Popular Québécois cartoonist Michel Rabagliati will be making an appearance at the Lillian H. Smith Library (239 College Street) on March 15 at 5:00 p.m. to promote his latest book, Paul Goes Fishing. Rabagliati will participate in a Q&A session with The Beguiling’s Peter Birkemoe and sign books for loyal fans of the Paul series. And it's free! Who is Paul? It is Michel himself, with a smattering of fiction here and there ("5......

Leave it to CanStage to somehow, in the midst of extreme internal upheaval what is maybe their darkest financial hour, be simultaneously running two of their strongest shows by far in recent memory. In fact, Palace of the End (which closes tomorrow night) and The Clean House (which runs until March 8) aren't just good shows for CanStage, they would be amazing shows for anywhere. Hopefully, they can win the audiences they deserve, but......

Calling all local dance floor heroes and heroines! Hearts are ga-gunking to the clocks, which countdown to a night of pure electro-bliss. This Saturday night, Kensington Market’s Teranga (159 Augusta Avenue) will play host to Woodhands, Bocce, Opopo, and Green Go for what will undoubtedly be the sweatiest night of your lives. Too generous? No! With a lineup like Saturday’s, you'll definitely need to bring a second set of clothes. Woodhands is fronted by keytar......

Photos courtesy of Light in the Attic Records The landscape of soul music, more than any other genre, has been littered with talented artists with unfulfilled careers spent in obscurity, grinding out appearances in dingy bars in the search for the elusive radio hit. Such was the fate of Jay Douglas, The Mighty Pope and many other pioneers of Toronto’s soul and reggae scene in the 1960s and 1970s. These artists—who are reuniting for......

Provincial Education Minister Kathleen Wynne has tabled a bill that would ban trans fatty foods from Ontario schools. Trans fats and young people have been a hot public safety issue since 2005's infamous "Summer of the Muffin." Conservative MP James Moore yesterday angrily rejected allegations from NDP MP Irene Mathyssen that he had been viewing a picture of a "scantily clad woman" on his laptop while in the House. Although Mathyssen later apologized after......

The Real Toronto's hook is relatively simple. Filmed in the summer of 2005 by a now-24-year-old Russian immigrant nicknamed Madd Russian, it aims to show that "Toronto, known to most as a world class city has another side to it. This movie shows the reality of living in housing projects and some of the most run down areas in the city. This footage includes interviews with gang members, drug dealers and some of the......

Hanging out in the city with Torontoist's Summer Reads. LitTO continues this week with a few summer reading picks. These are literally reading choices for the season, as we haven’t read them yet, but plan to take them to the cottage. Films and Poems by John Barlow, LyricalMyrical. John Barlow’s poems have a habit of looking at this crazy world, not agreeing with it, and finding their own peace and happiness. He has a......

Toronto’s DIY fashionistas, independent designers, eclectic personalities and thrift store scavengers get a chance to flaunt the city’s indie fashion credentials this Wednesday at the Cadillac Lounge. The latest issue of Broken Pencil, dedicated to the aesthetics, culture and history of indie chic (and haircuts!), just arrived in stores. To mark the launch, the arts magazine will be hosting an all out celebration of indie style, including its first ever Indie Style Fashion Contest. Party-goers......

James Bow. Transit Toronto Editor. Blogger. Yonge Street dream-dasher. Fantasy novel writer. Anti–Harry Potter activist. In what may be the best indie literary publicity stunt in some time, Bow will stage a half-serious one-man picket beside the midnight line-up of Potter fans waiting outside Another Story Bookshop (315 Roncesvalles Avenue) this Friday night. The fans, of course, will be there to get their hands on a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the......

LitTO Summer Reading Pick: check out Prose Karen from Neitzsche’s Brolly. Remember LitTO’s plan to help author Natalee Caple and Jeremy Leipert win a contest to marry on the midway at the Calgary Stampede? The couple received 177, 000 online votes, and as they say at The Stampede, “got hitched,” last week. The bride and groom wore cowboy boots, and their first act as marrieds was a ride on the ferris wheel. Congratulations to......

Torontoist vs. Torontoist is an occasional feature that has two of our staffers debating an issue that is important to our city. We invite our readers to join the debate in the comments section following the post. Last week, Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive Chris Rudge (who Torontoist believes may have been separated at birth from David Miller) floated the idea that Toronto should seriously consider putting together a bid to host the 2020 Summer......

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......

City Council plans to create as many as 21 new leash-free areas for dogs by the end of the year. Councillor Howard Moscoe calls for fences to separate people and canines, saying, "The problem is the dogs can't read the signs. We'd lose control completely unless they're fenced areas." Alarmed local media dub 2007 "The Summer of the Dog." 24 people, including a Toronto police officer, were arrested yesterday and charged with being part of......

Summer: the official season of barbecues, cottages and having a nice cold beer. To honour the finest microbrews in the GTA and Ontario, The Bar Towel is once again asking for the public to vote for the 2007 Golden Tap Awards and have a voice in who should go home with one of the eight coveted awards. The main competition in the GTA categories is the Mill Street Brewery, especially now that they have their......

Summer in Toronto means an abundance of excellent music and food. This Thursday evening, the Music Gallery will satisfy both with a party to celebrate the end of their 2006-7 season. Expect a tasty selection of edibles and listenables: the lineup includes Kanaka with Paradigm Brass Ensemble, Tim Hecker, Katherine Liberovskaya and Phill Niblock with guest Matt Rogalsky, and, of course, the prerequisite burger (vegetarian-friendly options will be available). The party takes place in......

The World Naked Bike Ride wants to make a point that there are many things more offensive than a bare bum. The indecent exposure is not to some guy's twig n' berries, but to our polluted environment. On Saturday, Toronto was among 70 cities around the world that took a spin au naturel as a celebration of cycling, a protest against car culture, a comment on pollution, or just to express some exhibitionist tendencies.......

...need to know the latest bridge strategies. Businesses rushed to latch onto hippies during the "Summer of Love" as their next target market, if only to convince squarer clientele of how their product swung with the times (and there was a lot of swinging going on within the pages of Toronto Life's first half-decade). The pair on the right appears to be part of a Velvet Underground-style band—he with Sterling Morrison/Andy Warhol pockmarked skin,......

Each weekday morning, we pick a recent 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! Yesterday, we featured the Toronto FC in the Daily Photoist, but we can't forget how spring also reveals our Boys of Summer. This minimalist shot of Jays centrefielder Vernon Wells was captured by dave_in_t_o, and we like how it......

The fine for street racing is now $10,000. There goes my weekend. A man was discovered stabbed to death at 1:30 a.m. this morning on an empty subway car at Kennedy Station. The station was closed for investigation for most of the morning rush hour, and details are limited at this point. We'll keep you posted. Pro-Tip #6834: Don't describe a women's college basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" if you value your job at......

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyway, onto the -ists. Austinist happily anticipated fall's Austin City Limits, even though they're not fully recovered from South By Southwest. In other......

Gas shortages continue to plague Ontario and Quebec and it isn't getting better anytime soon. Hybrid owners laugh manically as the world slowly crumbles around them. Mad Max-style mayhem ensues. Mayor David Miller unveiled his plan to bring a one-cent share of the GST to Toronto. Miller's secret weapon? Green-coloured buttons and posters. Predictably, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty responded with a resounding "no way man." Sources close to the Mayor say he will counter with......

It was curtains in Orange County last night as FOX’s golden child threw its final punch. After four years in The O.C., creator Josh Schwartz has taught us that money can’t buy happiness, but it sure does buy a Range Rover full of jaw-dropping plot twists. At a time when television was dominated by Who Wants to Survive My Geek Super Nanny and other such reality gems, those lovable but not infallible kids from Newport......

Once a month Torontoist would like to encourage you to drag yourself off the couch and across the room to that nice, comfy swivel chair in front of your computer, to experience something from the wonderful world of streaming. Anyone who's visited YouTube or eBaum's World knows how gratifying watching two Asian kids lipsynch to Jessica Simpson can be! So in the interest of expanding your horizons (or at least giving you some way to......

Photo by David Topping Torontoist (in the form of staffers David Topping and Marc Lostracco) was on the scene earlier this afternoon as a fire consumed the ultra-famous Sassafraz Cafe in Yorkville. The area was filled with smoke, and Bloor from Queen's Park to Bay was completely shut off to traffic as some 29 firetrucks crowded the area. There were no injuries, though the building itself may be beyond repair. Notably, we spotted Rachel......

Competition was fiercer than the Daytime Emmys on Thursday at the 2nd Annual Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning, but Michel Rabagliati took the prize for Best Book with Paul Moves Out. Set in 1970's Montreal, the sequel to Paul Has a Summer Job documents Rabagliati's first days cohabitating with his future wife during art school. While this year's nominees like Scott Pilgrim Volume 2 and Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea were remarkably......

The members of Henri Faberge and the Adorables have affectionately called their much touted lakeside CD release party "Afternoon Delights on a Hot Summer Night." Sadly they're only half-right with the last weekend of the summer being cooler than some of the scorching hot days we had back in July and August. Fortunately for us they got the first half right. With Woodhands, Barmitzvah Brothers, Gentleman Reg and the Bicycles joining forces with Henri Faberge......

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place. SFist Tourist......

Back To School* Cheat Sheet: Thursday, September 21st @ The Tranzac (292 Brunswick Ave.) Doors at 9pm ▪ $5 cover ▪ 19+** Featuring: Dollarama ▪ Idiots! The Ghost is Dancing ▪ DJ Wes Allen Summer is all but done. The sun's gone into hiding. Sure, the Film Festival is going strong, but when Brad Pitt leaves, what's left? Evenings of studying, or, worse, working, reminiscing about how much you miss studying? Another long, depressing......

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. 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. LAist's sex advice column on......

As the summer slowly makes way for what seems to be an early fall, pretty soon we'll all spend more time huddled around the fireplace for the... holiday season. That's right... Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Kwanzaa are just around the corner, and the family is coming over to your place for dinner. They will come by and sit in your living room as you pass around some celebratory glasses of wine or nog. How......