For those looking for Toronto-themed gifts this holiday season, you could do worse than one of the many quirky maps local artists and designers have plotted out over the last couple of years. Not only are they typically reasonably priced — generally coming in at around $40 — but there's more to choose from than ever as mapmakers continually rethink ways to chart the city that defy conventionality. While there's a preponderance of word and neighbourhood-related maps floating around out there, these are more than mere clones of the popular Ork Map. Each of them reveal unique cartographic efforts with little double-ups in terms of overall concepts.

Here's a roundup of five city maps for the Torontophile on your list.

Dave Murray Word MapsThese silkscreened maps are often accused of being similar to Ork's efforts, but the process by which they're put together is actually quite different — Murray scouts each neighbourhood in detail prior to their design — and each maps is obviously focused on individual neighbourhoods rather than the entire city. Currently on offer are Kensington Market, Queen West and Parkdale, Ossington, Grange Park (Baldwin Village), Leslieville, the Annex, the Beach, the Junction and Roncesvalles. $40

City of Toronto 26 June 1976 Silkscreened Print 2nd Ed.Raymond Bliesinger's portrait of the city on the day that the CN Tower opened uses Toronto's buildings to plot its geography, so thank God it was made before the condo boom, lest the whole thing be rendered a series of anonymous glass boxes. Part of a series that includes Montreal and Ottawa, the print has a certain 1970s quality about it, to be sure — but that's kind of retro and cool, isn't it? $40

Ben Brommel's Toronto MapBen Brommell, a student at Humber College, spent almost 100 hours plotting out this typographic map of the city, which charts the city via its streets. It's hard to discern that the map is made up of words from a distance, so it rewards those who take a second to look closely. Also available in black & white. $15+

Marlena Zuber's Toronto MapsMore whimsical than the other offerings on the list, you might recognize Marlena Zuber's work from Shawn Micallef's Stroll, for which she provided the illustrations. My favourite feature of these maps are the annotations spread across various points of interest. Offered in a wide variety of formats at Pixel Print. Prints start at $45

Minimalist Toronto Color MapsThis is one of those Etsy offerings that's actually made for a wide variety of cities, but I include it hear because I like the minimalist design, which reminds me of Flavio Trevisan's map-art. Available in a whole bunch of colours. $18

See also:

• For something of the stocking stuffer variety, there's Spacing's new Metro Magnets
• And a whole whack of other maps on Etsy

Photo by that guy who used to choose the photo of the day from the blogTO Flickr pool

Councillor Doug Ford says it's worth spending $7 million on a by-election in January if his brother is removed from office. Mayor Rob Ford was granted a stay of removal yesterday by an Ontario Superior Court judge, meaning he'll stay in his job until an appeal can be heard in the new year. "What price do you put on democracy?," he told reporters.

Speaking of an election, councillor Mike Del Grande wants some risk for members of council planning to run for mayor in a by-election. To do that, Del Grande says, councillors should quit their seats to run, and he's willing to put forward a motion to make that happen. "Let's put some skin in the game. And you know what, let's have a byelection for all the positions that may end up being open, not a free ride," he said. Should councillors step down if they want to campaign?

There's new debate about whether the city should cough up $505 million over the next ten years to fix the Gardiner or seriously consider tearing part of it down to cut costs. The budget committee yesterday supported a motion by councillor John Parker to asses the minimum cost of maintaining the stretch east of Jarvis until an environmental assessment is complete.

Councillor Paula Fletcher suggested the elevated highway would be perfect for tolls if the city decides to go ahead with repairs. Do you agree? Should the Gardiner pay for itself?

Taxi company Uber has run into trouble with municipal licensing and standards over its smartphone app that allows users to hail and pay for a cab or limousine without a phone call or cash. Uber doesn't have a dispatcher's license, which the city says is mandatory if it's to send cars to customers.

Metrolinx unveiled its next wave of Big Move projects last week, promising a downtown relief line, an extension of the Yonge line, and bus rapid transit on Dundas West (if it can get the cash). The project now has an easy-to-follow website that explains some of the costs and where the money might come from (namely, tolls or fees.) Take a look.

Legendary Blue Jays' announcer Tom Cheek has been posthumously awarded the Thomas C. Frick award for broadcasting excellence by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Thanks to Reddit user killerbees19, Cheek's most famous moment, his call of the Jays' most recent World Series win, is available here. "Touch 'em all, Joe."

Aside from the astonishing machines involved, subway tunnel boring is, for the most part, boring. That is until the giant earth-carving apparatus bursts out of the dark and into the light of day at the end of a big dig. On Nov. 26, Torkie and Yorkie, two of TTC's preposterously named tunnel carving machines, broke through into an extraction shaft on Keele Street in a rare double exit. Here are the highlights of the action.

IN BRIEF:

• Bell Canada bans poinsettias from its largest Ontario office due to one worker's allergy [The Star]
• Toronto police warns of "psychic" thieves [The Star]
• Toronto man honours late grandmother with pie drive [The Star]

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

Photo: "Untitled" by Richard Rhyme in the blogTO Flickr pool.

This Week in Film rounds up noteworthy new releases in theatres, rep cinema and avant-garde screenings, festivals, and other special cinema-related events happening in Toronto.

NEW RELEASES

Bestiaire (The Royal)

What happens when a perennial Canada's Top Ten 'winner' makes the best film of his career? He gets ousted from the club, of course. (Though really, how Denis Côté ever got noticed by that jury in the first place will always be one of life's most pleasant incongruities) So The Royal are picking up the slack and releasing it this week to show Toronto what they're missing. (And then they're releasing another Top Ten snub, Tower, in February!) Bestiaire, filmed at Quebec's Hemmingford Parc Safari, is a film about animals, and therefore humans; looking, and therefore being looked at; representing, and therefore being misrepresented. Deceptively and elegantly simple, it's the year's great minimalist film art work.

The End of Time [Wednesday, December 12] (TIFF Bell Lightbox)

Or rather, Intro to Time, given Peter Mettler's rudimentary and naive inquisition into his central question of "What. Is. TIME?" Since the theme is so large and broad, the film aspires to the same, and therefore focuses on subjects that really have little to do with Time (sidetracks include LSD, circles, the Hadron Collider, and a rave). I'm usually all about sprawling messiness, but it's really just Mettler going out of his way to be Mettler, covering the same ground he's already covered in, eg., Gambling, Gods and LSD. The footage is TV grade polish and sparkle, ripe for airing on Discovery HD (where many of Mettler's films look like they belong); the exception, naturally, is an inevitable, climatic descent into avant-garde trippiness, intentionally recalling 2001: A Space Odyssey, a most unflattering comparison.

Also opening in theatres this week:

• Deadfall (Cineplex Yonge & Dundas)
• Entre les Bras [Step Up to the Plate] (TIFF Bell Lightbox)
• Exile: A Myth Unearthed (Projection Booth)
• Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet (Bloor Hot Docs Cinema)
• Khiladi 786 (Cineplex Yonge & Dundas)
• Playing for Keeps (Carlton, Rainbow Market Sq., Cineplex Yonge & Dundas)
• A Werewolf Boy (Cineplex Yonge & Dundas)

REP CINEMA

The Seventh Art's Live Director Series - Whit Stillman (December 12-13; The Royal)

For Toronto, next Wednesday (and Thursday) is Whit Day. In the race for The Most Awesome, Unexpected, Last-Minute Director Spotlight of the Year award, we appear to have a winner. The Seventh Art, the exciting Toronto-based online video magazine, are starting what they call a 'Live Director Series,' and this is their first edition: Metropolitan on Wednesday, The Last Days of Disco on Thursday, Whit Stillman physically, emotionally, literally there in the building both days. Tickets are $15 per screening, or $20 for both, and can soon be purchased through The Royal's web site, or at the door for each night. Doors will open at 7PM. Merry Christmas.

Dickens on Screen (December 13 - January 2; TIFF Bell Lightbox)

Charles Dickens turned 200 years old last February, and December is Christmas time, so there is no better occasion for the presentation of this robust selection of the film adaptations of his classic work. Stretching from the silent era to Ethan Hawke, Dickens on Screen delivers Toronto families and cinephiles a well-rounded and exhaustive journey through his iconic toy box of poverty, privilege, scrooges, and some of the purest displays of human kindness to ever land on the silver screen.

Kicking things off, programme curator Adrian Wootton will introduce a screening of David Lean's classic Great Expectations (Thursday, December 13 at 6:15PM). The fourth of nearly twenty adaptations of this story, Lean lends the rags-to-riches tale a gothic and smoky mise-en-scene that is an obvious precursor to the enchanted ghoulishness of prime Tim Burton. But this is also a very realist film, so the metaphors for death, wealth, and karma pack a very direct and earnest punch, even while your eyes are dazzled by the stunning black & white. Voted one of the best British films of all-time, it's the perfect opener to a month sure to be filled with discoveries and nostalgia.

More rep cinema screenings this week:

• The Laughing Star (Friday, December 7 at 6:30PM; TIFF Bell Lightbox)
• From Beijing with Love (Friday, December 7 at 9PM; TIFF Bell Lightbox)
• Vinyl (Saturday, December 8 at 3:30PM; Bloor Hot Docs Cinema)
• Hellraiser (Saturday, December 8 at 10PM; TIFF Bell Lightbox)
• The Queen (Sunday, December 9 at 5PM; TIFF Bell Lightbox)
• Octopussy introduced by John Glen (Monday, December 10 at 9PM; TIFF Bell Lightbox)
• Laura (Tuesday, December 11 at 6:30PM; TIFF Bell Lightbox)
• Book Revue: Fantastic Mr. Fox (Tuesday, December 11 at 6:45PM; Revue Cinema)

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Pleasure Dome: Magic Kingdoms(Friday, December 7 at 7PM; CineCycle)

Pleasure Dome are presenting this awesome-looking programme of new video works (2008-2011) that "investigate our relationships to cultural iconography, taking apart what has been naturalized to us and re-configuring and transforming materials and meaning." There's a lot of Disney in here, especially Bambi and Snow White. The entire theme reminds me a little bit of The World, actually, which is reason enough to attend. Participating artists include Martin Arnold, Pilvi Takala, Elodie Pong, Martin Arnold, Persijn Broersen & Margit Lukács, Elin Magnusson, and Joshua Thorson.

Early Monthly Segments: Peter Rose + Vincent Grenier (Monday, December 10 at 7PM; Gladstone Art Bar)

As part of the fund-raising campaign for Early Monthly Segments' supremely amazing Warren Sonbert retrospective last month, there was a donation level that allowed for the donor to program his or her own edition of EMS. Two donors who met that level were Mark Loeser and Christine Lucy Latimer, and this is the night for their selections. "Vincent Grenier's sublime Interieur Interiors (To A. K.) is featured between the Roses. In it, lines are woven between the frame, the spaces it displays, and the scratches etched on the film's surface over the years. Our thanks to EMS for this opportunity to guest curate and for doing what they do here in Toronto every month." - Loeser and Latimer

FILM FESTIVALS

Japanese Film Screenings in Toronto (December 9-10; Bloor Hot Docs Cinema)
The Japan Foundation and the Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto are proudly presenting screenings of three critically-acclaimed Japanese films in Toronto next week: Happy Flight! (Sunday, December 9 at 3:30PM), Someday (Sunday, December 9 at 6:30PM), and Villon's Wife (Monday, December 10 at 6:30PM). Admission is free for all screenings.

We've heard it before, that Toronto should clear cars from Yonge Street, especially around Yonge-Dundas Square due to the extremely high levels of pedestrian and transit traffic, but now there's some evidence that seems suggest these sorts of drastic steps wouldn't necessarily come with the negative impact on businesses that people tend to fear.

Draft findings by the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium discussed over at Atlantic Cities found customers who arrived at 81 businesses in various locations in the city on foot or by bicycle were in several cases just as likely to spend money compared to people who came by a car.

Indeed, at restaurants, bars, and convenience stores in the survey area those that answered the survey said they were just as happy to splash the cash compared to people with sets of car keys in their pockets. Carless visitors spent less per visit, but they seemed to come more often.

There are some clear limitations to the results: drivers will always spend the most at the supermarket because they have the trunk space to easily carry mountains of groceries home; they will also, hopefully, spend less at a bar to avoid a night in the drunk tank and DUI charges.

What is surprising here is the carless customers polled said they made more frequent stops at local businesses, possibly because it's easier for them to do so given widely available bike parking and the improved chances for an impulse visit based on appearance.

That said, Kelly Clifton, the author of the study, stresses these results came from streets where all modes of transport were allowed. "The majority of customers at all of the businesses still arrived by car," she says in an email, "So while I think that non-automobile consumers are competitive, the automobile still plays an important role for economic vitality — at least for now — in American cities."

"There are exceptions, of course, and one can imagine that this would change with changes in travel costs and improvements to infrastructure and services for non-automobile modes. I think political will to make these changes will come incrementally. But support is building for more walkable and bikable communities."

Emily Badger, the author of the Atlantic Cities post, wonders whether the findings suggest a "green dividend" — extra spending money generated by freedom from a costly automobile — is at work in the results. If it's present in Portland, why not here?

What do you make of these findings? Could certain areas of Toronto like Kensington Market and Yonge-Dundas Square be just as well served by cutting the cord on vehicle traffic? The Distillery is a quasi-pedestrianized area (there's parking on the outside and the entire site is really a destination in itself) yet there's a thriving shopping scene there, especially at this time of year with the Christmas market. Could we copy that concept in other parts of the city? If so, where?

Full report: "Consumer Behavior And Travel Mode Choices" [PDF]

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

Photo: "Bike Gang" by Jackman Chiu in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Now in its sixth year, for many, Jason Collett's Basement Revue has become synonymous with the holiday season. I recently sat down with Collett at the Common, and between friendly run-ins and phone calls, he took great care to explain the nuances of the night, why it stands out from most live shows, and why moving it to a larger space for one night won't disrupt the intimacy that's been cultivated over previous years.

This year marks the first time (December 20th) that Collett and friends will rise from the basement of The Dakota in an effort to accommodate the growing demand for the Revue (yes, the three nights at ground zero have sold out, but there's still tickets left for the 20th).

"We really worked hard at making sure this [The Great Hall show] was going to be the cornerstone of the series this year," Collett explained when asked about how the new venue is going to work. "We're always going to do The Dakota but we want to see what else we can do and that will kind of be our template. The key to this show has been the intimacy that The Dakota has provided and doing it there was all about trying to recreate what happened around my kitchen table — you know, giving a domestic kind of feel to the whole thing."

He even chose to hold his record release show for Reckon at The Great Hall as a sort of trial for the Revue, which underscores just how seriously he's taking the switch of venues. Needless to say, he was convinced it was possible to maintain the same vibe.

A larger venue doesn't just mean more people but inevitably more revenue — and that's something Collett believes he could use to share some of the material that's been accumulated from the Revue over the last four years. "We're sitting on this amazing archive of some of the best contemporary Canadian literary and musical folks, and we have no money to do anything with it — we're kind of like the CBC that way."

While exact plans on how to package content from previous years are yet to be finalized, Collett's clear about a few things. "We want to get a website up where you can go and you can see a weird story from someone like Rich Terfry. It's a good document of contemporary Canadian art that I'm really excited that we have, but I feel like we have the responsibility to actually do something with it. I've been working with this film director Peter Lynch who's been sort of wrangling with the filming for four years...and hopefully with a little bit of money we can actually get a really cool document together."

As far as recreating the intimacy of a smaller space in a bigger venue, Collett isn't concerned. In fact, the way he describes the musicians and poets working together, the unique vibe of the Revue has less to do with the size of the venue and more with the spontaneous way the performances come about. "People are out of their comfort zones and I think we achieve a kind of intimacy with the audience where we can actually bring them closer to the performance as if it were taking place in a living room because of the chances that people are willing to take, to do something that they're not necessarily known for."

By way of example, Collett offers the following scenario. "The unique nature of the event usually becomes apparent later in the night. Maybe a poet who has read earlier will return to the stage to read again but now with some handpicked musicians backing him or her up, all rather spontaneously. The poet is typically terrified as he steps on the stage...but it's essentially then for the musicians to interpret the atmosphere the poet has created. So what the audience gets to witness is several dimensions at work: a nervous poet, musicians that are like 'what do we do with a poet on stage? (what has Jason wrangled us into?),' and you watch the communication between them, and there's so much beauty and magic in it that rarely gets shown on stage."

The key, he continues, is that the performances are unscripted and all about taking chances. "The beauty of it is the risk involved, and the audience is aware of that so we're all going on this journey together. That's where the intimacy really happens and that's what excites me about these shows. You can't rehearse them."

As for who to expect on the 20th, Collett wouldn't name names, but you can count on some of his favourite alumni from past years. "You don't want to find out afterwards that you missed it. We've got some of the best alumni and some new artists that we've been trying to get for awhile....There's some older people that are known internationally for their work and have been for a long time as well as some better-known musical acts who are combining to do something."

Please share any past Basement Revue memories and any guesses for who will be performing at The Great Hall in the comment section!

Photo by Matt Barnes

King Charlotte Condos is "based on a series of designed boxes, all of different types and sizes." What's that? You want to know about the units?! "The boxes stack upon each other, and not necessarily in a fashion that one might initially imagine." Never mind the floor plans. Check out these squares. "It is all very playful, yet incredibly clean and crisp." Hooray, boxes! This new King West condo has all sorts of nifty rectangular shapes... and some other details like boring deposit structures that aren't as fun to talk about teetering squares. Here's a closer look at King Charlotte Condos.

SPECS

Address:11 Charlotte Street

Total number of units: 232

Number of storeys: 32

Number of elevators: 2

Types of units: One bedroom, one-plus-den, two bedroom, three bedroom

Unit sizes (in square feet): 422 - 962

Ceiling height: 9'

Prices from: $311,900

Parking: $39,900

Storage: $3,950

Maintenance fees: $0.52/sf

Developer: Niche Development, Lamb Development Corps.

Architect:architects Alliance

Interior Designer:ii x iv Interior Design

Amenities: 24-hr concierge, outdoor pool, lounge, party room

Expected occupancy: Spring 2014

THE GOOD

I really thought I had written about this one before. But no, I must've been thinking of any of theseother, seeminglyidenticalKing West-areacondos. A novice mistake. Nevertheless, King Charlotte has been touted as "The Most Anticipated Addition to King West" (by its developers...who are also behind other King West projects...so take that as you wish), but I assume there must be some sort of very good reason. Stone countertops, maybe?

Well, to begin, this condo distinguishes itself from the King West crowd in that it is not actually on King West. Charlotte Street is a short little north-south route with pretty much nothing but condos, but ample room for the delivery guy to pull over to drop off your late-night Thai food. Steps from the streetcar but not right beside, residents will be treated to a little breathing room when it comes to that inevitable King/Spadina track repair, rush hour traffic, and other fun that comes with living right on an urban downtown route. Essentially right between King and Adelaide, King Charlotte will be steps from great cafes, shops, and restaurants, yet clear of those horrible Entertainment District beats that have a way of resonating into your psyche (and condo unit).

Another King Charlotte plus is that the building is rather narrow (that's what happens when you take a warehouse and attempt to turn it into a home for hundreds of people), meaning that the floor plates are relatively small. Residents can anticipate sharing their floors with five to nine other units, which is not terrible considering some of the more girthy towers rising up across the city. And standard gas stoves are nice. It'll stop here, lest my weariness of this category really start to show.

THE BAD

You know what'll really push me over the edge when I finally buy a condo? Pictures of models in Victorian crowns. A whole wallpaper of them! I can see it now:

"Hmm, I think I can do better in terms of my mortgage rate. And I know a unit on a higher floor might facilitate easier resale, but I really can't afford it right now. Then again, Mandy is wearing the shit out of that crown. You know what — I'm going for it."

Yes, developers are persistent in their "selling a lifestyle" tactic, which explains the marketing materials brimming with crowned models, shiny renderings, and ostentatious wordage. Granted, it must work or else developers would change their approach. Nevertheless, I, personally need a little more than a promise of an "entertainment oasis" to look past the lack of balconies (for many suites), tiny kitchen walls, and layouts that barely lend themselves to a dining table or kitchen island.

You can get a little more space and a functional kitchen in King Charlotte if you've got the cash, though you'll end up spending the equivalent of what would get you a semi-detatched with a yard (green?! what is green?!) in another neighbourhood. King Charlotte says its floor plans are great examples of "modern, clean simplicity." I say they're bare bones at best. And with so many options in the area and with few distinguishing features, King Charlotte units seem just a dime a dozen.

And I understand why developers of such narrow building would want to maximize livable space ($$$) at the expense of elevator wells — but really, only two elevators for 32 storeys!? I know anecdotally (the best type of evidence) that I would sometimes have to wait five minutes or more when I lived on the 22nd floor in a building with four elevators. So good luck to you, King Charlotte residents, on move-in day or those weeks when one elevator is in service. Some advice: go to the bathroom before you leave for home.

THE VERDICT

I'm still of confused as to which King West condo we're talking about...

What do you think? Would you live here? Add your comments to the thread below.

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

When iconic Annex diner People's Foods closed back in May, there were more than a few neighbourhood folk saddened by the loss of what was a solid greasy spoon. One wonders if this is still the case now that Anthony Rose has brought his brand of well-executed comfort food to the space. It may be hard to get a seat, but that's just because the food is unpretentious and impressive.

Read my review of Rose and Sons in the restaurants section.

Ever since Uber entered the taxi game in Toronto, there's been murmurs about the company's lack of a licence to dispatch cabs. Given that the Uber app merely connects customers with licenced cab drivers (Uber owns no vehicles), its stance is that it's not a transportation company and thus doesn't require certification to dispatch cars. As it happens, the City of Toronto doesn't share this point of view. The company was recently charged with a slew of municipal licencing offences, because, as Richard Mucha, Acting Manager of Licensing Enforcement told the Toronto Star, "if you plan on running a limousine service in the City of Toronto, or a taxi cab brokerage, then you require a licence."

We caught up with Uber's General Manager, Andrew Macdonald, to find out what the company thinks of the charges and how it plans to respond.

When was Uber charged by the City with the 25 municipal licencing offences?

As a matter of policy, I won't speak specifically to the charges mentioned, but I will speak generally to some of the issues raised.

When and how does Uber plan to respond?

We plan to continue our dialogue with the city and continue to contribute to the improvement of the industry for consumers and drivers alike. We think that ultimately the city wants to bring innovation, consumer choice and competition to the market.

What is your specific response to Mucha's claim that Uber needs a licence to dispatch?

Uber is a lead-generation technology platform for the limousine and TAXI industries. We aim to connect customers of high-quality transportation to the transportation providers closest to them. We don't own cars. We don't employ drivers. We parter with companies and individuals who are already licensed to provide great service to Torontonians. The technology we're providing isn't covered by the current city of Toronto by-laws.

To your knowledge, would the City be willing to grant you such a license?

I don't think it would be fair to speculate on this topic.

Has Uber ever applied for a licence? Why hasn't Uber taken the same approach as Hailo in this regard?

We haven't applied for a license because we are a technology provider. We believe the technology we're offering isn't covered by the current laws in place in Toronto. We do our legal and regulatory homework before going into a city and only launch if we feel that the Uber system is legal under existing regulatory framework.

Does Uber plan to continue to run its business in Toronto as usual for the forseable future?

Yes! Because we believe firmly in what we are doing, and we are operating in the right fashion. Customers are crazy about Uber. It's a convenient, efficient and elegant ride. It's a safe transportation option. We improve drivers' lives by helping them earn a better living. We help grow limo companies. We create new jobs and help the economy. We bring innovation to Toronto just as it refocuses on becoming an innovation hub. We make city living better and complement and improve the existing transportation infrastructure. We are part of a sustainable urban transport vision (Uber, bikes, TTC, car sharing, etc. = ditch your second car). We reduce drinking and driving by making safe transport available at the push of a button. I could go on and on and on (in case you can't tell!).

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the matter?

To address a few of unclear points in The Star article:

1) Uber's TAXI platform charges the consumer the fare indicated on the TAXI's meter plus a 20% gratuity. Our customers who use the Uber platform are fully aware that the gratuity will be applied for the driver, and are choosing to pay it by using the app (just as they would choose to tip at the end of a ride if they called or hailed a cab otherwise). The meter is used to measure the rate and then the metered amount is entered into the app.

2) The TAXI driver pays Uber a service fee which comes out of total fares.

3) As far as our research goes, it is common practice for some taxis and taxi companies to charge for extra services above the meter, such as credit card fees.

4) While we have encountered resistance led by incumbents and vested industry interests in some markets, we've made great strides in most of the 20+ cities to provide a high quality, reliable and safe transportation option for consumers, and a better living for drivers. For a recent great example of this, please see legislation passed yesterday in Washington.

The famed Dead Sea bath, cold water plunge, and Epsom salt pool is now east end. While the original spa on Adelaide still remains (albeit, currently undergoing renovations), the sister duo behind this water therapy spa has opened a second location over on King East.

Read my profile of Body Blitz (East) in the fashion section.

For the first time in its history, the TTC plans to join GO and numerous other transit agencies around the world by publishing a customer charter, a clear statement of principles, customer commitments, and long term goals, in early 2013.

The move is part of CEO Andy Byford's attempt to improve the Commission's sometimes fraught relationship with its customers. PR disasters like Rob Ford's commandeering of a packed bus for his football team haven't exactly helped his cause, but the plan includes adding group station managers, people whose task it will be to manage the daily affairs of several subway stations, and a fleet of new articulated busses for some of the busiest surface routes without streetcar service.

The official document will likely include clear punctuality expectations for trains and streetcars, precise numbers of new vehicles set to enter service each year, and details of town hall or "meet the managers" meetings held by the TTC where customers can publicly have their views heard. There could also be a section on customer rights and explanations of TTC by-laws.

Though the customer charters of other cities often detail how to claim refunds, Chris Upfold, the TTC's chief customer officer, says that information won't be included in the paperwork, which will likely be distributed in poster form at transit stops and online.

"There's no money back guarantee, there's no promise relating to how long a trip takes. At the end of the day, since we are a taxpayer funded organization, it simply means we either reduce service to pay for that, so actually you deliver a worse service by paying [money] back, or it has to come from somebody. To pay for a [refund] promise you have to raise fares."

The TTC does offer refunds on a case-by-case basis — for example if a turnstile eats a token — but only if customers write in. For now it doesn't seem like there's going to be any new money-back promises enshrined in the charter.

What would you like to see included in the document? Would you like to see a money back guarantee put in place, even if it ends up costing the Commission money? Do you think having a charter is a positive step toward better customer service?

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

Photo: "Spadina streetcars on parade" by Kiril Strax from the blogTO Flickr pool.

Time to toast with one final caipirinha. Caju on Queen just west of Trinity Bellwoods Park will end its 10-year run on December 22, when chef and owner Mario Cassini will cook up one last lombo and hand over his keys. The restaurateur will be headed back to Brazil, but vows to eventually return to Toronto with "new inspired ideas."

"It has truly been a pleasure to share my passion for my culture over the last decade and to have been part of the vibrant West Queen West community," Cassini says in a release. "While not an easy decision, an opportunity to sell the business came up at the right time, opening the door for me to return to Brazil to be with family, reconnect with my roots and look for new inspiration."

Caju first opened back in 2002, introducing the area to Cassini's take on the picanha and hosting the odd event for the Brazilian consulate. No word yet on who has taken over the reigns, but it has been confirmed that a new restaurant will open in Caju's stead.

Let the speculation begin.

The taxi app market in the Toronto area is suddenly a very crowded place. Customers who'd prefer to by-pass the old-fashioned dispatch system can already choose from services like Halio, Uber, and for something a bit nicer, Winston's car service (Uber also offers nicer cars). Now entering the fray, albeit in the areas surrounding the city, is TAG Taxi, a cab ordering app that's expanded from the Montreal area to cities like Mississauga, Vaughan, Pickering and Ajax. Plans are also in place to implement the service in Markham and Richmond Hill.

Along with the locations it currently serves, TAG Taxi differs from existing services in that you simply pay the driver for your ride as you would if you hailed a car on the street (or called a central dispatch). There's no billing system associated with the app, though you are able to specify at the time of ordering what method of payment you'd like to use. Other features include a ride rating system and the ability to make special requests (think oversized luggage or the like).

Also unlike Halio and Uber, TAG Taxi has partnered with cab companies rather than individual drivers. The app is currently affiliated with Astro, A-Black-Cab, Rapid Taxi and Advance-Unique, which allows cab requests to be filtered directly into each of these services central dispatch systems. So far TAG Taxi boasts access to approximately 300 cars.

Given the lower saturation of cabs in the GTA (versus the city proper), the arrival of a mobile-friendly taxi ordering service with fairly wide coverage should theoretically be very good news for suburban cab users.

Weekend events in Toronto is our guide to events happening this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here's what's happening in Toronto this December 7-9, 2012.

HOLIDAYS

Unsilent Night Toronto 2012
A cloud of sound envelops the city this Saturday night during Unsilent Night, the cult holiday event that sees citizens of Toronto participating in an outdoor sound sculpture. A choir of boom boxes, cassette players and iPhones will parade from Dufferin Grove Park to Trinity Bellwoods, playing a downloaded soundtrack. Participants will meet at Dufferin Grove at 7PM where they will be instructed when to hit play. Find the soundtrack at www.unsilentnight.com/download.html.
Dufferin Street and Dufferin Park Avenue, December 8, 2012, 7PM Free

GLDSTK Standard Holiday Pop-Up Market
Made in Canada and proud of it, Gouldscttock Standard Supply Co. opens the doors on their holiday pop-up market on Friday night. Open for the weekend, the shop will offer the quality garments Gouldscttock is known for, with high-end fabrics in cut and sew fashion. Accessories will also be available at the pop-up but it is important to note that due to short run production, stock is limited. Pop-in while there's still stock!
109OZ (109 Ossington Avenue, 2nd floor), December 7-9, 2012, 5PM Friday, 10AM Saturday, 11AM Sunday Free

Holiday Art Market at Artscape Wychwood Barns
Opening a holiday-themed marketplace in their own personal mecca, artisans bring their one-of-a-kind items to Artscape Wychwood Barns this Sunday for a one-day only sale. The covered barn will become a festive atmosphere with a large Christmas tree and seasonal café serving hot drinks for customers to browse the 56 exhibitors of jewelry, clothing, homewares, art and various other tchotchkes. The market will be short but sweet so waste no time getting there this Sunday.
Artscape Wychwood Barns (601 Christie Street), December 9, 2012, 12PM Free

Fort York Frost Fair
Fort York, former Christmas shopping hotspot of the 19th century, takes Toronto back to a time when its local holiday market was the social and commercial highlight of the year. Selling 18th and 19th century-inspired goods, Fort York's Frost Fair will showcase 20 merchants who attempt to revive the holiday market days of yore in the historic buildings of the site. Drink hot apple cider, eat British sausages and baked potatoes and shop like it's 1899. This ain't your average pop-up shop, T.O.
Fort York National Historic Site (250 Fort York Boulevard), December 8-9, 2012, 10AM $7.96 adult, $3.81 senior, $4.87 youth, $3.76 child

FASHION

Accessory Swap & Shop
Looking to change out your jewelry for the season? Yorkville's The Black Box Boutique hosts a swap & shop just for accessories. Guests are invited to bring their pre-loved jewelry to the party, swapping them out for new things to love from other attendees. Regular merchandise will be available for sale as always, with featured vendors Neha Varma Handbags, Pinky's Nails and LightFound on display in-store. All money raised from the $5 entrance fee will go toward the YWCA.
The Black Box Boutique (106 Yorkville Avenue), December 7, 2012, 5PM $5

For more fashion listings, check out our This Week in Fashion post.

MUSIC

AZ
Rapper, member of The Firm and frequent Nas collaborator AZ comes to Toronto this Friday night to perform at The Great Hall with Tona & DJ Big Jacks. Not yet a household name despite his 2003 Grammy nomination, this Brooklyn rapper has released 8 studio albums with his ninth, Doe or Die 2, in the works. Referred to by some as the most talented lyricist of all time, tonight's performance is sure to showcase what the world has been missing. Tickets to the concert are available through Eventbrite.
The Great Hall (1087 Queen Street West), December 7, 2012, 9PM $25

Hoodie Allen
OK, so we're suckers for a good rapper name--Hoodie Allen, a New York-based rapper and music nerd, lands at the Phoenix tonight for his headlining show. With his diverse music that mixes hip hop with indie music and pop samples, the 24-year-old mixtape master and former Google employee (for real) will play tracks from his 2 EPs and 3 mixtapes, all released within the past 3 years. Tickets for the show are available through Ticketmaster, Union Events, Rotate This, Soundscapes and Play De Record.
Phoenix Concert Theatre (410 Sherbourne Street), December 7, 2012, 8PM $22

For more music listings, check out our Hot Ticket post.

ARTS & CRAFTS
City of Craft 2012
Crafters invade Queen and Dovercourt this weekend for unique, handmade goods at City of Craft 2012, opening at the Theatre Centre on Saturday morning. Local vendors like Coriander Girl, Hot Pop Factory, Ursa Minor, Caitlyn Murphy, and Worn Fashion Journal will be selling everything from independent magazines to clothing to pots. Though we're pretty sure this is the cutest craft fair of all, be sure to check out our recap of the many upcoming holiday craft shows in the city.
The Theatre Centre (1087, 1093 & 1095 Queen Street West), December 8-9, 2012, 11AM $2

Nacho Mama's Craft Show
This is not your mama's craft show: Nacho Mama's takes place in a bar with the city's best nachos (topical) while selling the arts & crafts of local businesses like holly knitlightly, Curious Oddities, Charlotte and Stewart, and Brazen Razor. This crafty bunch sets up shop Saturday morning at Sneaky Dee's, offering beer, brunch and cool finds while raising money through their raffle prize pack for Sketch, a community arts initiative that engages young people to participate in the arts. Bring your mama, grab some nachos and check out the crafts until 5PM Saturday.
Sneaky Dee's (431 College Street), December 8, 2012, 11AM Free

FOOD

Holiday Sweets Tour
Kensington gets buttery sweet this Sunday with the Holiday Sweets Tour, a magical guided walk through the market to munch on chocolates, candy canes, and other sweets at five of the neighbourhood's specialty shops. Holiday history will be covered while introducing those on the tour to the best sweet shops and bakeries in the market with free samples at each location. The walk begins at Ding Dong Bakery on Spadina, where guests will meet their guide from Tasty Tours. Bookings are available through Tasty Tour's website.
Ding Dong Bakery (321 Spadina Avenue), December 9, 2012, 11:30AM $30

For more food listings, check out our This Week in Food post.

COMEDY

The Debra DiGiovanni Comedy Show
"Video on Trial" and "Last Comic Standing" star Debra DiGiovanni goes rogue by headlining two back-to-back comedy shows this Friday night at the Vaughan City Playhouse. Hosted by Anthony Ciardulli and with Mark Bennett as a special guest, DiGiovanni will perform a 7:30PM and a 9PM show featuring original jokes in her hour-long stand-up show. Check out Canada's top female comedian by calling 905-882-SHOW for tickets.
Vaughan City Playhouse Theatre (1000 New Westminster Boulevard), December 7, 2012, 7:30PM $35

For more comedy listings, check out our This Week in Comedy post.

FILM

Bad Movie Holiday Double Feature- Star Wars Holiday Special and Santa Claus vs. The Devil
It wouldn't be Christmas if you didn't have to deal with some crap and that's why The Office Pub is hosting the Bad Movie Holiday Double Feature this Sunday night. Back-to-back screenings of popular holiday cult films Star Wars Holiday Special and Santa Claus vs. The Devil will feature oddities like Bea Arthur and Chewbacca in a single film, Santa Claus in space and other laughable elements that someone once thought would make for a great film. The screenings are free (all the best crap is!) but pile in early to get the best seats.
The Office Pub (117 John Street), December 9, 2012, 8PM Free

The Snowman
Animated Christmas classic The Snowman get the Toronto Symphony Orchestra treatment in its Roy Thomson Hall debut this Sunday night. The 1982 film will be screened with live accompaniment by the TSO, headed by conductor Stuart Chafetz. In addition to Howard Blake's original score, the Cawthra Park Chamber Choir and
The Holiday Dancers will complete the live performance of Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T. Murakami's film. Tickets are available through the TSO website.
Roy Thomson Hall (60 Simcoe Street), December 9, 2012, 3PM $20-$65 adult, $16.50-$33 child

For more film listings, check out our This Week in Film post.

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

Photo of Hoodie Allen by Brian Morton / second photo via City of Craft's Facebook page

Photo by Neil Ta in the blogTO Flickr pool

The cost of a mayoral by-election could be as high as $9 million when the cost of campaign donation rebates are factored in. Apparently donors are eligible for refunds of large portions of campaign cash, something that wasn't factored in to the initial $7 million figure. Should council appoint a mayor to save money?

The Toronto Star has found numerous cases of drivers ticketed for parking in bike lanes (it does happen, apparently) the only trouble is the cars were on top of sharrows - curbside road markings reminding bikers and drivers to share the road - not full blown cycle tracks. Looks like 4,000 drivers could be in line for a refund. What do you think?

A group of students whose plans to run a cheap bus between Toronto and London were thwarted by legal threats from Greyhound Canada are responding with a push back. A lawyer has taken on the case pro bono after the bus company said they were the only ones licensed to provide scheduled transit between the two cities.

Chinese officials planning to send a breeding pair of giant pandas to Toronto Zoo have hit a snag: both the animals are, on closer inspection, both female. Good thing they figured that out before they packed them on a plane.

Over at the Grid, writer David Topping seeks out Toronto's most diverse neighbourhood, and the results might surprise you. The area that's home to the most nationalities is Flemingdon Park. The lest diverse: The Beaches, where 86.8% are native English speakers.

Beaches residents shouldn't worry, though, because they're getting a brand new public toilet. The City of Toronto is taking the wrapping off its new automatic convenience on Lake Shore Boulevard East at Northern Dancer Boulevard, the second of twenty to be installed in the city, later this morning. The toilets cost a quarter and come with a heater and self-cleaning mechanism. So that's something.

"Captain" John Letnik, the restauranteur ordered to close his floating restaurant at the foot of Yonge earlier this year, is still on board living in "squalor" according to the Star. Letnik is gradually stripping out the ship now that the city has ordered the sign removed from the restaurant but still hopes for a new harbour berth. Should the city find a new place for Captain John's?

Bathust Street is closed between Harbord and Bloor due to a garage fire and streetcars are diverting to and from Spadina station. Avoid the area it if you can.

Hey, straphangers. The Yonge-University-Spadina line is going to be closed between Union and St. Andrew stations this weekend for essential work at track-level on the second platform project under Front Street. Trains will be turning back in both directions but the rest of the line remains open. The stretch is scheduled to re-open first thing Monday.

QUICK HITS:

• Toronto school board doesn't know how many staff it employs [CBC]
• Santa Claus Fund gifts stolen from downtown depot [The Star]
• Police hunt for suspect after teenage girl injured in hit-and-run in East York [The Star]

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

Photo: "Sundial Folly" by dtstuff9 from the blogTO Flickr pool.

Photo by that guy who used to choose the photo of the day from the blogTO Flickr poolThe photos of the week collect each of the editor-selected photos of the day into one post for a contest to be decided by our readers. Sponsored by Posterjack, the photographer whose image receives the most votes will be awarded with a voucher code for a 24"x36" poster print of their work.

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

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

2.
Photo by Neil Tal

3.
Photo by ronnie.yip

4.
Photo by Acid_Punkl

5.
Photo by Under the Influence of Dub

6.
Photo by Patrick.Younger.Photography

7.
Photo by francisLMl

Have you ever had one those moments, even if for most of your life you felt like the odd one out in your extended family (lamenting holidays and reunions), until you eventually decide to talk to that little punk who you might have not paid too much attention to because he just wasn't of age yet? And then all of sudden, you realize, wait a minute, there's actually something really cool going on here — I can totally relate to this guy, and he's in a band too? Well that's a little bit like the story behind Saturns.

On paper, you wouldn't know it, but Bryan Sutherland and Lukas Cheung are actually cousins who never really clicked until a couple of years ago. They had both been playing in their own bands with varying degrees of success. Bryan is half of the electro-savvy Opopo (Urbnet) and Lukas had his own indie psychedelic rock band, The Dharma Sun. While they both love their other bandmates, family bloodlines trump all and theyve put all their efforts for the time being into creating a new blend of surfy, planetarily transcendent electro pop with a live and multimedia interactive experience.

You can catch them tonight at 11 pm at The Garrison for their self-titled EP release at the Silent Shout Showcase alongside a number of other side-project driven bands like Ark Analog (Dan Werb of Woodhands&Maylee Todd), Piper Davis (Piper Davis and Bryce Kushnier aka Vitaminsforyou) and Boss & Swan. This is a makeup show for the notorious previously scheduled October 22nd show at 2ninety2 which ended up in the bar threatening physical violence against the promoters for asking to waive an unexpected coat check fee for patrons (see the full post on their website). Hopefully this show will be drama free!

I caught up with the band to ask them what they've been up to and what's in store from them moving forward.

So how did you guys meet?

Lukas: We share a grandfather, hahaha.

Bryan: We're cousins but we never really started hanging out til 2010. We got really drunk together at a CMW party and decided we should party. He passed out in a hallway, hahaha.

Were you making music at that point?

Lukas: I was playing music with friends and went on later to form a psych rock band called The Dharma Sun and now we're doing this.

Bryan: I'm also in a band called Opopo with my bandmate, Corey Poole. It's not like it fit our schedules to do Saturns. We were both pretty busy with our bands but this started so spontaneously, and it felt really cohesive. It was going so fast that it felt almost wrong to halt it and give it partial time.

How did your EP come together?

Bryan: We made a spontaneous organic album that formed from a track that he started. We sat down in his room in the heat of summer and worked for 3 days.

Lukas: Yeah, it started with finishing just that one track and we were like, let's make another, and another, and so we ended up with the four song EP, with even more content than we needed.

Bryan: Trying to finish it all in one congested, short period was a really smart move. It made the summer for us.

Lukas: I was moving out of the house in a week and then I was going on vacation to China so there was this sense of immediacy that really put us on the spot. I think we slept maybe two hours if anything over those few days.

Bryan: Lukas had these two buddies crashing at his place and they saw us working through all hours of the day. We hardly ate. Lukas's friend was working at a catering company, though, and he'd come home with huge platters of food for us to refuel, and then we'd get back to working.

Lukas: The other sense of urgency was the moving out party that we promised everyone we would play at. We were like "YEAH! We just finished these songs for you!" And then someone spilled a beer on our synthesizer. A week before my laptop had beer spilled on it too, so it was acting up as well. Lukas's laptop is also secondhand, but it's almost like our dysfunctional gear played a secondary role in the process of creating our sound by keeping the recordings minimalistic.

How does coming from different projects affect your sound?

Bryan: Thats a big part of it. He's all psychedelic rock and I'm all electronic.

Lukas: I think we have a really cohesive workflow that we like to call a two-headed dragon, so nothing gets by us.

Bryan: His own musicianship really influenced me because I think I got caught up in just making big beats and this focused me more on songwriting.

Lukas: To be honest, it takes up a lot of time so a lot of music that's created is going towards this. I think we're both writing some pretty out-there stuff...sometimes classically influenced, but there's also noise-rock stuff.

Bryan: This is the first project in a while thats had cohesive boundaries. It's got to have sparkle. Saturns is a place that we revisit with the sound of the music and we're staying pretty true to that. We've made a lot of other music that didn't sound like Saturns and didn't belong in the same dimension.

Lukas: Dimension is a good word because I feel that to do this music, to paint a picture of an alternate reality is a big influence on the artwork for the album. I like to think that there's this universe that exists right next to us and this is what it would sound or look like, and there's the colour scheme that goes with it.

Bryan: We behave differently when we are in Saturns mode. It's nice to step into that mode and put that skin over it. We're really trying to incorporate different types of media.

Lukas: Yeah, we want to build a crew that is slowly coming together. We're collaborating with some video and performance artists.

Right. I understand you have a 7' tall male dancer?

Bryan: He's more like a shaman. The personality that takes over him and the faces that he makes show that he's definitely in his own world that fits ours. It's been very spontaneous and organic.

Lukas: He's like our hype man, but also an ambassador for Saturns, he's going to bring some serious moves to the show on Friday!

Where does the name come from?

Bryan: There are many interpretations, but one of them is based on the Francisco Goya painting "Saturn Devouring his Son," which to me represents two identities fusing into one. I'm hesitant to bring this up because the imagery is everything that we're not. It's just so dark and nightmarish but the dual nature of something being so horrific, yet beautiful and inspiring, is there.

The two of you being related seems to fit with that fusion as well.

Bryan: Because we're both related, we kind of operate the same way, which can bring out the two-headed dragon in the sense where we gnash teeth in a healthy way. I've never been this passionate about getting something 'right' in a project before... I think it's a good sign.

Lukas: I think it's a really good sign when you want to punch someone in the face, but aren't actually willing to going that far. That's the great thing working with family. You get really worked up, and have a direction you want to go in, and there's a big reason to want to communicate to get the final project done. But what are you going to do? Disown each other? You're form the same bloodline. You keep working and the end results are pretty rewarding. I think i speak for both of us when I say working on a track is pretty crazy and frustrating but I'm always happy with the end result.

Bryan: Yeah, neither of us ever get so hung up on our own ideas that we never want to listen to each other. It's been described as 'pulling teeth' but it's a very productive session when it feels that way. It's actually exciting when it gets that intense. It would almost be more productive if we did get in a fist fight but that probably won't happen because the music is energetic enough to balance that.

How would you describe your sound?

Bryan: Electronic dreamscape surf. That feels like the vibe, its very psychedelic and electronic.

Lukas: It paints a picture of our own personalities. You hear a lot of fight in it but at the same time there's a lot of beauty. It's music that transcends this plane. It's definitely in its own world.

Bryan: We play all the instruments, total 50/50 collaboration down the middle.

Lukas: We get them made and then try to figure out how to do them live. We scrapped so many new songs, we've played at least 10 shows and we've stayed true to this original thing.

What's with the pink skull?

Lukas: It's our mascot. I really like the duality of the skull. It's such a dark, deathly image, but at the same time it's bright pink. I think it represents our music well. Our music can be extremely sparkly but it's got a lot of attitude to it.

Bryan: Everyone can relate to skulls, we all have our own but we can't see them. laughs

Outside of Toronto, where are you guys getting played?

Lukas: We've been getting crazy hits from all over the place. It's amazing to track them through Bandcamp. We were posted on a Japanese blog, we're not even sure what it's called because we can't read it. But there's a good following in Portugal, Brazil, the rest of South America. It's a huge reward to think of someone across the world stumbling upon your music. As I was saying, I went to China just a week after we put the music up online and I was hacking the firewall there to check my Facebook, and I'd be getting all the updates. It was shocking because I was so far from home but it was a big motivator to get back to work, we were still sending each other tunes back and forth. It really feels like we haven't stopped since we started that first track.

After being the last vestige of analog payments for so long, the TTC has been accepting credit and debit cards for monthly Metropasses at almost all of its subway stations for several months. Now, the techno-shy transit agency is ready to expand the program, possibly for all transactions right down to a $3 single fare.

Chris Upfold from the TTC says the idea to widen its scope is based on the success of the Metropass pilot, which was tested at just eight stations. Now, card readers are in all but six ticket booths - system wide rollout wraps up Dec. 14 - and the Commission will try offering cashless payments for its weekly pass, slowly adding other fares one by one.

"We wouldn't flip a switch and do them all; we would move progressively down through the products," says Upfold, "It needs to be a plain and deliberate process we go through."

The amount of time each transaction takes to process is the main reason for the piecemeal progress. The stations' card readers are capable of processing contactless, "wave and pay" transations but the bank cards that support the technology are still far from ubiquitous.

The TTC plans to study ticket booths lines after adding products to the list of fares customers can purchase with a card to ensure wait times stay realistic. If transactions start to take too long - it takes about 30 seconds to process and chip and pin sale - plastic payments for small fares could remain impractical unless card technology improves.

Should the TTC be expanding its credit and debit payments while PRESTO is still in the works? Will it be easier to ride the subway and buy tickets now there's going to be another way to pay for more expensive tickets?

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

Photo: "Day 113" by Mike Campbell Photography from the blogTO Flickr pool.

Oh, Ossington — you're just too damn expensive. You know the story, an art gallery rich neighbourhood attracts the attention of developers and the "early adopters" eventually get priced out of the area. So it is with this gallery. Not to fret, however, Dundas West makes a happy home. And there's even a mighty fine wine bar across the street. Perfect for post-opening tipples.

Read my profile of the new MKG127 in the galleries section.