Brought to you by: 2014 was a great year for music as you’ve probably seen on countless best-of lists by now. It’s time to live in the now, man. Let’s focus on all the amazing music that is coming our…
Expression & Culture
Toronto hosts naked book readings
BY: MICHAEL LYONS I’m stripped down to my underwear in front of a room full of friends and strangers. “I’m unfortunately not going to get completely naked,” I say. There’s a quizzical murmur; the event, after all, is titled “Naked…
24 photos of the coldest village on Earth
Located a few hundred miles from the Arctic Circle, and in the dead of the Russian Tundra, Oymyakon is the world’s coldest village on earth. It isn’t exactly a top priority travel destination, but for photographer Amos Chapple it was…
This disturbing photo-shoot of heroin junkies will make you re-think modern fashion (Video)
BY: LORAL AMIR AND GIGI ARTZI In the series “Downtown Divas” Loral Amir and Gigi Ben Artzi photographed heroin-addicted Russian prostitutes that they found beneath a bridge, in a city that for the safety of the women, must remain unnamed.…
Cuddle cafés: you can now pay to snuggle with strangers
BY: SINEAD MULHERN You can now rent a cuddle partner when you’re at a peak of loneliness. Cuddle-based services that charge clients by the hour to cuddle with a stranger have hit Toronto. Vancouver company, Cuddlery, is arriving in Toronto…
Here are the 15 most incredible street art pieces of 2014 (Photos)
Banksy may have claimed the spotlight, but last year was all about new artists taking their expression to the streets. From Athens to New York, these guerilla artists proved there is no canvas quite like a wall. Below is a…
These babies dressed as senior citizens will complete your life (PHOTOS)
It’s funny how we all start this life in diapers, and many of us will probably end our lives in them. Age is circular, but we come to learn that age is just a number. Why do some of us…
Female photographer imagines her life with a hundred different husbands
BY: DITA PEPE Czech Photographer Dita Pepe was fascinated with “what could have been?”, and applying the question literally, she began to re-imagine a hundred different versions her life. In Self Portraits with Men, Pepe becomes a seamless member of…
This video game lets you practice your sexting skills on a robot
BY: DANIEL KORN It’s been said, for a while, that gaming is an art form in its adolescence; one that’s making strides towards greater artistic heights, but hasn’t quite grown out of its own childishness yet. Insanely commercialized pre-order bonuses,…
Are writers destined to be depressed?
BY: AYA TSINTZIRAS At the beginning of November, I boarded two bumpy planes to fly to Charleston, South Carolina. I wasn’t going for the fried chicken or tomato pie or to visit any plantations. I wanted to attend YALLFEST, a…
The makers of Cards Against Humanity are our most visible humanitarians
BY: DANIEL KORN Assuming that you have friends, chances are you’ve played Cards Against Humanity, the positively filthy and by extension much funnier riff on popular word association card game Apples to Apples. Though only available directly through the Cards…
This poet went from the most bullied kid in school to opening for the Dalai Lama
BY: TYLER FYFE In recent years, spoken word poetry is becoming an increasingly relevant form of expression exposing us to new voices outside the peripherals of a sluggish and unsteady publishing industry. Shane Koyczan is one of those voices that…
In Dawson City, enjoy a Sourtoe Cocktail, a shot of Yukon Jack garnished with an amputated toe
BY: SINEAD MULHERN Nestled on the bank of the Yukon River in Canada’s north, Dawson City is home to a population of 1,319. The subarctic town fosters a culture that’s influenced by First Nations, artists and the Klondike Gold Rush,…
Man breaks record for largest Christmas lights display in the name of altruism
BY: SINEAD MULHERN It’s like a scene straight out of Dr. Seuss’s Whoville. A man named David Richards has created a Christmas light display so big it could rival Martha May Whovier’s. It’s also broken a Guinness World Record. The…
Why North America needs Krampus, the Christmas devil who drowns children
BY: AL DONATO He’s a black furry goat demon who throws duffle bags of kids into rivers and chills out with Santa Claus. What’s not to love? Krampus, a horned, pointy-tongued creature hailing from European legend, is like the Batman…
These independent comic book publishers are exposing the forgotten history of Canadian culture
BY: DANIEL KORN When asked who their favourite superheroes are, most people would answer with the typical DC or Marvel staples: Spider-Man, Superman, maybe Iron Man or Rocket Raccoon thanks to the newer movies. But not Hope Nicholson; she’s more…
Under the thumb of debt: modern music funding is in a sad and sorry state
BY: DANIEL KORN A few weeks ago, Jack Conte – co-founder of crowdfunding platform Patreon and well-regarded independent musician in his own right – wrote an article regarding the loss that his band Pomplamoose took on their last tour. The…
Photography of Tokyo in motion shows us the terrifying speed of modern life
BY: MATTHEW PILLSBURY Photographer Matthew Pillsbury dropped his tripod amidst the torrents of Tokyo’s cosmopolitan daily life. He created exposures to record up to 15 minutes of activity. He chose Tokyo because of the city’s astounding technological advances. The Japanese…
Art Spiegelman created the only graphic novel to ever win a Pulitzer Prize, and it’s on display in Toronto.
BY: SINEAD MULHERN This winter, Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) will be displaying rarely-seen art from illustrator and Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman. The exhibit titled, Art Spiegelman’s CO-MIX: A Retrospective, comes to the AGO on Dec. 20, 2014…
Aerial and microscopic photos side by side are strangely similar
BY: KAILEE MANDEL With this series I wanted to juxtapose views of nature in order to de-familiarize the landscape from its literal state. Aerial images demand the viewer’s attention to the terrain and details of the landscape, showing an abstraction unavailable at…