Sarah Lazarovic—curator of the garage-based Montrose Portrait Gallery of Canada—is painting a portrait of a Torontonian every day. Each Monday, we'll feature one of those portraits here. Leonard Cohen thinks Mike's serves up the best hot dogs in town (we thought he'd be all about Buddha Dog!). He's known to take friends and fans down to the John Street doggery for a bite. On a recent snack-finding mission, Mike's friendly man at the grill was......

Moving insect legs! A dazzling shimmer wall! Faux beach, part deux! Waterfront Toronto has selected three proposals for the redevelopment of the Jarvis Street slip area, which currently features a dumpy, underutilized parking lot and not much else. Already part of the greater Waterfront Revitalization Plan, Lower Jarvis and Queen's Quay will soon be home to some new architecture (namely First Waterfront Place, the headquarters and studios of Corus Entertainment) and will be the......

While you may not know who Karim Rashid is, chances are you have a few pieces of this stellar designer’s work in your home. And while you can see some of his more popular items at your local Canadian Tire retailer, it’s at OCAD where you will find his favourites. From 15 Minutes into the Future is an intimate look at a selection of Rashid’s work, including custom-designed ceiling and wall treatments created especially for......

When you think of literacy, chances are the first name that comes to mind isn't Slash. But the notoriously bad-assed guitarist from rock legends Guns n' Roses has recently come out with an autobiography detailing his many, many encounters with sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. He was born in England but moved to LA in the early seventies, where he was surrounded by musical icons such as Joni Mitchell and David Geffen, and even......

This Friday, November 16, we (Newmindspace) will be hosting our very first lightsaber battle! This summer at Burning Man, we witnessed a 10,000-person lightsaber battle put on by a camp called Watto's Junkyard, easily the largest lightsaber battle since the Jedi Civil War. However, with our limited resources, we realized that without a large donation from a rich weirdo (which are plentiful in San Francisco), we would probably not be able to get the......

Peter Gatien was, at one time, the undisputed king of nightlife in New York City. After being driven out of the United States by a government crackdown on nightclubs led by former New York mayor and current American presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, Gatien made Toronto his home, and is now opening CiRCA in the former Playdium/Lucid location on John Street. Gatien calls the 55,000 square foot CiRCA an "entertainment complex," which hardly begins to......

When a dozen U.S. 7-11s were converted into Kwik-e-Marts earlier this month, Torontoist wondered when we were going to get our share of The Simpsons' Movie hype. First, savvy ad execs painted a giant donut around the base of the CN Tower. Now, the Fox and Fiddle (106 John Street) is being turned into Moe's Tavern for a Thursday night post-screening party. Rumour has it that Flaming Moes will be served. Rumour also has......

Last night at City Hall, Councillor Adam Vaughan conceded defeat in the fight to keep the John Street Roundhouse from becoming a big box retail outlet. He withdrew his motion [PDF] calling for a temporary freeze on the redevelopment of the Roundhouse into a Leon's outlet. The news derails a movement against the proposed furniture store that had been gathering steam recently. First, a Friends of the Roundhouse group, which included former Mayor David......

Every weekday, we pick an image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve! We were struck by this photo captured by Flickr pool contributor jim.vanmeggelen of the inside of Toronto Railway Company #1326—specifically by the workmanship inherent in these old streetcars. This particular car was built in 1910 and retired 41 years later, and......

It was inevitable: the movement to rescue the truck slammed into the side of the CityTV building (and yes, there is a movement) now that their headquarters are being relocated to John Street has a Facebook group. The truck is slated to come down soon, probably today, and the group is gaining momentum—they almost doubled their numbers (literally) overnight. While the Sam's sign is one thing—a cultural icon that meant so much to so......

Photo of CP-7069 from Railroadfan.com On the weekend when we celebrate our nation's history, we seem on the verge of destroying some of it. Sitting in its home at the CPR John Street Roundhouse, a 1948 CP Rail locomotive engine known as the Hauling Fool is about to be scrapped to make way for a Leon's furniture store, and there is little its owners can do about it. Located just outside Bay 14 at......

Summer in Toronto means an abundance of excellent music and food. This Thursday evening, the Music Gallery will satisfy both with a party to celebrate the end of their 2006-7 season. Expect a tasty selection of edibles and listenables: the lineup includes Kanaka with Paradigm Brass Ensemble, Tim Hecker, Katherine Liberovskaya and Phill Niblock with guest Matt Rogalsky, and, of course, the prerequisite burger (vegetarian-friendly options will be available). The party takes place in......

Spring has finally sprung in a big way, just in time for Earth Day. Tomorrow, why not try something new, while also doing your part to help save the planet? Number three on the “Top 10 Actions” to help the environment on the Earth Day Canada website is try eating meat-free at least one day a week. The reason according to them is this: a meat-based diet requires seven times more land than a plant-based......

In yet another show of contempt for the residents of Toronto, Transportation Services and "Clean and Beautiful City" staff have opted to put the models of the City’s proposed street furniture on display to the public for one day only; they will be visible in the City Hall rotunda from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, April 4. This is a project that will determine the look and feel of all of Toronto......

As David Miller heads for a “well, there’s no one else to vote for” style victory for his second term as mayor of Toronto, it’s easy to forget that only three years ago he was a virtual unknown who surprised everyone by becoming mayor of Canada’s largest city. During that campaign, filmmaker Andrew Munger had unprecedented access to the candidate, his family and campaign team. Mungers' film Campaign: The Making of a Candidate is......

Way, way, back, Torontoist reported that transit activists were busy organizing a transit forum in an attempt to promote civic engagement in public transit. You've probably been wondering, "what ever happened to that forum? Could Torontoist have misreported?" Well, we were a year off in our prediction as to when it was to happen, but it is happening: this Friday and Saturday join transit activists, politicians, and the staff of various transit providers to......

The National Post Toronto section has a chintzy little story on the top 10 pick-up joints. Some of the sites are questionable, Woodbine Racetrack, the Shouldice Hospital (which specializes in hernias!). Others kinda make sense, High Park is a no-brainer and so's the boulevard on Lakeshore, the Chapters on John Street also gets picked as a good spot, you can invite your new crush for a movie right away if you're really slick. The subway......

On the eighth extreme heat warning, the city offers these cool* hangouts: Etobicoke - 399 The West Mall (Burnhamthorpe and Hwy 427) East York - 850 Coxwell Avenue (Coxwell and Mortimer) North York - 5100 Yonge Street (Yonge and Sheppard) Metro Hall - 55 John Street (John and King) But if Civic Centres aren't necessarily your scene, and you don't want to be an electricity swine, run through the following low temp checklist and you'll......

When the possibility of an election loomed last week city mailboxes were flooded with reams of wasted paper and brochures claiming impending parliamentary successes (Jack Layton and his budget flyer). But taking the cake was Tony Ianno's newsletter, usually just a boring, tree-wasting, badly designed thing listing advancements Ianno claims to have had a hand in. Until this week. This week Lazy Tony decided to show the world that he, along with Ralph Goodale, is......

If you haven't seen the commercial where Paris promises it's gonna be HOTT in Toronto tonight....heads up on Queen Street tonight boys, cause Paris Hilton and Elisha Cuthbert are in town to promote their highly anticipated screaming-chick-horror-flick House of Wax. John Street's already blocked off, apparently they're expeciting a bit of a crowd? Yep, that's two "it" girls on one crowded little red carpet, for a "special" live event at 7pm on Much Music. Torontoist......

Three newish authors take to the Chapters stage this evening, as part of Random House's New Faces program, an initiative that champions first-time novelists, and allows publishing houses the opportunity to write glowing letters about said initiatives. This one discusses the first lines of all three speakers' novels, and TOist is more than impressed by the spectacle of words that comprise the opening line of Emma Richler's Feed My Dear Dogs: "Jude always said a......