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Urban Planner: November 30, 2009
Urban Planner is Torontoist’s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].
York/Ryerson student Nicola Waugh re-creates a photograph of the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven for “Make It New: Salon Portraits from New York to Toronto.”
ART: As part of a York/Ryerson University partnered Modernist Literary Circles Seminar, a group of graduate students have created an interesting exhibit of re-created New York salon culture (which, surprisingly, has nothing to do with hair). “Make It New: Salon Portraits from New York to Toronto” is a collection of photos of modern interpretations of modernist, avant-garde, and Dada art from early twentieth-century New York City. Some of the artists the group explores are the Arensbergs, A’Lelia Walker, Carl Van Vechten, and works that came out of The Little Review circle. Ryerson University, Modern Literature & Culture Research Centre (111 Gerrard Street East), 10 a.m.–4 p.m. (opening-night reception 6–8 p.m.), FREE.
KIDS: There are a ton of events going down at Toronto’s favourite castle for the kids this time of year. Starting today, award-winning magician team Majinx will bring classic children’s fairy tales to life with Storybook Magic. Stories like Jack and the Bean Stalk, Aladdin, Hansel and Gretel, and Pinocchio will all be told using illusions three to five times a day until January 3. Casa Loma will also be decorated for the holidays and may be expecting a few visits from the big guy in red himself. Casa Loma (1 Austin Terrace); 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m.; $10.50 for children, $12.50 for youths and seniors, $18 for adults.
CHARITY: The annual Toronto Professional Firefighters Media Trivia Challenge is tonight, when teams of eight compete with each other and a group of Toronto firefighters, Trivial Pursuit style, to win a gourmet dinner at Yorkville Fire Station 312, including pre-meal drinks at a local pub. The proceeds from this year’s event will go to support The Stop Community Food Centre and Lamp Community Health Centre. To give you an idea of who the firefighters are up against, the Globe and Mail team won last year. Participants will also enjoy a buffet dinner and libations provided by Steam Whistle. Steam Whistle Brewery, The Roundhouse (255 Bremner Boulevard), 7 p.m. (doors at 6 p.m.), $75 (pay at the door, register here).
WORDS: With the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver just around the corner, now is a good time to get re-acquainted with past Canadian Olympic gold winners. Ross Rebagliati was the first ever Olympic gold medallist for snowboarding when he won in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. The medal was subsequently stripped from him, after traces of marijuana were found in his system, then given back after it was decided that marijuana isn’t a performance-enhancing drug (no kidding). Recently, he’s written a book chronicling the rise of snowboarding, called Off the Chain: An Insider’s History of Snowboarding, and today he’ll be at the Roots flagship store in Toronto for a meet and greet and signing. The book follows everything from snowboarding’s “hippie” infancy—with homemade boards and the need to trespass on ski hills to play—to Rebagliati’s career-ending Olympic controversy, to current snowboarding superstar Shaun White. Roots Store (100 Bloor Street West), 4 p.m., FREE.