On the opening track of Pink Martini's latest album, lead singer China Forbes croons, "Everywhere I go, I see a world designed for you and me"—and every time you spin the record, you hear songs from all over the world. This Saturday, one lone performance at Massey Hall will echo in a mass of different languages, sung in a million more exquisite styles. Says founder and artistic director Thomas M. Lauderdale of the unique......

Photo by Linnea Helmersson. There's something about Sweden and disco that is as perfect as America and apple pie or Toronto and complaining. Following the footsteps of ABBA, Ace of Base, and Robyn onto the dancefloor is critic's darling, Sally Shapiro. The mysterious singer will be making her first public appearance in North America spinning a set with her producer Johan Agebjorn at Wrongbar on Tuesday. Shapiro has other links to Toronto as Paper......

Or it will be tonight between 10:00 and 10:51 p.m., when there will be a total lunar eclipse over Toronto (and various other cities North America and Western Europe, but 10 p.m. is when it’s happening here). Lunar eclipses may not be as apocalyptic and awe-inspiring as solar eclipses, but they do have the advantage of not blinding you if you stare at them. Also, if you catch one at just the right moment,......

A three hour Blackberry outage affected millions of people across North America yesterday, leading to much wailing and handwringing over the temporary unavailability of a technology that didn't even exist ten years ago. Truly we are a nation of whiners. The Toronto Maple Leafs braved the cold to hold an unannounced outdoor skate at Withrow Park yesterday, where they were cheered on by 300 local grade-schoolers. Following the warmup, the kids formed a pickup......

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset. Two years ago, the Toronto Raptors were the laughing stock of the NBA. Vince Carter and his mom had......

Last week, Toronto-based advertising agency TAXI announced 15 Below, a new project to coincide with TAXI's fifteenth anniversary that would see the company create, manufacture, and distribute 3,000 coats for homeless people across North America. Designed by TAXI's executive creative director Steve Mykolyn and designer Lida Baday (pictured), the waterproof, windproof, and plentily-pocketed coat serves as a lightweight jacket during not-too-cold weather, can fold into a backpack during decent weather, and—when you fill the......

Sarah Polley is having a kickass month as her debut directorial feature, Away From Her, racks up the accolades. On Sunday, the Los Angeles film critics gave Polley a New Generation Award for up-and-coming directors. Then, on Monday, the New York film critics felt Away From Her was 2007's Best First Film. In addition, earlier this month Polley was named one of the "50 Smartest People in Hollywood" by Entertainment Weekly. She's the youngest......

First and foremost, we're going to warn you that the video above may not be safe for work, children, or the faint of heart. It's from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario's latest ad campaign. In the video, a young sweet sous-chef with her whole future ahead of her happens to slip on some grease, spilling a vat of boiling water all over herself and horribly scalding her face. While she's on......

Scandinavian Airlines says that they will permanently ground their fleet of Canadian-made Bombardier Q400 turboprops following three accidents involving problems with landing gear. In response, Bombardier will no longer market the plane as the Q400 Skid. The Dalai Lama is in Ottawa, where he will spend three days meeting with Tibetan exiles and politicians. The world's cutest religious leader said during a speech that war is obsolete, noting, "We all come from our mother's......

With the final film line-up announced and special guests already booking flights to Toronto (legendary horror dude Uwe Boll! Direct from Germany!), the acclaimed Toronto After Dark Film Festival is set to play out its second year. Starting tomorrow night through to the 25th, the Bloor Cinema will play host to over 50 new independent and international horror/sci-fi/fantasy/action/animation and generally offbeat works from across North America, Europe and Asia. Aside from director Boll, who......

Hundreds of taxis disrupted city streets yesterday, driving erratically through downtown Toronto, flouting traffic laws, and honking their horns randomly. Subsequently, many of the drivers also participated in a protest against bylaws which limit Pearson pickups to licensed airport limos. More toys manufactured in China have been recalled in North America because they contain dangerous levels of lead. Parents who have purchased the "Eat-Me Play Pencil" or "Old-Fashioned Paint Beverage" toys are being urged......

As Torontoist reported yesterday, the Hummingbird Centre is changing its name to the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, marking the second change in corporate naming rights during the venue's half-century existence. Support of the site has ranged from a philanthropic brewer (O'Keefe Brewing head E.P. Taylor) to a multinational media company. As today's ad promised, Yonge and Front has seen a wide range of performances since the O'Keefe Centre officially rolled out the......

Fan Expo is awesome. As awesome as anticipated by Torontoist late last week. Sure, the food is expensive, a bunch of the guests cancelled last minute, and Hobby Star is a huge corporate bully, but that doesn’t change the fact that Torontoist came within spitting distance of Adam West this weekend. In this three-day celebration of all things geeky, the biggest winner in the comics vs. sci-fi vs. horror vs. anime vs. video games......

Stephen Bulger is perhaps Toronto's most successful purveyor of photography. Since opening his eponymous gallery in 1995, Bulger has curated 110 exhibitions and represented more than 50 photographers, traveling regularly to promote their work here and abroad. In 1997 he co-founded Contact, now the largest photography festival of its kind in North America, during which seemingly every gallery and spare wall in the city is given over to photographs. As a collector whose principle interest......

Got a violin that's collecting dust in your closet? An itch in your throat that can only be satisfied through loud, boisterous singing? Or perhaps you've been wondering if you should integrate your child into the wonderful world of eurhythmics. Whatever the musical-maladie, if nothing but music notes have been bouncing in your head, you might want to consider taking advantage of some free sample classes at the Royal Conservatory of Music Community School. Situated......

It's not just for pot-smoking, Cheetos-eating, reluctant-to-bathe college dudes anymore. Ultimate Frisbee is probably the fastest growing competitive sport in North America (next to Speed Stacking) and the only sport where you can unofficially score "underwear points." But don't expect any dropped pants at the Canadian Ultimate Championships this weekend—these guys are playing to win. Eighty teams from across Canada will be competing for top prize in five divisions: Open (technically co-ed, but almost......

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! Sometimes another man's trash can be a photographer's treasure, as demonstrated in this shot by Flickr pool contributor inventor_77. These old tires piled up in a wall of rubber almost resemble a microscopic view of woven fabric, with the varying tread......

Caribana, North America's largest street festival, wraps up this weekend with the spectacular parade along Lakeshore Boulevard. A celebration of Caribbean culture, but not just for those in the West Indian community, the parade brings more than a million revelers from all over the world to join the sensational Carnival of food, dance, and music. Read on to learn how Caribana came about, and what's in store for this weekend.......

A survey by British research firm Skytrax has named Air Canada the best airline in North America. Travelers who have endured experienced the Air Canada business model of surly staff, vanishing meals, and rising fares will marvel at how low the bar for airline excellence on this continent has now been set. BabyFirst TV is coming to Canada. The first television channel aimed at babies will soon be offered on cable and satellite systems......

This Saturday, July 28, the Toronto Roller Derby League, the largest flat-track derby league in North America, presents "Derby: Dead or Alive" at the George Bell Arena. For a measly $10 bucks advance ($15 at the door) you can bring the whole damn family to watch Smoke City Betties versus Death Track Dolls. See short skirted chickas smash the hell out of each other while shredding the arena on their quad wheeled roller skates.......

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! Caribana descends on Toronto again next week, and on the 40th anniversary of North America's largest street festival, we found this photo from 1993 quite fascinating. The two performers are standing in Exhibition Stadium (demolished 1999; now the site of BMO......

Torontoist was at last night's Under-20 World Cup semi-final between Argentina and Chile at BMO Field and left wondering: "How did a riot not break out?" Well, as it turns out, a riot of sorts did break out after the game, when members of the Chilean team confronted a group of policemen. Reports of taser guns being used have yet to be confirmed, although eyewitnesses swear it happened. How did it all go so......

It seems that many people believe that the City of Toronto doesn't need to levy taxes in order to maintain a high level of City services. If only the City had its finances in order and cut back on spending, they say, then there would be no financial crunch. In response, Mayor Miller likes to point out how many cutbacks there indeed have been and how much contracting out is already taking place and,......

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams addressed an enthusiastic crowd last night at the Hot House Cafe on Church Street, as part of what organizers billed as a "Summer Celebration" of the Irish peace process. Adams is on a speaking tour of North America to thank supporters of Friends of Sinn Fein, a non-profit fundraising group whose Canadian chapter, located in Toronto, was launched by Adams in 2001. Adams was one of the principle negotiators of......

Pandas is an odd name for anything, and more than a little disconcerting if you're a fan of large, bamboo-eating quadripeds who don't like to breed. Luckily for pandas and those who love them, the No Pandas gallery isn't a radical anti-panda group dedicated to the final destruction of that most endangered of species. It's an art show at Xpace, dedicated to exposing North Americans to China's up-and-coming young artists. Curator Siya Chen, who......

The TTC spent today showing off their preferred model for the future of public transit in Toronto in the middle of Dundas Square: a light rail vehicle or, more accurately, half of a full light rail vehicle that Bombardier is showing off around North America—most recently in Milwaukee, where the paint scheme seen here is used for public transit. (Apparently, in Milwaukee, they like their transit to be ugly yellow.)......

Downtown Toronto experienced a hotel boom during the first half of the 1970s as modern skyscrapers and buildings like the new City Hall changed the face of the core. Among those that made their debut: the Sheraton Centre (1972), the Holiday Inn on Chestnut (1972), the Chelsea (1975), the Harbour Castle (1975) and, opening its doors 32-years ago this week, the Hotel Toronto. Western International Hotels traced its roots to the early 1930s, when......

CityNews and the Toronto Star are reporting that Canada's Wonderland has closed its free-fall ride, the Drop Zone (named after the Wesley Snipes skydiving movie) due to a grisly accident on a similar ride in the States. On Thursday, a cable snapped on the Superman Tower of Power at Louisville's Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and severed both feet of a 13-year-old girl above her ankles. The Six Flags and Cedar Fair chains (the latter......

Photo by Iamkevin from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's that time again. Toronto's Pride Week kicks off this evening and runs until Sunday, June 24. As one of the largest festivals in North America, Pride Week has become one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year for some Torontonians—sort of like Christmas for queers, but with more glitter and lights and all the fruitcake you can handle. Since you couldn't possibly attend......

In this column in Saturday’s Globe, our girl Leah McLaren takes Paris, Lindsay, and Nicole to task for their crimes. No, silly! Not their DUI's—she's talking about their sartorial offences! Taking a page (or two, or three) from the Fug Girls’ book, Leah catalogues the celebs’ offences one by one. But her assessment is a bit confusing. For example, she claims that Jessica Simpson’s worst fashion infraction has been "popularizing Ugg boots in North......