Murdoch Mysteries
Have you ever wondered what the police do when they’re
off-duty? Do they go home, flick on the TV and watch a cops-‘n-robbers
show? Staff Sergeant John Spanton has
given us his answer to that mystery. He
runs the community response unit at 51 Division. Last week, he told the Toronto Star about his
enjoyment of the CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries and his disdain for a lot of other
shows. Click here for the story – it’s
got lots of charming insights into the authenticity of the program and
comparisons with the Staff Sergeant’s current job. Toronto Star photo.
Deeply Rooted
The Regent Park School of Music is hosting four weekend
events as benefit concerts for its program.
It’s supported by Cameron House Records and some of Toronto’s finest
roots-based musicians. The first event
is Saturday January 12 in the Back Room at the Cameron House (408 Queen St W)
at 8:30 pm. It features Big Tobacco
& the Pickers together with legendary roots singer David Baxter. No cover charge – donations are encouraged
and all proceeds go to the Regent Park School of Music. Next shows are February 23, March 30 and
April 27.
School snack program
The
spiffy new facility that the Toronto Kiwanis Boys & Girls Club calls home
at 101 Spruce Street is now just about a year old. The renovation provided
badly needed new space in the gym plus a new computer training room, a dance
studio, a multi-purpose meeting room, a library and an impressive kitchen.
The
Club needs the kitchen. Staff prepare
and serve over 500 meals a day in the Club’s after-school snack program for
children between the ages of 6 to 18. According to their announcement about
this program, “the grim reality … is that this afternoon snack is the first
real meal they may have eaten all day. This
begs the question – when all you can think about is food, how can you have an
appetite for learning?”
The
Club is asking for your donations. It’s
a great idea – if you want to learn more about the Club, click here.
Toward Light
Dancers from the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre (509
Parliament) will be part of the tribute to Rachael Browne. Twenty one dancers are recreating nine of her
works. Tickets are $15. Fleck Dance Theatre, 209 Queens Quay.
Volunteers
at Riverdale Farm
The
City of Toronto has formed a new stewardship committee to provide citizen input
into operations at Riverdale Farm. It’s
the next step arising from last year’s efforts to save and modernize the Farm
and make it more sustainable. The
committee will oversee new fundraising initiatives, set up partnerships with
outside groups for the use of the facility and work with staff on new programs.
This
is now an official body within the City’s structures. The Parks, Forestry & Recreation department
has an information page that you can read here. If you’re ready to volunteer, check out the
page and click on the link at the bottom to complete a volunteer application
form. The deadline is 4 pm, Friday
January 25.
Pumpkin
Pie at the Daniels Spectrum
Pumpkin
Pie is a short film created by young people from St James Town and Regent
Park. It’s the story of two thirteen
year-olds growing up in St James Town and its script is based on true
stories. It asks, “What does striving
for excellence really mean?” and “How do we develop an attitude of cooperation
when we’re surrounded by competition?” Friday,
January 18, 7:30 to 9 pm. Artscape Lounge, Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas
St E
Jack Grunsky’s art courses
Jack is a well-known JUNO winning recording artist who’s pursuing a
second career as a visual artist. He’s
studied art extensively and displayed in galleries here in Canada and abroad
since 1977.
He’s offering a relaxed and inspiring art course suitable for beginners. Working from still life, photographs and
independent themes and ideas, students will be introduced to drawing and
painting fundamentals and techniques pertaining to acrylic medium. These
include line drawing, value, shape, pattern, texture, shading, highlighting,
colour and perspective. Students will be encouraged to explore and develop
their own personal style. Eight weeks
from January 18, 1 to 3:30 pm, $320 plus HST, at 383 Wellesley.
For more
information, check out his website.
Contact him at jack.grunsky@sympatico.ca and at (416) 928-9375.
DanceWeekend ’13 by Dance Ontario
Friday, January 18 to Sunday, January 20 at the Fleck
Theatre, Harbourfront, 207 Queen’s Quay W, (416) 973-4000 & (416)
204-1083. Hundreds of dancers from over
thirty companies take the stage in the 20th anniversary of Dance
Ontario’s DanceWeekend at Harbourfront.
Two local companies are included – Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre
(519 Parliament) on Saturday at 5 pm and COBA (Daniels
Spectrum, 585 Dundas) on Sunday at 3:15 pm. Check out the website.
Museum
survey
Here’s
a quick reminder – the Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum is conducting a survey to
ask you about your views on the Museum’s future course. Take a few minutes to pass along your
thoughts. The deadline is February
28. Click here to complete the survey.
SHOPPING NEWS
Grand re-opening at Sundara Yoga Studio
Angela’s newly renovated studio has re-opened.
With this expansion, she can now accommodate more comfortably Cabbagetown's
growing yoga community. Sundara’s grand re-opening party happens on Thursday
January 17th from 6 pm to 9 pm. Please come by and celebrate our new space and
meet some of our staff as well as other yogis in your neighbourhood. 492 Parliament (side door.)
Eclectisaurus
Leslie at
Eclectisaurus (249 Gerrard) has a terrific vintage 1940's electric egg cooker
in robin's egg blue pottery. A perfect compliment to a Fiesta collection, this
appliance is working and includes instructions on the bottom for cooking four
eggs to a turn. For more information,
visit her website.
Cabbagetown
Pet Clinic
Dr
Jennifer Day’s clinic uses lots of good communication skills to handle
appointments and follow-up with pet owners.
If you book an appointment, you’ll get an email to remind you about your
date and time. They’ll send you a
follow-up survey afterward to ensure that you’re satisfied with the service
that you received. It’s a very efficient
way to keep in touch. The clinic’s
website offers a video tour, an introduction to
the staff, educational information and a convenient online form to book an
appointment. It’s surprising that more
doctors and dentists don’t use the same system and avoid the tedious round of
telephone calls that they now use. 239
Gerrard.
More
new markdowns
Enjoy
up to 50% off during Kendall & Co’s store-wide seasonal clearance. Save on fine
stationery, serving ware, home accents, lighting and even their beautiful rugs.
Discounts apply to in-stock retail merchandise only and excludes special
orders, locally-made goods and new arrivals. Store hours: 10 am to 6 pm Monday
to Friday and 11am to 5 pm on Saturday. 227 Carlton.
RESTAURANT NEWS
Merryberry’s
February theme
Cyril has
unveiled his new theme for Merryberry’s dinner specials which he’ll be offering
through January - food in black & white. The
details are listed on his website. He’s feeling playful as you can see in his
menu rules – the starting ingredient must be 80% black and/or white, OR the
name of the ingredient must contain the word black and/or white, OR the
resulting dish must be at least 80% black and/or white. As before, this is a three-course
dinner. If you order an appetizer or a
dessert plus the main course, it’s $25.
For all three courses, it’s $30. To
illustrate his specials, we’re using various photos through the month. To start, this photo shows “sugar cloud with
blackberry coulis” – which Cyril claims is the best dessert ever made by
Merryberry. Dinner hours Wednesday to
Saturday, 6 to 9 pm. 559 Parliament.
News about
Retsina
Toronto Life has
run an introductory article about our new Greek restaurant, Retsina (209 Gerrard). You can read the story
here. There’s also a website for the restaurant
where you can see pictures and menus.
Winterlicious
From
January 25 to February 7, three of our area’s restaurants are part of the 2013
Winterlicious program. They’re all in
the Distillery District. Archeo – a contemporary pizza
and pasta house, lunch $15 and dinner $25, (416) 815-9898. Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill
- fresh fish and oysters, lunch $20 and dinner $35, (416) 361-5859. Tappo - wine bar and
restaurant, lunch $20 and dinner $35, (647) 430-1111. Reservations are open from January 10.
Did
you get a ukulele for Christmas?
The
Dominion on Queen (500 Queen St E) holds weekly ukulele events. They’re very popular. The regular Corktown Ukelele Jam nights are
Wednesdays at 8 pm in the Dominion’s Corktown Lounge. Periodic teaching sessions – a debutante’s
welcome to ukulele heaven or a sophomore’s refinement of chord and strum – add solemn
depth to the program as do the Strum Clinic and the proposed overseas Ukulele Retreat
to Calabria Italy. For a calendar of
events, visit Toronto Ukes and for weekly
details, the Dominion on Queen’s site.
Thanks
for the good Samaritan work
An
anonymous figure has attacked the snow and ice along the staircase beside the
toboggan hill in Riverdale Park. This is
a killer climb normally. Park staff don’t
shovel it so the snow piles up into deadly mounds on each step. Climbers can
easily lose their footing. It took our
friend well over an hour of tough chopping to do the job. We tried desperately
to get a photo of this fine person so the community could thank him personally
but he just wouldn’t agree. He wants to
stay anonymous. So, words alone must
suffice - thanks go out to you, John Hill, from grateful people and their
families across Cabbagetown.
Angela’s newly renovated studio has re-opened.
With this expansion, she can now accommodate more comfortably Cabbagetown's
growing yoga community. Sundara’s grand re-opening party happens on Thursday
January 17th from 6 pm to 9 pm. Please come by and celebrate our new space and
meet some of our staff as well as other yogis in your neighbourhood. 492 Parliament (side door.)
