Author Archives: torontosavvy

05.20.13
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TORONTO – the lights are always on . . .

LIGHTSHOW6LIGHTSHOW7LIGHTSHOW5TORONTO, capital of Ontario, is multi-layered, multi-cultured, constantly in flux, noisy, quirky, fun and forever insecure.  It’s a sprawling city, but with a walkable, thriving centre, and a dependable public transit system.  What I especially like about T.O. is its unpredictability.  Parts of it are extraordinarily beautiful; other parts raw and ugly.  Architecture ranges from the sublime to the bizarre.

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is home to over 6 million souls; the city proper – 2,790,000, making it North America’s 4th largest after Mexico City, New York City and Los Angeles.  Pearson International Airport is Canada’s busiest; the Toronto Stock Exchange is 8th in terms of market value worldwide; we have a vibrant arts community and a low crime rate; 50% of us came from outside the country; it’s North America’s new condominium capital, a media, theatre, movie-making, and university town.

My focus is on downtown – the inner city – and what I’ve learned as a tour guide, with an emphasis on arts, architecture, neighbourhoods and navigation.  I’ve also thrown in some of our bizarre local politics, and side trips to other worthy cities and towns.

The Big Smoke awaits!  Have fun.
DAVID MOORE

LIGHTSHOW - ‘A Toronto Symphony: Concerto for Composer & City’/Peter Torpey for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

*******CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR ENLARGEMENTS ******

05.20.13
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What’s on in TORONTO – May/2013 (print the list)

LIGHTSHOW1MUSIC, MUSICALS & DANCE
- May 20-26 – Of A Monstrous Child: A GaGa Musical, the artists Lady GaGa has borrowed from, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, 416-975-8555, http://www.buddiesinbadtimes.com
- May 22, 23, 25 – Brahms German Requiem, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, http://www.tsoundcheck.ca
- Until June 8 – The Barber of Seville, Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 50 Tank House Lane, Distillery District, http://www.soulpepper.ca
- Until June 9 – The Green Door Cabaret Series, performance by musical and cabaret artists, Lower Ossington Theatre, 100A Ossington Avenue, http://www.lowerossingtontheatre.com
- Until June 9 – The Book of Mormon, award winning musical by the creators of South Park, Princess of Wales Theatre, http://www.mirvish.com
- Ongoing – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘The Wizard of Oz’, Ed Mirvish Theatre, Yonge Street south of Yonge/Dundas Square, http://www.mirvish.com

COMEDY, THEATRE & SPOKEN WORD
- May 20-26 – Stopheart, growing up ‘different’ in a small town, Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, 416-504-9971, http://www.factorytheatre.ca
- May 22-25 – What We Are Saying, AMe Henderson/public recordings, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage
- May 23-26 – KAMP, from the Netherlands, scale model of Auschwitz & thousands of handmade puppets, World Stage, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/wordstage
- Until May 26 – Carried Away on the Crest of a Wave, by David Yee, Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Avenue, http://www.tarragontheatre.com
- May 27 – gay Olympian Mark Tewkesbury gives the June Callwood lecture, Toronto Reference Library, Yonge Street north of Bloor, 7pm, free, 416-395-5577
- May 28 – June 19 – Kim’s Convenience, returning for the 3rd time, Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Tankhouse Lane, Distilllery District, http://www.youngcentre.ca
- Until May 31 – Weekly improv and stand-up, Matt Baram and Naomi Snecklus, John Candy Box Theatre, 70 Peter Street, http://www.nationaltheatreoftheworld.com
- Until June 2 – I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge Street, 416-733-9388, http://www.angelwalk.ca
- Until June 30 – The Meme-ing of Life, new springtime revue, Second City, 51 Mercer Street, http://www.secondcity.com

MUSEUMS, GALLERIES, ART
- June 1,2 – 15th annual Riverdale Art Walk, 125+ exhibiting artists, Queen Street East and Jimmie Simpson Park, 11am to 6pm, http://www.artistsnetwork.ca
- Until June 2 – Martin Parr, 52 photographs on outdoor hoardings, Metro Hall, south side of King Street West, east of John
- Until June 2 – Contact, Toronto’s annual festival of photography, city-wide, free, http://scotiabankcontactphoto.com
- Until June 2 – ‘Collected Shadows’, the Archive of Modern Conflict, sculptor Michael Snow, MOCCA, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, 952 Queen St. West, http://www.mocca.ca
- Until June 2 – Arnaud Maggs and Arthur S. Goss, Ryerson Image Centre, 33 Gould Street, http://www.ryerson.ca/ric
- Until June 7 – The World of Taiyo Matsumoto, original artwork by the renowned Japanese manga creator, Japan Foundation, 131 Bloor Street West, 2nd Floor
- Until June 15 – Danny Lyon, photography, Stephen Bulger Gallery, 1026 Queen Street West
- Until June 25 – DXUncrated, Playing Favourites – Light and Sound, Design Exchange, 234 Bay Street, 416-363-6121, http://www.dx.org
- Until August 18 – Lost in the Memory Palace, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, http://www.ago.net
- Until September 29 – Road to Rebellion, celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Upper Canada Rebellion, MacKenzie House, 82 Bond Street
- Until December 8 – Self-Portrait: As I Think of Myself, self-portraits from the AGO’s collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, http://www.ago.net
- Ongoing – every Sunday, Rosedale Valley Antique Market/Salvage Shop, at Evergreen Brickworks, 550 Bayview (in the Don Valley), 9am-5pm, free, http://ebw.evergreen.ca
- Until May 3 – Immigrants in the Ward, Susan Dobson, City of Toronto Archives, 255 Spadina Road, 416-397-0778

GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bi, transgendered, queer, etc.)
- May 23 – June 2 – Inside Out, 23rd annual Toronto LGBT Film Festival, all screenings at Bell Lightbox, full details at http://www.insideout.ca
- Ongoing – Out and Out LGBTQ outdoors club, http://www.outandout.ca
- Ongoing – Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps of Toronto (ROTC), colour guard, band, drum corps, baton, dance, http://www.rotctoronto.com
- Ongoing – Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), 115 Simpson Avenue at Howard Street, http://www.mcctoronto.com
- Ongoing – Xtra magazine, gay community news in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, http://www.xtra.ca/toronto.aspx
- Ongoing – The Pink Pages, gay, lesbian, trans, bi, leather, queer directory for Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, Hamilton and Niagara/St. Catharines, http://thepinkpagesdirectory.com
- Ongoing – (CLGA) Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, second largest in the world, research centre, art gallery, 34 Isabella Street, http://www.clga.ca
- Ongoing – Patti Smith Solo, objects, film, photography, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, http://www.ago.net

FILM AND OTHER STUFF
- May 20 – Toronto International Circus Festival, Harbour Kids, free, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com
- May 25, 26 – Doors Open, explore Toronto’s great buildings free, http://www.toronto.ca/doorsopen
- May 29 – June 1 – Burger Week, 60 restaurants offer special $5 burger, http://www.thegrid.to/burgerweek
- May 29 – June 2 – Toronto Festival of Clowns, http://www.torontofestivalofclowns.com
- June 1 – Midnight Movie Marathon, all night long, games, refreshments, door prizes, Carlton Cinema, 20 Carlton Street, http://www.rainbowcinemas.ca
- Ongoing – Room 237 – documentary about people obsessed with The Shining, Bell Lightbox, 350 King Street West, 416-599-8433, http://www.tiff.net
- Until September 2 – Game On 2.0, the history and evolution of video games, Ontario Science Centre, 770 Don Mills Road, http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca
- Ongoing – Medieval Times, dinner and jousting tournaments, Exhibition Place, foot of Dufferin Street, http://www.medievaltimes.com or 888-we-joust
- Ongoing – every Friday Night Live, doors open 7pm, fashion, music, partying, Royal Ontario Museum, http://www.rom.on.ca
- Ongoing – Farmer’s Market, Saturdays year ’round, 9 am-1 pm, Evergreen Brickworks, 550 Bayview Avenue (Don Valley), http://ebw.evergreen.ca
- Ongoing – Edgewalk, CN Tower, walk around the edge of our tallest free-standing structure, http://www.edgewalkcntower.ca
- Ongoing – Graham Spry Theatre, CBC Broadcast Centre, free screenings daily, 250 Front Street West
- Ongoing – Sunday Antique Market, free, Jarvis Street south of King

MUCH, MUCH, MUCH MORE – check NOW, GRID, Xtra, and the daily newspapers for additional listings

05.20.13
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On this VICTORIA DAY, we are both amused . . . and not amused

<QUEEN ELIZABETH II, great-great-grand daughter of QUEEN VICTORIA, looks decidedly amused in this portrait by CHRISTOPHER WAHL, taken in WINNIPEG in 2002.  It’s part of a superb exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario – “Light My Fire”>

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<QUEEN VICTORIA looks decidedly un-amused on the front page of today’s SUN.  There are plans afoot to rename Victoria Day>

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And TORONTO’s mayor ROB FORD, isn’t amused by a front page story connecting him to crack cocaine smoking and drug dealers.  A man of few words, he says the whole thing is “ridiculous”.  For more on ROB-O, take a look at New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer - http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/05/rob-ford-crack-video-toronto-mayor.html

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05.19.13
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Frank William Micklethwaite (1849-1925) & turn-of-the-century TORONTO

MICKLETHWAITE7MICKLETHWAITE1The legacy of FRANK WILLIAM MICKLETHWAITE is a huge collection of photographs portraying turn-of-the-century TORONTO and Ontario.  These unique images are more than ‘photographs of record’.  They make our city’s early streetscapes and architecture come alive.

Born in Lancashire, England, he moved first to Ireland (PHOTO – the family’s photography wagon, Ireland), and then to Canada in 1875.  After three years of proofreading at the Globe, Micklethwaite opened a commercial photography business in downtown TORONTO.  Specializing in outside views and landscapes, as well as architectural images, he became one of this city’s best known photographers.

Many of F.W. Micklethwaite’s photographs are held by the Library and Archives of Canada and the City of Toronto Archives.  He died on December 5, 1925, and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery next to his wife, Ruth.

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PHOTOS ABOVE – 1) Road and sidewalk repairs, Adelaide Street;  2) corner of Front and Yonge Streets;  3) corner of Church and King Street East;  4) the Micklethwaite studio above John Wanless Company

05.18.13
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BELT LINE, A ‘REPURPOSED’ RAILWAY, IS NOW A 4.5 KM HIKING TRAIL & PARK

3064253810_f2b188a4faBELTLINE1TORONTO’s Belt Line Railway encircled a much smaller city when it opened to passenger traffic in 1892.  Its purpose: to transport people and freight between the new suburbs – Forest Hill, Rosedale, Moore Park and Chaplin Estates – and the city’s downtown core.

Unfortunately, the suburban real estate boom ended after only two years, and some of the railways’s inclines were too steep for freight trains.  Thus, the rails were torn up and shipped to France during the Great War of 1914-18.

The City of TORONTO bought the roadbed from CN Rail in 1990, and Councillor Kay Gardner became a driving force to convert the land into a 4.5 kilometre long park and hiking trail from Mount Pleasant Cemetery and the Davisville subway train yards, westward through some of the city’s poshest neighbourhoods.

Subway stop: DAVISVILLE and a short walk south; PHOTOS – winter http://www.ronforeman.com – summer http://www.yongeandrichstreet.com

beltline-fog

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05.17.13
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ER SHUN & DA MAO SPENT THE DAY MEETING AN ADORING PUBLIC

Giant Pandas, ER SHUN (6 years old) and DA MAO (5 years old), went on display for the first time today, Saturday, May 18.  They did what they do best – eat bamboo and look cute, cute, cute.  <PHOTOS BELOW – DA MAO top, and ER SHUN below>

TORONTO ZOO - Toronto Zoo Hosts VIP Event to Preview Giant Panda

TORONTO ZOO - Toronto Zoo Hosts VIP Event to Preview Giant Panda

GETTING TO THE ZOO – TORONTO’s Zoo is located in the East End of the city in the rolling hills of the Rouge Valley.  By car from downtown, take the 401 Eastbound to Exit 389, Meadowvale Road.  Follow the Zoo signs to 361A Old Finch Avenue.  Large parking lot.

By PUBLIC TRANSIT – take the subway (Sheppard Line) to DON MILLS STATION.  Bus #85 leaves from here, and will drop you in front of the Zoo entrance about 45 minutes later.  Along the way, you’ll pass through suburban Don Mills and Scarborough.

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05.17.13
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ROB FORD: WHERE DID WE EVER FIND A MAYOR LIKE THIS?

COCAINE3MAYOR ROB FORD may have picked the wrong enermy.  For 3 years now, the TORONTO Star – daily readership over a million – and the mayor have been at war with each other.  The Star, under the banner ‘no one is above the law’, has been relentlessly tracking the mayor and his shenanigans.  As Jason McBride writes in TORONTO LIFE: “The mayor might be a gift to all local newspapers, but the Star more than any of the other dailies relishes unwrapping it.”

Today, in a front page exclusive and editorial, two Star reporters and the editor of Gawker (a US website) screened a video 3 times, purporting to show MAYOR FORD inhaling from a crack pipe and speaking incoherently.

Star editorial excerpt, May 17/2013: “The city has become sadly familiar with this mayor’s troubling pattern of behaviour, from being asked to leave a gala because he appeared impaired to being accused of inappropriate conduct at a public event by a former candidate for mayor. Add to that the mayor’s erratic work schedule and past incidents of drunkeness – all accompanied by denial and evasion.

“But the video points to activity that is much more serious and would render Ford completely unfit to serve in office. The behaviour it shows, if true, is clearly illegal. And the chain of events that led to the video becoming public involves drug dealers. There’s enough evidence here, absent a convincing explanation, for Toronto police to get involved.”   http://www.thestar.com

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BELOW – editorial cartoon from the Chronicle-Herald, HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, May 18.  CLICK ON PIC TO ENLARGE.

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05.16.13
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YORKVILLE – IF THERE’S A CHIC NEIGHBOURHOOD IN TOWN – THIS IS IT!

YORKVILLE3Yorkville was once a separate village, but was gobbled up decades ago by the City of TORONTO. It’s now surrounded on all sides by high rise glitz.

If you enjoy shopping, sitting in cafes, visiting art galleries, exploring narrow laneways, admiring gingerbread architecture or just whiling away an afternoon – this is a stroller’s paradise.

Within Yorkville you’ll find – Mira Godard Gallery, the new Four Seasons Hotel, antiques along Davenport Road, Hazelton Lanes high-end shopping, the 50-year-old Coffee Mill, Cumberland Street park and the famous Yorkville Rock.

Nearby – the Annex neighbourhood, Royal Ontario Museum, Royal Conservatory of Music, Koerner Concert Hall, Bloor Street West shopping, Philosopher’s Walk, the Hyatt Rooftop bar, and the Gardiner Ceramics Museum.

Subway stop - BAY

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05.16.13
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YORKVILLE’S RIVERBOAT – LONG GONE, BUT FONDLY REMEMBERED

RIVERBOAT1YORKVILLE was the epi-centre of TORONTO’s youth and hippie culture back in the sixties.  And the RIVERBOAT COFFEE HOUSE was the epi-centre of Yorkville.  All that remains of this famous establishment is a plaque in front of a new five-star hotel.  Some of the biggest names in music – Canadian and otherwise – played at the Riverboat: Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLauchlan, Dan Hill and Neil Young, among others.

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The cafe is immoralized in ‘Ambulance Blues’ by NEIL YOUNG, shown below in 1965 performing at the RIVERBOAT.  <PHOTO – Manfred Buchheit>

Back in the old folky days
The air was magic when we played.
The Riverboat was rockin’
in the rain
Midnight was the time
for the raid.

Oh, Isabela, proud Isabela,
They tore you down and
plowed you under.
You’re only real
with your make-up on
How could I see you
and stay too long?

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05.15.13
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CONTACT/2013: photographic exhibits, workshops, films, speakers, installations, etc

TORONTO’s annual month-long photography extravaganza is on now in museums, galleries, subway stations, and on the street – in neighbourhoods across town.  A 215 page glossy catalogue (BELOW) lists 125 venues, easily reachable by public transport, along with special events, fllms, installations and speakers.

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A few of the exhibits: 1) Martin Parr’s images of ‘Food’, along King St. West at John; 2) ‘Military Shirts, Moscow’, David Hlynsky, De Luca Fine Art Gallery; 3) Arnaud Maggs at Ryerson’s Image Centre; 4) ‘Queer Photographs – Rae’, JJ Levine, Gladstone Hotel Art Bar & Gallery 44.

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