Here's something to clear away your post-NYE doldrums: the Fringe, everyone's favourite early-summer theatre festival (don't worry, SummerWorks, you're our favourite late-summer theatre festival) has had a baby. Aw! Last Wednesday, something called The Next Stage Theatre Festival began at Factory Theatre. Next Stage really is like a baby Fringe: a smaller festival of only 8 shows running in rep at a single theatre, complete with a heated beer tent. The plays, which run......

Last Wednesday, legendary Canadian music retailer Pindoff Record Sales sold off their 72-store Music World chain. Two days later, the new owners filed for bankruptcy protection and and will likely lay off 648 employees by the end of January. And so it goes. According to court documents, Music World plans an "orderly wind down," including closing stores and liquidating inventory. The retailer has been in dire straits for years, propped up by the Toronto-based......

Last Wednesday night at midnight, outside of Lee's Palace. A wild-haired and creepy old man yells across the street at a group of well-dressed young girls. They're doing their best to ignore him. Old Man: Hey ladies! He whistles, loudly. Hey ladies! He whistles again. Party's over here! He whistles again. Over here, girls! He whistles one more time, then pauses. Hey! A long, long pause. STOP HUGGING!......

The Toronto Public Library is the only good thing to have come from amalgamation. One of the worst things to have come from amalgamation, on the other hand, is City Council's insistence that everything that it doesn't do is a result of not being able to afford to do it, and that everything that it does do is a result of not being able to afford not to do it. Last Wednesday morning, June......

Health Canada reports that over half of Canadian kids aged five to 17 are not physically active enough for optimal growth and development. The number of overweight boys ballooned from 15 percent in 1981 to 35.4 percent in 1996; the percentage of overweight girls expanded from 15 percent to 29.2 percent. In less than a generation, obesity in children tripled. As anyone who has tried to lose a few kilos knows, it is easier to......

If you'd like to take thoroughly reading NOW Magazine's live show listings one step further, cautiously enter the Toronto section of Stillepost. The message board is frequented by musicians, promoters, and the like, so a head's up on upcoming shows can often be found. (Info on the Wolf Parade show on Aug. 5, for example, would've helped this person.) But the insider's scoop comes with its share of behind-the-scenes drama. The most recent is......