Toronto Life articles from January 2003

Toronto Life archives from January 2003

Air farce. (This City).
January 1, 2003... Led astray by a lame-duck mayor, council voted overwhelmingly to bring the Island airport back from its near-death state. Instead of decommissioning the dinosaur, instead of turning tarmac into trees, they're agreed to have turboprop planes...

Mad hatter. (Profile).
January 1, 2003... Sean Cullen rarely tells jokes. He almost never delivers a punchline. Instead, the 37-year-old comedian sings songs about pornography. He riffs on killing his audience with their groceries. He constructs monologues in the guise of a Catholic...

The thin man. (Telling Tales).
January 1, 2003... In town rehearsing for the Rolling Stones' fall tour, Mick Jagger threw a boffo 59th-birthday party at the Guvernment. But the Sun-Maid rock star proved he's a long way from trading in his diet of leggy babes and leather for one of sweater...

Spin psycho. (Telling Tales).
January 1, 2003... PR empress Danielle Iversen gives new meaning to the term "publicity stunt." The send-button czarina boasts a turbo Rolodex of clients ranging from Vespa haven Motoretta to porn star Ron Jeremy. And she has oft been compared to Manhattan's...

In the heat of the night. (Telling Tales).
January 1, 2003... The HarperCollins imprint Ecco Press celebrated its 30th anniversary during the International Festival of Authors this fall. To mark the moment, EP invited a roster of international talent, including Christopher Hitchens, Michel Faber and...

Piazza, piazza. (Cityscapes).
January 1, 2003... The downtown leg of the world's longest thoroughfare is a traffic-jammed wind tunnel bounded by crowded sidewalks and hostile cliffs of skyscrapers. After a couple of centuries of life on the straight and narrow, Yonge is being opened up by two...

Twain spotting. (Telling Tales).
January 1, 2003... Timmins country siren Shania Twain was recently here promoting her postpartum album Up!, produced by Svengalislash-hubby Mutt Lange. Despite her eastern meditation practices, bodyguards and limos, the midriff-flashing fox--once dubbed the...

Flown ranger. (Telling Tales).
January 1, 2003... Collingwood's Western-themed Rawhide Adventures lassoos city slickers into channelling their inner cowboy, urging urbanites to giddy-up and herd cattle through northern pastures. Over the years, the travel company--taking its cues from a beef...

Urban decoder.
January 1, 2003... Dear Urban Decoder: Why is there a little cemetery in the traffic cloverleaf on Highway 427 north as it connects to Highway 401 east? Who maintains it? Can anyone even visit it?--Michael Wong, The Annex The cemetery is all that's left...

Live and let blow-dry. (Camera).
January 1, 2003... They're known in the biz as the Oscars of Hair, the annual Contessa awards, held this year in a Sheraton ballroom. Moxy Fruvous's can't-say-no-to-a-gig frontman, Jian Ghomeshi, emceed the 007-themed event, which attracted a well-coiffed crowd...

Sick joke. (Letters).
January 1, 2003... I wish to express my disgust at the supposedly witty caption "Least animated tourist," attached to a photo of a clearly ailing Pope on the cover of your December issue. This uncalled-for mockery of a man struggling to cope with Parkinson's...

Dry zone. (Letters).
January 1, 2003... It's obvious from your article "The Mayor of Liquorville" [December] that Ontario vintners feel under-represented in LCBO stores. But there are other stores in the province--Ontario wine stores--that give them pride of place and make you...

Wake-up call. (Letters).
January 1, 2003... Back in the late 1950s, in the slot where Metro Morning is now, a program called Musical March Past blared out regimental brass band music to a fiercely loyal audience. Between sun-up and sign-off, dozens of other programs collectively...

Squash champion. (Letters).
January 1, 2003... As a regular subscriber to Toronto Life, imagine my delight and surprise to see a picture of me hugging a 151-pound Hungarian squash ["Farm Fatale," November]. I have not seen this photograph for at least 20 years and was so surprised to see it...

Ethics 101. (Letters).
January 1, 2003... It's unfortunate that Rachel Pulfer interrupted her otherwise well-sourced article on Rick Salutin ["The Antagonist," September] with a bit of gratuitous gossip and innuendo. She implies a connection between the end of his contract as ethics...

Oops! (Letters).
January 1, 2003... Catered Affare appeared in the 2002 Entertaining Guide with an error. The phone number should have read 416-288-0886.

Theatre. (This Month).
January 1, 2003... OPENINGS Chronic. Every few years, the woman with the Midas touch returns. Since emerging in 1975 in Paul Thompson's collective project If You're So Good, Why Are You in Saskatoon?, Linda Griffiths has been many things to many people....

Small wonder. (This month).
January 1, 2003... Learning how to crack an egg bigger than her hands, a tiny girl named Jessie crushes the shell and squirts yolk into her surprised eyes. Two older boys flip, with growing confidence, the resulting omelette. Welcome to the chaotic one-room...

Calendar. (Advertising & Promotion Events & Opportunities).
January 1, 2003... Get the inside scoop on this month's hottest events and promotions from the following advertisers: CINEMATHEQUE ONTARIO Cinematheque Ontario's winter season opens January 17! Enjoy a retrospective on Nicholas Ray, a spotlight on Gus...

Classical music. (This Month).
January 1, 2003... ORCHESTRAL Silk Road Project. Leave it to the enterprising and clever Yo-Yo Ma to try to bridge the gap between the oh-so-Western traditions of classical music and the rhythms of the rest of the world (see the highlight on page 28). The...

Road to riches. (This month).
January 1, 2003... Even the names are tongue-luscious. Duduk. Kemancheh. Sheng. Santur. Morin khuur. Tongue-luscious, yet alien to most Western audiences. They are the names of musical instruments, from countries as varied as Armenia, Mongolia, Persia and beyond,...

Dance. (This month).
January 1, 2003... Dance Immersion 2003. Curator Vivine Scarlett brings together a rich cross-section of dancers with only one thing in common: they are all working in an Afrocentric dance aesthetic. With some serendipitous programming, the annual showcase...

Art. (This Month).
January 1, 2003... Free Aluminum is the prescribed alloy to commemorate 10th anniversaries. Consider this show a group gift, then, from the artists of the Susan Hobbs Gallery to their dealer, an uncompromising exponent of Canadian vanguard art. The talents of the...

Mass appeal. (This month).
January 1, 2003... While young Canadians reimagined their nation's Identity at Expo 67, on the other side of the world youthful members of the Red Guard were radically recasting China in the Image of Mao Zedong. Via woodblock prints and poster reproductions of...

Nightlife. (This Month).
January 1, 2003... CONCERTS Blue Rodeo. Ya gotta love the way Blue Rodeo is so quintessentially Canadian. And we're not just talking their rockin', country-infused songs that stick to you like burrs. No, their official Web site (unlike the sites of most...

Superconductors. (This Month).
January 1, 2003... The notion of electronic dance music performed live poses a nagging question: what-aside from crowd noise, smoke and sweat--can you add to the original recordings? While superstar DJs have undone the concert problem in their own ways (the...

Jazz and standards. (This Month).
January 1, 2003... CONCERTS International Association for Jazz Education Conference. The IAJE's annual conference might sound like just another academic get-together, but it's much more than that, combining seminars and workshops with a trade show, awards...

Kids' events. (This Month).
January 1, 2003... Cinderella In Muddy York. While there were probably a great many early settlers in Upper Canada who would have welcomed the help of a fairy godmother (or Puppetmongers Ann and David Powell pulling some strings on their behalf), Muddy York-born...

Diversions. (This Month).
January 1, 2003... Cinematheque Ontario. Metropolis, Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction fantasy, has been released in several versions, including a colourful 1984 edition with a score by disco legend Giorgio Moroder (the electrifying force behind Donna Summer)....

Closer to fine. (This Month).
January 1, 2003... She has danced for nearly all of her 46 years. And yet veteran performer and choreographer Julia Sasso is making her debut, once again. Two years ago, she faced the daunting challenge of reinvention after leaving Dancemakers, where over her...

Split decision: David Miller and Barbara Hall--the two leading centre-left candidates for mayor--are engaged in a dangerous game of chicken. If one of them doesn't blink, neither will win. (Politics).
January 1, 2003... STARTING IN JANUARY, A PLATOON OF MAYORAL candidates will seek to tap the palpable thirst for change that's been welling up in the minds of Torontonians. The voters are sick and tired of (choose one) Mel Lastman, Ernie Eves, Jean Chretien, or...

Leaving Los Angeles: after he broke up with Hollywood, Hollywood continued to call. This season, he s scored three films by A-listers, among them Denzel Washington. How working outside the moviemaking establishment has made Mychael Danna an insider. (Arts).
January 1, 2003... MYCHAEL DANNA, ONE OF THE world's leading composers of music for film, has just pulled an all-nighter, supervising a 22-hour recording session that ended at seven a.m. It's now the early afternoon of the same dreary November day, and after a...

Queen B: fired from Glamour two years ago, Bonnie Fuller relaunched her career by turning Us Weekly into a loud, juicy, star-crazed tabloid. So why is New York's most powerful magazine editor feeling so blue?
January 1, 2003... It wasn't your usual high school reunion. The planning was strictly hush-hush. Invitations went out by phone and e-mail to only a select group. Even the alumni co-ordinators at Jarvis Collegiate weren't in on the scoop: a hip clique from the...

Rituals: Monsters, Inc.
January 1, 2003... "Grave Digger rules." "Grave Digger sucks." "You suck." This debate, between two six-year-olds at the Monster Truck Jam Pit Party at SkyDome, is joined by thousands of others over the next six hours. The two are lined up to get...

The great takeout stakeout.
January 1, 2003... "SET THE TABLE, HONEYBUN, and fire up the microwave. I'll pick up dinner from Splendido on my way home." How convenient. How delicious. How very Toronto to seize on a time-honoured but humble notion such as takeout and punt the whole...

Icons: light opera.
January 1, 2003... Most people only see Jameson Avenue as they hurry along from the Gardiner Expressway to Queen Street West. And most of the year, they see a pocked strip of asphalt lined with dingy mid-rise apartment buildings, some grandly named--the Royal...

Figure head: his internationally renowned work in classical geometry has influenced everything from architecture to chemotherapy to on-line shopping. But Donald Coxeter hardly seems to care. At 95, he is driven by the same powerful force that has guided his whole life: a simple love of math.
January 1, 2003... WHITE FLASHES LIT UP the splendidly restored auditorium of Hungary's Academy of Sciences in Budapest, on the east bank of the Danube. Photographers, who don't usually show up at math conferences, attended this one in late July to get pictures...

Northern exposure. (Faux glow and a big chest).
January 1, 2003... Fashion darling John Galliano, who sent his models down runways in mukluks and Atanarjuat-inspired fur-trimmed parkas, would kill to get his hands on these babies. Snow goggles for hunters in the frozen North--hand-crafted from caribou antlers...

Electric avenue. (Faux glow and a big chest).
January 1, 2003... Didn't manage to slot Caribbean island-hopping into your Christmas vacation? Stave off the signs of seasonal affective disorder with a visit to the brand new Ra Sun Spa. Owners Jeff, Effie and Jay Karadjian have opened a tanning salon for...

Soft core. (Faux glow and a big chest).
January 1, 2003... Catherine Yolles, an editor for Cinematheque Ontario, is a textile junkie. But luckily, her habit is constructive. She now creates her own artisanal line of scarves and wraps, which range from casual, richly hued fleece to embroidered stoles of...

Nut job. (Faux glow and a big chest).
January 1, 2003... This clever bit of art for the home by Toronto design hunk Scot Laughton is aptly dubbed Cache. A nutlike chest for the front hall or the foot of a bed, with a sexy curved top that opens to reveal a hideaway for clutter, it also doubles as a...

Grate expectations. (Faux glow and a big chest).
January 1, 2003... Chuck Williams, the culinary sovereign of Williams-Sonoma, names the Microplane grater the most revolutionary product to hit the kitchen in the past five years. It's deceptively low-tech in appearance, combining a lightweight, easy-to-store...

Mourning glory: the St. Clair Mausoleum doesn't banish death and bereavement to the shadows. Airy, full of light and thoroughly modern, the building defies the word "funereal". (Design).
January 1, 2003... ON A WINTRY WEEKDAY MORNING, PROSPECT Cemetery's new community mausoleum is bathed in sunshine. Oblivious to other visitors, a middle-aged man sitting on a bench in front of a crypt moves through a concerto of grief: sobs, moans and fierce,...

Tasting notes. (Drink).
January 1, 2003... Stop the taint There was a corked bottle in this month's tasting. That doesn't mean the wine was floating corky bits; rather, it was tainted by a pungent chemical that produces an unpleasant musty smell reminiscent of damp basement or wet...

North 44[degrees]. (A La Mode).
January 1, 2003... *** 1/2 It runs with the smooth confidence of a new Rolls-Royce, solicitous servers tending to every pampering detail. Light and shadow lend texture to a suave, modern decor of greys and beige. Renovation takes the mezzanine from mineral...

Rosewater Supper Club. (A La Mode).
January 1, 2003... *** It's not just the live piano over the buzz of dinner talk that makes this spot a club. Sleek and slick design features have taken a huge space and allowed it to be alternately luxurious, expansive or intimate. The main room, its lovely...

The minute it opened, it was the most interesting private room in the city. (Tidbits).
January 1, 2003... The minute it opened, it was the most interesting private room in the city. Far from resting on his laurels, Susur Lee has been building an extension onto the back of his restaurant, turning what had been staff parking in an alleyway into a...

It was very much a private party as 50 Toronto chefs and restaurateurs headed north on a fine fall Sunday to Muskoka Sands in Gravenhurst. (Tidbits).
January 1, 2003... * It was very much a private party as 50 Toronto chefs and restaurateurs headed north on a fine fall Sunday to Muskoka Sands in Gravenhurst. Some brought their golf clubs, eager to play a round on the deluxe resort's new championship course,...

A week earlier, Avalon's Chris McDonald had his own travel adventure--almost--when he set off to cook for a sold-out crowd at Harlan Peterson's restaurant. (Tidbits).
January 1, 2003... * A week earlier, Avalon's Chris McDonald had his own travel adventure--almost--when he set off to cook for a sold-out crowd at Harlan Peterson's restaurant, Tapawingo, in Ellsworth, Michigan, a venue that has hosted talents as diverse as...

Susur. (A La Mode).
January 1, 2003... **** 1/2 Kitsch squeeze dolls in tiny shadow boxes are the latest whimsical touch to the spare, elegant room, its mood stroked this way and that by subtleties of coloured light. Behind the kitchen, a new, carpeted, firelit private room...

Zoom. (A La Mode).
January 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Spiked glass balls and diaphanous blue curtains hang from a soaring ceiling; lenses refract moody lighting. On display in the up-front cocktail bar or amid the edgy glamour of the dining area, deep-downtowners assay the open...

Shopping with chefs. (Restaurants).
January 1, 2003... Lily Pottinger of the Real Jerk, 709 Queen St. E., 416-463-6906 The Ontario Food Terminal is everything a market should be: a mad hive of frenetic activity offering the freshest, best selection of just flown-in produce to the city's food...

Bar One. (Bistro).
January 1, 2003... ** College gone south or Queen extended west--one way or another, chic has arrived opposite what old maps call "the Lunatic Asylum." Pretty 20-somethings line both sides of the face-to-face bar at the front. A long, long mirror above a row...

[New] Boho. (Bistro).
January 1, 2003... *** Stylish black and white photographs hang against massive pumpkin-coloured walls, the effect hinting at the sophisticated, fun and friendly menu to follow. Carefully prepared and comforting, dishes are assembled in an open kitchen and...

Rice pudding. (Restaurants).
January 1, 2003... A universal comfort for infants, invalids and the brokenhearted, rice is optimally digestible and blissfully neutral. Congee, kedgeree, risotto and paella are all soul-warming preps, but for some of us needier types the solace of nursery fare...

Stork on the Roof. (Bistro).
January 1, 2003... ** 1/2 Aunt Minnie from Mississauga will be perfectly at home here. The room is small and, but for some bad oil paintings (for sale), tasteful. Ancient photographs of Holland, jazz lite and candles set the mood. The menu (starters all...

[New] Toba. (Bistro).
January 1, 2003... ** 1/2 After doing time at the stoves of Mildred Pierce, Ellipsis and Zucca, Tony Barone is now master of his own domain. In keeping with King-Sherbourne's deeply urban surroundings, the interior is a combination of grit and...

Cafe Victoria. (International).
January 1, 2003... ** 1/2 Such a lovely room, with all that exuberant confectionery plasterwork. Too bad about the 1980s podium in the middle. Happily, the essentials remain for the room to return to its one-time elegance, when a trio played for dancers and...

Mandalay. (International).
January 1, 2003... ** Tucked around the side of a featureless strip plaza in deepest Scarberia, the comfortable if workaday space isn't easy to find. The room attracts an older crowd to sit amid potted plants, tables clothed in linens of white and forest...

Romagna Mia. (Italian).
January 1, 2003... *** Hams hang against exposed-brick walls, wooden chairs stand on a floor of terra cotta tiles, and salamis and cold cuts crowd a brightly lit cooler by the door. It all adds up to a cheerfully casual look, with the huge wood-burning pizza...

Omi. (Japanese).
January 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Plain lighting and posters of Miles Davis and B.B. King make no attempt at romancing the ambience; neither does owner-chef John Lee, with his friendly chat and baseball cap. One could sit at a table, eat tuna sushi and a...

Leao D'uro. (Latin).
January 1, 2003... ** Even in its modish new digs (for years, it lived across the street in a dingy basement), the place feels like down home--if you happen to be Portuguese. You won't leave here hungry or short of protein, Starters begin at $4.50, topping...

Armenian Kitchen. (Middle Eastern).
January 1, 2003... * 1/2 Parents seem grateful to be able to drop in with their broods in tow. It's a storefront room in a strip mall, so who needs to dress up? The prices are laughable (starters run $2.50-$4.50, mains peak at $12). That's the good news. But...

Zaffron. (Middle Eastern).
January 1, 2003... *** Finally, a restaurant that solves that age-old dilemma: "Italian or Persian?" Schizophrenia aside, Zaffron manages to shine at both cuisines. Inside, a California-style decor: stucco walls, autumn colours and tile floors. Commencing...

Casa Domenico. (Out Of Town).
January 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Who'd guess that one of this country's most interesting Italian restaurants turns out to be in Kingston? The bar at the back is one of the coolest spots for 20- and 30-somethings; savvy older couples prefer dinner at white-clothed...

Lula Lounge. ($25 Gourmet).
January 1, 2003... Since opening, this Latino lounge-arts salon has become the destination on an otherwise barren stretch of Dundas west of Dufferin. Beach drinks--such as the Havana Flyer (rum, champagne, lime, sugar)--grilled calamari and salsa music contribute...

Metropolitan. ($25 Gourmet).
January 1, 2003... Secluded from the mall-bound traffic on Yonge, the Met offers swank for those without expense accounts. Lunchtime packs in the hungry, but at night, when most briefcase toters scurry from the core, it's like having a private chef. Blue-swagged...

Jerry Goodis 1929-2002. (The End).
January 1, 2003... Jerry Goodis died of cancer in a small border town in B.C., a long way from home. Born the son of a poor union organizer, he grew up in Toronto's garment district. In the mid-'50s, as a member of the Communist Party of Canada and a singer with...

Youth cult: 147 ways to treat your tyke. (Kids And Parents Guide).
January 1, 2003... You've buckled your brood into the sturdiest overalls, chauffeured them to 6 a.m. hockey practice, booked them cuts at chic salons and managed to avoid hiring Robin Williams as a nanny. But the mysteries of parenthood still haunt you. For one,...

Clothes and shoes.
January 1, 2003... Adrian's Stride Rite The signature brand is sturdy Stride Rite, but this venerable family-owned shop also stocks upmarket European labels (Minibel, Maniqui, SuperFit and Primigi), plus commonplace athletic gear (Nike, Reebok and Skechers)....

In a snip: easygoing haircutters.
January 1, 2003... Beach Kidz Kutz If only the dentist were this much fun. A school bus, a rescue helicopter, a Volkswagen and--the most popular--a glorious green turtle serve as barber chairs. Stickers and suckers are awarded after each trim. Where: 1826A...

Toys and books.
January 1, 2003... The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe A pleased-as-punch papier mache lion greets visitors to this tiny, whimsical shop. The staff act as guardians of kids' lit, stocking only the greats. Books about fauna are favourites, from Peter Rabbit...

Treble chargers: music lessons.
January 1, 2003... Canadian Opera Company In addition to 10-week after-school opera programs at three community centres, the COC offers hands-on March break and summer camps (Grades 3 through 7) and a Saturday Morning Opera Club (nine weekly workshops for $160)....

Furniture and equipment.
January 1, 2003... Barber-Sachs Collection If it's one-of-a-kind kids' furnishings you seek, follow the convoy of Land Rovers and Volvo wagons to Av and Dav. Inside Barber-Sachs is a fairy-tale land of irresistible Lilliputian furnishings, all hand painted...

A family affair: dining out with the kids.
January 1, 2003... Allo Bistro This family-run spot welcomes pastaficionados of all ages. Save some room for gelati. 552 Mount Pleasant Rd. fat Belsize Dr.), 416-484-9591. Anatolia Finger foods and homemade pastries for tiny hands. For parents, a blackboard...

Second-hand goods.
January 1, 2003... Ages and Stages This cheerful Danforth store has a following among local families who like the mix of brand names and fair pricing. All told, the masses of clothes are a bit of a challenge to sift through, but the place harbours some...

Babysitters and nannies.
January 1, 2003... Christopher Robin Whether your brood numbers two or 250, Christopher Robin can locate a nanny in nanoseconds. The agency has been on the local child-minding scene for 50 years, and many of its clients are third generation. A big chunk of...

Active surplus: sports lessons.
January 1, 2003... Buckler Aquatics Water bugs six months and up receive careful group instruction with at least one teacher for every five swimmers. Specially designed facilities keep water temperature at an ideal 33 degrees. Where: 562 McNicoll Ave. (at...

Diapers.
January 1, 2003... ABC Diaper Depot At this No Frills of diaper dealers, wares have not even been unpacked from their boxes, and the retail area is essentially just a corridor between two walls of cardboard. No-name diapers come in sizes for all stages of...

Twinkle toes: dance lessons.
January 1, 2003... Academy of Spanish Dance Since 1982, the academy has trained little feet in the joys of flamenco, classical Spanish and regional dance. The enrolment in hour-long children's classes, for ages six to 15, is based on an assessment of age,...

Parenting support.
January 1, 2003... 519 Community Centre Parents and prospective parents meet regularly in the homey, ramshackle 519 Church Street Community Centre--the downtown hub for the bisexual, lesbian, gay and transgendered communities. Four programs cater to moms,...

Fitness and wellness.
January 1, 2003... Fitmom Parenthood and athleticism aren't mutually exclusive at Fitmom, a Toronto-based organization offering a range of pre- and postnatal classes for future, fledgling and veteran mamas and papas interested in interactive physical fitness...

Safety.
January 1, 2003... Babyproofers With several avoidable balcony falls in the GTA over the past year, accident prevention is understandably foremost in many parents' minds. To the rescue comes child-proofing professional Yehudah Franken. A member of the...

Activities.
January 1, 2003... Alliance Francaise The largest private French school in the country, Alliance has more than 4,000 students and members under its ceinture. The learning centre strives for excellence, with classes capped at 12 students, top-notch teachers...