Things to do this winter in Toronto range from desperate measures to escape the cold to activities that force us to embrace the snow -- sometimes at 40kph careening down a hill. Yes, just because the cold months are upon us doesn't mean that we must curl up and hide away for until the warm sun returns. This is a city that adapted to winter weather long ago, and we continue to find novel ways to entertain ourselves when the mercury plummets.

Here are the top 50 things to do this winter in Toronto.

ENTERTAINMENT

Bridge fine art and comics at the Art Spiegelman Retrospective
Pulitzer winner and one of the Time's 100 Most Influential People, the Maus cartoonist's work is a thrill to see in person. The brilliant AGO exhibit is on until March 15, and includes original drawings and rarely seen works from Spiegelman's career.

Dance away your holiday gluttony at Solaris Winter Music Fest
On Boxing Day, EDM fans can get a head start on NYE and dance off their sins with Skrillex, Kaskade, Boys Noize, Adventure Club, Tchami, and 3LAU and more. This Direct Energy Centre show is one of those all ages dance parties City Hall isn't fond of, so enjoy the glowsticks while you can, little elves.

Make your final memories at the Guvernment & Kool Haus
On Dec 31 the Guv's Magic NYE will mark their last New Year's celebration - but! The countdown continues with bookings until February. At Kool Haus you can catch Zeds Dead, Opeth, and Black Label Society and more before closing day.

Say you saw them when at Class of 2015
No need to mope around after the NYE fuss is over - live music fans will have more fun launching 2015 with the New Year's Indie Music Honour Roll series at Silver Dollar. On weekends from January 1 - 30 catch seven different line ups including Pet Sun, CROSSS, Mimico, Pistol George Warren, New Fries, CHOBO, and Bile Sister.

Take in the best in Canadian film
We are lucky to have the international roster of films and stars TIFF brings us every year, but it's our homegrown talent that fills our hearts with pride the most. The nominees for best Canadian picture this year are Denis Villeneuve's Enemy, Michael Dowse's The F Word, and Xavier Dolan's Mommy. In addition to these major films, the festival will Canadian docs and feature interviews with Naomi Klein, Avi Lewis, and Agent Johnny Utah (you know, Keenu Reeves). Runs January 2nd to 11th at the TIFF Lightbox.

Escape your own drama with Next Stage Theatre Fest
The Toronto Fringe's annual Next Stage fest is a must-hit for indie (/punk?) theatre fans, as is the beer tent. Tickets are available now, and the 12 day fest runs January 7 - 18.

Get a dose of art on your way to the train
Co-organized by Raster Gallery in Warsaw and Art Metropole, over 20 contemporary art galleries will take over Union Station between January 16-23rd for Villa Toronto, a major contemporary art festival that's previously been held in Tokyo and Reykjavik. Concerts and other events will run in conjunction with the fest.

Discover design at the Toronto Design Offsite Festival
Each winter, design installations and unusual prototypes get rolled into public spaces for the Toronto Design Offsite Festival. This year's fest (January 19-25) features screenings, panels, window installations, and more; check out the festival's site for the ever-growing lineup. A highlight each year is the Gladstone's Come Up to My Room exhibit, which gives designers free rein to do up one of the hotel's rooms on the second and third floor.

Check in on the fate of GenX at MOCCA
Canlit fans will be excited about this upcoming exhibition at MOCCA: Douglas Coupland's everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything installation will continue the writer's obsession with tech and pop culture via whatever means necessary - including Lego. The MOCCA exhibit is free, but the one at the ROM will cost you. January 31 - April 19.

Take in some culture at a Toronto theatre
Local stages will be home to a diverse collection of comedies, dramas, and even a thriller over the winter months, including the highly acclaimed production of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirt, where Angela Lansbury was all the rave on Broadway. Not to be beat, CanStage's take on Chekov's The Seagull promises to be one of the most thought-provoking productions of the season.

Be dazzled by Basquiat
Another AGO blockbuster, this will be Canada's first large retrospective of the NYC graffiti/fine art artist. Basquiat's often massive paintings are fascinating to behold in person, as child-like sketches and sardonic scrawled wordplay tackle issues of racism, social justice, and politics that are unfortunately just as relevant today. Starts February 7th.

Schedule a film fest staycation
See enough of the deep-winter programming Toronto's winter festivals have lined up, and you're blocked out enough time indoors to beat hypothermia and cabin fever. Look out for fests like Human Rights Watch (Jan 30 - Feb 1), The 8 Fest (Jan 30 - Feb 1), Great Digital (Jan 30 - Feb 5), Black Film Festival (Feb 10-15), and Reel Artists (Feb 18-22).

Check out stand-up from three SNL veterans
The comedy gods may not have smiled on the post-Saturday Night Live careers of Chris Kattan, Rob Schneider and Tim Meadows - but at this back-to-basics standup show at Brampton's Rose Theatre, you might catch a bit of the comedy spark we all stayed up way, way past our bedtimes to see. The show is February 12, and will hopefully not contain more than two minutes of Mango.

Travel east or west for live music
While the Rockpiles mark Toronto's east and west to many music fans, Riverside now boasts new warehouse venue Jam Factory, current home of Feast in the East's live music series, while deep in the west end Junction City Music Hall joins the neighbourhood's thriving music scene on Dundas west of Keele.

Get in the know with Toronto's weird scene at Wavelength
The Wavelength Music Festival is back from February 13-15. For the first time ever the fest will stretch across multiple venues as it celebrates its 15th year with a theme of Past, Present and Future. The line up is TBA, but expect some local favourites and a lot of up and coming talent.

Let your roots grow out with the Winterfolk Music Festival
Winterfolk's 13th year runs from February 13-15, with over 150 urban, blues, rock, jazz, country, folk and roots artists performing on multiple stages in the Danforth and Broadview area. Performers are TBA.

Get your geek on at Frostcon
FrostCon will bring comics, cartoons, sci-fi, manga, steampunk, anime/manga, and a whole bunch of cosplay to the Sheraton Centre on January 31. A smaller (and newer) event than some of Toronto's other conventions, it's like a ray of light in the cold, grey winter for cosplayers who greet spring with the arrival of ComiCon in late March.

Get a literary education without going to school
There's nothing that will push you in a literary direction like cold weather, and Toronto has a thriving series for readings and live monologs, including regular free and PWYC picks like True Stories Told Live, Pivot, Blue Coffee, Tell Me Something Good, and Chiaroscuro.

Start your fine art collection
Over 250 curated contemporary artists from Canada and around the world will flood the Better Living Centre February 19-22. This means you get to meet and hopefully buy work directly from the people behind it. Make no mistake, there's plenty of forgettable art here, but it's the hidden gems that make the show each year.

FOOD & DRINK

Have a drink with MOCCA
On at MOCCA on Queen West until December 28, Toronto artist Vera Frenkel's Ways of Telling exhibit features a pop up piano bar. The Transit Bar is tended Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays from 4-6pm, and Thursdays through Saturdays from 4-9pm.

Warm your soul with a hot toddy (or some other winter cocktail)
Few things warm one up better in the winter than a stiff drink, but if you're looking for the ultimate in booze-assisted heating, the hot toddy is your ticket. At its purest form, the drink is basically booze and hot water, but at places like Holy Oak,Geraldine, and the Gaslight (to name only a few), the concoction becomes the most comforting thing in existence.

Raise a glass of craft beer at the Roundhouse
The only thing that will get me to hang out outdoors in January for more than five minutes is the prospect of sampling the wares of two dozen local breweries. The Roundhouse Winter Craft Beer Festival, hosted at the Steam Whistle brewery, is offering just that, plus food trucks, marshmallow-roasting, and contests for best retro ski wear, on January 25. Advance tickets are $20.

Embrace tiki culture (and dream of the beach)
The beach may seem like a very distant thing in the middle of February, but you can immerse yourself in tiki culture at a variety of Toronto establishments, including the new Bill Hicks bar in Leslieville and longtime favourite Souz Dal, the latter of which has real sand on the year round back patio. Not dive-y enough for you? There's always Hawaii Bar, but that might just depress you even more.

Eat and Greet the Band
Dinner and a show? Collective Concerts and Rose & Son's is kicking off a series of pre-show dinners where fans will have the chance to mingle and munch with their favourite musical acts. The first event happening Saturday January 24 at the Phoenix will feature a menu from Big Crow tailored to the tastes of Canadian alt-country trio, Elliott Brood.

Gorge on poutine for a week
Poutine gets feted the first week of February with restaurants in Montreal, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Ottawa and Toronto dishing out the classic combo of fries cheese curds and gravy. Prepare to devour the iconic junk food and participating Hogtown restaurants including Holy Chuck, Fancy Franks and Marky & Sparky's (to name just a few).

Check out a new restaurant
Take your pick from a line-up of newly opened eateries or hold out for some of the most hotly anticipated restaurants to come. Last year's most buzzworthy, Bar Isabel is set to branch out with opening of Bar Raval, while newcomers like Kanpai look especially promising with a menu of Taiwanese snack foods and cocktails on draught set to debut in January.

Bask in sushi paradise at Toronto's first Sushi Festival
The First Annual Toronto Sushi Festival launches March 5-6, 2015 at Roy Thompson Hall. The promoters promise appearances from "the best Japanese Restaurants in Ontario" but exhibitors and celebrity chefs are yet to be announced.

Hit up a winter patio
Demonstrate your resilience to the cold by chilling out patio-side in the off season. Cozy up by the al fresco fireplace at Mill St. Beer Hall or let The Drake Sky Yard wrap you in blankets and serve you wintery cocktails.

Take a trip to Turkey without coughing up airfare
Located near Yonge and Eglinton, the new Istanbul Cafe does authentic Turkish coffee, pastries and light meals that will transport you to a warmer place just when the days look most bleak. There's even a fireplace should your imagination fail you. Don't leave without trying the Sekerpare!

Ring in the Chinese New Year
This year's Chinese New Year falls on February 19, but plans for the celebrations are already rolling in, with festivities planned for Chinatown and Market Village for the following weekend. You can also mark the occasion at this food fest devoted to dim sum happening on Saturday, February 21 at Daniel's Spectrum. Gung hey fat choy!

Watch our teams actually play well at a new sports bar
Don't look now, but the Raptors and Leafs are actually top teams in their respective leagues right now. That could all change over the course of the winter, but assuming it doesn't (and assuming you can't afford tickets to the ACC), why not check out one of Toronto's new sports bars. The Dock Ellis landed on Dundas West last year, and has since been joined by The Contender and The Derby, all three of which offer a less corporate sports watching experience (think craft beer over Molson Canadian).

ACTIVITIES

Escape the city!
Not all of us have the time or money to head to the tropics each winter, which is why it's so useful that Ontario is dotted with year round resorts and cottages/cabins that allow weary city folk take a load off for a few days. Whether it's to ski or to curl up by the fire with a book, the options are plentiful and beautiful.

Go surfing indoors
Granted, there's no water, tropical breezes, or hot surfers (actually, there might be hot surfers), but the new Surfset gym at Yonge and Eglinton, with its fleet of balance-testing surboards, aims to give you all the fitness benefits of shredding a killer wave, bro.

Drool over vinyl at Toronto's new crop of record shops
Stock up on vinyl this winter at Toronto's newest record shops (music will make your eventual hibernation more enjoyable, trust me). In addition to the relocation (and consolidation) of Sonic Boom to a beautiful new space on Spadina, stores like Tonality Records and Tiny Record Shop have injected new life into Toronto's vinyl scene.

Compete in your own version of the Hunger Games
Paintball is so, well, messy. That's not an issue at Toronto's soon-to-open Hunger Games-style battleground. Archery District is a new facility in Scarborough revolving around archery tag. For those unfamiliar with the game, you run around shooting one another with foam-tipped arrows, strategizing with teammates to best neutralize the opposing squad. Fun!

Stay at Toronto's newest hotel
The recently opened Delta Toronto Hotel boasts 567 rooms over 40 storeys that tower over the rapidly tourist-drawing and condo-ifying South Core area, which makes it a great place to take staycation. The new space is modern, cheery and colourful, with bold pops of colour in the lobby and some swanky standing bathtubs in the rooms (which go for $179-$299 a night).

Check out the new comic book shop at the Reference Library
The worst thing about the Toronto Comic Arts Festival is that it only comes once a year. If you, like me, feel that the Toronto Reference Library is way more fun when it's packed with visiting indie-comix personalities, tables full of graphic novels, and stacks of novelty plushies, head over to check out the new (permanent) TCAF store run by the folks at The Beguiling.

Rent the ice at Maple Leaf Gardens
The Gardens might be a grocery store-athletic centre hybrid these days, but you can still skate under the original cathedral roof Ryerson's Mattamy rink. At over $300 an hour, it'll cost you a pretty penny for the privilege, but for those who remember Toronto's most famous barn, there's something profoundly nostalgic about hitting the ice here. Not into history? There are lots of other options for ice time.

Catch an experimental show in Kensinton Market
If you've yet to drop by Ratio on College, Toronto's newest DIY music venue and art space is keeping busy, hosting multiple events per week from concerts to film screenings to art pop ups with an experimental bent. Go for the programming, stay for the cozy apartment-style seating.

Forget absolutely everything at a sensory deprivation spa
When you're floating blissfully in a pitch-black tank of water, it may as well be summertime outside, for all you know. H20 Spa on the Danforth was one of the first to offer the float-spa experience; other options include Toronto Floatation in Thornhill, Toronto Float Tanks near Christie Pits, and Float Toronto on West Queen West.

Get locked in at a new escape room
Escape rooms in Toronto are springing up faster than we can write about them, proving the trend has caught on in a major way in the GTA. With most game rooms previously concentrated in the suburbs, the downtown area recently welcomed some new additions, including Trapped and Mystery Room.

Ride the subway with no pants
It may seem counter-intuitive to disrobe during a winter commute, but that's all part of the fun at the annual No Pants Subway Ride, the purpose of which is to both shock and amuse. The idea is simple: hop on the subway, yank of your pants, and go for a ride pretending that nothing is unusual about your (lack of) attire. Last's year's event was the mist popular yet, so expect a big turnout this year (January 11th).

Learn the art of taxidermy
Teta Kika's Casual Taxidermy classes allow you to make some... interesting gifts and decor pieces at a beginner level. The February class is sold out, but March is still available and more may pop up. If you can't wait, Action Potential Lab is running a workshop February 7 with licensed instructor Mickey Alice Kwapis.

Work out, dragon boat-style
Afterburn Fitness, a brand-new gym in Scarborough, is the first in the GTA to offer indoor dragon boat training all year 'round, using an indoor pool outfitted with two 20-man boats. (You can also whip yourself into shape using a wide variety of other training equipment - but where's the fun in that?

OUTDOORS

Check out the new ice rink at Regent Park
A major piece of the Regent Park Athletic Grounds is slated to open shortly after New Year's. Assuming everything goes according to plan, the new ice rink at Sumach and Dundas will be unveiled on January 3rd with a Maple Leafs alumni skate and other community events.

Hit up one of Toronto's underrated tobogganing hills
Beyond the city's most popular tobogganing hills like Riverdale and High Park, there are a host of other bumps well-suited for sledding, some of which are straightforward and easy and some of which require caution on account of their gradients. Best bets include Westlake Memorial Park and the Pine Point Arena hill.

Try your hand at ice climbing
You'll have to make the short drive to Ancaster to try out ice climbing in real life, but you can build up your climbing strength at any one of Toronto's many indoor rock climbing gyms. The skills are a little bit different between the two disciplines, but there's plenty of crossover as pertains to one's comfort level and strength. Ice climbing is a pure winter sport insofar as it exposes participants to a beautiful environment but poses a serious challenge to be overcome.

Explore the (deserted) Islands
Winter on the Toronto Islands is a lot quieter than the summer, and while ferries dwindle, the trip to Ward's Island is still consistent throughout the day. Once you arrive, you'll find skating and cross country skiing, art exhibits, a cozy B&B, a farm, and a quiet winter oasis for all your hiking and shoe-shoeing desires.

Strap on some snowshoes
Snowshoeing is an underrated winter activity if there ever was one, and while Toronto's parks ravines are probably at their most fun to explore during summer and fall, you will find few things more beautiful in this city than the trails of High Park after a fresh snowfall. Go for a guided tour with the local ski club or buy your own and explore at will.

Ride your bike (no, seriously)
There was a time that you'd have to quite brave to saddle up and ride your bike over the winter in Toronto, but things are looking up. The City will spend $650K to plough key bike lanes this year, meaning that you won't have to log all your miles on the trainer if you're a die hard cyclist. This is obviously a win for commuters, too.

What did I miss? Add your ideas for things to do this winter to the comments below.

Writing by Aubrey Jax, Natalia Manzocco, Liora Ipsum, and Derek Flack

Photo by Matt Wiebe in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Christmas trees, glittery lights and mistletoe have dotted Toronto's urban landscape in preparation for one of the most festive seasons of the year. As a photographer, living and working downtown, it is inevitable to step outside and capture the essence of this season.

This year, however, I wanted to pursue a different story, documenting how Christmas is celebrated in palliative care. Palliative care isn't associated with happy endings. Generally, people tend to think of palliative as a gloomy place, a place rife with death and finality.

I found the exact opposite while visiting a family friend there, who happened to have taught me back in Pakistan, in Grade 1. I met a few volunteers who informed me that within a few days, they would be decorating the entire unit for Christmas. I was confused. The patients usually cannot get out of their beds and would barely get to see the halls and the common areas. That's when one of the volunteers smiled and said: "It's for the families that are practically living here with their loved ones, preparing to depart from our world."

Numerous volunteers came out to take part in decorating the floor. I caught up with Bill Wade, a retired nurse who has filled the volunteer role in the unit for over seven years: "I love how this place gets transformed during Christmas time. When it gets dark in the afternoon and we turn on all these big, beautiful lights, this place is magical. People come from all over the hospital to see it."

A few steps away, Pat Butler, another volunteer, was focused on decorating a large Christmas tree. "I was here 8 years ago when my mother was in palliative over one Christmas. She was here for four months and was very well taken care of as was the rest of the family." She added that her father-in-law, Kenneth Butler, was the founder of the unit. "I will always be happy to come down and help ... because this place is close to my heart."

Up until that moment I was under the impression that palliative care was only about managing dying patients. I realized that this was equally about the grieving families that inhabited the space. "I would say the people that need the most help are the families," another volunteer said. "They get angry and go into denial. We are not here to fix anything. That is not our job. We are just here to sit and listen and that is really hard. You don't want them to think you're not hearing them.

"I attended a lecture one evening by a woman who was a chaplain and someone in the audience said, what if someone doesn't believe in God before dying? She said, you must be silent. You are not here to teach."

As I followed the volunteers through the hallways, kitchens, patient's bedrooms and common areas, I also began to encompass the nurses and doctors into the series. Being an immigrant I began to see Canadian healthcare for what it really is: a dignified life and death for all human beings no matter where they come from.

Dr. Ignazio La Delfa, the medical director of the palliative care unit, explained that the unit provides end-of-life care for patients with life-threatening illnesses (cancer or non-cancer patients, though they are seeing a large growth in the number of non-cancer patients). Anywhere between 220 and 240 people die in the unit per year.

"We also have a large bereavement program that follows patient's families for up to a year after the death," he said. "Following up with family members is important. Finding out how they're feeling, or if there's anything we can further help them out with. If you die anywhere else in this hospital you don't get that."

As the day came to an end, I met Nerissa, who lost her father in palliative last year and had returned again this year, with her mother in palliative care. Though this is a tragic situation, I realized after speaking with her, how monumental of a role the unit has played in her healing and acceptance of her parents passing from this world.

"As a family member that has been through having my dad here, and my mom here, I feel like this is my home away from home. This is where both my parents have felt comfortable. They felt at peace. These were their last happy days. ... The volunteers, the doctors and the nurses have done everything to make my mother comfortable. The staff recognizes my mom because they took care of my dad last year. It was so nice to have the doctors come up to her and say "hey, we took care of your husband last year."

Looking around this quiet room, I noticed different philosophies, religions and schools of thought coming together. "People think this is a gloomy, sad place," Nerissa said. "As someone who lost her dad last year here and is now going to lose her mom, there is no place else I would rather be."

Writing and photos by Mariam Magsi.

It's Christmas roughly 50 years ago, and you're shopping for gifts for your family. As always, Eaton's is a great place to start. That year, the department store chain, which was headquartered at Queen and Yonge, filled the newspapers with multi-page spreads advertising everything from winter tires to dolls. Maybe you'll get a Baby Pattaburp for the girl, or perhaps some rainbow binoculars for the boy.

Here's a look at what was on offer 50 years ago this Christmas.

Sam the Record Man got festive in 1964 with Johann S. Bach and drum and bugle band records. Language records were also popular. Note the reel-to-reel starting at $1.98.

How about a movie tickets? My Fair Lady was playing at the University theatre on Bloor and Mary Poppins was at the Hollywood near Yonge and St. Clair. Elvis' Roustabout, in which he performed his own stunts and injured his head, was in its second month.

Eaton's had an auto centre at Bay and Gerrard. I'm not sure a set of tires would fit under the Christmas tree, however.

The gadget pages. Check out the foldaway hairdryer: "Tops in any gal's book."

It's interesting to note that in 1964 fashion was still advertised using stylized sketches.

Photography gear at Eaton's College St. and Don Mills. A Kodak Instamatic for only $15.75.

Maybe Christmas 1964 is the year you'll finally ask Susan to marry you.

Home appliances were firmly marketed at women in the mid-60s.

"Think how clever I could be if only I owned a beautiful, fully-automatic Bernina '65."

Some excellent T.V. tray sets were up for grabs. With wheels and everything. Also: Teflon cookware.

Dusters were all the rage in 1964. Also hi-rise, pull-on girdles and fabric shoes.

Desert Flower or Charles of the Ritz? There was always the novelty dog option.

More dusters, this time for kids.

Something for the girl. Baby Trixie's had a "vinyl face" and "black sleeping eyes." It was probably best to shell out the extra few bucks for the Baby Pattaburp.

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

All this month, we're making playlists about the spirit of select Toronto neighbourhoods. Our first playlist staggers through the streets of Parkdale.

Living in Parkdale: adorning myself in Public Butter finds, idling for coffee at the Mascot (RIP), and happily munching Roti Lady dishes on my front porch. Then, after a heavy rainstorm, my basement flooded with literal human waste and my landlord took off with my deposit, never to be heard from again. I thought it best to introduce this playlist, with its themes of thrift-store fashion, late nights, broke nights, and improvised dwelling, in the form of romantic 60's folk album liner-notes.

Are We Friends? Could we be? I've seen you, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, traipsing from the Queen library past the LCBO to vanish under the GO bridge. Down On the Street, you weave from Sh*thole to coffee shop humming an Unconscious Melody.

I know too well your pantomime of Insufficient Funds at the Skyline, and the full time job you make of dodging the Party Police. You imagine taking the Jameson exit to a new life - until then, you sleep little, wake late, the mirror insisting you're Getting Older. Worst, you seem to be Losing Your Taste for the Night Life. But. One More Night can't hurt us, can it?

Which 10 tracks would you use to celebrate Parkdale? Make your own Spotify playlist and tweet us the link, or leave it in the comments below.

Writing and playlist by Colin Gillespie, image by Aldrin Taroy

From our vantage point in 2014, the Toronto of the 1990s looks like a weird place. An alternative title for this post could have been "I can't believe it's Toronto" such is the level of disorientation several of these images create. Take the picture above, for example. It looks southeast during construction at Roundhouse Park on Bremner Blvd., but it could easily pass New York, Las Vegas, or anywhere, really.

The image below is another example. Taken before construction of Metro Hall, it shows the block of King St. where the Princess of Wales Theatre would soon appear. Before it was a surface parking lot, the block in the foreground was home to a massive Canadian Pacific freight yard. Trains could, until the late 1980s, penetrate as far into downtown as King and Simcoe.

Here's a look back what the rest of downtown Toronto looked like in the 1990s.

Looking over the future site of Metro Hall to King from Wellington.

The CBC Broadcast Centre, looking east towards downtown on Front.

Restaurant row on King West.

"Crazy for You" playing at the Royal Alexandra.

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre when it was new.

Speaker's Corner at Queen and John.

Mural on the side of Wayne Gretzky's sports bar.

The Hyatt Regency hotel on King West.

The Big Bop in psychedelic colours.

Now lost public art on Dundas at Yonge before the creation of Yonge-Dundas Square.

The view up Yonge from Dundas.

East on Dundas from what would become Yonge-Dundas Square before the arrival of Citytv.

Down Bay to City Hall.

The main gates to the Distillery at Mill and Trinity streets.

Looking east across the Distillery from Parliament.

New housing on the Esplanade.

Silos on the waterfront from Parliament.

Captain John's in happier times.

Southeast to the Port Lands over the Yonge and College area. That's the CBC's old Jarvis St. antenna on the extreme left.

Aerial view near Queen and Church.

An almost absurdly verdant view of Queen's Park.

Looking north up Bay towards the Sutton Place Hotel and Manulife Centre.

Dreamlike University and College.

The University of Toronto campus at College.

The roof of Scotia Plaza from the top of Commerce Court.

Yonge and Hillsdale

Yonge and Marlborough, looking southwest

Canadian Tire at Yonge and Davenport, pre-condos

(Note: Some of these photos haven't been clearly dated by the city archives, so it's possible a few from the late 1980s or early 2000s have slipped in.)

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

Images: City of Toronto Archives.

Art Spiegelman flew into Toronto late on Wednesday, where he was spontaneously collected at Pearson by random fans before his AGO appearance. The enthusiastic strangers (and maybe Spiegelman's willingness to go along with them) are emblematic of the cult appeal the Pulitzer Prize winning comic artist has earned. Officially opening today at the AGO, Art Spiegelman's CO-MIX: A Retrospective traces the comic artist's career from the raunchy to the devastating.

Spiegelman is probably best known for Maus, his heartbreaking two volume rendition of his parents' experiences under the Nazis, first in Poland and eventually at Auschwitz. (If you haven't read Maus, I'd recommend reading it before the show; you'll feel compelled to afterward anyway.) The work was initially serialized in his own magazine, Raw, before becoming the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer.

The layout of the show is jarring at first: you're greeted not by this literary work but by Spiegelman's gross-out kitsch Garbage Pail Kids designs and advertisements for Topps Chewing Gum, and an array of NSFW, sexually charged explicit comics from the 70s which make Spiegelman look more like every art school's resident perv than a world renown holocaust storyteller. The juxtaposition is off-putting, but ultimately provides crucial historical background on the world of underground comics at the time.

The show takes a serious turn quickly: among Spiegelman's experimental 1970's comics (comix) is Prisoner on the Hell Planet, a 1973 autobiographical story of the artist's mother's suicide. As often happens in the world of comics, macabre themes sit side-by-side with commercial work and humour. Spiegelman's crafty takes on Cubism show up multiple times, and his New Yorker covers and illustrations are given prominence - though it's Maus that overwhelms.

The exhibit devotes a substantial wall space to the printed final pages of Maus Vol 1. It's difficult to read as the columns of pages stretch so high and low, but it's quickly apparent the installation isn't only intended for reading. It stands as a solemn memorial to the profound tragedy the story represents, the sprawling grid imbuing the show with a somber quality like that of a war museum rather than a typical graphic / comic arts exhibit like Vancouver's Krazy.

On the adjacent wall, original sketches from the comic hang in a long horizontal series that will fascinate both artists and those curious about (or unaware of) the work that Spiegelman invested in each page: perspective sketches, coloured mock-ups, speech stuck on stickers, white-out patches and eraser marks. Large guache paintings, scratchboard art, and pastel drawings from Maus are also on display.

From the psychedelic to the haunting, the show works both as a primer for those new to Spiegelman and as a deeper dive for old fans. The exhibit could stand to have more of a tactile element given the pulp nature of the comic medium, but chooses instead to assume a grown up, fine art attitude that succeeds so long as you're willing to spend time with the show and dig into reading panels.

From the beginning of his career, Speigelman was aware of fine art movements and worked, if not in that world, alongside it, and the knowledge shows both in obvious ways like his work with Raw or his Picasso pieces, and in a more subtle, less intentional manner. Speigelman's at his best when he's mixing the tender with the grotesque, and the exhibit follows his lead.

Art Spiegelman's CO-MIX runs at the AGO until March 15, 2015. Tickets are included with general admission.

Photos by Derek Flack

If the thought of being fussed over at a bridal salon or shopping for bridesmaids' dresses sounds kind of terrifying, have no fear: A new bridal shop on Ossington offers a fun, relaxed shopping experience. Brides-to-be get the most real estate, with a tentlike space at the back of the shop available for test-driving wedding gowns, but there's a little something for everybody in the wedding party - and you won't even have to face that inflated bridal price tag.

Read my profile of Loversland in the fashion section.

Photo by Empty Quarter in the blogTO Flickr pool.

It might not have the history or character of some of Toronto's more established chophouses, but this steakhouse stands out from the pack thanks to its airy, contemporary atmosphere. While the setting feels very in vogue, the menu is as classic as can be, featuring thick slabs of meat, old school sides, and, mercifully, not too much else.

Read my profile of Jacobs & Co. in the restaurant section.

All this month, we're making playlists about the spirit of select Toronto neighbourhoods. Our second playlist strolls through The Church Wellesley Village.

The Church Wellesley Village is the spiritual home of Toronto's LGBTQ community. The history of The Village contains more than its share of discrimination and struggle, but each set-back and tragedy has been met with defiant shows of unity, strength and pride. The vibe of The Village is fun and exuberant, balanced with a sense of social and political awareness.

These were the considerations when selecting my soundtrack to The Village: dance floor jams from Austra, Light Fires and Diamond Rings to capture the nightlife; scrappy, unique singles from Peaches and Gentleman Reg; pop cuts from The Clicks and Molly Thomason to represent mainstream acceptance, and classic cuts from Rough Trade and The Parachute Club.

Which 10 tracks would you use to celebrate The Village? Make your own Spotify playlist and tweet us the link, or leave it in the comments below.

Image by Aldrin Taroy

With the usual cacophony of cack available to waste your time with on Netflix, CraveTV, Shomi, TMN, on-demand, Blurays, DVDs, torrents, streams and possibly still VHS, the holidays are actually a great excuse to get out of the house and rediscover what it's like to watch movies as they were intended - on a huge ass screen with extra salty popcorn and an engaged audience.

These 10 films do not represent the best of the year (which in my opinion would be the Holy triumvirate of The Grand Budapest Hotel, Boyhood and Interstellar), but they'll do in a pinch to soothe those intestinal turkey jams and booze-fuelled hangover doldrums.

Here are my picks for the top movies to see during the holidays in Toronto.

Inherent Vice
Paul Thomas Anderson's homage to stoner noir classics like The Long Goodbye (1973), Night Moves (1975) and The Big Lebowski (1998) is a blunt firecracker that will probably take a decade to appreciate (much like his other films). Based upon the mostly opaque writing of Thomas Pynchon, best to let the vibes wash over you and not knot up your brain trying to follow the labyrinthine plot laced with multiple Macguffins and enough second hand smoke to get you turbo high.

The Gambler
Fresh off his CG adventures with the Transformers, Mark Wahlberg regains some compromised filmic street cred with this homage to '70s crime films in which his gambling debts spiral out of control. For extra cool points, The Gambler also stars George Kennedy, maven of classic Hollywood who was already ancient in 1967's Cool Hand Luke.

Unbroken
After crashing his plane, Olympian Louis Zamperini is cast adrift 47 days on a raft before being caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp during the height of WWII. Angelina Jolie's sophomore turn as a director has an interesting lineage - it started life as a silent Coen Brother's film to star Brad Pitt (who no doubt showed the script to his misses) - and is surprisingly taut in a Castaway meets Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence Oscar bait-y kind of way.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
There will be tears as Peter Jackson's decades sprawling 6 film adaptation of J.R.R Tolkein's world come to a close as Bilbo and Company engage an army to stop the terrifying Smaug from acquiring a kingdom of treasure and destroying Middle-Earth.

Two Days, One Night
Edging more on an Art house tip, this foreign drama comes from the highly respected film making brothers Dardenee of Belgium. Marion Cotillard plays a young mother who discovers that her co-workers have been offered an increased salary if they agree to fire her, leaving her only two days and one night to convince them otherwise. Long takes and pensive performances underscore a frightening situation we have all worried about.

Into the Woods
Whimsical melting pot of Brothers Grimm fairy tales supported by a Pantomime-esq cast featuring Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, and Emily Blunt.

Selma
Martin Luther King and the civil rights marches of Selma, Alabama, are brought to vivid life with a mostly foreign, non-American cast. Timely message and brilliant performances make this one a lock for award season.

Song of the Sea
Celtic legends are brought to life in this cool looking animated tale which doesn't seem a million miles off from the kind of amazing work Studio Ghibli put out on the reg.

American Sniper
Director Clint Eastwood follows up his severely limp rendition of Jersey Boys with the kind of thoughtful, bullet riddled red meat he's best known while Bradley Cooper turns in a proper muscle-headed method performance which sees him become real life Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle. This is the same guy who was comic relief in The A-Team?

Big Eyes
After a decade of duds, Gothic viz master Tim Burton returns to form with this bio-pic not starring Johnny Depp. Instead, Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz craft this tale of spooky painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and her subsequent legal battles with her husband who claimed credit for her art work in the 1960s. As with Ed Wood, Burton delivers a killer story based on real life.

What did I miss? Please add your suggestions for new movies to see in the comments. FWIW, The Interview was actually on this list until North Korea threatened to nuke the world over it.

Main image from Inherent Vice

Free events in Toronto this week come in handy since you spent all your money on gifts, and you're about to spend money you don't have on things you would never otherwise buy thanks to Boxing Day blow-out sales. Oh, the lives of the down and more-than-out. As always, free tastes of culture offer some comfort, this week in the form of film screenings, live music, and art.

Here's how to prep yourself for a no frills budget New Year's resolution in Toronto this week.

1. Holiday Classics at the Bloor (December 19-23, Bloor Hot Docs CInema)
The Bloor continues their generous take on the holiday spirit, and you can reserve free passes now for holiday and holiday-ish classics including Bad Santa, Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, Love Actually, and more.

2. Vera Frankel (Until December 28, MOCCA)
If you're looking to hit a gallery, it's the last week to see Toronto artist Vera Frenkel's Ways of Telling exhibit. MOCCA is only closing up December 25 & 26, with shortened hours on Wednesday. For those with a bit of cash the pop up piano bar will be tended Tuesday & Sunday from 4-6pm, and Saturday from 4-9pm.

3. Karaoke Cult Annual Black Tie Party (December 23, Round)
On Tuesday, you can belt out all your holiday stress (or cheer? I guess?) while dressed in your dapperest at Round. Snacks will be on hand, but be be warned: there will be a group rendition of "Do they know it's Christmas."

4. Cover me Impressed (December 27, Lee's Palace)
Bring a non perishable food item (or more - or $5) to Lee's to hear cover songs performed live by some corner pegs of TO's indie crew including July Talk, Steven Stanley, Spencer Burton, Brendan Canning, Catl, Taylor Knox, Ferraro, Whitney Rose with host Sam Cash.

5. The Apple (December 28, Clinton's)
What better way to spend a sleepy holiday Sunday than with Bad Movie Night's screening of sci-fi musical The Apple. "What the Genesis story really needs is disco" -someone, somewhere, at some point. Movie's at 8pm.

Also check out these regular free events

Elvis Mondays (Mondays, The Drake)
Toronto's longest running indie showcase, William New's free show has put thousands of bands on stage. It's at the Drake Underground every Monday.

Free Nights at the Horseshoe (Monday/Tuesday, The Horseshoe)
The Legendary Horseshoe has a storied history, and hosts free indie rock shows in the early week with Shoeless Mondays and Dave Bookman's Nu Music Night on Tuesdays.

Free Evening (Wednesday, AGO)
The Art Gallery of Ontario's free evening runs from 6-8:30pm. It can be a little crowded, but sometimes the people watching is as good as the art (sometimes).

CINSSU's Free Friday Films (Fridays)
Though the Innis Town Hall is still under construction, you can follow the Cinema Studies Student Union for reliable Friday night movies and solid picks at Isabel Bader Theatre and/or Alumni Hall 100.

Canadian Opera Company (Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre)
September through to early June, catch free classical shows at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts "most Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon, and some Wednesdays at noon or 5:30 p.m."

Have a free event you'd like to plug? Submit it using this form.

Photo of July Talk by Matthew Kozovski

New music venues in Toronto this year blew my expectations. A ton of spaces opened their doors to the city's thriving music scene, from new bars with solid setups to an impressive number of artist-run DIY spaces. We saw shows at 811, Coalition, the HMV Underground, the newly opened Smiling Buddha basement (adding to big changes in the main venue upstairs), and the revamped Tattoo. Sonic Boom re-opened on Spadina, and even the art-focused Aga Khan Museum is hosting concerts (including an upcoming Tanya Tagaq show in March).

Here are my picks for the top new live music venues to open in Toronto this year.

Jam Factory
Riverside now boasts one of Toronto's best warehouse venues thank to Jam Factory, the east end's newest concert space and current home of Feast in the East's live music series and more. Find it above Merchants Of Green Coffee.

Coda
At the start of the year Toronto's dance fans had their fears dispelled by Coda, which moved into the old Annex Wreckroom space. The Entertainment District's loss of Footwork was the Annex's gain. The club's been consistently sporting some of the most exciting bookings in the city, and made our list of the year's top parties.

Geary Lane
Joining S.H.I.B.G.B's as another DIY Geary Avenue venue, Man Finds Fire's new contemporary arts and performance space aims to put expression first. The warehouse play host indie concerts, experimental shows, and dance parties, including Mansion's upcoming Ruins NYE bash. The upstairs patio seals the deal in the summertime.

Junction City Music Hall
Squirreled away in a basement, Junction City Music Hall joins the neighbourhood's growing music scene on Dundas west of Keele. A recent addition of bright new typography on the narrow doorway makes the venue a little less difficult to spot, but the concerts, flea markets, and vintage arcade games inside are still a bit of a Toronto secret.

Ratio
Toronto's newest artist run music venue and multi-use space on College east of Augusta is keeping busy, hosting multiple events per week from concerts to film screenings to art pop ups, most with an experimental bent. Go for the programming, stay for the cozy (and nice) apartment-style seating.

Did I miss your new favourite concert space? Let us know which venue captured your heart this year in the comments.

Photo of Jam Factory by Matt Forsythe

The pigeons of Toronto get a bad rap. Often maligned as "rats with wings," the birds that roost on our window ledges and flock in our public spaces are actually intelligent, social creatures with uncanny navigational abilities and complex mating rituals.

First, let's clear up a common misconception. The feral pigeons on the street are no different from carrier pigeons, racing pigeons, or that popular harbinger of peace, the white dove.

"A dove is just a white rock pigeon," says David Sugarman from the Ontario Science Centre. "There's certainly a dual perception of pigeons. One is this holy, peaceful association the other is this icky, bothersome thing that messes up our streets and our buildings and our cars, but it's the same creature."

Like all rock pigeons, to use their official name, Toronto's population originated as a species in the Middle East and were brought to North America from Europe as pets. Prized for their uncanny homing abilities, they were useful for carrying messages and prized for their coloured feathers: brown, white, mottled, iridescent patterns are common, even among the ones on the street. They also made for a tasty snack, too. Roast pigeon and pigeon pie have appeared in recipe books for centuries.

(Interestingly, Ontario used to have its own native species of pigeon. The once ubiquitous passenger pigeon was once so common in North America that airborne flocks would block out the sun. Hunted to extinction, the last one, named Martha, died in Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.)

Experts believe pigeons use the Earth's magnetic field combined with the sun and prominent landmarks to guide their long-distance flights. To send a message, notes were tied to the leg of a released bird, which would then return to its point of origin. Pigeons were awarded medals in both world wars for safely delivering important messages across battlefields and even used by Reuters to transmit stock market quotations between London and Paris in the mid-1800s.

In Canada, homing pigeons were used in marine search and rescue in Halifax in the 1890s.

"Their ability to navigate is remarkable," Sugarman says. "They can find their way back over up to 900 kilometres, which is just fantastic." In some cases, they've been clocked flying at over 100 km/h.

As natural cliff dwellers, modern pigeons love cities. Manmade structures with elevated nooks and ledges make perfect nesting places, while heavily trafficked streets provide an abundant supply of tasty morsels. Almost any dropped food will do, though naturally seeds and grains provide sustenance.

Pigeons are romantic. Lovebirds, if you will. Pairs mate for life, often with elaborate courtship displays. The male puffs up his neck feathers, coos, twirls, and occasionally flaps at the female before mating begins. Later, a brood of one or two eggs will be delivered into the nest, which is usually little more than a loose collection of twigs and paper.

Under ideal conditions, a pampered pigeon can live for more than 15 years, but most city dwellers are spent after about four. Diseases and predators such as hawks, owls, even domestic cats are chiefly responsible for keeping the population in check, though cold weather is also a factor.

Though undoubtedly smart, pigeons have the potential to pose a hazard. Over time, their slightly acidic droppings can compromise building structures. If inhaled, dried poop can transmit nasty viruses. Their dry nests can block rooftop drainage and even help feed fires.

Smart and potentially deadly.

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

Image: Jamaal, Nadia/blogTO Flickr pool.

Toronto has been a giant building site the last few years, but finally, after an interminable wait, several major projects are due to wrap up in 2015. The Spadina line extension and the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT might still be some years away, but the new year will bring several transit upgrades, including the Union-Pearson Express and a Leslie streetcar yard.

Elsewhere the first portion of the West Don Lands will be unveiled during the Pan Am Games and Queens Quay, for so long a tangle of construction hoarding and closed lanes, will finally reopen in its new, improved format.

Here are 5 major Toronto projects to finish in 2015.

The Union-Pearson Express
The fare prices might be eye-watering for anyone used to paying TTC fares, but Toronto will get its long-awaited downtown-airport rail link in 2015. The line will run from a dedicated platform at Union Station to Pearson via Bloor and Weston GO stations. Each train is fitted with wifi, luggage racks, electrical outlets, and departure information screens. Service will run every 15 minutes starting in the Spring.

The first taste of the West Don Lands neighbourhood
A large portion of the West Don Lands will come back to life during the Pan Am Games in the summer of 2015. The athletes village, which will be centred around an eastward extension of Front St., will be refitted for residential and commercial use following the event, with streetcar service beginning on the new Cherry St. spur. Corktown Common, the new park on the eastern edge of the neighbourhood, will see more use, too.

A revitalized Queens Quay
Waterfront Toronto's overhaul of Queens Quay is far more than cosmetic. Completely demolishing the street, including electrical, water, and streetcar infrastructure, has allowed the city to begin from scratch. In late 2015, when the project due to be finally complete, there will be widened granite sidewalks, an improved transit right of way, upgrades to the Martin Goodman Trail, and a new waterfront promenade. Best of all, the Spadina-Union streetcar link will be return.

A polished and expanded Union Station
Toronto's main railway station has been a confusing and unsightly construction site for years, but in 2015 the $1 billion revitalized subway platforms and GO concourse will officially re-open. Workers have been excavating a new basement retail level, cleaning up the dingy train shed, and improving the overstretched subway connections, including adding a new platform. The massive project is due to wrap in the last quarter of 2015.

The TTC's new Leslie Street yard
Starting next year, Toronto's growing fleet of low-floor streetcars will be stored at a purpose built facility at Lake Shore and Leslie. The "barns" were due to be finished this year, but overruns have pushed the opening date back several months. When the facility opens there will be storage space for 100 streetcars and 30 maintenance bays. The yards at Roncesvalles and Greenwood will house the remainder of the 204-vehicle fleet.

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

Image: Metrolinx, Waterfront Toronto, City of Toronto, TTC

Photo by edward rissling in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Today in Toronto a ton of artists join together in the democratic and curiously named Charity Case Showcase Show for Charity. Bring a donation to catch Jindalee Lehmann, Zoe Sky Jordan, T H O M A S, Adam Kuplowsky, Omhouse, Liam Titcomb, Anamai, and LUKA perform, then vote at the end of the night to decide where the money goes. Similarly (but minus the generousity part), at the Garrison each drink you buy gets you a karaoke rendition of a song of your choosing.

At Second City, Holidazed & Confused will get you laughing at the more ridiculous sides of the season with Kristopher Bowman, Leigh Cameron, Kyle Dooley, Devon Hyland, Hayley Kellett, and Kirsten Rasmussen. Or, watch it's A Wonderful Life at these Cineplex theatres. For more events, click on over to our events section.

• Music: Charity Case Showcase Show for Charity (Holy Oak)
• Comedy: Holidazed & Confused (Second City)
• Film: It's A Wonderful Life (Cineplex)
• "Music": Pammyaoke (The Garrison)

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

On Saturday night, surf-pop quintet Alvvays capped a whirlwind two-month tour with a packed, sold-out concert at the Opera House. It also capped an amazingly successful year for the band - the kind of year that so many musicians dream of but can rarely ever achieve.

With just one full-length record under their belt, Alvvays have become the unequivocal Toronto Music Success Story for 2014. Just about any indie band can expect adulation from a smattering of blogs and college radio stations, but Alvvays have surpassed that circuit to lock massive mainstream media's gaze, with features in The Globe and Mail, TIME magazine and even a slot on Rolling Stone's top albums of the year (well, the latter also put U2's questionable iTunes spam record in their number-one slot, so grain of salt, but still).

The stage is still empty when I arrive, but the venue is already more than half-full of all-agers eager to catch the last Alvvays gig of the year. It's an ample crowd for openers Elsa and Moon King, two other up-and-coming Toronto acts who, just like the headliners, rollick in the vintage dream pop sound.

Moon King (comprised of former Spiral Beach members) seems especially poised for the big time, complete with rock-star moves and high-energy songs that elicit great response. They'll be touring Europe with Alvvays in the New Year, so their confidence seems well placed.

As the stage dramatically dims for Alvvays' arrival, the audience swells with elation - it's the kind of response I'd normally expect for a more prolific, mid-career act, maybe Metric or Stars. When frontwoman Molly Rankin and her cohorts come into view, even they seem blown away by the crowd's enthusiasm.

Launching into "The Agency Group," the group pulls off a quick, roughly 35-minute set (remember, they have just one album) with taut, road-worn precision. I'm immediately struck by how Rankin's voice sounds deeper and more resonant than on record - though that may just be a byproduct from months of relentless vocal workouts on tour. But her emotive-yet-carefree singing style, an odd duality that anchors the band's sound, is still unmistakable.

My trips to the Opera House are usually for metal bands (last time I was here, it was for these guys), so it's a bit of a novel experience to be part of an audience here that isn't feverishly forming circle pits and screaming at the top of their lungs. Still, the packed crowd is animated throughout Alvvays' performance, dancing and singing along to major singles like "Archie, Marry Me" and "Adult Diversion."

As the projection screen behind them plays kaleidoscopic loops of 1950s stock footage, Alvvays plows through a setlist mostly pulled from cuts off their debut LP, interspersed with a handful of B-sides - "Underneath Us" and "Your Type" - plus an encore with a cover of The Primatives' "Out of Reach" and freshly penned tune "Haircut."

Through it all, Rankin is ebullient, bouncing and seeming ready to leap off the stage at any moment. She relays a few road-war stories about the past two months with candid humour: how they've driven into ditches, missed flights and likely pissed off some Dutch train operators. The whole band is obviously thrilled to be back home in Toronto, where people have been proud to watch their meteoric rise.

Alvvays is clearly still adjusting to their newfound stardom. "Does everyone know we're called Always?" Rankin asks towards the end of the night with mild trepidation, likely referencing the confusion that may come from their name's unique spelling. "Just checking!" she laughs. Even with all the sold-out shows and press accolades, they still exhibit these short moments of uncertainty, not fully sure if they've "made it" quite yet.

I have to say, it's awfully endearing. But given how polished and professional they already sound at this stage of the game, that uncertainty will likely start to fade soon. With a name like "Always," they're clearly in it for the long haul.

Photos by Matt Forsythe

Since 1981, this pub in the Upper Beaches has been a steadfast favourite of former Brits and Anglophiles alike. A few things have changed in the years since, including a minor facelift for the bar and a spruced-up menu of comfort foods, but the regulars are still raving - one even calls it "the most authentic British pub in Canada."

Read my review of The Feathers Pub in the bars section.