Results tagged “northamerica”

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.

Photo by Linnea Helmersson.

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).

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.

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.

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 pockets up with newspaper—converts into a super-warm jacket that was tested (in a meat locker, no less!) to be effective up to -29° celsius.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 battle appeared to be… video games! Playing host to the Toronto stop of the World Series of Video Games, Fan Expo delivered non-stop excitement during which those who still live in their parents’ basements were pitted against each other in intense competitions akin to sporting events. Watching Guitar Hero II champions from across North America rip through a video game edit of "Freebird" while a few hundred people cheered in encouragement ranks as one of the strangest things Torontoist may have ever seen. Also, Battle Royale shirts. They’re amazing, but why does everyone suddenly have one?

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 is the documentary image, Bulger occupies a unique corner of the photography scene, one that has sustained the growth of his gallery while raising the profile of both contemporary and forgotten photographers.

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.

It's not just for pot-smoking, Cheetos-eating, reluctant-to-bathe college dudes anymore.

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!

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.

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. These ladies aren't afraid of blood, bruises, and busted bones, and what could be more fun than cheering on your favourite roller derby girl as she elbows and body checks her way to victory?

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!

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.

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, above all, how the TTC was recently rated the "most efficient" transit system in North America

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 the Good Friday Agreement, which saw the beginning of stabilized relations among Northern Ireland, Britain and the Irish Republic.

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.

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.

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.

Photo by Iamkevin from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

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.