Photo by mappamundi. Happy Year of the Rat! The Chinese are superstitious and like to start a new year on the right foot. Here are eight ways for luck, fortune, and prosperity. (Eight, in Cantonese, is considered lucky because it sounds similar to the word "wealth." Four, however, is unlucky because it sounds like the verb "to die.")......

The Stephen Harper government unveiled its plan for the country in the Throne Speech last night, emphasizing the usual panoply of tax-cuttin', crime fightin', environment dismissin' Conservative virtues. Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe have already stated they will not support the government, while Liberal leader Stéphane Dion will decide whether to force an election after consulting with his caucus. Dion is envied by the other opposition leaders for his massive caucus. Water prices for Toronto......

The 17th Annual Inside Out Gay and Lesbian Film and Video Festival Continues! Last night, the festival presented its centrepiece gala screening at the Isabelle Bader Theatre of King and Clown (reviewed by Torontoist at last year's TIFF), a movie about a Korean monarch who falls in love with his cross-dressing jester that also happens to be the top-grossing Korean film of all time (OK, so at least it was until this happened). Meanwhile,......

So, did anyone see the article in today’s Eye about the imminent death of the Festival cinemas? A nice article reminding us that it’ll take someone with a good deal more money than business sense to save the Royal (at a cool $2.7 million) but it more timely in reminding us that while our cinemas might be dying, we at least still have the Toronto International Film Festival Group’s Cinematheque Ontario to keep us in......

Phillyist notes a fistfight between local pols that leaves one man down for the count. Jehovah's Witnesses get a Philly contributor out of bed, things get a little geeky with a film festival and geeky gets taken to a whole new galaxy when they talk with the Dragon Queen of the Dark Kingdom. Shanghaist gets all excited this week over a new nightclub in the city unfortunately named "Snatch" and Mike Tyson is scheduled to......

We have to hand it to Alan Tam. Out of the dozen or so ugly realtor flyers that make their way into our mailbox each week, his is the only one that's actually occupied us for longer than the time it takes us to walk the flyer to the recycling bin. That said, our fascination with Tam's flyer is less adoration than confusion, less 'sure, we'll sell our house with you' and more 'maybe......

Torontoist loves holidays, especially in February when the only other holiday in sight involves disgusting cinnamon hearts and avoiding lovy-dovy couples. Thank goodness for Chinese New Year, which starts tonight and runs for two weeks. But for those not familiar with the holiday, Chinese New Year can be a confusing time. That’s why Torontoist’s very own Boy Reporter will try to answer some questions about the holiday. Last year Chinese New Year was in......