Results tagged “harrypotter”

Toronto gets a C+ on the annual Smog Report Card. Most of the blame for the low grade goes to the city's financial crisis, which is stalling transit improvements and other environmental initiatives. The rest of the blame goes on YOU. Yes, YOU. In the back. Don't try to point to the person sitting next to you! You horrible polluter, you!

Earlier this week, The New York Times ditched their Times Select subscription thing, a move that saw content previously available for about $8 a month––like some well-liked columnists, for instance––unlocked and made free for everyone. Best of all, though, was the huge amount of material from the newspaper's archives that was set free, dating all the way back to 1851.

Our friends over at Spacing Magazine have officially launched their foray into a whole new blogging environment, Spacing Montréal. Covering the urban environment five hours down the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway, Spacing's new blog looks at many of the same public space issues in Montreal (in a refreshing mix of both official languages) that the newly-rebranded Spacing Toronto examines here.

Torontoist finished Book 7 last night, and we're feeling a little down about the Harry Potter saga being over. Sure, everything turned out alright (and Mrs. Weasley said the B-word!) but we can't help feeling like the wizarding world no longer needs our support. Under normal circumstances, we would be binge eating and watching Prisoner of Azkaban on repeat.

Today is the first day of Prophecy 2007—the annual Harry Potter-centric academic conference where adult fans of the series present papers on The Boy Who Lived. With Book 7's release not two weeks ago, we imagine there was a lot of frantic editing and crumpled paper over the last few days.

Photo of delighted fans by Carrie Musgrave.

James Bow. Transit Toronto Editor. Blogger. Yonge Street dream-dasher. Fantasy novel writer. Anti–Harry Potter activist.

Tut tut tut. We’re all very disappointed in you, John Krasinski, for your decision to star in License to Wed. Sure, you’ve been working so hard to build up your hipster cred—interviewing the Shins, playing on stage with Ben Gibbard, but I’m afraid we might have to revoke your hipster privileges.

We went to the opening of the Kozyndan "Tales of the Bunnyfish" show at Magic Pony last Thursday. Kozyndan are the L.A.-based, husband and wife duo Dan and Kozue Kitchens. They are best known for illustrating The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" single, but they work in both the commercial and fine art worlds. Not only is the installation at Magic Pony a fantastic example of two artists working as one, but also how cute can transcend kitsch. For example, at the opening Magic Pony served Bunnyfish-shaped sugar cookies. As delicious as they were, more than one will end up framed and hanging on a wall.

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us.

Playing at the Tranzac this evening is Harry and the Potters, a band that inspired a new genre of music called Wizard Rock. While brothers Paul and Joe DeGeorge started playing their Harry Potter-inspired songs just to friends, they developed a massive fan base online and began touring around North America. Pitchfork named their appearance at the New York Public Library one of the top live shows of 2005, and now there are over 100 other wizard rock bands such as Draco and the Malfoys and The Parselmouths. Check out "The Human Hosepipe" to hear Harry Potter rant emo about his disastrous date at Madam Puddifoot's tea shop: "Cho Chang, what have I done? I don't want to hear about where you and Cedric were snogging..."

Between fake terrorist alerts and scandals big and small, this just might be the Best Best of the -ists ever. We're exhausted just thinking about it.

Condoleezza Rice promises to "look into" why Maher Arar is still on an American terrorist watchlist. Remember when you were at work and someone at work kept stealing your yoghurt and you were pissed so you went to your supervisor and complained and he said he'd "look into" it? This is kind of like that, except Maher Arar is probably a lot less important to Condoleezza Rice than yoghurt is.

Brazil.

We here at Torontoist thought we’d try out a new weekly feature listing the best (and worst) films to be hitting Toronto’s screens in the following week, as a city which features both multiplexes, second run theatres and blessed with several vintage single screen movie houses, there’s a lot that can be missed.

TOist's favourite sharp-eared correspondent Ann overheard the following jaded exchange between two worldly six-year-olds this weekend:

These beauties came all the way from a pumpkin patch near Woodstock, and Torontoist and our best friend carved them just in the nick of time to display them for trick-or-treaters. We gave candy to a stoplight, a Via Rail train car, a 9-year-old punk rocker, a chimney sweep, and a Hobbit who adamantly informed us that he was Harry Potter.

Up until now, anyone of Torontoist's age who was interested in Harry Potter and his fictional adventures found the need to keep this adoration under wraps. Despite his and J.K. Rowling's global popularity, it was considered trendy to keep distance from the Potter craze. But with the sixth book making more than enough headlines in time for its Saturday release, Torontoist feels it necessary to point out the cooler reasons for picking up a copy this weekend:

Ists are multiplying like Harry Potter fans at your local bookstore. Parisist is up, and it's in French. Once upon a time we had a bit of French in the mix too. Sigh. But this isn't about us (and our former Franco-contributor, who will be making a surprise visit at TOist's party!), it's about Paris. We'll always have Paris, so read it if you go in for other languages.

. The exhibit will show various Potter movie secrets like how they made the smoke swirl in the crystal ball and the various techniques used to make Radcliffe look more like a wiener. The exhibit runs until Jan. 2, 2005.

Toronto's theatre community is all abuzz and aflutter about this item that appeared The Globe and Mail's "Feed the Goat" gossip column today:

Don't hold your breath, but we should know within the next fortnight whether Toronto will be chosen as the launch site for the largest theatrical project ever conceived. My sources in London tell me the show's producers are seriously considering Toronto for the world premiere, either in late 2005 or early 2006. Details of the show itself are under very tight wraps, but I'm reliably informed that it's based on a very hot creative literary property (which is not Harry Potter); that it's not a stage musical in the traditional sense, although music is a big part of it; and that the set uses three interlocking revolving stages and 18 elevators. Needless to say, the estimated $100-million (U.S.) investment would be an enormous boost to Toronto's sluggish economy and its reputation. As of now, it's a 50-50 proposition.

Given Toronto's recent big-time theatre woes -- early farewells to fare like The Producers, Hairspray and Urinetown -- this rumour seems a little spurious.... which is just the way Torontoist likes 'em.Our first guess was The Lord of the Rings: The Musical, but that show -- no joke! -- is already slated to open on London's West End in the fall of 2005. Our next was that it was Garth Drabinsky's big Toronto comeback with a musical stage production of his film The Gospel of John, a hot literary property if there was ever one; alas, we think this washed-up impressario is not up to such impressive impressario-ing at the moment.Our biggest hope is that the project is a megamusical production of Richard Greenblatt's musical-in-development about satirical pianist-in-a-bowtie Tom Lehrer, which he previewed to great hooting and hollering at last night's Cold Reading Series Christmas Cabaret. A blog can dream, can't he or she?If you Torontoist readers hear anything, be sure to let your favourite Toronto blog know now. (Only if your favourite Toronto blog is Torontoist, of course.)