In the ongoing effort to turn those video monitors on the TTC into something other than "those video monitors on the TTC," Art for Commuters and ONESTOP Media Group have announced a new call for submissions, this time focusing on student filmmakers and eco-friendly urbanism.

The programme is called "Greening Toronto: Ideas for a Living City," and aks post-secondary students (not specifying, of course, that they be film students) to envision a green future for our city. Sharon Switzer, Art for Commuters Director says, "We want to see green visions, hopes and dreams for the city. Healthy, vibrant cities are only possible if people are engaged in transforming their urban communities into places where they want to live. You don't have to be a scientist or a specialist to imagine the possibilities. Have fun, be bold, go crazy - for sixty seconds."

Tonight, the TRANZAC Club plays host to the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers Toronto (LIFT)'s annual holiday party and silent auction. The event is a fundraiser for LIFT's operating endowment, and any Toronto filmmaker who has ever leaned on LIFT's invaluable assistance in production and post-production can testify to the importance of keeping the funds flowing in.

The evening will also see the presentation of the Roberto Award, created in memory of Roberto Ariganello, who passed away in 2006 after serving as LIFT's executive director for three years. The Roberto is a cash award presented to an individual who demonstrates outstanding commitment to Toronto's film community, through volunteering, mentorship, or new initiatives, all while maintaining practice in filmmaking-produced-on-good-old-fashioned-film. More information about the award can be found here.

Ariganello's 2001 short film, Shelter, will be screened before the award presentation.

Auction donations come from a wide variety of intriguing sources this year (see this page for a complete list), and music for the evening will be provided by Isabelle Noel and DJ Satan Macnuggit. The event is $7 for general admission, or $5 for LIFT and TRANZAC members. Doors open at the TRANSAC at 7:00 p.m., at 292 Brunswick Avenue.

Some days, pointing out the flaws of the TTC isn't even as easy as shooting fish in a barrel; it's more like shooting ducks in a barrel. Imagine: a whole barrel full of ducks. How could you possibly miss?

The TTC (can I get a city-wide craze going around calling it "The Teet?") has launched a Subway/RT Disruptions page, which they will use to keep their ridership up to date about any service disruptions which may be occurring. The page evidently self-generates every minute or so, with a nice big tag line reading "There are no major disruptions at this time" in any instance in which there is... uh... no major disruption.

The disclaimer on the page already shoots the first hole in the usefulness of this information, with its hedging around the use of the word "major." What's major? A five minute delay during rush hour? A twenty minute delay at 1:00 in the morning? The collapse of the Bloor Viaduct?

With the Star reporting this morning that Halton's Catholic school board has pulled copies of Phillip Pullman's fantasy novel The Golden Compass off the shelves - reputedly due to complaints about its "atheistic" nature - questions are already being asked around school boards in the GTA following suit.

These are heady times for The Golden Compass: New Line is banking that next month's movie adaptation will hit the same fantasy movie jackpot that bankrolled The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia - the latter featuring doggedly pro-Christian themes which did not, of course, invoke the attendant faith-based hand-wringing earned by Harry Potter and now The Golden Compass. Remarkable how atheists rarely petition school boards to remove books about resurrected Jesus-lions from the shelves, lest those books corrupt the innocent godless children.

This year's One Minute Film & Video Festival is right around the corner - it takes place next Thursday night at the Bloor Cinema. For those who don't want to chance the ticket line on the night of the show (the 2005 show took place in the midst of a blizzard, after all), a limited number of advance tickets will be on sale starting today at Queen Video.

That's the Queen Video on Bloor (480 Bloor Street West), not the Queen Video on Queen. Cripes! Advance tickets are $8; tickets at the door will run ya $10. So there's a coffee's worth of savings in it for you, too.

The theme for this year's festival is "secrets," though as usual, the filmmakers have been encouraged to interpret the theme as broadly as they like and in whatever filmed medium they wish. And yes, all of the films will be exactly one minute long. The films come from all over the world - this year's programme features work from Spain, Estonia, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Austria, and Big Brother Down South.

There is, of course, also generous local representation: nearly twenty of the 50-odd films in the festival come from Toronto, and not one but two of the one-minute mini-opuses feature Etobicokian supergenius Dave Foley.

It's Monday, it's foggy, and it's cold. Need something to get you through the week? Howsabout the promise of 1,600 people wailing on each other with lightsabers this Friday night, outside the ROM?

Newmindspace is at it again. TheForce.net is reporting on it, the Jedi equivalent of sending up the Bat-signal. (Hmmm, I just crossed my geek wires.) And the order of "blacklight-reactive, meter-long cardboard tubes" has already increased from 1,000 to 1,600, which will be spray-painted this Wednesday night if you want to help out.

A couple of things worth noting if you're planning to attend, after the jump.