LECTURE: Join urban experts Brian Andrew, Mark Kingwell, and Jay Pridmore at the ROM for a discussion on large-scale urban development. The talk, Shanghai: City of the Future?, is presented by the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum and complements the ROM's current exhibition, Shanghai Kaleidoscope. Royal Ontario Museum (in the Signy & Cléophée Eaton Theatre), 7:30 p.m., $10 ($6 for Friends of the ICC, $8 for ROM Members).
Results tagged “shanghai”
This evening, Toronto Culture and Fort York are unveiling a permanent public art installation under the Gardiner Expressway (off Fort York Boulevard, between Bathurst and Fleet Streets). In WATERTABLE, Toronto artists Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak use video and lights to create the effect of rippling water on the underside of the highway—a reminder that the Gardiner runs along what used to the original shoreline of Lake Ontario. Ever wonder why the the Toronto Harbour Commission building is notably not on the harbour? It used to be surrounded by water on three sides!
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.
Toronto native Lucian Matis, 28, landed in second place behind Evan Biddell, a 24-year-old designer from Saskatoon, on the finale of Project Runway Canada last night. Matis, Biddell, and third-placer Marie Genevieve Cyr showed ten-piece collections at Toronto's L'Oréal Fashion Week in October as the final challenge of the reality show. The runway shows were performed in front of an audience and evaluated by the Runway judges: supermodel Iman, Elle Canada Editor Rita Silvan, and Bustle Clothing's Shawn Hewson.
A lot happens in and around Toronto, but we can only write about so much in a week. Here's the best of the rest, in a new weekly feature we're calling Superfluist. Superfluist will appear every Friday night.
The Toronto International Film Festival have announced 73 films today, which is, er, a lot. Too many for us to even pretend to give them even coverage, so as usual we’re just going to pick and choose from today’s announcements, which are made of films from international filmmakers, and tell you about the ones that interest us personally.
The Toronto Star published a good article Sunday revealing that "the city's Waterfront Secretariat is now reviewing the recommendations and cost estimates of recent waterfront task forces on the fate of the Gardiner." Torontoist hears you asking, wasn't this the whole point of the Gardiner Report released last September? Now that the city has all but canned plans to tear down the elevated highway due to lack of funds, however, discussions are focussing on how to make the best of what we're stuck with.
Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to...
Following a major sell-off in the Shanghai stock market yesterday, other markets around the world fell dramatically, including the Toronto Stock Exchange. It looks like today is more of the same, as the index is already down 61.85 points, or 0.49%. However, given today's partial recovery of the Dow after its 400+ point fall yesterday, it is possible the S&P/TSX could bounce back by closing time.
We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur, the new graffiti king in town, Bill Cosby's adorable dog, and the disturbing tale of a yoga instructor who was found guilty of killing his girlfriend, a dancer from Ohio who stripped to make ends meet.
David Suzuki, Green Avenger and Captain of Awesome, says that Torontonians have the right to know what pollutants are in the air we're breathing. 75% of the industrial pollution in our urban air is not being disclosed to the public! Save us, Suzuki!
This was not a very happy week for the -ist network as one of our own, Phillyist co-editor Star C. Foster, passed away early in the week. Her wit, intelligence, and good nature shone through the site, making Phillyist an immensely fun read. She was loved by many and will be missed by all. Phillyist paid tribute to her this week with a heartfelt letter to her and an obituary.
Before we begin, we'd like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of James Kim. We are not, by any means, trying to discount that tragedy by juxtaposing posts about the Kims with more light-hearted posts. It's the nature of doing a compilation such as this one: we're trying to give a full slice of the goings-on in the Ist-a-Verse: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Jagshemash!
Let's look back at a week in which no site in the -ist network adopted anyone from Africa...
As fall settles in and another calendar page gets turned, thoughts turn from bbq's and vacations to holidays and the realization that '06 is coming to an end. With all that going on, with change in the air, we wonder what is it that made that makes the -ists ponder?
You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater.
If it weren't for our life as an -ist, we're not sure we'd ever leave our apartment. Fortunately, to fully -ist, one must seek out the new, the fresh, and the unknown. Brand new, or just new to us, that's what we're all about this week.
God, we're so sick of that we want to kill anyone and everyone that makes a "something on a something" joke. But then we realized that there was no way we could ever win this fight, and, hell, if you can't beat them, we might as well join them. And with that, you have the theme of this weeks' Gothamist network post.
If there's one defining quality of being a major metropolis, a "world class city" if you will, it is undoubtedly having a hockey team that despite having tons of money and a psychotically loyal fanbase can never win the championship. CORRECTION! It is undoubtedly having heaps of access to cheap Chinese food, preferably of the all-you-can-eat dinner buffet variety.
We -ists are an eclectic bunch, but there's a couple of things we all love: famous people, social causes, and wacky local facts. Join us as we starf**k, get virtuous, and learn across the -ist network!
San Francisco is proud host of a new reality show called "How to Get the Guy" that's unfortunately not a descendant of Will and Grace, Queer Eye, The L Word, American Idol etc. Also a biodefence lab is coming to the East Bay and SFist teaches wine pairing.
If you're like Torontoist, you've spent this grey winter staring out from streetcar windows contemplating the city's facades as you zip by. But while they may look amazing on the outside, it's time for the city to to pull a little Shanghai Surprise with the 7th Doors Open Toronto this Saturday and Sunday.
Apparently police in Montreal will now be fining pedestrians who jaywalk, we figure this'll be like fining Montrealers for smoking. The anti-jaywalking blitz has raised the hackles of one Torontonian, Joe over at the Biking Toronto blog.
There's a whole wide world out there, and here's the proof:
We were intrigued by an idea brought up by David Ross on the Reading Toronto site of a high speed train to Montreal. Shanghai has one that takes people from a suburban airport to downtown Shanghai in five minutes. Torontoist has taken this ride in a cab and trust us, it's LOOONG and congested. It currently takes about five hours by train to get to Montreal, a high speed train could do this in one.
Gothamist posts on the capture of a NYC perv thanks to Little Brother and a camera phone. They also scour the city for vodka martinis and Shamrock shakes and spot the friend from the Wonder Years at a city law firm. New York police think that Littlejohn is their man.
The CN Tower is the world's tallest free-standing structure, it's a mantra that almost all Torontonians can recite, and it's been that way for around three decades. Well, it seems like the CN tower's record holding status is being challenged by not one or two but by at least three challengers. The latest is in Tokyo, where NHK, Japan's national broadcaster is planning a tower that'll dwarf good old CN.

Newsstand: November 19, 2009