Australian architect John Andrews was considered a groundbreaking genius in the sixties, fashioning plans based on a new kind of architecture: brutalism. He'd achieved Mr. Big status after completing Scarborough College for the University of Toronto and went on to build the tallest freestanding structure in the world - our beloved CN Tower. Back in the day concrete was king and brutalism was associated with a brave new social utopian ideology. Nowadays, people like Prince Charles refer unfavourably to the works as "piles of concrete". "Rubbish", I say. While they can sometimes give off a gloomy, almost heavy feel to the city blocks they dominate, they are as much a part of the urban landscape as the sidewalks and steel. In btonbrut's blogTO video called brutopia eclipsed we're shown other landmarks Andrews has created while questions arise as to why some are being destroyed.

You can't blame the little guy for wanting to head south to warmer weather, especially when it wasn't his intention to hitch a ride to Toronto in the back of a truck anyway. Problem is no one will take him. Any other animal and it wouldn't be an issue, but for this smelly stowaway going back to Cali is proving a tough challenge. A one-way ticket could cost as much as US$6,000.

Though he appears friendly, the Toronto Wildlife Centre can't release the skunk because he could spread disease, but getting him across the border might be a huge problem too. Let's hope some big-hearted Torontonians come to his rescue. Anyone headed to Lalaland?

(photo: fieldsbh)

Ever since Toronto broadcasting powerhouse Alliance Atlantis was put on the sales block, people in the media industry have been speculating who the potential buyer would be. Playback magazine had a front-page poll listing the possibilities as Corus, CanWest, Astral, Rogers and Quebecor. However the news this morning is that Winnipeg-based CanWest, owner of Global and the National Post, is in the lead.

CanWest would partner with Goldman Sachs in the US to purchase Alliance Atlantis for 2.3 billion dollars. Goldman's part of the purchase would include Alliance's half of the CSI franchise - sadly, I'll no longer be able to use CSI in my defense of Canadian television programming - while a new subsidiary of CanWest will take over broadcast specialty channels such as Showcase and the recently relaunched Slice channel.

At a benefit I attended in November hosted by Alliance Atlantis CEO Michael MacMillan, he ruminated about the company he started with a few of his roommates in a small Toronto apartment upon graduating from Queen's University. Now, it appears he'll be focusing on philanthropic activities like running Toronto East General Hospital's fundraising campaign.

(photo: CPimages/Frank Gunn)

Across from The Guvernment at Queen's Quay you may have noticed an expanse of concrete for parking and a large studio for film production called Cinespace. The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation has set its sights on this spot to begin the development of a key area of our waterfront called East Bayfront.

You'd think no one would object to the revitalization plan to include accessible waterfront and two-acre Sherbourne Park. The mixed use space, relative in size to Battery Park in Manhattan and London's Canary Wharf will also include 7000 units of housing and 1 million square feet of commercial space.

Cinespace, a major player in the Toronto film scene, will need to vacate by February 21st in order for the plan to go ahead, and they claim they've just been given notice to leave the premises that they lease from the City of Toronto's real estate developer TEDCO.

The National Film Board's lobby on John Street is filled with large screen video "booths" where anyone can wander off the street and catch a bit of Canadian filmmaking both past and present. Three dollars for the hour, or an annual membership of $12, gains access to over 3000 titles in the NFB's database and a spot in a cozy chair with adjustable speakers in the headrest.

I checked it out myself a couple weeks back when I'd read a Globe and Mail article titled "Classic docs sent back to the vault". The article opened by stating that we, the taxpayers, had paid for the making of the classic Canadian documentary "The Champions" but can longer access it because the NFB won't spend the money to clear the rights which have expired. According to the paper the doc is one of many Canadian classics going back into the metaphorical vault.

Few of us ever take the time to indulge in a nice long bath let alone with a group of close friends, so I welcomed the opportunity when I got an email telling me to come to Body Blitz for a day of girlfriend fun at the ladies-only water spa. The spa had opened over a year ago in a converted old brick industrial building on Adelaide West at Portland and had generated a serious amount of buzz since it was the only one of its kind in Canada. I'd given several friends gift certificates to Body Blitz since I thought it would be a fantastic present but hadn't gone to check it out yet myself.

Staff greeted my friends and I by taking tea orders then leading us through the spa with recommendations on how to get the most from our day in the therapeutic waters. We were to follow a circuit through warm, hot and cold pools filled with fresh and salt water, as well as one with green tea. In between we could hop into a lush steam room and sauna or hang out poolside on comfy leather loungers.