Today is day five of Hot Docs 2012 and unlike last year, a lethal combination of meetings, movies and meanderings have kept me from a daily tally here at Art Threat. No mind, I intend to make up for in the remaining five days of the fest, beginning with this
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My journey with AIDS...and more!: Nine years older nine years later
It’s been so long I had to look up what SARS stood for (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). That was part of the underlying score as I spent five weeks in two hospitals starting nine years ago early this morning. Why was I laid up? Well an item from Montréal in
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Rob Ford Could Be Removed From Office In Early September
Mark Sept. 5, 6 and 7 on your calendars. That is when Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will be in court regarding his breach of a conflict of interest law. If the judges finds against him, he will be removed from office and banned from running for public office for 7
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Toronto: A Canvass
Toronto is a complex, beautiful city. So many different views of its diverse urban landscape have gained us refreshing insight time and time again. There is a cache of photographs and artwork that brim with hope, colour and sometimes, even pain. It’s here: toronto art (Full disclosure: I have added
Continue readingThings Are Good: Get Fourth Wall on Tour and Online
Dave Meslin is a Toronto based awesome dude that wants to make Toronto a better place, and now he and the Fourth Wall team want to bring something cool to your town. The Fourth Wall exhibit was a project that looked at ways to get people more engaged in their
Continue readingArt Threat: Hot Docs 2012 – The good, the bad, the incomprehensible
The 19th edition of North America’s largest documentary showcase and one of the world’s largest film festivals begins this week, running from April 26 to May 6 in Toronto. With Charlotte Cook replacing Sean Farnel as head programmer, new directions (less films, more focus is the official line), new initiatives
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Will the Real Rob Ford Please Stand Up?
Rob Ford’s former press secretary, Adrienne Batra, addresses the hullabaloo regarding the mayor’s pending absence from Pride events: I know Rob Ford. He is a far more tolerant individual than many of the people attacking him. Ford’s problem isn’t homophobia, nor does he have a hidden agenda to take away
Continue readingTrashy's World: A couple of things…
… have me wondering what is being put into the water consumed by the good burghers of a) Toronto and b) Alberta. Exhibit A, Toronto: Rob Ford’s approval rating is up. Seriously? As in the Mayor, Rob Ford? Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s approval rating is at its highest point since
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Newspaper Wars – The Grid vs. Now Magazine
Now and The Grid face off in the newspaper wars So, when I first got to Toronto there were mainly two weekly publications, both publishing on Thursday, that went after the “twenty to thirty something” cohort of readers. They were “Now Magazine” and “Eye Weekly“. Now, there were MANY other
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Rob Ford and the Little Farm (Continued)
About six months ago I wrote a post about the little farm on the Toronto Islands that Rob Ford was threatening to close down. Soon after that I thought it had been saved. But now it’s on the chopping block again. Even though just ONE weekend of ferry ticket sales
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: The Pope is Still Catholic
In all likelihood, Toronto mayor Rob Ford will not attend this year’s Pride parade. That’s not news. What should be news is the fact that, once again, he refuses to say why. He is unable, or more likely unwilling, to honestly tell the people of Toronto why he will not
Continue readingMy journey with AIDS...and more!: Somei-Yoshino Sakura Blossom Festival at Toronto’s High Park
Last year I went in the evening. Today I went at dawn. I learned the other day that the cherry trees in High Park—2,000 Somei-Yoshino Sakuras, a gift from Tokyo bestowed by the Japanese ambassador in 1959, were hitting their peak Saturday. The blossoms only last about a week, usually
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Rob Ford Is Doing Bad, Bad Things
Centa says the questions of whether Ford improperly took funding from his family company and overspent his campaign limit are important to the provincial Municipal Elections Act, and to democracy itself. “Mr. Ford was, and is, represented by excellent counsel and we think the interests of justice are best served
Continue readingwRanter.com: Why I like the CFL, and you should, too
As my beloved Raptors wind down yet another lost season, and with the Leafs mercifully having been put out of their misery a few weeks ago, it’s time to turn my attention to the sports of summer. Here in Toronto, that means Blue Jays baseball – it’s hard not to
Continue readingArt Threat: Some kind of monster – Film screening cancelled amid unsubstantiated copyright fears
Canadian filmmaker and activist John Greyson is no stranger to controversy — whether haranguing Justin Bieber to pull concerts scheduled for Israel, supporting queer film festivals in hostile environments, or scuffling with TIFF over the erasure of occupation in special programming, the prolific auteur has seen his share of messy
Continue readingMy journey with AIDS...and more!: With this early spring, Toronto’s Forsythia Festival (in Cabbagetown) is blooming far sooner than May!
27 thousand words Cabbagetown, Riverdale Far
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Rob Ford: Toronto’s ‘notorious big’ loses subway vote
Toronto mayor Rob Ford is keen on catchphrases. Some of his faves are… “Stop the gravy train” – “It’s all about subways” – “End the war on the car” and “Respect for taxpayers.” Ford is a black-n-white slogan-friendly kinda guy. He stands as a living witness that a caricature can
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