......

We're guessing most of you are hungover from St. Patrick's Day. Some of us are too. But still, we're going to muddle on through our green haze and give you (drum roll please...) this Week In -ists. We start with SFist which broke the -ist record for comments with nearly 500 comments on a post about our Mayor's girlfriend. She responded back on charges that she's not a "girl's girl" and, whoo boy-- the......

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......