blogTO

Lorette Luzajic on the Toronto Food Scene

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:18:12 -0500

I first discovered Lorette Luzajic while reading over a monthly newsletter from Gremolata, a local wine and food website. She had written an article on vegetarianism "I'm A Natural Born Killer" that caught my eye. Clicking through on her name revealed she's a self-proclaimed "resident spice girl" and pursues food writing in a refreshing way that challenges widely held dogmas.

Always seeking a fresh opinion on the Toronto food scene, I shot her a few questions to find out more of what she had to say. Our brief Q&A follows.

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Morning Brew: December 1st, 2008

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:00:36 -0500

Photo: "Swimming with ColorCheckers" by Daifuku Sensei, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

Toronto managed to evade a winter storm this weekend, but a few of our prominent local politicians have become embroiled in a storm of epic proportions. The Prime Minister's Office sent out a recording made by the Conservatives of an NDP caucus teleconference that reveals Jack Layton leading coalition-related discussions. I'm pretty sure I have an opinion on what's worse - that these discussions were held well before the insane economic plan was delivered by the Conservatives, or that the talks were infiltrated, taped, and shared by the Conservatives. It's believed that a deal to form a Liberal-NDP coalition, with support of the Bloq is in the works, and coalition action in the form of a stimulus package is being planned.

Total mayhem and horror erupted at a child's birthday party in Oshawa this weekend, leading to the stabbing death of a mother, injury to a few others (including two kids), and the assailant being shot dead by intervening police. What a horrific tragedy.

Something about this story just doesn't seem right. Five fires broke out in five different TTC subway stations within half an hour of each other - due to heaters used by the TTC to prevent switches from freezing? Ummmm. Does this happen often? Even Fire Marshall Bill wouldn't approve!

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Rediscovering Toronto's Monorail

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:44:22 -0500

Many people might not realize that Toronto once had a monorail. It wasn't where you'd expect it - at the airport, on the islands or zipping around the Metro Convention Centre. Instead, it was east of the city and part of the Toronto Zoo. It was called the Canadian Domain Ride and opened in 1976 to shuttle visitors to remote areas of the zoo where they could see animals that weren't confined to the typical entrapments.

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Tailgate Party Starting to Take Shape for Bills Game in Toronto

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:25:02 -0500

While some tickets are still left for next weekend's Bills-Dolphins game at the Rogers Centre, entrance to the tailgate party before hand is open to anyone regardless whether they're ponying up for seats or not. The biggest - and official - tailgate is being put on by Budweiser (Facebook event here) and features everything from the Syracuse University marching band (I guess UofT's wasn't available) to 24x24 foot barbecues grilling up bison ribs, burgers and pulled pork sandwiches. Prices for food and drinks will range from $2-$8 - or way cheaper than what it will cost for the crappy food inside the dome.

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Site Changes Coming to blogTO

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:06:27 -0500

Things have been a bit slow and wonky around here the past week. Truth is, we're undergoing an upgrade and a modest redesign of the site. Watch out for the new look sometime tomorrow. But until then, please excuse the lower than average number of posts as well as some annoying glitches that are affecting the site's comment functionality.

We promise (or at least hope) it will be worth it though. Stay tuned for a new look and some fun new stuff coming to the site very soon.

October Sky Rock The Annex WreckRoom

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:54:00 -0500

Montreal band October Sky rocked The Annex WreckRoom Wednesday night, in association with Indie Can radio showcase.

After being featured on the Plus Sur Commande (the Musique Plus version of Much on Demand) for their video of Hit the Ground off their Hell Isn't My Home album, October Sky started gaining momentum.

"Next we were featured on Much Loud and then radio started picking us up more," said keyboardist Yanik Rouleau before they took the stage. "Toronto is our second home.

"But our studio is in Montreal. We went back there to practice and do the album in a home studio, keeping our costs down. We're trying to build a really big fan base in Toronto."

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Toronto Independent Music Podcast #84

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:17:24 -0500

TIM #84 is proudly sponsored by Zune by Microsoft.

The Toronto Independent Music Podcast is back! Woo ha! (Note: We had a small technical problem that prevented us from publishing this two days ago when it was recorded but watch out for future TIM podcasts weekly every Wednesday from now on)

Featuring:

Corner Phone by Land Of Talk
The Electricity In Your House by I Am Robot And Proud
Your Song by Shawn Jurek
Spinny by The Maynards
Two Ways Out by Darker My Love

Other ways to get the podcast:

Listen | Download the podcast
iTunes | Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes
RSS | Add the TIM Podcast feed to your RSS Reader
Search | Search the audio on Podzinger

Submit your music to the Toronto Independent Music podcast.

The World Provider Knows Feist

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:34:33 -0500

Not to sell the electro-pop of Montreal's The World Provider short but all things considered, this seems like the most obvious way to promote the band. Feist sings on "Valentine", the first track on The World Provider's new album Hard Feelings. It's a really good song, by the way.

What else is good about The World Provider? If you like quirky, new wavey synth melodies with a little rock thrown in you'll definitely want to check out their album and their show tomorrow night at the Drake.

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Crafternoon Tea at Nathalie Roze & Co

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:46:48 -0500

There's tea and then there's Crafternoon Tea. This Saturday, Leslieville's Nathalie-Roze & Co is getting its tea and craft on with a charity event that combines crafty fashion market with perfect-for-a-cold-day tea party. It's recession proof shopping with an indie twist. Nothing will be over $50 and there will be lots of eco-friendly stuff (many made by local designers) that is original, quirky and pretty much impossible to find anywhere else.

But it's not just about shopping. It's about creating. There will be DIY workshops all day including 1-inch button making, paper crafts, felting and an earring bonanza. And tea. Lots of tea.

Murder At The Ossington Tonight

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:50:37 -0500

Murder, She Podcasted, a Toronto-based podcast, has become one of my favourites, and one that I can listen to over and over.

Full of disco tendencies, guilty pleasures and basically anything that goes, artist and designer Pieter Hansderson aka Dj Fletcher has turned a little hobby of his into something substantial.

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Morning Brew: November 28th, 2008

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:03:25 -0500

Photo: "Trapped in a dumpster " by mikepop2ca, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

The media is experiencing tough times for sure. First it was Canwest doing the canning, and now it's CTV axing 105 Toronto jobs. Fear not, though; Toronto blogs aren't next, I don't think. We don't have nearly the same level of resources, operating costs, overheard, or high-priced journalistic talent ;)

While the concept is still in its infancy, Loblaws is poised to take a leap and take the plastic grocery bag fee nationwide. They're insistent that it's not a cash grab, and are committing excess profits on the bags to outside environmental causes (after they pay for the required publicity, extra training, and checkout redesign costs associated with reusable bags).

It's big news for Waterloo. Superstar scientist Stephen Hawking has taken up a position as a research chair at the University of Waterloo. Understandably, he's not that keen on snow, and will spend a good chunk of his time there next summer. Who wants to hook up with Hawking and pick his brain over a beer on the patio? I do!

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Toronto's First Children's Book Bank Turns Half

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:23:54 -0500

Every now and then I'm given the opportunity to talk with some truly amazing Torontonians. It's not something that happens as often as I would obviously like, and I cherish these conversations for what they are: rare glimpses of world that is both kinder and more caring than the one-hour-news-cycle world I read of, so often overwhelmed by rush and distant squalor.

Today I spoke with Kim Beatty, mother to The Children's Book Bank, on the day that her foundation turns six months old. In honour of the occasion, Kim and her staff of sixty volunteers threw a half-birthday party this morning at the Bank's location in Regent Park, where a majority of incomes lie below the Toronto average. The event was attended by children, regulars and not-so-regulars, and adults, including a number of supporters from the Yonge Street Mission. Also among the supporters was Marguerite Campbell, principal of Rose Avenue Public School, a kindergarten and primary school in St. James Town.

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The Rural Alberta Advantage Selected By eMusic

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:10:37 -0500

I have heard only good things about the three people that constitute The Rural Alberta Advantage (RAA) and even better things about their live performances. In fact, this is the second interview that this website has done in 2008 with frontman Nils Edenloff.

In March, Nils met up with us to discuss RAA's debut record, Hometowns, and to provide some background information on the band's beginnings and development. Now, he's back to talk about how the talented trio was selected as one of eMusic's two November bands to be profiled, and what, if any, impact that this has had.

We met in the Green Room, a dark Annex cafe, only accessible by a back alley that runs off of Brunswick Ave. It's a very student friendly environment, which is my way of saying that it offers an affordable menu of food and beverages. I ordered a Steamwhistle, because it reminds me of the keg parties I used to host and attend in my days of yore. Nils ordered a Creemore because it was what he wanted.

Then we got down to serious business, starting with an explanation of how RAA came to be selected by eMusic.

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Thursday Theatre Review: Festen

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:34:54 -0500

When I went to The Company Theatre's production of Festen it was one of those rare opportunities for me to go to a show completely blind. I didn't know what it was about, so I didn't know what to expect. All I had heard about the show (even though I purposely tried not to read anything about it, there are things that always slip through) was that it was "intense". And yes, yes it was. Intense is a good word for it. It was also great.

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Beeeeeeep.....We're Making Some Site Updates

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:39:12 -0500

Update: Comments are now working!

We're in the middle of making some changes to the site and are currently experiencing some technical glitches. Thanks to those of you who have contacted us to let us know. We've got our wrenches out and are actively working toward restoring this functionality.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience, and please watch this space for updates.

Cheers,
The blogTO Team.

Test pattern borrowed from serial consign.