Can’t get to Florida for Spring Break this year? Don’t fret, for with a few accessories, you can enjoy a Florida vacation in the comfort of your Toronto home. Sun, sea and surf are the essential elements. Add some Jimmy Buffet and break out the Coors Light—you’re on vacation! Illustration by Kevin McBride.......

City councillor, unintentional humourist, and Torontoist favourite Councillor Rob Ford has grabbed himself some headlines again. He refuses to apologize for his comments on Wednesday, "the Oriental people, they're slowly taking over...they're hard, hard workers," because his sweeping generalization was intended as "a compliment." However, a spokesperson for the Canadian Council of Lazy Asians has said that the remarks were "deeply offensive." A devout Sikh man has lost his bid to overturn the law......

Premier Dalton McGuinty has fired off a whiny letter to the PM complaining about Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's public criticism of Ontario and its tax laws. Flaherty, who apparently counts all time lost when he's not psychologically bitch-slapping his governmental inferiors, responded by calling McGuinty a "big stupid crybaby." Time to start prying out grandma's fillings—the price of gold hit a record high of US$984.95 an ounce in London this morning, and experts predict......

Toronto Zoo to go green. The Zoo will now focus on biodiversity and sustainability while presenting animals from around the world in small, depressing, joke-like habitats that offer a crude mockery of how the animals would prefer to live, focusing on the fact that while their lives in the zoo might suck, at least nobody is killing these animals for fun, as would frequently happen in the wild. Prince Harry being withdrawn from Afghanistan. It......

Far be it from us to conflate professional sports with Bill Shakespeare—but the Toronto Maple Leafs’ actions before, during and after Tuesday's NHL trade deadline recall Macbeth’s famous words: full of sound and fury, yet ultimately signifying nothing. Charges of heresy will be duly acknowledged. In the end, the promised blow-up never materialized. None of the five big-money, no-trade-clause-holding players could be moved. Pavel Kubina was apparently ready to be shipped off (to San......

Imagine what the Caddy would think of this month's snowfall. The car wouldn't bother waiting for a driver to take in the greyhounds before the next storm strikes. Cars were sold at the northwest corner of Bay and Grenville for over 80 years, starting in 1925 with a dealership owned by General Motors of Canada president Sam McLaughlin. Addison took over in 1955 and remained until the lot closed last March. The heritage-designated building......

It's been the best of times, it's been the worst of times for the Toronto Maple Leafs; in fact, the past couple weeks have been nothing short of surreal. First, the best of times: wins against the high-flying Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, followed by a thoroughly unexpected Hockey Day in Canada victory over the league-leading Detroit Red Wings, have given the team a boost. Injured players are getting healthy. The return of the......

Chalk River reactor's risk level was 1,000 times greater than normal. However, Stephen Harper is a certified nuclear engineer, so if he says it's safe, then shouldn't we trust him? Wait, what? He's not a certified nuclear engineer? Well, dang. John McCain wins crucial Florida primary. The old coot narrowly defeated the Mormon android and the world's angriest ex-mayor to maintain his momentum in the Republican candidates' race. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama in......

David Miller delivered a balanced budget yesterday, thanks to higher property taxes, some fabulous new tariffs, and a one-time infusion of $150 million from the the provincial government. According to Miller, the property tax increase of 3.75% is in line with his commitment to limit raises to the rate of inflation (1.9% in Toronto last year), evidence that the mayor is either math-illiterate or assumes that everyone else is. Transit expert Richard Soberman will......

A Good Idea (In Theory) is a new play currently running at Passe Muraille that, as its title implies, is trying to do things a little differently. For starters, in lieu of a program, audience members are given a soundtrack CD. As the play's website explains, the idea behind the project came from the question: "What would happen if an award-winning stage play by a young Canadian was supported by a group of independent......

After MasterCard agreed to ante up $160k to keep city skating rinks open this December, local newspapers spoke with one voice in reporting the story. The Star offered the headline "Private bailout of city rinks...priceless," the Post weighed in with "Skating in December...priceless," and the Sun daringly dropped the ellipsis with "Donation: Priceless." The Globe alone experienced a spasm of originality, settling for a subheading of "Skating still in the cards." Stéphane Dion, content......

Spring is a time of renewal and rejuvenation. A time of change and new things. It makes sense that spring marks the start of the complementary health trade show circuit, with virtually every weekend promising another venue in which people can explore and learn. Some shows are a bit too “wacky” for some, but a few manage to tread close enough to the mainstream to attract a broad audience. These shows have exhibitors and lecturers......

The University of Toronto received $2.4 million in a class-action settlement pertaining to vitamin price-fixing thanks to a court-ordered distribution of penalty funds. Seven other universities received the other $17.6 million in the settlement, including $4.8 million to the University of Guelph. No word yet on what U of T will do with the money, although rumours swirl that the university's president will ask for it all in twenties, pour it out into one......

A coalition of Ontario municipalities created to fight Toronto's garbage may collapse, writes the London Free Press. Police have found one man dead and another wounded in an East York housing complex near O'Connor Drive and Eglinton East. Over at Flemingdon Park, a woman was shot and a security guard escaped injury when the shooter's gun jammed. The Toronto Star is gathering opinions on our public toilets. Peter Nadorvolgyi writes, "Some of the public washrooms......

How’s that for a sports headline? Last night Toronto was witness to one of the most anticipated (and creative) book launches the city has seen in ages. What happened? Author Craig Davidson celebrated the release of his new novel, The Fighter, by getting in a fight, taken on poet Michael Knox in a three-round boxing match. Florida Jack’s Boxing Club was at capacity for the event, with media swarming around the ring and the many......

Or was that I went to a boxing match and a reading broke out? Or both? Torontoist thinks you should wander over to Florida Jack's Boxing Club (782 Yonge St) tonight (7:00) to find out which one. Penguin is launching Craig Davidson's new novel the Fighter, about the world of bare knuckle boxing. Have all those mid-Western nights softened up the baby-faced Craig Davidson. Will steel-town born poet Mike Knox show us how they fight......

Excuse me for the lateness of this week’s listing. I’m still on Nuit Blanche time. And yes, I made it until 7am. This is an absolutely fantastic week for word nerds. And check this – if one of your friends is more into sports, you can bring them to a literary event disguised as a boxing match. For a boxing fan like me, it doesn't get any better. Tomorrow at noon, there’s a special launch......

Seattlest saw a house party get senselessly attacked with a shotgun and end in seven dead. A local senator is debated and their version of the big dig is investigated. To truly get to the bottom of it they interview the writer Jonathan Raban. Bostonist has its first birthday party and investigates how to attach more gambling dollars to the Red Sox. Benjamin Franklin is celebrated and Johnny Damon is not. Image by Ethan Bagley......

Canada faced a tougher challenge than expected in their World Baseball Classic opener Tuesday evening. After giving up three runs during an eighth inning South African rally, Ernie Whitt's team found themselves heading to the ninth trailing by a run. Fortunately the team exploded, scoring four in their next series while creating some breathing room for Minnesota Twins Jesse Crain to close out the 11-8 victory. Former Blue Jay Corey Koskie homered for the Canadians.......

With the signing of AJ Burnett (pictured with Florida singer Brandy Rich) and BJ Ryan, the Toronto Blue Jays will pay $102 million to two pitchers who use letters as first names. (No offense to Torontoist blogger JK Nestruck.) Letters they want, letters they'll get. Here's the ABC's of the Jay's off-season thus far: A - Bobby Abreu, a Phillies slug-meister the Jays have been interested in. B - BJ Ryan, the second BJ on......

Torontoist has everyone on shoe patrol these days, and yesterday informant Nathan sent us this photo from Charles St. Rumours are flying about what it all means - in Florida and San Francisco, the shoes indicate a nearby crackhouse, while we've been told that in DC there is a certain tree for fratboys to fling their footwear into every time they've devirginized a coed. But in Toronto the Good the mystery lingers on, and......

After sifting through the heaps (mounds?) of MIA discussion around the internet over the past few months, Torontoist thought it's about time we came up with some of our own opinions on the Sri Lankan/British, by-way-of-blog superstar. As most conscious MIA listeners already know, there's a growing controversy over MIA's Palestine Liberation Organisation shout-out as well as alleged ties to the Tamil Tigers. As Torontoist interprets it, the MIA debate surrounds the political message of......

Early this morning police arrested a man wielding two knives at the corner of Yonge and Wellesley. But the arrest was far from normal, police could not subdue the man and had to pin him to a bike rack using a police cruiser, here's the video. Bet they didn't teach you that at the academy. Bystanders were apparently calling for police to taser the man which raised questions about why Toronto police were not all......

First it was Mayor Mel, and now delegates sent in place of MDM have been dissed for dining on Dunedin, Florida's tab. Dunedin has long picked up the check for visiting TO dignitaries, in an effort to keep good relations afloat between the Jays' winter and summer homes. But Dunedin (pronounced Done-Eden, and not Dune-Din) is well nigh sick of it, and doesn't want to pay to entertain TO mayors or their minions anymore. As......

One of the true misfortunes of living in our great city is our reliance on the National Hockey League as our sporting lifeline. Day-in, day-out we Torontonians are faced with countless hours of lockout coverage with every union meeting given more press than a Presidential Address. The bottom-line is that there will be no NHL hockey this year. Those in and around the business have known this for years now. So why does the Canadian......

Selon le chercheur américain Richard Florida, Toronto arrive en première position pour l'importance de son noyau créatif, qui regroupe les emplois liés à la technologie et à la culture. Toronto est suivi de très près par Montréal. Et parlant de fusions municipales et créatrices, un directeur artistique montréalais joint les forces créatives torontoise pour mettre sur pied l'opéra de Siegfried. Comme quoi la créativité vient avec la collaboration. L'opéra jouera encore le 2, 5, 8......

To the six people who thought there was a chance Carlos Delgado would offer the Jays a discount and become Toronto's first 500 homer man: the dream is dead. Slick New York art dealer and Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, the same man whose tight fists held the last nail that baseball drove into the Montreal Expos' coffin, has sold seven Mondrians and a DeKooning and brought Carlos to Miami. Five years, $64 million. The......

To inaugurate the New Year, JetsGo Airlines is offering seats for $20.05 to any of their North American destinations. The discounted flights are only valid on departures from Toronto, require a return ticket purchased at regular price, and surcharges do apply. Destinations include Fort Meyers, Florida and Fort McMurray, Alberta. While the said seat sale is considerably cheaper than full price, it also conjures up a little-known concept we at Torontoist like to call "opportunity......

We at the Torontoist would like to apologize for how repetitive our basketball reports are becoming. As sorry as we are, though, it appears that nothing is changing. Our “beloved” Dino’s lost yet another game Sunday afternoon, this time to Shaq-fu and the Miami Heat. It was the Raps seventh straight loss since they beat the same Heat in south Florida late last November. With games against T-wolves, Pacers, Nets, Rockets, Jazz, Suns, Lakers and......

At first, it seemed a little odd that Toronto Argonauts' coach Mike "Pinball" Clemons was left off the CBC's "Greatest Canadian" search. This man has devoted his entire playing career to the CFL's Toronto Argonauts, and now has led the team to the Grey Cup final as a head coach. The case for Clemons as the "Greatest Canadian," however, is quickly derailed by the fact that he's from Florida. Still, Clemons has taken the underdog......