Torontoist Weekly Favorites

Give us a name, and we'll give you $10

On Monday, Torontoist will begin a daily event listings column highlighting a small number of the swellest things going on in the city that day. (It's based on Gothamist's Pencil This In.) We can't wait! Only problem is that, after much brainstorming, we don't have a wicked name for it yet. So we could use your help—we're looking for a name that is short, smart, and straightforward, but that isn't just "What's On" or something (our fallback is "To Do," which we could cope with). Post a comment with your idea(s) for a name, and if you pick one that we really like and end up using, we'll give you the exciting reward of $10! Hooray for crowdsourcing!

Second Cup Under Mouse Arrest

Earlier today, Torontoist got sent a series of photos that appear to show a mouse inside Second Cup's 307 Queen Street West location. The three shots (one above, and two after the fold) were taken by Kate Bowen this past Sunday at 2 a.m., while she was waiting for the Queen streetcar.

According to Dinesafe, the store passed its last health inspection, on June 11 this year. Toronto Public Health, where we forwarded the photos after receiving them, is now in the process of investigating the complaint. (They tend to be prompt about these things: when a photo of rats inside the Dumpling House on Spadina was published on BlogTO on February 15, that restaurant was inspected, closed, and fined $6250 by the end of that day.)

After we phoned Second Cup this afternoon and forwarded the photos to them, Second Cup's Director of Operations in Eastern Canada, Jane Stollar, e-mailed to tell Torontoist that Second Cup has "taken immediate action to investigate the matter," including confirming that the franchised store "has a pest-control program in place" which was last inspected and serviced on July 8, and that the store "stores all food items in accordance with our food handling standards and [that] there is no access of our food products or coffee to rodents or pests." Second Cup is taking additional steps to squash the problem, too, requesting that the building's landlord "determine if all other tenants of the building have an active pest-control prevention program in place," and hiring a contractor "to identify any potential access points to retail neighbors above and beside the building to prevent any possible issues as a result of their business practices." Stollar concludes that "Second Cup takes this situation very seriously. Together with our Franchise Partner we feel confident that our current preventative program plus the additional immediate actions will alleviate any further issues. " Well, we'd certainly hope so.

All photos by Kate Bowen.

Blittzkrieg

At right is the cover of The New Yorker's July 21 edition. It depicts, as Huffington Post's Rachel Sklar summarized, Barack and Michelle Obama enacting "every smeary right-wing stereotype imaginable: ...[Barack] Obama in a turban and robes fist-bumping his be-afro'd wife, dressed in the military fatigues of a revolutionary and packing a machine gun and some serious ammo. Oh yes, this quaint little scene takes place in the Oval Office, under a picture of Osama bin Laden above a roaring fireplace, in which burns an American flag." The image has caused considerable uproar in the States—to take one example of many, CNN's Wolf Blitzer today suggested that it was something a neo-Nazi or Ku Klux Klan publication would create—and Obama's campaign immediately called it "tasteless and offensive."

If the people who hate the cartoon hate it because it's "tasteless and offensive," though, then it has done its job. Barry Blitt—the artist behind it, a former cartoonist for Toronto Life, former enemy of Conrad Black, and former Ontario College of Art student—told the Huffington Post that "...the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic [let alone as terrorists] in certain sectors is preposterous. It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is."

The New Yorker cover is, then, a pitch-perfect case of satire. As M.H. Abram's Glossary of Literary Terms puts it, satire is "diminishing or derogating a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation." The satirized subject in the cartoon is not the Obamas, just as it wasn't Irish babies in Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal (or soldiers in this Torontoist article); it is, instead, the same group that Obama's campaign recently launched Fight the Smears to respond to. Fight the Smears and the New Yorker cover share the same aim: to show that the no-longer-whispered claims against Barack and Michelle Obama—he is a secret Muslim; he hates the flag; she hates "whitey"—are ridiculous.

For those who "get" the cartoon but still don't like it, the oft-cited reason for deeming its publication irresponsible is the 'what if they don't get it?' argument, which says that other, dumber people will get confused and frightened by the cover, and that that's a good reason to hold back on its publication. Gawker expertly summarized: "This obvious and heavy-handed satire has enraged Democrats and liberal media critics because now they are pretty sure this nation of child-like imbeciles will believe it to be an un-retouched photograph from the FUTURE." Even if the argument wasn't asinine (and, well, pretty elitist), it'd still be moot—fear of public stupidity or ignorance is never a good reason to muzzle satire. If you think that people are dumb now, just wait'll you're not allowed to challenge them.

Blitt has now, sadly, been cast in the eyes of many as no different from the people whom his cover was so obviously taking aim at. (To borrow everyone's favourite phrase from the Reverend Wright era of the Obama campaign, he's been thrown under the bus.) And sure, there's probably more important news out there—Obama writing an Op-Ed in the New York Times about Iraq earlier today, and The New Yorker publishing an extensive article about his past not too many pages after the cover—but until Jesse Jackson threatens to cut off Obama's nuts again, this is distraction enough. And just wait'll they find out that Blitt is a secret Canadian.

City Hot, Bike Thief Caught, HBC Bought

Toronto is still under an extreme heat alert, with high temperatures approximating those on the surface of Mercury at 427° C. OK, 31° C but the humidity will make it seem hotter.

The owner of the Bicycle Clinic near Queen and Strachan has been arrested after plainclothes police allegedly watched him instruct another man to use bolt cutters to cut the locks off two bikes and steal them. The incident clarifies the Bicycle Clinic slogan, which has long been "We steal the other guy's bike and pass the savings along to you!"

Councillor Adam Vaughn wants to end the canine reign of terror in city parks by banning leash-free areas in all parks with an area of less than 2 acres, which would be about half of those in Toronto and most in downtown. Based on the Star article, his reasoning isn't clear, but seems to have something to do with hurt feelings over not being personally consulted on the issue.

The once—although not recently—proudly Canadian Hudson's Bay Company has been sold to the American company NRDC Holdings, who may convert parts of large Bay stores to its US flagship brand Lord & Taylor. Soon elderly ladies will be able to cross-border shop without culture shock.

Out west, the BC Games are going to save the planet from global warming by dousing the flame that traditionally burns for 100 days before each event. The torch is estimated to consume 600,000 British Thermal Units of natural gas during that time, or enough to heat the average Canadian home for about 2 days.

Photo by St Even from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Flashpoint Hits The Mark

Flashpoint, about an elite police squad based in Toronto, was off to a great start on Friday, with over one million Canadian viewers and over eight million American viewers tuning in for the premiere on CTV and CBS—despite the lackluster 10 p.m. time slot. The show was the top-rated program for Friday, and should rank in the top 15 primetime shows for the week in both Canada and the United States. The success of Flashpoint on Friday led to a re-broadcast of the pilot on Sunday, when another four million Americans tuned in. (Canadian data have not been released yet for Sunday.)

This is good news for Flashpoint, as it has garnered much attention as the first Canadian show to broadcast on a major American television network since Due South. If it had bombed, it would pretty much shut the door on any future Canadian exports on the big four American networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. Usually, Canadian shows tend to find their way onto smaller specialty channels, where there's less at stake. Degrassi: The Next Generation plays on N, a channel for teenagers, and has developed a cult following; defunct hockey soap MVP has started a run on Soap Net; and CBC comedy Sophie will show on ABC Family next year.

What's interesting is that the show may be one of the first times that many Americans have seen Toronto portraying itself on screen. The TTC and First Canadian Place are among the familiar sites in the pilot. Expect Bay Street and the waterfront to be featured in future episodes.

The next test for the cast and crew of Flashpoint will come this Friday—getting fickle television viewers to return for week two. Swingtown, an American series that also launched this summer on CBS, began with similar ratings, but has since shed almost 40% of its audience. Stay tuned.

Photo from the CBS Flashpoint website.

Train Derails, Soldier Bails, Barenaked Lady Fails

Omar Khadr's lawyers recently released video footage of Khadr's interrogation by CSIS agents in hopes that the video would embarrass the Prime Minister and garner sympathy from Canadians. Unsurprisingly, the PM's office wasn't hearing that noise. Clearly these lawyers don't know how hard it is to embarrass Stephen Harper.

Speaking of Canadians in trouble in the States, Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page was arrested in Fayetteville, New York for possession of cocaine and marijuana. If the story turns out to be true, Fayetteville, New York must have some seriously kick-ass drugs because…why else would you be in Fayetteville, New York?

A Via train carrying more than 200 passengers partially derailed near Brockville yesterday, although thankfully no serious injuries were reported. Good thing passenger trains are only expensive and slow, because people might not want to take a train if it were expensive, slow, and prone to random derailments.

Robin Long, an American soldier in Canada whose appeal for refugee status was denied, was deported back to the U.S. yesterday. The National Post notes that "U.S. deserters who are returned to their military base can face penalties including criminal charges," but a spokesman for Fort Carson in Colorado, where Mr. Long will be stationed, admitted that Long would probably just have to clean the latrine with a toothbrush.

Average house prices in Canada fell dramatically—sort of—by 0.4% in June. Still, it's the first decline in house prices since January of 1999. Time to celebrate! Finally you have a compelling reason to spend those hundreds of thousands of dollars you've all saved up.

Photo by beembag from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Reel Toronto: The Boondock Saints

Reel Toronto is a look at Toronto's illustrious film history, during which our fair city has represented just about everywhere on earth. Yes, we're proud of our chameleonic ability to look like anywhere from New York City to Moscow––heck, Toronto even plays itself, every now and then.

The Boondock Saints is a perfect example of the post-Tarantino school of filmmaking. It's got killing, cussing, and style to spare. Is it any good? Well, we'll leave it to you to determine whether it's a cult classic or just another B-grade action pic. (You can watch pretty much the whole darned thing on YouTube after all.)

What we can say is that it does a mostly decent job of using Toronto to play Boston...and that it has Willem Dafoe doing a crazy ass performance as a detective who seems be riffing on Gary Oldman in The Professional, but with a love of opera and some flaming homosexuality (not that there's anything wrong with that).So, these two Irish brothers basically kill a bunch of people on something of a vigilante tear through the Boston underworld. It's not the most thorough plot summary but it gives you an idea.

Early on, for example, these two dudes come to kill them. They're gonna kill the one brother in this alley behind their apartment when the other brother drops a toilet on their heads. Apparently the brothers live at Church and Queen Street East because it's a bit hard to miss Henry's both in this scene and the later bit when Dafoe is trying to figure out what went down. The alley appears to be the one heading west to Berti Street.

Another easily visible spot is the landmark Lakeview Lunch near Dundas and Ossington. We see a character crossing Dundas (they don't have TD Banks or Green P lots in Boston) and heading inside the retro diner.

We learn, during the opening credits, that the boys work in a meatpacking plant. These scenes were shot at a bona fide abattoir, Corsetti Meat Packers on St. Clair West.

Throughout the film, we get helpful expositional news updates from Ms. Sally McBride. Here she is, for example, standing outside the lovely Sutton Place Hotel.

The University of Toronto is a frequent locale, but one of its more rarely seen buildings is the mining building on College Street. Here, it plays the role of a Boston police station.

The final courtroom scene was shot at Old City Hall. As every local democracy lover knows, the setting is the original council chambers, located on the second floor.

The interiors, through which we see our heroes boldly stride, were shot just downstairs. You probably recognize the halls from that failed attempt at fighting your parking tickets.

The exterior, on the other hand, was filmed a bit to the north at U of T's Koffler Centre (thanks, Sally!).

Some bar scenes were shot at the Gladstone Hotel, and other local venues included The Courthouse lounge and 53 Fraser Avenue. The latter was once the home of Sully's Gym, also featured in Cinderella Man.

Gentrification has wrought changes at those locations, meaning anyone who wants to recreate gritty Boston scenes here might have to look a bit harder. Luckily, as Good Will Hunting showed, we can still do "preppy Boston" when duty calls.

CORRECTION: JULY 15, 2008

This article originally said that this shot was filmed outside of U of T's Simcoe Hall (at 27 King's College Circle). It was, in fact, filmed outside of U of T's Koffler Centre (214 College Street).

The Travails of Mr. Stickman

Mr. Stickman has the toughest job in Toronto: keeping you safe. In a day's work, he gets smushed, crushed, beheaded, befingered, mangled, strangled, thrown, blown, ground, and crowned. And unlike the relatively delicate spokesmodels who calmly remind you to mind the gap or not to trespass, Mr. Stickman is willing to give the extra effort and actually demonstrate the consequences of not following the rules. Wherever danger lurks, Mr. Stickman plies his educational trade. He endures every manner of indignity, accident, and disfigurement that you can imagine, all in the hope that you will learn from his painful and sometimes deadly misadventures. What follows is a small sampling of his daily work around Toronto.

Earth to Air Canada

In the United States, rising fuel costs have forced airline carriers like Delta and American Airlines to cut both routes and jobs—with executives happily playing the victim by reinforcing the myth of speculation causing higher oil prices. (Speculation actually decreases volatility and the blame for surging prices sits squarely on that boring old idea of supply and demand.) In Canada, two airlines will be cutting jobs: Jazz Air by 270 and its parent company Air Canada by 2,000.

The story's interesting, especially compared to how the other carriers are performing. Westjet remains profitable and may expand routes now that it has entered into a venture with the U.S.-based Southwest Airlines to share customers. Smaller companies such as Bearskin and Porter are also holding on and have yet to trim jobs or flights. In fact, Porter’s flights to New York have improved on revenue estimates by 80%, and commutes to Montreal have increased more than 200% over a year.

The success of other carriers underlines the problem with Air Canada. The company has been unfocused since its merger with Canadian Airlines, as its bloated size makes it unable to adapt to the changing Canadian market. Although being the oldest airline currently in play in Canada should bring it experience and wisdom, it has also saddled Air Canada with the oldest—and potentially least fuel efficient—fleet. In addition to old equipment, the people in charge are fairly creaky as well: managers in monster companies often are slower to react (and less willing to), afraid that rocking the boat could cost them their jobs. For exhibit B, see the similar clunkiness in the American auto makers.

In an roundabout way, the dwindling economy may be the best thing to happen to Air Canada. The company will be forced into becoming smarter, hungrier for success, and more efficient—or face a path to irrelevancy. Already, the stock market has punished Air Canada, slashing the share price in the company by over 70% year-to-date. (Subsidiary Jazz Air is down 40%, while Westjet is down 20%.) Just as General Motors is gearing up the Volt as a last-ditch effort to stay relevant in the market, Air Canada must find its own spark of ingenuity.

Photo by News46 from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Something Awful, Something New

Going by popularity, the song above is the front-runner for the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Anthem Challenge. Titled "Hockey Scores" and created by Logan Aube from Aurora, it is the most viewed, top rated, and most commented-on submission of over 1,000 themes entered thus far. Described by Aube as "a beautiful theme encompassing the heart of hockey," it is absolutely and irrefutably atrocious, a million times worse than the iconic Hockey Night in Canada theme that the CBC embarrassingly lost to CTV.

And that's sort of the point. Aube created "Hockey Scores" as a joke, then posted a thread in the Something Awful forums last Thursday, asking for the goons there to help make it popular. (There, he more honestly described the song as "mostly comprised of cat and sheep sounds, baby cries, and gunshots/explosions.") A week later, with a spectacular animation on YouTube and an advocacy group on Facebook to further the cause, "Hockey Scores" is dominating the competition: almost every other theme uploaded can't get a rating higher than two out of five, and commenters on Aube's theme—those not in on the joke—are understandably confused, distressed, and furious.

Sadly, Aube's submission almost certainly won't win the contest's $100,000 (plus 50% royalties) prize and serve as Hockey Night in Canada's next theme—semi-finalists, announced on October 4, are not selected solely by popularity and are vetted by a producer and judges—but it's certainly a valiant effort. Even the CBC seems to think so: when "Hockey Scores" was briefly taken down on July 12, the CBC sent an e-mail to Lowgain clarifying that the move was a mistake on the part of a third-party moderator, and that Aube should "expect no further trouble with your most excellent submission."

Thanks to Nik Broukhanski for the tip.

To Rogers' Picnic, Bring an Appetite for Twee Instruments

Still listening to indie rock? If so, time to get amped for that other cellular service provider–sponsored outdoors concert: the Rogers Picnic. This year's spread includes the usual grub—ubiquitous preps Vampire Weekend and local flavour-of-the-year Tokyo Police Club—as well as finer treats, like the lovable, esoteric Animal Collective, or Cat Power and her smuggled-whiskey voice. The egg salad sandwich, if you will—love it or loathe it—is headliner City and Colour, the Dallas Green solo project you can usually find on your mom's and your little sister's recently played lists.

On the side, the Nokia Tent offers DJ sets by Jeremy Greenspan (one of the Junior Boys), Team Canada, Let's Go To war, and VND/LSM. You know, just in case you've missed a lot of Wednesday nights at The Social.

Tickets are $49.50 in advance and are available online at Ticketmaster, TicketBreak.com, or with friendly neighborhood vendors Play De Record, Rotate This, and Soundscapes.

Bring your checkered blankets and cocoa butter to (Historic) Fort York, 100 Garrison Road, this Sunday afternoon. Doors open at 1 p.m. and Scarborough's own dance-and-thrash duo The Carps kickstart the show at 1:35 p.m., and the last acoustic chord will probably fade out around 11 p.m. Do we need to say rain or shine?

Photo, left, of Dallas Green by Vanessa Heins; right, of the Carps, courtesy of Listen Harder Music.

Second Cup Has "Adequate Pest Control," But Gets Conditional Pass

Toronto Public Health's Antoine Nikolopoulos has gotten back to us; he's the Entertainment District's Environmental Health Officer, and yesterday he inspected Second Cup's 307 Queen Street West location after Kate Bowen spotted a mouse inside the store on Sunday morning and sent photos along to us.

First and foremost, Nikolopoulos concluded that the store has "adequate pest control." (And Second Cup told us that they were immediately taking additional steps at that particular location to improve upon their existing system.) He noted that food stores like Second Cup are in general considered low risk, because most food is prepared elsewhere and shipped to the store. (Not like, say, Dumpling House.)

Nonetheless, the Queen and John Second Cup received only a conditional pass from Nikolopoulos as a result of one "crucial issue" (an issue that "present[s] an immediate health hazard" according to DineSafe's website), three "significant issues" ("that present a potential health hazard" ), and one "minor" one (that "present[s] a minimal health risk"). The store, Nikolopoulos found, failed to ensure that food—ice—was not contaminated (crucial); failed to ensure that the handwashing basin was used only for handwashing (significant); failed to ensure, since the store's dishwasher was not working, that they had an adequate alternate cleaning system for the glass cups being loaned to customers (significant); was without a working thermometer in a fridge that stored milk (significant); and had one floor that required cleaning (minor). Second Cup is required to fix the issues within 48 hours from the time of inspection, or will face a ticket and potential legal action.

Nikolopoulos told us that in an old building like the one that the Second Cup occupies, it's nearly impossible to plug every possible hole—thus, the potential for a mouse to sneak in, Ratatouille-style. And about how frequently buildings have visitors like the one that Bowen spotted last Sunday at 2 a.m.? "You'd be surprised."

Photo by newyork808.

Vandalist: Don Katsu

Once a week, Vandalist features the best street art and graffiti from around Toronto. You should contribute.

By KATSU

NEAR RICHMOND AND McDOUGALL
PHOTO BY POST

Vintage Toronto Ads: Live Together in Perfect Harmony

Imagine that you're an advertising representative assigned to handle a spot for Eaton's in a magazine distributed to audience members enjoying classical music at Roy Thomson Hall in 1982. The department store giant wants to spotlight their fine collection of pianos. As you struggle for ideas, you flip on the radio and hear Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder join forces to sing about the joys of piano duets and racial harmony.

A light bulb appears over your head.

Released as a single in March 1982, "Ebony and Ivory" spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Its reputation has taken a beating in recent years—a 2007 BBC 6 Music listener poll rewarded the song with the distinction of the worst duet of all time.

Other offerings on the sixth floor of the Toronto Eaton Centre store included the home entertainment department, a portrait studio, optical and hearing aids, lost and found service, and the Marine Room restaurant.

Source: Bravo, November-December 1982

CORRECTION: JULY 16, 2008

This article mistakenly claimed that "retail sales on the [sixth] floor ceased soon after the chain was purchased by Sears Canada in 1999," which was not the case—the sixth floor remained open. An article in the Globe and Mail on November 25, 2000 noted that the store was six stories, which, combined with other sources, led the author to conclude that those six stories included the basement level. Torontoist apologizes for the error.

Historicist: How the Peninsula Became the Island

Every Saturday morning, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today.

"La baie et l'île de Toronto" ("Toronto Bay and Island"), Robert Irvine, c. 1815. Image from Wikimedia Commons

As crowds on Canada Day proved, the Toronto Islands are a popular destination for city dwellers to make a short escape. Even when they were physically connected to today's eastern port lands via marshes and a long sandbar, the islands felt a world away. The story of how they were permanently detached 150 years ago involves abuse of natural resources and the destruction of an early leisure spot.

Long used as a fishing site for natives and early settlers, the first permanent structures on the peninsula were military storehouses erected in the mid-1790s. By 1809, the lighthouse at Gibraltar Point was put into operation, guiding vessels for the next century-and-a-half. The difficulties of getting to the peninsula by land (due to the problems of building bridges across the meandering Don River) and its distant appearance across the harbour from the main settlement caused early residents of York to refer to it as "the Island" long before this was physically true. The feeling of remoteness, coupled with little development (for most of the early 19th century, the only permanent residents were the lighthouse keeper and their family), made it an ideal location for recreational hikes and horse riding. This proved ideal for the likes of Upper Canada governor Sir Francis Bond Head, who escaped from his inept daily management of the colony to ride along the peninsula like the gaucho he had been in South America.

Engraving of Louis J. Privat's House (the Peninsula Hotel), prepared for Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto Volume 2 (1896)

By the 1830s ferry services were running and the first hotels appeared. The largest of the early accommodations was the Peninsula Hotel, opened by Louis Privat in 1843. Along with his brother Louis Joseph, Privat gradually expanded the hotel's scope into a full resort with its own ferry service (operating from the foot of Church Street) and an amusement area that included swings, a merry-go-round, a ten-pin bowling alley and a small zoo. The Privats sold the hotel to John Quinn in 1853, who further expanded the frequency of ferry services. Soon renamed Quinn's Hotel, among the perks offered was an early morning bath service for local businessmen, who could hop on a steamer at 5:30 a.m. and be back in the city fully refreshed 75 minutes later.

As the peninsula was a sandbar it proved attractive to city contractors, who carted away large quantities of sand from the 1830s onwards to build the growing city. Combined with erosion from the lake, city officials worried about how secure the land was and made unsuccessful attempts to curb the outward flow of sand. The eastern narrows near Quinn's Hotel were a great concern, especially after a storm produced the first major breach of the peninsula in February 1853. Over the next five years, temporary breaches were filled back in, while city harbour commissioners dithered over providing permanent protection or letting nature take its course to produce an eastern entrance to Toronto Harbour. While a weak breakwater wall was erected on the south side of the peninsula, Quinn sensed that disaster might happen to his property. After extensive storm damage in 1856-57 that washed away the back half of the hotel and permanently submerged the bowling alley, he undertook renovations and built a separate storage shed in case evacuation was ever necessary.

On April 13, 1858, the Quinn family was preparing for a party that evening for the workmen who had rebuilt the hotel. A severe storm approached and Quinn, accompanied by his seven-year old daughter Jenny, ferried the workers back to the mainland. The ferocity of the storm made a return difficult; by the time John and Jenny arrived back at the hotel, they found the rest of the family clinging to boards amidst rising waters.

The Globe filed a report on what happened:

THE ISLAND HOTEL WASHED AWAY
A disaster for which some time has been anticipated, occurred yesterday morning, viz, the washing away of Mr. Quinn's hotel on the Island. The storm commenced early on the afternoon of the previous day and towards night the breeze freshened, and continued blowing steadily from the north-east. Such was the fury of the tempest on the bay that serious fears were entertained that the hotel would be blown down, but it withstood the violence of the hurricane. Towards morning the waves were breaking on the beach in rear of the house, and about five o'clock the water made a complete breach over the island, undermining the house and leaving it a total wreck, and at the same time, making a channel four or five feet in depth, which will make a convenient eastern entrance to the harbour for vessels of light draught. Mr. Quinn, who was anticipating the catastrophe, succeeded in removing his family, and the greater part of his furniture to a small dwelling which he had erected a short time ago, a little to the west of his late residence.

No lives were lost during the incident, though the shock affected Mrs. Quinn for the rest of her life—Jenny was sent away to live with relatives in Rochester for a year while her mother convalesced.

The breach proved permanent. By the end of May steamers were able to pass through the new eastern gap. Though plans have been put forward to physically link the islands to the mainland by tunnels or bridges, they remain a recreational outpost in the harbour.

Sources: The Globe, April 14, 1858 and More Than an Island: A History of the Toronto Islands by Sally Gibson (1984)

The Daily Photoist: July 14, 2008

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve.

She told me to ask her mom

BY TAYLOR ZHOU

Bitstripping

You can find and create Bitstrips at Bitstrips.com.

Feist Really Likes the Number Four

Somehow, "Sesame Street" is about to begin its thirty-ninth season, and they're pulling out all the stops for their premiere on August 11. Among the whack of celebrity guests slated for the first show of the new season is the omnipresent Leslie Feist; she'll debut a new song with Elmo and perform "1234." Judging by a clip of the latter performance that was uploaded to YouTube this morning, the whole thing is looking pretty damned adorable.

The original "1234" by Feist was all about love or something, but—as is customary—the song's lyrics have been rejigged to cater to a younger audience who may not yet know about teenage hopes who have tears in their eyes, too scared to own up to one little lie. On her blog, Feist (or a ghostwriting surrogate) said that the day she spent filming the song was "the best day of her life." The Count is gonna be so jealous!

Video via Pitchfork.

It's "Rally Behind the Beer Guy" Time

The Rogers Centre is beginning to show its age—yet despite its advancing years, it's still lacking what we'd call "authentic" ballpark atmosphere. Which is probably inevitable, since the Stadium Formerly Known as SkyDome is a sorta-generic, poured-concrete monstrosity with a cool-looking ceiling; when compared with some of baseball's classic stadiums, its shortcomings are plainly evident.

Given the circumstances, the Rogers Centre's employees are vital to making a baseball game in Toronto a more enjoyable experience. One of them is a beer vendor named Wayne McMahon. If you've ever watched a baseball game from the 100-level, then you've almost certainly encountered McMahon: he's the greying, sixty-one year-old vendor who practically hisses the phrase, "IIIIICE! COOOOOLD! BEEEEEEEEERRR!" But McMahon is more than an old dude with his own spin on an age-old catchphrase: he's also a genuinely nice guy. Meet him twice, and he'll remember you forever; we know this because...uh, let's just say we know this because, okay?

Last week, however, McMahon was fired from for allegedly failing to ID a twenty-two year-old customer who turned out to be a mystery shopper. As he explained (albeit somewhat ungrammatically) in his Facebook group, "This person was seating [sic] 16 seets from the Isle and it was one of the Isle people that told me to send him the two beer." Something about this seems not quite right. We know the Rogers Centre beer vendors are supposed to ID anyone who looks thirty years of age or younger...but really, is there that much difference between twenty-two and thirty these days? Besides, the buyer was actually of age. We don't pretend to know all the relevant facts, but we suspect there's more to the story than meets the eye.

McMahon's firing occurred sometime last week; last Saturday it was actually covered in (of all places) the Arts section of The Globe and Mail. Meanwhile, the campaign to get him reinstated is well underway. A Facebook group, one of the surest signs of political engagement circa 2008, has over 2,000 members; its administrators are planning on delivering it, old skool petition-style, to Aramark, the organization which runs Rogers Centre concessions. McMahon himself appeared on MTV Canada yesterday to plead his case. That a beer vendor for a local sports team could turn into a cause célèbre might seem strange—but we would argue it's also testament to a fan base which is in search of something real. Until Aramark in general and the Toronto Blue Jays in particular come to grips with this fact, they're dooming baseball fans to a second-class experience. Who's next? The drummer?

Photo by Andrea Kremer.

Velleity

It's hard to argue with Slate's declaration that the Random House Dictionary contains the best definition of velleity:

1. volition in its weakest form
2. a mere wish, unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it.

That is precisely the definition that comes to mind when gazing at this sign guarding a driveway leading to the LCBO store on Yonge Street north of Davisville Avenue. The driveway joins two small parking lots, one that serves the LCBO store to the north and another that serves a smattering of other stores to the south. Someone must have decided at some point that they no longer wanted LCBO customers using the southern lot and the connecting drive. But in the place of an actual barrier to block access, this sign was erected to declare what is quite demonstrably a bald-faced lie. Watching both cars and pedestrians regularly cross the unbridgeable (yet smoothly paved) chasm to access the LCBO's main entrance, we're more than a little heartened to know that Torontonians still believe their own eyes over a neatly printed sign.

Photo by Val Dodge.

King Swede East

King Street East is known for its high-end furniture retailers like Roche Bobois and UpCountry, so it's a bit of a surprise to see the logo for everyone's guilty pleasure, IKEA, on a classy King Street storefront.

Torontoist reader Sofi Papamarko asked us to investigate this mysterious downtown presence of the eco-conscious Swedish giant, suggesting that it could be an office furniture location or a boutique IKEA (similar to the Leon's planned for the Roundhouse or the downscaled Brick store at College Park). The windows at 143 King Street tease a date of July 31, 2008—which curiously is the same day that IKEA releases their annual catalogue.

"It's not a store," a rep for the company told Torontoist, "but it is a place where customers can check out products from the 2009 catalogue."

A furniture showroom where you can't buy anything on-site is an interesting concept, but it's also smart: the showroom can be tailored to the dense condo market (which demands smaller items and is more likely to request home delivery), but it also avoids the bad press surrounding warehouse-style box stores in the city core. Plus, it's right on the spårvagnen, er, streetcar line, so no trips out to Etobicoke or North York just for a look-see at the Poopli pencil holder.

Aesthetes rejoice, for the store boasts none of IKEA's trademark blue-and-yellow, but subtle gold logos decaled on the windows, appropriate for the historic architecture between Jarvis and Church.

We're curious to see what exactly appears on July 31, as three floors of the building are under heavy construction inside. The showroom is a contrast to the premium-priced wares of King East strip, and if you ask us, det är bra!

Photo by Marc Lostracco.

The Daily Photoist: July 17, 2008

Shute

BY TOMMS

Rutting Rabbits Rock Hogtown

It's gonna be an adorable summer. The Star reports that perfect hare-raising conditions have led to the population of cottontail rabbits skyrocketing to numbers not seen since the turn of the century, when pundits predicted that we were headed into the millennium of the bunny.

There are two main reasons for this abundance of floppy-eared Easter rodents. First, while climate change sucks for polar bears, it's a hell of a deal for rabbits, who have been experiencing an idyllic spring and summer with a surfeit of free-range carrots, hay, lettuce and those little brown pellet things. Second, an outbreak of mange four years ago reduced the predator population by leaving many foxes and coyotes furless and ill-equipped for the harsh Toronto winter. Under such optimal conditions, rabbits reproduce with startling efficiency, as evidenced by the expression "screwing like bunnies" (or in pukka, "breeding like rabbits").

What does all this mean to you? Well since if you're reading this you're most likely human, you, sir or madam, are at the top of the food chain and all you need is a good pair of running shoes and a bowie knife and those wascally wabbits are yours for the catchin', skinnin' and stewin'. The best recipe received by Torontoist will be featured in our new weekly column, Eating Stuff We Found In Our Yard.

Photo by Angie Torres from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

The World's Largest Christmas Stocking?! For Free?!

Getting free stuff is always nice. Getting ridiculous free stuff that has no actual purpose to everyday Canadians is sometimes nicer. On July 23, the Sony Centre For The Performing Arts will be opening its doors and giving away a whole bunch of random useless junk. That is probably the only time you will see a multination corporation like Sony and the words “giving away” in the same sentence, so relish it while you can, even if it’s not really Sony doing the giving.

Have you ever wanted the world’s largest Christmas stocking? Think of all the presents you’ll get this year! How about your very own red carpet? How about three of your very own red carpets? Do you want four pictures? What are they of? The website doesn’t specify—the thrill is in the mystery! Your very own podium would be nice; set it up anywhere in the city for an instant lecture/awards ceremony/high school assembly. If you have four table legs waiting for the right top, then check out the 60” tabletops (no legs). There are far too many items to mention here, so check out the website for a complete list.

The main doors of the Sony Centre will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23. If you’re lucky you’ll get one of the three gurneys that they have; otherwise you might want to bring a truck.

Picture of the Sony Centre (formerly the Hummingbird Centre) by Metrix X from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Fringe: Domestic Violence

Domestic is an absolutely insane black comedy about a bright-eyed 50s housewife who has to deal with an encyclopedia salesman who keeps dying in her kitchen, pesky phone calls from someone named "God" who keeps talking about the end of the world and her inability to have enough cat food. Also, a pair of fast-talking weirdos with faux British accents (pictured) keep bursting into her home and she may or may not have murdered a homeless man earlier that day. Oh, and her husband shot himself in the head and she just doesn't seem to have noticed yet.

Somehow, Domestic manages to be screamingly funny and compelling without ever really making a lick of sense. Joel Babcock's script may have a story that is willfully unintelligible, but it also has searingly witty dialogue that's as fast-paced as it is insane. The entire cast is impressively solid, but serious kudos need to go out to Carly Hefferman, who really carries the show as homemaker Betty Smith. Her pitch-perfect performance as a sort of psychotic June Cleaver requires her to be on stage and talking, mostly to herself, for almost the entire piece, and she manages to be exciting, funny and surprisingly sympathetic throughout the piece.

Domestic plays today at 2:45 p.m. at the Passe Muraille backspace.

Other Fringe today:

At 3:30 p.m., you can catch Damages, a drama about Holocaust survivors, at the George Ignatieff Theatre. If you're in the mood for something lighter, there's always Wild About Harry over at the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse at 11:00 p.m. It's a so-called "jazzy musical romp" through the songbook of composer Harry Warren.

Photo by Sarah Munro.

Illustration Sunday: Kormann House Hotel

Continuing a popular series from earlier this year, Illustration Sunday will explore some interesting local buildings over the next few weeks.

Completed in 1897, this building on the southwest corner of Queen and Sherbourne started out as a hotel. Cited for its "design value as a representative example of a late 19th century corner hotel," the Kormann House is included in the Toronto Heritage Property Inventory. Though vacant for the past few years, this old watering hole will open its doors once again as part of an upcoming condo development.

Illustration by Kevin McBride.

The Daily Photoist: July 16, 2008

Dan

BY NICK MERZETTI