January 29, 2026
Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus
Total 646 Posts
Toronto artists Julie Ryan and Thelia Sanders-Shelton are set to unveil their latest Waterfront driftwood installation. It's a giant that will soon have a heart. The heart is scheduled to be installed during the grand opening on Tuesday morning. I spoke with one of the artists today and was told
I was forced to read far too much Shakespeare in University. Not that it was bad, but it just felt too schooly, and I never liked that feeling. Of course, it's my fault for taking all those Shakespeare classes in the first place... Billy S. gave Juliet this great line,
Here’s a quick quiz to whet your appetite for what’s to follow! Let’s get started with 3 questions about legendary Canadian poker players: This poker aficionado was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1974. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2014. His path to
In the mid-to-late 90s, I lived at Charles Street and Yonge for a couple of years. I was going to school down the street, so it was awfully convenient. During this period of my life, I got every haircut at House of Lords at 639 Yonge Street (website). As a
If you bike, jog or walk the waterfront trail just west of the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, you've likely seen the new Toronto sign that's been erected this week. Local artists Thelia Sanders-Shelton and Julie Ryan built it from driftwood that washed up on a nearby beach. It's only driftwood,
Did we learn nothing from the Trojan War? pic.twitter.com/xrlA5cy30n— Toronto Mike (@torontomike) June 30, 2017I actually prefer this pic of the Toronto Duck I took from a little west of HTO Park
The southern campus of Humber College is where the old Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital stood before it shut down in 1979. Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital was its final name but it had several other names between its opening in 1889 and closing in 1979. Here's the full list: Mimico Branch AsylumMimico Insane
I loved going to Blue Jays games at Exhibition Stadium. Some called it the mistake by the lake, but to me it was where my Jays played and that was everything. George, Damaso, Ernie, Jesse, Lloyd, Dave, Alfredo, Tony, Willie, Rance... so many memories. At the precise spots where the
Heck, I dig it.
I regularly walk past a building that was once a Blockbuster video store. Most recently it was a dollar store and is now being converted into a gym, but I know it was once a Blockbuster because it still has a Quick Drop slot. With it currently being gutted and
A decision should be announced today with regards to the fate of the beloved Honest Ed's sign. Honest Ed's is no more with the 1.8-hectare location on Bloor and Bathurst Streets soon to be repurposed. Demolition is scheduled for May. I once wrote it's not the buildings we love,
My kids have no appreciation for record stores. They strictly consume music via digital channels and have never purchased a compact disc. When I was a teenager, record stores were vital. My weekends would revolve around trips downtown and I would visit Sam the Record Man, A&A and
I remember countless school trips to the McLaughlin Planetarium when I was in primary school. It was an amazing place to learn about the stars, planets, and cosmology. I watched La La Land yesterday and there's a scene in a planetarium that took me back to the 80s when we
Jim Slotek wrote a piece for the Toronto Sun about how Toronto's live music scene isn't what it used to be. The catalyst was the closing of Hugh's Room, which may be re-opening. In this article Jim listed Toronto's live music venues that have disappeared over the decades. I culled
In September, I sat down with former-Citytv anchor Anne Mroczkowski for an episode of my podcast. She mentioned a video cassette of Speakers Corner outtakes the staff would watch at parties. I took a mental note that I had to see these outtakes. Brother Bill, a popular deejay at 102.
I've been blogging here for 14 years, and during that time there were some pretty low times in Toronto sports. Just four years ago I wrote this about the new bottom for Toronto sports teams. Things were very, very bad for the big five. In 2016, things got a whole
The beginning of the end for Honest Ed's was July 2013. Now, the end is nigh. When Ed Mirvish passed away in 2007, I first shared my memories of the Toronto institution at Bathurst and Bloor. My grandmother loved Ed Mirvish and his discount store. She dragged me there many
It snowed last night. I just shovelled my first snow of the season. Are you wondering when the City of Toronto is going to plow your street? Follow @TO_WinterOps for real-time updates. I'm a fan of this new map that lets you know when roads have been salted and
I'm writing this entry out of frustration. My pal Freddie P thinks I'm "a fool" because I told him TFC was more popular in Toronto than the Argos. In my humble opinion, TFC is more popular than the Argonauts in this city. Fred, obviously, strongly disagrees. Fred bases 100% of
My youngest son has taken a shine to a statue of a lion situated by the off-lease dog park just west of Windermere by the Waterfront Trail. Yesterday, I snapped a pic of him and his lion friend. You're forgiven if you didn't know about this lion. I have probably
Entertainment Tonight Canada is all atwitter about Katie Holmes and Matthew Perry filming The Kennedys After Camelot here in the GTA. They're reporting the mini-series is filming in Toronto, but as someone who watched the set being built from his bike seat, a great deal is actually being filmed on
I've written about Whimbrel Point before, a spot in Samuel Smith Park where whimbrels rest for a day or two every May. This morning, I finally spotted these whimbrels. Apparently, they had just arrived from an overnight flight from Virginia. They're just resting on their way to the arctic. I
