Photo of Julie Wilson, courtesy of Julie Wilson. Julie Wilson has become a favourite in literary entertainment over the past few years. Since 2006, her popular blog Seen Reading has been keeping Toronto book geeks amused by tracking the city's public reading habits. The concept is both simple and ingenious—Wilson spots a stranger reading, guesses where they are in the book, transcribes the passage onto her blog, and then lets her imagination run wild.......

Photo by Linnea Helmersson. There's something about Sweden and disco that is as perfect as America and apple pie or Toronto and complaining. Following the footsteps of ABBA, Ace of Base, and Robyn onto the dancefloor is critic's darling, Sally Shapiro. The mysterious singer will be making her first public appearance in North America spinning a set with her producer Johan Agebjorn at Wrongbar on Tuesday. Shapiro has other links to Toronto as Paper......

This Friday night, Allie Hughes has a concert at the El Mocambo. You might not have heard of this homegrown singer-songwriter yet, but maybe you will sometime soon. Hughes has a dynamite voice that she can effortlessly shift from a gentle coo to an operatic cry while she sits at her keyboard, presiding over her rockin' little band. Her songs bridge an adorable gap between sassy and poignant, and the general vibe is along......

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......

While Newmindspace have organized subway parties in Toronto, SkyTrain parties in Vancouver, and métro parties in Montréal, sometimes nothing beats an old-fashioned streetcar party for a beat-bumping, track-turning, three hour party tour of the city. The TTC will rent a streetcar (PCC, CLRV or ALRV) for a minimum of three hours for a pretty steep fee to just about anybody. The customer can request a custom route, like Newmindspace has, that takes advantage of......

This Friday's Steam Whistle Unsigned is already the fourth in a series of independent music showcases at the Roundhouse, but it's the first we're really excited about. Really excited. Check out this lineup: The Carps are the best thing to come out of Scarborough since... er... hmm. Right. Anyway, the punk-soul duo recently opened for MIA at the Kool Haus, and if they're good enough for Maya, they're good enough for you. Opopo sound like......

This Friday, November 16, we (Newmindspace) will be hosting our very first lightsaber battle! This summer at Burning Man, we witnessed a 10,000-person lightsaber battle put on by a camp called Watto's Junkyard, easily the largest lightsaber battle since the Jedi Civil War. However, with our limited resources, we realized that without a large donation from a rich weirdo (which are plentiful in San Francisco), we would probably not be able to get the......

You've probably heard by now that Ontarians will be asked to cast a second ballot on election day. That is, unless you're among the 47% of Ontarians who, according to a recent poll, are completely unaware of the upcoming referendum question on whether to replace the existing first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system with a proposed mixed-member proportional (MMP) system. Whether this is the first you've heard about it—which seems unlikely since Torontoist has mentioned it......

It’s fitting that Maggie MacDonald is one of four self-appointed prime ministers of the Republic of Safety. She’s a political and creative force, using art as her weapon of choice. Her current bands, The Hidden Cameras and the aforementioned Republic of Safety, are musical meeting points for sex and politics. She’s exhibited her visual art and had her comics published in The Globe and Mail and Lola magazine. When she was just 20, MacDonald ran......

If you have lived in a metropolitan area all your life, you may not have known that in some parts of the world, one can see little points of light in the night sky. These are called stars. This Friday, you will be able to see stars in Toronto! Those crazy kids at Newmindspace are putting together a twinkly, glowing installation of LED's and helium to create an artificial starscape, along with several other......

2006 is clearly the Year of the Pirate, with this limey pop culture meme invading everything in Toronto from DJ Lazarus fetish parties to festivals at Fort York. This Friday's Pirates of the Streetcarrr Parrrty by Newmindspace is no exception to the swashbuckling madness. Attendees are promised "Pirates and mermaids from the briney deep," bottles of rum, old maritime songs and a surprise event in the middle. Let's hope it's not walking the plank.......

If we've learnt one thing in the last few years is that Mercer Union, that artist run centre on Lisgar, knows how to throw a party. It's not the people, or the location, everyone knows that to throw a good party you need really really good gimmicks (wacky themes, activities, or lots of blow). [ed. note we don't actually use any blow and don't think you should either] This Friday's opening party for two shows......

City Idol is gearing up for its first big event. This Friday at the Danforth Music Hall all 100 candidates will strut their stuff with one-minute speechlets introducing themselves to the crowd of potential Simon Cowells and Paula Abduls. To get a preview check out CP24 9pm this Wednesday night where six random candidates will be grilled by Adam Vaughan. Full confession, Boy Reporte is a candidate and very very excited but he's also hoping......

The details are finalized, and our party is actually going to happen. This Friday, July 15th! Three djs, free pins, no cover. TO Bloggers, readers, contributors, shoe salesmen, come on down to the Embassy (223 August Avenue)! Things get started around 9 pm, and wrap up when the blog chatter leaves the system. Some baked goods may make an appearance, but only if we can learn the finer parts of frosting by Friday. See you......

An extremely slap-dash look around the blogiverse has yielded the following links (excuse the tardiness of some): - Our friend Frank's got some BSS pics (one of which we ungraciously stole), and some words for those who didn't like Les Giraffes. (PS Did they remind anyone of the first Batman, when the Joker had that street party? Toronto=Gotham City) - Still tickets available for Jon Stewart in Toronto. - Brooklyn Vegan has a Saul Williams......

Late last fall posters popped up around Kensington Market advertising an event called “Guerrilla Gourmet.” What was it? A vegan restaurant? A new store selling organic foods? A gang of vicious foodie/freedom fighters bent on wreaking havoc on the fast food industry? In reality, Guerrila Gourmet was a series of Sunday-night dinners put together by Jesse Archibald and Maria Solakofski. Through November and December the pair held dinners in secret locations. If you wanted......

This Friday, Torontoist will be among the millions ringing in the New Year with family, friends, lovers and other people. This is also the night that Torontoist will unveil his new bouffant style hairdo. But, most importantly, Torontoist, like many others, will be reflecting upon the year in a time of extreme crisis. Not meaning to preach or dampen any celebrations, but Torontoist would like to make the following suggestion: For those hosting a New......