What's open and closed Labour Day Monday in Toronto 2013:

CLOSED

• Government offices, banks, and libraries
• No mail delivery
• All LCBO stores & Beer Stores
• Most retail and grocery stores

OPEN

• It's the last weekend at the CNE
Major attractions like the CN Tower, Toronto Zoo, ROM, Science Centre, and Canada's Wonderland (but not the AGO)
• Amsterdam Brewery retail store (45 Esander Dr.)
• SteamWhistle Brewery beer store (255 Bremner Blvd.)
• Be sure to check the Beer Hunter for a real-time list of independent wine and beer outlets in Toronto
• The Eaton Centre (10am-6pm), Pacific Mall (11am-8pm), Vaughan Mills (10am-7pm) and Square One (11am-6pm) shopping malls
• Most retail along Yonge St in the vicinity of the Eaton Centre is open
• Rabba's (various locations), The Kitchen Table (various locations), Food Depot (155 Dupont St., at Davenport), Bloor Superfresh (384 Bloor St. W).

TRANSIT

The TTC will be running on holiday service (Sunday service but with a start of 6am)

Know of a noteworthy shop that's open on Labour Day? Let us know in the comments.

The food truck scene in Toronto is proof that street food need not be boring. While we wait for the luddites at City Hall to get with the 21st century and roll out more than a limited pilot program our fearless (and growing number) of food truck owners continue to find spots to serve up an incredible diversity of eats that appeal to and reflect a broad range of tastes, diets and cultural influences. With apologies to some of the Hamilton and Southern Ontario trucks that were excluded here, we present our list (in no particular order) of 50 awesome eats currently being dished out by Toronto area food trucks.

View photos of all the 50 awesome food truck eats in this slideshow.

Photo by Jack Landau in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Toronto is on course for a a $167.4-million surplus this year but budget chief Frank Di Giorgio is hoping the final total will be higher. The money came from higher-than-expected revenues from the land-transfer tax and savings from unfilled job vacancies, according to a report to be considered by the budget committee next week. Despite the extra cash, Cllr. Di Giorgio says he's expecting around $250 million in cuts to balance the books in 2014 and reach Rob Ford's goal of cutting the land-transfer tax by 10%.

There's currently no service on the Scarborough RT due to rail problems, according to the TTC. The issue has now been fixed and service has resumed with delays.

Police Chief Bill Blair is taking flack for not doing enough to ensure cops co-operate with investigators. SIU director Ian Scott told the CBC he has flagged 106 cases in which he believes cops didn't do their job as well as they could and only received one response. A spokesman for Bill Blair said the chief is not legally required to respond.

Meanwhile, the police chief is due to make an announcement today on how a review in to use-of-force guidelines will continue following the withdrawal of former justice Dennis O'Connor over a possible conflict of interest.

The city could do a much better job of advertising its vacancies, according to Dave Meslin. In a blog post, the community activist criticizes the dreary and unappealing plain text newspaper notice announcing nominations for the appointment in Ward 3. A long-time beef for Meslin, the dull designs discourage participation, he says. Meanwhile, an Etobicoke man wants to nominate his dog, Ozzy.

An east end Beer Store is going rogue with a new policy of serving customers once per day based on their appearance. The manager told the Star the place is a "zoo" on Fridays and Saturdays and that the store employs its own off-duty police officer for security. Beer Store management says the store isn't following official policy.

A 70-year-old woman has given back $17,000 she found inside a Princess Margaret hospital fundraiser prize. Gloria Lee opened the box she expected to contain an alarm clock and found a wad of money and a small gold bar valued at more than $7,000. A note explained the cash was intended for the hospital as donation to its cancer centre.

Finally, you don't need me to tell you the Blue Jays are having a horrible season. The year the team has been on the receiving end of some cruel blows, which Bruce Arthur at the National Post, a far more qualified writer, has helpfully recalled. It's a horror show.

IN BRIEF:

• Assault leaves boy critical, 2 family members arrested [CBC]
• Man found dead after fire breaks out at north Toronto home [CTV News]
• Twitter suicide hoax leaves Toronto police alarmed [CBC]
• Man dies after 9,000 lbs rock pile topples over at warehouse [CBC]

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

Image: Jason Cook/blogTO Flickr pool.

The photos of the week collect each of the editor-selected photos of the day into one post for a contest to be decided by our readers. Sponsored by Posterjack, the photographer whose image receives the most votes will be awarded with a voucher code for a 24"x36" poster print of their work.

All the rules and fine-print can be found in the original announcement post on the blogTO Flickr page. One thing to add, however, is that the voting period ends at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, after which the winner will be contacted with the good news.

For those photographers whose images are featured below, please feel free to give us a little information about your shot — i.e. where and when it was taken — in the comments section. Who knows? Maybe your description will sway voters in your favour!

Photo by Francisco Sliva.

2.
Photo by Jack Landau.

3.
Photo by cookedphotos.

4.
Photo by Stephen Sokolov.

5.
Photo by Trevor Hughes.

6.
Photo by Michael Herrera

7.
Photo by Jackman Chiu in the blogTO Flickr pool.

This underground cafe near the subway entrance at Bloor Station might derive much of its business from commuters grabbing a caffeine fix on the go, but with its ornate interior and reasonably substantial lunch and breakfast offerings, it's also a good option for those looking to sit down and relax for twenty minutes.

Read my review of The Grind in the cafes section.

Long before time-shifting VCRs, DVDs, Pay-TV and Netflix allowed movie lovers us to mainline with all the ease of turning on a tap to get water, TVOntario treated Toronto denizens to double helpings of film classics on Saturday nights, doled out generously by the most perfectly employed man in the history of television - Elwy Yost, the movie host with the most.

Originally christened "Saturday Afternoon at the Movies on Saturday Night" before being shortened to the eminently more memorable "Saturday Night at the Movies" (SNATM), Elwy's show premiered on March 30, 1974 with a cold slab of European nihilism - Ingmar Bergman's Through a Glass Darkly, then went on to thrill viewers over the years with an eclectic mix of 5 star classics, foreign fare, and often neglected and forgotten b-movies from the golden age of Hollywood.

Elwy truly loved movies with the perennial joy of a proud parent, championing even the most questionable titles and never allowing the kind of cynicism so rampant in modern film discussions to blight his magical picture show. Famously, Elwy adored every movie he ever saw, except one title in particular (being a proper gentleman, he never named the movie but rumour on the street is that it was Porky's II: The Next Day).

As TVOntario reported to the Ontario legislature through Minister of Education Bill Davis in accordance with the Ontario Educational Communications Authority Act, all programming was expected to contain at least a modicum of educational content. SNATM brilliantly achieved this by airing interviews with film makers, set designers, stunt men and actors discussing the art and science of the movies, predating the concept of DVD bonus materials or Director Commentaries which are so commonplace that we're all movie experts now.

Not only would you get a double barrel blast of quality films on a Saturday Night, you also got all the trimmings - interviews from such luminaries as John Ford, Howard Hawks, Greta Greer, George Stevens, Vincent Minnelli and Frank Capra to name a mere few.

Elwy would also invite local guests ranging from Toronto Sun film critic Bruce Kirkland to the late great John Candy onto the SNATM set for lively debates on hot topics often raised by the themed double bills, such as alcohol or drug abuse, adultery, and juvenile delinquency. For a screening of The Ox-Bow Incident, Elwy's guests were a rabbi, a priest, a police officer and a lawyer, who all engaged in a discussion about the rights of individuals to take matters into their own hands.

As if the 4-5 hour Saturday night slot was not enough, Elwy also fronted the weekday movie show Magic Shadows, which chopped up vintage films into bit sized 30 min chunks, and also had a memorably psychedelic/terrifying into that anyone who saw will likely never forget. Elwy often ran his favorite film of all time - Nanook of the North - along with King Kong and Flash Gordon serials.

Elwy retired from TVOntario in 1999, but SNATM weathered on, first with Shelagh Rogers and later Johanna Schneller as hosts, and then a number of years completely host-less although thankfully Elwy's vintage interviews cropped up from time to time. Thom Ernst took over hosting duties in 2008.

Sadly, tomorrow night's installment of SNATM (The Live of Others and Black Book, bookending the whole enterprise nicely with more European nihilism) is the series' curtain call, the end of the line. Written off as a casualty of the rise of Netflix and dedicated movies channels, and no doubt impacted by the reduced operating budget of TVOntario, SNATM - the longest running film series in Canada and probably the world according to Ernst - seemed like an obsolete relic from a different time.

The sad truth is that since 1999 the show has had an Elwy shaped hole in it. With no offence intended to the subsequent hosts - they were all excellent - SNATM will be remembered for Elwy's infectious sunshine disposition and his positive celebration of movies. He loved them, and knew more about them than anybody else. It may be easier to watch things like Through A Glass Darkly nowadays, but it is nigh on impossible to find anyone to talk about them with the kind of exuberant relish Elwy Yost always brought on Saturday nights.

Farewell, Saturday Night at the Movies.

Retrontario plumbs the seedy depths of Toronto flea markets, flooded basements, thrift shops and garage sales, mining old VHS and Betamax tapes that less than often contain incredible moments of history that were accidentally recorded but somehow survived the ravages of time. You can find more amazing discoveries at www.retrontario.com.

Toronto Food Events rounds up the most delicious events, festivals, pop-ups, winemaker dinners, supper clubs and other food related happenings in Toronto this week and next. You can find us here every Friday morning.

THIS WEEK

• The Hot & Spicy Food Festival will heat up Harbourfront Centre this weekend August 30th to September 2nd featuring the Red Hot (hot sauce) Market, snack tents, a jerk chicken wrap-off and the International Iron Chef Semi-Finals.
• Gilead Café (4 Gilead Place) hosts a Chicken BBQ & Fry-up tonight Friday, August 30th from 6 to10pm.
• Vicki's Veggies Heirloom Hurrah & Harvest Carnivale takes place this weekend, August 31st to September 1st from 10am to 4pm.
• Voodoo Child (388 College Street) hosts a Philippine Spirited Brunch this weekend, starting today Friday, August 30th through to Sunday, September 1st.

UPCOMING

• The Junction Farmers Night Market will take place on the train platform (2960 Dundas Street West) on Saturday, September 14th from 7pm to 11pm. Food and beers will be priced at $5 a pop.
• The WVRST Craft Invitational returns for its second year on Wednesday, September 18th at 6pm. The all out sausage fest will feature a dozen craft brewers from Ontario and Quebec creating unique brews to pair with an WVRST wieners.
• Cold Tea (60 Kensington Avenue) Parkdale's Porzia on Sunday, September 15th for a BBQ patio starting at 3pm.
• The Depanneur (1033 College Street) hosts This Is How I Roll - New Sushi with Chef Daniel Henderson on Sunday, September 15th. The $40 menu will offer inventive takes on Japanese culinary traditions that incorporate nouveau flavours like Jerk Salmon, Shrimp Ceviche, and even Doritos maki rolls.

OTHER NEWS

• Awestruck has announced the roster of 50 food trucks participating at the September 21st rally. Voting is underway now to puck the people's favourite food truck.

Photo of the Italian sausage at WVRST

The iconic neon Sam the Record Man sign will likely never cast its rays on Yonge Street again. Ryerson University, which bought and demolished the famous Yonge Street record store to make way for its new Student Learning Centre, promised to re-hang the sign in 2008, but now the city is preparing to let the university off the hook.

A revised heritage proposal, which still needs the approval of city council, requires Ryerson to keep the sign in storage for up to two years while "other preservation opportunities are explored." The change also mandates alternative "commemorative actions" by the university in the form of a granite or bronze interpretive plaque to be sunk into the sidewalk just north of Gould Street.

Ryerson has been stalling on returning the two-storey sign to the street - Yonge or Gould - for more than five years, citing cost, design, and safety concerns. A report by custom signage experts Gregory Signs & Engraving Ltd. said mercury could leak from the sign in the event of a fire. A shortage of qualified neon sign professionals, a problem that also disrupted restoration of the El Macambo sign, further stymied progress.

To further complicate the issue, the architects responsible for the Student Learning Centre noted the giant records clashed with the modern design of the new building. "[Snohetta and Zeidler Partnership Architects] cited resource and energy concerns, conflict with the design of the new building and the distraction within the interior of the building caused by the signs' flashing lights," the report says.

The sign was built in 1961 to mark Sam Sniderman's flagship record store. The company grew from a stand in the Sniderman family's radio store to a much-loved nationwide chain - "140 locations, coast to coast." Today only one store remains, tucked in a corner of the Quinte Mall in Belleville, Ont.

Heritage staff say they're "disappointed" the signs won't been restored to their original location but are "satisfied" Ryerson explored all possible avenues.

Is this the end of the Sam the Record Man sign? Where could the city put the giant neon signs if not at Yonge and Gould? Are you upset Ryerson reneged on their original agreement?

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

Image: City of Toronto, spotmaticfanatic/blogTO Flickr pool.

Toronto concerts worth knowing about in September, 2013.

Summer is over, so, to quote this VELD Festival missed connection: "I sat next to you by the Bacardi tent when I lost my friends. You were nice. I should have gotten your number." Yes, it was a summer of deeply moving assemblies and experiences. None of us will ever forget Toronto's summer of festival hits, misses, and brief connections. Now it's time to get serious. Here are your hot music picks for September in Toronto.

PATTI SMITH AND HER BAND | SEPT 6 | MASSEY HALL | $50 - 80
When I was about 15, my parents asked "if Patti Smith jumped off a bridge, would you?" and I thought about the local man who'd recently jumped from a bridge to save his dog from the river below (or was it the other way around?) — then I said "I'd jump first, MOM AND DAD," then I dropped the needle on Horses so loud that our small bungalow shook with the echoes of the thunderous, divine voice of Smith, Smith, Smith for years to come. This audio haunting lowered the value of the property and and the other houses on the street, but made me the complete human being I am today. Thanks, PS.

FOUR TET | SEPT 6 | THE GREAT HALL | $15
Recent Burial collaborator Four Tet will be in Toronto for the first time in three years next week in advance of his upcoming album Beautiful Rewind. The influential London musician defies genres or classification; get into the most abstract headspace you can find and roll in to this party.

TORONTO BICYCLE MUSIC FESTIVAL | SEPT 7 | ASSORTED PARKS | FREE
Summer ain't over till it's over, and no one knows it better than these spoke loving festival programmers. The fourth annual Bicycle Music Festival kicks off at David Crombie Park at 12:30pm, makes a midway stop at Grange Park later that afternoon, and finishes at Trinity Bellwoods Park at 7pm. The idea is you grab your bike (or unicorn, whatever), show up, and make your way from one concert to the next en masse. This year's performers include Kae Sun, Quique Escamilla, Birds of Chicago, Wilderness of Manitoba and The Strumbellas.

OHBIJOU'S LAST SHOW | SEPT 7 | THE GREAT HALL | $20
Toronto indie pop band Ohbijou are splitting up, or at least going on hiatus, citing in part the shittiness of people they've encountered along the way. Joining them at the Great Hall are The Rural Alberta Advantage, Snowblink, the Wooden Sky and the Acorn. I think it would be really sad if each band covered Jeff Buckley's "Last Goodbye." I hope they do; I dig sad stuff.

TEENANGER | SEPT 14 | THE SILVER DOLLAR ROOM | FREE
Raw Toronto punks Teenanger are so excited about their new record Singles Don't $ell that they're playing a free release show, just for you. You're broke as hell so this rules! They'll be joined by bffs Cellphone and Comet Control.

CHELSEA WOLFE | SEPT 17 | THE HORSESHOE TAVERN | $15
Wolfe, touring her new album Pain is Beauty, is proof to shy people everywhere that we shy people can get shit done, in a stunning, core shaking, momentous way. Chelsea Wolfe is Kafka's Josephine (except maybe she's a better singer), if you, like me, pictured Josephine as a melancholic, kinda-goth, kinda-black metal, kinda-folk diva of a mouse songstress. The Horseshoe is well beneath her talent but will just make this dark star performance shine brighter, and I'll be there with black oil eyes, melting and using strangers for support beams, shyness forgotten. Sorry in advance, solidly built Wolfe fans.

MANIFESTO | SEPT 19 - 22 | VARIOUS | TBA
Manifesto Festival's packed 7th installment promises to be as rad as ever, to the point where things are looking a little over whelming. Think art exhibitions, markets, keynotes, panels, and classes meeting dance parties, an award show, and Foundry co-presented producer showcase, then Jhené Aiko and Souls of Mischief headlining a day of hip hop at Yonge & Dundas Square on the 22nd. Full line up is here.

MICHAEL MORLEY | SEPT 21 | DOUBLE DOUBLE LAND | $10
Avant-garde heavyweight Michael Morley (AKA Gate) of hugely influential New Zealand art/noise rock outfit The Dead C is rolling into town for what I can safely call Toronto's most anticipated experimental show of the month. Morley, backed by a huge (and amazing) solo discography has a deep feeling for making droney yet genre-less lo-fi recordings that creep up under your skin and stay there for life. It's hard to say what he'll be doing for his Toronto show, but if he sings, I'll get emotional. Psych folk guitarist Tom Carter (Charalambides) is also on the bill, so get there early—in fact, I'd advise camping out in the DDL alley over Friday night to ensure a good spot at the Saturday show... they'll think that's really cute.

CANADA'S WALK OF FAME FESTIVAL | SEPT 19 - 21 | MASSEY HALL | $30 - 126

The three day long, forth annual Walk of Fame Fest will showcase Burton Cummings (and Band), Serena Ryder, and Maestro Fresh Wes (joined by K-OS, Kardinal Offishall, Classified, Shad, and more). You can see the 2013 Walk of Fame inductees here. Congrats to Terry Fox, though I'm not sure why no one asked The Vulcan Dub Squad to reunite for this year's fest, since they once actually made like, an album about him.

CHRISTIAN DEATH | SEPT 26 | THE ROCKPILE | $20
Though founder Rozz Williams committed suicide in 1998, goth-as-fuck outfit Christian Death, who have seen 30 members come and go in as many years, are creeping in to town this month, and if you see one deathrock show this year, this should be that deathrock show. It's... it's Christian Death. In Etobicoke. I can't imagine anything more divinely sketchy. And while I'm always (rightly) wary of elder-bands on tour, this show gets a boost because Toronto's very contemporary (year 2666) SINS is opening.

OTHER NOTEWORTHY CONCERTS THIS MONTH

DEPECHE MODE | SEPT 1 | MOLSON AMPHITHEATRE | $32 - 96
STARS | SEPT 1 | NATHAN PHILLIPS SQUARE | FREE
MUDHONEY | SEPT 2 | LEE'S PALACE | $24
PETER EVANS / CHARITY CHAN / WEASEL WALTER / TOM BLANCARTE | SEPT 4 | GERRARD ART SPACE | $10
CONSTELLATION RECORDS SHOWCASE FEAT. ESMERINE | SEPT 5 | THE GREAT HALL | $15 (COLIN STETSON CANCELLED)
SNARKY PUPPY | SEPT 5 | LEE'S PALACE | $20
FLUME | SEPT 5 | THE OPERA HOUSE | $14
THE MISSION UK | SEPT 6 | LEE'S PALACE | $35
JEALOUSY MOUNTAIN DUO | SEPT 6
THE PACK A.D. | SEPT 6 | YONGE-DUNDAS SQUARE | FREE
JAMES MURPHY | SEPT 6 | THE HOXTON | $15
BA JOHNSTON | SEPT 6 | THE GARRISON | $8
PINBACK | SEPT 7 | LEE'S PALACE | $18
TYLER THE CREATOR | SEPT 8 | SOUND ACADEMY | $30 - 50
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE | SEPT 10 | AIR CANADA CENTRE | $35 - 75
LIGHTNING DUST | SEPT 10 | THE DRAKE HOTEL | $13
DIRTY BEACHES | SEPT 11 | THE GARRISON | $13
DEERHUNTER | SEPT 12 | THE PHOENIX | $20
WALK THE MOON | SEPT 14 | LEE'S PALACE | $20
FEAST IN THE EAST 29 | SEPT 14 | GERRARD ART SPACE | $7
BRUSQUE TWINS | SEPT 14 | LEROY'S 1280 DUNDAS ST. W | $5
VISIONS FEAT. LAPALUX | SEPT 14 | 263 ADELAIDE ST. BACK ENTRANCE | $13
ARCTIC MONKEYS | SEPT 15 | KOOL HAUS | $34
WASHED OUT | SEPT 15 | THE OPERA HOUSE | $20
CHVRCHES | SEPT 15 | THE DANFORTH MUSIC HALL | $32
FALL OUT BOY | SEPT 15 | ECHO BEACH
CHARLI XCX | SEPT 16 | THE HOXTON | $15
THE WILDERNESS OF MANITOBA | SEPT 16 | YONGE-DUNDAS SQUARE | FREE
MS MR | SEPT 17 | THE PHOENIX | $17
MAJICAL CLOUDZ | SEPT 17 | WRONGBAR | $12
SCOUT NIBLETT | SEPT 17 | THE SILVER DOLLAR ROOM | $12
HOAX | SEPT 17 | PARTS & LABOUR | $10
LOCAL NATIVES | SEPT 21 | KOOL HAUS | $27
SAVES THE DAY | SEPT 22 | THE HOXTON | $15
THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS | SEPT 23 | LEE'S PALACE | $20
PET SHOP BOYS | SEPT 25 | SONY CENTRE | $50 - 100
CHALI 2NA | SEPT 25 | ADELAIDE HALL | $20
STEREOPHONICS | SEPT 25 | THE DANFORTH MUSIC HALL | $37
HAR MAR SUPERSTAR | SEPT 25 | THE HORSESHOE TAVERN | $11
DIANA | SEPT 26 | THE GREAT HALL | $10
AUSTRA | SEPT 27 | THE PHOENIX | $25
IRON & WINE | SEPT 28 | SOUND ACADEMY | $30 - 40
OKKERVIL RIVER | SEPT 28 | THE PHOENIX | $24
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH | SEPT 28 | LEE'S PALACE | $23
WAVVES | SEPT 29 | THE OPERA HOUSE | $19
DAUGHTER | SEPT 29 | THE PHOENIX | $21
CHIC GAMINE | SEPT 30 | YONGE-DUNDAS SQUARE | FREE

Photo from last year's Manifesto Festival by Irina No

Aubrey Jax is channeling Josephine on Twitter.

This new Baldwin Street outpost serves up Japanese style crepes, which tend to be a bit sweeter and crispier than their French counterpart. While the focus is more on sweet offerings right now (try the Nutella banana crepe) with a variety of gelato and parfaits to choose from, a savoury menu is also being rolled out.

Read my review of Millie Creperie in the restaurants section.

The top patios in Toronto to chill on aren't all about seeing and being seen. Many clubs in Toronto are built upon the hypothesis that Torontonians need DJ beats, Jagerbombs and MDMA cut with Windex to have a good time. Weekends upon weekends of pretending to know who Die Antwoord is can get exhausting. The only cure? A super chill patio to have some beers and relax.

Here is our list for the top patios to chill on in Toronto.

See also:

The Toronto Patio Guide web site, iPhone and Android app
The top 50 patios in Toronto for 2013
The best patios in Toronto
The best rooftop patios in Toronto
The best backyard patios in Toronto
The top 10 patios with the best views in Toronto
The top 10 patios for cheap drinks in Toronto
The top 10 patios to pick up at in Toronto
The top 10 patios for a rainy day in Toronto

Ronnie's Local
This Kensington patio is about as close as you can get to chilling on the sidewalk, downing beers and musing about life Wonder Years-style. Ronnie's doesn't serve food, but Kensington is rife with delicious options should the beer/sun/existential crises make you hungry.

Mezzrow's
This Parkdale patio is fenced in which creates a cozy vibe despite being on Queen Street. Hidden behind the bar, it feels like you're having a beer at a friend's place but better, because no one's parents are around to ask how to plan to use a liberal arts degree in the "real world."

Sweaty Betty's
Sweaty Betty's uses fences and flora to create the feel of a hidden oasis on Ossington. The lush greenery gives it the feel of The Secret Garden but with more beer and a less weird abusive plot-line.

3 Speed
3 Speed's patio has a variety of seating options (both private and communal tables) for patrons who want to hang out with a group or alone (um no, drinking alone in public doesn't count as drinking alone). It also has an overhanging roof so you can relax without worrying about the weather.

Aft Kitchen and Bar
This Riverside patio is the perfect place to catch up with friends while indulging in some pure relaxation food - smoked ribs are the new cuppa.

Bairrada Churasqueira
Bairrada Churasqueira's laid back, super casual patio is ideal for those moments when you want to go grab a beer but don't want to change out of your jorts. There's even a TV on the patio for the sportsfan and introvert alike. The chicken ain't bad, either.

Stout Irish Pub
This Cabbagetown patio has a great pub feel in the form of a patio. The patio's astroturfed ground is true to the Irish family roots; it appears stiff and unflappable from afar but once you spend a bit of time there, you grow to quietly tolerate it.

Bellwoods Brewery
While Bellwoods Brewery is often packed, it's a great place for hanging out if you can get a table. This patio has a wide selection of their own beers, so prepare to be impressed (and drunk) while you chillax.

Press Club
Press Club's patio has a literary vibe, perfect if you're running out of coffee shops to work on your screenplay. Just be careful of hanging out in those plastic chairs for too long - chiropractic care is the first thing to go when you're a starving artist.

Mugshot Tavern
Mugshot Tavern has two small patios instead of one big one which lends a private, cozy feel. They also have a delicious menu so you could actually hang out all day without resorting to the Double Cohort Diet (drinking nonstop because you're 17 living in a 45 foot room with an exchange student who won't stop playing WOW and your mom's not here so no one can tell you what to do).

Want more patios? Download the blogTO Patio Guide app for Android and iPhone.

Photos by Jesse Milns

The best nightclubs in Toronto are fun, fabulous and full of frenetic energy. After a hard week's work, there's nothing better than hitting the dance floor with your best friends and busting out the running man until one of them has a few too many vodka-crans and sobs in the bathroom because the guy she met on ChristianMingle as a last ditch effort is definitely not interested in her unless she believes in transubstantiation.

Here are the best nightclubs in Toronto.

See also:

The Best Cheap Drinks in Toronto
The Best Pubs in Toronto
The Best Cocktails in Toronto

Labour Day events in Toronto is our guide to events happening this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here's what's happening in Toronto this August 30-September 1, 2013

CNE&Canadian International Air Show
It's closing weekend at the Ex, which means the Air Show is in town. Earlier today, the deafening sound of jets pierced the sky marking its arrival and scaring the crap of a few people (as it always does). Not everyone's a fan, of course, but the event is pretty much inescapable if you're in the city this weekend. As for the CNE, if you haven't made it out, now's your last chance. Even if there's been some problems with the food, there's still lots to do.
Canadian National Exhibition 10AM $8

FOOD

Hot & Spicy Food Festival
You've had enough weekends to eat hot dogs and potato salad, this is the weekend to try something new. Harbourfront Centre's weekend summer festivals all wind down to this one: the Hot & Spicy Food Festival. The World Café and Lakeview Market will both prominently feature foods, sauces and condiments that will heat your palette. The highlight of this festival has to be the cooking demos with Joel Carriere of Dine Alone Records and Jordan Hastings of Alexisonfire collaborating under their D.A. Foods moniker to share their recipe for Southern Succotash Salad with BBQ Chicken and Tomatillo Salsa. Performances by Grey Kingdom and Canailles also take place this weekend in honour of the festival. Go out and eat!
Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West), August 30-September 2, 2013, 6PM Free

Junction Food Tour
How better can you use a long weekend than by trying the best restaurants in the Junction without having to worry about the regular weekend waitlists and lines? The Junction Food Tour takes foodies around the up-and-coming neighbourhood to sample 5 shops and restaurants while learning the community history. The formerly dry neighbourhood has a pretty interesting story surrounding booze, too, so be sure to drink while you eat to make the tour even more fun (though your guide may not encourage inebration). Sign up for this delightful little afternoon on the Foodies on Foot website and sample the best in independent foodmakers in the west.
2859 Dundas Street West, August 31, 2013, 11AM $65

For more food listings, check out our Toronto Food Events post.

MUSIC

Cadence Weapon
Dundas Square goes indie on Fridays with free new music by talented yet unsigned performers and this Friday, rapper Cadence Weapon will be featured. Though the square is the polar opposite of a loft party, the National Post has heralded this three-time Polaris Prize nominee (who was short listed twice) as Canada's most creative rapper. Cadence Weapon hits the stage at 8PM for indie Friday (but the beer garden at the Hard Rock opens at 4, just saying). Just show up and enjoy!
Yonge-Dundas Square (1 Dundas Street East), August 30, 2013, 8PM Free

Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode is still kicking around, still making music and still touring but we know the real reason you should go to their Sunday night show at the Amphitheatre is to relive their '80s glory days. The English electronic band are probably best known for their 1990 song "Personal Jesus" or '91's "Enjoy the Silence" and they'll no doubt play those hits along with newer work from their 2013 album Delta Machine. Limited tickets are still available through Ticketmaster.
Molson Canadian Amphitheatre (909 Lakeshore Boulevard West), September 1, 2013, 7:30PM

UNIFEST featuring Stars, Les Colocs, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, and DJ Hedspin
Apparently there's a new union in town and to celebrate its conception, they're throwing a free concert with a pretty good line-up! Unifor, a hybrid union of the Communications Energy and Paperworkers' Union and the Canadian Auto Workers, secured Stars, Les Colocs, Black and the Rodeo Kings and more for their big party in Nathan Phillips Square this Sunday. If you support unions and support good free music, why not stop by? Fight for your right and all that good stuff.
Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen Street West), September 1, 2013, 6:30PM Free

For more music listings, check out our This Week in Music and September Concerts roundup posts.

THEATRE

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling & Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Joss Whedon groupies like my friend Jakub will love this: The Storefront Theatre is featuring a double bill of theatrical performances of the director's best and geekiest work, reimagined. The characters of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will come to life in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling and the musical webseries Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog will feature musical performances in three acts. Geek out for two days only as only three performances are scheduled this Saturday and Sunday.
The Storefront Theatre (955 Bloor Street West), August 31-September 1, 2013, 2PM, 8PM $10

Fortune and Men's Eyes
Emerging theatre talent will star in this re-envisioning of John Herbert's classic Fortune and Men's Eyes, which opens at Dancemakers Studio in the Distillery District this Sunday. Directed by Stefan Dzeparoski and starring David Coomber, Julian DeZotti, Cyrus Faird and Alex Fiddes, this play explores the brutality of prison life through the eyes of a naïve prisoner and his three cellmates. Tickets are available through TOtix. The show opens on Sunday.
Dancemakers Studio (9 Mill Street, Studio 313), September 1-8, 2013, 8PM $29 general, $20 student/senior/arts worker

For more theatre listings, check out our This Week in Theatre post.

ART

Ai Weiwei: According to What?
According to What?, Ai Weiwei's first TO exhibition opens Saturday, presented by the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Ai Weiwei is a modern Chinese artist, who employs a number of different media to express his interests and viewpoints, which often involve politics and the human condition. He has worked in sculpture, film, photography, installation, and more. He also served as artistic consultant to Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron for the construction of the Beijing National Stadium in anticipation of the 2008 Olympics. According to What? runs until October 27th. Check out our full preview of the exhibit here.
Art Gallery of Ontario (317 Dundas Street West) $25

PARTY

Labour of Love
LoL returns for its annual two-day Labour Day weekend party at Guvernment, with an all-night line-up of DJs, electronic and D&B musicians. This year's acts at the city's largest include Mark Oliver, Steve Angello, Manzone & Strong, Tim Mason, Showtek, Chase and Status, and more. Wristbands are still available through the Guvernment's website and the pass is good for both nights.
Guvernment Entertainment Complex (132 Queens Quay East), August 31-September 1, 2013, 10PM $115

ARTS & CRAFTS

Artfest Toronto
Stuck in the city for the last long weekend of summer? Wander down the laneways and of the Distillery District if you're looking for something different because Artfest is setting up in all of the nooks and crannies of the cobble-stoned neighbourhood for the duration of the long weekend. Sculptors, painters, crafters, musicians and photographers will be performing, selling their work at booths and being chatty folk with those who stop by to visit the 7th annual art show and festival. There will be hundreds of vendors out between 11AM and 6PM daily until Labour Day.
The Historic Distillery District (55 Mill Street), August 30-September 2, 2013, 11AM Free

BOOKS & LIT

The Art of Storytelling
Storytelling and spoken word hit the stage at Measure Bar, with ten artists getting up to share their stories through readings, recitals and music. Hosted by Tika Simone, The Art of Storytelling will be a night of personal retellings and truths by Toronto performers who aren't ashamed to speak to who they are and where they come from. DJs will be on hand to get the party moving once the performances are done but get there early as admission goes up after 10PM.
Measure Bar (296 Brunswick Avenue), September 1-2, 2013, 8PM $10

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

Lead photo of the Canadian International Air Show

Photo by Elie Dahdouh in the blogTO Flickr pool.

In this edition, we take a moment to highlight some of the up-and-coming stand-ups in Toronto that have decided to blaze their own trail. Follow me as I walk you through This Week In Comedy...

TUES SEPT 3 / CLASSY DRUNK / THE EMMET RAY / 924 COLLEGE / 730PM / FREE

Troy Stark, an up-and-coming stand-up, has just returned from a courageous stretch of shows across Canada. You'll also see Blayne Smith, a hilarious dude, who's joke about arguing with a guy on his street had me dying at Comedy Bar the last time I saw him. Oh, and Garrett Jamieson, one half of the owners of the LOT comedy club on Ossington, will also stop by. Dudes doing their own thing, working tirelessly to hone their craft, AND building their own audience? What's not to like?

SUN SEPT 1 / IAN BAGG / COMEDY BAR / 945 BLOOR W / 7PM & 9PM / $20

His resume is every comic's dream: Leno, Ferguson, Conan, Kilborn, Comedy Central, HBO...you get the idea. Why all the attention? Well, one of the reasons is because he's extremely quick on his feat, and the above clip is all the evidence you need for that. Notice how he's able to keep making fun of someone in the crowd while at the same time not being mean about it? Trust me, that's not easy to do.

Ian's shows are brought to you by Toronto's foremost comedy producer, Ian Atlas. Without Atlas' broad shoulders, we wouldn't have half of the big names coming to Toronto as we do right now. After the show, you'll see him helping Bagg sell merch (he's the curly-haired dude with the glasses). Tell him thanks!

SAT SEPT 7 / KEESHA BROWNIE / THE LOT / 100 OSSINGTON / 930PM / $15

Keesha Brownie's been hustling. Hard. Her flagship production, Joker's Corner, has been putting on shows in Toronto and Montreal for a minute. Earlier this year, she released her own DVD. Tonight, she'll keep the spotlight squarely on herself. It's hard to believe she got boo'd off the stage at the Nubian Show a few years back, but it just makes her hard work and determination that much more admirable.

About the Author: This is Michael Jagdeo, and I refuse to write about myself in the third-person. My blog, Diary of a Stand-up Comedian, walks you through the up's and down's (they're mostly down's, really) in my quest to become a killer comic in Toronto.

This coffee shop has been located in the basement of the St. Lawrence Market since 1979, when much of the basement area was used for storage. It entered the roasting scene back in 1996, and since then has developed a solid reputation as the go-to spot in the Market for beans and espresso.

Read my review of Everyday Gourmet in the cafes section.

The TTC and its neverending tour of the city will turn 92 this weekend. Loved, loathed, lauded, and pilloried for close to a century (sometimes at the same time,) the TTC is a defining feature of the city and one of its most recognizable institutions.

What started out as a way to consolidate the city's multiple public and private transit systems in to a single network evolved, sometimes turbulently, over almost a century in to the owner and manager of the one of the largest streetcar networks on the continent with an annual operating budget of $411 million.

This is the story of how Toronto took "the better way" from horse and carriage to the Rocket subway.

The Toronto Transportation Commission was established on September 1, 1921 with the merger of two street railway companies: the privately owned and operated Toronto Railway Company, which typically ran downtown, and the city-owned Toronto Civic Railways, which was created to serve newly annexed neighbourhoods the TRC wasn't interested in serving.

Prior to the forming of the TTC, a handful of rival transit companies vied for space on Toronto's streets, starting in 1849 with the Williams Omnibus Line. The early system, named for H. B. Williams, a cabinet maker and undertaker who built his own horse-drawn vehicles, linked the St. Lawrence Market with the Red Lion Inn on the northeast corner of Bloor and Yonge.

At its zenith, Williams had four six-passenger and two larger stagecoaches that charged hardy passengers sixpence for rattling journeys along unpaved and rutted roads.

Later that century, a handful of other companies, several of which were linked to electricity interests, operated street railways or bus lines in Toronto with radial services to outlying towns like Guelph, Aurora, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, and Sutton West.

Passengers transferring between these various rival companies often had to pay multiple fares, a key issue during the formation of the TTC. Mayor Thomas Church promised when the Commission was founded on September 1, 1921 that the entire city would fall under a single fare system.

The workhorse of the early TTC streetcar lines was a fleet of 25 simple wooden Preston Car Company vehicles (not to be confused with the later Presidents' Conference Committee cars that share the same initials) inherited from Toronto Civic Railways.

The Birney fleet, as they were known, had controls at both ends, basic wooden bench seats, and a wood-burning stove located near the front for use on frigid winter days. Just nine metres long and with room for just 52 people, the fleet were the smallest cars ever operated by the TTC

The tracks beneath the rattling Birney cars were, and still are, something of an oddity. All TTC rails with the exception of the Scarborough RT are spaced a non-standard 4 feet 10 7/8 inches apart, slightly wider than the commonly-used international standard (there are still many railways that don't used standard gauge, though.)

A long-standing urban myth attributes the odd TTC gauge to concerns rail companies like Canadian Pacific would try to run trains down Toronto streets. Not so, says TTC authority Transit Toronto. The rail spacing was actually meant to allow non-Toronto Street Railway vehicles - horse and wagons - to use the tracks too, providing it didn't interfere with transit operations.

The spacing was repeated with each new generation of streetcar for convenience and eventually on the subway. At one time old streetcars were converted for use as work cars on the subway, a process made easier by the matching track guages.

The first fleet of streetcars purchased by the Toronto Transportation Commission were the maroon and gold Peter Witt cars. Built in various sizes by three different manufacturers between 1921 and 1923, the design, austere with wooden benches and a simple heater, was based on one used by the Cleveland Street Railway in the United States (the eponymous Peter Witt was a commissioner of the Cleveland network.)

The Witts came in several sizes and forms and were regularly used on the Yonge and Bay lines until the introduction of the fist Presidents' Conference Committee cars in 1952 and the opening of Canada's first subway line.

The original Yonge line between Union and Eglinton opened in 1954 and very nearly heralded the end of streetcars in Toronto. The TTC believed, like many North American cities, in abandoning surface rail in favour of underground rapid transit or bus lines. Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax, Hamilton, Vancouver, and Edmonton were all actively engaged in ripping out their lines (or had already finished doing so) by time the $447.2 million, 7.4 km subway line opened in 1954.

Toronto's Streetcar Abandonment Policy began to bite shortly after. Sherbourne, Dovercourt, Lansdowne, Spadina, Yonge, and Weston all lost their tracks in favour of buses after 1940. Rogers Road and Mount Pleasant would encounter a similar fate in the decades after.

The city was supposed to be entirely streetcar free by the 1980s, when the latest incarnation of the long lost Queen subway - at times an underground streetcar line like the one on Queen's Quay, later a rapid transit line - was tentatively scheduled to open. Luckily, a citizen-led group, Streetcars for Toronto, was able to stem the tide and halt, if not reverse, much of the abandonment plans.

The Yonge line, the first subway in the country, was the pride of the TTC and post-war Canada when its red Gloucester cars first took to the rails. More than 434,000 tons of steel and cement, 35,397 cubic metres of timber (mainly for the wooden cover built over the construction trench,) 410,000 tons of sand and gravel went in to the line.

The University line (Union to St. George) and the Bloor-Danforth line (Keele to Woodbine) opened in the mid-60s, rounding out Toronto's 20-year subway boom. For a short time the entire subway was knitted in together in three routes, making it possible to ride downtown without changing from the Bloor-Danforth line. The now-closed second platform beneath Bay station is the best-known relic of this brief "interlining" period.

Another interesting fact about the Bloor-Danforth line concerns the Prince Edward Viaduct. When it was built in 1918, the designs included several useful provisions for a railway beneath the road deck. The designer, Edmund W. Burke, couldn't have imagined what form the subway would ultimately take, but it's a good thing he tried.

When the line arrived 42 years later engineers were able to use existing supports and passages through the support towers with only minor modifications and upgrades. The curve from Castle Frank to Sherbourne station proved too tight for similar foresighted structure on the Rosedale Ravine section to be useful so a separate, covered bridge was built slightly to the north.

The subway trains from the 1960s and 1970s included the short-lived Montreal Locomotive Works "M1" cars - the first rapid transit vehicles to be designed and built in Canada - and the Hawker Siddeley H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5 cars, the last of which survived until a few months ago.

That decade also produced perhaps the finest hour for transit advocacy in Toronto in the form of the proposed (and partially built) Spadina Expressway. As originally conceived, the multi-lane highway would have sliced through the Cedarvale and Nordheimer Ravines, down Spadina Avenue to the Gardiner, carving up The Annex, Kensington, and other neighbourhoods.

The road got the chop after years of effort from activists and high-profile campaigners like urban theorist Jane Jacobs and Marshall McLuhan. "Toronto will commit suicide if it plunges the Spadina Expressway into its heart," McLuhan protested. The Spadina subway north of Bloor survived the axe, however, running in the median of the renamed Allen Road north of Eglinton Avenue as originally planned.

Toronto's streetcar system began to recover from the deliberate decay in the late 1970s with the arrival of the first CLRV vehicles. The first five in the current streetcar fleet were built in Switzerland and shipped to Canada in 1979. As archival photos show, the original seating layout was somewhat different and the car interiors and once bore a striking resemblance to the familiar layout used on the subway.

Although the TTC choses not to, the cars are capable of being tethered together in a train. While it was shopping the CLRV design to Boston, the Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC) coupled six together in a successful test at the St. Clair Carhouse in 1982.

The streetcars were tested in series several other times, too. The large empty cavity below the rear seats is the most obvious evidence of the lost feature. The connecting gear would have filled that space.

The purchase of the CLRV and its double-length, articulated relation the ALRV heralded a revival of surface transit in Toronto. The sleek new cars were briefly considered for the Scarborough RT but later ditched in favour of the high-tech ICTS vehicles being pushed by the UTDC, a crown corporation mandated to build rapid transit vehicles.

So far, despite the odd derailment, no CLRV or ALRV has been retired, destroyed, or written off in the line of duty. It's entirely possible that when the new streetcars arrive next year the entire fleet will have gone the distance with only a few bumps and scrapes.

The pride of the 1980s, the Scarborough RT, opened in a disused hydro corridor and elevated right-of-way in 1985 and was for a time the most technologically-advanced rapid transit system in the world with its driverless control system and linear induction motors, which are related to modern mag-lev and roller coaster technology.

Perhaps the most memorable gift from the RT (apart from its ground-breaking design) is the three-tone door chime used on the subway. Before that, subway journeys began with "two piercing whistle blasts," according to the Toronto Sun.

The most recent attempt to build a new subway, save for the Sheppard line and the current wrangling over converting the Scarborough RT, took place in the 1990s with the a line that would have run four stops west under Eglinton Avenue from Eglinton West station. A political hot potato (as these things always are,) the line was killed less than a year after construction on the first phase had begun at the southern terminus of Allen Road.

The half-finished excavation pit with its $50 million pricetag was filled in in 1995 and the project added to the long, dark list of Toronto transit nightmares.

Later that year, the Russell Hill subway disaster - attributed to a signal fault and an error by an inexperienced driver - killed three people and hospitalized 30. On August 11 at 6:03 PM a southbound train that had just left St. Clair West station rear-ended a stationary train just north of Dupont.

It was the worst subway accident in Canadian history and led to a total overhaul of training procedures and signal technology. Other incidents in the subway's past had never claimed a life. Fires at Union, Christie, and Old Mill stations left scars, some of which are still visible in miscoloured tiling, but didn't elicit the same level of response.

Every year the TTC receives a Due Diligence Checklist which details how the Commission is putting in to practice the 18 recommendations outlined in the coroner's report published in the aftermath of the crash.

The final Hawker H-5 subway train with its yellow and faux-wood interior trim retired a little awkwardly in June this year. The remaining H-6 trains (think orange interior panels and doors) are currently circulating on the Bloor-Danforth line only.

The Bombardier T1 (red doors, fewer seats) and brand new Toronto Rocket trains are the most recent cars rumbling under the city's streets. The latter, the first to feature an open concept design, among a host of other accessibility and comfort improvements, arrived in May 2011.

Toronto's transit network reached its current state - three subway lines, 69 stations, one above ground RT, 304.6 kms of streetcar lines, 170 bus routes - with the completion of the Sheppard line in 2002.

The 5-stop purple line is a stub compared to what was originally proposed. Had the money been available (we've heard that before,) the line would have run from Downsview to Scarborough Centre by way of its current truncated route under Sheppard Avenue.

Mel Lastman championed the line that was supposed to spur development on one of north Toronto's busiest corridors. A survivor of the transit plan that died with the Eglinton subway, Sheppard has never managed to quite shake its reputation for being a subway to nowhere, despite having some success.

"Sheppard's technology makes it both expensive to abandon and expensive to extend; that's the trap," Jarrett Walker, a transportation consultant told the Globe and Mail.

Next year Toronto will get its hands on the first of the $1.2 billion fleet of new streetcars, which will operate on Dundas, Spadina, Bathurst, and Harbourfront lines. Another new chapter in almost 100 years of history.

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

Images: Chris Bateman, Derek Flack, Ray Corley, Toronto Star Archives, Globe and Mail Archives, City of Toronto Archives, Wikimedia Commons.

Photo by thericyip in the blogTO Flickr pool.

The Beaches and Leslieville seem to be having a bit of a problem having fun these days. Throughout the summer, Tori's bakeshop, which has plans to morph into a wine bar by night, has been thwarted by one neighbour who says the development will make the area too noisy, and possibly impact his property value. Now, neighbours are reacting similarly to Hitch owner Doug Tiller's plans to launch a 20-seat patio.

Tiller says his numbers have decreased significantly over the summer, because people are heading to other establishments where they can enjoy patio season. He's been trying to get the patio licensed since May, but neighbours are not happy with the plans because of what they foresee as excessive noise—despite the fact that the Duke, which is down the street, just opened a 150-seat patio. Tiller's pre-hearing with the License Appeal Tribunal is next week, and the results of that will determine what happens going forward.

Paula Fletcher has been trying to organize a meeting between Tiller and residents of the area so they can reach an agreement. Tiller understands why people might have noise concerns, as he is a family man with small children. But that's why he moved to a quiet side street in the area, and not a main thoroughfare with lots of noise and a sure chance of further development, like Queen St. E. Because he understands his neighbours' concerns, he says he's willing to clear people off the patio by 11 p.m. if the neighbours decide to cooperate with him.

What do you think? Should neighbours live and let live, or should the booze be kept behind closed doors?