news
Urban Planner: July 15, 2010
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].
A young Torontonian enjoys Caribana’s 2007 festivities. This year’s carnival launches today. Photo by Craig Jenkins from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
Today, Caribana launches; Blansdowne fence reveals; Poetry, Prosecco, and Pasta satisfies; Au Revoir Simone charms; and A Fish Called Wanda screens.
CARNIVAL: And you thought the celebrations showcasing glorious costumes, dance-tastic music, and scantily clad Torontonians would end with Pride. Caribana was first celebrated in Canada by immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago, and eventually expanded to include a number of other Caribbean nations’ festival traditions. For two weeks beginning today, the city will become a carnival zone, complete with feathers, sequins, steelpan music, and delicious cuisine (jerk-spiced meats, oxtail stew, roti…). Today is the official launch of the festival, with live music, a preview of parade costumes, and the opportunity to sample some mighty tasty dishes. Yonge-Dundas Square, 12–2 p.m., FREE.
UNVEILING: Last week, Torontoist answered a question about some exciting new wood murals appearing on a chainlink fence near Bloor and Lansdowne. The murals are part of a TTC-commissioned art project by artists Scott Eunson and Marianne Lovink, and were designed to animate the vacant space and bring new beauty to the neighbourhood. Today, the graphic silhouettes will be officially unveiled, with both TTC chair Adam Giambrone and the artists in attendance. Refreshments will be served! Lansdowne Avenue and Paton Road, 5:30 p.m., FREE.
WORDS: Whenever someone is asked to play that game where he or she picks famous people to invite to a dinner party, beloved authors and poets are bound to show up on the list. Diaspora Dialogues invites local literature lovers to fulfill that fantasy with Poetry, Prosecco, and Pasta, a series of dinner parties offering patrons those three delectable delights. Tonight’s installment features Erín Moure, whose latest collection, O Resplandor, was published by Anansi earlier this year. The evening will be moderated by acclaimed poet and novelist Priscila Uppal. Grano Ristorante (2035 Yonge Street), 6:30 p.m., $75.
MUSIC: A precious, wide-eyed innocence characterizes the dreamy pop melodies of Au Revoir Simone. The lovely trio took its name from a throwaway line in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, and its ultra-feminine sound falls somewhere between the Cocteau Twins and The Shangri-Las. Their 2009 release, Still Night, Still Light, inspired a number of artists to produce remixes of the ladies’ songs, and last week, the band released Night Light, a collection of the best remixes from the likes of Jens Lekman, Neon Indian, and Montag. Tonight, Au Revoir Simone brings its wistful tunes to Toronto, joined by Alexa Wilding. The Great Hall (1087 Queen Street West), 8 p.m., $15.
FILM: Movies cost an arm and a leg these days, and, perhaps to protest these exorbitant ticket prices, Yonge-Dundas Square is holding a series of free outdoor movie nights. Tonight’s screening will be the classic (1988 is classic now?) John Cleese comedy A Fish Called Wanda, co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis and a then-unknown Kevin Kline, who won an Oscar for his efforts. The movie is a hilarious jewel-heist romp about (pet) murder and (Cleese) seduction, and, at an unbeatable price, is definitely a safer bet than The Last Airbender. Yonge-Dundas Square, 8:30 p.m., FREE.