A museum of ceramics may not be everyone's cup of tea [rimshot], but the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art is one of Toronto's favourite buildings. Garnering an unprecedented positive rating of 81.5%, the structure took top honours in the third annual Pug Awards, which were announced today. The Pug Awards, despite their frustrating website, had Torontonians vote on 22 new buildings with a simple thumbs-up, thumbs-down rating. 40,000 votes later, the brilliant Gardiner came......

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. We absolutely love the Pug (formerly Pugly) Awards, because it's not only a criticism......

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. Monday This Is Not A Reading Series presents Ben Schott (pictured), author of Schott’s Almanac. There will be a trivia pop quiz, surprise guests, and more – it’s a TINARS event, so you know it won’t be your......

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: "I wish I could say that in publishing such stories we were creating an appetite for fiction. But, while I’m certain they found an appreciative audience, there’s no evidence it was......

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 make 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......

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......

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. So Torontoist was pretty happy to see the newly redesigned Toronto Life in the mailbox this morning. That ugly, stale red box which branded the mag, gone! Replaced by a softer, new logo, that isn't as brash and domineering but still maintains some link to the past. The second best......