It’s Tuesday, October 14, 2008. What is the ONE thing you are for SURE doing today? Yes, that’s right, voting! Last Thursday, the Department of Culture held a fundraising concert at the Phoenix to raise money so they could advertise in key ridings in Toronto about the upcoming election and how to strategically vote. The night consisted of a ton of musical acts as well as video segements to highlight how important the arts are to the country and how much of an election issue they are (and should always be).
The video is a bit of a departure from our regular style, but we wanted to highlight some of the events of the night.
If you’re still not sure who to vote for, check out these great sites to help you decide:
12 hours. What a night! We started our journey at 6:30pm at City Hall and our heads didn’t hit the pillow until 6am the next morning …
There is so much to cover from this years Nuit Blanche in Toronto. So much in fact that it’s best if you watch the video! But here are some of the highlights that we saw on our travels:
Zone A:
Stereoscope, City Hall
An amazing installation turning the windows of City Hall into a giant ping pong game and lighting canvas
Conversation #2, 900 Wellesley Street
12,000 books laid together to create a beautiful sculpture. The different coloured spines even created moasic images wrapped around the sculpture.
Zone B:
r u part of the art?
An interesting mobile installation - subscribe to a texting service and receive updates throughout the night with various things to do like sing the song from The Muppets (Menamena do do dee do do …). We didn’t see many other people doing it, but it was fun to randomly do stuff during the night.
Le Labo, Distillery
A very calming video/sound installation (for the first while we were there) at Le Labo or Le Laboratoire d’art - a “francophone media and integrated arts lab offering opportunities in production, training & showings.”
Higgs Ocean, Distillery
While they weren’t part of the ‘official’ Nuit Blanche schedule, this installation in one of the alleyways of the Distillery, was a highlight for us as it featured many elements from our youth - Lite Brite, a Big Bird lamp, and old films on video projectors! Unfortunately we couldn’t find any info on the group online - so if you guys see this posting, let us know where to find you!
Zone C:
Overflow, Liberty Village
A smaller scale installation by Michel de Broin of a waterfall coming out the window of a 3 storey building and crashing into discarded furniture on the ground.
Imagine Peace, Liberty St. & Jefferson Ave.
Yoko Ono continues to spread the message of peace with this installation. The public is given tags to write a wish on and the hang on the trees lining the street creating weeping willows of wishes, as it were.
While you wait with bated breath for our coverage of Nuit Blanche (you are waiting, right? ), check out this awesome video and sound remix by our good friend Qasim … we met up during the night and some of the video features us!
4 days left until at 6:52pm on Saturday October 4th, Toronto awakens for an all night contemporary art thing called Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. If you haven’t been yet … where have you been!? For the past two years, the popularity of this phenomenal free chaotic art frenzy has exploded - hundreds of thousands of Torontonians take to the street and experience art in Toronto like never before.
For those of you who have never been, Katherine and I have put together a little guide - 7 tips on how to survive Nuit Blanche and make the most of your night.
We are prepping for an all night vlogging thing and we want you to be a part of it. We’ll be heading from Zone B to A to C on our bikes. If you want to join us along the way and be a part of our evening, email us at info@nightintoronto.com and we’ll let you know where we are. You can also send us some tips if you know of a great installation we should feature on TNIT!
After we catch up on our sleep, we’ll be posting a vlog from each zone so be sure to sign up to our RSS feed to see the results! Oh, and we’ll also be teaming up with our friends at Dear Toronto to do some cross vlogging - should be a lot of fun.
Last Friday, Katherine and I took in a bit of Francophone culture at the Alliance Française at Lowther and Spadina where they premiered a new monthly Cabaret series. It was an wonderful evening with three lovely singers (avec Claire Jenkins, Amélie Lefebvre et Lyne Tremblay). They sang a range of music from Tom Waits to Kurt Veil. The place was packed and the audience was enraptured with the singers! And tickets were only $5! If you’re interested in checking out some francophone culture, this is an excellent introduction. The Cabaret took place in the gallery space at the Alliance which is open daily with some stunning artwork on the wall. Be sure to check out the next Cabaret event in October (and get there early so you can grab your wine before they run out of glasses!).
After the show, we followed the singers to Paupers Pub where we gathered in a rather hidden room on the first floor. Packed into this tiny room, Tom (who’s last name I forget) brought out his violin from the show and serenaded us all with some classical, some contemporary, and some traditional Québecois music. I felt like we were somewhere in Europe at a pub. It’s not every day you walk into a bar in Toronto and sit around a table with a violinist singing songs en français. Katherine and I grabbed some drinks enjoyed the music (Katherine and our friend Josée even took part playing the spoons!).
Then it was off to The Wreck Room at Bathurst and Bloor to take part in “Loving in the Name Of”, a concert hosted by The Best with such artists as Sebastien Grainger (remember him?), Tara Slone, and Nick Sewell. The band was great as they sang a range of classic tunes like Boston’s “More Than A Feeling” and “I’ve Had The Time of My Life” from the cult classic Dirty Dancing. It was a 360 from the Cabaret show earlier that evening, but it was a blast! And at only $5 for cover, you can’t go wrong.
So there you have it! A music filled night for us! A great way to kick off the last weekend of the summer … sigh.
Yes, it was a little touch and go there for a while after our last vlog, but we’re back on the air - this time in HD! Woot! Thanks to our brand new Canon HG10, you’ll be able to enjoy TNIT through the magic of HD - it’s almost as if you are actually there with us! (Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration …)
On Saturday, Katherine and I decided to check out the Queen West Arts Crawl, a favourite weekend event amongst many Torontonians. What’s different about this vlog is that we filmed it BEFORE 5pm! That’s right - this is not about a night in Toronto as much as it is about a day in Hogtown. As that was the case, it only made sense that we grab a bit of brunch because c’mon - it’s Saturday morning!
We made our way over to Squrily’s which neither of us had been to before (for brunch). It’s an incredibly eclectic restaurant in its décor. There’s a lovely patio in the back where we sat (well, we sat on the edge of it because there was a great big red couch that Katherine wanted to rest up). The brunch was delicious and pretty darn cheap, if you ask me. Only $20 for the two of us (incl. tax and tip!).
Then it was off to Trinity Bellwoods Park to take part in the artist fair and to take a peak at some of the amazing artists who live in this fair city.
You’ll have to watch the episode to see how it all went down.
We’d like to say thanks to Megan Hamilton for providing her song “Detroit” as the music for this episode! If you’ve got some music that you think would work well for for TNIT, drop us a line!
Katherine and I met at City Hall to check out what installation was in the Rotunda. We found a great piece from Vietnam - 300 (out of an original 1,303) painted lanterns by school children about how they viewed the country. Some of the paintings were amazing for such young children! The piece was only on for a few days, and we weren’t allowed to film it, but Katherine took some great photos!
Then it was out to Nathan Phillips Square to take a look at the art on the square. Some people might not know that we have a Henry Moore sculpture right there! And how many of us have taken the time to actually read about the Peace Garden (how many of you knew there WAS a Peace Garden)? From the City’s website:
The Peace Garden in Nathan Phillips Square consists of a simple cube with a pitched roof, an eternal flame, a pool and stone platform walls. The roof has a damaged appearance, which signifies conflict and evokes the theme of civilization’s frailty.
The eternal flame appears to support the structure, symbolizing the hope and regeneration of mankind.
Former Mayor Nathan Phillips presented the sundial located in the Peace Garden to the citizens of Toronto. It is inscribed with the words, “In appreciation of the opportunity to serve.”
The sundial, which was installed on Nathan Phillips Square in 1969, was designed by G.R. Johnson (in consultation with City Property Commissioner H.H. Rogers and architect John C. Parkin) and fabricated by F. Caruk, Master Welding Limited.
On March 5, 1984, during the City’s Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) celebrations, then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau turned the first sod for the Peace Garden’s construction.
In September of the same year, His Holiness Pope John Paul II lit the eternal flame with an ember from the Memorial for Peace in Hiroshima, Japan. The Holy Father poured a vial of water from the rivers that flow through Nagasaki into the pool.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II formally dedicated the Peace Garden in October, 1984.
Then it was off to the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre to see Avenue Q - but on our way over, we decided to investigate the flying Canadian Geese at the south entrance to the Eaton Centre. The piece, called Flight Stop, is by internationally renowned Toronto artist Michael Snow. This is another wonderful piece of art which many probably take for granted. But it’s a rather significant installation as there was some interesting controversy surrounding it.
After grabbing a quick bite to eat at Sushi Q in the Eaton Centre food court (to tie us over), we made our way over to the Elgin to pick up our tickets to Avenue Q. Before the show, we checked out another installation on the Palladian level of the Elgin by Theatre Museum Canada (yes! We have a theatre museum - it just doesn’t have a physical home … yet). They have some lovely costume and set designs on display at the moment. Make sure you check out what’s on display next time you’re there.
Here’s a quick peak at a song from Avenue Q:
It’s a hilarious show! We laughed and cried (from the pure joy of some of the songs). But then drama struck … you’ll have to watch the video to find out what kind of drama exactly …
Katherine’s leaving the east end for the west end of the city and in homage to her tenure as an east ender, That Night In Toronto takes you through some of her favourite spots along Queen St East between Broadview and Logan Ave.
The night started off at the Dark Horse Espress Bar (not Café as Blair keeps referring to it), located at 682 Queen St. East (just west of Broadview). It’s a great place to meet up and have a coffee or tea. The atmosphere is relaxing and inviting. The large communal table with all the daily and weekly papers is one of our favourite reasons for visiting. And they display local artists’ work on the walls.
Speaking of art, Queen St. East has a great network of artists called the Artists’ Network of Riverdale (due to suspicious activity, Google has advised against visiting the site as it may harm your computer … we’re not sure what’s wrong - but hopefully the problem will be remedied soon). One of the galleries we walked by is the Hangman Gallery which is a great space to visit and support your local artists.
One of Katherine’s hang outs is Kubo Radio (894 Queen St. East) - a great restaurant sharing the joy of Asian cuisine. The vibe is cool and funky, the food is delicious and the $5 martini’s on Wednesdays is a REAL treat to get over the mid-week blues (the martini’s are made with sake … mmm mmm good!).
Our evening ended off at The Opera House where we took in a performance of She & Him - the group formed by actress Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. A quick and quirky bio on the group:
The She & Him story begins when in 2006 , renowned one man band M. Ward, recorded a duet with a girl named Zooey Deschanel. A delightful recording session, the experience lead to a dialogue between the two about collaborating further. This, in turn, led to Deschanel admitting to secretly making dozens and dozens of home demos and hoarding them like acorns for the winter. Sick and tired of being stingy and secretive about music, Deschanel realized that if songs were acorns then this was indeed her wintertime: she sent the recordings to Ward and these demos became the basis for their first record, entitled Volume One.
Here’s a little sample of their music (and music video)
The concert was fantstic! We had a great time chillin’ and hanging with some friends we saw at the concert. Overall it was a very good night.
Katherine had one last surprise to show Blair before they left for the evening … to find out what it was, watch the video.
While Katherine is busy rehearsing for her Fringe show, Blair takes off to the launch of a new book, Ikonica: A fieldguide to Canadas Brandscape, co-Authored by Allan Middleton and Jeannette Hanna (who also just happens to be his mother).
A Mini Edition is an episode where we cant necessarily make it out the entire night, but there’s an event we want to cover.
But here are some of the highlights that we saw on our travels:
), check out this awesome video and sound remix by our good friend 
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