Movie night

So I saw The Illusionist last night. While the movie was visually and aurally appealing, I have to say I found the storyline a bit predictable. I'm not going to go into it too much as that would require spoiling the plot, but suffice it to say that I thought the main twist could be anticipated about an hour before it happened because the movie would otherwise not make any sense. The long anticipation meant that most of the actual movie-watching was done with a sense of frustration. I don't want to bash it more than it deserves: all in all, it was not a bad movie, with good acting, good visuals and good music. I was just hoping for something more.

Completely unrelated to movies, earlier in the day I enjoyed a croissant and americano at a cafe I think I'd like to visit more often, Le Gourmand on Spadina. Both were great.

Fresh and Wild?

Judging by the signs on the just-about-finished Hudson building at King and Spadina, the main client moving into the street-level retail space will be Fresh and Wild, a gourmet grocery store. "Eat fresh, live wild". After doing some poking around on the net, it appears Fresh and Wild is a brand of Whole Foods.

I can't decide whether to be excited or concerned about my soon-to-double grocery bills.

Papa's got a brand new (Finnish) bag

I picked up a great new shoulder bag (Marimekko Olkalaukku) at one of my favourite stores, Swipe on Richmond street just west of Spadina. It's a small bookstore specializing in books and magazines on design, marketing and architecture, but they also stock a small number of other items - generally, design classics like minimalistic utensils, really nice pens and Moleskine notebooks. I have a weakness for good bags, and this one really fills a need, being larger than my man-purse yet small enough to lug around town without a second thought. At least, that's how I justify it to myself.

Welcome!

Welcome, people!

I am Gilbert and I will (try to) be your guide to new stuff going on in Toronto.

As those of you who live there have probably noticed, the last few years in this dynamic city have really seen it rising to the next level in almost every sense. Economically, culturally and politically, Toronto is really starting to come into its own and, while I have no illusions about being able to cover all these aspects (or one) of its development, I do hope that small bits of my experience in the city might help illustrate trends and larger-scale happenings.

I am interested in architecture and construction projects in general; in style, design and the retail and restaurant scene, and in culture and entertainment.

Since I live in the King-Spadina area, I expect that a lot of the material will be thusly spatially biased.

In the words taken from the banner above the door of a pub at Yonge-St.Clair: Don't expect much!