New Growth

At the edge of Christie Pits Park, the Regal Garden chinese restaurant has been replaced with hipper Northwood, offering coffee and a variety of drinks and cocktails. On Sunday there's a brunch until 3 pm. Sometimes, a pop-up dinner is offered. I dropped by around 12:30 pm to try the eats.

The inside was all dark wood with walls adorned with knick-knacks. The chairs have been stamped/painted with small storks. The vibe was definitely hipster trendy with boho clothes, beards, and Macbooks galore. I opted for the ham rosti ($13), a mulled cider mimosa ($6), and a vieux carre of rye, cognac, vermouth, and benedictine ($11). On top of home fries laid a sunny-side up egg with a variety of pork products: ham, pancetta, sausage, and bacon. It was typical diner fare with above average execution. Combined with the booze, it was a pleasant way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Wintersong

Saturday night, I headed over to City Hall for the official start of the holidays with the Calvacades of Lights. The skating rink was already packed with skaters. The night of musical entertainment started with community choir "Choir! Choir! Choir!" singing a medley of carols. Before the lighting of the Christmas tree, Rob Ford the crack-smoking mayor came on to a growing chorus of boos. It was unfortunate that he dragged his wife and young kids on stage with him. I laughed when he asked if people were here to see the tree get "lit up". Ah, too easy.

There were 4 singers, backed by a professional band and the choir, each performing 3 songs. MuchMusic teen idol Tyler Shaw came on first, to some shrieking from the teens in the crowd. He sang run-of-the-mill pop (Kiss Goodnight, It's Christmas Time). Cold Specks was the stand-out of the night. She did 3 winter-themed numbers, but no heartwarming classics for her. Her songs were bleak and cold (Winter Solstice) especially the chill-inducing cover of Fleet Foxes' White Winter Hymnal backed by 4 background vocals and that 60-strong choir. Divine Brown had a huge 5-octave voice, but her Christmas tunes were forgettable. The exception was her cover of Stevie Wonder's beautiful Someday At Christmas. Carvin Winans closed out the show with a couple of funky Christmas tunes and a duet with Ms. Brown (Lennon's Happy Xmas).

After the fireworks and laser light show, Diamond Rings and his band came on to entertain the crowd with 80s inspired dance/pop. There were some titters at his costume changes from the older people but glam was obviously part of his image. Younger people cheered at his antics and songs (I'm Just Me, Runaway Love, A to Z). Diamong Rings usually stayed in his lower register reminding me of Pete Burns (Dead Or Alive). Though his tunes varied between moody and upbeat, dance and rock, the encore number Day & Night was entertainingly pure boy band.

Subway Eats

Saturday night I went to Richmond Station, a restaurant run by Carl Heinrich, the season 2 winner of Canada's Top Chef. Tucked inside a commercial building surrounded by other high-rise and offices, it could be easy to miss the small door at Yonge and Richmond with a tiny sign overhead. It was more welcoming inside: 2 levels, long and narrow, but with high ceiling. Reservations are likely needed for busy days.

I started with the duck liver pate ($9). It was smooth and creamy, but milder than I expected. I want my pate to have an earthier flavour. In fact, it was easily overwhelmed by the apple-allspice chutney. However, the portion was quite generous so you can compensate by slathering on thick spreads over the soft brioche. The butternut squash ($7) was also too quiet. I suppose my taste buds are insufficiently refined. Yes, the soup was rich, and the pumpkin seeds, sage oil, tarragon, and chives were nicely balanced. But there was no "mmm..." moment.

So far, it was all good food but I was a bit underwhelmed. Luckily, the chili and fennel pasta ($23) came through. The handmade orechiette was nicely al dente with a great chew. The toscano cheese and (quite abundant) sausage were fragrant. The basil and chili gave it a bit of an Asian flair. Don't forget to get some bread to mop up the sauce. It was an excellent and satisfying entree.

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Local comic Pat Thorton has been running a 24-hour stand-up marathon to raise money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. Running from 7 pm to 7 pm at the Comedy Bar, he'd try to tell jokes (livestream on the Internet) with minimal breaks. He has help, of course. People in the audience, typically other comedians, would write jokes on slips of paper and drop it into a bowl for Thorton to read. By the end of telethon, the stage would be littered ankle-high in discarded papers. This spontaneous nature can result in some surreal topics as the community play off each other's contributions. A few years ago, an extended riff on Kevin Sorbo eating out of garbage cans went viral and caught the attention of the actor. This lead to Sorbo hosting a Kevin Sorbo Garbage Week-end at the Comedy Bar later that year. This year was the 5th installment of Pat's 24 hours.

I caught an hour online Friday night when the topics were "shitty Noah", "Upside-down Terry", and "Bad Oprah". Early Saturday morning, I dropped by at 5:30 am to see the show in person. The crowd had dwindled by then but started to pick up by the time I left at 9:30. When I arrived, the riffs were about rejected show episodes (Rejected TNG, Rejected Golden Girls, etc.) with a sidetrack into rejected kites (e.g., bricks, dead birds), friendly house ("I love wearing a toilet paper costume for Halloween"), scared kid, and the occasional bad Oprah. The two strongest topics were a down-trodden Coolio trying to survive on the street and singer Jann Arden's voracious appetites for eggs. The latter were particularly surreal: she tries to invent a time machine when she found out about dinosaur eggs; calling Godzilla Eggzilla because egg is God; gobsmacked about fish (i.e., roe); even trying to eat words with the letter O. A lot of it was, no surprise, quite blue.

Serendipity played a big role. A misreading of "is Coolio" as "15 Coolio" introduced a roving gang of 15 Coolios who eventually graduated from homeless hobos to assassinating JFK in a time-travel mission. The arrival of young kids at 9 a.m. (who submitted their own jokes) meant that some of the adult material couldn't be used. This spurred the introduction of Insufficient Plot Summaries. Jann Arden became aware of the show via twitter. Though she was in the Greater Toronto Area, an attempt to get her to come in person fell through, though she did make a donation online.

Thorton did more than just read the jokes. He injected personality and wit to make them work. And a lot of them did. I've been to shows where the jokes weren't half as good. He rallied the troops when the energy flagged, especially since they were writing the material. He even did a couple of improv bits including an extended monologue on whether or not, as a note he read stated that "Everybody has a dink", this could be true (given that all such factual updates obviously came from respected news anchor Peter Mansbridge.)

My own energy was flagging by mid-morning. So I grabbed some free tarts and doughnuts and headed out. This year, the telethon raised over $30,000.