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Torontoist Week in Review: June 29-July 3
A lot happens in the course of a workweek. Here’s a look back at the top stories from the past five days that you might have missed, or might care to revisit.
Giorgio Mammoliti in a Torontoist file photo.
Following in the footsteps of Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West), four lobbyists face penalties after donating more than $23,000 to a private fundraiser in support of the city councillor.
From the article:
Four lobbyists committed a “serious breach” by donating to a May 2013 private fundraiser for Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West), according to a report from Toronto’s lobbyist registrar [PDF]. The lobbyists, who include prominent lawyer Ralph Lean, Sheldon Libfeld, Luigi Santaguida, and Medallion Developments, donated over $23,000 for a red carpet dinner in support of the councillor.
If Fifty Shades of Grey was good for anything, it started discussions of what BDSM is actually like, and how to engage in it respectfully and responsibly. In this month’s edition of Sex-ist, we spoke to the Ritual Chamber’s Headmistress Shahrazard about all things kinky.
From the article:
The Ritual Chamber doesn’t look like much from the outside. Located in a nondescript strip mall in Toronto’s West End, its frosted glass windows and signless exteriour reveal nothing about the business inside. It could be a boutique architecture f irm, or a web-design collective. The building’s facade is sleek, modern, and entirely without personality, which is just the way Headmistress Shahrazad likes it.
The Ritual Chamber is a dungeon, and Shahrazad is its owner.
Image of “Zones of Immersion,” courtesy of Stuart Reid.
Stuart Reid captures the misery of public transportation (and everyday life) in his new art installation, Zones of Immersion.
From the article:
What’s more depressing: the new art installation at Union Station, or the complaints about how depressing it is?
Stuart Reid’s 500-foot-long ribbon of floor-to-ceiling stained glass, titled Zones of Immersion, doesn’t exactly brim with fizz and pep. Many of the figures depicted in the panels exhibit an aura of isolation, as if trapped inside themselves. Slouched in their seats or standing pensively, they seem haunted by a secret despair.
Photo illustration from the Toronto Media Arts Centre website.
The Toronto Media Arts Cluster thought it was getting a new building. Now, the organization is suing the City for allegedly backing out of the deal in bad faith.
From the article:
“We had a deal and we’re not walking away.” That’s what frustrates Henry Faber of the Toronto Media Arts Cluster (TMAC).
Faber is the cofounder and director of community development at Bento Miso—a space for creative Torontonians to work on and develop their art and trades in a community environment, and a member of the board of directors for TMAC.
Vanessa Smythe’s This Is How We Disappear reappears at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival. Photo By Nancy Ribeiro.
To help you navigate this year’s Fringe Festival, we wrote a comprehensive festival guide and review of some of this year’s hottest shows.
From the article:
The Toronto Fringe Festival is bigger this year, up a dozen shows from last year with a greater variety of site-specific shows, a new (bigger) venue for the KidsFringe, and more than 1,200 artists by the festival’s count.
To help you get a grip on the sort of selection and pedigree the festival offerings include, we’ve previewed more than a quarter of the shows programmed, broken them down into categories, and given a brief explanation of why you should pick them over the show with the weirdest title in the massive program (though, by all means, spend one of your pass punches on that show, too).