Philip Alves

A new year means new possibilities, new discoveries or maybe rediscovering some old favourites. With that in mind, here’s a list of concerts coming to Toronto and surrounding areas through the end of May. Take a read, check off the ones that raise an eyebrow and post it on your refrigerator door. You’ll thank us [...]

While on vacation in Trás-os-Montes, Portugal a few years ago, Manuel Fernandes, his wife Ana and some of her family were enjoying a Douro-region wine with their conversation. With land-owners and grape growers in Ana’s family, talk often turned to wine. This time was no different.

Smiley Guy Studios has set Odd Job Jack free through a novel copyright licence. Philip Alves tracks Jack. Jack Ryder is a 20-something university graduate with a sociology degree. In debt and without any solid prospects for steady employment, he returns to Odd Jobs Unlimited every week looking for temp work. Hilarity ensues. The thing [...]

…And famous for it. Toronto’s full of celebrity retail types trying to sell you something, and you’re buying. Philip Alves does some celebrity shopping. Bryan Welsh lives in Stouffville, Ont., and works in Mississagua for QTG Canada Inc. across from Square One Shopping Centre. His commute takes him around the top of Toronto, avoiding Toronto’s [...]

The music video business has been churning out quality product for years. Philip Alves looks at how VideoFACT helps Toronto artists. On Sept. 18, Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre hosted the first-ever Polaris Music Prize ceremony to honour the best Canadian album, as voted by music journalists and broadcasters from across the country. Some of the [...]

Toronto is a good place to be if you’re an indie artist or band. Philip Alves takes a closer look. On April 6, 2003, the Corel Centre near Ottawa hosted the Juno Awards. Broken Social Scene (BSS) won Alternative Album of the Year for its 2002 release, You Forgot It In People. Paper Bag Records, [...]

Adam Vaughan, a former television journalist more accustomed to shining light into the darkest corners of City Hall, found the spotlight fixed squarely on him on election night. Vaughan won the Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina council seat vacated by Olivia Chow, who left to run successfully for the New Democratic Party in the 2006 federal election. He beat former Chow aid Helen Kennedy, his closest competitor, by 2,500 votes.

An island resident and community activist doesn’t like the sound of Porter Airlines’ flight plans for Toronto’s Island airport. And now that Porter Airlines Inc. has begun its controversial service out of Toronto City Centre Airport (TCCA), Marc Brien of CommunityAir (Airport Impact Review) says the accompanying increase in noise levels will negatively affect nearby residents.

Campaign spending limits released by the City of Toronto ahead of the Nov. 13 municipal election have left candidates in Ward 20 feeling a little shortchanged.

Brock Township, a municipality with a history rooted in war, is set to become a political battleground this November. Named for War of 1812 General Sir Isaac Brock and first settled by veterans of that war, the township now boasts a population of 12,790. Officially created in 1974, the municipality includes the urban centres of Beaverton, Cannington and Sunderland and the hamlets of Gamebridge, Manilla, Port Bolster, Sonya and Wilfrid.