One day Pamela Anderson stood in the centre turn lane of a highway, clad only in a Canadian flag...picturing it? Welcome to the lead photo for the "Best of Canada" edition of SNAP!. Now in its seventh year, SNAP! combines a juried competition for established and emerging photographers with a gala fundraiser on March 2 at the National Ballet School. Organizers predict that the works offered in live and silent auctions will raise $140,000......

A brief stint of Radiohead concert rumours spread like wildfires last week. Ticketmaster had announced that the band would play two shows on May 26 and 27 at the Air Canada Centre, but mentioned neither the date for the tickets to go on sale nor the price of the tickets themselves—the announcement was quickly removed from the site. This is not the first time Ticketmaster has announced a Radiohead show that did not exist, and......

Photo by Daniel Kahn. Last night, amidst the falling snow, the torrid wind, and the downtown lights, a sizable contingent of ironically-dressed hipsters, amateur figure skaters, tiny tots, and bewildered parents skated to the sounds of Stars, Major Marker, and Kevin Drew. All the while, Craig Norris froze his ass off while hosting the R3-30, CBC Radio 3's weekly indie rock countdown, at the Natrel Skating Rink at Harbourfront. Besides the music, there was......

The Raptors have reached the halfway point of the season, and almost every news outlet in town has been engaged in the mid-season ritual of handing out report cards. Jose Calderon gets top marks across the board, and deservedly so. His name is even being mentioned as a potential reserve selection for the All-Star Team. Of course, on his own blog and in interviews, Jose has tried to remain humble about the whole thing. That's......

Oh, how this time of the year can be so unexciting. Holidays are done, the New Year has come, and there is not much to look forward to until, well, the new statutory holiday. Until then, Musicologist recommends indulging in the odd show that surfaces from the woodwork and makes trekking through 20-below weather worthwhile. This Friday, for example, is worth that trek: Metal Kites and Great Bloomers are playing the Rivoli for a mere......

Each week, Torontoist shows off the most interesting, creative, and cool submissions to our Torontoist Flickr Pool. We're especially partial to photos that show our city in a new light, highlight a recent event, and remind us why we live here. Join the Flickr pool and show us what you've got. UntitledBY SQUEAKYRAT Ring Of FireBY DOSHA City Hall at NightBY ARIEHSINGER FrostyBY SWILTON 50%BY REBOOTYOURCOMPUTER hibernateBY jasfitz Harbord St., snowBY ANDYSCAMERA miniBY JORDANBOWER Creepy......

After ten years of making wonderfully chaotic post-hardcore, Denver's Planes Mistaken For Stars called it a day in July of this year. They promised one final tour, and made good at the end of November, making their way across the U.S. and Canada before planning to jump across the pond to Europe. A family emergency early this month forced the band to cancel all of their overseas dates and several U.S. ones; in Toronto......

In what simultaneously has to be one of the most hilariously inspired and gut-wrenching punishments in the history of parental discipline, a local GTA father has set a new standard for puffing penalization. The man—an elementary school teacher known by the screen name "k_lid"—decided to sell his son’s Christmas present on eBay (a notoriously hard-to-find copy of the best-selling Guitar Hero 3 game) when he returned home from work early to find 15-year-old Isaac......

Each week, Torontoist shows off the most interesting, creative, and cool submissions to our Torontoist Flickr Pool. We're especially partial to photos that show our city in a new light, highlight a recent event, and remind us why we live here. Join the Flickr pool and show us what you've got. ElliBY URTICADIOICA Toronto, Canada, 2007BY .JL. Urban MiniatureBY DENMAR yonge queenBY TORONTOGAL PHOTOS FILL 'ER UPBY TREFORLUTIONS Time Of ReckoningBY DZGNBOY Everywhere-A-SignBY DZGNBOY UntitledBY......

If there's anything Jesus loves more than flattery, it's porn stars. Well, technically, Jesus loves everyone—even those little teenage tramps and their HPV vaccines—but now, ol' JHC is adding some marketing pizzazz to that affection. Since deities also love acting all obscure and ambiguous, the Michigan-based XXX Church (savvy!) has taken it upon themselves to declare that Jesus wants you to stop looking at porn and instead find titillation in scripture. And they've set their......

Festival fever is sweeping the city—after all, it’s that time of year. But, perhaps incredibly, there are people for whom Brad Pitt sightings and red carpet galas just aren’t worth the Ben Mulroney-sized hype. What, for example, is the ardent audiophile to do in this landscape of visual media tyranny? Well, the good folks over at the Music Gallery have the answer. Starting tonight, the second-ever X Avant music festival gets underway with a headline......

Joel Gibb of the Hidden Cameras (top) and Torquil Campbell of Stars (bottom). Photos by David Topping. Finally, a Frosh Week concert worthy of U of T. After years of mediocre bands, increasingly-irrelevant bands, or good bands who underperform, the university brought Stars and the Hidden Cameras to campus for a free concert for students. Loaded with alumni, both bands played better than anyone could've expected for a free show, with the Cameras' ecstatic......

If you're not already exhausted on September 7 after trying to check out M.I.A., Stars, The Hidden Cameras, k-os, and You Say Party! We Say Die! playing for free for U of T and Ryerson's frosh, why not throw in a little free Yeah Yeah Yeahs for good measure? That night––if you're still looking for time to kill and bands to see––Vice, Rimmel London, and CKIN2U are hosting the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Berkeley......

The bands for both the University of Toronto and Ryerson's frosh week concerts are all confirmed and good to go, and they're all extraordinarily excellent. At about 4:30 p.m. next Friday, September 7, the Hidden Cameras and Stars will play a free concert on U of T's Back Campus (north of University College, at Devonshire Place and Hoskin Avenue) which is restricted to current students. While last year's U of T frosh week saw......

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. Cathy Gordon decided to get very, very publicly divorced on Monday, with an art piece she called "On My Knees." For it, she crawled around Toronto for a while (on her knees!), signed divorce papers, and then......

With the Rebel Alliance continually blowing up all the swanky Death Stars, what's an Imperial warrior to do when in the mood for a little R&R? If you're married stormtroopers Red and Jonny, you end up far, far away in the little town of Caledonia, Ontario, Earth. Normally, servants of the Galactic Empire might stand out like a bantha at the Mos Eisley spaceport, but distracted with an ongoing First Nations protest, the sleepy......

Indie popsters Stars will be shooting a new video in Toronto tomorrow and Thursday and they want you to be in it. If you missed the Joel Plaskett shoot we told you about earlier this year, you've got another shot at your 15 minutes of fame (or at least becoming known among your acquaintances as "the one who was in a music video"). Aspiring extras should send photos and contact info to extras@blinkpictures.com for......

For the time, it seems, side-projects are here to stay. If you take a look at any of the large indie bands from Canada (Broken Social Scene, Stars, New Pornographers, The Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade, off the top of our head), they've got at least one offshoot, whether active or not. The surprising thing is that, for the most part, these side-projects have done a decent job of living up to the hype brought......

"Do you trust your friends? Would you let them redecorate your apartment, or do your homework for you? Would you let them buy your groceries? Would you leave them in charge of your kids? And if you did, what would they change?" So reads the beginning of the liner notes from Do You Trust Your Friends?, the album of remixes and reimaginings of songs from Stars' Set Yourself On Fire, now out on Arts &......

The nicer the weather gets, the busier we get across the Ist-A-Verse. But we like being busy. Here's a peek at what we've been up to since last week! Chicagoist had an interview with Audrey Niffenegger, whose popular book, The Time Traveler's Wife, was based in their fine city. They also had a heated discussion about Rush Limbaugh's controversial Barack Obama parody, talked about whether Uncle Julio's Hacienda is a good place to get......

On Monday, we sent Torontoist reader Roger Cullman (a.k.a. Wordfreak on Flickr) on special assignment for us to Scrabble With the Stars 2007. He kindly sends us a quick write-up, and his terrific photos, both after the fold.......

The Conservative government is expected to announce their new budget today, emphasizing both tax cuts and new additional spending. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty wasn't even particularly coy about the Conservatives' budget being a major attempt to disincentivise (Torontoist thinks that's a word) an election, claiming that Canadian families will like it and "vote for it." He then double-dog-dared the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois to vote against the budget. He then triple-dog-dared them. When......

This week our attention is almost completely owned by Cinematheque Ontario’s offerings, even with the thought of Christina Ricci chained to a radiator in Black Snake Moan grasping at us. Not only are Cinematheque Ontario hosting the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, they’re also showing From the Tsars to the Stars, a series of Russian sci-fi. How awesome is that? (There’s more to Russian sci-fi than just Solaris, doubters.) Maybe they’ll do a season......

The Diesel Playhouse is currently playing host to Cabaret U-Mano, a puppet-based theatre troupe. But their show has more in common with Meet the Feebles than Lambchop's Play-Along. True to its name, the show is set up cabaret-style, with different puppet characters coming onstage (alongside their various puppeteers, decked out in adorable lululemon blacks) and performing songs one after another. For the songs, the puppets lip synch to various popular songs - everything from......

Dust off your party shoes and break out your Canada-themed beer (no endorsements here), because Team Canada just beat the Russians 4-2 in the gold medal game at Leksand-Mora, Sweden to win the 2007 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship! With goals by four different players, including Woodbridge's own Andrew Cogliano, Canada's decisive win sealed their third straight World Junior Championship, and their first in almost a decade not won on North American soil. The win......

Another busy week in the city. Ridiculously busy. Once again, there's something decent to check out every night. We'll be hitting The Decemberists, Imogen Heap, Shout Out Out Out Out (out out out), and possibly a few more. Perhaps even Skid Row (minus Bach). What?! As if you don't miss those power ballads of the 80s! Oh, and it looks like Justin Timberlake is bringing 'sexy back' to Toronto in January. The price? Up......

The AGO’s Henry Moore Sculpture Centre has the largest public collection of Henry Moore pieces in the world. Although Large Two Forms, the Henry Moore sculpture that was at the corner of Dundas and McCaul, has been temporarily removed due to the AGO Transformation, the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre remains intact throughout the construction. Unfortunately, the room with the Moore pieces has undergone its own transformation as part of Wallworks, which features artists’ work on......

He was known for his tales of Old Hollywood as much as his ever-present hairpiece, and Toronto just became way more boring without him. Yesterday, famous publicist and personal manager Gino Empry died at Western Memorial Hospital from congestive heart failure due to a stroke he suffered in July. Though he lived in a huge downtown penthouse condo on Mutual Street, Empry had been in the hospital since the stroke. Empry never revealed his true......

Been on break for a while, but we came back with a great show last week live from the Harbourfront Centre. It was the Roots Remix festival, and we had artists, musicians, kids, tons of people rolling through the tent to say hi. We previewed Cassius' new one, 15 again, look for that in August. And our fake debate show, The Final Solution, explored just how gluttonous you can get at McDonalds. We're talking..."give......

It's a bitter-sweet day in the hip hop neighborhood as Best Kept Secret, one of CHRY 105.5's longest-running shows, and a true staple of the Toronto hip hop scene, airs for the last time this evening from 6-8pm. Best Kept Secret began 12 years ago, when a post-velvet-catsuit era DJ Dalia was introduced to high school student DJ Venus, who would skip class and sprint to the studio to thug it out on air......