#toronto.com

[canadagiveaway]

Taste Of The Danforth Contest - Win Trip To Montego Bay

Taste Of The Danforth Contest – Win Trip To Montego Bay

The Metroland Media Group Ltd. coming with the Danforth Trip to Jamaica contest for all Canada residents and provides you a chance to win a trip for two to the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa in Montego Bay and winners will be selected on the basis of valid entries.

Contest Entry Page Contest Rules

How To Enter :

Click on the Contest Page to enter.

Follow the Contest Official Rules.

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[huttson-blog]

Roselle Lim’s San Francisco novel of love and food has Scarborough roots — Toronto.com

Read more at Toronto.com

— by Mike Adler: Food is a character in Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune, Roselle Lim’s new debut novel.

It’s everywhere in the book, bringing estranged people together in San Francisco’s Chinatown. But while Natalie Tan happens there, the food comes from North Scarborough’s Milliken neighbourhood, where Lim learned to read and write in English…

Image courtesy of…

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[fuckyeahkidsinthehall]

By Debra Yeo  Toronto Star  Apr 23, 2012

Former Kid in the Hall Mark McKinney received a special award from the Writers Guild of Canada on Monday night.

McKinney received the WGC Showrunner Award for his “exceptional leadership (and) unique creative vision” on series such as Slings & Arrows and Less Than Kind.

Other winners of 2012 WGC Screenwriting Awards included: Larry Bambrick in the TV Drama category for Flashpoint; Craig David Wallace, Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, for TV Comedy; Bruce M. Smith, John A: Birth of a Country, Movies and Miniseries; Gary Marcuse, Waking the Green Tiger, A Green Movement Rises in China, Documentary; Alice Prodanou, My Babysitter’s a Vampire, Children and Youth; Darrin Rose, Scaredy Squirrel, Animation; Patrick Tarr, Murdoch Mysteries: The Curse of the Lost Pharaohs, in the Short and Web Series category.

The Alex Barris Mentorship Award went to Barbara Samuel (North of 60, Black Harbour) for supporting emerging writers. And Charles (Chuck) Lazer, one of the founding forces of the Writers Guild, won the Writers Block Award for his service to screenwriters in Canada.

[culturalite-blog]

A Moment With...

Lyndon is a Corporate Chef at Big Daddy's Bourdon Street Bistro & Oyster Bar in Toronto.

It's that time of the year where you can have a champagne lifestyle on a beer budget! Summerlicious is Toronto's infamous annual foodie celebration where more than 181 restaurants in the GTA are offering prix-fixe menus giving people the opportunity to participate in fine dining at affordable rates. We'll be sharing some of our Summerlicious highlights with you here. Chef Lyndon O'Hearn shared his personal opinions and insight on food culture and the restaurant industry, including a brief overlook on Big Daddy's participation in Summerlicious.

Culturalite (Sylvia): How does Summerlicious showcase Toronto's culinary culture in a way that it can be appreciated?

Lyndon: I believe it allows patrons to enjoy a greater variety of restaurants that might be out of a certain comfort zone for them and allow them to take part.

C: Do you think Summerlicious brings aesthetic value to one's food culture?

L: Mainly it is a great way for the city of Toronto to engage in driving a meaningful promotion into the restaurants downtown, creating a certain energy to support local marketing of the downtown area residents and visitors. The food culture is more about how eclectic the restaurant offers are.

C: Why has Big Daddy's decided to participate in Summerlicious?

L: It has great synergy for us, we are on King Street in the hub of the theatre district and it is definitely something we want to be involved with and so far, it has been very successful for us in introducing new people to the food & flavours of our New Orleans inspired menu.

C: Why will dining at Big Daddy's during Summerlicious be a unique experience other than the prix-fixe menus?

L: It's about the people, sights and sounds, being able to go out relax, catch up with friends or family and to know and trust the experience will meet or exceed expectations at a fair price.

C: What can one expect for this years prix fixe menu at Big Daddy's?

L: The outline of summerlicious is to provide a 3 course menu at a certain price, we offer several items, apps, main and dessert within that price point for guests, At Big Daddy's we like to refer to the prix fixe as Lagniappes (it is more of a Spanish pharse which in the melting pot of New Orleans), there are many. It was adapted by the Creoles of New Orleans and "an extra or unprecented gift or benefit". In that spirit, we present these 3 course Prix-Fixe meal options.

C: As a chef, why is the mastery of preparing and perfecting a dish so important?

L: We are in the hospitality business, if you didn't care, you shouldn't be in this business. We take care when preparing dishes and enjoy in knowing that a guest had the experience they were looking for when visiting. It's about the pride, passion and satisfaction of a great meal.

Stay tuned for more upcoming interviews regarding Summerlicious all this week! In the meantime, check out the following Summerlicious reviews to guide your taste testing preferences. Toronto Life, Summerlicious 2012,

Toronto.com, Summerlicious Overview

-Sylvia

[fuckyeahwildflag]

by Ben Rayner at toronto.com

Bonus points, too, for signing all the vinyl in the house! 

[audiobloodmedia]

Who are they? Four boys from Burlington (yes, Burlington) who got their hands on their parents' Beatles LPs and never let go, Sandman Viper Command are Rob Janson, Aaron Harvey, Dan Reardon and Matt Meyer. Even though their average age is 21, they’ve already independently released a debut album (2009’s Everybody See This) and played with Holy F*ck, The Rural Alberta Advantage and The Arkells. The ensuing years have been good to them, this summer’s Rough Love EP has shown that constant touring can turn surburban slackers into a powerhouse. Future Pop Montreal dates and expectant buzz could make them into our city’s Oasis. (Hopefully with less drama.)

What do they sound like? Their 2009 debut was recorded on a vintage 24-track in a converted barn in the outskirts of Hamilton. With great love for the warm sticky production of vintage pop, anthemic tracks like “Strawberry Quick” (a slinky Kinks-meets-Strokes jam) and lonesome breakup anthem “Midwest Moses” get a garage-rock turn. On this year’s Rough Love EP the band gets older and wiser, singing with a real rustic appeal and understanding of the harder pains of age. Follow the band on Twitter this month and you can get it for free.

Any chance of seeing them alive? Sandman Viper Command play the Drake Hotel this Wednesday at 11:15 p.m. for the STIFF filmmakers party, and next Wednesday September 14 as part of Audio Blood’s TIFF showcase.

[digitaldiscjockey]

A Necessary Response to "Take a Time Out, Britney"

I never planned on posting any opinion pieces on here cuz I wanted it to be strictly music. However, I am making an exception for this situation because of how much it pissed me off. We are all entitled to our opinions as well as individual likes and dislikes so it enrages me when I read/hear/see someone shitting on other people's opinions. I am an open minded person and will always listen to another person's opinion and attempt to understand their perspective whether it contradicts mine or not. But the person on the other end of that conversation should be giving me the same courtesy. The author of this article (http://www.toronto.com/article/695252--take-a-time-out-britney) that I am responding to is not that type of person. Yes Britney Spears is my favourite pop artist and I have gotten a lot of slack for that but I have my reasons for liking her and don't appreciate it when someone is being as rude as this writer, not just to Britney but people in general. It's fucking unnecessary and one of the reasons why the world is as fucked as it is. So I responded:

Ben,

            I would like to thank you for your review of the Britney Spears concert at the Air Canada Centre on August 13th, regardless of the fact that your review was biased, asinine and ill researched.  It is near impossible to silence a person expressing a strong opinion and I will not chastise you for doing so. Naturally as a “pop music critic” it is your job to express an opinion. However, as a journalist and member of a high ranking newspaper, I would think that you would avoid stooping so low as to insult the person you are reviewing and the people in the audience.

            Based on your previous reviews of Britney’s concerts and most recent album I can guess that you were not thrilled to be sent to the concert and then made to write the review of it after (you poor thing). I can only assume the reason you were sent out instead of someone else at the Star is that there is only one pop music critic in employment. If this is the case, I am unsure as to why you did not decide to enter the concert with a clear mind so that you could avoid the crass insults that pervade your article. Not to undermine your profession but reviewing a concert is irrelevant. The audience in attendance (whom you also insulted: I’ll get to that later) would have spent the money to see Britney because they enjoy her music and performances, which could only mean that the people that dislike her and her music would not have spent money on a ticket to see her. Suffice it to say that your review then is pointless for the masses as it’s not deterring anyone from seeing her. It has solely been an outlet for you to exercise your dislike and bias towards her and obvious contempt for the crowd.

            Britney Spears is a celebrity and performer and is judged by critics constantly. However, for a critic to judge the audience in attendance and be so blatantly stereotypical of them is entirely unwarranted and unnecessary. I believe your statement was that “None of [Britney’s performance] mattered too much to the crowd, which was either female or gay, with very little latitude in between. Girls' nights out tend to be uncritical times, after all, and gay men love to dote on a beautiful basket case”. I am unsure why you are deciding to attack the gender and sexual orientation of the crowd. I am a female and my taste in music has a wide range and is not limited to pop music. Where your assumptions of girl’s nights out tending to be uncritical times and gay men loving to dote on a beautiful basket case came from is unknown and is an outlook that you should not have made unless you are a female or gay. The statement about the audience only furthers the proof of the presence of a bias and it is disgusting to read. Yes, you are free to voice an opinion but that opinion should not be so full of contempt that it reads more as an insult. I assume you do not speak this way to people in person because of the guaranteed frontal confrontation you would have to deal with (and if you do then you need to take a course in etiquette) so to do so in an article makes you look like nothing more than a kid on a playground screaming insults at the other kids to hear the sound of his own voice. The rude comments you made in your article about a person you know nothing about aside from the media’s portrayal of her is exactly how hate is perpetuated between people.

            To help you with your next review of Britney, there is some information you should know that is important in writing an article that is a combination of opinion and fact. In 2004 Britney had two knee injuries, the first was in March and was a minor injury and she blew out her knee in June. Obviously her dancing has been affected and the people attending her concerts are well aware. During her first concert date in Toronto for the Femme Fatale Tour where you said she “barely sang a note”, she did in fact sing live, most notably “Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know” , “I Wanna Go” and others. Yes Britney lip synchs and the audience is not bothered by it because it has always been her voice on the original recording. I would rather hear and see a good show than hear the performer huffing and puffing and screeching into the microphone. As for her stage banter, when did that become an aspect of the show to critique? It is pitiful to read an article that is even criticizing the way the performer speaks during the show. I was in the audience during the Saturday night show and it was the opposite of vacant and insincere. It was clear to see that she was having more fun during this tour than any other I have seen. I heard nothing wrong in the mix and it sounded fantastic from my seat halfway up in the lower bowl. I would have been able to acknowledge your points in this article were there something more than rude jabs and constant negativity. But what is quite possibly the most ridiculous point that you made and what irritated me to no end is your “insightful” perspective into the similarity between Lady Gaga’s “Beautiful Dirty Rich” and Britney’s “(Drop Dead) Beautiful”. The only similarities in these two songs are that the titles both contain the word beautiful and are both three words long. The background music is vastly different since Gaga’s is heavily laced with piano and percussion and Britney’s is full of electro-pop bass. The content of the songs are on the opposite ends of the spectrum with Gaga’s being about money and Britney’s about a beautiful man. The next time you are going to make comparisons between two unlike objects, make sure you have at least one half wit example of how the objects are similar.

            Once again, thank you for your review of Britney’s show at the Air Canada Centre. Thank you for your bias, your rude and unnecessary comments, your stereotypical judgments on the audience, and your obvious lack of research and intelligent insights. You are a diamond in the rough.

                        Yours Truly, S

P.S. How exactly did you become a critic? It doesn’t seem like a job that would require anything exceptional other than a high level of smug satisfaction. Any advice?      

[fuckyeahkidsinthehall]

It's on again!

Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (the men who wrote the Kids In The Hall theme song) are once again going head to head with another band to determine who the Best Toronto Band Ever is.

THE BEST TORONTO BAND.

EVER.

ROUND TWO:

BLUE RODEO VS.

SHADOWY MEN ON A SHADOWY

PLANET

This time it's the Shadowy Men against Blue Rodeo (who?).

You can email your vote to [email protected]

May the best band win.