Area resident secures the Sheepdogs for fundraiser

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3:27 pm

Local David Kines has made a career out of booking bands on the cusp of their big break. Kines, a former MuchMusic executive, has also tapped his connections to line up musical talent for an annual backyard fundraiser in support of Serve Canada, a non-profit dedicated to empowering at-risk youth.

Last year, he booked a little-known band from the prairies to perform. But then that little-known band — the Sheepdogs — won a contest to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, as well as some Juno Awards since then.

Needless to say, the band missed the fundraiser. This year, however, the Sheepdogs will be making good on their commitment.

The event, dubbed Servestock, is set for June 13 in the intimate setting of a Forest Hill backyard volunteered by the homeowner.

In addition to a performance by the Sheepdogs, there will be live and silent auctions for items such as a trip to go see The David Letterman Show, the proceeds of which will go toward the cause. Combined with ticket sales, at $250 a pop, the goal is to raise around $100,000.

Kines first heard about Serve Canada when the Barenaked Ladies played a benefit for the organization. Impressed by the non-profit’s work, he readily agreed to lend a hand when a friend approached him about sitting on the board.

“It’s very remarkable to hear the [now] adults talk about how their lives change as a result of the leadership training they get with Serve and the guidance they get with Serve,” Kines says.

Serve Canada’s programs seek to engage youth from inner-city communities with activities, games, volunteer work and workshops designed to impart such skills as leadership and teamwork. This summer it will be running two programs.

Serve Up the Summer is aimed at 13- to 16-year-olds living in the Malvern neighbourhood looking to build job, life and leadership skills. Making It Work is geared toward 17- to 21-year-olds from across the city. Serve marks its success with statistics such as the 98 per cent of participants ages 13 to 16 who enter or return to high school upon completing its programs.

“You hear stories of kids with one parent not at home on a regular basis or they’re having challenges at school or in the community, and they’re just remarkable stories of turnaround and perseverance,” Kines says. Apart from the non-profit’s positive impact, he simply subscribes to the belief that it’s important to contribute in this way.

“I think it’s something we all have to do,” Kines says. “Many of us are in a position to have the time and the connections and the influence to give back to society, and that’s how we all survive, that’s how we all live.”

As for Servestock, the organization’s major fundraiser, the veteran TV executive has found that music has always had a natural association with promoting important causes. Kines’s other credits include Live Aid, Live Earth and the 9/11 Music Without Borders benefit concert.

“Music has always been a force for change and a force for education and a force for good and entertainment and raising awareness and/or funds for events, for decades,” he says.

Grab of the Week: a brass body chain that’s worthy of Game of Thrones

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2:29 pm

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They say that accessories make the outfit, but what if the accessory is the outfit? Then there would be no need to worry about whether cocktail rings and statement necklaces complemented a look or went with your shoes.

In the summer months, when all you want to wear is an easy pair of shorts and a loose tank or a simple shift dress, what better way to add some style than by throwing on an eye-catching piece of 21st century body armor?

This Navajo draped body chain by local designer Dolorous can be worn dressed up or down, and custom ordered to fit any body type and size. We can’t guarantee the amount of protection it will provide in a battle, but it is certain that you will look good wearing it.

$260. Available at Love of Mine Boutique, 781 Queen St. W., 416-368-4999

Grace Carroll is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in ELLE UK, ELLEcanada.com, Plaid magazine and FILLER magazine. Keep up with her daily blog at www.graciecarroll.com.

Band of the Week: Japandroids

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12:58 pm

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If you’re looking to tap into your inner dark side, these Vancouver rock gods are the the droids you’re looking for. Japandroids may only be made up of axe man Brian King and drummer David Prowse, but their sound is massive. Their dense and heavy punk-garage-vibe is like Fugazi had a love child with MC5 that was raised by Against Me!

Released this week, their second album, Celebration Rock, is every bit as good as we’d expect from this Vancouver duo and the single “The House That Heaven Built” is so catchy you’ll have a string of “oh-oh-ohs” stuck in your head long after hearing it. We talked to Prowse about new-album jitters, Nick Cave’s awesomeness, and the big sweaty mess in store when they play Lee’s Palace in June.

Celebration Rock is a dense piece of work — did you approach it any differently from your acclaimed first album, Post-Nothing?
It was the same studio with the same engineer and same basic instrumentation, there weren’t any bells and whistles. But we’re just hoping that we’re becoming better songwriters as we move forward and keep writing better songs and getting better performances from those songs in the recordings. There was a conscious move forward lyrically and we put our vocals a little higher in the mix — we’ve become more confident as time goes on, as singers. We were pretty reluctant to sing in the beginning of the band and we were always hoping that someone else would come along and start singing our songs.

Post-Nothing gained tons of popularity and was nominated for a Juno Award. How did that affect you?
We were just excited to get an opportunity to put a record out with a record label, and get to really tour. We had been taking every tour as it came and saying yes to everything. Every tour would be a bigger venue, and all of a sudden you’re playing big festival stages. It was incredibly exciting for Brian and I, and it was certainly overwhelming at times. It’s a pretty big adjustment to go from being a person living a normal life to putting all your time into this band that you’re really passionate about. All of a sudden the band is the complete focus of your life — and you’re constantly moving too, you’re never home, it’s always on to the next town.

I heard you guys once broke up. What happened?
There wasn’t really a time where we ended up really being broken up. We basically decided that things weren’t going to keep going and we set a deadline for ourselves, to give us an incentive. It’s kind of a weird thing to explain. In most stories you hear of bands breaking up the guys get into a fist fight and the band is broken up that night. With us, it was a very frank, lucid conversation, a “Well, what do you want to do here?” kind of thing. We had planned to break up but we didn't actually follow through with it. I guess we’re not very good at doing that.

Some of the songs on Celebration Rock date back a few years. Has the album been a long time in the making?
Things sort of snowballed during the Post-Nothing blur. We hadn’t really talked about making another record, we were just rolling with this momentum that ended up taking us all over the world over the course of 18 months. We made a few singles along the way and Polyvinyl wanted to put out another record. We both felt like we had something to prove with the new record, it’s a very different head space you’re in when you’re unknown compared to a record you’re making as a band people like. It ended up being a pretty gruelling process to tell you the truth.

How gruelling?
It took us a lot longer than we had originally hoped. We had high expectations for ourselves and we knew that there were a lot of expectations for the record — a lot of people had become attached to Post-Nothing. You feel a certain responsibility to your fans and you want to make something that’s hopefully as special as Post-Nothing was to those people. This time we had more time to put in, every song was as good as we thought it should be.

So how does being in the studio affect your creativity?
There’s not a lot of studio trickery [on the album]. It is supposed to sound like a Japandroids show, just a really good one. Neither I nor Brian would ever claim to be musical geniuses, I think we’re more artisans than artists. It’s a lot of trial and error. Like for “Adrenaline Nightshift,” we had the chorus for that song for a long time, and we basically scrapped everything else but kept the chorus and made the rest of the song completely different. “Evil’s Sway” is another song like that. If I played you the first recording and then the one that ended up on the record, you’d be able to tell it’s the same song, but there was significant surgery on it.

You cover the Gun Club’s “For the Love of Ivy.” Apart from it being a killer song, why did you choose it?
The Gun Club are a great band, and part of the reason we chose to cover a song of theirs is because we can’t write a song as good as that. We can’t write in that style, but it’s a band we really love and a really fun song to play live. Same thing with a lot of the covers we’ve done. We covered Jack the Ripper by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it’s not really in us to write that song, but at the same time we’re both really big fans of Nick Cave. So we wanted to expose some Japandroids fans to Nick Cave, and just play a song we thought was really great.

What can we expect from the Toronto show at Lee’s?
Well, we’re playing the entire record on this tour. So, uh, that’s gonna be fun. Hopefully it will be a big sweaty mess.

Japandroids play Lee’s Palace, 529 Bloor St. W., on June 23. $15 advance.

First Draught: two seasonal beers from Muskoka Brewery to bridge the gap between spring and summer

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12:04 pm

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No one drinks rosé between October and April, but wine is otherwise less weather-dependent than beer. Already, two of my five First Draught posts have profiled seasonals — beers that breweries only make and sell at a certain time of year.

A problem for seasonal beer drinkers arises in that space between two seasons. It’s hot and sunny enough now to be the middle of summer, but the calendar claims that we have another three weeks of spring left. The solution, clearly, is that this week we’ll focus on both a spring beer and a summer beer.

The Legendary Muskoka Spring Oddity from Muskoka Brewery is inspired by a mysterious creature that, according to myth, was encountered by lumberjacks and fur traders in Northern Ontario. Heather tips and juniper berries fit the beer’s foraged-from-the-Canadian-shield ethos, and their citrus vibrancy is preserved and supported by actual orange peel shavings.

The very slightly sweet, woodsy flavour of the beer comes as a surprise after a scent that smells more like a light-footed wheat beer. The Spring Oddity gets a touch of nobility from Belgian candi sugar and boasts an enhanced, eight per cent alcohol kick.

What’s bracing for a cool spring evening, though, can be a bit much for a hot day on the dock in early June. Muskoka’s solution was to release its summer seasonal, the Summer Weiss, on May 1, only a month after the Spring Oddity started its run.

The Summer Weiss is more complex than many wheat beers — it’s cut with some barley malt — and its citrus flavours are more subtle and backed by hints of cloves and other warm spices.

A word about the price so that the informative line at the bottom doesn’t come as a shock: these beers aren’t cheap, but think of them as you would a bottle of wine. Servings of this size are meant to be shared, and that flip top (purists, prepare to gasp) makes a second day pour a possibility. Actually, I found that on day two, the Spring Oddity’s orange had more punch.

Deciding whether it’s really spring or summer is a problem wherein no one loses, and Muskoka has two excellent beers to fuel the discussion.

Legendary Muskoka Spring Oddity, $9.95 for 750 ml. Available at the LCBO (#290973) and The Beer Store
Summer Weiss, $6.45 for 750 ml. Available at the LCBO (#238212) and The Beer Store

When David isn't busy drinking beer for his articles here, he writes about food and drink for Toronto's online publications including his own site, Food With Legs. For more of his thoughts on beer and life in general follow him on Twitter.

Morning Throwback: in 1950s Toronto, no party was complete without softenized figs

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9:45 am

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Every grown man should be able to change a tire, drive stick, do CPR, gut a fish, throw a punch, shoot a gun, build a fire, cook a steak, recite three lines from Fight Club, run a marathon and, like in they did in the ’50s, eat as many figs as they damn well want.

Room 2046 design store and café opens in Summerhill

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7:16 pm

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We can’t find any scientific proof for this, but we’re guessing there’s some kind of link between caffeine and impulse buying. How else to account for the growing trend of retail stores in Toronto that seem to take coffee as seriously as the goods they’re selling?

A few weeks after über-hip Queen Street clothing store Lavish & Squalor opened an espresso bar on its second floor, a design-store-cum-coffee-shop has opened in Summerhill. Minimalist, airy and decked out in exposed concrete, Room 2046 is every bit a modern design store. And right at the centre is a bar where the barista does latte art and describes the espresso like it’s a fine wine.

As you walk the store sipping on your high-end coffee (sourced from Social Coffee and Tea Co. in Richmond Hill) you’ll come across an eclectic selection of goods: on the rails at the back there’s womenswear from brands like Juma and Maison; next to that hang a selection of well-tailored shirts for guys; on the opposite wall necklaces dangle from pegs while on the steps in front of them sit Joya vegetable soaps for men ($14) which smell so pleasant that sniffing them is borderline addictive. Dotted around the place is a fun selection of housewares (think slanty mugs and brightly coloured salt and pepper holders) and books (the clear winner in the Work of Staggering Genius category: Scandwich — a tome that shows sandwiches, chopped in half and put on a scanner.)

The store is owned by 29-year-old Kumala S. Nio, a design-lover who has travelled extensively and says she opened the store to bring some of the international brands she likes to Toronto. As well as looking for design and quality, Nio says she’s attracted to brands that have interesting stories. When we are in the store, she starts explaining to a customer how one set of earrings on display was inspired by a bridge in Spain. She also seems to like designers who have had mid-career conversions: she carries Bob Carpenter shirts (the designer once worked as a fonctionnaire in the French Embassy in India), Dos Riberas necklaces (the designer was once an architect) and Maison womenswear (the designer started out studying biology).

As for the name “Room 2046”? That’s a nod to the work of Wong Kar-wai, an arthouse director from Hong Kong whose works include the movie 2046. But, as Nio points out, “You’d also find everything we sell in a room. So it works like that, too.”

Room 2046, 1252 Yonge St., 647-348-2046

Modernist Cuisine at Home brings cooking arch-geekery to the home kitchen

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5:18 pm

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The monolithic Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking — a 50-pound, six-volume encyclopedia featuring 2,400 pages of elaborate cooking lore — will soon be adding another robust recipe-repository to its high-end cookbook family. Capitalizing on the surprising commercial success of its big brother, the upcoming Modernist Cuisine at Home moves away from the restaurant industry and towards the home kitchen, designed to “set a new standard for home cookbooks.”

The new cookbook, to be released this fall, promises to apply Modernist Cuisine’s signature scientific method to a range of classic home dishes, from milkshakes to mac ‘n’ cheese. Hardly Cooking for Dummies, the book is 456 pages long, and includes a separate 230-page kitchen manual. Its principles are, apparently, “fundamentally aligned with Modernist Cuisine — using a scientific understanding of cooking processes to achieve the ultimate version of a recipe.”

The book will feature over 400 new (allegedly) user-friendly recipes, complete with lavish illustrations and step-by-step photographs. It won’t share the original’s daunting $600 price tag, but curious home cooks will still have to shell out over $100 for it.

No word yet on when it’s hitting bookstores in Canada, but it’ll be available on Amazon from Oct. 8 for $115.

[Grub Street]

Day-long website blackout to shed light on the importance of charities

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3:02 pm

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Recent efforts by the federal government and its backers in media and industry front groups, like Ethical Oil, to demonize and silence legitimate organizations ignore the important role charities play in Canada. That’s why environmental and other organizations are joining with Canadians from all walks of life for Black Out Speak Out, launched on in May and culminating in a website blackout June 4.

Canadians understand the value of charitable organizations. Close to 85 per cent of us over 15 years of age (22.2 million people) donate to charities every year. Often, it’s to help people in other parts of the world. According to Charity Village, Canadians gave $20 million to the Canadian Red Cross, CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, UNICEF Canada and World Vision within four days of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Canadians also know that our spectacular natural environment is crucial to our national identity, health and survival and that we can’t always count on governments and industry to look out for its interests. And so we give our time, money and voices to organizations working on a range of conservation issues, from habitat and species protection to clean energy and global warming. The David Suzuki Foundation relies on Canadians for close to 94 per cent of its funding.

It’s why we’re astounded by the increasing efforts to stifle so many people and organizations that devote countless hours to the often thankless and less-than-lucrative tasks of ensuring that Canada remains a stellar example of an open and democratic country with strong social values and a clean and healthy environment.

If we are committed to these ideals then it follows we should also value freedom of speech and opportunities for a range of viewpoints on matters of national interest. It’s fair to ask questions about donations and what, if any, influence they may have on activities. But it is unacceptable to try to silence people with smear tactics designed to discredit them and deny their funding.

If our leaders want to pin all their hopes and our future on a twinned pipeline through Alberta and B.C. to ship raw tar sands bitumen to China, then Canadians at least deserve a proper conversation about it. We’ve seen recent signs of hope, with people in the media and elsewhere questioning the wisdom of employing an omnibus budget act to gut environmental laws and attack charitable organizations.

With continued suppression of those who speak out about the environment and women’s and human rights, along with the muzzling of government scientists and cuts to government scientific and environmental programs and departments, it’s clear we’re facing a growing campaign, in part backed by industrial interests, to silence opposition.

We expect and deserve better. That’s why we’re speaking out. Silence is not an option. We’re asking all Canadians to join us to help preserve two core national values: nature and democracy. Let’s keep Canada strong and free. Please visit the websites of your favourite environmental organizations on June 4 to add your voice to the ongoing campaign.

David Suzuki is the host of the CBC’s The Nature of Things and author of more than 30 books on ecology.

What I Wore: summer looks for day and night

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2:27 pm

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Just in time for Toronto’s end-of-May heat wave, Vancouver-based brand Lifetime Collective asked me to take part in a style-off with other fashion bloggers to show how to wear three of its key SS12 items – the Paige dress, the Stevie Tank, and the Beaches shirt — in looks for both night and day. I say “just in time” because when dealing with such sudden mega heat, everyone’s all like, “What the heck do I wear?”

Both day and night looks are tricky during the summer, because you’ve got to figure out how to keep cool while still wearing enough clothes to venture out into public spaces respectably. Also, are you wearing the right dual-function pieces? You’re heading to the park in a breezy summer dress, but when you get there, you’re faced with one of two options: get down to your skivvies or stay trapped in a fabric cylinder of contained heat (honestly, this happened to me just yesterday).

Even for a night out on the town, the question remains: which pieces in your wardrobe will keep you looking sexy (not sweaty) and allow for some coverage if it gets cold at night? Here’s a break down of my two looks.

The Day Look

After a fiasco yesterday in the park, I’ve learned this lesson: do not go to the park or the beach in a dress without being properly prepared, or without wearing a dress that can magically transform into a bandeau top and pair of high-waist shorts.

This day look is really an ideal outfit for a beach day. Why? A bikini can easily be worn under a sundress, and the knotted tank top (worn on top) can be used as an easy cover up when needed while in the sun.

It is practically two outfits in one. If you’re heading straight to dinner afterwards, remove the layered tank and you’ve found yourself all set in a cute little black dress. Or if you like to wear numerous different looks throughout the day, like I do, try storing a pair of bottoms in your bag to switch up the outfit. Boom! That’s four different looks by my count.

The Night Look

You really can’t beat a good white shirt, and to me there is just something so sexy about wearing a simple shirt. Maybe it’s the Tom Cruise circa Risky Business in me, but I just love wearing an oversized white shirt with a pair of barely-there shorts in the summer. I like to keep my heel height to a minimum when my hems are on the shorter side of short, but overall, this is an outfit I would throw on to take me from an evening on a patio to late night dancing. The sleeveless leather jacket is a plus, because it is basically the only way I can wear my staple motorcycle jacket in the summer months.

What I Wore: Day Look: sun hat from 290 ION Fashion, Stevie tank and Paige dress by Lifetime Collective, vintage backpack from Amsterdam, sandals from Oasis. Night look: sunglasses by Luella, Beaches shirt by Lifetime Collective, shorts by D&G, shoes by Chanel from Fashionably Yours.

Selling parts of Casa Loma identified as an option for the landmark’s future

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1:09 pm

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After wresting control of Forest Hill’s storied castle from the Kiwanis Club and creating a corporation to oversee its operations in the interim, Toronto City Council will soon be presented with recommendations on the local landmark’s future.

The Casa Loma Corporation recently consulted with local residents as part of the process. Their feedback will be taken into account when the corporation reports back to the executive committee this month.

The central question to be addressed is whether to maintain or change the use of Casa Loma, which currently operates as a tourist attraction and special events venue.

Making the matter more urgent is a desperate need for capital, to bring the site into a state of good repair — an estimated $20 million for the exteriors and unknown costs for the interiors.

Despite heritage and zoning restrictions placed on the property, real estate players who weighed in on the issue expressed interest in development opportunities, particularly residential ones. Selling portions of the site to fund repairs at the main building and grounds was identified as another option in the presentation given to residents at the recent public consultation. Third-party managers also indicated an interest in running the site as a special events venue.

Coun. Joe Mihevc said that local residents are against selling the historic castle, or any parts of the site, and would like the city to remain in control of it.

“Casa Loma is a jewel in Toronto, but it is an unpolished jewel,” he said. “To use a financial term, it is an asset that is not really being used to its full potential.”

Mihevc points to the neglected parts of Casa Loma north of Austin Terrace, including the hunting lodge, potting shed and stables, as needing more attention.

The local councillor would like to see a high profile board set up, such as those at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Toronto Zoo, to govern Casa Loma.

“I would be very much opposed to us just farming the whole thing out to a private sector attraction company, like a Canada’s Wonderland or Marineland or Disney World,” Mihevc said.

Harlequin’s peregrine falcons welcome babies

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12:54 pm

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The peregrine falcon couple roosting outside the York Mills area headquarters of romance novel publisher Harlequin are now a happy family of five.

Female Quest and mate Kendal hatched two eggs May 9 and a third May 10.

“We’ve got a front row seat to all the action,” said Donna Hayes, publisher and CEO of Harlequin. “Everyone is caught up in the drama and excitement and looking forward to welcoming three new peregrines into the family.”

They mark the newest addition to the brood since their first chick, affectionately known as Harlequin, was born last spring.

Mark Nash, co-founder of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, has been following Quest’s progress for seven years. He says the births are of great significance to the threatened raptor species.

“The press and media, they say the species has recovered. That couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “The species has not recovered. The species is in recovery.”

The Harlequin falcons are part of a new trend of city-loving birds. According to the Nash, this new distinct “urban subspecies” could help push up the raptor’s population.

“Our urban birds have adapted incredibly well to city living, and they’re producing, for the most part, every year,” he said.

That is to say Quest and Kendal will likely hatch a few more additions to their family next year, he said.

Richmond Hill council rejects new high-rises

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12:53 pm

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Two Richmond Hill residential development applications were rejected by the Town of Richmond Hill after councillors and residents put up a united front.

Citing the planned projects’ overwhelming densities — and heights approaching up to twice the area maximum of 15 storeys — councillors voted May 9 against approving a development locals feared would drive up traffic and air pollution.

Margaret Roscoe, a resident at nearby 20 Harding St., said that buildings such as the “overwhelmingly large” proposed Baif Developments Limited towers would overshadow the town’s proposal to transform a neighbouring parcel of land into a civic centre, which might include a new city hall.

Still, Roscoe remained realistic about rapidly growing Richmond Hill.

“Everybody knows development is going to happen, but just not here.”

Now, Baif has the option to appeal both projects to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in hopes of raising three towers of 31, 28 and 20 storeys along Yonge Street, between Harding Boulevard and Hopkins Street, and one nine-storey building just west of the central library on Atkinson Street. They would house 1,560 and 421 units, respectively.

Ward 5 councillor Nick Papa hoped that a compromise between the town and the developer could be reached before the application goes to the OMB where council previously had no control.

If the appeal does reach the board, however, council can expect a new degree of control over the tribunal’s outcome thanks to a motion passed May 7. It requires that city staff representing the town at OMB hearings forward to council previously confidential OMB updates, allowing council to provide additional direction. This will facilitate communication between Baif and council, something that Baif development manager Lynn Barkey says will be key to reaching an optimal outcome for both parties.

According to Barkey, an OMB appeal has not yet been formally decided upon by the developer.