Today in Toronto the Silent Film Festival will begin its reign of silence at Innis Town Hall with Victor Sjostrom's The Wind. aluCine Latin Film and Media Arts Festival and the Spur festival of politics, art and ideas are also beginning today, as is Czech artist Eva Koťátková's exhibition at Scrap Metal Gallery. Getting to the sexy stuff: get to Bloor Cinema by 9pm for feminist porn, and head to the Steady afterward to dance with the stars. The porn stars. For more events, click on over to our events section.

• The Toronto Silent Film Festival
• aluCine Latin Film and Media Arts Festival
• Spur
• Eva Koťátková
• Public.Provocative.Prn: The Years Best in Feminist Film
• FPA After Party
• GlitClit at the Beaver
• Coach House Spring 2014 Launch
• AGO First Thursday: Francis Bacon, Henry Moore, Petra Glynt, & US Girls

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

Photo via Good for Her

Spring feels so close, you've probably already made room at the back of your closet where you can retire your parka for the next six months - so why on earth would you be looking to spend time in a dark theatre with strangers? Yet the next few months are so jam-packed with must-see special screenings, retrospectives, and film festivals that it might be hard to stay outdoors. In any case, that impending warmth will provide some convenient comfort as you trek from venue to venue.

Here are 10 screenings, speaker series, director retrospectives, and film festivals to keep you air-conditioned as the temperatures rise.

Apr. 2, Apr. 23, May 14 | Women Making Vanguard Films | MLC Gallery
Providing exactly what its title promises, this series, conceived by local filmmaker Stephen Broomer, offers Torontonians an opportunity to see large chunks of work by seminal filmmakers Maya Deren, Marie Menken, and Joyce Wieland. All are on 16mm prints, and all are free of charge.

Apr. 3-8 | The Toronto Silent Film Festival
As we've already mentioned, the Toronto Silent Film Festival is almost upon us, with a lineup that looks better than ever. Every year I look forward to the event at Casa Loma, which is always accompanied by a live score performed on a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ. This year, the film to be honoured with that treatment is Max Linder's Seven Years Bad Luck (Monday, April 7 at 8 p.m.).

Apr. 10-19 | Images Festival | AGO Jackman Hall
TIFF's Wavelengths program is great - a survey of the current state of affairs in the international avant-garde scene - but Images has that section beat in terms of the sheer breadth of art, video, and new media on display (for a whopping ten days, no less), which spotlights a ton of work made locally and abroad. A mix of installations, performances, gallery exhibitions, and on-screen programs, it's the perfect palate cleanser before a summer of big-budget blockbusters.

Apr. 16 | MDFF and The Seventh Art present Hail | Stephen Bulger Gallery's CAMERA
The forces behind MDFF (whose semi-new monthly screening series brought us one-offs of undistributed independent films) and The Seventh Art's Live Director Series (who brought the likes of Whit Stillman, Paul Schrader, and Andrew Bjualski to Toronto) have come together to yield what will no doubt be an even stronger force. Their first task is this screening of the Australian film Hail by Amiel Courtin-Wilson, but keep an eye out for their subsequent events.

Apr. 17-22 | Michel Brault, maître | TIFF Bell Lightbox
If you got a taste of the (sadly) late Michel Brault at Hot Docs last year, you'll no doubt consider TIFF's retrospective of his more fictional work in this week-long retrospective a can't-miss event. A pioneer of the Direct Cinema movement, Brault's eclectic filmography also features some of the most rapturously poetic and scathingly political films in the history of Quebecois cinema, reaching its zenith in 1974 when he won the Best Director prize in Cannes for Les Ordres (Thursday, April 17 at 6:30 p.m.).

Apr. 25-May 4 | Hot Docs
This festival surely needs no introduction. The biggest festival in Toronto behind TIFF, Hot Docs is also the largest documentary event of its kind in North America. We've already highlighted some of this year's more buzzed-about titles. Stay tuned for more preview posts with our personal picks of the festival.

Apr. 28-Jun 23 | David Lynch in Nayman's Terms | JCC
Adam Nayman has now conducted several months-long series of lectures spotlighting the bodies of work by world cinema's biggest auteurs, growing his fan base with recent series on Stanley Kubrick and the Coen brothers. Now he intends to tackle arguably the most influential American filmmaker of the last 50 years, David Lynch. Be sure to prioritize his concluding talk on June 23, where he will hopefully, finally give his last film, Inland Empire, its due as the best movie ever made.

May 1-11 | Toronto Jewish Film Festival
Going strong for over 20 years now, the Toronto Jewish Film Festival has continuously provided the city with a wide range of films that touch on the Jewish experience from all over the world. Their programming continues to evolve each year as they look for new ways to showcase Jewish film. Assembling invaluable national spotlight series, as well as retrospectives of influential Jewish entertainers, the festival remains inventive and unique. More on this festival once they've unveiled their line-up.

May 9-13 | Orson Welles: Lost & Found | TIFF Bell Lightbox
OK, so Citizen Kane is no longer the Greatest Movie Ever Made. And maybe you've seen it 10,000 times already anyway. Chances are, you'll be less familiar with some of his other gems. I'm talking The Magnificent Ambersons and the best adaptation of Othello the cinema has yet seen. And then there's the movie I know you haven't seen, Too Much Johnson, since it was only just recently discovered and restored, and this is its Canadian premiere.

May 22-Jun 1 | Inside Out LGBT Film Festival
Pride month is on the horizon, which can only mean two things: Rob Ford is making his summer cottage plans, and the Inside Out festival is nearly upon us. The 10-day festival is one of the largest of its kind, and routinely features a broad mix of artful indies, social issues pictures, and glorious camp, all dealing with LGBT issues, all in good fun and taste. Their line-up has yet to be announced, but stay tuned for our spotlight on what is sure to be another epic gateway into the first summer month.

Lead film still from Hail.

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

OPEN NOW

• North of Brooklyn Pizzeria opens its second location at 469 Church St. at noon on Apr. 4.
• Tavern by Trevor, a public house with a menu of fine comfort foods, is now open at 147 Spadina Ave.
• The Workshop by Latitudes, an informal new wine, beer and cheese bar (formerly Fat Cat Wine Bar) is now open at 331 Roncesvalles Ave.

RECENTLY REVIEWED

• La Creole
• Schnitzeland
• S. Lefkowitz

OPENING SOON

• Southern Accent is pre-emptively opening a new Cajun take-out and delivery spot in Scarborough at 3655 St. Clair Ave. East in advance of the Mirvish Village location's impending closure. [The Grid]
• Hole-E-Burger Bar of Caledon is entering the Toronto market with a new location planned for 1050 Coxwell Ave.
• The widely-anticipated Kinton Ramen 3 now has an address. Expect to find the new shop open in the coming months at 402 Queen St. West.

OTHER NEWS

• Momofuku now does lunch delivery to anywhere in the downtown core for a $5 fee.
• The Senator now offers cocktails.

Have you seen restaurants opening or closing in your neighbourhood? Email tips to liora@blogto.com

The top coffee shops without WiFi in Toronto are part of an increasingly rare category. Coffee shops have become extended offices for freelancers and workaholics; places to get wired and wired up. Thankfully, there are a few (and great) options that stay relatively laptop zombie-free, for those who want to have their coffee sans internet. Coffee, chatter, newspapers and books circulate with a kind of freedom: seats open faster, people relax. The energy doesn't just move between plug and computer, but all around - a café experience with less distraction and more potential interaction.

Here's my list of the top coffee shops without WiFi in Toronto.

Sam James
Sam James does his best to keep the focus on coffee and conversation by getting rid of the assumption that a great coffee shop has to have office-like tables and free WiFi. He's proved you can have a booming business with perches, open space and benches that let people stop, chat, sip, reflect, and move on. Maybe that's why the coffee he serves and roasts is called Cut Coffee; he wants to cut out the BS.

Manic Coffee
A WiFi-less café experience is at the heart of Manic Coffee. It's a warm and inviting space, and the coffee is fantastic. Sure, there are people working on occasion - but they are also talking, reading books, and engaging in the world around them.

Moonbean Café
Maybe it's the overarching chill vibe of Kensington Market (certainly, there are more WiFi-free cafés concentrated in that neighbourhood than elsewhere in Toronto), but it doesn't seem like Moonbean even considered getting WiFi - they were too busy microroasting great beans and providing a relaxing atmosphere.

Bulldog Coffee
Bulldog's Stuart Ross has always done things his way. One of those things is no WiFi at his respectable and long-standing café - even though it's just blocks from Ryerson, and serves as a real beacon for the student neighbourhood. Perhaps they, too, are sick of feeling pressure to make every café stop into a work opportunity, and just want to sit back and relax. Ross lets his customers do just that.

Broadview Espresso
Conversation abounds at Broadview Espresso, where owners have chosen to keep it unplugged. The variety of cozy seating inside, and the warm-weather patio seating outside, add to the relaxed feel that pervades the place.

Wallace Espresso
Newcomer Wallace Espresso set out to be the Junction Triangle's favourite neighbourhood drop-in coffee joint, and it's achieved just that. There's limited seating, but the owner/baristas are kind and chatty and make great coffee, so you'll find little opposition to lingering, sipping and sharing thoughts.

(Louie's) Casa Acoreana
Paris has Café de Flore, we have Casa Acoreana: Both are great, famous cafés on corner lots, perfect for people-watching and full of colourful characters. The difference? The French have booze and perfect omelettes; we get fine coffee and candy. (Neither has WiFi.)

Yorkville Espresso Bar
Yorkville Espresso Bar's proximity to the Toronto Reference library may be the reason the shop doesn't bother with WiFi. It's free and easy over there, but at the coffee shop you can drink a coffee while reading, and you also won't get shushed if a conversation gets amped up.

Sublime
Don't you think the name speaks volumes? Its environment speaks volumes too - lounging chairs, an impressive selection of vinyl available to buy or listen to (mostly jazz and blues), and good coffee. All that chillaxing, and no WiFi.

Cherry Bomb
Roncesvalles family favourite Cherry Bomb has been WiFi free since its inception, and for good reason - the staff don't have the room for laptoppers occupying the prime real estate, or the time to dole out passwords and electricity when they're busy filling coffee orders and baking up the best croissants.

Thanks to Focus: Life Gear by TRIDENT for sponsoring this post. Focus: Life Gear by TRIDENT is a fashion line that blocks your mobile connectivity, allowing you to embrace a lifestyle of focus.

What did I miss? Add your favourite WiFi-free cafes to the comments below.

Photo by Jesse Milns

This newly opened offshoot of the popular chain of Thornhill restaurants caters to busy lifestyles with Middle Eastern street eats served fast food-style. The Laffa baked onsite is a special a treat, whether wrapped into a handheld meals or accompanying oversized dinner boxes and mezze spreads.

Read my profile of Me Va Me Kitchen Express in the restaurants section.

April is National Poetry Month (NPM) - a time to focus on all things poetry. Your humble columnist is in a celebratory mood. For the rest of the month, poets across the GTA will be out and about in the community sharing their work with colleagues, neighbours and friends, helping to enrich the social fabric of the region. If you get a chance to see anything poetic, be sure to take it in -- some of the best poetry to be found anywhere in this country is written right here in Toronto. The spoken word and poetry slam community, naturally, is putting on a month-long soirée in the midst of all the poetizing. Here's what is on tap for you all to drink in this April.

HOT TICKETS

TORONTO POETRY SLAM FINALS FT. JOSHUA BENNETT / APRIL 19 / 8PM / ROYAL CINEMA / $15 ADVANCE - $20 DOOR
The defending national slam champion series selects the team that will seek to win back-to-back titles at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Victoria in Little Italy's historic screening house. Eight of the city's top slammers square off in front of one of the city's largest slam audiences of the year. And if you are also looking for a bit of extra flavour, check out this video from the featured performer on Toronto Poetry Project's big night:

SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO SPOKEN WORD CIRCUIT PRESENTS VANESSA MCGOWAN / APRIL 16, 17 & 23
The SOSWC is a consortium of spoken word groups that stage monthly spoken word events in London, Guelph, Hamilton, Burlington, Toronto and York Region. Thanks to the support of Canada Council for the Arts, they bring a high-profile artist each month to perform at the venues on the circuit. This month, former local slam champion Vanessa McGowan visits ARTiculated Noise (April 16), Burlington Slam Project (April 17) and YorkSlam (April 23).

OUTRAGEOUS / APRIL 29 / 9PM / THE CENTRAL / FREE
The fifth instalment of this plucky, irreverent and lovely new "word art series" offers an all-female line-up in celebration of NPM. Hosted by poetic firestarter Elizabeth Burns, the show brings together Amika Selah, Estefania, Ariel Martz-Oberlander and Sarah Al-Hage to wow the crowd as a month of poetry festivity draws to a close.

OTHER SHOWS AND EVENTS

Livewords / April 3 / 7:30pm / Black Swan Tavern / free

Sunday Poetry/ April 6, 13, 20, 27 / 11:30am / Ellington's Music & Café / free

Sunday Session with CK, Adam Faux and Loose Leaf Poets & Writers / April 6 / 2pm / Village Vinyl Music Emporium & Café / PWYC

Amsterdam Bicycle Club Presents Lizzie Violet's Poetry Open Mic ft. Clara Blackwood / April 7 / 8pm / Amsterdam Bicycle Club / PWYC

R.I.S.E. Poetry Movement / April 7, 14, 21, 28 / 6:30pm / Burrows Hall Community Centre / free

The Art Bar Poetry Series / April 8, 15, 22, 29 / 8pm / Black Swan Tavern / PWYC

Acoustic Soul Tuesdays / April 8, 15, 22, 29 / 8pm / Pero Restaurant and Lounge / $5

BAM! Toronto Youth Slam ft. Macer / April 9 / 6:30pm / The Central / $5

Plasticine Poetry hosted by Cathy Petch / April 13 / 6pm / Pauper's Pub / free

Lizzie Violet's Cabaret Noir ft. Jezebel Beelzebub Bells, Regina Dentata & Nelson Sobral / April 13 / 7pm / The Central / PWYC ($5 suggested)

Cometry Poedy ft. IF / April 15 / 7:30pm / The Central / PWYC

Hot-Sauced Words / April 17 / 8pm / Black Swan Tavern / PWYC

Roots Lounge Open Mic & Poetry Slam / April 20 / 8pm / Harlem Restaurant / $5

'Sauga Stars Youth Talent Showcase ft. We Flip Tables / April 25 / 6pm / Meadowvale Theatre (Mississauga) / free (with preregistration)

Shab-e She'r (Poetry Night) / April 29 / 7pm / Beit Zatoun / PWYC

For more listings, head on over to the events calendar for local info updated regularly during the month.

Have a spoken word event coming up that you'd like us to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO events calendar.

Photo of Joshua Bennett

The Francis Bacon / Henry Moore Terror and Beauty exhibition at the AGO opens this Saturday, and it will likely be the darkest major show you stumble your way through this year, one hand half covering your eyes.

The AGO has outdone itself in putting together a collection that portrays the harsh postwar attitudes of the two British artists: there are more huge, frightening Bacon paintings than I expected, and the layout of the exhibition space reveals a curator who understands the inherent relationship between these crucial artists' work. While Bacon steals the show in spite of the fact that his compositions are all behind glass (he "had no interest in the viewer"), Moore's work puts up a worthy fight, especially his 2D compositions and harsher looking sculptures. The exhibit runs until July 20th.

Get a sneak peek of the remarkable and disturbing show in this photo gallery.

As if any more proof was needed to confirm that Rob Ford is an international sensation, the latest big name to give his take on our mayor is Bill Clinton. On Jimmy Kimmel for an interview last night, the former US president had a chuckle or two at Ford's expense, even as he remained ever diplomatic. "He has absolutely destroyed every stereotype people have about Canadians," Clinton said of Ford. "You know, the Canadians are upbeat, optimistic, can-do, they are embracing, they are inclusive... Everything I ever believed about Canadians... good ol' Rob has proved stereotypes are not good."

Earlier in the show Kimmel took Ford to task for his voting errors at yesterday's city council meeting, noting that he was the first politician "to take a stand against athletic excellence and Nelson Mandela." Yup, the hits just keep coming.

Tap dancing is something of a lost art, a throwback to the days of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. And yet there's a certain quirky charm to it that's hard to define. While it could come off as entirely goofy, when done well, there's a certain elegance to it that people with two left feet can only hopelessly admire. By way of proof, this recently released video of Stephanie Cadman tap dancing her way around Toronto to Lara St. John's rendition of Bach's G Minor Presto. While the locations tend toward the touristy side, the video is unabashedly fun and reveals an obvious pride in our city. Have a watch -- and if you're feeling inspired, there's always dance classes.

Rob Ford's friend Sandro Lisi threatened to put "heat" on the Dixon Road community in the immediate aftermath of the crack cocaine video scandal, the final batch of court documents related to search warrants issued in Project Brazen 2, the police investigation into Ford, say.

"The whole place is going to get heated up all summer until that fucking phone gets back, the whole place... is going to get lit right up," Lisi was heard telling Liban Siyad, an alleged member of the Dixon City Bloods, in a wiretapped conversation. "Put the message out to your people... that whole place is going to get heated."

Lisi has since been charged with extortion in the case. Earlier today, the Toronto Star reported that the Ontario Provincial Police, who recently took an oversight role in the case, disagree with Toronto police over who was the victim of the alleged extortion: Mohammed Siad, who claimed to have filmed the video, or Rob Ford.

There are also allegations in the documents ordered released today by a Toronto judge that Lisi suggested Ford had power over the police in the area.

In another intercepted conversation, Elena Basso, the owner of the house where the crack video was allegedly filmed, said Mohammed Siad was stupid for filming Ford and ruining the business on Dixon Road. "The fucking goof did it [filmed Ford] at my house," she said.

Basso said she warned the Dixon Road dealers about the mayor.

"I told you guys from the beginning, he's a big fucking idiot."

Despite the endless eye-popping allegations against the mayor, it appears the OPP don't believe there is enough evidence at this time to charge Ford with a crime. The CBC says the case is in a "holding pattern" pending new details.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

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

Photo by John Steven Fernadez on Flickr

Fans of Toronto food trucks are in for a marginally more delicious summer. Today, council officially enacted a raft of new rules designed to cut the stifling amount of red tape around operating a mobile food vehicle in the city. The debate was drawn out over two days and delayed by a seemingly endless list of last-minute suggestions but, finally, resulted in several long-awaited changes to the rules.

Yesterday, a rally that included five food trucks assembled outside City Hall in support of looser street food rules. "We're trying to show city council how much Toronto wants food trucks to be able to go where we need to go, as opposed to the way the laws are now," said Scott Fraser of Hogtown Smoke.

Before today's vote, food trucks were only allowed to operate on private property or for a maximum of 10 minutes in a city parking lot. The needlessly uptight rules, a relic from the days of food carts, meant mobile eateries like Hogtown Smoke and Caplansky's were often hard to find.

Some councillors, including Anthony Perruzza, were concerned loosening the rules too much would lead to the "wild west." Cllr. Mary-Margaret McMahon said council risked "strangling the life out of everything" by over-regulating food trucks.

Here's a quick run down of some of the changes:

ALL FOOD TRUCKS MUST STAY A MINIMUM OF 50 METRES FROM A RESTAURANT. That's 50 metres in a straight line from the door of an "open and operating" brick-and-motar restaurant. As Metro pointed out, that could black out a large portion of downtown, but the city insists there are more than 350 suitable areas across Toronto. This rule doesn't apply if the truck is on private property or in a city parking lot. Trucks must also be 30 m from a school and 25 m from a sidewalk vendor.

PAY AND DISPLAY SPOTS ARE UP FOR GRABS. Every single pay-and-display spot in the city is fair game for food truck vendors this summer, provided they pay the applicable charges, stay no longer than three hours, and comply with all traffic rules. Only two trucks per city block, however.

PERMITS ARE GOING TO BE HOT PROPERTY. A motion by Cllr. Kristyn Wong-Tam limited the number of new food truck permits to 125 available over the next 12 months. There was concern that council loosening the rules could lead to a flood of applications and new trucks, possibly from chain restaurants, but permits will be limited to one per person.

COUNCILLORS WILL HAVE A SAY IN PERMITS. The executive director of Municipal Licensing and Standards will be allowed to work with the local councillor to decide whether a controversial permit is appropriate. Local BIAs be involved in the debate if a food truck owner wants to establish a vending zone that isn't in a pay-and-display area.

ICE CREAM TRUCKS ARE FREE TO ROAM THE CITY. The changes don't just affect new food vendors. Ice cream trucks will be allowed to stay in one spot longer than 10 minutes and set up in any part of the city. The downtown moratorium on new sidewalk vendors, e.g. the hot dog and burger stands, will stay in effect.

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

Image: Jesse Milns/blogTO

Photo by Vic Pahwa in the blogTO Flickr pool.

One of Trinity-Bellwoods' most beloved restaurants has expanded to Queen East. This corner spot gets its name from a great menu of original cocktails, but they also boast a short-but-sweet, locally-inspired menu featuring fried chicken sandwiches, burgers, and other favourites brought over from the west side.

Read my review of County Cocktail & Snack Bar in the Restaurants section.

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 Good Food & Drink Festival continues this weekend until Sunday, April 6 at the Direct Energy Centre. The event features a food truck alley, chef demos, guided cheese tastings and loads of tasty exhibitors.
• Celebrate the Canadian Cheese of the Year at the Awards Tasting Gala at St. Lawrence Market North on Monday, April 7. Following the awards ceremony, the gala kicks off at 6 p.m., with award winners and finalists offering tastings for the public. Admission is $25 and includes refreshments, fine wines and craft beers.
• Bite Bar (57 Elm St.) launches Cupcakes & Cocktails this Saturday, April 5. Pairing bite-sized sweets with dessert-inspired cocktails, wines and beers, the new weekly feature will be offered regularly every Thursday to Saturday.

UPCOMING

• The Rusholme Park Supper Club and Emily Zimmerman will host a vegan pre-Passover Seder on Sunday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. Celebrate the Jewish holiday with a meatless feast. Tickets are $40.
• Ryoji Ramen & Izakaya (690 College St.) hosts a six course izakaya tasting on Wednesday, April 16 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 and include one drink.
• Fidel Gastro presents Table 876, a street food chef's table with partners Nella, Beau's and Le Creuset. Taking place in a fenced-off area behind Nella's Bathurst St. location on May 22, the $125 dinner party will offer a four-course menu featuring with Beau's beer pairings. Also expect music and giveaways.
• Tickets are available now for the third annual Food Truck Eats at Peller Estates Winery in Niagara on the Lake. Taking place over the long weekend from May 16 to May 18, the daily $15 admission price includes one glass of wine, a souvenir event glass and live entertainment at the event.

Photo of Fidel Gastro's pad Thai fries

East Toronto is so hot right now. At least, it is with brewers. On the heels of the announcement that contract brewers Left Field Brewery would be opening up a brick-and-mortar location on Wagstaff Drive comes news that yet another brewery will open in Toronto's east end - as early as this summer.

Muddy York Brewery has been quietly preparing their brewery at 22 Cranfield Rd. in East York. News of their impending opening broke this week when the company posted a brief introductory notice on their website on March 31, followed by some more details about their plans for a brewhouse yesterday.

Muddy York was founded by Jeff Manol, a homebrewer who took Best of Show at the 2013 National Capital Beer Week Homebrewing Competition and placed second in the 2013 Beau's Oktoberfest People's Choice Awards. The brewery takes its name from the early days of Toronto, when it was still known as York, and rains had a tendency to turn the unpaved roads into a muddy mess. As Manol will tell you, it's intended to be something of a nod to hard work and new beginnings.

In addition to being a prize-winning homebrewer, Manol is also a certified beer judge and has long been chronicling his brewing, recipes, and beer-related experiences on his blog, Hoptomology.

According to the Muddy York website, he's also "a gardener, planter of hops, canner/preserver, equipment builder and grower of the most amazing mustache east of the Don River."

Muddy York's "introductory" lineup of beers will include Unearthed Amber, a 5.2% amber ale with a hint of caramel; Muddy York Porter, an easy-drinking 4.5% throwback to the "workingman's beer" of yesteryear; and Dereliction Double IPA, which seems to be Muddy York's obligatory hop bomb, boasting 8.2% ABV and a puckering 225 IBUs.

Manol tells me that an LCBO release is likely in his "medium to long term plans" but right now he's focusing on first steps. "Our initial brewhouse won't have the capacity for it," he says, "but it really depends on how the timeline unfolds. If we haven't increased our capacity (by the time we're ready for large-scale retail), we may look at our contracting options in order to meet the volumes needed."

In the meantime, the plan is to start by producing kegs for local bars and restaurants. As with most breweries, he's reluctant to name names before anything is official, but the smart money says that - at the very least - you'll see these beers popping up in Toronto's better beer bars.

Manol also has plans for an onsite retail store and, for inspiration, admits he has been looking west. "I really like how Tom (Paterson) and Doug (Pengelly) have done things at Junction Craft Brewery. It's a place people can visit, buy locally-made craft beer and meet people with a similar passion."

Again, things are in the preliminary stages, but he's got some rough ideas. "At the very least," Manol says, "we'll have a bottle shop with 500 mL bottles as well as growlers, plus some Muddy York merchandise."

As for the ties to Toronto's history, Manol claims it's more than just a marketing gimmick. "I often look to the American craft brewers and ... pioneers like Anchor Brewing or Sierra Nevada. They represent more than just beer, they have a story, and that's very powerful," he says.

Ben Johnson also writes about beer over on Ben's Beer Blog. Follow him on twitter @Ben_T_Johnson to appease his constant and crippling need for validation.

Photos courtesy Muddy York Brewing.

A new set of Ford Nation videos has been released today. And while much of goes on in the short clips is just promotional-speak designed to prove just how many people love and support Rob Ford, there are occasionally moments when the inane chatter takes on the semblance of something interesting.

There's the moment, for instance, when Rob Ford brings back his Jamaican patios in response to a fan letter (2:05 mark). He only does it briefly, but the devious look on his face is rather priceless -- and possibly problematic if you think the adoption of such an accent crosses the line of cultural appropriation. Doug Ford sure as hell seems worried about it, as he shuts his brother up with a couple of "OKs" and shoots a worried look at a producer off-camera.

Other highlights include a particularly befuddled conversation about American migration patterns. This would just be head-shaking nonsense if it weren't for the fact that it underscores a crucial way of thinking for Rob Ford. Almost everyone he's met in the US was born in a different city than the one in which they reside, which he notes is different from his experience of remaining in one city for most of his life. Out of this personal narrative, the brothers confidently postulate some fundamental difference between culture and economics of the two countries without reference to a statistic or any additional evidence.

This, of course, is the exact same logic that informs the practice of reading out a handful of fan letters and proclaiming that the world loves For Nation. It's also how stereotypes tend to take shape. So maybe these Ford Nation videos are interesting after all.

The original stylings of the TTC subway don't get enough love, frankly. Years of hasty makeovers and unexpected damage, especially on the Yonge line south of Eglinton, have banished much of the original aesthetic to the scrapheap. Happily, the TTC is slowly bringing back some of the original, glossy looks, and now you can wear the good old days thanks to Richard Lazazzera.

Lazazzera launched t-shirt company Finch's earlier this week. "I was looking for a shirt of the station I spent much of my childhood travelling through, Finch," he said in an email. With none available, Lazazzera set about making his own, eventually leading him to start the business.

The designs are based on the original tile configuration of each subway station. College and Dundas are restored to their original English Egg Shell and Primrose tones, ditching the poo-brown and bile yellow tiles currently lining the platform area.

There are also plain white or black neighbourhood t-shirts that borrow the classic TTC subway font. The collection isn't complete (the Spadina and Sheppard lines aren't done yet) but more designs are in the works.

The shirts are a little steep at $34.99, but Lazazzera says the price includes shipping within Canada and a charitable donation to help homeless people.

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

The Ontario Brewing Awards, the annual gala celebrating beer made in Ontario, took place last night at the Gladstone Hotel.

Organized by Beerlicious and Roger Mittag of Thirst for Knowledge, the blind-judged awards have historically been known to have some less-than-obvious winners. They also sometimes include beers winning in categories you wouldn't expect them to win. Molson Coors, for example, took home a bronze last night in the Belgian Witbier category for Rickard's White and oddly, the Gold Medal winner for English Pale Ales was Muskoka Cream Ale.

More than just an awards ceremony, the OBAs are a rare chance for the province's brewing industry folks to gather and congratulate one another and to sample and sniff some of each other's wares. Some of the interesting offerings on hand last night to sip while awards were handed out included Harbinger American Pale Ale from new guys Descendants Beer & Beverage Co. in Welleseley, Angry Moose Imperial IPA from Sudbury's Stack Brewing, and Accidental Tourist Belgian Blonde from London's Forked River Brewing.

Some of the big winners last night included Big Rig from Ottawa, who took home nine awards, and Peterborough's Publican House who took home the coveted Newcomer of the Year award.

The complete list of winners in each category, listed by Gold, Silver, and Bronze are as below.

North American Light Lager
Brick Laker Light
F&M Stone Hammer Light
Flying Monkeys Antigravity Light

North American Lager
Hogsback Vintage Lager
Lake Of Bays Top Shelf Classic Lager
Amsterdam Natural Blonde

Pilsner
Brick Waterloo Pilsner
Molson Coors Rickard's Blonde
King Pilsner

Amber Lager
Hop City Barking Squirrel Lager
Great Lakes Red Leaf Lager
King Vienna Lager

Dark Lager
Side Launch Dark Lager
Brick Waterloo Dark
King Dark

Bock
King Bock
Cameron's Deviator Doppelbock
Mill Street Weizenbock

Honey / Maple Beer
F&M Stone Hammer Maple Red
Mill Street Royal York Stinger
Bayside Honey Maple

Hefeweizen
Big Rig Hefe
Denison's Weissbier
Magnotta True North Wunder Weisse

Belgian Witbier
Mill Street Belgian Wit
Amsterdam Boxer
Molson Coors Rickard's White

Flavoured Wheat Beer
Amsterdam KLB Raspberry Wheat
Clocktower Raspberry Wheat
Beyond The Pale Pink Fuzz

Farmhouse Ales
Stack Portes De L'enfers
Big Rig Saison
Big Rig Belgian Blond

Lagered Ales
Publican House Ale
Clocktower Kölsch
Big Rig Gold

British Pale / Bitter
Muskoka Cream Ale
Black Oak Pale Ale
Highlander Scottish Ale

American Pale Ale
Great Lakes Johnny Simcoe
Collective Arts Rhyme & Reason
Great Lakes Crazy Canuck

British IPA
Mill Street IPA
Kensington Baldwin FishEye-PA
Brick Waterloo IPA

West Coast IPA
Cameron's R.P.A
Muskoka Twice As Mad Tom IPA
Beyond The Pale Imperial Super Guy

Dark IPA
Big Rig Black IPA
Flying Monkeys Netherworld
Wellington Terrestrial India Brown Ale

Amber Ale
Kilannan New Zealand Red
Clocktower Red
Sawdust City Ol' Woody Alt

Dark Ale
Magnotta True North Copper Altbier
F&M Stone Hammer Dark
Amsterdam Downtown Brown

Porter
Nickel Brook Maple Porter
Highlander Blacksmith Smoked Porter
Six Pints Beer Academy Porter

Stout
F&M Stone Hammer Coffee Stout
Sawdust City Skinny Dipping Stout
Big Rig Stout

Fruit Beer
Amsterdam Framboise
Mill Street Frambozen
Turtle Island Smash Cherry Pale Ale

Vegetable Beer
Grand River Highballer Pumpkin
The Ship's Rations
Big Rig Pumpkin

Flavoured Beer
Amsterdam Full City Double Tempest
Sawdust City Red Rocket Cinnamon Vanilla Cayenne Coffee Stout
Big Rig Triple Chocolate Cherry Stout

Strong Beer
Descendants Prologue Belgian Blonde
Sawdust City Princess Wears Girlpants
Amsterdam Vicar's Vice

Gluten Free
Nickel Brook Gluten Free
(Nickel Brook's beer was the only entry in this category)

Barrel Aged & Whisky
Amsterdam Double Tempest
Wellington Frost Quake Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Wine
Cameron's Bourbon Barrel Deviator Doppelbock

Barrel Aged & Wine
Amsterdam Rye Peppercorn Saison
Sawdust City ODB
Great Lakes Gary

Imperial Stout/Baltic Porter
Muskoka Brewery Winter Beard
Big Rig Imperial Stout
Wellington Russian Imperial Stout

Newcomer Of The Year
Publican House Brewery

Beer Of The Year
Muskoka Cream Ale

Ben Johnson also writes about beer over on Ben's Beer Blog. Follow him on twitter @Ben_T_Johnson if you know what's good for ya..

The top places to work or study in Toronto are a mix of the peaceful and the stimulating. The city's libraries and coffee shops, in particular, are popular draws for people looking to get away from the distractions of home. (Let's face it, you'll always find some chore to do instead of getting your work done.) In exchange for the price of a latte, or for keeping your voice below librarian-approved levels, you've got a readymade workspace. (Just try to keep the refreshments bought/hours spent ratio reasonable, eh?)

Here are the top places to work or study in Toronto.

R Squared
R Squared topped our list of best cafes with WiFi in Toronto, thanks to its abundance of seating and outlets and pleasantly-diffused natural light. Plus, if you get peckish, you can grab a solid meal (say, a bowl of soup or a sandwich) without ever having to pack up and leave.

Toronto Reference Library
This monolith of knowledge at Yonge and Bloor is, essentially, the entire city's study hall. At five massive floors, there are plenty of places to pull up a chair, including glass meeting and study pods and the Balzac's Coffee on the ground floor. We've heard the top two floors at the north end are particularly calming. (Be warned: During peak study weeks, you might end up hunting for a spot.)

Rooster Coffee House
Both of the chain's locations - one overlooking Riverdale Park, and one set into an office building at King and Ontario - offer plenty of comfy seating, free wireless Internet, delicious lattes and snacks, good tunes, and nice baristas. (What more could you ask for?)

Robarts Library
Non-University of Toronto kids may find it difficult to fully understand the deep, conflicted relationship some students have with Robarts, U of T's brutalist, birdlike reference library. But after hitting the books there for a madness-inducing span of hours, you pick up a few tips. The basement/first floor tends to be noisier due to socializing students; it's quieter in the upper floors, where big tables in the corners of the stacks offer some nice views. Over exams, the study rooms are open all night.

Coffee Pubs
The duo of coffee shops started out of the CSI shared workspace on Bathurst, where baristas do a roaring trade in espresso (despite the fact that CSI actually has free coffee for its members). That location technically isn't open as a workspace for those who aren't CSI members, though they'll let you linger over a cup for a while. Their new location in the Artscape Youngplace, however, is just off of a shared community lounge space with plenty of seating and free WiFi - hanging out is encouraged.

Gerstein Science Information Centre
While Robarts is the first study suggestion out of many U of T students' mouths, Gerstein, tucked further south into the university campus, is a close second. The atmosphere is surprisingly stately, with some cushy armchairs, grand-looking tables and chairs, and lovely natural lighting. (Also, they're bringing in a therapy dog for the spring 2014 exam season. This alone should shoot them to the top of our list.)

Dark Horse Cafe
Toronto's three original Dark Horse locations (on Queen East, Spadina and Queen West) all share large, airy windows, plenty of tables (including massive communal ones) and a hassle-free atmosphere. The newest outpost, on John, is a little less sun-filled (what with being in a basement, and all) but makes up for that in coziness. Particularly great: The upper-level seating area at the Chinatown location, which makes for a nice remove from the hustle and bustle of the coffee counter.

Yorkville Library
Here's where to head if the Reference Library is rammed - this comparatively tiny library is just around the corner. The building itself is gorgeous, with a grand facade that will add an air of deep importance to the writing of your term paper, and if you can snag a spot at the study tables at the back of the building, you will likely be able to work away undisturbed.

Black Canary Cafe
Sherbourne and Adelaide's Black Canary offers a homey atmosphere with lots of tables, perfect for laptop-toters to set up shop. There are plenty of wall outlets, and if you feel your caffeine or sugar levels dipping too low, just grab yourself a Nutella latte (they might even let you eat the leftover Nutella off the spoon).

E.J. Pratt Library
Located on U of T's Victoria campus, Pratt features a modern atmosphere, a reading room with plenty of natural light (due to massive glass walls), plenty of streamlined individual work areas, and some large tables you can spread your stuff out on. It's a little more off-the-beaten-path for U of T students, meaning less competition for study space. (Bonus: If you need to zone out for a moment, there are some great views of Queen's Park.)

Thanks to Focus: Life Gear by TRIDENT for sponsoring this post. Focus: Life Gear by TRIDENT is a fashion line that blocks your mobile connectivity, allowing you to embrace a lifestyle of focus.

What did I miss? Add your favourite places to work or study to the comments below.

Photo of CSI Coffee Pub by Morris Lum.

Hope springs eternal at the outset of any sporting season -- especially in Toronto, where years of disappointment (mostly at the hands of the Maple Leafs) have trained local fans to exhibit an almost religious faith in the possibility that this could be the year we go all the way. That hope has suffered a major blow for Leaf fans with just four games left in the season and a once secure-looking playoff spot now a long shot. But if you follow the Jays, it's the time to think that the disappointments of last year will be overcome.

The team sits at 2-2 as they prepare for their home opener against the Yankees tonight, but already the faithful are talking of how strong the team appears on paper and the degree to which last year was but an anomaly. For a little window into this mentality, have a watch of this video making the rounds from Jeremy Larter and Dennis Trainor. In it, they discuss their hopes for the 2014 season, what the star players need to do better and take pity on a poor Maple Leaf fan who's not feeling so good. The whole segment feels like it could be a guest spot on Ford Nation, which I suppose is the very point.