Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus
Total 612 Posts
A couple of Halloweens ago, I mentioned how much I disliked the holiday. I was too shy to get into it. On October 31, I'd find something to do and wait for the whole silly event to wrap up. Now, I look forward to it again. I've got a two
Artur wants me to mention the TTC swag suggestions made by Torontoist. I've checked it out and it's no doubt hipper stuff than what the TTC sells. I've been complaining about the TTC marketing effort for a while now. It's sadly out of touch. A tee shirt with the "Mind
At around 4pm this afternoon, I looked out the window and saw snow. Note to self, date of first snow spotting: October 12. We didn't have snow flurries in the 416 last year until November 17. The year before, it was November 8. Today's snowfall only lasted a few minutes
I recently wrote about the pathetic news ticker at the Jane TTC subway station. The clock was 40 minutes fast, the ticker didn't actually deliver news and other subway stations had been outfitted with modernized information screens long ago. Late last week, those modern screens were indeed installed at Jane
Later this week, the Mr. Sub at Bedford and Bloor will be closed for good. Soon thereafter, that wrap place will close as will that booster juice place. The Harveys and Swiss Chalet across the street from Varsity Stadium have already shut their doors. Why is this happening? This is
Mother Nature is a doll. Yesterday, with threats of rain in the forecast, she gave us a smashing day to spend at the Toronto Zoo. Here's a collection of photos I snapped at every opportunity. The zoo keepers must work these animals hard throughout the night, because they sure are
For most of my life, the Jane TTC subway station has been my home station. I think the TTC needs to show Jane station a little love. Many stations now have those great information screens that give you the news, weather and time while you wait for the next subway.
I've bumped into a few celebrities over the past week. Tis the season, as they say. This list does not include celebrities making a scheduled appearance to promote their movies at the film festival, these are people I came upon by pure happenstance. John WatersWilliam H. MacyDaniel AlfredssonWaters was a
The TIFF vs. Cannes: which is the premiere film festival in the galaxy? According to Wikipedia, the Toronto International Film Festival has the bigger attendance figures and Roger Ebert himself says "Toronto is more useful and more important". If we're not #1 we're a close #2 and we're definitely the
You might have seen the "Don't read enough?" billboards that have sprouted up around the city. They're easy to spot because they feature George Dubya Bush sporting quite the smirk. The ads are for an audio book store. Here's the one outside Dundas West Station. I liked the ad as
TurnHere - BoingBoing linked to this site recently and I discovered several cool little films about Toronto neighbourhoods.
I'm digging City and Colour's "Comin' Home". It's totally mellow and full of shout outs to varous North American locales. There's a call out to Saskatoon, Sydney and Halifax, but no love for Toronto. That got me thinking about popular songs that do that shout out thing and include Toronto
Prior to heading downtown this afternoon, my friends at The Weather Network told me it felt like 47° outside. I think they were a little on the low side. This is where I'd list songs with the word "heat" in the title, but I've already done that. I suppose I
All day long I've been getting hits from people Googling Humble Howard leaves mix and other similar searches. I rank rather highly for these searches, thanks to this entry about Fred Patterson getting the boot last September. I listened to Humble & Fred every morning for years when they were
City of Toronto Archives - "Every generation lives in a different Toronto. Someone lived in your home before you—who were they? What did a city street look like before cars and electric lights?" If you've ever lived in Toronto, you'll find yourself getting lost here. I recommend starting with
I was just checking out Wikipedia's list of bands from Canada. They even break it down by province and city, which means I can tell you the following bands are from Toronto. Andrew CashArmed and HammeredBarenaked LadiesThe Battered WivesThe Birthday MassacreThe Black MariaBlue PeterBroken Social SceneBy Divine RightCancer Batscontroller.controllerCowboy
According to a Global Cost of Living Survey released Monday, Toronto is the most expensive city in Canada. The survey of 250 cities around the world was conducted between March 2005 and March 2006 by Mercer Human Resource Consulting and looked at the price of food, transportation, accomodation, entertainment and
It's a beautiful Saturday night in the city and check out what's happening. Broken Social Scene, Bloc Party and Feist are at Olympic Island.Nine Inch Nails is at the Molson AmphitheatreThe Tragically Hip, The Weakerthans and The Sadies are at Fort YorkThat reminds me... I've gotta jet.
Toronto nicknames The T.DotT.O.The Big SmokeThe City of TreesTrawna
Fort York, located just North of the Gardiner Expressway between Bathurst and Strachan, is probably our most famous fort. I remember first learning about Fort York in primary school during lessons about The War of 1812. Those damn Yankees overran the place during The Battle of York in 1813 but
Ask a Torontonian to name a weatherman and he'll likely say Harold Hosein. Ask me about the weather and I'm likely to slip into a Harold Hosein accent and tell you to bring an umbrella or sweater. For seventeen years Hosein's been on City-TV, standing on that roof or street
The four landmark smokestacks of the Lakeview Generating Station came crashing down yesterday. Known as the four sisters and located just east of Port Credit in Mississauga, these smokestacks were instantly recognizable landmarks just west of our fair city. Watch video of their demolition and check out this Flickr photoset.
The TTC is ordering 234 new subway cars and they're having a contest to name them. To enter, send an email to namethetrain@ttc.ca with the train name, your name, a daytime telephone number, your address, city and postal code. I've suggested "veloCiTy" with the stylized TTC "T". Don't
Last week, at the age of 86, Al passed away. I first shared my memories of Al on the 60th anniversary of D-Day. In the mid 90s, when I was putting in 1.5 years as a McEmployee at the Runnymede and Bloor location, Al came in daily for a
All day long I've been digesting the news that 17 suspected terrorists were arrested here in Toronto accused of obtaining three times the amount of explosives used in the Oklahoma City bombing. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested the suspects on terrorism charges including plotting attacks with explosives on Canadian
