The annual Polar Bear Dip is a success, raising $59,000 for World Vision Canada. This follows Toronto's proud tradition of really, really bloody stupid stunts for charity, like the Great Canadian Tack-Eating Contest of 1958 and the Who Needs A Parachute? First Canadian Place Jump-Off of 1971. Oscar Peterson memorial concert to be held next week. The concert will feature speeches by Bob Rae and Michaëlle Jean. Because when you think jazz, you think......

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Each Sunday, the editors of every site—from LAist to Londonist—choose their most interesting article, a list which is compiled into the network-wide feature Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse. SFist saw Christmas Day turn tragic after a Siberian tiger escaped from her pen at the San Francisco Zoo, killing a visitor and mauling two others.Phillyist counted down the top ten items on Philadelphia's New Year's wish......

Oscar Peterson passes at 82. The great jazz musician was a Canadian hero and he did many amazing things, including spending the twilight of his career essentially playing jazz piano one-handed and doing it better than most people who had use of both their hands. Police catch 12-fingered man. Moral: if you have extra fingers, do not try to assault people. It's kind of a dead giveaway. Pope Benedict urges Catholics to "set aside time"......

Probably the best thing you can say to any artist is that their work remains relevant and surprising regardless of age. For the most part this is the case with the work of Canadian animator Norman McLaren. Born in Scotland but working for most of his life with the NFB, McLaren was arguably the greatest Canadian animator ever and a natural choice for an NFB retrospective celebrating not only his work but the 65th anniversary......

Six men have been arrested for an early morning home invasion in a condo near the Rogers Centre. This is the first time we've heard of a home invasion in a condo building and hope that it isn't a new trend in crime. A motorcyclist in his early 20s died after slamming into a Gardiner Expressway off-ramp. The City has found two companies to take about half of Toronto's sludge. The Michigan landfill that took......

It's great when the Jazz Fest finally rolls around because it helps Torontoist justify paying all those banking fees. There are so many good shows that it'll be hard to catch them all, but hopefully this list will help you find your jazz beat. Aside from the acts listed below, music at 49 different venues around the city and the millions of tourist dollars the festival brings into the city, you can catch late......

Pretty cool how the CBC got chart topping American R'n'B star Usher to perform at tonight's Canada for Asia Tsunami Relief benefit. Oh wait, that's David Usher. Oscar Peterson and the Tragically Hip will do just fine, though. Besides, who needs Usher when we've got Keisha Chante! Holla!......