If you're a tree hugger who takes the GO bus instead of driving like a regular person, you might want to limber up that hippy hitchhikin' thumb. GO bus drivers are leaning towards a strike sometime in the next few days, although they've agreed to give 48 hours notice before any walkout. A strike wouldn't stop GO train service, although pickets could slow them down. A former convenience store operator in Toronto has been......

It used to be that as sure as you could count on awkward conversations at the office Christmas party and a stocking full of clementines on Christmas morning, you could count on being able to turn your TV to channel 11 on Christmas Eve to see a certain Bing Crosby vehicle featuring the best-selling single of all time: White Christmas. While channel 11 (it's certainly not CHCH anymore...what is it?) has given up its......

London's transport museum, located smack dab in Covent Garden in central London, reopened last Thursday after a two-year, $44 million redesign. This weekend saw lineups (queues?) of two hours long, filled with people who weren't just your stereotypical transit aficionados––those nervous-looking sweaty men who curl up in bed reading train timetables from the summer of 1973––but rather families, young couples on dates, professional types, and tourists. If you can't make it to London, you......

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Once a week, the editors of each site—from LAist to Londonist—compile some of their most interesting posts into a brief blurb. It's Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse, and it appears, across the network, every Sunday. Austinist attended a town hall meeting about proposed noise ordinances that could undermine the city's future as the Live Music Capital of the World, and lamented the possible loss of......

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Once a week, the editors of each site—from LAist to Londonist—compile some of their most interesting posts into a brief blurb. It's Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse, and it appears, across the network, every Sunday. Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without......

During TIFF we said, "if you’re as big a fan of Joy Division as Torontoist is, you’ll quickly come to terms with the fact that Control is simply one man’s interpretation of Deborah Curtis’s book Touching from a Distance, and your overall feelings will (probably) lie on how you feel about that interpretation," and we stand by that even now—despite the gorgeous cinematography, which remains the film’s strongest point, we still like 24 Hour......

Beyond its picnic areas, tennis courts and manicured gardens, High Park is a thriving ecosystem. The Western Ravines and Beaches Discovery Walk explores some of the park’s wild areas, as well as some of the neighbouring regenerated wetlands. The walk starts at the Bloor Street entrance to High Park. Passing the picnic areas and a concession stand, the Discovery Walk signs lead you down into a ravine beyond the domain of cyclists (in theory)......

Last night's Ontario leaders' debate was replete with the kind of wit, sophistication, and rhetorical flourish we've come to expect from our candidates. Tory to McGuinty: You're a big fat liar. McGuinty: Am not. Hampton: Are too. Big fat liar. McGuinty: You guys are the liars. Green Party Leader Frank DeJong wasn't invited to the big kids party, even though he got a haircut and everything. A five-alarm fire at a wrecking yard in......

Somewhere along the journey from being the achingly beautiful lead in John Greyson's Lilies, to guest spots on Train 48 and Relic Hunter, to his current stage work, Jason Cadieux has become a very talented actor. In Hard Ways, his new one-man show currently being performed at SummerWorks, he proves that he isn't a bad playwright either. The premise is simple: a man is detained by customs officers after attempting to enter the United......

For people of a certain age, memories of the Toronto Zoo begin with riding the old monorail. Only it wasn't the old monorail back then—it was the super-futuristic monorail. After a 1994 accident that injured about 30 people, the train's track was pulled up and some of the guideway removed. But if you know where to look, most of the route remains visible as it snakes through the grounds of the zoo. The abandoned......

Operating a public transit system is a difficult job, continually plagued by budget cuts, aging infrastructure and rampant customer dissatisfaction. We've always been fans of GO Transit, however, which has generally proven to be clean and reliable despite being operated by the Government of Ontario (hence, the acronym "GO"). When the 2005-06 provincial budget was announced and included more than $300 million in funding for GO's operating and capital costs, transit enthusiasts were ecstatic.......

It's hardly breaking news that women are particularly under-represented in the industrial trades industry. The student thesis Pink Nail Project aims to change that, seeking to raise awareness for women entering non-traditional occupations—particularly the male-dominated skilled trades, like construction, auto mechanics and plumbing. With Toronto in a perpetual state of construction and good contractors difficult to pin-down, the market is potentially lucrative for a skilled tradesperson. In fact, mechanics are one of the top......

Photo of CP-7069 from Railroadfan.com On the weekend when we celebrate our nation's history, we seem on the verge of destroying some of it. Sitting in its home at the CPR John Street Roundhouse, a 1948 CP Rail locomotive engine known as the Hauling Fool is about to be scrapped to make way for a Leon's furniture store, and there is little its owners can do about it. Located just outside Bay 14 at......

Nine months into their existence, Porter Airlines chugs along, still under the radar of most. As the Toronto Star recently reported, the young airline is still struggling to find a steady stream of regular business customers. With traffic on the 401 at an all-time high, getting to Pearson during rush hours can potentially take as long as a flight to Montreal. On a weekend getaway, the give-or-take ten hours spent traveling to La Belle......

Once upon a time, governments worked together to create ambitious and expensive projects like, say, public transit. Then came the 1990s when funding was summarily cut off. Since then, we've seen funding restored in dribs and drabs, the half-implementation of several ideas (we're looking at you, Sheppard subway!), and the odd difficult move forward (the St. Clair ROW). We've also seen the creation of the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, but since no one seems......

Young gangsters from the suburbs! Skanked-out girls in miniskirts! Drunk and angry frat guys! Beware! Toronto has assigned 18 officers to a "rapid deployment team" that will protect the entertainment district from violent crime as part of the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS). TAVIS received $5 million this morning to increase officer presence in the area and prevent gun violence. Conservatives to GO bosses: if we were in power, we'd fire your asses for......

Reader Jonathan recently let us know about a trip he took to Ottawa and back via (cue dramatic music) Porter Airlines. That's right, the airline of the infamous island airport. It's no secret that we have been less than enthusiastic about airport expansion, of which Porter Air's operation has become the most prominent example. That being said, it's worth noting that Jonathan's review could not have been more glowing: Wow! Flying is amazing! I think......

It almost felt like there were four shows going on last night at the sold-out Amy Winehouse concert at The Mod Club. The first of which, chronologically speaking, was the fabulous Patrick Wolf, who kicked off the evening. Wolf skipped, stomped, and strutted his stuff around stage in a way that would make Mick Jagger proud. Decked out in sequined suspenders and a plaid bolo tie, he performed songs such as "Overture" and the......

You might think the pace of life in Toronto is hectic, but we don’t even make the list when it comes to being the fastest rodents in the rat race. According to a study of walking speeds in 32 world cities, Singaporeans covered 60 feet in a blistering 10.55 seconds while it took residents of New York a full 12 seconds. They may be the city that never sleeps, but they do so at......

Title unknown by Phresh The corner of Queen West and Abell is a pretty amazing place. Forget that there is no decent food late at night, and grocery shopping after dark requires a trek through a giant muddy pond and some train tracks. For the past few months, boxes here and there were getting some clever little painted additions, but this is definitely the most interesting news box to land yet. Hopefully this is......

When people first hear the words "Professional Pillow Fight League," they often conjure images of jello-wrestling and hair pulling. However, if you've ever been to a Pillow Fight League event, you know that the fights are real, they're violent, and they're bloody entertaining. The Pillow Fight League, also known as the PFL, has been performing around Toronto since last year. They gained international attention in January when they fought for two nights in New York......

Starting September 1, the Hamilton television station known as CH will be rebranded as E! Entertainment Television. E! is an American entertainment and lifestyle cable broadcaster best known for its wildly successful E! True Hollywood Story series. CH corporate parent CanWest MediaWorks will license the E! trademark and manage Canadian content programming, including online, mobile, satellite radio and video-on-demand platforms. There are also CH-branded stations in Montreal, Victoria, Kelowna and Red Deer which are included......

Nelly Furtado wins five Junos. Clearly, we will respect her if we get it. In other news, Jim Cuddy won the Juno for best adult alternative album, which means he did the best job of taking actual alternative music, dropping it to quarter-speed and setting it to acoustic guitar. Toronto is number fifteen! In the annual Mercer Human Resource Consulting review of best cities in Canada the world to live in, that is. Every Canadian......

The Star's website is reporting that at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, the TTC will announce details of a plan to blanket the city in a network of sixty to eighty kilometres of Light Rapid Transit (or LRT, as it's affectionately called). The cost, according to Giambrone, will be an anything-but-light $30 million per kilometer, which puts the price range for the new lines between $1.8 and $2.4 billion. The TTC hopes to get the......

A CN train jumps the tracks in Kingston, delaying rail traffic between Toronto and Montreal/Ottawa. Nobody was hurt, but observers told reporters this in a tone of serious disbelief because thirty-two train cars went off the rails less than a thousand feet from Kingston's passenger station, and apparently it was quite disturbing to see, what with the thousands of tons of out-of-control metal and all. A Canadian soldier has been charged with manslaughter in the......

David Altmejd’s art looks good on paper. First off, it’s about werewolves, and who can resist the cuddly therianthropes? From folklore to B-movies, the werewolf maintains a lasting hold on the popular imagination. However, Altmejd’s work is neither folksy nor campy. In the Montreal-born, New York-based sculptor’s elaborate installations, he starts off with the (usually fragmented, decaying) figure of the werewolf, and embellishes it with everything from crystals and jewellery, to S&M paraphernalia, to......

The Gardiner Expressway re-opened this morning after closures due to deadly "ice missiles" falling from the CN tower. One ice sheet was reportedly 50 metres tall and 6 metres wide! Canadian and British troops launched a massive offensive attack against Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, a mission titled "Operation Achilles". This time, dinner's on us. City Council voted in favour of having food provided for their monthly meetings, which will cost taxpayers $20,000 a year.......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an ideal......

It's not Toronto news, but everyone's talking about it: Anna Nicole Smith is dead. We were fascinated with her train wreck of a life while she was in it, and doubly so now that she's gone. Was it drugs, or cholesterol? Did she have a will? Who gets the money? When will my subscription to People Magazine start if I sign up today? Yesterday's budget committee meeting announced that 51% of Toronto's capital budget for......

It doesn’t take long before the bubblegum beauty of Julian Calleros’s recent mixed-media portrait series, called The half of one self’s, gives way to a web of personal meaning. Adorned with patchwork, embroidery, bright pinks and reds, the portraits put some of the artist’s closest relationships on center stage. His mother, boyfriend, grandmother and a couple of his closest friends appear surrounded by a range of symbols that suggest the existence of an intimately personal......