Urban Planner: February 3, 2010

By Alison Horn

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].

Thought you…. by Natalie Castellino. Courtesy of Launch Projects.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Chances are faulty communication has landed you in some hot water or a sticky situation more than once, altering your day or even your life. Natalie Castellino‘s solo photography exhibit, “I think this is for you….,” starts today and runs through February 14, with an opening reception tomorrow evening (7–9 p.m.). Inspired by the writings of Hal Foster in Compulsive Beauty and Miwon Kwon in One Place After Another, the show documents awkward and upsetting moments, highlighting the importance of how messages are delivered and received and how relationships can shift or break down as a result of miscommunication. Launch Projects (404 Adelaide Street West), 12–5 p.m., FREE.
SPORTS: York University students are trading books for balls today. In what might be a thinly veiled commercial for chewing gum, post-secondary students are invited to participate in a two-day ping pong tournament, battling for a chance to win one thousand bucks in cash. The Stride Gum Ridiculously Long Lasting Ping Pong Tournament, which is making stops at college and university campuses across Canada, is open to students with valid ID. Spectators are also welcome to attend. York University, Student Centre Food Court (4700 Keele Street), 12–5 p.m., FREE.
WORDS: In celebration of Black History Month, the Toronto Public Library presents visits by authors, musicians, and storytellers as part of “Big Voices, New Voices.” The first of the events, which are happening throughout the month at branches across the city, will feature a talk by historian, archaeologist, and award-winning author Karolyn Smardz Frost, who will discuss one of the most well-respected historians of African-Canadian history, Fred Landon. Landon produced over three hundred publications throughout his sixty-year career, many of which focused on topics pertaining to African-Canadian history: slavery, abolition, and the Underground Railroad. North York Central Library (5120 Yonge Street), 7 p.m., FREE.
ART: The arts and hearts collide at the Propeller Centre’s annual Valentine’s Day group exhibition, “The One I Love The Most.” The show, which runs through February 14 with an opening reception tomorrow night (7–10 p.m.), features works by gallery members and a juried selection of non-members. Each artist was asked to select one piece to convey the ineffable feeling of love, whether it be a favourite piece or a representation of a person, place, item, or moment. Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts (984 Queen Street West), 12–6 p.m., FREE.
MUSIC: Our country has produced more than its fair share of indie-rockers who have made their mark on the local scene and been scooped up by Arts & Crafts. Reg Vermue has been on the radar for more than ten years now, known for his folk-pop style as the frontman of Gentleman Reg. To celebrate the first anniversary of his album Jet Black, Reg and his crew will spend the month of February in residence at The Drake Hotel. He will play a show with special guests every Wednesday night, before retiring to his room to lay his Heavy Head on the fluffed pillows and curl up in the fresh linens. Gentleman Reg will be joined tonight by Kite Hill and Hooded Fang for the first of four shows. The Drake Underground (1150 Queen Street West), Doors at 9 p.m., $10 (available at Rotate This, Soundscapes, and GalleryAC.com).