City
Should Late Night Swimming at Christie Pits Pool be City Sanctioned?
Pool-hopping happens every year. The weather gets hot, the civic pools close, and the young people seek the thrill of hopping fences and sneaking in for an unsanctioned cool-down.The tragic drowning of a 16-year-old Thornhill pool-hopper last week has brought the topic back into the news. The Toronto Star wrote a piece about poolhopping on August 26th, posting an incendiary amateur video of mostly young, topless women cavorting at the Christie Pits pool after hours.
I caught up with two self-proclaimed pool-hoppers this week for their side of the story; let's call them 'Venessa' and 'Mark'. They were both at Christie Pits on the fateful night of the video; Mark even appears in the footage.
Theatre
8 Reasons to see '8 Girls Without Boyfriends'
8 Girls without Boyfriends is playing tonight through this weekend at the Bread & Circus. For Torontonians who slept through Fringe, napped through Summerworks, and dreamed through 'Dream in High Park', this may be our last shot of theatrical redemption before September breaks.
Without further ado, here are my 8 reasons to go and check it out...
Music
The Toronto Portraits: Keith Hamilton
Keith Hamilton, 30 years old. The Art Gallery of Ontario."The chances of being a successful musician in Toronto are slimmer than the chances of being a successful National Hockey League player."
Keith Hamilton doesn't mince words. If anyone should know the ratios, it's him. He's a musician, an organizer of the ever-expanding Pitter Patter music festival, and he's the talent booker for The Boat in Kensington Market.
Music
The Last Waltz of the Oxford Hotel
There's a little house in Kensington Market that has hosted concerts and art shows in its backyard and kitchen for the last two years. It's called 'The Oxford Hotel' at 117 Oxford Street, and it's closing forever.I starting spending time with one of the roommate's of the 'Oxford Hotel' last summer (it's just a name by the way; you can't stay there.) You almost have to know somebody involved to find out about a small, grassroots music venue like this one. Not to say the house hasn't seen its fair share of music fans and popular artists come through.
Timber Timbre comes to mind, who I saw play a wonderful set there in June 2008. Kimya Dawson, of the Moldy Peaches, checked in to play a show during the 2007 Toronto Film Festival, when she was in Toronto for the Juno premiere (the soundtrack is filled with her songs).
Arts
The Toronto Portraits: Alex Fischer
Alex Fischer, 23 years old. Yonge and Bloor.Where there is crisis, there is opportunity.
Alex Fischer, an emerging fine artist, is doing well. At a time when art collectors can't afford $50,000 canvasses by established Toronto painters, hunger for affordability and innovation are opening doors to new faces and ideas.
Music
The Shuffle Demons: Saxophone World Record Attempt
The Shuffle Demons, famous for a brassy mid-eighties pop song called 'Spadina Bus', are up to some Canada Day shenanigans this week as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival.The band is celebrating their 25th anniversary, a remarkable milestone considering the transient nature of the Canadian music industry. This Wednesday they are attempting to break a Guinness World Record for the largest saxophone ensemble...ever.
Our fair city held the previous record in 2004 (also orchestrated by the Shuffle Demons) but it was broken by a group of Taiwanese sax players last year.
