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Urban Planner: January 30, 2009
WINTERCITY: Toronto’s big oh-god-why-can’t-it-be-April-already WinterCity Festival starts today (on until February 12), and includes the return of a Dutch street theatre troupe. The city has left Alice down the rabbit hole this year and instead brings us the North American premiere of Pi-Leau as performed by Close-Act. The tale of forbidden love set against a backdrop of environmental destruction is guaranteed to drive away the February blues. Check the WinterCity schedule for more Friday night fun at the RBC WinterCity Lodge, the Tim Hortons Ice Breaker rink, and the City Hall Rotunda. Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen Street West), 7 p.m., FREE.
FILM: When Ron Mann points to Jim Jarmusch as his inspiration for making a film about mushrooms and hires the Flaming Lips, Greg Keelor, and Travis Good to write the soundtrack, we get very excited. As with previous Mann documentaries, the film is filled with vintage clips, crazy real-life characters, and an adoration for subject matter that stretches into another universe. Know Your Mushrooms has its Toronto premiere tonight at the Royal Cinema (on until February 3). Royal Cinema (608 College Street) 7 p.m., $10.
FILM: A more serious documentary on the subject of little things that grow out of dirt is playing at the Gardiner Museum tonight. Eternal Mash follows the story of a horticulturist who devoted his life to the preservation of rare seeds (this reminds us a little of Delicatessen) before he disappeared, taking all his knowledge with him. The film won for best international long-format entry at the Planet in Focus festival in 2008. If the film inspires you to destroy more plant life, note that the Jamie Kennedy restaurant at the Gardiner stays open late on Friday (until 9 p.m.). Gardiner Museum (111 Queen’s Park), 6 p.m., FREE with admission ($6 after 4 p.m. on Fridays).
CYCLING: January 30 is statistically the coldest day of the year in Toronto. What a perfect day to ride your bike! The City of Toronto Bike Winter program has organized a group ride from City Hall to the Fairmont Royal York, and there are a number of great reasons to take part in it: the first fifty riders will receive a free 25 oz Bike Winter thermos, all riders get free turtle lights for their bike courtesy of Mountain Equipment Co-op, and at the end of the ride everyone gets free hot chocolate and snacks. The most important aspect of the ride is the attention brought to winter cyclists and their rights to full and safe use of the road. City Hall, rear doors (100 Queen Street West), 12 p.m., FREE.
FILM: The second annual The 8 Fest—a celebration of small-gauge film formats from regular 8 to super-8, zoetropes, loops, and the unusual 9.5 mm format—officially starts tonight with two scheduled screenings. The West Coast Invades the East (7 p.m.) is a collection of super 8 films from the Super 8 Boot Camp run by Vancouver’s Project8 Film Collective. Red Shift (8:30 p.m.) is a forty-minute piece of found industrial and educational 8 mm footage with live accompaniment by Toronto’s Picastro. See the 8 Fest website for the full festival schedule. Trash Palace (89-B Niagara Street), 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., $5 per event.