That was one massive storm in Toronto. With rainfall totals that reached and surpassed monthly levels in just a few short hours, the city's infrastructure and urban rivers just couldn't handle the increased load, many of them eventually overflowing in dramatic fashion. Key flood zones were spread throughout the city, though some of the most wild images come from King and Atlantic, where cars were nearly completely submerged, and the Don Valley, which spilled out onto the highway in addition to halting a GO train in its tracks and stranding passengers for hours. We've already shared many photos from commuters caught in the storm, but we also had our own photographer on the ground who captured the key flood zones and the rescue efforts in the Don Valley.

View 15 harrowing moments from the Toronto rain storm in this slideshow.

Photos by Tom Ryaboi

When you take your electronic music seriously, it means you're looking for more than just a guy in a mouse costume. If one of your dance floor standards is already an affirming appreciative nod, then your undoubtedly well aware of the Sound in Motion Festival that's arriving in Toronto this weekend (July 11-13), but for the uninitiated, this is where techno, bass, deep house, and jungle all meet up, shake hands then embarrassingly realize they've all actually met while drunk at a party before.

Over three days Toronto will become a stage for some of the most respectable artists in these genres, who will showcase music, art and short films on the subject. Here's five reasons you'll want to skip the cottage this coming weekend.

Interactive Panel Discussion Powered by Sub Pac

Remember those 4-D theatres? The ones you waited in line for on a scorching summer day for 15 minutes of a space voyage or dinosaur attack where the seats moved around and separated all your change and skeet ball tickets from your pockets? Well SUBjectives: The Bass Experience have taken the steps to ensure a much more enjoyable interactive event by incorporating the subpac, a tactile audio device that transports frequencies directly to your body. The new product, which at first glance resembles an orthopaedic back rest, allows you to organically feel bass, kick drums, and 808's without blowing your speakers or eardrums.

Boasting this new technology and panelists Marcus Visionary, Kode 9, Pinch, and Spyne discussing their careers and inspirations, this will be the equivalent of a TED talk for electronic music lovers.

When Two Venues Become One

The Great Hall and Black Box theatre, two of Toronto's best venues, merge into one dark fortress of deep house, bass, and techno for the Friday night main event with a stacked line up of cutting edge contemporaries and legendary acts including Daniel Bell and local scene stalwarts Basic Soul Unit. This could be the closest you'll ever get to Berlin's infamous hedonist techno and house refuge Berghain, with many of the artists having performed there in the past. Just hope that the door policy here isn't as notoriously and erratically strict.

Underground Goes Outdoors

The deep, dark and late night nature of these genres generally find their natural habitats existing in industrial spaces and rooms much closer to the earths core, but the Saturday afternoon free showcase in Coronation Park from 2-11pm will provide an alternative to too many late mornings, or just a place to keep Friday night's party going. Anticipate an ambient live set from sonic engineer DeepChord to transport you to the corridors of an abandoned Detroit train station, and Audio Werner's Panorama Bar approved performance of dance floor friendly techno to keep everyone shuffling behind their sunglasses.

A Pirate Radio Bike Rave

Aren't you sick of biking to parties to solo and dealing with the frustrations of cars not being able to hear your tiny bell when passing? Well then grab your FM radio (people still have those right?) and discover your bikes dub b-side by joining in on this mobile party convoy that rides the minimal waves from Dundas and Bathurst over to the open air of Coronation Park on Saturday. Hopefully some rollerbladers show up too and make it feel like the chase sequence from Hackers.

This is Toronto's MUTEK

If you also couldn't get a ride out to Montreal this year and are tired of hearing about how 'chill' the weekly picnique electronique is, then this is the opportunity to turn your fomo around. With Montreal and Mutek veteran Akufen on board the festivals are sure to draw some parallels. Despite only been on it's second year, Sound in Motion has solidified itself as Toronto's essential destination for fans of techno, dub, bass and jungle, and the only place where minimal sounds are getting turned into maximum fun.

Writing by Aidan Johnston.

Photo by Conrad McGee-Stocks courtesy of Mansion

After months of anticipation, this charming spot on the Danforth is now open and serving up regional central and north German specialities likes house-cured meats, spaetzle and rostis. The beer list is pretty impressive, too.

Read my profile of Das Gasthaus in the restaurants section.

Although legacy of yesterday's storm is still up in the air, the deluge has naturally drawn comparisons to Toronto's other major rain disaster, Hurricane Hazel. The 1954 hurricane and associated flood was, until last night, the biggest rain event the city had ever experienced and is still its deadliest natural disaster.

A perfect storm comprising a high water table, saturated ground, and poor planning caused the sucker punch that lead to widespread changes in the way Toronto was allowed to grow.

Doing what rivers do best, the Humber and Don have all flooded countless times in their long history. In the early days of Toronto, ice jams in the spring thaw were common culprits for submerged rail tracks and washed out roads. As historian Stephen Otto notes, the straightening of the lower portion of the Don may have exacerbated the issue.

The first recorded flood in the region took place in 1797. In 1878, Brampton was inundated by water, causing damage to roads, bridges, and small mills. Early floods repeatedly wiped out the bridge at Winchester Street that led to Kingston and the east. Toronto's assortment of now-buried rivers and streams have also caused damage before they were tamed by engineering.

Here's a rough timeline of Toronto floods, starting with the mother of them all.

HURRICANE HAZEL - OCTOBER 1954

The storm started innocuously as a ridge of low pressure in the Atlantic Ocean, known as a tropical wave, west of the Azores. As storm cells in tropics often do, Hazel intensified into a sizable hurricane that lashed the Caribbean with 160 km/h winds and torrential rain. 1,000 people were killed in Haiti without the eye of the storm ever making landfall.

Hazel struck in the U.S. on 14 October, 1954, packing winds of more than 240 km/h. The force destroyed the coastal town of Garden City, South Carolina, and whirled northward towards Toronto with tremendous speed.

The "roughstorm," Hazel's leading edge, drenched the city, snarled traffic and caused minor floods in road underpasses. The Star estimated 7,000,000,000 gallons of water cascaded from the leaden skies, saturating the ground and raising the water table.

Toronto went to bed on 15 October, 1954 with a forecast of showers before midnight and stiff winds.

The screaming headlines the next day echoed what everyone already knew - Hurricane Hazel hadn't passed as a benign post-tropical storm, it had scored a direct hit on Toronto, causing serious damage and loss of life.

Five volunteer firefighters were killed when their truck was swept off Humber Blvd. south of Dundas; five children and their mother drowned when the car they were traveling in was dragged from the road by the raging torrents.

Water rose by 6-8 metres in the Humber Valley, prompting people living close to the river to scramble on to roofs, into trees - anything above the water line. Dramatic photographs showed helicopters plucking people from makeshift islands as the brown water lapped at the eaves of homes.

When the dust settled, 81 people were confirmed dead in Canada. Raymore Drive, a residential street on the floodplain of the Humber, was home to 36 of those killed. Its location close to the water and the positioning of a footbridge that later broke free and acted as a battering ram caused it to be worse hit than other streets.

On Island Road near the 401 a four-month-old baby was left orphaned when her family home was swept away with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Thorpe, and two-year-old brother Bobby still inside.

The storm's deadly legacy and $125.2 million in damage led to the creation of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and widespread expropriation of flood-prone land. Restrictions on the location of homes and other buildings were implemented and much of the Humber and Don flood plains was preserved as parkland.

A memorial to the victims was built on the former site of Raymore Drive.

BIG RAIN - SEPTEMBER 1986

Two days of persistent, heavy rain over Southern Ontario affected communities from London to Toronto in the mid-80s. 63 mms of rain fell at Pearson over a 24-hour period, adding to a cumulative total that made the summer of '86 the wettest on record since 1928. 371 mms fell in June, July, and August.

Toronto police were forced to close the Don Valley Parkway due to rising water for the third time in as many months as a precaution. Waist deep water was reported in some areas as rivers overflowed.

FISHY BUSINESS - MAY 2000

A month's worth of rain fell on Toronto in May, 2000, giving hundreds of Don River carp the chance to become road kill. 100 km/h winds and heavy rain flooded the Don Valley, Mimico Creek, and Black Creek River, dredging fish and all kinds of detritus onto city roads.

67.8 mms of rain fell in downtown Toronto, causing 90 power outages, 457 car crashes, 230 calls to fire crews by citizens surprised at the ferocity of the storm (sound familiar?) "We did not issue any flood warnings because we were not expecting so much rain," said flood control engineer Don Healey.

THE "MIRACLE ESCAPE" - AUGUST 2005

It didn't cause a flood, but this storm did have serious consequences. On 2 August, 2005 Air France flight 358 - an Airbus A340 - was on final approach to Pearson airport. Pilots and air traffic control were reporting thunderstorms and heavy rain in the area.

540 flights had already been cancelled that day. As the flight from Paris lined up to make a landing, the weather worsened significantly and heavy rain lashed the tarmac. The plane touched down halfway along the runway and a miscommunication between the pilots led to a delay in deploying braking mechanisms.

Moments later, the plane and all 309 people on board skated off the end of the runway and dropped down an embankment in to Etobicoke Creek. Miraculously, everybody survived the accident despite the hull being destroyed by fire.

TORNADO OUTBREAK - AUGUST 2005

As F2 tornadoes pounded Milverton, Conestogo Lake, Salem, Lake Bellwood, and areas in between, a powerful line of thunderstorms poured forth on Toronto on 19 August, 2005. At its peak, winds topped 72 km/h and 1,400 lightning strikes were recorded a minute.

103 mms of rain - 130 mms at Environment Canada's Downsview offices - fell across North York resulting in flash floods that submerged basements, backed up sewage pipes, and washed out roads, including 30 metres of Finch Avenue West.

The most dramatic moment occurred when 4 people had to be plucked from the raging Don River by marine services. 15,000 insurance claims were filed as a result of the storm cluster.

UNION STATION FLOOD - JUNE 2012

The legacy of last summer's Union Station flood was really all about comically altered photos. A burst of heavy rain caused an overflow of the sewer system that sent a cascade of sewage in to the subway and lower levels of the Front Street property. The water was pumped out quickly and TTC service resumed later that evening.

DON VALLEY FLOOD - MAY 2013

Very similar to last night's weather, 60.2 mms of rain fell in a very short period, flooding the Don River south of Bloor Street, closing the DVP, and shutting down GO's Richmond Hill line (before any trains could get stuck.) The Instagram pictures now look a little tame in comparison.

FURTHER READING:

• That time when the Don River was straightened
• A brief history of Taddle Creek, Toronto's lost treasure
• A brief history of Garrison Creek, lost but not forgotten
• A brief history of Small's Pond, used then abused

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

Images: City of Toronto Archives, Wikimedia Commons, City of Toronto, Toronto Public Library, xdeguzmanhd,

In times of emergency and imminent danger, getting others to safety is top of mind for most of us. But when money is involved, vision can become clouded, and that's exactly what happened with ride-finding mobile start-up Uber last night in Toronto reports Canada.com. San Francisco-based Uber was designed to connect people in need of wheels with rides in private cars. In cases of extreme weather, though, it's not uncommon for the company to jack up its prices to make a few extra bucks, preying on people's fear and desperation. The process is referred to as "surge pricing." Nice guys, eh?

Last night, Toronto got a taste of this Scrooge-esque behaviour, as prices on black-car service were raised 1.75 times their regular costs. Twitter flipped out, obviously, and Uber's PR people were rewarded with a fun time trying to reassure people that cab prices were remaining the same. They went through a similar PR nightmare during Hurricane Sandy in New York, though that one was larger in scope. The public backlash from that round of surge-pricing resulted in the company back-tracking, and making up the extra costs to drivers themselves. And according to Aron Solomon, who wrote a scathing piece on Uber's behaviour, rates on New Years Eve in New York skyrocket to six times the average price.

In fairness, the app sends potential customers a warning when prices will be expected to climb higher than average. And, as the drivers aren't employees of the company, they say they implement surge pricing to give drivers more of an incentive to get out on the roads and help people.

What do you think? Was that a greasy move on Uber's part, or was it justifiable?

As the weather hinted at big things to come, Lee's Palace co-owner Jeff Cohen kicked off something big of his own this weekend: the inaugural edition of the Toronto Urban Roots Festival, more succinctly known as TURF, held from Thursday through Sunday at the Fort York Garrison Commons. Fans got wet, shoes got muddy, but complaints were drowned (heh, heh) out by fans overjoyed to see the likes of Belle and Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, and She & Him. Oh, and there were baby bunnies!

Check out this slideshow for a visual recap of the waterlogged festival.

As Toronto's post deluge clean-up continues tonight, Toronto Hydro is triggering rolling blackouts in an area bound by St. Clair, Spadina, Jane, and the lake shore in an effort to ease strain on the fragile electricity grid.

Earlier today Rob Ford described the city's power network as "hanging on a thread." Flood-damaged substations at Richview and Manby in the western portion of downtown are making restoring regular service something of a challenge.

A spokesperson for Toronto Hydro said around 23,000 customers - that's buildings, not people - will see their power cycle on and off until late Tuesday evening (fingers crossed.) A total of 43,000 hydro customers are still without power city-wide.

Until recently, it wasn't clear how the sporadic blackouts were organized - the official outage map is having a failure all of its own. Now there's a handy collaborative Google Map assembled by Kerry Wall, a web tech at CBC News and victim of the darkness, to help keep track of the cuts.

A moment the lights came back on for good (fingers crossed again) in the area bound by Dundas West south to Queensway and Lower Spadina west to Dufferin.

Here are the areas currently experiencing "load shedding," the technical name for what's going on.

UPDATE: 14:56

Lights are still coming back on in Etobicoke according to Toronto Hydro. Down to just 5,000 customers without electricity.

UPDATE: 14:02

Toronto Hydro now says 9,000 customers are without power in Etobicoke and engineers hope to (finally) restore power by this evening. More than 300,000 gallons of water had to be pumped out of the flooded Manby station before the equipment could be inspected for damage.

According to Toronto Hydro's Twitter page, the failure at Manby had a domino effect, knocking out 17 more stations.

UPDATE: 10:25

Just to draw your attention to a comment below by Kerry Wall, the creator of the map.

"Toronto Hydro released Twitpics of Google Maps of the areas they say are affected by the Manby station flood. I added them to the map. I still don't have information about other areas affected."

"There may be rolling blackouts today. I'll do my best to keep the map up to date based on Toronto Hydro information, but it remains publicly editable in case anybody wants to help."

UPDATE: 23:30

Hydro Toronto says the rolling blackouts have stopped for the night but more could be on the way tomorrow. 20,000 customers are still without power.

View Incomplete crowdsourced Toronto blackout map in a larger map

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

Image: darkwaders/blogTO Flickr pool.

Photo by jonathan.castellino in the blogTO Flickr pool

Toronto events on July 10th, 2013

MARKETPLACE | Fresh Wednesdays
Fresh Wednesdays returns to Nathan Philips Square, taking the first half of your Wednesday up a notch. This Summer event brings the Farmer's Market to the Square, with baked goods, locally-grown produce, flowers, and more. All of the action begins at 10AM, but things get even more interesting just after the noon hour at 12:30PM when the first Fresh Concert begins. This week, Justin Dube performs, and the former frontman for Univeral/Sony's Everlea has been establishing himself as a must-see live act, and will be a nice kickoff to this Summer concert series. Fresh Wednesday continues weekly until August 28th.
Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen Street West) 10AM to 2PM

MUSIC | Rockstar Mayhem Festival
Get your devil horns ready, because Rockstar's Mayhem Festival has arrived! This is like an evil, heavy, rock carnival - on the road, and coming our way this aft! This fest, founded by Kevin Lyman, the brains behind Vans Warped Tour, has been going strong since 2008, and has been associated with Rockstar Energy Drink since the beginning. Bands you can catch include Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastodon, Sweden's Amon Amarth, and many more. If "heavy" is your thing, you will find all of the important shades of metal at one mega-show today. Rock on!
Molson Amphitheatre (909 Lakeshore Blvd West) $20-95 1PM

FUNDRAISER | #TOAlbertaRelief
While this event was likely put together a while ago, the timing in light of Monday's downpour couldn't be more perfect! Tonight, The Cadillac Lounge will host #TOAlbertaRelief, a concert fundraiser to provide aid to the flooding victims in Alberta via Red Cross Canada. An awesome headliner was just confirmed a few days ago: Lowest Of The Low. Also on the bill are Simple Damned Device, Kayla Howran, comedian Johnny Gardhouse, and an "Acoustic Stage" featuring Kyle Milchard, Kody G, and Jillian Brady. The goal is to raise $6,000, so do consider coming out to contribute, and enjoy a night of great music.
The Cadillac Lounge (1296 Queen Street West) 7PM $20

COMEDY | Faking Bad
Working well within the comedic tradition of taking inspiration and building material from popular culture, the folks at the 2013 Canadian Comedy Award-nominated Bad Dog Theatre Company bring you Faking Bad, a new show with a name that is a twist on a very popular TV series. Faking Bad features a great cast of players telling the story of a high school teacher who teams up with a student to start a 420-oriented baked goods business. Sounds like a recipe for some funny situations, especially when the Bad Dog team improvises on this blueprint, and takes it to some unusual places. This show runs every Wednesday until August 7th.
Comedy Bar (945 Bloor Street West) 9:30PM $12 ($10 students)

Also Of Note

• Wire @ Lee's Palace
• The Radiohead Jazz Project 4
• The Night Market at 99 Sudbury

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

Photo from last year's Fresh Wednesdays by optimisticallycautious on Flickr

The clean-up from Monday's rain storm is continuing this morning. Last night Toronto Hydro triggered rolling blackouts in west end after the remaining, undamaged electrical supply became overwhelmed. More outages are expected today and 16,000 customers are still without power.

The TTC is still struggling to restore service between Islington and Kipling stations this morning due to a particularly nasty flood at the end of the Bloor-Danforth line. The final stretch will not be up and running for the morning rush and shuttle buses have been dispatched. The line between Jane and Islington is now running a full service. The latest info is here.

On the GO network, repairs to the Lake Shore West line have gone well and trains will be running the full length the route to and from Union station. Lingering work will mean a slower ride in, however, so leave extra time. Detailed service advisories here.

The rains, while damaging, did give many Torontonians a glimpse at several long-buried waterways that rose zombie-like out of the ground during the heaviest rainfall. Most of the lost streams - Taddle Creek, Garrison Creek, Small's Pond, etc. - have been encased in concrete sewers for generations.

Meanwhile, more than a billion litres of raw sewage may have escaped on to the streets and in to the lake on Monday night. It turns out the city's oldest sewers are split in two: one side for effluent, one side for storm water, and there's only a little wall between them. When things get hairy, the two tend to get mixed into one seriously gross sludge.

Metrolinx says the GO train that became stuck in the Don Valley was preparing to reverse back to Union Station when it became disabled. As if to underscore the speed of the rising water, the train ahead of it on the track managed to slip through without incident. All trains are advised to stop when tracks are submerged to reduce the risk of derailment.

As was reported on Monday, a small water snake was seen weaving its way through the stranded commuter train and now CBC has a video of the confused critter. Why it's almost like that movie....

An photograph of an extremely photogenic cop and stranded train passenger is making the rounds on social media. The image by Canadian Press photographer Frank Gunn shows a young unidentified officer carrying a young woman from a dinghy to dry ground. The memes have already started.

Now that the worrisome business of staying safe from a natural disaster is almost over, this traveling adult-sized see-saw should inject a little bit of fun back in to things. The interactive art installation is the brainchild of Julian Majewski and the Toronto Awesome Foundation. See it in a public space near you soon.

IN BRIEF:

• Teen survives brutal crash during Toronto flood [CTV News]
• Man nabbed for drunk driving while heading to court for earlier drunk driving case [Toronto Star]
• Ubaldo Jimenez, Indians shut down Blue Jays [CBC]
• Toronto FC trades Silva to D.C. in move that could help pave the way for Forlan [CTV News]

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

Image: Vik/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

Caravan Found Objects - a new sister store to Gypsy Found Objects - is opening today (July 10) at 812 St. Clair Avenue West. It'll be the go-to home décor spot for all your shabby chic dreams, teeming with antique linens, furnishings, silver, china, and more. They'll also have a selection of handpicked and reclaimed vintage clothing - there's definitely something quaint and quirky for everyone!

Yorkdale Shopping Centre is Canada's most profitable mall, with a revenue surpassing $1 billion per year. With its second upcoming expansion and a new Nordstrom store in the works, sales are expected to reach $2 billion annually by 2018 - if accomplished, Yorkdale will soon become the highest selling mall in all of North America.

Earlier this week, Forever 21 announced new, lower price points across Canada and online. Their basics - including denim and camis - have been permanently (and drastically) marked down, giving savvy shoppers the option to restock their summer wardrobes with items priced as low as $1.80.

EVENTS/PARTIES

Tomorrow (July 11) from 7 pm until 10 pm, celebrate the launch of LAB Consignment's pop-up shop at Life of Manek (1504 Dundas St W). Peruse their vast selection of vintage and designer goods - typically available online only - all with a drink in hand, shimmying to the tunes of summer. If you can't make it out, LAB will be posted up until July 23, so don't miss your chance to check them out in real life.

Be sure to stop by 302 Queen Street West this weekend (July 13 -14) - from 11 am until 7 pm, Tommy Hilfiger's traveling summer collection will be popping up in the form of a Surf Shack. The retro-lookin' bus will be selling limited edition clothing and specially designed surf boards, alongside Urban Smoke's food truck serving up BBQ and Hawaiian-inspired shave ice treats.

SALES

Toronto-based womenswear brand Horses Atelier is hosting a sample sale next Tuesday (July 16) at Clint Roenisch Gallery (944 Queen St W). From noon until 6 pm, snatch up pieces from their debut summer collection at discounted prices, including sundresses and tunics in luxurious silk. But don't forget to visit an ATM - Horses Atelier will be accepting cash only.

Andrew Richard Designs' mid-season sale is on now! Visit the downtown showroom (571 Adelaide St E) to refresh your outdoor space with a new lounge set or update your living room with a sleek love seat, marked at 40% off. The hours are as follows: Monday to Wednesday 10am - 6pm, Thursday to Friday 10am - 7pm, Saturday 10am - 6pm, and Sunday 12pm - 5pm.

One of summer's simple (and delicious) pleasures is hitting up Toronto's bustling farmers' markets and enjoying amazing local produce, meats, cheeses, baked goods, and preserves. But making it to your favourite weekly market can sometimes be a challenge.

Fortunately, Toronto-based Berryfresh Fruit Co. offers a convenient way to fulfill those pesky virtuous intentions to eat more local and seasonal foods this summer.

Now in their second season, self-proclaimed corporate dropouts Brian Gay and Tracy Premdas sell fresh fruits and veggies daily at their produce stands located around the city. The goods are sourced from Ontario family farms, like Whittamore's Farm in Markham, and many varieties are picked fresh in the morning for sale that day.

You can pick up produce from Berryfresh seven days a week at College and Euclid, Roncesvalles and Westminster, and Queen and Waverley from about 11am to 7pm on weekdays and until 6pm on weekends (or until they sell out). You can also find them at Bellwoods Brewery on Saturdays, and at Leslieville Pumps on Saturdays and Sundays. Berryfresh will operate right through the season until October.

Sure, it's no substitute for the full variety of edible delights available at your typical farmers' market. But visiting a Berryfresh stand can be an easy way to grab some in-season produce for tonight's dinner, or some fresh-picked berries to accompany your very well concealed booze non-alcoholic beverages for an afternoon picnic in the park.

Before "soft lofts" or "new hard lofts" came barreling onto the market there was 347 Sorauren Avenue; the Sorauren Lofts. Before its closest neighbor, the Robert Watson lofts, were renovated and transformed to their newfound glory, there was 347 Sorauren Avenue.

Once a ball bearing factory, this is a hard loft at its finest with 15 foot ceilings and exposed beams, open concept kitchen, living room and dining room with walk out to a private terrace that also backs on to Sorauren park - which boasts an off-leash dog park and seasonal farmers' market. A raised bedroom allows for storage space underneath as well as a small mezzanine above the washroom. This is what loft-lovers dream about.

The price tag isn't too shabby either for how rarely these units come on the market. That however, could prove to be the problem if you fall in love with this place. It's likely to draw a large number of visitors and jack up the price with multiple bids.

SPECS:

• Address: 120-347 Sorauren Avenue
• Price: $525,000
• Sq Ft: 900
• Bedrooms: 1
• Bathrooms: 1
• Parking: 1
• Maintenance: $ 406.21/month

NOTABLE FEATURES:

• Hardwood floors
• Gas BBQ hookup
• Storage locker included
• Direct park access
• Private terrace

GOOD FOR:

This place is ideal for a young professional who has always dreamed of having a loft and has been truly disappointed by the modern definition of such. The building is designated as live/work space which could also be a bonus for the right person. Not to mention Sorauren Avenue is on the eastern edge of Roncesvalles Village and places like The Revue Cinema, Aris Place and Gate 403 are just a walk away.

MOVE ON IF:

You plan to start growing your family in the near future. The area is great and very family oriented, but the space is open, long and narrow which may prove difficult to divide if you're thinking of adding a few kids to the mix.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

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

Following the Summerhill location of this cafe/bakery/event planning agency, this new Riverside edition might not have coffee, but you can plan your whole wedding here.

Read my review of Petite & Sweet Bakes in the baked goods section.

New music venues in Toronto aren't located in a small pocket of real estate, but spread from the Entertainment District to the Annex to Dundas West and beyond. Even in a city as sizable as ours, going out can get stagnant. Sometimes we find ourselves listlessly scrolling through shows listed on Rotate's site, or on Just Shows, only to find nothing new to do. The Horseshoe and Lee's are just dandy, but to spice things up, here are five new live music venues in Toronto to have on your radar.

Adelaide Music Hall
Toronto's newest music hall got off to one hell of an epic start. The grand opening was in June, and its first show saw Japandroids grace the stage. Located alongside Tap House (formerly London Tap House), an affiliated bar, don't look for DJ nights here; this is a venue that's looking to put the spotlight on instrument-based performances. The next big show scheduled is Blonde Redhead, and that's on Monday, July 15.

Measure
Measure now occupies the space that was once Annex Live, so the bar's principles are firmly rooted in music. Owner Bill Clary is into keeping the tradition alive, and he's stoked people often make it out to Measure just to see shows. Certainly no h-word bar, Measure caters to all crowds, from people in their twenties to the middle-aged post-work set. The bar hosts weekly jazz shows and frequent world and hip-hop shows, among other concerts. Check out their Facebook page for more.

Montauk
Montauk is another new venue contributing to the night vibe at Dundas and Bathurst. The bar rotating list of cocktails, which are created by Reposado's Megan Jones and a series of guest bartenders from friendly pour houses across the city. Aside from the well-priced and scrumptious cocktails, the space boasts a mezzanine-level stage which regularly receives various DJs and bands playing a mixture of classic and indie rock and hip-hop.

Mojo Lounge
Get your shake on at this new venue at Dundas and Dovercourt. The club hosts a range of groovy events (Can we reclaim groovy? it's probably just gone, right?) from RuPaul's drag race to dance parties lorded over by DJ gods. Check out a sample of the club's events on its website.

Izakaya Sushi House
izakaya has been around since 2011, but they've just added fresh beats to go along with the hand rolls. Recent shows include Black Lady Soul, which is described on Izakaya's Facebook page as "slippery blue jazz melds into hiphop neo-soul, and don't forget that splash of soy sauce." Umm...dare I say this sounds like a "do"? They've also already got a dance party lined up for August, and you can check out their page for more listings.

BONUS

Studio Bar
Studio Bar is a fledgling operation just west of Dundas and Bathurst. Right now, it's hosting private events on the weekend, but in the future the owners plan to showcase local bands and DJs. As an added bonus, the front of house is set up like a deli for optimal drunken sandwich times, and the brick walls show off paintings by Toronto artists. When I stop in to get the scoop, I notice a sign indicating Jager specials are a key component to the events held thus far. It looks like this might turn out to be a place to dance and get a lil rowdy, partnas.

Blk Box
Blk Box is a venue within a venue, located downstairs at The Great Hall. This is a place for the party people to come and worship, no question. Case in point, here's the music from one of their latest shows, Box Of Kittens/Platform Pres: Robag Wruhme. There's also food at the venue now in the form of The Samuel J. Moore to soothe your drunken munchies.

Handlebar
Handlebar is your classic, dark, somewhat-divey bar located in Kensington Market at the foot of Augusta, which is the perfect place for it, really. They've been open since last summer, and they've had live music since the beginning, but they've put more of a focus on tunes recently. I've been for a few shows, but a dear friend of mine goes more often, and he articulately describes the talent as, "up and coming indie shit and "weirdo electro stuff." That and a $5 beer, and basically anyone should be satisfied.

Photo of Measure

In the aftermath of "the great Toronto flood," much has been made of the city's emergency response preparedness, stranded airline passengers, hundreds of thousands of households without power, TTC delays, and property damage.

No one, however, is asking the important question. Namely, how is the city's beer supply?

Well, not so good, actually.

Thankfully, most breweries seem to have weathered the storm OK, but Toronto's oldest craft brewery, Great Lakes, has been hit pretty hard. Located along a stretch of the Gardiner Expressway in Etobicoke that was without power for over 30 hours, Great Lakes Brewery is actually still trying to figure out the extent of the damage caused by Monday's record-breaking rainfall.

The early prognosis is not good. In fact, far from simply a dark cold room and some soggy shoes, the loss of power at Great Lakes has cost the brewers a considerable amount of beer. Specifically, their award-winning "American Pale Wheat," Miami Weiss. Prior to the storm, GLB had just finished brewing over 10,000 litres of their wheat beer/IPA hybrid, and, without power on to regulate the temperature of the beer's fermentation process, it's likely all headed down the drain shortly.

"The temperature for fermentation should be 68 degrees," explains Great Lakes' Troy Burtch, "but last night it was pushing into the 80s."

The power outage also has the potential to cause significant financial losses, further than the loss of so much sweet, sweet beer. The power was restored around midnight Tuesday, but with only a few generators running in the 30+ hours since the storm, Great Lakes was unable to brew two batches of beer yesterday, had to halt the bottling, canning, and packaging of beer for distribution, were unable to put beer in kegs for distribution to bars and restaurants and even now that the power is on, that beer that couldn't be moved is taking up valuable tank space that will set back their operations a couple of days. To say nothing of the effect a lack of power had on their ability to sell from their retail store or host tours and sampling groups.

When I asked how bad the financial losses might be, Burtch would say only that Great Lakes is "exploring options."

As for the city's bigger brewers, the effects of the storm were negligible. Mill Street, located on the city's east end with large-scale brewing facilities located in Scarborough, was unaffected by the storm that hit downtown and while Steam Whistle did lose power for about four hours on Monday, packaging had already finished for the day and production wasn't affected.

"All the beer in fermenting vessels and aging tanks is good," Sybil Taylor, Steam Whistle's Communcations Director tells me. "The hardest hit area on the night of the storm was our events department," she says. "Literally two minutes after the power outage we had 200 people arrive on a bus for an evening event." However, candles were lit, caterers improvised, and guests reported that the event was "lovely with candle light and the quiet of the place." I'm sure all the fresh beer helped.

As for the city's smaller brewers, they too are reporting no lost beer. Bellwoods Brewery and Junction Craft Brewing both lost power temporarily, but to no serious effect.

Interestingly, one brewer seems to have benefited from Monday's storm. When virtually all of the Junction lost power for the second time this year, local brew pub The Indie Alehouse managed to keep their power on. Jason Fisher, owner of Indie, told me that the result was a packed house. "We were like a storm shelter [Monday] night," he says, noting the financial windfall. "We did about double a regular Monday in business and had hundreds stop by just to get dry or use their computers."

In true Junctionite fashion, Fisher noted that he was just happy to help the community.

As for Great Lakes, there's no telling how much the losses could hurt the craft brewer in a market that's already pretty difficult for smaller companies--and sadly there's not much that can be done about the loss of 10,000 litres of the city's favourite American Pale Wheat--but maybe, when you're picking up beer this weekend, swing by their brewery and spend a little money, or drop a few extra cans of Crazy Canuck in your basket at the LCBO. It's probably the only chance you'll ever have to justify your excessive drinking as "flood relief efforts."

Ben Johnson also writes about beer over on Ben's Beer Blog and wants to assure those of you who drink mass-produced lagers that you're in luck! Not only will your supply of beer continue uninterrupted, but, in a pinch, you could just drink the stagnant flood water and never know the difference.

After an extended test-kitchen phase this BBQ joint at the far west end of the Junction opened its doors to the public in May. After working out a few kinks and upping production to meet the neighbourhood's evidently ravenous demand for brisket and ribs, the tiny restaurant is now running at full capacity with a steady stream of takeout and sit down customers passing through.

Read my review of Marky and Sparky's Smokehouse in the restaurants section.

Now that the worst of the water has drained away and the city's infrastructure is (almost) back to normal, now seems like a good time to take stock of Toronto's biggest ever rain event. In the minutes after the surprise deluge began, thousands of buildings went dark, the subway ground to a halt, and major highways, local roads, and underpasses disappeared beneath the murky brown water - all in time for the evening rush-hour.

Using the data that's currently available (there's still a lot of tallying going on) it's possible to get a sense of the storm and its effects. The fact that there were very few injuries is a symbol of the lessons learned from Hurricane Hazel, Toronto's deadliest natural disaster made worse by poor city planning.

The sheer amount of rain that fell on the Toronto is absolutely staggering. Using precipitation figures for downtown and the number of square metres in the city limits, it's possible to estimate around 61,110,000,000 (61.1 billion) litres of liquid fell from the sky. By comparison, the Rogers Centre, closed and filled to the top of its domed roof, would only hold 1,600,000,000 (1.6 billion) litres.

A giant would need to use the stadium as a bucket (and the roof as a cup) 38 times to bail out all of the rain were it gathered into a single sprawling lake. That body of water, by the way, could cover an area of 630 square kilometres to a very shallow depth.

At the peak of the deluge around 300,000 Toronto Hydro customers were without power, almost a third of its 709,000 subscribers. It's important to note the term "customers" doesn't equal people: an apartment building and family home both represent just one subscriber, the company says.

The outage also affected the TTC, particularly underground. 5 separate closures snarled subway network and left 37 of 69 stations without service. Just 65 shuttle buses made avoiding the chaos practically impossible.

Also on the rails, a Richmond Hill bound GO train became trapped just south of Pottery Road amid rising Don River flood waters. 1,400 people (and 1 Northern water snake) were on board by the transit agency's estimate. The bill Metrolinx received from the city for conducting the seven-hour rescue - $150 million.

In terms of calls for help, the city's non-emergency 311 line received more than 1,000 notices about flooded basements. Figures aren't yet available for 911 calls, though emergency services said they experienced a high volume of requests for help.

It's tough at this stage to put a dollar figure on the damage. The latest estimate pegs it at well above the $600 million clean-up cost from the 2005 tornado. In unusual losses, a high-flying employment lawyer's Ferrari became swamped in the Dufferin underpass and inspired a fake Craigslist ad.

As a bonus feature, here's a look at the rain for the entire GTA (the graph above is only for Toronto) compared with the Rogers Centre capacity. Yikes.

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

Photo by Tom Ryaboi

The best congee in Toronto is like getting a warm hug on a cold day. Long-established as the epitome of home-style Chinese cooking, congee is also a particularly popular "mom's remedy" to those who are feeling under the weather. In fact, I know many mothers that would express shock at the notion of eating anything OTHER than congee when I'm unwell.

Congee is also well-known as a comfort food, a term that is clearly viewed very differently than in traditional North American cooking that puts dishes such as grilled cheese or poutine in that same category.

It may not be the most flavourful (or aesthetically appealing) dish out there, but if you're looking for a traditional, humble, yet satisfying Chinese dish, you could do worse than these bowls of what is essentially seasoned watery rice.

Here is the list of the best congee in Toronto.

See also:

The best Chinese restaurants in Toronto
The best late night Chinese food in Toronto
The best dumplings in Toronto
The best dim sum in Toronto
The best dim sum in downtown Toronto
The best Chinese food delivery in Toronto

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

In case you haven't heard, Toronto's favourite outdoor drinking spot is endangered. That's right, cops are finally planning to bust people for openly consuming alcoholic beverages in Trinity Bellwoods Park, which, to be kind of fair, is illegal. Other cities are a bit puritan about outdoor drinking, too, but there seemed to be this sense that Bellwoods was protected by good energy, somehow. Some might say a good thing can't last forever. Others say it's a load of BS and Toronto the Good needs to unbunch its prim, proper panties. Whatever the case, we're either going to have to start being insanely covert about drinking in our beloved belle woods, or find a new place to get debaucherous.

Here are five alternate outdoor havens in which to thwart the po-lice and continue to get your drink on outdoors in Toronto.

Cloud Gardens
Stressful day at the office? Can't stand the overly-aggressive typing sounds emanating from the cubicle next door? If you work downtown near Yonge and Queen, simply slip out during your coffee break and guzzle a lil moonshine from a wrinkled paper bag in these magical cloud gardens. There's a lots of cover as you walk to the top of the waterfall works, and there will probably be other people indulging elsewhere in the gardens at the same time as you. You'll come back perked up, refreshed, and sassy, ready to tolerate the remainder of the day.

Marilyn Bell Park
Marilyn Bell Park is an idyllic spot for evening beverages. It's always a few degrees cooler near the lake, and Marilyn Bell is right on the water near the foot of Jameson Ave. It comes fully equipped with benches to camp out on, and if you feel like getting frisky, you can always sneak off to the side of its surrounding trails. It's in a relatively discreet area, too, and somewhat po-po free. I would still recommend keeping it on the D.L. by disguising your beverage in order to avoid trouble, though, just in case.

Cherry Beach
Obviously, there's got to be a beach on this list. Cherry Beach, at the foot of Cherry St. just south of Unwin in the east end, is a clear choice. You don't have to make a watery trek on the ferry to get there, but it's still right on the lake. It's got chill vibes, people of all stripes hang out there, and there's lots of opportunity for cute dog watching. Best of all, if you happen to make it your double watering hole on a Sunday afternoon, you can catch Promise at Cherry Beach, which is a full-on electro dance party.

Christie Pits pool
Pool hopping at Christie Pits is technically just as illegal as imbibing in Bellwoods...but I don't really care? Life is short; summer is hot. I see no other necessary extenuating facts. The park has lots of space to roam around and, technically, drink in, but the pool has a curly yellow waterslide, so. I'm going to be a mom for a sec, though, and suggest there's at least one person present who will be cognizant of the possibility of drowning and protect the others. A sexy lifeguard, if you will.

Polson Pier
While it's a pain from an accessibility standpoint (at least via the TTC), the area surrounding the Polson Pier Entertainment Complex bears one of the best views of the Toronto skyline, which attracts droves of people on hot summer nights to the rickety boardwalk at the pier's edge. While it can get busy when there's a concert at the Sound Academy, sitting by the water with a few beers is unlikely to attract much of a heat score. And the view really is superb.

BONUS

Crothers' Woods
Ain't no love in the heart of the city. But there is a little forestation going on, and it provides great cover for getting boozy in secret. Crothers' Woods is located just northeast of the Bayview Extension and Pottery Road, just a quick jaunt from Broadview Stn. or bike ride from just about anywhere in the city. The one caution here is that there's no lighting at night, so you'll have to make use of this one for day drinking only.

Happy outdoor cocktail hour.

Photo by bending light on Flickr