Results tagged “iran”

                     

On Sunday, more than five thousand people gathered on the lawns of Queen's Park in front of the Ontario Legislature for an impassioned demonstration against the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the subsequent violence against supporters of the defeated opposition candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi in Iran. With some protesters flying Iran's current flag while others waved the country's flag as it existed before the Islamic Revolution, emotions ran high in the crowd: some argued first with one another, and then—as police moved in to form a barrier at the front of the crowd as several people remonstrated forcefully with the speakers—with the police themselves.

180,000 people have applied to buy tickets for the eight games that the NFL's Buffalo Bills will be playing at the Rogers Centre between now and 2012. The tickets will range as high as $295 (pre-scalper), which is still better than having to go to Buffalo. Because it's such a long drive, we mean. Geez, stop being so sensitive, Buffalo.

It’s almost time for the Toronto International Film Festival for Children, Sprockets (it runs this year from April 12th to 18th) and the complete line-up of films has been announced. Once again this year all film journalists will find it impossible to mention the festival without bringing up Mike Myers (after all, it’s was one of the best SNL sketches ever, really) but far more relevantly, this year Sprockets features 68 films from 26 countries in 15 languages, maintaining its position as one of the most amazing opportunities for children from ages as young as three to connect with the visual language of other cultures.

Toronto principal in controversial controversy over explicit poems he wrote and posted to his website. This is of course the first recorded case ever of somebody getting in trouble for something they wrote on the Internet, and the scandal has sent shock waves through the online community. "Wait, somebody actually this shit?" said Patrick Metzger. "Dammit, I better re-emphasize that my erotic snuff story about Geri Halliwell is purely a work of fiction!"

In the most important news story of the day, two people have been arrested in the mysterious case of Huckleberry, the dog who vanished from outside a Yonge Street bakery and was returned after his owner offered a $15,000 reward. Police haven't said whether they believe Huckleberry was in on the caper.

Though there are only three new films on release this week, it would be unfair to bemoan the shortage when one film, , is of a high enough quality that it might as well be the only film released. During TIFF 2007 Christopher Bird handed it a 5/5 and called it "a masterwork in every way that matters."

The University of Toronto has announced that Ramin Jahanbegloo—academic, author, and former Iranian political prisoner—is returning as a professor of political science and a member of the scholar-at-risk program in Massey College.

It's Boxing Day! Go spend money! If you don't, Canada's economy will suffer and it will all be your fault! You probably don't even own all the seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD yet, do you? You slacker.

Almost half of all Toronto-area residents are foreign-born. This is the first little tidbit released from the 2006 census, which the government is doling out as if it were a movie trailer or something. (Will Smith versus zombies: probably more entertaining.)

A Milton woman went on a rampage with a samurai sword on Sunday, injuring her boyfriend and an off-duty firefighter, smashing windows at a gas station and hacking at a parked car. While Torontoist doesn't condone senseless irrational violence, you've got to give her points for style.

The Toronto One Minute Film & Video Festival turns five tomorrow. Not to be lumped in with our typical neverending, city-spanning, celebrity-scoping, press-pass flossing film fests, this one usually comes and goes gracefully before anyone even knows it exists. Sixty films, 60 seconds each, played back-to-back at the Bloor Cinema. You couldn’t get bored if you tried. Founded in 2003 as the result of a dare among friends and former-filmmakers in Toronto, the idea is...

In June, 200 media professionals, producers, activists and academics packed into a Bathurst Street studio for a party celebrating the launch of a new English-language global news and documentary network, The Real News. If building an international news network from scratch doesn’t sound mind-boggling-ly ambitious to you, consider this: Real News CEO Paul Jay is promising to accomplish this feat without corporate, government or advertising dollars. This makes The Real News the world’s first...

So, things are rapidly going to hell in Pakistan. Somewhere between one and two thousand people have been "detained" (i.e., dragged away) since Saturday and all private television stations shut down and the country is about ninety percent of the way to pure chaos, which, given that they have nuclear weapons, is bad. Of course, the White House managed to find the good in the situation, namely that Iraq could be as bad as Pakistan.

Toronto can't seem to keep its trash out of trouble. Those giant sidewalk trash bins aren't generating enough in ad revenue to honour their $1-million-a-year payout to the city, so now what? Well, bids for Toronto's street furniture contract are still being accepted. The winning companies will be supplying garbage bins, bus shelters and bike racks for no cost, but will reap the benefits of the "furniture"'s potential adspace.

but not actually meaningful.

Mayor Miller officially launched his re-election campaign by not mentioning Jane Pitfield and throwing a party instead. Over a dozen councillors showed up to lend their support and even environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr. sent in a video message.

Contrary to popular belief Torontoist actually likes a good animal story. So we're really happy to see not one but two of 'em this morning. A protective pair of Canada Geese has taken up residency outside Sherway Gardens mall in Etobicoke. The male and female are protecting a nest of eggs and will hiss and attack shoppers who get too close.

So… The festival has been on for a full day, and Torontoist has very little to actually report, having stayed in for the night. Well, it did see the star of Short Cuts Canada film ‘Patterns’ (by Jamie Travis) wearing a stylish lime green dress and looking a bit confused, so there is that, if anything. That film is in Programme 5: Genre Redux, if you like the sound of her.

So tonight is the big opening of the Festival, with certain sections of the city all abuzz with poseurs yammering into cell phones, except now not in Canadian accents! All the staff and hardworking volunteers will be hoping it all goes off without a hitch, terrified and excited at the thought of nearly two weeks of celebrities, parties, networking… oh, and films, I guess. The opening night Gala tonight is Deepak Mehta’s Water, a film shut down by Indian extremists, forcing the director to film the rest of her examination of ostracized Indian widows in Sri Lanka. Torontoist, naturally, doesn’t have tickets, and due to Ontario’s severe laws won’t be scoring any on eBay either, so we're here with a look at the Contemporary World Cinema and Reel to Reel programmes.

Torontoist friend Stephanie Silverman reports: