The best pies in Toronto are scattered across the city. Nothing store bought about them either. All the pies offered by the 11 bakeries that made this list are fresh baked daily and all use local ingredients when available. So, while there might be plenty of calories on that pecan or lemon meringue, at least you can feel good about cutting into a pie that supports local farmers.

Jeff Stober is expanding his empire. Two weeks from now, on December 5th, the Drake Hotel will mark its first foray outside of West Queen West when a second Drake General Store opens in Rosedale. It's a surprising move (to me anyway). Stober had long been rumoured to have his sights set on Queen East, even though he has repeatedly denied he ever had any interest in revamping what is currently Jilly's stripclub.

The story of Jeff Stober has been well chronicled. At the age of 22 he founded a corporate head hunting firm and then sold his stake for millions in 1998. In 2001 he bought the dilapidated Drake Hotel and sunk an initial $6 million into it by the time it opened in 2004. Despite occasional flares in the neighbourhood, most deriding the Drake for its gentrification of the area or for the influx of 905ers and other non-locals who tend to descend on the lounge or SkyYard every weekend, the Drake is generally considered a huge success and was named the best hotel in Toronto in a recent poll on this site.

Circuit Gallery is a web-based project co-founded by Claire Sykes and Susana Reisman. Modelled after Jen Bekman's highly successful 20x200 concept, it takes advantage of the internet's wide reach and the affordability of digital reproduction to offer editions of contemporary art at wonderfully low prices.

Here's how it works: the art sold through the gallery comes in standard sizes -- like 8x10, 11x14, and 16x20 -- and in limited but large editions (usually around 500). These two factors are then taken into consideration in determining the price of each piece. The smaller the size and the larger the edition, the less expensive the work is -- and, of course, vice versa.

King Tut has returned to the AGO.

30 years ago, when I was eight, my parents attended the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario without me, figuring I was too young and that their evening tickets to the very popular show were past my bedtime. Thankfully they brought home a copy of the catalog, which I read and re-read, again and again. How awesome then, to learn of another chance to see the Tut in person!

Three years in the making, this new show is twice the size of the 1979 one with over 100 antiquities on display. The AGO stop is the only Canadian visit for the tour. I attended a preview of the show on Friday morning and was simply blown away.

Photo: "Blues" by Ian Muttoo, member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.

Events on Toronto's Radar for SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21 and SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2009... lovingly handpicked from blogTO's events calendar.

Saturday, November 21:

VIDEO GAMES | Gamercamp
If heaven were designed using 8-bit technology, it would look like Gamercamp. The event brings together developers and enthusiasts to celebrate the games that many of us nearly went blind from playing when we were kids. Speakers will look back at how early video games shaped the gaming industry and continue to influence software development, and current developers including Michael Todd from Spyeart will reveal some new projects. Best of all, the day ends with a party of unlimited game play on vintage games from the Replay Arcade Museum. Time to nerd out, people!
Lower Ossington Theatre, 100 Ossington Ave., $20, 1 pm - 9:30 pm

COMEDY | Laughology and the World Laughter Games
This event isn't about comedy, it's about laughter. As Albert Nerenberg's Laughology explains, laughter has the ability to make your stronger, healthier, and even sexier. The documentary that reportedly caused laugh riots when it premiered at Hot Docs examines the phenomenon of contagious laughter and features Doug Collins, the man with the most contagious laugh in the world. Before the screening there will be a demo of competitive laughing, in which two people go head to head with the goal of making the other person seem the funniest.
Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor St. W., $8, 7 pm

MUSIC | Bonjay EP Release Party
Dance hall duo Bonjay finally release their debut record Gimme Gimme tonight after years of playing live shows that teased us with their potential. Bonjay only has one goal when they play, and that's to get everybody real sweaty, real fast. The relatively confined space of Terranga is a perfect place for the release party, and no doubt the pair will bring their big, spicy, West-Indian beats. Poirier and Valeo open.
Terranga African Restaurant, 159 Augusta Ave., $8, 10 pm

Photo: "Fuzzy Memory" by PJMixer, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

This week's entry in what appears to be an ongoing investigative journalism feature in the Saturday Star examines Toronto's black market in human eggs. Unlike the States, Canada has banned the sale of such eggs, leaving would-be parents with fertility problems to rely on the limited supply provided by altruistic donors. Or Craigslist. There is, of course, a host of problems associated with the unregulated sale of of such a sensitive "product" (which can cost up to $10 000), but those desperate to conceive have few other options within the current system.

Yesterday saw the opening of the York University BRT, which uses the hydro corridor north of Finch to shuttle passengers between Dufferin and Keele streets away from traffic. Although it's estimated that the BRT, which also uses dedicated lanes on campus and a special exit ramp from Downsview station, will shave up to 14 minutes off the previous trip time, I'm pretty sure this'll only be true during the height of rush hour. Having had a chance to ride it yesterday, I have to say that at 3 p.m. it wasn't more than a couple of minutes faster than normal. Maybe it was my bus driver, who was plodding along at a painful pace.

The Cameron House, a staple of the Queen West arts scene, is up for sale. Owners Cindy Matthews, Paul Sannella and Anne-Marie Ferraro hope they can find a buyer sympathetic to the role the Cameron has played in helping local artists and musicians gain both a sense of community and exposure. As their listing reads, "the hippest neighbourhood in the city awaits your style and imagination." That sounds a lot like a condo ad, and I have my suspicions that that's exactly what might eventually replace the arts hub.