TTC bus and streetcar shelters finally got a facelift today.

About to get on the Queen streetcar just east of Landsdowne, I noticed a maintenance crew busily working at the spot previously occupied by a bus shelter that had been noticeably absent in recent weeks.

The new bus shelters are an extension of the TTC Next Train Arrival program announced last month that will bring us information such as when the next TTC vehicle is to arrive to the streets of Toronto. The displays on the new shelters will also feed us information on delays, helping us make decisions like "Should I wait for the next vehicle, take a cab or walk instead?"

Alison Moyet (formerly of Yaz) kicked off her first solo tour of North America in 14 years at Toronto's newly renovated Queen Elizabeth Theatre last night.

After a successful world tour (Yazoo: Reconnected) that saw her reunited with her old bandmate Vince Clarke of Erasure, I was hoping for a more electric show. Instead we were treated to a handful of hits from her Yaz days (Don't Go, Situation, Only You) interspersed among some lesser-known songs from her solo career, accompanied by a five-piece band.

The crowd was made up of nostalgic couples in their late thirties and forties, most of them men. Not too unlike the Blondie show earlier this year. It was great to see the enthusiastic crowd cheer her on, even though they were sparse in number. The venue could have easily held 1,500 but the show was less than half sold.

I didn't know whether to cringe or laugh when a particularly enthusiastic guy in the front row stood up after each song and hollered in approval, only to sit down again with the rest of the audience until the end of the next song. And so on. The entire show. It's nostalgic acts like this that bring out the giddy fanboy in all of us.

Eyesore Cinema is a new specialty DVD rental and sales shop on the second floor of 801 Queen St. W. where the Songbird Music used to be.

Not to be confused with the other eyesore cinema, Eyesore Cinema (the video store) has been open just under six weeks. Other than one wall covered with movie posters, the decor in the place still lives up to the store name. To their credit, they've already got a killer selection of over 3,300 videos.

"The manager Daniel Hanna used to manage the old Suspect Video store that burned down at 619 Queen Street West," says Justin Lourenco, the helpful fellow behind the counter.

"We're hoping to be the video store for people who love movies. You come here because you don't want to go into a Blockbuster store. We carry more of the strange films. Newer horror, stuff from Japan, exploitation cinema and old Italian Giallo thrillers from the '60s and '70s."

Nuit Blanche is full of scheduled, overcrowded events. This year you can participate in a selection of interactive, renegade art that escaped the radar of the official guide.

"The idea started at last year's Nuit Blanche," says Stephanie Avery, the organizer of a collection of events taking place at the same time as official Nuit Blanche activities that are meant as a complement to the evening's regularly scheduled festivities.

"Last year I actually had an official installation in the show, says Avery. "Because I was contractually obliged to stay with my piece, I didn't get to see much of Nuit Blanche. Based on what I had heard, it wasn't nearly as interactive as the first year and the corporate presence sometimes overshadowed the art."

The Art of Time Ensemble is at it again with their Words & Music program, kicking off their 10th anniversary season last night at Harbourfront Centre's Enwave Theatre. I was rather impressed with last season's America and The Black Angel, where Artistic Director Andrew Burashko explored the relationship between literature and music, and this new program continued in that tradition.

Introducing last night's show, CBC's Laurie Brown said that she always attends Art of Time Ensemble concerts because you never know what the hell you're going to see. While Burashko, in his opening comments, dedicated the evening's performance to Stephen Harper and the "fatcat elitist snobs."

Last time I caught an Art of Time Ensemble performance was when Barenaked Ladies' singer Steven Page covered his favourite artists. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of genres and arrangements given. Last night's program offered another eclectic selection of music inspired by literature and literature inspired by music.

Adult TTC tickets are now officially no longer acceptable, as the transition to adopting TTC tokens for adult fares has come into effect as of midnight Sunday night.

This comes less than four months after a TTC collector sold fake tickets from booth.

This initiative is supposed to eliminate the losses (estimated at as much as $400,000 a month) that stem from counterfeiting TTC tickets, but what about the counterfeit TTC tokens? They still exist, although I'm sure they're harder to produce.

While I applaud the TTC for eliminating the adult tickets, I'd really like to see them make bigger moves with their fare process. Things like enabling the popular TTC Day Pass to be used in turnstiles like their Metropass. And adopting multi-ride swipe cards like they've had in New York City for years.