Overheard in Hogtown MOVING TO T.ZAMO.CA

Overheard In Hogtown is joining Tdot Zamo!

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 10:49:00 -0400

We've had a blast around here, but we've decided to find a new home on T.zamo.ca, currently "Tdot Zamo, a Libertarian in Toronto" which will become "Tdot Zamo - Overheard in Hogtown" Thank you for all your support and understanding as we transition to our new home. The two blogs are quite different, in that Tdot is a bit more serious and political, while we here take a lighter view at the world, but we hope that together will make a more complete, real and authentic view of Toronto, this great and wonderful city. (If you're interested in technicalities, please see BlogIdol.ro for an explanation.) Or.. maybe not. We may still continue here since our synergies there are not complete. Stay tuned!

Winterlicious 2013 picks

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:19:00 -0500

The 2013 Winterlicious started and all the participating restaurants are now taking reservations.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Winterlicious has been going on for the past decade or so, since the SARS epidemic had dealt a death blow to the hospitality industry and the city’s honchos were trying to revive it. Since then, the event has been besieged by a few complaints, such as less-than-stellar ingredients and savings, not so good service, while the staff complains of a lack of tipping from participating patrons.

The three-course prix fixe menu comes in 3 sizes: lunch at $15, $20 and $25, while dinner is $25, $35 and $45 – obviously, not including drinks. We have relied on a newcomer to Toronto to make her picks and here is what she came up with:

Alleycatz Restaurant Jazz Bar (Menu, 2409 Yonge St, W, $25, Midtown, Mediterranean)
The Chefs’ House @ George Brown (Menu, 215 King St E, W, $25, Downtown, Bistro/Cdn)
Bangkok Garden (Menu, 18 Elm St, W, $25, Downtown, Thai)
Annona Restaurant (Menu, Park Hyatt 4 Avenue Rd, W, $35, Yorkville, Mediterranean)
Big Daddy's Bourbon Street Bistro & Oyster Bar (Menu, 212 King St W, W, $25, Ent D, Cajun/Creole/Seafood)
Ouzeri (Menu, 500A Danforth Ave, W, $25, Greektown, Greek)
Quinn’s Steakhouse (Menu, 96 Richmond St W, W, $35, Fin D, Steakhouse)
Far Niente (Menu, 187 Bay St, W, $35, Dwntwn/Fin D, Continental)
The Wine Bar (Menu, 9 Church St, W, $25, Downtown, French/Italian)

We’re still thinking whether to add Splendido ($45/16), Auberge du Pommier ($45/28), Canoe ($25/21) or Pangaea ($35) to the list (in /x, x are the savings).

What do you think?

Sources / More info: to, tl, rfd, xtra, sl, fo, [PDF]

Overheard, restaurant, picks, cuisine, culinary, foodie, food, going out, dinner, lunch, winterlicious, summerlicious, delicious (Tags)

Free WiFi in Toronto

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 12:27:00 -0400

I pay about $15 / month for cell phone services and that includes unlimited browsing. If I could rely on free Wi-Fi, I could take out the $10 + taxes off that, allowing me to use my cell phone at its full power for free. With that in mind, we shall look at all your options for getting free Internet in Hogtown (aka Toronto)..

Like it or not, wide availability of wireless access has become an indicator of a prosperous city. A few years ago, several USA municipalities tried, then failed to build city-owned full Wi-Fi coverage. Although the “market” providers had initially vanished or decided that it’s not economical to offer the service in smaller cities, as soon as these cities announced such projects they returned with a vengeance, offering such services at a loss to annihilate demand for the public option.

Meanwhile, as early as 2009, European cities such as Stockholm have been offering their residents just that with no problems:

Where in 2009?	Monthly cost	Uplink (Mbps)	Downlink (Mbps)
Stockholm	$11	100	100
Seoul	$24	100	100
Hong Kong	$35	100	100
Tokyo	$61	100	100
Amsterdam	$127	100	100
Lafayette, LA, Municipal	$58	50	50
Lafayette, LA, Cox Cable	$140	5	50
US, where available, Verizon	$145	20	50

There is a project with similar goals in Toronto, but it will never match what is happening in Stockholm and it seems to be nearly abandoned. Meanwhile, Toronto teachers’ unions express concern about Wi-Fi in schools, while the Government shrugs it off. (Truth be told, there is at least one easily replicable Dutch study showing that Wi-Fi coverage has a negative effect on vegetation, preventing growth.) Since then, some school boards (such as Peel region) have introduced Wi-Fi in every school, while TTC and Go are reportedly working on it, with no ETS.

University of Toronto as well as York offer Wi-Fi only for their staff and students. Toronto Public Library also offers free wifi at its various locations, but only when they are open: M-F 9-6 and Sat 10-6. Some have extended hours, from 8:30am-8pm but that’s rather the exception. You may find more exact info in the TPL link below. Support comes from their provider, Spyders, who also offer a toll-free number: 1-888-855-3555. The service tends to be overloaded most of the time, to the point where it’s hardly ever usable. Towifi.info is a homegrown/grassroots project, but when we visited it the map did not load.

Even Tim Hortons, with its reputation of get your poison and leave reputation has joined McDonalds and Starbucks in offering it at its full locations (Timothy’s World Coffee, Second Cup, Burger King, Subway, Williams coffee pubs and even Apple stores, Sandwich, Mr. Sub, are offering it as well):

“We’re looking at the needs of our different types of guests,” said Morelli, “not just the soccer moms and seniors who we’re popular with, but also students and business people who stop in our restaurants.” (David Morelli, Tim Hortons director of public affairs)

Starbucks has long had wireless, and McDonalds offers the free service in over 1,000 locations in Canada.

Erik Thoresen, director of research and consulting at Technomic, an American food consulting firm, says it was only a matter of time before Tim Hortons introduced Wi-Fi.

“It has become table stakes for any restaurant who wants to stay competitive,” he said.

With no institutional support, and with the WiGLE database confined to US only, we are forced to collect info from various and disparate projects. The Hotspot locations database has only 7 entries for Toronto:

WiFiCafeSpots is an app that will display a map rather than a list. It’s a pay app available on all the major platforms showing such location in many countries. For each location, it shows even “power outlet access.”

Another international project that might help in finding free WiFi is Fon. If you have a Fon router and share & sell your Internet to strangers, you can in turn share into other members Internet. You can find a link to their map below as well as to their Android app. (I actually have a Fon router that I’m thinking of selling.)

RestoToronto has over 40 results of restaurants with WiFi in their database when searching Toronto – quite possibly, the most comprehensive list of such restaurants.

BlogTO has a list of 8 hotels that offer free Wi-Fi and 9 with wireless internet mostly in the lobby alone:

Everywhere

The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen St. W) - free WiFi everywhere in the building, plus a laptop guests can borrow and a workstation.

The Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen St. W) - free WiFi everywhere in the building.

Radisson Admiral (249 Queen's Quay W.) - free WiFi everywhere in the building.

Hilton Garden Inn (92 Peter St.) - all rooms including the business centre have complimentary WiFi and printing privileges.

Hotel Le Germain (30 Mercer St.) - free WiFi everywhere in the building.

Hotel Victoria (56 Yonge St.) - complimentary WiFi everywhere in the building, no need for username/passwords, just click-and-go.

Novotel (45 The Esplanade) - free WiFi everywhere in the building.

Windsor Arms (18 St. Thomas St) - free WiFi in guest rooms and common areas.

Limited

Cambridge Suites (15 Richmond St. E) - No free WiFi with deluxe suite, with a cityscape suite WiFi is included. WiFi is free at the business centre for anyone as long as you have your room key.

Four Seasons Toronto (21 Avenue Road) - $15 for 24 hours of in-room WiFi, the business centre located on 4th floor is complimentary.

Park Hyatt (4 Avenue Road) - All rooms in the north tower offer free WiFi including the lobby roof top lounge and all meeting rooms. In the south tower there's free internet but you have to plug in because it's considered a heritage building (not exactly the hotel's fault).

Le Meridien King Edward (37 King St. E) - WiFi is free in the lobby, otherwise the cost depends on the package - they start at $13.95 for 24 hours.

Marriott Bloor (90 Bloor St. E) - WiFi in the lobby is free, in-room it's $13.60 for 24 hours. Free for Marriott Rewards members.

One King West (1 King St. W) - complimentary WiFi in the lobby, $9.95 per night in the guest rooms.

Renaissance Hotel (1 Blue Jays Way) - WiFi in the lobby is free, $12.95 per night in the guest rooms.

InterContinental (220 Bloor St. W) - Free WiFi with a Club Room. Otherwise $9.95 per 24 hours. To use the business centre you have to buy a pre-paid card that is $3 for 10 minutes. Free if you upgrade to a Club Room.

Sheraton Centre Toronto (123 Queen St. W) - Internet in the room is wired only - $14.95 per night, Internet cafe in the lobby allows 30 minutes free at a time.

We have decided to try to collect all such Wi-Fi Hotspots in a list. You can enter your known and confirmed hotspots in an open form.

You may also wardrive yourself, or transform secured hotspots into free ones (though that is most likely illegal). These days you may even wardrive with your Android phone and a USB adapter running BT5.

Sources / More info: cbc-banwifi, uoft, tpl, cbc-wifischools, cbc-mcguinty, ts-wifigo, hl-to, ts-tim, ts-starbucks, wificafe, fon-app, fon-maps, restoto, blogto, indigo-plum, wiki-muni, wrd-ore

Overheard in Hogtown, wifi, wireless, freebie, Wi-Fi, internet, online

Something rotten in T.O.

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:45:00 -0500

happening today :)

In the first piece of news, a couple got arrested for having sex in the subway:

Another passenger pushed the yellow strip, which stopped the train for nearly 15 minutes at Spadina. A guard got on the train, but the couple got off and finished having sex on the platform.

Perhaps apart from being heavily intoxicated, she also did not keep a good hygiene:

Greg Elliott posted on Twitter, “Why does Toronto smell like fish right now? #smellyTO"
Kristi E. tweeted, “I thought that I smelled fish this morning - King and Strachan. What was it?”

Another person tweeted, “YES! Liberty Village this morning and High Park last night. YUCH. Is the lake sweating in all this December heat?”

Driven wild by the stench, a bunch of teenagers went to Niagara and trashed a motel:

Niagara Regional Police told the St. Catharines Standard newspaper that the issue is a civil matter, and the students likely won’t be criminally charged, because registered guests enter into a civil arrangement between themselves and the hotel.

I'm quote surprised they're not charged.. Isn't there something called "willful destruction"? If they're not charged, wouldn't this discourage hotel owners from renting to kids, even when they are being responsible?

Sources / More Info: Couple having sex on TTC subway charged - CityNews, citv-stench

[tags]kids, smell, stink, fishy, toronto, sex, exhibitionism, public[/tags]

Joffrey Lupul at Maple Leafs

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Tue, 5 Apr 2011 00:57:00 -0400

Joffrey Douglas Sheldon Lupul is now playing for the Maple Leafs. You know, that Toronto team that keeps winning in an evil parallel universe..

According to James Mirtle writing in the Globe and Mail, Lupul exceeded expectations despite injury:

There were many pundits out there who saw Joffrey Lupul as merely an expensive salary dump when he landed in Toronto in February, a high-priced player coming off a terrible injury who the Toronto Maple Leafs took on as a way to land prospect defenceman Jake Gardiner. Twenty-five games into his tenure as a Leaf, however, Lupul has found a role, scoring eight goals and adding eight assists while playing on a line with Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak.

Which may sound good, except that..

Those may not be $4.25-million worth of contributions, but on a team that struggled to score in the first half of the season (and lost a lot of games because of it), Lupul's presence has helped of late.

Indeed, Maple Leaf sucks. Here’s how Rick Mercer (CBC comic) introduces a new “Rogers innovation”:

Sources / More info: gm-lupul, wiki-lupul

Overheard, sport, hockey, maple leafs, free agent, player, acquisition (Tags)

Japanese Shorts Festival

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:06:00 -0400

Today is the last day of the Toronto Japanese Short Film Festival 2011. Are you going?

Japan is probably the best known and loveliest amalgam of contrasts known to man. Attending such a festival is particularly important especially now that Japan needs so much help.

Today’s screenings start at 3:30pm with Ichigo, then Nashi and Momo at 7pm, followed by the Closing Party at 9pm. The event takes place at the Innis Townhall Theatre on 2 Sussex Ave, South of Bloor on St. George at the corner of Sussex. Here’s a map:

And here’s the festival schedule:

The closing party will take place at 603 Markham St. starting at 9:00pm.

Sources / More info: tjsff

Overheard, film, movie, culture, japan, japanese, short, shorts, festival, event (Tags)

TTC adventures

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:57:00 -0400

As I left the subway car, a medium large African lady standing in the door lifted her leg with the obvious intention to cause me to fall..

I did recover, but weirded out, I took a good look at her. She was dressed in a smart “power” suit and she was fighting almost successfully fat deposits accumulating on her pronounced curves. I could not help wondering if she was a racist or just a mean.

Then, as I searched for a rational explanation, it dawned on me that earlier, as I grabbed an overhead hold-on bar, my large jacket may have touched her in a way that caused her to either think that I was touching her or to realize that I wasn’t, but still be p.o.

My gums, my gums

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:35:00 -0400

Interesting poster in the subway:
"keep the ttc gum-free"

It reminds me of that sax jazz mon from The Simpsons, whose name was "bleeding gums" :)

Metric free show at Union Station 7pm 2nite

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Wed, 4 Aug 2010 17:54:00 -0400

It was supposed to be a surprise. Kinda a like that birthday party your gf organized for you while talking so loudly on the phone that even the neighbours came uninvited.

Who’s Metric, you’re asking? These guys:

How did it happen?

Here’s what dose tells us:

The Juno-award winning band will reportedly play a free concert tonight outside Union Station. The show, sponsored by Samsung Mobile Canada, has been shrouded in secrecy (mostly to appease city officials worried about crowd control, reports the Toronto Star). But fans figured out the identity of the mystery band after Samsung dropped a huge hit on Twitter: "I wonder who this band is going to be? Is it the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?" (paraphrasing a lyric in the Metric hit "Gimme Sympathy"). The band confirmed the news on their official site Tuesday night.

The show is set for 7 p.m. on Front Street. Metric is also scheduled to play a free show Thursday at New York City's Prospect Park.

Tell me mo’

This band is happening, according to wikipedia:

Metric is a Canadian indie rock and New Wave band. Originally formed in Toronto, the band has also, at various times been based in Montreal, London, New York City and Los Angeles.

The band consists of vocalist Emily Haines (who also plays the synthesizer and guitar), guitarist James Shaw (who also plays the theremin), bassist Josh Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key. Their first full-length album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, was released in 2003 and earned a Juno Award nomination for Best Alternative Album. Live It Out was released on October 4, 2005 and was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the Canadian Album of The Year and once again the Juno Award nomination for Best Alternative Album.

The first album the band recorded, Grow Up and Blow Away, was finally released on June 26, 2007 by Last Gang Records. The album was originally recorded for Restless Records, but got neglected when the label was bought out by Rykodisc.

Haines and Shaw also perform with Broken Social Scene, and Haines has been a guest on albums by Stars, KC Accidental, The Stills,Jason Collett and Tiësto. Scott-Key and Winstead have their own side project, Bang Lime, and Haines has released a solo album and companion EP, Knives Don't Have Your Back and What Is Free to a Good Home?, respectively, under the name Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton.

Their fourth studio album Fantasies (previously scheduled for an April 14 release) was released in Canada and the United States on April 7, 2009.[1] It was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize for Canadian Album of the Year, and won the Alternative Album of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards, as well as Group of the Year.

I’ll be there.

Sources / More info: wiki-metric, dose-metric, ilovemetric, mm-metric, aux-metric, exclaim-metric, thestar-metric, channel, yt-metric

Overheard, band, music, muzak, concert, free, indie, indy, juno

Robbers use feces to distract victims

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Sat, 29 May 2010 19:34:00 -0400

In a sign that our city is maturing and approaching the level of weirdness of other American cities, we learn from AP that "robbers are squirting people with feces at cash machines to distract them before stealing their money".

Here’s the news:

Constable Tony Vella said Friday that the robbers use squeeze bottles to squirt the victims who are making cash withdrawals. The offenders then help them clean the feces off their clothing, and in the process, they steal their money.

Vella says the robberies have happened four times in downtown Toronto in the last week.

He says groups of at least four suspects are usually involved. One person squirts the victim's clothing with feces, another points out the offending spot, a third person tries to remove it and the fourth person grabs their cash.

Isn’t that incredibly similar and possibly inspired by the Phillies fan who vomited on a 11 year-old and her father?

Clemmens stuck his fingers down his throat and vomited on Michael Vangelo, an off-duty Easton police captain, and one of Mr Vangelo's daughters after Clemmens' companion was ejected from the park.

The New Jersey man and his friend were spilling beer, cursing and heckling Mr Vangelo and his daughters from the time they arrived at their seats, according to a statement of facts read in court.

Mr Vangelo's 15-year-old daughter asked the pair to stop the profanity, and Mr Vangelo complained to security that Clemmens' friend was spitting, with some of it hitting his 11-year-old daughter.

After his friend was ejected, Clemmens was sitting alone behind the Vangelos when he answered his mobile phone and said: "I need to do what I need to do. I'm going to get sick," the prosecutor said.

Clemmens then put his fingers down his throat and threw up on the father, with some vomit splashing onto Mr Vangelo's younger daughter.

He then punched the father several times in the head before other fans in the stands subdued him, the prosecutor said.

Clemmens' mug shot showed him with a swollen black eye, and authorities acknowledged he was hit as he was being subdued. No one else was charged in the case.

In exchange for Clemmens' guilty pleas, charges including reckless endangerment and corruption of minors were dropped.

Whatever the source, that is the kind of attack I least want to be in..

Sources / More info: ap-robbers, Phillies-fan, yt-vomit

Overheard, vomit, feces, excrement, gross, yuck, eww, ewww, attack, disgusting

THUMP!: brick wall comes crushing down on Yonge St

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:15:00 -0400

A building facade near Ryerson University came crushing down on Friday noon, prompting police to close Yonge St between Dundas and Gerrard.

In a rather embarrassing turn of events, part of an older building facade came crushing down, just as construction was being done inside the building.

Luckily, despite witnesses reports, nobody was caught under the rubble. Police used “human-sniffing dogs” to ensure that.

A block of brick wall about six metres wide and an entire storey high had fallen clear by the time it was over, leaving exposed structural beams and strips of pink insulation.

David Robichaud, a construction worker delivering wall boards to a nearby building, was leaving work when the wall started coming down.

"We saw some pieces come down and then the wall collapsed. We were pushed back," he said. "They were doing construction on the inside of that building and it just collapsed."

Emergency Medical Services said two people suffered minor injuries in the incident, but Toronto police said they did not believe anyone had been injured.

A section of Gould St will remain closed as engineers assess the damage.

Sources / More info: calgary-herald, cbc-gould-closed, torstar-yonge-closed, canpress-wall-collapse

Overheard, collapse, emergency, crumbling, infrastructure, public danger, construction, debris

Toronto Police Officer allowed to publish novel

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Fri, 9 Apr 2010 10:35:00 -0400

Not long ago, a TPS veteran was denied publication of his novel because the community that was part of it may have resented the publication. However, there's been a change of heart and he can go ahead with it.

Toronto Police Constable Brent Pilkey looks rather angry. That’s probably because his book is called Lethal Rage.

Originally the 22-year veteran Pilkey was told that as an active member of the Toronto Police in 32 Division he could not publish even a fictional account based on his experiences over 15 years in 51 Division.

His first novel, Lethal Rage, is scheduled to be released May 1 by ECW Press.

“The staging of locations and events may be viewed by individuals resident in the area as disparaging and disrespectful, including suggestions of differential policing in the area, such that it reflects badly on the reputation of TPS,” wrote Aillen Ashman, Toronto Police’s director of Human Resources Management, in a March 15th memo. “Your request for approval of secondary activities related to authoring, publishing and advertising fictional police novel(s) is hereby denied.”

But there has been a change of heart.

“Aillen took another look at it and has reversed her decision,” said Pugash, adding “if we made a mistake we will admit it and that is what happened here.”

I’m not convinced that TPS latest decision is correct, it seems more of a capitulation in front of commercial interests and outside pressure. Or maybe I’m wrong, and Const. Pilkey’s freedom of speech is more important than the considerations regarding the community he is serving. What do you think?

Sources / More info: Toronto Sun

Overheard, freedom, police, tps, toronto police force, creative writing, freedom of speech, free speech

Hot Docs 2010 schedule online

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:43:00 -0400

Toronto documentary afficionados can finally rejoice! The full schedule is set and online.

Hot Docs 2010 takes place April 29 to May 9.

It’s next to impossible to present every one of them – that’s what the website is for. We’ll just show you the top10 buzz lists:

Top 10 Most Viewed Films

Hot Picks

Sources / More info: hot-docs-schedule, hot-docs-box-office

Overheard, documentary, documentaries, documentar

Quammi is Qool

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:08:00 -0400

Just the other day, I had a rather strange experience. A kid from across the street was playing with my door knob.

It happened during a work break. I went downstairs in the kitchen to fetch something to drink, then heard some soft but still weird noises coming from the front door. I open it, and find this sweet little kid who had opened the storm door and seems to have been playing with my fingerprint scanner (I have replaced my door lock as I always lose my keys).

We then had a rather interesting dialogue.

Q: Woooow! How did you know I was here?!

I: What are you doing here?

Q: Do you know where Chris is?

I: No.

Q: Have you seen yesterday when Chris mom took him somewhere?

I: No.

Q: Do you know Chris?

I: No.

Q: OK.

[he starts to close my storm door]

I: Hold on a second! Why would you ask me about Chris?

Q: I knock on doors a lot.

I: You live across the street, right? [He nods affirmatively.] Who else did you ask?

Q: Nobody.

I: Look, next time you have a question for me, you can just call me. My phone number is 416-XXXXXXX [I have an easy to remember word mnemonic]. Imagine you’re at home, you hear strange noises from your door.. That’s kinda weird, right?

Q: That IS weird.

I: Also, if you find yourself at my door again, make sure you close my storm door properly. If you leave it open, the wind will break it.

We then shook hands, like real men do. I hope he’ll keep his promise.

Overheard, neighbour, neighbor, neighbourhood, neighborhood

Restaurant encouraging sex in the bathroom

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Thu, 4 Feb 2010 17:43:00 -0500

An excellent publicity stunt, courtesy of FlexPR working for Mildred's Temple Kitchen.

An article in the Toronto Star is written either by an investigative reporter of the highest class, or by the official PR firm of the restaurant. Is the campaign innovative or in danger of being too successful for its own good?

The Liberty Village restaurant proposes its modern bathrooms become one of the "101 places to have sex before you die."

Mildred's has always elicited a certain response. One customer, who didn't want to be named, remembers going to a wedding at the eatery's old location and seeing a copy of the Kama Sutra in the bathroom.

"They invite it," said the customer.

This time, the invitation is explicit. On its website, Mildred's asks: "Have you given any thought to moving beyond the bedroom?

"Check out Mildred's Sexy Bathrooms throughout the weekend of Big Love. You get the picture."

Actually, the picture is clouded by practicalities. Is the restaurant supplying condoms? What about the health risks of body fluids? And who's cleaning up?

"We've always had little trysts in our bathrooms," says chef/co-owner Donna Dooher, pointing to lingering weekday lunches as a popular time. "We're taking it to the next level on Valentine's weekend."

The restaurant's four bathrooms light up outside when occupied. Staff have learned to watch the light flicker twice when two customers enter the same bathroom, usually a few minutes apart.

Toronto Public Health says as long as there's no sex in the kitchen and the restaurant keeps its washrooms clean and sanitized, it's not fussed. "As far as bodily fluids, it's pretty much similar to the other human functions going on in there," says Jim Chan, manager of the food safety program.

Dooher says customers must bring their own condoms but she's hiring a maid to tidy the washrooms that weekend. "She'll be there with her feather duster and cleaning supplies."

At least diners aren't encouraged to use furry handcuffs, part of a $55 "naughty love hamper," while at Mildred's. "Best to savour and enjoy (those) long after you leave the restaurant," the restaurant says.

Well, I could not find any such encouragements on the website. Perhaps people have started to arrive in droves and go straight to the bathroom. Maybe this promotion wasn’t that well thought-out after all

Sources / More info: http://templekitchen.com/, sx-in-torstar, FlexPR

Overheard, restuarant, eatery, bathroom, naughty, valentine, sex, kamasutra, kama-sutra, kama sutra

Toronto police seize venomous snake

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:12:00 -0500

In yet another animal debacle, a venomous pet snake was "seized" by an overzealous police force.

Sarah Boesveld writes for the Globe and Mail:

Last updated on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 3:45AM EST

Toronto police seized a venomous viper from a home in the city's east end yesterday.

Officers responded to a disturbance call around noon only to be faced with a four-foot-long East African Gaboon Viper, said 55 Division Sergeant Mike Wilson. "I think when they went in ...[and said] 'Oh, what's this? I don't think you're allowed to have venomous snakes in the city.'" Officials from the Toronto Zoo retrieved the slithery suspect and are holding onto it in the meantime. While residents were surprised to hear about an illegal serpent, Sgt. Wilson was less so. "We've seized alligators in the west end before."

I find it appaling the the Police seize somebody’s pet because “I don't think you're allowed to have venomous snakes in the city”. Isn’t this something you should know?!? Didn’t the officials from Toronto Zoo know it either and if they did, couldn’t they have shared their knowledge with the Sergeant?

Lucifer’s Hammer’d a comment on the news page:

One of the mayoral candidates?

Sources / More info: g&m-ven-snake

Overheard, snake, reptile, reptilian, pet, pets, exotic pets, east end, toronto, toronto police, police

Cora Pizza closed after dead rats seen

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:39:00 -0500

Only a couple of days ago we were reporting on a coffee shop closed after a student took a photo of a mouse munching on a cheese roll. Today we learn that Cora Pizza was closed after dead rats and fresh rad droppings were found on the premises.

CBC publishes an informative and somehow strange interview with Dr. Howard Shapiro, Toronto’s associate medical officer.

Toronto Public Health shut down the pizzeria — located near Spadina Avenue and Harbord Street — on Monday, saying the owners failed to prevent "gross unsanitary conditions."

The risk of rodent contamination "to any one particular person, I think, is small," said Dr. Howard Shapiro, Toronto's associate medical officer of health.

"But if it's an ongoing issue … there's a concern with the mice contaminating the food with an organism that might cause a diarrheal illness — maybe something like salmonella or campylobacter that might be in some of the refuse that's in and around the area," he told CBC News.

Cora has already drawn the attention of Toronto Public Health twice this year. In June, an inspector gave the restaurant a "conditional pass" after uncovering unsanitary conditions there.

The restaurant was also cited in March for having rodents and other unsanitary conditions.

Restaurants that are found to have committed repeat health violations are being held accountable for their numerous failures, Shapiro insisted.

"If there is a record of repeat violations … the fines that can be issued against somebody will increase. These can be in the thousands or sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. That can be, I think, a substantial deterrent to repeating." (…)

Health inspectors close about 40 eating establishments every year. About half the closures are related to rodent complaints, said Shapiro.

“I don’t know why the stories have come to light at this particular time, but the reports in the media are not correlated with increases in rodent infestations in local restaurants.”

Toronto Star even publishes a photo of the place:

Too much negativity? Then enjoy Steven Davey’s top 10 Toronto Restaurants of 2009, below.

Sources / More info: cbc, torstar, dinesafe-cora, ds-entry, now-best

Overheard, cora, dinesafe, toronto, rats, crap, droppings, food, health, safety, contamination

Mouse in coffee shop

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:38:00 -0500

A beautiful mouse was spotted chewing on food in a Toronto coffee shop. A student took a photo and the story was carried even by CBC.

Here’s the photo originally posted by blogTO:

Borys Machinkowski, a 20-year-old Centennial College student took the photo, the employee continued to sell his merchandise, the student and his buddies told potential employees about it. The employee called the owner, who came in saying “yeah, but whatcha gonna do”.

The rest is history, according to the CBC:

During an inspection by Toronto Public Health on Aug. 27, the bakery was given a conditional pass. Inspectors cited it for failure to protect food from contamination and inadequate temperature controls.
Those infractions were corrected and the bakery was given a pass two days later.
Since Machinkowski's complaint, health inspectors have revisited the location and issued another conditional pass. Inspectors did not find evidence of infestation, but said they found droppings and that the eatery will be inspected again.
In October 2008, health inspectors closed down the Happy Seven (Dumpling House) restaurant on Spadina Avenue after rats were seen in its window.

About a year ago, a "heavy rodent infestation" closed down a Toronto Loblaws store after a mouse was spotted by a customer.
Toronto Public Health said it made the decision at the time even though the grocery store had "an excellent record of food safety and the last 10 inspections have been in compliance."

You would think that the stores would deal with their infestations before they grow too large and visible. Sadly, this is obviously not the case. Or maybe they were just celebrating the year of the rat.. Unless you know the story, the bakery above looks innocuous:

See more rats / mice in the videos below, after a mourning song for the rats that have most likely perished upon the restaurants closures.

Sources / More info: blogto, cbc, nye, dinesafe, yt-animal-death-mouse

Overheard, mouse trap, mouse, mice, infestation, health, city, inspection

Best of Toronto Nuit Blanche 2009

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Fri, 2 Oct 2009 11:43:00 -0400

Nuit Blanche is a fantastic event for the art lover, but much like TIFF, it requires preparation. And that can be a daunting task. We’ll make it simple for you, courtesy of Martini Boys.

This year’s Nuit Blanche is scheduled for Saturday night, October 3rd. They have even made an iPhone app, Night Nav. It will be rather cold with 9C and 5 mm of rain. Of all the great things worth watching, we strongly suggest you start with the Vodka Pool, listed last, before it goes away. If the weather is warm, the alcohol will evaporate quickly; if it’s cold, it might disappear through different means

Jeff Koons' 50-foot mirrored stainless-steel rabbit balloon @ Eaton’s Centre

In a recreation of the opening scene of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, Shaun "El Conquistador" Leonardo (the artist) fights in Battle Royal with 20 wrestlers and blindfolded members of the audience @ Coach Terminal

The Other Gallery's Paul Butler has invited 30 artists to ask another person to describe their reaction to a work of art @ Various Venues

Ontario/Germany-based artist Gordon Monahan turned a concert hall upside down, with the audience on the stage @ Massey Hall

Artists will paint with light using a device called bombIR (infrared LED). ‘30s Agitprop + graffiti @ 518 Bay Street

Susan Burpee will show a 12h dance based on Simon Critchley's The Book of Dead Philosophers. 24 dancers will perform & 200 philosophers will die @ CourtH

D.A. Therrien's piece suspends four 7m sq alpha-numeric lamps that will randomly display characters between the two towers @ Toronto City Hall.

Fire and Sausage imagines a post-apocalyptic world in which we have returned to our long-lost altruism. You will congregate around a fire and bask in the warmth of Jamie Kennedy's sausage @ Liberty Village

The Sight of Sound has several instalments - in a piece called Urban Echo, audiences can text and twitter messages onto the front of the building, before exploding and scattering @ The Drake Hotel

"Liquor and liquidity bear more than passing associations to banks and money. Intoxicating, like the euphoria of riches; evaporating, like the vanishing of investments during economic downturns." Vodka Pool @ Commerce Court West by DAN MIHALTIANU

A few of the works of art we found in the directory (nb) remind us of Mickey Rooney’s rant re: modern art. Find it in “China’s Andy Rooney..”

Sources / More info: nb, iphone-nb, nb-mb, wiki-nb, nb-dan-mihaltianu, dm-artfacts, yt

Overheard, toronto, canada, nuitblanche, nuit blanche, art, arts, artistic, artistique, culture, white night, white nite, whitenite, whitenight, insomnia

Oana Dragan 4 MuchMusic VJ!

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Fri, 2 Oct 2009 11:09:00 -0400

Though there are many charismatic individuals vying for the coveted MuchMusic VJ title, our favourite is Oana Dragan. Watch her videos and tell us what you think!

Oana has graduated a couple of years ago from Ryerson and will celebrate her birthday on the 18th, after VJ Search’s winner is announced (13th). Her blog is passworded, but her Facebook profile is not, and according to that she’s married to Mirjam de Ruiter, which significantly reduces the few chances potential male suitors had with her .

If you didn’t know, MuchMusic is a Canadian MTV, present in South America, Czech Republic and a few other countries. Every 5 years they also have a VJ Search: The Series which has (d)evolved starting with 2006 into a reality show. Despite the show’s popularity, most VJs are hired directly by MuchMusic, without having participated. Sook-Yin Lee started her career as a VJ as well. Watch her videos below and, until the 13th, if you want her to win, vote her daily! Good luck, Oana!

Sources / More info: vj, fb-od, od-blog, od-group, mm, mm-vj, syl, yt

Overheard, vj, muchmusic, muchmoremusic, contest, endorsement, endorse, oana dragan, video dj, video disk-jockey

Jon Stewart, Mad Men, 30 Rock win again at Emmys

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:37:00 -0400

This year's Emmys have once again honoured the best at the expense of the many. In an effort to increase viewership, the dumb categories have been increased.

Our award for outstanding hog of the year goes to Alec Baldwin for his realistic interpretation of a corporate pig. Baldwin credited Toronto's Lorne Michaels in accepting his award, acknowledging the producer of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live as a mensch and mentor, ``who thinks of you in good weather and bad weather.''
Our sexual fantasy remains unfulfilled: Jon Stewart, Alec Baldwin & Tina Fey on the set of Mad Men, with the full female cast of that show high on a potent combination of weed and alcohol. It would be loads of fun, not in the least because we'd have no competition..
What follows are what we consider the best direct quotes from our sources:

The TV academy, meanwhile, hoped to avoid an unwanted rerun at the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards: paltry viewership. The 2008 ceremony was the least-watched ever with an audience of 12.3 million.
Acclaimed but low-rated series like AMC's retro 1960s show "Mad Men" are seen as one reason viewers bypassed the awards, so major categories were expanded to increase the odds for more popular fare. There were as many as seven nominees per category, compared with the traditional five.

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, who won an Emmy for best drama screenplay, quipped: ``On a night like this, writing looks like fun - but it isn't.''

Sunday's ceremony, hosted by Harris with an old-school song-and-dance vibe, was a throwback to the glamour and style of televised award shows of the 1970s and '80s, with frequent clips, musical numbers and an on-stage orchestra.
Sarah McLachlan made a last-minute appearance late in the program to sing her elegiac ballad I Will Remember You, for the ceremony's In Memoriam segment.
In the end, though, it was the self-deprecating host that made the evening worth watching.
``Here's hoping Kanye likes 30 Rock,'' Harris quipped, early in the evening.
The first basic cable show to win a top series honor, "Mad Men" had the chance for a second consecutive best-drama trophy. Potential trailblazer "Family Guy" was the first animated series to vie for the best comedy award since a 1961 bid by "The Flintstones."
Sources / More info: Emmys 2009, AP-mad-men, canada-Mad-Men

TIFF ‘09 – what’s left

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:21:00 -0400

The Toronto International Film Festival 2009 is almost over. It is worth taking a look at a few of the movies worth watching in the last days, if you have not seen any yet.

The Festival is known as one of the best tradeoffs between showing movies to the large public and wheeling & dealing distribution contracts. This year, it started with a protest letter signed by a number of well-known artists condemning “disproportionate focus on Israeli cinema at this year's festival”. Eventually, Jane Fonda, one of the signatories, expressed regrets of having signed a letter which she later felt did not help the cause of peace in the Middle East.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario. The festival begins the Thursday night after Labour Day (the first Monday in September, in Canada) and lasts for ten days. Between 300-400 films are screened at approximately 23 screens in downtown Toronto venues. Annual attendance at TIFF exceeds 300,000 from public and industry audiences. In terms of prestige, it is regularly ranked in the top five alongside Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Sundance.

Founded in 1976, the TIFF is now among the top prestigious film festivals in the world. In 1998, Variety magazine acknowledged that "the Festival is second only to Cannes in terms of high-profile pics, stars and market activity." Quoted by the National Post in 1999, Roger Ebert claimed "...although Cannes is still larger, Toronto is just as great...." It is the premiere film festival in North America, from which the Oscars race begins.

The festival is centered around the Yorkville neighborhood, an upscale area in the downtown core. The festival is known for the buzz it brings to Yorkville and cameras and media have taken to covering the red carpet with fashion and interviews with the stars. Although the Festival has begun to give more attention to mainstream Hollywood films, it still maintains its independent roots. It features retrospectives of national cinemas and individual directors, highlights of Canadian cinema, and a variety of African, South American, and Asian films.

But enough chit-chat. Here’s our recommendation for Saturday.. It’s the movie playing in the Dundas Square – guess what? FREE! Regular tickets are $21.00 in case you were wondering.

Copyright Criminals, an amazing documentary on the history of sampling has its world premiere. It’s worth watching, especially since the Canadian government has just closed its submission period on the copyright legislation..

Sources / More info: wiki-tiff, tiff.net, tiff-propaganda?, copyright-criminals, speak-out-on-copyright, michael-geist-submission, #tiff, #tiff09, #tiffreviews

Overheard,movie, movies, film, films, review, overview, schedule, recommend, recommendation

My neighbour got wood

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:51:00 -0400

This story may not be as exciting as you would expect, but it is nonetheless something I just gotta share with the rest of the world..

There really isn’t much more to say..

Overheard,neighbour, neighbor, neighborhood, neighbourhood, hood, wood, mood, tree, frontyard, photos, photo, photography, instantaneu

Happy Holidays and don't eat the yellow snow!

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:48:00 -0500

We look at the light and fluffy side of life around here. And what could be lighter or fluffier than snow? Here’s some advice about a certain kind of snow…

Frank Zappa’s songs have some rather weird lyrics. However, the first two carols in the list below (press the left and right arrows to navigate) are not by him. The rest is, and the very last one is a real treat: he appears on Crossfire back in the 80s defending his right to free speech.

Without further ado,

Happy Holidays!

Overheard,merry, happy, holidays, christmas, xmas, wishes

Vietnamese-Japanese-Canadian man builds fembot with $25,000

bonobo@inbonobo.com (Indelible Bonobo aka bonobo at inbonobo.com) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:46:00 -0500

33 year-old Trung Le from Brampton, Ontario, managed to build his ideal life partner on a budget. Because of the financial strains imposed by his hobby, he had to move in with his parents.

In a recent interview he declared:

She's not really my girlfriend. Aiko's a robot who can do a lot of things, and hopefully more soon. I have friends – I don't need to create friends. There was a lot of stress. Of creating her, of having almost no money left and finding no sponsor.

We know about Aiko:

Aiko – which means love child in Japanese – can speak about 13,000 sentences in Japanese and English, do algebra, trig and geometry, and tell the weather in foreign cities, courtesy of Internet links.

She can move her hands, nod her head – and shout indignantly if touched roughly. When Le lightly slapped her, she cried out: "It's not nice to touch a girl's head. Touch your own head."

Le is now trying to teach her to make tea and coffee, and do simple household chores.

Warning to all men who hope to duplicate Trung Le’s efforts in the hope of a quieter life: he had a heart attack last year, so we can safely assume she’s not as nice as she seems.

Sources: ts

Overheard,fembot, robot, frankenstein, brampton, japanese, japan, turning japanese