Last Thursday, York University's Sustainable Purchasing Coalition student group organized a protest rally in Vari Hall, home to what many students see as a blur of protests and petition tables.

For the most part, although they do call some attention to the whichever issues are at hand, these setups are largely seen as a quirky part of York's culture. Only those with particular interest or time to spare will stop to read, discuss or sign anything, and it has become largely accepted that all you can hope to accomplish is raising awareness.

However, after the SPC rally, the organizers sought to deliver a 1000-signature petition to university president Mamdouh Shoukri demanding that the university ensure that products for York are not produced through human and worker rights abuses. After 3 years of attempting to negotiate a No Sweat policy, the SPC wanted immediate action to be taken to get York, at a minimum, up to par with U of T and Ryerson in this respect.

When the students were told the president was unavailable to see them, they decided to stay and stage an old-fashioned sit-in outside his office.

Tonight, the Ontario Science Centre will once again be hosting their free monthly "Sci Fri" Friday night event in their Weston Family Innovation Centre.

Aimed at teenagers and university students (14 - 24 year olds only), Sci Fri nights include a DJ/band crew, special guests, a variety of activities, games and contests and environmentally-conscious food (hopefully better than the typical fast food and food court stuff the OSC sells).

Music is provided by combination DJ crew / live band Quadrasonic, who are actually my main reason for being interested as they combine turntablism with the incorporation of instruments to create a sort of fusion jam band.

However, although the combination of DJs and the OSC will consistently set off murmurs about the Science Centre raves of the 1990's in many circles, Sci Fri is not quite there yet. The events, far from running all night, begin at 7 p.m. and end by 10 p.m.

This month's theme is space, with special guest Anousheh Ansari, private space explorer.

(Photo: Bubble Kiss in the Weston Family Innovation Centre by Chris Orbz.)

Last Wednesday night, the isolated and frozen students at York University caught a glimpse of a wonderful utopia where the sun always seems to shine - Sunnyvale Trailer Park.

Randy and Mr. Lahey, the country's best known trailer park supervisors showed up to a night of Tony Lee's "XXX Hypnotism" to hang out, get drunk and smoke weed with the crowd.

Before taking my girlfriend to the Air Canada Centre to see the Spice Girls for her birthday last night, I hadn't ever been to a pop concert. I'd been to pop-ular rock concerts, sure, even festivals but nothing quite as over-the-top-with-a-cherry-on-top as this was, and I'm glad I went - especially since they've just decided to cancel the rest of their world tour.

The fact that Toronto also won special honours and extra dates in the international online "Spice City" voting made the show feel a little more special from the seats, and no doubt from the stage as well. My impression of the night and the deal with the tour cancellation, plus video clips, after the jump.

The one remaining family-oriented event of the WinterCity Warm Up series, the Bunch Family Dance Party promises to be a fun and unique afternoon for anyone who happens to be a suitable demographic.

The Family Dance Party is a charming and unique kid-friendly music and art party that is taking place Sunday. The video clip above depicts the Jan 20, 2007 edition of the event at the Drake but this weekend's party is going to be in a far more exciting venue: this season's biggest word in trend, CiRCA nightclub. It will also, they maintain, be hosted by Andy Warhol himself.

The 5th annual iteration of Toronto's official WinterCity Festival commenced last Friday and is running through to next Monday, featuring the WOW! series of installations, music and performances around Nathan Phillips Square.

If you somehow missed the crowds and the fact that city hall was ablaze last week, or if like me you only managed to catch part of what was going on, the days to check it out are this Friday and Saturday from 2 to 10 p.m., plus the finale Sunday evening at 6.