Byron Hawes is extremely well travelled. The Toronto-based travel writer whose work has been featured in the likes of Architectural Digest and Monocle Magazine went to high school in Tokyo, worked in foreign affairs at the UN and decided the best way to learn Mandarin was to move to Beijing to experience it firsthand. His globetrotting adventures make him the go-to guy for travel recommendations and inspired him to launch a new travel site called Flee.

In the first five minutes of sitting down with Byron to talk about his new startup, it was clear that he has a wealth of insight into the best kept secrets of many of the cities he has had the chance to visit either on assignment or just for fun. I had a hard time jotting down notes from the interview while simultaneously adding all of the restaurants, hotels and cities he mentioned to my bucket list. Luckily, Hawes has captured everything I need to know in Flee.

Just released in public beta last week, Flee is a new experiential travel resource aimed for the savvy traveller who is looking to experience new things and places that are often off the beaten path.

Flee combines highly curated and original travel recommendations with a seamless booking process all wrapped up in an elegant and intuitive design. Flee aims to simplify discovery and booking so that customers can spend less time searching and more time experiencing.

"During our research we found out that it takes people on average 21 days to plan a trip. We thought that was way too long. With Flee you can plan a trip in under 21 minutes," explained Hawes.

Hawes and his Co-Founder Zeina Belouizdad created Flee after identifying a gap in the online travel recommendation space. "We realized that there wasn't a single product out there that was catering to us, the non- Expedia traveller. The kind of traveler who knows they want to get away but doesn't necessarily have a destination in mind. We built Flee to be a travel application providing destinations that have been pretty much overlooked by current travel websites and apps," explains Belouizdad.

Flee's design is definitely inspired by Hawes' editorial background. The visually appealing interface has a magazine-like feel with each travel recommendation featuring a well-shot image along with a short quirky review and location information. The Flee team has plans to add the ability for users to download a PDF version of each city guide for offline use on a smartphone or tablet while at the travel destination.

The simplicity in design is echoed in how easy it is to use the site. Hawes explained that they wanted to keep the recommendation process as one-click as possible. To start, users select their travel dates and their budget to be provided with recommendations from over 30 cities, currently only in North America. The team has plans to expand their recommendations to Europe and then Asia in the near future. Users can book hotels through a seamless integration Flee has with Mr. and Mrs. Smith or flights through Travelocity.

Flee's travel recommendations are not your typical tourist spots. Flee's picks for Toronto, for example, include West-end gems like Ursa, Bar Chef, 416 Snack Bar, and Queen street accessories shop Zane. The site also features many cities you may not think of travelling to, such as Louisville or Minneapolis, but that Hawes swears are not-to-be-missed weekend getaways.

Flee was selected as one of the startups to take part in the Jolt Accelerator program at MaRS. "Jolt played a critical part in Flee's development. Coming in we had the idea, the brand and all the content to build this awesome product but we needed guidance to be able to build a winner. We've picked a tough space to be in and so being surrounded by those who have built and conquered dozens of times in the past is not only a bit asset but also very inspirational," said Zeina Co-Founder.

Flee can be found online at www.setmeflee.com. The team expects to launch their first iOS application on the iPad this summer.

You know you've got a full-blown scandal when the memes start circulating, but only the most ridiculous and newsworthy events tend to make it onto t-shirts. Do the Rob Ford crack smoking allegations make the cut? Maybe. Spotted on Instagram the other day is this t-shirt (or, perhaps more accurately t-shirt design) that goes to bat for our mayor by proclaiming that all he's guilty of his "having a good time."

It's pretty clever, if only for the degree to which it mirrors the situation with the crack smoking tape itself. Is this the "real thing"? We offered to buy one — as if we can afford the actual tape! — but we received no response from the mysterious woolf_1980. Are we risking our reputation in claiming that a Rob Ford Crackgate t-shirt actually exists when it does not? Is this just a clever bit of Photoshopping? After much deliberation, the decision has been made to run with this story because the potential existence of the item in question is too important not to bring to the public's attention.

Once we've raised enough funds (there's an office pool underway, currently at $12.43), we will make an offer for the shirt. With any luck we'll be able to verify its existence in the day's ahead. Fingers crossed! This could be our big break...

Photo by mcdux in the blogTO Flickr pool

Toronto events on May 22nd, 2013

MUSIC | AMANDA MABRO + CHRIS ASSAAD DOUBLE BILL
Amanda Mabro and Chris Assad share a bill tonight at The Drake Hotel Underground. Mabro hails from Montreal, and has a sound that is an edgy combination of cabaret and pop. She has toured Canada, and also performed at the Brussels Opera House. Her 2011 album, Die To The Past, received favourable feedback from the Montreal Gazette. Toronto singer/songwriter, Chris Assad, abandoned a law career to pursue his music full-time. His songs are rootsy, and come with a soulful approach, with hints of pop, and some world music influences. His latest EP is entitled, Into The Light.
The Drake Hotel Underground (1150 Queen Street West) 8PM $20

BOOKS & LIT | Authors at Harbourfront Centre: Andrew Kaufman, Claire Mulligan, Benjamin Percy
Another Wednesday means another excellent evening of readings courtesy of the Authors at Harbourfront Centre series. Tonight, Toronto screenwriter and author, Andrew Kaufman will read from his latest, Born Weird, the story of a woman, her five grandchildren, and a curse that must be lifted. Claire Mulligan, whose work has been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, will also read tonight, and her latest work, The Dark is set in the 19th Century, and incorporates the Fox Sisters and their role in the emerging Spiritualism movement of the period. Benjamin Percy, a Whiting Writers' Award winner, completes the lineup for tonight, and will read from his novel, Red Moon. The Toronto Star's Ben Archer hosts.
Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West) 7:30PM $10 (free for members/students/youth)

FILM | Rue Morgue & Unstable Ground present LITTLE TERRORS - Vol. 19 - Bloody Cuts
Another installment of Little Terrors goes down tonight at the MLT Carelton Cinema. If you are a horror fan who hasn't checked this regular film event out, you should strongly consider it tonight. Little Terrors is a showcase of short horror and gore films, and tonight's screening is dubbed Bloody Cuts: it is sure to please even the sickest minds out there. Tonight's program includes films from directors Raúl Cerezo, Erlingur Thoroddsen, Balder Skanstrom-Bo, Anthony Melton, Rob McLellan, and others.
MLT Carlton Cinema (20 Carlton Street) 9PM

Also Of Note

The Shins + Ra Ra Riot @ Sound Academy
Jadea Kelly @ Great Hall
FlamenKhatak -- Indo-Flamenco featuring members of Jorge Miguel Flamenco and Tasa

For more Toronto event suggestions, check out these posts:

• This week in music
• This week in fashion
• This week in film
• Toronto food events
• This week in theatre
• This week in comedy
• Toronto Concerts, May 2013

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.

Photo by Andree Anne Handfield and courtesy of Amanda Mabro's website.

It's finally a done deal. The downtown casino is dead, killed off by a 40-4 vote against by members of city council. A plan by Rob Ford to throw support behind expansion at Woodbine was also defeated. The mayor didn't have much to say after the votes were tallied (he's still hiding from allegations he smoked crack cocaine, afterall) so we didn't get a sense of how he's taking the blow. In the end, not even coun. Doug Ford voted for the plan.

Meanwhile, a Sun columnist says Ford had a statement prepared yesterday but for reasons that don't entirely make sense decided not to deliver it to the media. "He feels he has addressed it through times when he called the whole thing ridiculous," Joe Warmington quotes coun. Doug Ford. "He is standing by that." Can the mayor avoid addressing the issue forever?

Meanwhile, Conrad Black is likening Rob Ford to "embarrassing guest at a family Christmas party," which is a pretty damning indictment from a convicted fraudster. Black told the Toronto Star if he was wrongly accused of being a cocaine user he wouldn't ignore the issue. "It's all a bit undignified. We shouldn't be going through this," he said.

It seems the Toronto Port Authority's plan to fill in a portion of Lake Ontario is also on ice. The TPA was planning to fill in an 8,000 square metre exclusion zone around the end of the existing runway, but the current environmental assessment didn't factor in the area being the site of a runway extension. Porter hopes it can get the city to agree to jets operating out of the expanded airport.

Three young people have been arrested in connection with a fire that destroyed a Malvern playground earlier this month. The play area at Mary Shadd Public School was completely destroyed but community groups and local businesses contributed $80,000 to rebuild it. An 19-, 18-, and 17-year-old are charged with arson.

A TTC staff report is recommending the controversial sole-sourced Gateway newsstand deal be cut from ten years to four. The shorter time frame would allow a contractor be in place during the Pan Am Games in 2015 and give the Commission more time to find other operators for the 65 subway newsstands, handful of lottery booths, and two bakeries.

As you might expect, the Ford scandal has been popular in the United States on the late-night talk shows. Jay Leno has lampooned the mayor on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel did a fake interview, and now video is available of The Daily Show host Jon Stewart having his turn. The shame, the shame.

[Caution: Some of this isn't suitable for work, but you knew that already.]

IN BRIEF:

• Subway service disrupted on Yonge line [CP24]
• Three charged after alleged gang-sexual assault in downtown parking garage [Toronto Star]
• Storms down power lines [CBC]

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: Jamie Nolan/blogTO Flickr pool.

This Week in Fashion rounds up the week's style news, store openings and closings, pop-up shops, sales and upcoming fashion and design events in Toronto. Find it here every Wednesday morning.

NEWS

Nordstrom is coming to Canada in 2016 with two locations in Toronto - one at Yorkdale and the other at Sherway Gardens. Though the opening dates are far in the future, a website for Nordstrom Canada has recently launched, giving Canadians insight to the American retailer and a chance to create a job application profile.

EVENTS/PARTIES

The eclectic MIDNIGHT MRKT is finally back and ready for action for its third round. If you didn't catch the first (or second) one, it's an event similar to other monthly markets (like 101 Markets and the Junction Flea), except in nighttime party style. This Friday (May 24), shop from 8 pm to midnight on the 2nd floor of 461 King Street West with Worn Journal, Vitaly Design, Shoppalu, and more -- and then stay a little longer to dance to DJs Lucie Tic, and Johnny Hockin. Entrance is $5 at the doors.

This Saturday (May 25), head to Trinity Bellwoods Park (790 Queen St W) for a massive yard sale hosted by 1-800-GOT-JUNK. There's no better way to spend the day than perusing the odds and ends that dozens of vendors have to offer - from 10 am until 7 pm, the park will be jam-packed with furniture, clothing, and more at undoubtedly great prices.

SALES

The PYA Importer Ltd. sample sale kicks off today (May 22) and stretches until Saturday (May 25), giving shoppers four whole days to snatch up a great deal. Brands like Ted Baker, Line Knitwear, and Corpus will be available at up to 80% off, so be sure to visit 15 Apex Road for a chance to stock up on quality goods.

Standard Apparel is hosting a sweet sample sale at their head office (87 Wingold Ave, Unit 1) from tomorrow (May 23) until Saturday (May 25). Snatch pieces by Fred Perry, Oliver Spencer, Filson, and more at low, low prices from 10 am until 8 pm on the weekdays, and 10 am until 4 pm on the Saturday.

From Friday (May 24) until next Thursday (May 30), 18 Waits will be selling their signature made-in-Canada clothing and accessories from seasons past at insane markdowns. Visit the Oz Studios (134 Ossington Ave) between the hours 10 am and 8 pm to score shirts (regular $220) for $50, shorts (regular $195) for $65, and way more for way less.

On Saturday (May 25), Pinewood Film Studio (255 Commissioners St) will be home to this year's CAFTCAD Movie Wardrobe Sale, where over 30 vendors will offer their outrageous and unique clothing from 9 am until 5 pm. It'll be a mix of high-end, classic, and vintage garments, plus a few wardrobe supplies here and there at discounted prices. The $5 admission will go to The Actors Fund of Canada.

Photo by bradlesbe

I whistled for a cab and when it came near/ the license plate said "fresh" and had a dice in the mirror/ If anything I could say that this cab was rare/ But I thought nah, forget it, yo homes, to Bel-air!

That's right, friends. The 90s are back in a big way, and now, for just $8,995,000, you can live on a street that unavoidably hearkens back to that boy band-infested era. Unit 608 at 10 Bellair St. looks like the perfect place for Aunt Viv, actually. It's a bit...enclosed. Authoritative. Hysterical. Lots of mouldings. This is the kind of place a woman from the suburbs (and I mean the real suburbs, guys, Pleasantville style. Green grass, emotions repressed up the yin yang and then drenched in gin and tonics. Pearl-clutching ladies...) moves into when she finds out she has to move to the city. It's a home for the well-behaved.

And while that may be slightly off-putting for me, it clearly appeals to (too) many. In all seriousness, though, this place is gorgeous, though some aspects are a bit dated and/or confused. See: kitchen.

SPECS

Address: 10 Bellair St.
Price: $8,995,000
Square Footage: 6030
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms/half baths: 4
Storeys: 1
Parking Spaces: 4
Fireplaces: Yes
Monthly Maintenance: $4649.92
Building Amenities: Two-storey fitness, social and spa centre on the building's third and fourth floors, valet parking, terrace garden

NOTABLE FEATURES

• Massive closet
• Custom built-in shelving
• Two balconies

GOOD FOR

Wielders of wealth and utmost propriety. Clothes horses. Or, clothes and horses. There's definitely enough space for that.

MOVE ON IF

You like a more modern, less traditional stuffy aesthetic.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES

Read other posts in this series via our Toronto Condos and Lofts Pinterest board.

There's a new(ish) cafe in town, sitting amongst the Starbucks and sports bars that line Bloor near Runnymede. With some seriously delicious fresh-baked pastries, an appetizing range of salads and sandwich options and, the mother of all clinchers, a liquor license, this spot is sure to be a go-to patio hang out for the hot and sticky summer.

Check out my review of Baka Gallery Cafe in the Cafes section.

Nearly everyone has experienced it. You get introduced to somebody for the first time and within seconds, you can't remember their name. Not to worry, even though the name and facial recognition part of your memory may not be the strongest, Jean-Luc David and the Toronto based team at Cardign (yes, it sounds like the sweater) are here to help.

Imagine the ability to immediately follow, befriend, and connect with someone you meet after snapping a photo of them with your phone. Instead of focusing on the historical handshake and business card exchange to network, Cardign is trying a new approach to bring the act of the introduction into the 21st century. To keep it simple, when you use your mobile phone to take a photo of someone, Cardign will automatically follow them on Twitter and connect with them on Facebook, Foursquare, and LinkedIn.

To learn more about how the whole concept came together, I sat down with Jean-Luc David to find out how Cardign is trying to integrate facial recognition into our daily lives without sparking mass Orwellian panic in the streets.

Let's talk about Cardign, where did the idea come from?

The seed of the idea came to me at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. I made a lot of great connections and collected a large stack of business cards. Once I tried to reconnect with many of the people I'd met, many had lost context of our discussions or couldn't remember who I was. This made me think of a simple concept - imagine if you could meet someone and immediately follow them on Twitter, connect with them on Facebook and LinkedIn, and send them an email.

How does Cardign actually work?

Cardign has three main features. You can look at the stream of people connecting with each other on Cardign around the world, pull up contact information from your address book (it automatically stays up to date) and of course, snap a picture of a person's face to get their contact information.

Can people find me on Cardign if I haven't created an account?

Not yet. Today, you need to install the app and take three pictures of your own face in order for Cardign to recognize you. In a period of three months, we've had thousands of people use Cardign. We're constantly improving our results, and at one point in the near future, you'll be able to use it on anyone.

How does Cardign match pictures to people?

Pretty much the way people normally recognize each other. The human eye can recognize people based on distinct facial characteristics. For example, the color of a person's hair, the shape of a person's face, the proportion of a person's nose compared to the eyes, etc. Cardign works in the same way - it maps out hundreds of points on a person's face in order to differentiate it from others.

I'm not sure everyone wants to have their photo taken by someone they just met. What are your thoughts on the privacy concerns?

It's definitely an important issue and we're sensitive to it. We've implemented several measures to help protect people's privacy and give control to our customers. For example, if you don't want to be recognized by Cardign, we've have an opt-out process so even if someone takes a picture of your face, your profile information won't show up in the search results. It's important to note that we don't share private profile information. The most a person will get through our current app is a link to their Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Foursquare accounts. You are in full control of incoming friend and connection requests.

Who are Cardign's competitors?

There are many high quality contact management apps in the market. For example, CardMunch allows you to snap business cards and get people's LinkedIn profiles. Most of the efforts out there try to replicate the experience of exchanging business cards (and many have failed).

Cardign looks and behaves like a contact manager, but we have very ambitious goals in the long term. It's really about bridging connections offline and online, and making the user experience as seamless as possible using the latest technology. We think facial recognition takes it to a whole new level - we're trying to push the envelope.

Where do you see Cardign going in the near future?

Cardign has a bright future. With technologies like Google Glass, you won't even need to pull out your phone to connect with someone at a meeting or conference. You'll be able to retrieve their public contact information in an instant - there's zero friction. Another aspect is context - imagine meeting someone and instantly knowing that you both like Game of Thrones. Context can help as an "ice breaker" to find common ground and help build friendships and relationships.

The Commonwealth is a new collective and event series that's been put together to foster the health of Toronto's DIY and small press publishing scene. And boy could it use it. Although there are plenty of truly independent publications out there, outside of events like Word on the Street, there are precious few occasions in which the the folks behind such endeavours are able to come together and offer their work in a wider context.

To employ a cliche, there's power in numbers — and the opportunity to join forces in promoting the DIY publishing scene is one that benefits both the creators and their readers, the latter of whom are exposed to variety of publications they might not have known about previously.

Founded by Go Home Print, Marishka Anne and Kelsey Stasiak, the Commonwealth's first event takes place on June 1st at 163 Sterling Rd, a location that's long been a hotbed for DIY types and creative initiatives. In conjunction with the launch of Go Home Magazine's third issue, the get together will feature no less than 25 other vendors, who will offer a wide array of wares, including zines, t-shirts and photographs.

Over and above the stuff you can buy, the idea is to put members of this creative community in the same room, ply them with (cheap) beer, and establish connections between writers, artists and publishers that will ultimately serve to bolster the scene as a whole. Oh, there will also be a bonfire. What more could you want?

Photo via Go Home Magazine

Last Tuesday May 14th, menswear destination Garrison Bespoke at 26 Wellington East played to its target market by throwing an event filled with vintage cars, hand-rolled Mombacho cigars, barbecue meats, cocktails and a scotch bar.

Check out all the looks in the Style section

The best wonton soup in Toronto always hits the spot. Whether it's providing warmth on a cold Toronto night or soothing comfort when you want something light and tasty, there's something about those velvety smooth flour-and-meat concoctions that simply hits home. It's kind of like the Chinese answer to mom's chicken noodle soup, if that chicken noodle soup came in a billion different shapes and sizes, isn't necessarily limited to chicken, and can be dunked in a variety of sauces and/or seasonings.

Grab your soup spoons and practice your ability to slurp really loudly as you make your way to the places on this list.

Here are the best restaurants in Toronto to fill up on wonton soup.

See also:

The best dumplings in Toronto
The best dim sum in Toronto
The best dim sum in downtown Toronto

Writing by Darren "DKLo" Susilo. He hangs out on the twitter and his own mansion.

The men riffle through chainmaille helmets and shields to unearth their armour from massive trunks that line the periphery of the room. Swords are grabbed on the way out of the small room as they head to the battlefield.

The battlefield is the gym floor at the Fighting Arts Collective at Ossington and Dupont, and the men (and some women) are students of the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts (AEMMA), an initiative created to resurrect medieval martial arts. A few nights a week, these people don their armour and the gym becomes a nerd's paradise. Check out their YouTube channel to watch the fights).

Brian McIlmoyle is the lead instructor at AEMMA. He's only 47, but he's been studying the art of medieval combat for about 30 years. He's been working on AEMMA for 16 of those. It started with research and decoding an old manual detailing how to fight. McIlmoyle started teaching classes in 2000.

"When people think of this, they think of some crackpot in his backyard or basement with a sword. But with the Internet, you can find other crackpots in their basements and build a community," he says over the clang of swords. For the record, McIlmoyle is an eloquent and insightful guy, and doesn't seem like a crackpot at all (in short, he's not what I expected).

At McIlmoyle's school, there are four ranks the other "crackpots" can hope to achieve. Recruits are those who are just starting to learn. Then, you're an official scholar once you've made some progress, then you're a free scholar, with the power to teach, and provosts are the leaders of schools.

There are about 50 students studying the art at AEMMA right now, and it takes about four years before they're ready to fight wearing a suit of armour.

McIlmoyle had to do a lot of pretty intense research to get this off the ground, the main part of which was decoding the fighting manual put together by Fiore dei Liberi in 1410. The manual details how to fight from beginning to end. Interestingly, its author, who was a professional man at arms, is said to have died of old age. That book would have likely been destroyed in the world wars, but for the fact that it made its way to the U.S. first.

"The library it was in, in Italy, was annihilated," he tells me. I can see a metaphorical tear in his eye over what could have been — or, rather, what may not have been.

Photos by Derek Flack

Well, he's still the mayor of Toronto, but Rob Ford was relieved of one of his head positions today. Ford has been let go as coach of the Don Bosco Eagles football program, a position he has held for the past decade.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board issued a news release earlier this afternoon, which states that the school will go "in a new direction" and that Ford has been informed of their decision. Notably, there was no reference to the alleged crack video, but the timing of the "firing" (it was a voluntary position) is sure to raise eyebrows.

The board has, however, reportedly been reviewing Ford's position as coach since March. A new coach has already been put in place. What do you think? Was this just inevitable at some point?

Image: Oliver Plante/blogTO Flickr pool.

Doors Open Toronto returns for its 14th year on May 25th and 26th, complete with a lineup of new buildings to explore and a stable of old favourites. There have been a few years in which the event has suffered from over-hype and a lack of novel places to explore for return visitors, but based on a perusal of this year's program, that doesn't appear to be the case this year. On the contrary, the selection of first-time offerings is actually quite extensive.

I'll get to those shortly, but in the meantime, here's a couple of reminders. Based on the increased popularly of Doors Open, it's become far more important to plan one's visits in advance, taking into account not just the possibility of lineups, but also geographic proximity and potential photography restrictions (for those who plan to snap away). And while I hate to state the obvious, if there's a building that you really want to check out but you're not into waiting around, your best bet is to arrive early.

In previous years, there's been a few mobile app to choose from, but the pickings are slim for 2013. The one that's recommended on the official website, which uses the Dynamic Legend platform, is not the worst, but I suspect it's easier to just plan ahead. That said, the mobile site looks like a bit of a mess, so having the app might be good as back up.

Given the focus on first time offering here, if you're after a bit more breadth, take a look at our guides to previous years.

• 2011
• 2012

5 NEW BUILDINGS TO CHECK OUT FOR 2013

Mattamy Athletic Centre at MLG
Here's your chance to see what the rink at Maple Leaf Gardens looks like today. While the enture building has been overhauled, the cathedral-like roof remains along with a number of smaller historical touches.

Toronto Carpet Factory
One of Liberty Village's grandest buildings, the Toronto Carpet Factory was also one of the places that the tech boom happened in the neighbourhood. This tour offers access throughout the building, allowing visitors to see how it's been adapted to its current use.

Toronto Police Service 11 Division
I hesitate to recommend entering a police station ever, but I have to admit that there's something pretty fascinating about the prospect of exploring a cop shop when not shackled in handcuffs. Bonus: this building is a wonderful example of adaptive reuse.

Massey Tower Presentation Centre
OK, the presentation centre part of the tour might not be the most fascinating and they might try to sell you a condo or something, but having taken a peek behind the scenes at this Toronto landmark, it's definitely worth a look.

Fox Theatre
I tend to think that places which are easily accessible outside of Doors Open aren't worth visiting during the event, but I'll make an exception for the Fox. Not only is it one of Toronto's oldest cinemas, but the tour includes a look at the projection room.

OTHER NEW BUILDINGS WORTH A LOOK

• Astronomical Heritage Tour
• George Brown College Waterfront Campus
• Harris Institute
• Regent Park Aquatic Centre
• Dineen Building (that's where we work!)

MOST LIKELY TO HAVE LONG LINES

• Canada Life Building
• King Edward Hotel
• Osgoode Hall
• Portlands Energy Centre
• Red Path Sugar
• RC Harris Water Treatment Plant
• St. Lawrence Hall
• Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
• Lower Bay Station

Lead photo by Tom Ryaboi

Photo by Acid_Punk in the blogTO Flickr pool

Toronto events on Thursday, May 23, 2013

PHOTOGRAPHY | Arts & Crafts presents Norman Wong Photography Exhibit
Norman Wong, Toronto-based celebrity and fashion photographer, collaborates with Arts & Crafts to open his photo show as part of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. Photographs of the label's musicians will line the walls of the Arts & Crafts Field Trip Headquarters at Queen and Dovercourt to celebrate ten years of Canadian indie music. Images of Dan Mangan, Feist and Kevin Drew et al will be on display until June 15th at the HQ. The exhibit opens to the public tonight at 8PM with an opening reception party.
Field Trip Headquarters (1093 Queen Street West) 8PM Free

FILM | Inside Out Opening Gala Party
Inside Out, the Toronto LGBT film festival, launches today with a sexy dance party at 2nd Floor Events on King West. The 23rd annual festival, which celebrates the best in LGBT creative voices worldwide, opens with the Canadian premiere of In The Name Of, the story of a Catholic priest struggling between his faith and his deep-rooted sexual urges at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Inside Out runs until June 2nd with dozens of LGBT-friendly films premiering and screening throughout the 11-day festival.
2nd Floor (461 King Street West) 10PM $10 general, $8 members

ART | It's Nice To Meet You!
A fitting title for the inaugural show of Toronto's latest (and potentially smallest) storefront gallery, It's Nice To Meet You! opens at 2186Dundas tonight. Featuring 10 artists' work in illustration, photography and painting on the same visually thematic scale, this show, which has been thoughtfully curated by gallery owner Andrew Williamson and OTM Zine editor and creative director Tara-Lynn Bartolini, will welcome the new gallery and its neighbours into the local art scene. The opening reception for the show and gallery takes place tonight with good art, good people and lots of Kronenbourg being served. Visit 2186Dundas.ca for more details.
2186Dundas (2186 Dundas Street West) 8PM Free

THEATRE | El Camino or the Field of Stars
The Accidental Mechanics Group's presentation of El Camino or The Field of Stars launches in TO tonight. This one-man play is promised to be a combination of theatre and stand-up comedy that tells an inspirational story of self-affirmation, as the protagonist faces prejudice for his sexual orientation. Allusions to El Camino de Santiago de Compostella serve a symbolic purpose, and allow this play's narrative to work on another level. The reaction to this work's premier at The Queer Acts Festival in Halifax two years ago was very favourable, and found Stewart Legere named Best Male Theatre Actor by alternative newspaper The Coast. El Camino runs until June 2nd.
Videofag (187 Augusta Avenue) 8PM $15

MUSIC | Marina and The Diamonds
British synthpop singer Marina and The Diamonds is touring to support her sophomore album Electra Heart, playing a show tonight for Toronto fans. Having moved from Sound Academy to Echo Beach to accommodate more ticket sales, there are tickets still available to watch Marina perform with opener Charli XCX. Purchase tickets through Ticketmaster
TD Echo Beach (909 Lakeshore Boulevard West) 7PM $40.25 general $51.75 VIP

ALSO OF NOTE:

• One Night Stand
• Anti Flag 20th Anniversary
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

For more Toronto event suggestions, check out these posts:

• This week in music
• This week in fashion
• This week in film
• Toronto food events
• This week in theatre
• This week in comedy
• Toronto Concerts, May 2013

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.

Photo of Brendan Canning by Norman Wong

Yonge + Rich, a new development at Yonge and Richmond, with the at-once awkward and unimaginative name, actually looks quite promising. Its 50 stories won't be intrusive on the landscape in that part of the downtown, since it's already all highrise. And pricing starts at $289,990, a reasonable sum for city-style "home" ownership.

At the same time, the lobby kind of looks like a jail (or a bank), and the washrooms look pretty HoJo. But then these are early renderings — the development won't be ready for occupation until sometime around summer, 2018. And even if there are dreary common areas and washrooms, this building looks like it has top points in the quality of life department. The terraces look amazing, as do the views from said terraces. Apparently I'm easily bought by outdoor space, but I really don't care. Call me what you want, but I want to breathe in the smog from the relative privacy of my own home, thanks.

SPECS

Address: 25 Richmond St.
Floors: 50
Total number of units: N/A
Types of units: N/A
Unit sizes (in square feet): 450 to 926
Ceiling heights: 8'5" to 9'0"
Starting prices for available units: $289,990
Developer: Great Gulf
Amenities/building features: 24 hour concierge, rooftop deck, swimming pool, fitness centre, lounge.

THE GOOD

Floor plans haven't been released yet, nor have a ton of renderings, so it's hard to say exactly what they'll do with the units. But developers have one thing right: attention to the need for green space.

"Unlike many condo roof gardens, there are actually garden terraces on all sides of the building, accessed from the different lounges and gathering spaces on the amenity level," said John Hillier, the project's landscape architect. "In some cases, the glazed walls essentially fold back allowing the interiors to extend seamlessly to the roof gardens when the weather permits."

So, essentially, it's like living in the jungle. What could be more awesome?

The location is a plus here, too. If you're looking for hectic downtown living, this development is in an ideal location. It's also ideal if you're a shopaholic, as you can pretty much walk out your front door and into the glorious Eaton Centre. It's a 6 minute walk to the St. Lawrence Market, across the street from a great coffee spot, and snuggled in beside noteworthy restaurants like Richmond Station, Terroni on Adelaide, and the Gabardine.

THE BAD

The afore-bemoaned washroom and lobby might (might) point to more potential drabness in the design department. But it also might not; it's a tossup at this point.

And if you're looking for a home in a more peaceful environment, move to Roncy. This area is definitely not for you. It's noisy and hectic and full of tourists and those people who flail their arms at you (even though you're wearing headphones and clearly on your way somewhere) and try to get you to stop and chat for "just a second" and donate to their petting zoo/charity run/cloning operation. I should think that living in this area might be like being a tourist in your own city...which is weird to say the least, and would probably get exhausting.

OUR TAKE

At this point, Yonge+Rich seems like good value for the area and attention paid to certain design components. (Read: resort-style terraces).

Read other posts in this series via our Toronto Condos and Lofts Pinterest board.

Toronto Restaurant Openings highlights the latest restaurant openings and closings in Toronto and also gives a preview at some of the places coming soon. Find us here every Thursday morning.

OPEN NOW

• The Queen and Spadina location of the Burger's Priest finally opened its doors on Monday, so you can expect the lineups to start, well, right about now. Note: It would appear that the Queen/Spadina location isn't ready just yet. Apologies if your mouth is already watering.
• Switch, the latest from Hanif Harji, is now serving customers with its eclectic sharing plates and arcade games. Don't forget the "haute" hot dogs (via Toronto Life).

COMING SOON

• As we reported earlier this week, there's new life at the Barn on Church Street. The Marquis of Granby is a pub and event space that should be opening by the end of next week.
• The food trend battle between gourmet hot dogs and taco joints continues with the anticipated arrival of Craft Dogs. While the concept of a "gourmet" hot dog has always been kind of funny, these made-from-scratch offerings might hit the mark. (via View the Vibe).
• Rose and Sons is getting into the barbecue game with the addition of a new seasonal restaurant that will operate behind the original restaurant. (via the Grid)
• Charles Khabouth wants to bring a bit of Miami to Polson Street in the form of Cabana Pool Bar, which is set to open at the Sound Academy sometime in mid-June. With space for 2,500 expect this to be one of douchiest trendiest places in the city. (via the Star)

OTHER NEWS

• Diner mainstay the Senator is upping its coffee game with the addition of a La Marzocco espresso machine and will launch a new menu on June 18th. Stay tuned.
• Tomorrow marks the last day of duty for Hawthorne's restaurant director and executive chef. Elle Boutilier and Binh An Nguyen will leave the business to pursue new opportunities.

Are you into running but looking for extra flavour? Not into running but want a fun reason to break a sweat? Novelty runs are providing experienced and beginner runners with a clever twist on the traditional run.

One such run is the US-based Run Or Dye. Established last October, the series has already attracted over 50,000 participants over five runs and more are scheduled this summer. It's also expanding to Canada with a run in Ottawa this August. Other stops - including Toronto - are in the works for fall.

Content Development Director Katie Langston says Run or Dye is inspired by similar novelty runs as well as Holi, the Hindu religious festival, which includes the throwing of powdered dye as a way to celebrate life. "Our motto is to live life in full colour."

Along every kilometre of its 5K course is a dye station. Runners at showered with coloured powder. The run culminates in a full-blown colour explosion at the dye festival, which includes a live DJ. "There is something about the experience of being covered in colour that awakens the joyful part inside of you," says Langston.

Toronto is a city fit for runners, providing enthusiasts with plenty of running events - of various lengths - within and near the GTA throughout the year.

Novelty runs are helping attract a non-running demographic, says Langston. "One overwhelming thing we hear from participants is how much fun they have exercising. A huge group of our participants are first timers."

The social aspect contributes to the popularity of novelty runs, says Langston. "People, for the most part, run in groups. These runs build community and camaraderie. It helps transform something like running, which is often times a chore, into something that is a delight."

Similar in style to Run or Dye, but cut by a different cloth, the Color Me Rad 5K run promises participants they will end up "looking like a kindergarten art glass gone wrong" by the time they have been obliterated by color bombs. This June 22 and 23 run at Downsview Park is sold out.

Another popular type of novelty run is the obstacle course that combines endurance test with physical challenges. Two weeks ago, the 16k Tough Mudder put hundreds of participants through a grueling ringer.

Alex Li participated in Tough Mudder with colleagues as a team building exercise. "Some obstacles are more psychological than physical, such as walk the plank, cage crawl and electroshock therapy," he says.

The obstacles are selling points for participants like Li. "It's a matter of breaking free of the norm and doing something different, challenging, and borderline insane."

Similar to Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash - taking place July 20 at Horseshoe Valley Resort, an hour drive outside Toronto - offers a 5.5K course. "Participants tackle the Battleground, cross the finish line and become Warrior," says rep Kendra Alley. "We welcome all athletic abilities. It is an event for everyone...to challenge themselves, be active and get muddy."

The Dash's dozen or so obstacles include jumping over the "Warrior Roast" fire pit, crawling through the "Trenches," and "Storming Normandy." Seasoned warriors are promised never-before-seen obstacles.

The social aspect is also key in the Dash. Participants are encouraged to dress in team costumes. Previous runs have seen racers in Viking and superhero costumes. Warriors are rewarded with a celebratory feast, including a Beer Alley.

The sky, it seems, is the limit for novelty runs. Who knows, we could one day see an Angry Birds-themed obstacle run, a laser tag mashup run, or perhaps a Legoland course.

For horror folks clamouring for zombies, it's been done already. Last year, the 5K Run For Your Lives series stopped by Toronto, presenting runners with an obstacle course infested with the undead. Organizers are skipping Toronto in 2013, but many are hoping the run infects our city again next year.

"We're going to continue to see a proliferation of different types of (novelty) runs," predicts Langston. "It'll be interesting to see which ideas stick and which ideas don't. But I do think that this is a trend that is not going away for a good while."