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Newsstand: May 8, 2010
lllustration by Clayton Hanmer/Torontoist.
Normally, an artist would feel honoured if their muse showed up for the unveiling of the masterpiece, like, say, that chick that Sandra plays in Blind Side coming to the premiere. But when said muse is a no-good thief and the masterpiece is a graphic novel detailing the thief’s crimes, it’s, well, kinda weird. The creators of Kenk: A Graphic Portrait held their book launch at the Cadillac Lounge on Thursday night, and along with five hundred fans entered the guest of dishonour, Igor Kenk himself. He mingled, he cut moves on the dance floor, he signed autographs. Kenk creator Alex Jansen called the appearance “surreal.” Said Eric Kamphof of Curbside Cycle, “It was weird. It was wrong.”
And speaking of unveiling, Joe Pantalone (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) and Pam McConnell (Ward 28, Toronto Centre-Rosedale) were on hand at St. Lawrence Hall yesterday, for the big reveal of finalist submissions for St. Lawrence north market’s makeover. Glass structures, curved copper walls, and sharp angles were featured among the five different designs for the new market-courthouse combo. Torontonians can write up comments for the jury, who will announce the winner on June 7.
And when he’s not admiring architecture, Pantalone is pushing for a different kind of morning routine: brush teeth, read paper, drink beer. The mayoral candidate is urging council to ask the province’s liquor authority to roll back the legal serving hour to 10 a.m. during the World Cup to account for the time difference in South Africa. Games will start airing at 7:30 a.m., and Pantalone sees no problem in having bars cash in on the fandemonium for an extra hour. The motion, which could result in belligerent soccer fans roaming the streets before lunch, goes before council next week. Cheers.
In an odd twist, Vakhtang Makhniashvili, father of missing girl Mariam, will appear in court today, after allegedly stabbing a man in his Forest Hill building. A witness said she saw blood on the twenty-six-year-old victim and Makhniashvili being led away by police in handcuffs on Friday night. Both men were taken to the hospital. Police say the two men got into a fight outside the victim’s apartment and that Makhniashvili threatened him before forcing his way in and stabbing the man. Guests at the apartment called the police. Makhniashvili’s daughter Mariam has been missing since September.
It seems Toronto’s gay pride parade isn’t stirring that sentiment among the Conservatives (shocker). The Harper government released the list of nearly fifty groups getting funding from the Marquee Tourism Events Program on Friday, and Pride Toronto wasn’t on it. Last year MTEP, then headed by Diane Ablonczy, doled out $400,000 for the week-long festival, causing some of the Tory caucus to cringe. This year, Pride applied for more money and got zero. Industry Minister Tony Clement, now in charge of the file after Ablonczy got the axe, said he wanted to spread the wealth to smaller cities this time around, but members of the gay community aren’t buying it.