Advertisement

Toronto Life - The Wire

The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com

All stories relating to Toronto

The Informer

My Name Is Lucre
May 24, 2012 | 10:21 am

3 Comments

A Toronto electrician won $50 million (and he’s giving part to a stranger) 

A Torontonian (well, okay, he was born in Alberta but he lives here now) named Timothy Schell won the $50-million Lotto Max draw this week, and he has the kind of story that inspires cheesy lottery commercials. The 34-year-old construction worker was goaded into buying the jackpot ticket by a gas station attendant, who now has a cash bonus from Schell heading his way. Schell also plans to buy his girlfriend a hefty engagement ring, pick up some fancy cars and motorcycles and open his own garage. He seems pretty grounded, so we hope there won’t be one of those sad follow-up stories in the Toronto Star about how winning the lottery turned into a burden… er, we’re not jealous. Honest. [Toronto Star]

The Hype

Creative Types
May 24, 2012 | 10:14 am

Comments

VIDEO: Watch Prince Charles DJ in Toronto (no, really, he’s DJing)

While in town for the Queen’s Jubilee, Prince Charles stopped by UforChange, an arts and life skills program for new Canadian and low-income youth. While he was there, he got a crash course in DJing from Fayola Leach, a.k.a. DJ Loquenz. Could this be the beginning of an illustrious career moonlighting as DJ Char Royaled?

The Hype

Creative Types
May 23, 2012 | 4:20 pm

Comments

David Cronenberg set to debut his multi-platform augmented reality game at TIFF Bell Lightbox

As Canadian directors go, few names have more cred than David Cronenberg. His macabre genius can be polarizing, but there’s no denying the memorability of his work. (Videodrome likely still haunts the average film theory major.) With recent Hollywood hits such as A Dangerous Method and the upcoming Cosmopolis, TIFF has decided to center its first original multimedia exhibition on Cronenberg. Along with the usual props, interviews and reconstructed sets, there will also be a “multi-platform augmented reality game” (called The Worlds of David Cronenberg) that will hopefully be as creepy as it sounds. After all, this man is the king of twisted sensory overload. This exhibit is set to premiere at the TIFF Lightbox next fall, and will begin touring in 2014.

The Informer

The Sporting Life
May 23, 2012 | 3:47 pm

1 Comment

Street hockey could soon be legal (if your neighbours are cool with it) 

(Image: Ryan Tir)

Toronto may soon allow street hockey in some areas, as long as residents have the stamina for what sounds like a painstaking bureaucratic process. Last May, Josh Matlow and Mary-Margaret McMahon proposed that the city create a procedure to exempt some residential streets from the bylaw (since the games are happening anyway); after mulling it for a year, city staff will present their ideas to the public works committee next month. If the staff proposal is adopted, residents hoping to lift the ban on their street would need formal support of 80 per cent of the neighbouring households, and the street would have to have a speed limit of 40km/h or less and fewer than 1,000 vehicles passing by a day, plus each gap between vehicles would have to average a minute or more and the sightlines would have to allow oncoming vehicles to stop in time (whew!). Seeing as the current ban isn’t regularly enforced, it sounds like it might be easier to just keep the bylaw in the books and let residents flout it at will. [Toronto Star]

The Dish

Opening
May 23, 2012 | 2:58 pm

1 Comment

Introducing: Kinton, a new Baldwin Village ramen bar from the people behind Guu

(Image: Renée Suen)

This summer, a number of new ramen restaurants—from Japan and Vancouver—are scheduled to invade the city’s arguably lacklustre alkaline noodle scene. The first to make it to opening day: Kinton Ramen, a long and narrow noodle shop by the same group that introduced Guu to Toronto (along with its boisterous greetings, also present here). It opened last Friday in Baldwin Village, and has already seen lineups out the door. Managing the 46-seater is chef Nobuaki “Aki” Urata, who started as a ramen chef in Japan at the age of 19, before spending the next 15 years in Canada, seven of them managing Kintaro, a well-known Vancouver ramen restaurant (the upcoming Raijin Ramen on Gerrard Street is from the owners of Kintaro).

Read the rest of this entry »

The Hype

Curtain Call
May 23, 2012 | 2:39 pm

Comments

Hilarious funnyman Louis CK to headline Toronto comedy festival

Louis CK (Image: David Shankbone)

Fans of Louis CK’s incredibly colourful (and hilarious) standup comedy will be excited to note that he’ll be headlining four shows in Toronto as part of the launch of JFL42, a festival put together by Just For Laughs and LiveNation. The festival runs for eight days from September 21 to 28, and will include, um, 42 acts from various disciplines, ranging from art to comedy, to choose from (a pass entitles the buyers to a reserved seat for a Louis CK show, and the choice of attending several other events). This isn’t your average comedy festival either, because JFL and LiveNation want the user to be involved in creating the schedule—festival passes can be purchased via smart phone, and the acts with the most interest will get the best time slots (the festival also recognizes that some acts may be too popular, and they have committed to setting up at bigger venues or adding extra performance dates and times where possible). Passes go on sale May 25 at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster, and a full list of the performers will be revealed in June. Please, please, please, let Rob Delaney be on that final list.

The Hype

Power Couples
May 23, 2012 | 2:22 pm

1 Comment

VIDEO: Is Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, the new Kate Middleton?

It’s no surprise that there are people who love the royal family—heck, just look at the coverage of every outfit that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, has worn since her engagement to Prince William. But as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, clomps through Canada for the Queen’s Jubilee, all eyes are on her, and people came from far and wide to get a photo with the bonnet-wearing royal at each stop on the tour. In a video from The Canadian Press, it seems like there’s a bigger fandom for Camilla than there is for Charles—but is she more popular than Middleton? Probably not—after all, when she and Charles tied the knot, no one dressed up like her engagement ring.

The Hype

To-Do List
May 23, 2012 | 2:10 pm

Comments

The Pick: Berenice Abbott’s unsurpassed visions of New York

Photomontage, 1932 (Image: Berenice Abbott / Commerce Graphics Ltd)

One big omission in Woody Allen’s cavalcade of American expats in Midnight In Paris: Berenice Abbott, who started her career as Man Ray’s assistant, but later became a renowned photographer in her own right. Though her name might not be familiar, Abbott was one of the first proponents of documentary realism in photography, and, from 1935 to 1939, she captured iconic images of New York City that have since become a visual shorthand for big city living. A new exhibit at the AGO—which originated at Paris’s Jeu de Paume—goes beyond the famous Manhattan shots, displaying over 120 photographs from Abbott’s varied 60-year career.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Political Whoas
May 23, 2012 | 1:24 pm

Comments

QUOTED: Rob Ford opponent Shelley Carroll says she wants to see more of the mayor

(Image: Christopher Drost)

—Councillor Shelley Carroll, targeting Rob Ford for spending too much time gadding about instead of staying at his desk and building consensus with the rest of council. We’re not totally convinced that Carroll, a vocal critic of Ford, is genuinely interested in building a close working relationship with the mayor, and her examples don’t quite work anyway: Ford cancels nearly as many weigh-ins as he shows up to and does his dull and offensive radio show on the weekend. Meanwhile, Ford supporters, including Doug Holyday, pointed out the mayor conducts much of his city business outside the walls of city hall. More on the mark was Carroll’s criticism that Ford is focused on making promises for the 2014 election instead of working with council now. That said, Carroll, the budget chief during the David Miller years, has suggested she wants the mayor’s job come 2014—which would explain why it seems like Ford’s not the only one engaged in some pretty obvious (and early) electioneering. [Toronto Sun]

The Hype

Shelf Life
May 23, 2012 | 11:31 am

Comments

Marvel Comics’ Canadian superhero Northstar is going to get married—to a man 

It wasn’t too long ago that Archie Comics’ Kevin Keller celebrated his same sex union in an issue that sold out, and now Marvel Comics is continuing this new comic book tradition by wedding its gay character, Canadian superhero Northstar. Northstar, who came out in 1992, was the first openly gay caped avenger, and he’ll marry in an upcoming issue of Astonishing X-Men. We can’t wait to see what the decor will be like. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

The Hype

To-Do List
May 23, 2012 | 11:20 am

Comments

The Weekender: Doors Open Toronto, Bonnie Raitt and six other items on our to-do list

Odysseo (Image: Odysseo)


1. DOORS OPEN TORONTO
This long-running design event is really the architectural equivalent of a peep show. For one weekend of every year, buildings like Havergal College, TIFF Bell Lightbox and Steam Whistle Brewery allow visitors to explore their normally private spaces. May 26 and 27, Various locations, toronto.ca/doorsopen. Check out The Weekender »

The Dish

Opening
May 23, 2012 | 11:17 am

1 Comment

Introducing: Hoof Raw Bar, the new seafood addition to the Hoof family

The sign that greets passersby on Dundas West was designed by David Glantz (Image: Renée Suen)

For many Toronto food lovers, Hoof Raw Bar, the latest eatery in Jen Agg’s burgeoning Dundas West mini-empire, came out of left field when it opened a couple weeks back. But Agg tells us that she’d long wanted to open a space to serve oysters, and had been throwing around the idea for a seafood-focused restaurant since last September. She and her husband began the DIY construction work on the former Ferreira photography studio in November, but didn’t get down to the heavy lifting until January of this year—all while Agg was running the neighbouring Black Hoof and Cocktail Bar.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

To Market, To Market
May 23, 2012 | 10:37 am

Comments

Tower power: Scotia Plaza sells for a record $1.27 billion

(Image: Andrew Rivett)

In a much-hyped sale, the red granite Scotiabank tower at King and Bay has sold for $1.27-billion, which is—by far—the highest price ever paid for an office building in Canada. Toronto-based Dundee Real Estate Investment Trust teamed up with H&R Real Estate Investment Trust to jointly pick up the two million square feet of space (and Canada’s deepest basement). The building only went on the market in January, and the relatively quick sale confirms the strength of Toronto’s office market—we bet the developers building all those office towers downtown are feeling pretty optimistic about now. [Globe and Mail]

The Informer

The Sporting Life
May 23, 2012 | 10:17 am

Comments

Meet the Torontonian who is transforming Madison Square Garden

(Image: Marlon E)

The latest entry in our file of Torontonians making it big in the Big Apple will leave his mark on one of New York’s most famous landmarks: Madison Square Garden. This weekend, the Globe and Mail ran a short profile of Waterloo-born architect Murray Beynon, who is responsible for the stadium’s nearly $1-billion redesign. Beynon is a principal at Toronto- and Ottawa-based BBB Architects, which beat out 20 U.S. companies for the contract (reportedly, the firm’s expertise in designing and managing luxury suites such as those in the Air Canada Centre and Vancouver’s GM Place helped net them the job). It’s a complex-sounding project: unlike Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, which were both built from scratch on land next to the old venues, the new Madison Square Garden is being constructed within the existing building—and while the New York Rangers continue to play there. Beynon said the “Herculean task” of remaking the venue will be the crowning highlight of his career (and this from a man who worked on the then-SkyDome back in the ’80s). [Globe and Mail]

The Hype

To-Do List
May 23, 2012 | 7:30 am

Comments

Today in Toronto: Brad Turner

Brad Turner The multi-tasker (trumpeter, pianist, drummer, composer) and multiple-award winner gets to show off during a week-long stint featuring appearances by many of his jazz buddies. Metalwood kicks off the week, followed by the Brad Turner Acoustic Quintet and, finally, Turner’s piano trio. Find out more »

Advertisement

Current Issue
Current Issue

Advertisement

Advertisement

Links and Offers
  • Learn how to say money with thousands of money-saving tips on insurance, your mortgage, electric bills, credit cards, cell phones, and more at billeater.com.
  • Play online bingo in the best new bingo sites in the UK for your bingo pleasure.
  • Fashion4us is an online Asian fashion (Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese) wholesaler. Consumers will be satisfied with the original quality and huge discount on wholesale clothing collections.
The Dish
The Goods
The Hype
The Informer

Advertisement