Results tagged “johnmacfarlane”

It's time to vote again on who's been a good dog and who's been a bad dog this year. The Pug Awards are back with their third annual crop of architecture, and if there's anything that Torontonians like to do, it's bitch and judge. And I say that with endearment. That's why I'm gonna trash the Pug website in a sec.

Apologies for the lack of listings last week. The combination of the previous night’s Halloween party and an encroaching deadline on another project left little time for me to gather all the literary happenings in the city.

We learnt from DB Scott's Canadian Magazines blog that after 10 years Toronto Life is pulling the plug on its Summer Fiction Issue. Scott, who gets his copy of Toronto Life even earlier than Torontoist does, quotes from TL editor John Macfarlane's editors column:

In this month's extra-juicy edition of Toronto Life, John MacFarlane continues his winning streak of breaking down the barriers of this city's WASP-laced preconceptions by launching a monthly Toronto Poll, in the mould of George Gallup. Indeed, Macfarlane admits, 'the media love polls, because polls allow them to news instead of merely reporting it.' Sounds good to us. John, assume soapbox-position!

John Macfarlane has been blowing (no pun intended) us away with his alacrity and journalistic balls lately. First, a dazzling re-design, and now this month's tour de force- just check out the jitters-inducing coke-rails on the cover! Indeed, this month's Toronto Life presents the shocking confession of an 'unlikely drug dealer' who 'is from a good family, has a BA from McGill and a house in the suburbs' (the McGill and Western U. contingents of TOist can only wonder which part of the above description is thought 'unlikely' to lead to coke-dealing).

At least that's one plausible showdown if TO's media choose to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by the CTV CanIdol machine. Tired of all the talking head hot air, CTV is asking those press persons who think it's easy to croon badly before millions of Canadians (and then watch your album tank, and then appear as an extra in a low budget Canflick starring a talking beaver) vie for the title 'Media Idol' in the Toronto Media Idol Change. So far CFTO entertainment reporter Jacintha Wesselingh and CHUM FM's Meg Tucker have signed up, but whose representing the ink slingers? TOist would like to see Robert Fulford up there, or perhaps John MacFarlane and Liam Lacey dueting.

Like a stressed out Bay Street banker Toronto Life was in need of a facelift, maybe some botox or at least a really good makeover.