The top songs and videos from Toronto this winter caught our attention amid the chaos of PR over-saturation, a too-quick hype cycle, and general media over-stimulation - not exactly easy, but it makes these tracks and videos all the more worth spending time with.

We also loved songs and videos from Valkyrie 1984, Aidan Baker, New Fries, Whitney Rose, LIDS, and many more - then there was this Weeknd / 50 Shades of Grey thing that happened, and love song to Toronto, Chillaz's "To the World."

Here are our picks for the best songs and videos from Toronto this past winter.

Majid Jordan - Forever
The single off OVO sound's r&b duo Majid Jordan's A Place Like This EP features a grey jacket clad dancer doing his thing down Spadina, through U of T, the aisles of one of those TTC bendy trains, and eventually the Toronto Reference Library. MK.N

Coronado - Dreams
Toronto quintet Coronado apply a synth pop spin on their cover of Fleetwood Mac's mom-and-dad rock floor-filler "Dreams." The harmonies and pushing drum pattern remain, but the guitars are replaced with Johnny Marr-esque arpeggiated jangle pop, with the slide-like guitar leads lending nicely to warm synthesizer lines. The band perform as opaque silhouettes with dreamy, while dreamy washed out visuals of constellations and calm waters. MK.N

Grounders - Pull It Over Me
Grounders "Pull It Over Me" is the lead single off their new self titled LP, out this May on Nevado Records. The video follows a depressed Garfield (but legally, probably not the real Garfield) running through the streets of Toronto, taking in a softball game and eventually finding its way down to the water. MK.N

EGYPTRIXX - Transfer of Energy [Feelings of Power]
The video for the title track off EGYPTRIXX's Transfer of Energy (Feelings Of Power), created by POSTmatter collaborator A N F, visualizes the sparse, metallic, industrial techno that bathes the track. Stark CGI imagery leads us to a futuristic society revealing a glowing reflective structure. MK.N

SLOWW - Sleep Forever
Video collective INSPIRE X SOUND encourage producers to score a soundtrack to a moody audio-free canvas of video. The project is 3 chapters deep, with 14 artists on board including ÈBONY, Von Pixel. and Sarin. A Chapter 2 collaboration sees SLOWW employ hi-hat heavy, breathy electronic r&b over a character driven story in Kensington Market. MK.N

Brutal Youth - War on Youth
It's been nearly two years since ex-Newfoundland punks Brutal Youth's last recorded output, but the lull hasn't hurt their energy reserves. "War on Youth" rips out of the gate to deliver 90 seconds of thrilling eardrum assault. In rocky times of Blink 182 will-they-won't-they breakup melodrama, it's nice to remember that jubilant, 90s-soaked punk rock still has a pulse. SK

Bile Sister - Haagen Baadz
The Heather Rappard directed video for Bile Sister's "Haagen Baadz" leads us up a warehouse lift and right into the middle of a secret space rave. Glowsticks, black lights, and more aluminum foil than Thanksgiving dinner at your grandparents' cloak the video. MK.N

Etiquette - Attention Seeker
Hand Drawn Dracula's new signees Etiquette, comprising of Graham Walsh and Julie Fader, set an eerie, downtempo throb to one last make-out in suburbia. A stylish video directed by Ghostprom and Trevor Blumas keeps things dark as those clouds roll in. MK.N

Blunt Chunks - Woman
Self-shot by producer/singer/dancer/busy-body Caitlin Woelfle-O'Brien, "Woman" walks us around Toronto through the grainy, gray scale eye of a super-8 camera. The track coo's and floats and lends a helpful hand to the scenic, contrasting imagery. MK.N

Celebration Army - Black Blue Jeans
Initially described as a "new, disgustingly filthy southern rock project" in mid 2014, Celebration Army have since become a sophisticated filthy southern rock project. "Black Blue Jeans" from their new EP shows off their funk laden tunes, and why fans are getting up and dancing at shows. RA

Century Palm - New Creation
The seemingly everlasting winter of 2014/2015 will be captured for centuries to come in the new video off the cassette EP, Planet of the Tapes. Shot in black and white against a palette of white snow and grey waters, the video's black-clad band have a noticeable AntonCorbijn nod. MK.N

Hill and the Sky Heroes - Don't Be the Mistake
Leave it to Hill Kourkoutis (Hill and the Sky Heroes) to add "Don't Be the Mistake" to her already long list of impressive credits. One of four singles on Dark Days, it's more a revitalization than reinvention from her album 11:11 (2012). Listeners can expect more introspective, more focused, and more electronic from Hill. Three more EPs releases follow in 2015. RA

Holy Gasp - All the Animals
The Holy Gasp take a cubist approach to creating. Their newest collection of tracks make you want to join in the deep madness - "All the animals must pay alms to the poor / And all the animals must drink dog piss and sell guitars." THG's new album The Last Generation of Love was released February 24 on the No Love label. RA

Hayden - Nowhere We Cannot Go
Off his new album released on March 24th, a headphone wearing, hot tubbing Hayden douses us with some sunshine. The video follows couples presumingly on vacation at the beach, riding horses, checking in on BlogTO via their smartphones, smiling to the cameras for those seemingly sweet, perfect photos.
MK.N

Blimp Rock - Let's All Stay In Tonight
Patience is low for bands that sound like Pavement, but there's something so totally alright about Blimp Rock past and present, as though they'll be the first to tell you they're alright, just alright (the new album is titled Sophomore Slump, and the band's PR campaign includes selling office supplies to get by). The release party is April 25 at the Dakota. AJ

We know we missed a ton stuff you like. Leave your favourite tracks and videos from Toronto this winter in the comments.

Photo via Majid Jordan on Facebook

Contributions by M. K. Newton, Shazia Khan, Ryan Ayukawa, Aubrey Jax

Harbour Master Angus Armstrong knows the bottom of the Toronto Bay like the back of his hand. A police diver for 26 years and an employee of the Toronto Port Authority (now PortsToronto) for 14, Armstrong has seen everything from classic cars to home made concrete sailing ships dragged off the mucky lake bed. "I've spent my whole life on the water," he says. Before joining the police he was a lifeguard on the Toronto Islands.

Part of the reason why the cops and PortsToronto find so much stuff is that the harbour must be routinely dredged in order to keep it at a standard depth of 8.2 metres. Seafaring vessels like the ones that deliver sugar to the Redpath factory on Queens Quay East precisely calculate their load and depth in the water, meaning an unchecked build-up of natural silt could potentially lead to a vessel becoming trapped.

Toronto Police also routinely patrol the harbour. Criminals have long believed the water will permanently devour any evidence of crime only for a diver to haul up the knife, gun, or vehicle a few days later, fingerprints or other evidence intact.

We asked Armstrong to draw on his 40 years experience and tell us about the strangest things found in the Toronto Harbour.

A novelty trackless train
Some time in the 1960s, Armstrong says a team of divers found the locomotive from a novelty trackless train buried in the silt at the east end of the harbour. Used at the CNE to pull around tired and dizzy Exhibition goers, divers guess someone must have snuck it out during the night and somehow crossed the city undetected.

"It was pretty amazing," Armstrong says. "It had been there a long time, supposedly. It was covered in moss and everything else." Divers often find stolen cars (more on that later,) but the trackless train was a first, especially because it was never reported stolen. "That usually is happening a lot. You dig back and find these were reported cases, but sometimes you find things that were never reported."

A homemade sail boat
Ferro-cement boats used to be all the rage in the 1970s, Armstrong says. Made by casting a cement-like material around a wire mesh frame, they were cheap, fun, and pretty flimsy. This one was about 50 feet long and firmly embedded in the lake bed. "We had no record of this sinking. You would think a big boat like that going down would have been reported."

"Our feeling was someone had this guy had in the water, in the shipping channel, and he just kind of walked away, abandoned it. And probably one night, in a bad, violent storm, it broke free, got out, and sunk. When people saw it was gone they all thought he took it away." The harbour commission had to dredge up the wreck so that it wouldn't pose a hazard to shipping. "The longer they've been down there the more difficult they are to get up."

A brand new Jaguar sports car
While working with the police dive unit in the 1980s, Armstrong and his team discovered a brand new racing green Jaguar sports car submerged in the Western Gap near the foot of Bathurst St. It had an all-leather interior and was presumably very, very expensive.

"We hauled it out of the water and we find it had been reported stolen, but the keys were inside it," Armstrong says. "So we called back the owner and he confesses. He says: 'Well, officer, I didn't want to say it before, but it's a gift from my wife and I'd gone to my girlfriends apartment. I guess my wife followed me and she jumped out of her car and jumped into my car with the spare set of keys, drove it down to the harbour, and shot it into the lake."

"The insurance company didn't cover that!"

A samurai sword
Police divers have many times pulled out knives, guns, and other potential evidence of violent crime from the murky depths, but one weapon that stands out in Armstrong's mind is a massive samurai sword. "We didn't know exactly what was the reason for throwing that into the lake," Armstrong says.

Weapons and other suspicious items found by police or PortsToronto divers are carefully brought back to the surface and placed in evidence. Fingerprints and other incriminating evidence often survive being submerged, so any weapon divers find could prove vital to an investigation. These days, however, evidence of criminal activity is become less frequent.

"It's changed so drastically over the last 20 years," he says. "In the old days you could come down here and fire a gun off in the air and not be noticed because you're in the middle of an abandoned pier. Now it's so public down here we see a lot less issues."

Lucky charms
No, not the breakfast cereal.

Although fewer people are using the harbour as a dumping ground for weapons and garbage, Armstrong says there has been a sudden rise in the number of good luck charms sent into the lake from the shore. Padlocks, ribbons, candles, eggs, and other talismans have become common discoveries in dredging buckets over the last decade.

"You put it in a paper boat and set it adrift out in the lake," Armstrong says. "Of course, they sink, and you find all these charms ... they're usually right by the shore line or by the [Western] Gap. An easy wall you can access."

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

Image: Patrick/blogTO Flickr pool.

As we emerge from our winter hibernation, begin to wear less clothing, and start to socialize once more with other merriment seeking Torontonians, it's only natural that our fertile young minds turn to one primal thing: beer.

Thankfully the city's local brewers have taken our carnal desires to heart and have provided us with a new crop of great local beer to take home, enjoy for just one night, and not have any regrets about it in the morning.

Here are my top picks for spring beers this year in Toronto.

Motley Cru from Bellwoods Brewery, 8.5% Sour Red Ale
Motley Cru is the beer Bellwoods releases on their birthday each year, but the beer is never the same as the previous year. This year it's a blend of sour red ales that are 1-3 years old and aged with Ontario pinot noir grapes and a mix of wild yeast and bacteria strains. The result is a ridonkulous, subtly sour beer with funky cherry and oaky leather notes that will appeal to die hard sour fans and newcomers.
Available at the Bellwoods Brewery retail store starting 11am on Saturday, April 4th. 750ml, $13,

Octopus Wants to Fight from Great Lakes Brewery, 6.2% IPA
This is a new India Pale Ale from Canadian Brewery of The Year, Great Lakes Brewery. If you've had a GLB IPA before, you're probably already driving to Etobicoke, but for those that aren't familiar, expect monster tropical fruit and resinous pine in the aroma, dank, grassy flavours and a lasting bitterness. I don't get the name, but I don't care.
Available at the Great Lakes Brewery retail store. 473ml cans, $3.50

Armed N' Citra from Rainhard Brewing Co, 5.2% American Pale Ale
The first beer from The Stockyards' brand-spanking new brewery is a take on a classic American Pale Ale. Aromatic owing to four hop additions and one dry-hopping in the fermenter (yes, with Citra hops), Armed n' Citra is has distinct flavours of melon and grapefruit with a solid malt backbone. An excellent first beer from a brewer that shows promise.
Available at Rainhard Brewery's retail store in 2L growlers for $15 (plus $5 bottle deposit) and in 650ml bombers for $5.95

Love Fuzz from Black Oak Brewery, 6.2% Red Pale Ale
Originally created for Cask Days, Black Oak has now opted for a wider release of this full-bodied red ale that has aromatic Legacy, Simcoe, and Galaxy hop aromas with a blueberry and citrus caramel malt flavour and just a touch of bitterness.
Available at the Black Oak Brewery retail store, 650ml for $8.95 and on tap in select local bars.

Bonus-not-new-but-kind-of-new beer:

Resin Bag from Left Field Brewery, 6.5% American IPA
Just in time for spring training, the good folks at Left Field Brewery have finally opened the doors on their long-awaited east Toronto brewery. So while Resin Bag has been around a while, why not pick up a bottle of this tidy little IPA now that it's being brewed in Left Fields very own, very impressive new brewery?
Available in 750ml bottles for $9 (plus a $3 bottle deposit) at Left Field's intermittent (for now) pop up shops. Check their website for upcoming dates.

Extra bonus exciting Toronto spring beer news
Great Lakes Brewery is releasing "a lot" of 650ml bottles of Thrust! An IPA at the LCBO this spring for $5.95.

What did I miss? Add your favourite local spring beers in the comments.

Ben Johnson also writes about beer over on Ben's Beer Blog. Follow him on twitter @Ben_T_Johnson

Photo via Bellwoods Brewery

What's open and closed on Easter Sunday 2015 in Toronto:

CLOSED

• Government offices (post offices, City Hall and others) will be closed.
• Banks will be closed with most resuming service on Monday.
• Toronto Public Library branches will be closed.

OPEN

Transit

• The TTC and GO Transit will operate on the standard Sunday schedule.

Shopping

CLOSED

• Most shopping malls (Yorkdale, Fairview, Sherway Gardens, Scarborough Town Centre, Vaughan Mills) and retail stores will be closed - although there's usually some unexpected openings, so call ahead.

OPEN

• The Eaton Centre - open 12pm to 5pm
• Pacific Mall - open 11am to 8pm

Food

CLOSED

Major chains and grocers like No Frills, Fresh Co., Loblaws, Metro, T&T, Pusateri's, and Bloor Street Market will be closed, with a few confirmed exceptions listed below:

OPEN


• Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens (60 Carlton St.) - open 10am to 6pm
• Metro (444 Yonge St.) - open from 9am
• Arz Fine Foods (1909 Lawrence Ave. East) - 8am to 8pm
• Rabba's (various locations) - open 24 hours
• Food Depot (155 Dupont St., at Davenport) - open 24 hours
• Bloor Superfresh (384 Bloor St. West) - open 24 hours
• Kitchen Table (10 Queens Quay West) - 6am to 12am
• Kitchen Table (389 Spadina Rd.) - 7am to 12am
• Kitchen Table (595 Bay St., at Atrium on Bay) - 6:30am to 12am
• Kitchen Table (705 King St. W.) - 6am to 2am
• Galleria Supermarket (865 York Mills) - open 7am to 12am

Call ahead to restaurants as many are taking the day off at their own discretion.
See also: 10 restaurants to eat Easter brunch in Toronto for 2015

Drink

CLOSED

• All Beer Stores and LCBO stores are closed.

OPEN

• Steam Whistle (255 Bremner Blvd.) - retail store and tours from 11pm to 5pm
• Mill St. retail store (21 Tankhouse Ln.) - 11am to 8pm
• Amsterdam Brewery (45 Esandar Dr.) - retail store 11am to 6pm; (245 Queens Quay) - open 11am to 11pm
• Bellwoods Brewery Bottle Shop (124 Ossington Ave.) - 11am to 11pm

Attractions

• Art Gallery of Ontario (317 Dundas St. West) - 10am to 5:30pm
• The Ontario Science Centre (770 Don Mills Rd.) - 10am to 5pm
• The Royal Ontario Museum (100 Queen's Park) - 10am to 8:30pm
• Ripley's Aquarium of Canada (288 Bremner Blvd.) - 9am to 11pm
• The Toronto Zoo (2000 Meadowvale Rd.) - 9:30am to 6pm
• Major movie theatres are open across the city.

Did we leave something out? Please let us know in the comments section below.

Photo by Danielle Simone in the blogTO Flickr pool

Did you know that the City of Toronto owns over 150,000 historical objects, and that they are hidden away at two sites within the city?

Heritage Toronto recently offered its members a behind the scenes tour of the city's main storage facility, a perk well worth the membership price. A small group was toured around the facility, from the basement up to the fifth floor, double-high ceilinged room, by Alex Avdichuck, Supervisor of Collections and Conservation for the City.

We were welcomed by Ross Fair board member of Heritage Toronto and also a professor at Ryerson where he teaches a popular course on the history of Toronto.

While some of us may think that the discussion about the need for a city of Toronto museum is somewhat recent, Avdichuck reminded us that the desire has been expressed since the 1930s. While the most recent talks around the Museum of Toronto have yet to come to fruition, the artefacts remain preserved in the hopes that someday they'll get a more public showcase.

The building I visited is a non-descript structure on a formerly industrial street in the west end. It was purpose-built as a storage facility in the early twentieth century, and it became home of the City of Toronto museums in 1980. They don't advertise what's inside, and they don't want everyone knowing the wealth of historical riches housed here.

While it's well-suited for storage, it's about 50% over-capacity. A second building houses most of the large items the city owns, including watercraft from the now closed Toronto Marine Museum.

Other oversized items have been loaned to museums in Halifax, Kingston, and various historic sites in Toronto. Avdichuck argues (quite rightly) that it's better to have things like a locomotive, airplane, and boat being enjoyed by museum-goers in other places.

Midsize items like portions of the columns from the former Bank of Toronto building (lead photo), which was demolished to make way for the TD Centre in the 1960s, are held here along with a vast collection of smaller objects like bottles from the Gooderham and Worts Distillery and even Toronto Blue Jays memorabilia.


Many of the items belonging to the City are pieces of ephemera connected to Toronto, and have come from two collectors, Larry Becker and Morris Norman.

The city has all sorts of interesting little things that people often threw away, but have been gathered and preserved, including packaging, tickets, flyers, advertisements and the like. Anything connected to Toronto, including things produced by Toronto factories, ads selling products to Torontonians, and posters for leisure activities in the city tell stories about the history of this place. Norman donated 15,000 such objects which are still being catalogued by city staff.

We were allowed to peek behind the sheets, and a few items were taken out for us to have a look at. I complained to Dr. Fair that I wished all of these things were accessible, digitized, searchable, and visible to the public, and he said "What you want is a museum!"

And it's true.

A peek into the holdings of the city only make me wish it was all on display, in a beautiful new (or old!) building, to be visited by history buffs and tourists alike. As Avdichuck said at the end of our tour, these items have been collected with the purpose of telling the story of Toronto. "We have stuff with stories," she said.

For now, you can see one hundred artefacts, paired with stories from one hundred Torontonians, as part of the Toronto Museum Project. But that, of course, is just a snipped of the secret storehouse of history Toronto has lying in wait.

Alison Norman is a historian who lives in Toronto. She teaches in Canadian and Indigenous Studies at Trent University.

Photos by the author and via Heritage Toronto

Wedding dress designers in Toronto give a handmade touch to wedding wear. There's no shortage of destinations for wedding dresses in the city, from splurge-worthy to budget-friendly and everywhere in between. Going local is always a worthy option, whether you're looking to support a local business, add custom details, or just find something that's been made with a little extra love and care.

Here are my picks for the top wedding dress designers in Toronto.

Catherine Langlois
Langlois' focus is on custom bridal design, with romantic lace, delicate beading or architectural details just as paramount as comfort and ease of motion (after all, you're going to want to dance on the big night). She also offers an off-the-rack collection, dubbed Amethyst, at Sash & Bustle.

Sarah Houston
Designer Houston does classic gowns in a variety of styles, from vintage Hollywood to poufy-skirted princess shapes. Each created to flow elegantly around a bride's body, thanks to lush fabrics inside and out (each dress is lined with silk for extra comfort). To get one for yourself, visit her Yorkville atelier.

Christopher Paunil
Up-and-comer Paunil, a recent competitor in the Toronto Fashion Incubator's New Labels competition, counts dramatic, feminine bridalwear among his specialties. He's fond of an asymmetrical hem, strong ruffles, and a splash of his signature crimson red. Find his pieces at Kleinfeld Toronto.

http://www.lea-annbelter.com/">Lea-Ann Belter
Belter, who operates out of a pared-back bridal salon at Broadview and Dundas, has been dressing Toronto brides for nearly 20 years (in case you're wondering, that adds up to over 20,000 dresses). Belter's dresses are all about subtle, gorgeous details, including pearls, crystals, and textiles sourced from around the world, including a few fabrics designed by Belter herself.

Marika Brose
This Canadian designer recently parlayed her edgy, minimal aesthetic into a wedding-oriented collection that's a far cry from staid, fussy bridalwear. Long or short dresses in simple, clean shapes come coated in beaded fringe, marabou feathers, or tiny white sequins. Contact Brose to order your own.

Ines Di Santo
Sensuality plays a big part in Ines Di Santo designs: Form-fitting shapes, sweetheart necklines, deep plunging Vs, all retaining sophistication and glamour. (As Ines herself, half of the mother-daughter-team behind the line, puts it: "Your wedding day is your chance to have your red carpet moment.") In addition to the label's studio on Davenport Rd., their pieces can also be found at Kleinfeld.

Lowon Pope
Want vintage flair without the needle-in-a-haystack hunting experience? The husband-and-wife duo of Lana Lowon and Jim Pope might have your solution within their Liberty Village studio. Their dresses, which often make use of antique fabrics, are either available off-the-rack or custom-made (including corsets).

Rivini
Designer Rita Vinieris, who splits her time between Toronto and New York, does exquisite lace-and-tulle creations that don't shy away from drama (as one recent design, lace sweat suit with a train, undoubtedly proves). Her designs recently caught the attention of Bergdorf Goodman; in Toronto, you can find her gowns at Kleinfeld.

Valencienne
This Eglinton West studio, headed up by designer Kim Ironmonger, specializes in custom-designed gowns, with countless creations - from romantic to glamorous to sexy to daring - already under their collective belts. They pride themselves on being able to take brides' wedding-day visions and make them work for their body type and style.

Maureen Patricia
In her Queen East studio, designer Maureen Patricia works closely with brides to create their perfect gown, including fully custom designs. Her trademark is vintage-inspired silhouettes using locally-sourced fine fabrics, including antique and hard-to-find lace. To try on her dresses for yourself, book an appointment to check out her studio.

Did I miss any? Leave your picks for Toronto-based wedding dress designers in the comments.

Photo via Catherine Langlois

This new College St. bar has it all: bottle service, beer, high energy dancing, and chill arcade games. Was it enough to hold my interest or did it prove to be too much stimulation?

Read my review of BLND TGER in the bars section.

Photo by Frederic B. Konkel in the blogTO Flickr pool

The top concert poster artists in Toronto flex their considerable muscle and leave a lasting impression. In the days when everyone can do everything, the only limit is your imagination, and DIY band posters have their charm - but for a band or promoter searching for a visual representation of sound and mood and artwork that's striking and memorable, it's best to leave the heavy lifting to the professionals.

Here are my picks for the top concert poster artists in Toronto.

Miles Tsang
There are few poster designers in Toronto, let alone the world, quite like Miles Tsang. One look at his Youtube videos will demonstrate the prowess that attracted the likes of The Black Keys, Queens of The Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, and Mastadon. You'd think that the intricate details in his designs would be impossible to print; as luck would have it, he's also a skilled screen printer.

Michael Deforge
Michael Deforge has come along way from designing posters simply as "a way to get in to shows I didn't have cash for." His surreal depictions have graced posters for Speedy Ortiz, Hooded Fang, Soupcans, and Teenager. Currently a designer on the forever trippy Adventure Time, Deforge originally drew inspiration from Montreal's concert poster innovators, Seripop.

Alexandra McKenzie
As a musician, Alex McKenzie creates arresting compositions that challenge listeners to see a deeper truth. The same can be said for her artwork for bands like Doldrums, and her own project Petra Glynt. Beauty is in the details, and there's a lot to soak in. McKenzie says she sees poster conceptually as "part of a much larger project, the event itself."

Doublenaut
It's hard to have a conversation about poster design without Doublenaut. Brothers Matt and Andrew McCracken began designing posters for hardcore shows in 2003. Since then they've worked with a wide variety of artists (The National, City and Colour) who love their simple and eye-catching designs. Fresh from designing Metz's spring tour poster, the duo admit that poster merch isn't what it once was, having reached high saturation a few years ago.

Julia Dickens
Dickens grew up with punk, and says that it still informs her everyday life. Though not the collage type of artist long since associated with the scene, she draws on the energy of music culture. She lists Seripop as a major influence, referencing their aggressive creations in her own "contemporary psychedelic designs" for clients like Long Winter and Feast In The East.

Tad Michalak
Michalak became a designer out of necessity: as a budding promoter, he didn't have money to pay an artist. He describes his style as "junky and a bit naïve." With a carefree, unschooled attitude, he exudes the kind of imagination that isn't shackled by rules, and that fits perfectly with the shows Burn Down The Capital promotes.

Denis Chow
With Chow's art one is never sure whether sigh lovingly or run in fear. He manipulates ordinary images with such finesse that the dark underbelly they're fighting to suppress is revealed against their will. His diverse clientele has included Telephone Explosion, Black Lungs, and Diemonds, plus clothing companies Lifetime Collective and Fenchurch. He's also been featured in International magazine Lodown.

Robb Mirsky
Mirsky has spent most of his time creating and publishing comics, and it's reflected in his posters. Not overly "cartoonish," he explores the diversity of the medium: Mirsky's most recent work for the band Garbageface pays homage to Maurice Sendak's classic Where The Wild Things Are with its wartime-era shading, while work with Alvvays and Crystal Stilts mirrors retro Mad Magazine.

Matthew Daley
Freelance illustrator Daley began pursuing poster design in 2002. Working with clients like the Polaris Music Prize, Devo, and Dillinger Escape Plan, his well-honed skills are on display in his vector-based designs. Clean lines are dissected with gritty textures adding an organic feel to images that might otherwise be considered minimalist.

Steve Manale
There is a lot to take in when viewing a Manale poster. As a comic artist he not only brings his illustrative skill to his designs but also a comic book narrative. Many of his designs for the likes of Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees take a multi panel approach, making posters seem that much more collectible. Well at least for this comic book nerd.

Who did we miss? Leave your favourite Toronto concert poster designers in the comments.

Lead image: Doublenaut

Free events in Toronto this week run from the culty-kitsch to high art, and if you don't see any difference between the two you probably grew up as broke as I did. Mind my tone. There's also a fancy vintage clothing swap you might be permitted to enter (no '90s, Spice Girls fans) and then, of course, unlimited free pancakes at the Pancakes & Booze Art Show, a steal for $5 at the door.

Here's what to do to in your perilously under/over educated and broke state in Toronto this week.

Images Festival (April 9-18)
Images may be the world's most wide reaching film and media event. Much closer a bedfellow to art than a mega film fests like TIFF, the experimental finds a home here with screenings joined by installations, performance, art exhibits, and more - many of which are free. Check out their website for programming.

Etsy Vintage Swap (April 9, Gladstone Hotel)
If you're reading this post, you probably need new clothes. Pull out your un-sketchy vintage (20 years older or more) finds that never fit properly and bring them to this free swap at the Gladstone - it's free, but a $2 donation for Goodwill TECNO is appreciated.

Spice World Film Screening and Junk Food Extravaganza (April 10, Videofag)
This sleepover-style screening is PWYC, but if you don't have cash the pure spirit of Baby Spice will let you in for whatever half pence or whatever you've got. Bring spicy or sweet snacks, dress as your favourite gal, and tell the promoters not to bother bringing sheet music - everyone knows the lyrics to "Spice Up Your Life."

A Mr. Show Marathon (April 11, Smiling Buddha)
This tribute to David Cross and Bob Odenkirk runs from 11:30 - 4pm on Saturday. There will be a best sketch round up at the end, and, most exciting of all: you get to vote on which episodes are screened here.

Bulletproof (April 12, KITCH)
Video Vengeance is celebrating their 15th screening with 1988 cult action classic Bulletproof. There will be a raffle, and the raffle is free too.

BONUS

Nature Abstracted (Nicholas Metivier Gallery, April 2-25)
Edward Burtynsky and David Shapiro have joined forces. Burtynsky's stunning photos from five-year-long project Water are a "natural" (sorry) fit with David Shapiro's textured works on paper.

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.

AGO 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).

Aga Khan Free Evening (Wednesday, Aga Khan Museum)
The brand new Aga Khan Museum for Islamic art has launched Free Wednesdays from 4-8pm.

CINSSU's Free Friday Films (Fridays)
The Innis Town Hall is back with free movies every Friday. Follow the Cinema Studies Student Union or check out our event section.

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."

MOCCA (Tuesday - Sunday)
While nearly all art galleries in the city are free to enter, it's worth noting The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) is always PWYC.

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

Alternately twisty and arrow straight Weston Road makes its way from confusing origins south of St. Clair Ave. to a quiet rural intersection about 40 kilometres north of the city in Holland Marsh. Named for the old village of Weston, which it once primarily served, the road used to be heavily industrial along its southern reaches: factories that made automobiles, boilers, and pianos, as well as manufacturing plants that turned out bags of flour and piles of butchered meat were all common within the Junction.

Before that, the road was little more than a dirt track, as illustrated in the photo above, taken in 1908 near Rogers Road.

Today, there are two Weston Roads. Signs for "Old" Weston Rd. mark the earliest route of the street, east of the railway corridor, while the "Weston Road" that runs south of Rogers Road and intersects with Keele St. is a more recent addition. (In this post, I've used the modern day road names for the sake of clarity.)

This is what Weston Road used to look like in Toronto.

An unpaved Old Weston Rd. north of St. Clair Ave. around 1930.

The Heydon House hotel at the northwest corner of today's Old Weston Rd. and St. Clair Ave., which still stands in a heavily altered state, was once the largest hotel in the former independent town of Toronto Junction. As David Wencer writes at Torontoist, the Heydon House used to be a popular drinking hole and cock fighting venue around 1903.

Northeast corner of Old Weston Rd. and St. Clair Ave. in 1911, opposite the Heydon House hotel. The view today is decidedly less bucolic.

Another bawdy Junction hotel, Brown's was one of the several establishments forced to stop serving alcohol by the passage of a local law enforcing prohibition in 1904.

House on Old Weston Rd. near Brown's Hotel before the road was paved. The houses on this strip mostly been rebuilt since this photo was taken.

Aerial view of the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railway intersection that gave the Junction its name. The bridge in the foreground carried Old Weston Rd. over the tracks until it was demolished in the 1970s. The West Toronto Diamond grade separation, which was "substantially completed" in December, has eliminated the direct intersection of tracks in the area.

Level crossing on Weston Rd. just north of the West Toronto Diamond, looking north. That elevated signal box on the right of the frame was where engineers controlled rail traffic through the busy intersection. The Gurney Foundry Co., visible on the left, made ovens, boilers, and radiators, many of which are still in use in buildings around the city.

The same view looking south from the level crossing towards the Old Weston Rd. bridge. The signal nearest the control box is pointed down, likely indicating southbound Grand Trunk Railway trains are clear to pass through the junction.

Side view of the Old Weston Rd. bridge over the rail tracks. On the right, The Standard Fuel Co. in front of grain silos and a water tower belonging to the Campbell Flour Mills Ltd. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the Campbell water tower was designed to look like a full bag of flour tied up at the corners (close up.) The advert on the side reads "Cream of the West--The Guaranteed Flour." On the left is a manufacturing plant belonging to Nordheimer Piano Co.

Before ice was readily available in every gas station, corner store, and supermarket, businesses like the Lake Simcoe Ice Company would harvest frozen lake water, ship it to the city, and deliver it to private homes in substantially sized blocks. Lake Simcoe ice was particularly popular thanks in large part to its perceived purity. The facility shown here was located north of the railroad intersection in the Junction.

Aerial view of the Willys-Overland auto works around 1930. The company, once one of the Junction's largest employers, produced vehicles out of a plant purchased from the defunct Russell Motor Car Co. on the east side of Weston Rd. at Gunns Rd. in 1916. The right-hand drive "Whippet," exported to Australia and New Zealand, was the plant's main product. The factory closed in 1933 after a brief period during the first world war spent making aircraft engines. Just a few of the old buildings remain.

Weston Rd. looking north a few hundred metres north of the intersection with Rogers Rd. during installation of streetcar tracks in 1925. The view today.

Workers, some laughing, some frowning, laying down streetcar tracks on Weston Rd. near Northlands Ave. in 1926.

Ceremony celebrating the launch of TTC streetcars on Weston and Rogers roads in 1925. The service lasted until 1940s when it was converted to bus operation. The route ran from Keele and Annette streets north via Weston Rd. to roughly present day Humberview Cres., just south of the 401 overpass.

Construction of the underpass beneath the Canadian Pacific line near Oak St. in September 1925. The single track running along the roadway was used by the Weston streetcar. The original 1925 bridge was in the process of being replaced as of 2014.

United Auto Workers strike outside Canadian Acme Screw & Gear, a subsidiary of bicycle and auto maker Canadian Cycle and Motor Company (CCM,) in the 1960s.

The village of Weston in the 1963, looking west along Lawrence Ave. at Weston Rd. The building on the left advertising Surplus Dept. Stores and Seabond Loans is still standing. The current tenant is a nail salon.

Looking south on Weston Rd. a short distance north of Lawrence in 1963. The buildings housing Lou's Variety (Canada Dry sign,) Bi-Rite Stores, and the laundry are all still standing. The IDA Drugs on the right of the picture has been replaced by a row of stores at the base of a residential high rise.

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

Images: City of Toronto Archives

Opportunities to borrow or share items and services in Toronto are on the rise. Money's tight. We get it. So why buy stuff when you can borrow them for free or rent them for super-cheap? You'd be surprised at the things you can access in this city for little to no money, from musical instruments (including soundproof rooms to practice in) to 3D printers to movie-making equipment.

Here are my top picks for things to borrow in Toronto.

DIY necessities
Makers, rejoice! The Toronto Tool Library has over 3,000 renovation, gardening, painting and drywall tools available at its two locations (one east, one west) -- and all you need to access these beauties for is your membership card. Membership only costs annual maintenance fee of about $50 and includes other perks like invites to maker-centric parties, workshops in crafty things like woodworking and, of course, a reduction in your environmental footprint.

Kitchen tools
Cooking and baking utensils can be pricey, and that's why The Kitchen Library is a thing. By investing in a membership (for either $9 a month or $25 for three months), you can pull high-quality appliances from its vast inventory and borrow them for up to seven days.

Seeds
Yes, you can borrow seeds in Toronto, via the Toronto Seed Library (TSL). No official membership or cost is required -- this operation is a labour of love. If you're a gardener, or want to be one, stop by one of the TSL's 14 locations across the city or sift through their cheekily written website for some earthy inspo. Seed donations are always welcome, too.

Bikes
Never underestimate the cost of having your own bike. From accessories and maintenance fees to actually getting the thing replaced when it inevitably gets stolen, it can be a financially tiring sport. Enter: Bike Share. $7 for a 24-hour access pass and $15 for the 72-hour option, the investment is way worth it for the sake of avoiding becoming a human sardine on the TTC.

Printers (and 3D printers)
The "innovation hubs" at the Toronto Reference Library and its new Fort York branch are equipped with tons of tech, including 2D and 3D printers and scanners. They even offer free monthly classes like Intro to 3D Design and 3D Printer Certification (but register soon -- spots fill up fast).

Pianos
Four branches of the Toronto Public Library house free music rooms, all equipped with at least one piano. Some of these rooms permit percussion and amplified instruments in, but due to minimal soundproofing, others don't. Regardless, it's a wallet-friendly way to get lost in your music for half an hour (or more, if no one's waiting).

Cameras & Equipment
The Hart House Film Board helps is members in the movie-making process by offering workshops and lending out high-tech production equipment. Buy a $25 membership at the Hub on the main floor and enjoy access to video cameras, lighting, mics and more, plus discounts on the Board's workshops.

Community garden space
Because how many of us actually have front or backyards to muck around in? There are dozens of community gardens across the city, and it's free to join. It's a free way of growing your own fruits and veggies, an interesting way to make some new friends and an easy way to do good for the planet. Win-win-win.

Dogs!
You can actually get paid to spend some time with adorable dogs. You could actually earn up to $1,000 a month watching other people's pups with DogVacay. Choose the size, breed and age of the dog you want to take care of, set your own rates and services and decide how much you want to work and when. Then prepare to temporarily adopt a furry friend.

A place to sleep
Ah, couch surfing. You've probably used or at least thought about this program while traveling in exotic places, but did you know you can take advantage of it in your hometown? If, for example, you're in the middle of a move and need a last-minute place to spend the night, find it via Couchsurfing -- you'll probably end up with a quirky story to tell, too.

What did I miss? Add your favourite things to borrow in Toronto in the comments.

Writing by Amanda Storey

Photo of the Kitchen Library

Theatre production companies in Toronto sustain the city's growing list of festivals, from newcomers like the Progress Festival to veterans like the Toronto Fringe. These companies are the lifeblood behind the big and small theatres that showcase the sometimes profound and other times profane productions in Toronto. They're also responsible for the work that goes into mentoring, workshopping, and fostering the productions and artists that make Toronto stages a live-art destination.

Here are the best theatre production companies in Toronto.

See also:

10 under the radar live theatre venues in Toronto
The best live theatre venues in Toronto

Mirvish Productions
If the Toronto theatre scene has a whale - it's Mirvish Productions. With a roster of 14 shows presented or produced for the 2015-16 season, this company
dominates the commercial theatre scene with productions like Matilda (July 2016), the runner-up for the 2013 Tony Award for best musical or Ayad Akhtar's Pultizer Prize-winning play, Disgraced, about Islamophobia (March 2016).

Soulpepper
With their youth outreach initiatives, paid professional training program, and year-round repertory season dedicated to old and new classics, Soulpepper is one of the bedrocks of Toronto's theatre scene. In the past few years the company has been getting more heavily involved in the music business by forefronting music in their productions like Spoon River and creating an annual Concert Series. The Nina Project was mind bogglingly good.

Buddies in Bad Times
Buddies may be coming along in the years, but it's still the original bad-boy of Toronto theatre. With its unabashed pro-sexual, politically charged and iconoclastic stance, Buddies defies all convention, except its own. But its legacy is unlikely to fade as this company continues to foster the next generation of queer artists. For proof of their commitment to new and emerging artists, check out Buddie's annual Rhubarb Festival.

Tarragon
Tarragon, one of the hubs for contemporary playwriting in Canada, has a mandate to create, develop and produce new plays and help them thrive. The company offers programs for play development, youth education, as well as courses and lectures. This is the place that hold the bragging rights for putting Canadian theatre legends like Judith Thompson on the map. If you want to see a rising star book a ticket to Kat Sandler's Mustard, that girl is going places.

The Canadian Stage
The Canadian Stage is one of the leading contemporary theatre companies in the country with a mandate to foster emerging performance styles that integrate theatre, dance, film, and the visual arts. The company has an international outlook that can be seen in their Spotlight on South Africa festival (April 8 - 25), originally planned to mark the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Nelson Mandela.

Factory Theatre
Factory has been developing Canadian productions and playwrights for over four decades. Through staged readings, workshops, writers' retreats, residencies, and festivals, this theatre has lived up to its mandate to solely develop Canadian work and act as a community hub. For a taste of what this theatre has to offer go see The Unplugging, a co-production with Native Earth Performing Arts, and the winner of the 2013 Jessie Award for Outstanding New Play.

Videofag
With Jordan Tannahill, the "it boy" of Toronto theatre, as one of its two curators, Videofag is enjoying the limelight as the company to watch for experimental new work. These guys are leading the pack with works that blur the lines between video, film, new media, and live art. Videofag serves up a much needed dose of the unexpected with a heavy dollop of irreverence.

Acting Up Stage Company
Not all musicals are like cotton candy, delicious, but with no substance or nutritional value. The kind of song and dance pieces produced by Acting Up will not only having you tapping your toes and humming under your breath, but they'll get you thinking. Their success can be measured by both their awards and their sold-out crowd-pleasing shows.

Why Not Theatre
Ravi Jain's Why Not Theatre has an international outlook with collaborations, productions and workshops from diverse cultures and artistic practices. Why Not is one of the few company's on this list that fosters shows that look and sound like the real Toronto.

Crow's Theatre
Crow's is a company that harvest productions the way a fine winemaker cultivates a full-bodied red. They are all about thoughtful, challenging pieces that are developed as long-term projects that are given ample gestation periods to grow. These productions are not the kind that light up and burn out, they're created to live beyond their premieres as co-production and remounts.

Red One Theatre Collective
From site specific productions staged in alleyways and sheds that catch you off-guard, to sizzling shows that seduce audiences with promises of love and lust, this theatre collective is consistently a hit with both audiences and critics. Their work is always exciting and fresh with an edge of spontaneity. Productions, often staged in conjunction with The Storefront Theatre usually have limited runs so don't wait too long to grab a ticket because you'll miss what everyone's talking about.

Aluna Theatre
With their masterful production of Lorca's Blood Wedding, a collaboration with Modern Times Stage Company, Aluna Theatre proved that it's in a league of its own when it comes to bringing culturally diverse productions to Toronto stages.

Did your favourite theatre company make the cut? Tell us who else should be on this list in the comments.

Follow Sima Sahar Zerehi on Twitter @SimaSaharZerehi. Photo by Dennis Marciniak.

Mercatto, the Toronto-based chain of upscale Italian eateries, has expanded to the SouthCore with its fifth restaurant. Serving up pizza, pasta, seafood platters and one of the best pork chops in the city, this is one of the top new places to eat or drink before or after the game.

Read my profile of Taverna Mercatto in the restaurants section.

What's open and closed on Easter Monday 2015 in Toronto:

CLOSED

• Government offices (post offices, City Hall and others) will be closed.
• Toronto Public Library branches will be closed on Monday.
• Canada Post offices are closed and there is no mail collection or delivery
• Restaurants tend to favour Mondays as their day off anyway, calling ahead is recommended.
• Art Gallery of Ontario (317 Dundas St. West) is closed per usual on Mondays.

OPEN

• The TTC and GO Transit will operate per regular weekday schedules.
• Banks
• Shopping malls
• The Beer Store and 285 LCBO stores will be open on Monday.
• Grocery stores
• Shopping centres, malls and retail stores will generally be open.
• Grocery stores
• Attractions such as the ROM (regular hours), Ripley's Aquarium of Canada (9am to 9pm), TIFF Bell Lightbox (10am to 10pm) will be open.
• Major movie theatres are open across the city.

Did I leave something out? Please let us know in the comments section below.

Photo by Tom Podolec in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Photo by Lori Whelan in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Today in Toronto you can stop til you drop from some kind of antique sword-y wound gash at HBO's Game of Thrones pop up on Queen West. It's on until April 17. Toronto rising r&b talent Sex Tape is playing at D-Beatstro (in the old Bike Pirates spot on Bloor) with Sly Why, Huge Cosmic, Apothecary, and Pfloog. Parents and stoners can unite at a Spongebob movie matinee. For more events, click on over to our events section.

• TV: Games of Thrones Pop Up (277 Queen St. West)
• Music: Twin Shadow (Phoenix)
• Music: Sex Tape (D-Beatstro)
• Film: Bruce La Bruce Film Fest (Cineforum)
• Family: Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (Revue)
• Party: Monday Special (Bambi's)

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

Photo of HBO Shop in New York City via HBO.

Bolton is a city is full of secrets. Though many claim Toronto as their home, a lot of stories start far north of Steeles right here in this sleepy suburb. Renowned for being a safe place to raise a family, many young adults skip town as soon as they save up for first and last month's rent.

Here are 10 signs you grew up in Bolton.

1. You know that Coffee Time was born in Bolton and you went there after every hockey practice.

2. You went to Jumbo Video for the free popcorn but always rented movies from Blockbuster.

3. You remember that Caledon Transit serviced two routes for a mere four months before collapsing from low ridership.

4. You know that Caruso's has the best pizza in town but always went to Baffo's because it was cheaper.

5. You could never quite explain what a tractor pull was to your cousins from out of town.

6. The smell of horse manure meant summertime was coming and, somehow, it started to grow on you.

7. You begged your parents to drive you to local record store Music 21 and buy you Bolton native Skye Sweetnam's debut CD single "Billy S."

8. Your teenage weekends were spent horsing around at a field party in Palgrave or at a ska show at Caledon East Community Centre.

9. You got nearly everything you owned at Stedman's V&S or Biway.

10. You recognize suburban Bolton as the setting of 1996 drama disaster film Twister and 2005 action film Four Brothers.

What signs did I miss? Add your suggestions to the comments.

Writing by L-SPEX / Photo by yeovilwon

This new Dundas West spot and its predecessor, the Christie Pits neighbourhood hangout Northwood, have a lot in common: a casual and cozy atmosphere, cocktails and charcuterie, pastries and coffee. Is it a cafe? Is it a bar? Lucky for you and whatever your cravings are for the day, they don't make you choose.

Read my profile of Northern Belle in the bars section.

What does a $500,000 property look like in Toronto these days? Is there such thing anymore? While the average house price in the city is well over $1 million, the options are limited unless you want that frightening downtown fixer-upper or one of those claustrophobic-inducing condos.

The real estate market has skyrocketed in recent years with affordability in hot neighbourhoods at an all-time stand still. Don't expect to find a hidden gem anymore in the $500K range, especially in areas like the Annex or High Park. Your best bet is to travel far east or west of the city for increased affordability in close proximity to the downtown core.

While there are plenty of reasons to love Toronto, sometimes it's tempting to pack up and move to one of those urban palaces in Hamilton, Ontario or even Detroit.

Here's what $500,000 buys you today in six Toronto neighbourhoods. Take a look.

Jane and Sheppard (top photo)
While the area can be somewhat sketchy, the houses are fifty percent cheaper than what you'd get further east on Sheppard. This three bedroom, two bathroom bungalow is 2,274 square feet with a large driveway and garage. The lot size is 29 x 102 feet, and it's on the market for $499,900.

York University HeightsNear Keele and the York University hub, this house has three beds and baths, a driveway and large backyard. With a property size of 32 x 110 feet, the home is well-kept but could use a few upgrades. A university subway is in the works, although at this rate, you might as well just build your own secret underground tunnel. Asking $499,900.

The JunctionIf you can get past the flashy painted rooms, this three storey townhouse seems pretty nice. Asking $499,900, the family-friendly complex features three beds and baths, underground parking and a maintenance fee of $212/month. The gentrified neighbourhood has transformed in recent years with new developments and design shops like Smash and Post + Beam Reclamation giving it a funky Queen West vibe.

Clairlea-BirchmountIn Scarborough, you get more value for your dollar with this cute but unrenovated two bedroom bungalow. More young families are moving to Scarborough for affordability and a short(ish) commute into the city. The property size is 40 x 108 feet, and listed for $499,900.

Wexford-MaryvaleWhere the heck is the Wexford-Maryvale neighbourhood? Think Scarborough, located near Lawrence East and Pharmacy. Not always the most desirable location, but the area has its charm with streets of cute bungalows and a suburban feel. This home is renovated with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large lot size of 43 x 145 feet. Asking $499,900.

Woodbine-LumsdenIn the city's far east end, here's a three bedroom house with only one bathroom and laneway parking. The house (along with the neighbourhood) has potential, and it's in close proximity to the Danforth and all those great Greek restaurants. Currently being sold "as is/where is" for $499,900.

Think any of these houses are worth $500,000? Have your say in the comments.