Photo by Bytepusher from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. Happy Devil's... Day? Big night's tomorrow, FYI, in case you haven't been getting mass texts about it all week. On the year's most over-hyped holiday, we understand if you're tempted to skip the line-up of ALL-CAPITALIZED Facebook invites and just, you know, role-play at home. But wouldn't that be a waste of an outfit? Insupportable. Plus, any excuse to dress up (note: we didn't say slutty)......

Photos by Hannah Sider. "This is the best frosh party I've ever been to!" The twenty-something friend-of-a-friend was one of the surprising majority of "normal"-looking guests at what was not, in fact, a frosh party. He was wearing jeans and a v-neck, which is to say that we don't actually remember what he was wearing, besides a highly bemused expression.......

It's a Monday night. It's St. Patrick's Day. Your buds have been bombed off Irish car bombs and green Steamwhistle since noon, but you've shirked the shamrock fever all day, calling it purposeless partying. Well, do-gooders, it's time you pull up your party pants and hike down to the Drake. We promise you won't be pinched if your outfit excludes shades of sage or spinach. It's been almost a month, but the businesses burned......

This fjord is my fjord, this fjord is your fjord, From the valley Thörsmork to the geyser Strokkur, From Lake Lögurinn to Björk's house in Reykjaviík. Iceland was made for you and me. Our favourite Nordic country just got a little closer: Icelandair will launch direct flights between Toronto and Reykjaviík on May 2. To celebrate, Iceland Naturally is hosting a week-long Taste of Iceland festival from March 10–16 to promote modern Viking culture......

Snappy Answers runs every Saturday afternoon. Send your questions, be they tough or trivial, to snappyanswers@torontoist.com. Hi, I'm a stressed-out U. of T. student in the middle of midterms, and I'm always looking for good places to study. I'm sick of campus and tired of Starbucks, which is usually overcrowded (not to mention overrated, overpriced etc.). I know Futures has good food and it's open late, but it's too loud. I just want a friendly......

Next Saturday, Toronto Poetry Slam brings you the last slam of the season, with some of the city’s brightest and wordiest battling it out for the last remaining place in the semi finals. Finalists will have a shot at the 2008 Toronto Poetry Slam Team, which competes at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the US National Poetry Slam (this year to be held in Madison, Wisconsin). This month’s event also features a guest......

It's hard out there for a scenester these days. So many parties, so many DJs, so many Next Big Things... and so few brain cells to spare. We all know how important it is to like the right stuff, but between finding hot new ways to wear neon headgear (hint: there aren't any) and figuring out which prescription drugs don't mix, who has the mental energy to figure what exactly that stuff is? That's why......

Musicologist is not sure The Drake is a large enough venue for the arrival of Baby Dee on Wednesday, February 6. The multi-disciplined artist is a classically trained harpist, organist, legendary Cleveland street and circus performer, and collaborator with such brilliant acts as Antony and the Johnsons. The 54-year-old performer brings a wealth of musical and artistic experience to the stage, and her transgendered politics are surfaced through her healthy variation of wistful harp and......

Most should be very excited by the wide gamut of shows announced this week; Musicologist is excited, but distracted by the concept of a $30.75 Hedley ticket. But yes, excitement: Rick White and The Luyas (one third Jessie Stein of Miracle Fortress and SS Cardiacs, two thirds Bell Orchestre’s Pietro Amato and Stefan Schneider) play the Music Gallery on February 9. Gogol Bordello returns on March 2, shortly after their over-the-top performance last October. New......

Photo by David Topping. Torontoist has a major crush on missed connections, and this one made our day: West Queen West, Drake/Beacs - m4w last weekend, at the drake. Or maybe it was the beaconsfield. You are very stylish, wearing an outfit from american apparel. it was colourful. i was skinny, wearing jeans and a t-shirt with my favourite band on it, with a vintage sweater over top. we talked for a bit, and......

The Drake is gearing up for an ambitious week of post-holiday, end of year music celebration. They are calling the short run What's in the Box: 5 nights, 5 bands, 5 bucks—a clever ploy to attract the empty-pocketed portion of the city (that's if you go for the music, not the booze). Despite being known for attracting enemies to the neighbourhood in the past (err...every Saturday night), the 5 nights (5 bands, 5 bucks) of......

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......

Torontoist has seen its fair share of Google Maps mashups. For geography nerds like us, maps are always fun to play around with, but most of the mashups we've seen so far have not been particularly useful. That is, unless you're dying to know where they keep all the Timmy's or bust all the grow-ops. Enter Taxiwiz. The site is far from slick, but the idea behind it is great. Taxiwiz takes Google's driving......

For the entire month of May, the Deep Wireless festival will be taking place at various venues, from the west end to your very own living room. Presented by New Adventures in Sound Art, this is the sixth edition of the annual festival that explores the medium of experimental sound and radio art. Don't let the idea of experimental audio art put you off. It's far more accessible than it sounds, and with a......

There are as many types of poetry as there are different styles of music. Books of poetry are usually confined to a shelf or two at a local bookstore, but if you want to buy a CD, you visit an entire store dedicated to music. When someone professes to like poetry, the reference is probably to a favourite type of poetry, and not all poetries—just as a jazz afficionado might dislike Country and Western,......

On the way to the sold-out Bunch Family Salon at The Arts and Letters Club last Saturday, my eight year old son looks into the window of our subway car and sees an alternate universe; it's just us, but backwards. After he asks me to call him by his inverse reality name, "ttenraG," he ponders how my name would sound. Turns out that even in other worlds, my name is "moM." The Bunch Salon......

For live music junkies, the week between Christmas and New Year's can offer very little in terms of quality shows. The folks at The Drake Hotel are trying to remedy the situation with their What's In The Box? week of shows. Running from the 26th to the 30th, the Drake Underground and Lounge are featuring the best acts from 2006. Each day is five dollars and features five bands, leading to a nice "5 Bands......

The year is winding down and so is the music, which is kind of nice, actually, because there seem to be a lot of tours already gearing up for 2007. Hopefully Alexisonfire isn't one of them...we have no idea how they can manage to go onstage and scream for 7 solid days (they have a few more shows this week). Insanity. Best bets for this week include Royal Wood tonight at the Cameron House......

Windy enough for ya? Those heavy gusts that left you scrambling for your scarves yesterday also knocked out power to some of Toronto's east end, and much of Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Michael Ignatieff isn't the only local politician using the internet to reach younger voters. Mayoral candidates David Miller, Jane Pitfield and Stephen LeDrew are hoping to YouTube themselves into City Hall by releasing campaign videos on the popular website. How are the candidates......

This fall is shaping up to be a busy one, as everyone and their dog seems to be touring right now. If you haven't spent all of your OSAP money yet, might want to stash away a few pennies for some concert tix. However, if you've already blown your student loan on cheap beer and (even cheaper) Ikea furniture, take comfort in the fact that you can visit your local public library to catch......

We've all been to record release parties and book launches, but a party to celebrate the latest music video? Local indiepop crooner Gentleman Reg asks, "why not?" by hosting an event this Friday at the Drake Underground. It's the video debut for "Over My Head," the second single from his adorable Darby & Joan record. Reg's previous outing on video was deemed too risque for MuchMusic. (Who knew they disapproved of make-out parties and sex......

Len Cervantes moves the audience with his words during the poetry slam portion of the Kultura Filipino Arts Festival at the Kapisanan Philippine Arts Centre in Kensington this past Saturday. Editor's Note: Torontoist contributor Cal MacLean was at another poetry slam event on Saturday - The Drake's. As Cal notes, it's been a "slamming" week for poetry. He sends us this from the show:Maybe wordplay is just infectious. This past Saturday the Drake hosted......

Tonight Pontiac Quarterly unleashes its second issue this year at The Drake Hotel (8pm). For those of you unfamiliar, PQ is a performance magazine where writers read their fiction, feature stories - even advice columns - on stage in front of a live audience. Coming around only four times a year (it's right there in the title!), The Torontoist looks forward to it like our mom looks forward to gardening season. This issue's theme......

Since there's been so much coverage of condo development in the media lately, particularly concerning the Queen West-West area near The Drake, we're surprised we haven't really seen any discussion of the ghastly new West Side Lofts sales centre that's getting set to open at Queen and Abell. After three months construction, the worst condo sales centre in the world is soon to be open for business, selling the stacked townhouses that are already being......

Tonight's edition of the Drake Underground's occasional Notes From the Underground series features Golden Age, an old-timey-style radio play about fear of old age and death. Also horseracing. Joe Cobden, an award-winning Montreal actor, will be performing the show, which he wrote with a little help from Torontoist's own J.Kelly (who also has some info about the evening, but no explanation why the J is missing from the poster). Also on tap for the evening......

Perhaps sampling Rockapella (Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? fame) and referencing Jonathan Swift and his Modest Proposal in your lyrics doesn't seem like the best way to develop one of Toronto's most loyal fanbases. But it's worked like a charm for Ninja High School, who also tap local hot button items like Jon Rae and the River and The Drake on their hot hot hot new album, Young Adults Against Suicide. Why......

Assuming it doesn't rain torrents, you have two options for free filmgoing this evening. Dundas Square offers family fun with The Sound of Music, while Harbourfront capitalizes on its proximity to a large body of (sharkless) water with Jaws. Do neither of these films tickle your fancy? Then why not set up a screening in your own backyard? Rent a projector, pop in your favourite movie, and invite TOist over. We love us some Christopher......

1. The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen St W) Wait a second...Isn't this a hip music venue that serves that nice fresh fruit salad? Yes to the music venue, and doubly so to the fresh fruit salad. But the Drake's hipster appeal is not the reason that there's a ginormous line every weekend - that's more so because of the luv-hungry 905ers go there to get lucky. Perhaps it's just the dichotomy between the Drake Underground......

When Jean Chretien decided not to invade Iraq, he effectively averted both the war and all mentions in the countless anti-war media produced since. For instance, tonight's Robert Taicher produced Rush to War will make no mention of the Chretien government, and will most likely lay off Canada altogether. The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen W) houses the film in its basement (pronounced 'the Drake Underground') tonight at 9:30pm, with the doors at 8:00pm. After-party includes......

Representatives of U.S. hip lit invade The Drake Hotel Underground Sunday night as newly minted McSweeney's author Salvador Plascencia presents his first novel The People of Paper alongside fellow McSweeney's alum Paul La Farge. Plascencia's lyrical fantasia is already being compared to the work of beautiful dreamers Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Paul Lafarge's latest work, The Facts of Winter, purports to continue and not continue the work of Paul Poissel, "one of......