The wheatpaste of Fathima Fahmy was the first to go up just over a month ago. Two stories tall, it stands on the side of a newly-vacant apartment building slated for demolition in the heart of Regent Park. Since then, ten other larger-than-life portraits of other residents like her—those living in the fleet of low-rise buildings that are to be torn down and built on top of as part of Toronto Community Housing's $1 billion......

This Saturday, June 14th, as part of Luminat'eau, join those crazy kids and Newmindspace for their annual bubble battle. The event is loosely based on the Dr. Seuss classic The Butter Battle Book, where each warring faction (butter side up and butter side down) brings larger and crazier contraptions to the wall that divides their nations until their mutual destruction is assured. Bring your nuttiest bubble guns, bubble generators, massive wands, bubble solution, and......

There are those of us whose parents started bringing us to the Dream in High Park when we were six, who have probably seen A Midsummer Night's Dream a half dozen times, studied it in school on a regular basis since grade five, and can probably recite Helena's "O, spite! O, Hell!" monologue from memory. We will not have any trouble understanding the RSC's production of Dream currently playing at Luminato. But for those......

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. rock N roll's lullaby, child & what the f*** are you looking at, punk? BY DAILY MISERY......

Photo by king_frankenstein. Graphic novel and comic book geeks rejoice—this is your week! Tonight acclaimed Norwegian cartoonist Jason comes to Toronto to launch his new work Pocket Full of Rain. Popular Annex comic shop The Beguiling will be hosting this free event at its neighbour, The Central (603 Markham Street), tonight at 8:00 p.m. Not only that, but next Wednesday The Beguiling will also partner with The Toronto Public Library and The Merril Collection......

Even if you’re sick of hearing about war stories in the news, there’s no denying they can make for powerful drama, particularly when the story onstage is about those who tell those grim stories for a living. BLiNK, the collective creation for Luminato by the inaugural Soulpepper Academy, examines the impact of war on the life of a photojournalist, played by Dora nominee Mike Ross. Using a combination of sonic and visual effects, as......

Luminato is upon us, fair citizens. If you're wondering what to do, what to see, or what's Luminato?, Torontoist is here to play festival guide. We've randomly drawn carefully chosen ten must-not-miss events: one for each day of the city's massive annual "arts and creativity" smorgasbord, which runs from June 6–15. Our staff's picks are after the jump.......

Photo of the Montreal edition of Mille Femmes from Galerie [sas]'s Picasa album. Consider the first editions of Toronto's two major multidisciplinary arts festivals: Nuit Blanche 2006 was a stunning success, a magical playground that revived the spirit of the blackout and provided a moving conclusion to Let's All Hate Toronto; Luminato 2007 was a mixed bag of highfalutin performances not attended by anyone you know (with the exception of the George F. Walker......

While events like Luminato and Nuit Blanche are fantastic, Toronto is sorely lacking in quality, long-term public art. Last April, Henk Hofstra created an "urban river" in Drachten, Holland. The Blue Road installation is an example of what mind-blowing urban public art can be. Featuring 1000 metres of road painted blue and the phrase "Water is Life" written in eight-metre-high letters across it, the Blue Road is reminiscent of the waterway that used to be......

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! Perhaps we're a little ROM-obsessed at the Photoist, but who can blame us when the line-up for free guided tour tickets was upwards of an hour during the first weekend of Luminato. Those who were patient enough were able to steal......

Last week, we asked Torontoist readers to submit their ideas for a Stephen King-esque plot, for a chance to win tickets to King's first public appearance in Canada ever (Friday night!), as well as a whole pile of books. Here are the winning plots. Grand Prize Winner! Mr. Jingles (of The Green Mile) returns as a zombie mouse to terrorize the inmates of E Block at Cold Mountain Penitentiary.—CHRISTOPHER MCGREGOR Runners-Up The letters in......

As the Luminato Fest continues, two more George F. Walker plays open at the Factory. Escape from Happiness is the sequel to already-opened Better Living, while Tough! is another one of Walker's East End Plays, focusing on a different group of characters. The entire play, which is only about an hour and twenty minutes long, is composed of a single scene: a confrontation between three young people in a park. Tina knows Bobby cheated......

We've shown you a tour of the inside, and today, Torontonians will get a chance to take a look at the ROM's new addition themselves following the free street concert tonight on Bloor Street. First-come, first-served timed tickets will be allocated starting at noon for admission into the empty Crystal, and admission is free until tomorrow. The public will be allowed into the ROM's empty new galleries until June 10, when the Museum begins......

Each weekday morning, we pick a recent 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! Luminato is officially upon us as of today, and eager members of our Flickr pool have already captured and uploaded some spectacular images, such as this one by Uwajedi. The interactive light show is already up and running, and......

Running from June 1–10, Luminato takes over our fair city, with over 100 events spanning just about everything arts-and-culture-related. As they boast on their website, "Luminato was created to bring Toronto's best to the world, and the world's best to Toronto." A noble goal, and one they seem to have accomplished: Leonard Cohen! Philip Glass! Uh...Stephen King! Dancers! Artists! An Art Boat! Many things! Luckily, Torontoist (in the form of contributors Sharon Harris, Stephanie......

As you might have heard, Stephen King is set to make his first official public appearance in Canada. Ever. He's showing up to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Booksellers Association on Friday June 8th, at 7:30 p.m., as part of Luminato and BOOKED!. Fortunately for you King fans, we've scored some tickets (and some books) to give away, courtesy of Simon & Schuster Canada. The grand prize is two tickets to the......

George F. Walker, one of the country's most prolific and most produced playwrights, not to mention the creator of the sadly defunct CBC drama This is Wonderland, hasn't written a play since 2000's controversial Heaven, and he claims he may never write one again. But that doesn't stop him from getting produced at Factory about every year. This year, as a part of the innaugural Luminato Festival, Factory will be producing three of his......

Hold on to your horrors, scary story-lovers: Stephen King is scheduled to make his first official Canadian appearance to receive a life-time achievement award from the Canadian Booksellers Association. The event, to be held at the John Bassett Theatre at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Friday, June 8, will include an on-stage interview. The organizers say that tickets go on sale today (but as of 9 a.m. this morning, the website isn’t online). You......

Following the success of Spamalot, another part of the Monty Python canon is about to be "lovingly ripped off". This time it's the British comedy troupe's 1979 film, The Life of Brian. The story, which follows the life of a man born on the same night and street as Jesus Christ, will be adapted by the same duo that worked on Spamalot: Python Eric Idle and John Du Prez. The oratorio will debut in Toronto,......

We know it's hot out there. It's so hot that last night was on record as the hottest night in Toronto ever. According to electricity companies we were just shy of the power record yesterday so keep up the good work everyone, don't do stupid things like blast your air conditioner and open your windows. Heck, try to avoid the A/C all together. A Coffee Time in Scarborough was trashed and robbed by rowdy......