Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus
Total 646 Posts
On Monday night, I was out sort of late. It coulda been the Willie Nelson, coulda been the wine... all I know is I saw something I had never seen in this city. It was the size of a big cat, and it looked like a hairy aardvark. A little
Someone once told me they disliked people, but loved crowds. I always thought that was quite the paradox, but I have a better one. I like progress, but I don't really like change. The Star reports that if Rogers Media Inc. gets approval to buy five Citytv television stations from
Sam the Record Man is closing at the end of the month, so it should come as no surprise that everything is for sale on June 27. That happens to be my birthday, but as gifts go this one is awfully bitter. One of a kind memorabilia, Antiques, and Collectables
The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal designed crystal expansion of the ROM was officially unveiled to the public this weekend. You've no doubt read and seen a great deal on this $270-million endeavour. I recently spent eight months watching it grow. From August 2006 until quite recently I worked out of the
The Toronto Star has redesigned their Saturday Star. The Saturday Star is the biggie and has always had the most sections, but is it too big? I counted 14 sections in yesterday's Star. The first thing I do is sort the paper into two piles. One pile I'll actually look
It's the end of an era in Toronto. Sam the Record Man at 347 Yonge Street is closing its doors for good. I haven't read about this in the press and I haven't heard this news on the radio or television, but I have friends on the inside who have
Last weekend I checked out Lambton House at 4066 Old Dundas Street, but never got inside. Today, thanks to Doors Open Toronto, me and the kids checked the old girl out and took plenty of pictures.
Doors Open Toronto - This coming weekend is Doors Open Toronto, the one weekend of the year when up to 150 buildings of architectural, historic, cultural and social significance open their doors to the public for a city-wide celebration. This link is to a great Toronto Star Google Maps page
James Bow has asked if anyone remembers Blinky, the police car used by the Metropolitan Toronto Police to promote child safety. He remembers Blinky, as do I, and when he hit the web to learn what Blinky's up to now he stumbled upon my first Blinky entry and my follow
I'm a brunch guy. I can go for brunch any time of the day. It can be 8pm and I'll be more than happy to do brunch. For my money, nothing beats a cup of coffee, French toast and good conversation. It was a week late, but today we took
Lambton House is located at 4066 Old Dundas Street, just west of the intersection of Scarlett Road and Dundas Street West, on the east side of the Humber River. It was a hotel and tavern for 140 years until it's vacancy in 1988 and it's a building I've often passed
Only four years ago, SARS and Toronto were synonymous. Everyone knew of someone who was quarantined and people were avoiding the city for fear of becoming afflicted. I know this was four years ago because I wrote the following entry exactly four years ago today. SARS Update: From the eye
It's 22° right now in Toronto. It was nice yesterday, but it's fantastic today, and the weekend looks like it's going to be awesome. Has spring sprung? It's about friggin' time. We had that abnormally warm January followed by a freezing February and a snowy March. Late last month we
Every morning I check in on the most read news items at Yahoo! News. It gives you a good idea of what the masses are interested in, which is usually Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears. Today, however, the people are sharing a Reuters story about the centre of the
It was quite the night at the Hummingbird Centre. I'm going to break this recap into two sections: the bloggers and the production. The Bloggers I picked up our tickets at the media desk where I met Julie, the woman who hunted me down and was nice enough to answer
According to Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Toronto ranks 15th among cities around the world in overall quality of life. That would make us the second-best city in Canada to live in, after Vancouver. Before Vancourites get all high and mighty you should know they only get ranked so high because
They're talking about building a city of Toronto museum and the Star is reporting they may build it by the giant Canada Malting Company silos. I have a long and interesting history with the Canada Malting Company silos. For a couple of summers in the early 90s, by pal Ed
Edward Scissorhands is coming to the Hummingbird Centre for three shows, starting April 4th. As you know, I can get you $15 off the ticket price. That's right, I'm a mover and a shaker. Login to Ticketmaster.ca with the promotional code EDBLOG to receive your discount. This offer is
As recently as January I was writing about the unseasonable heat we were experiencing in Toronto. Later that month, winter did indeed arrive and February was bitterly cold. There were some chilly days earlier this month as well, but now we're enjoying our annual thaw. It's so therapeutic. The snow
Photoshopping Toronto City Hall - From FARK.com, our city hall is remixed.
Today's Toronto Star has an article about Rami Tabello's fight against illegal billboards. 283 illegal signs are currently being tracked on this map as he details his fight at http://www.illegalsigns.ca/. Rami and I attended Michael Power high school and had several classes together. His dad even taught
The TTC is unveiling an ambitious blueprint for a light rail system that would crisscross the city far beyond existing and planned subway lines. Here's a map of the network of new routes, which include: Don Mills – Steeles Avenue to Bloor-Danforth SubwayEglinton Crosstown – Kennedy Station to Pearson AirportEtobicoke-Finch West – Yonge
I've commented before on the stupid things Rob Ford says. He's a city councillor for Etobicoke North who says some awfully dumb stuff, but his quote in yesterday's Star may just be his most moronic statement to date. I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and
I wrote about my old stereo, recently resurrected and now bringing me much enjoyment on a daily basis. She's got twenty FM station presets on her, and I use every one. At night I'll browse through the twenty stations and hear what's cooking in the city. I recently taught James
All day long I've been hearing about how they closed the Gardiner Expressway because huge chunks of ice were falling from the CN Tower. It seemed like an interesting local story, particularly for commuters who take that route, but it didn't seem like big news. This afternoon, while checking my
