The latest census stats show conclusively that the poor are either getting poorer, or that they're not. The Star toes the OCAP line, rambling about free trade and crappy jobs, while the Post weighs in for the plutocrats by observing that family incomes have actually grown across the board, and that the income stats are misleading anyway. As Torontoist likes to say, you load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older......

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. Gothamist was amazed after the Giants won the Super Bowl, the city went wild, and it witnessed a ticker-tape parade.Barack Obama drew 20,000+ ahead of Seattle’s Saturday caucus.Londonist had Super Tuesday too.Elusive guerrilla street artist Banksy revisited......

Torontonians aren’t that cold, even if we have to be given a reason before hugging a stranger. If you’re tired of handing over cash every time you simply want someone to gather you in a warm embrace, or you’ve collected so much money from selling hugs that you want to do some charity work, then luckily for you the Free Hugs Campaign has unofficially deemed September 10 International Free Hugs Day (one of many).......

If today’s column title gets Rachel Sweet’s Hairspray stuck in your head for the rest of the day, good! Because then we’ll have made our point that the version of Hairspray hitting this weekend isn’t as good as the John Waters original. Though the music not being as good is only part of it. There’s also the inherent irony about making a musical in which one of the central themes is integration through a......

The CN Tower isn't the only building this week to get a rainbow makeover (just in time for Pride Week, we might add). The latest skyscraper to adopt what seems to be an approaching fad is the almost-complete Met Condos at Yonge and Carlton Streets. The cylindrical cornice was lit for the first time tonight with computer-controlled LED panels, similar to those now being tested at the CN Tower. For now, the Met simply......

David Lynch, man! David Lynch, man! Does whatever David Lynch can! Spins a tale, any size, Confuses viewers, just like flies! Look out! Here comes David Lynch, man! Is he strong? Listen bud — He's got radioactive blood. Actually, wait, that last bit might not be true, but for some reason we keep thinking of that TV theme...no idea why. This week people are going crazy in Toronto queuing up to see the latest massive......

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......

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place. SFist Tourist......

When it comes down to it, we should all be glad Niagara Falls exists. Yes, it’s a gash in the landscape surrounded by tack, but on the other hand, it’s a guaranteed day you don’t have to look after your friends or relatives when they come to visit. Just put them on a bus and forget about them. The George F. Walker penned film, Niagara Motel could probably do some damage to this tourist trafficking,......

Kung Fu Fridays starts again tonight after a hiatus for the Toronto Film Festival, with a blistering October Schedule and a new location. Due to the (recently) traditional Royal Cinema being hired out regularly for festivals and so on this month, tonight the biweekly dose of Kung Fu action is being shown at the Revue Cinema at 400 Roncesvalles Ave (that’s 3 blocks south of Dundas West Station, for anyone unfamiliar with it). And......

'Plague City: Sars in Toronto' is currently being shot throughout the city. From the release:"We started developing this project in the middle of the SARS crisis," said Executive Producer Jon Slan. "For me, it was the first time Toronto appeared on the world stage, albeit infamously." So they're saying that while the city was being ravaged by a terrible plague and tourist-frightening infamy, they were already writing the script for the killing and thrilling TV......

At left, and for your consideration, is the Octopus Card Torontoist uses during trips to visit mother in Hong Kong. It's a stored-value dealy, meaning that you stop by the train station or corner store on your way to wherever, put like $500 on the card, and whizz around on public transit all day without actually handling any change. And while it's increasingly easy to use Octopus at convenience stores and fast food outlets......

Though this film sat on the shelf for nearly as long as a recently auctioned piece of holy toast, like the Mary-faced Wonder bread, Infernal Affairs looks as if it hasn't grown the slightest bit of mold. The Hong Kong thriller, which stars Andy Lau and Tony Leung, is a tightly-paced, tightly-written mole on mole story. In it, Lau and Leung (who wowed in Wong Kar Wai's dreamscape of a film, In the Mood for......

Technically speaking, mango pudding involves no baking whatsoever. But if we run our bigger than our stomach eyes across the delectable array of predominantly baked goods at Spadina's Furama Dessert Garden and they land upon a conconction that is neither cookie nor cake, well, far be it from us to legislate against such a delicacy. Especially if said delicacy is none other than mango pudding, that gelatinous and often unfortunately cool-whip adorned staple of Spadina......