Forget the relationship between Japanese animation and 17th Century 'floating world' Ukiyo-e woodblock prints (and its ironic, homophonic shadow: the 'Sorrowful World'--the earthly plane of death and rebirth from which Buddhists sought release). Likewise unnecessary is namedropping Bakhtin and trying to ground Cosplay in theory of the carnivalesque. It's doubtful any of the estimated 13,000 attendees from places as far a-field as Indiana and Montreal (and some further a-field than this galaxy) considered their presence at Anime North in relation to the Carnaby Street poseur culture of the '70s while they were snapped for one of countless 'photo-ops' and probably don't care much for being the subject of your cultural anthropology Ph.D thesis or grounding their fun in any serious academic foundations. They're just here for a good time, a little art therapy, and to carry around some big-assed swords and seriously fuck-off artillery!

Calling all fanboys, Gothic Lolitas and anyone else ready to let loose their inner geek! If you sweat Coca Cola, live in your parents' basement, like to LANparty, own a 12-sided die, or you've heard of the SDF 1 or The Legend of the Overfiend--heck even if you haven't but have always been curious about the growing Harajuku-style cosplay sub-culture--then dust off that Dante costume you made last Halloween, you'll be tickled silly this weekend as suburban Toronto is threatening to be lousy with japanamation anoraks and costumed folk of every sci-fi/fantasy stripe congregating at the annual premier Canadian fan-run Japanese Animation and Culture event: Anime North.

Situated over three sites and three days running between May 25th to May 27th The convention covers a variety of anime and video game themed proceedings, panel discussions, contests & games, a slew of other Japanese pop culture stylings and video rooms chock-a-block with enough anime to make your eyes bleed, natch.

In a city constantly fronting to tourists in the horned helms and flowing silk robes of cultural diversity and one that seems to have a "town" suffixed to nearly every ethnicity-- you'll quickly notice Japan seems to've somehow fallen between our cultural and culinary cracks with no defined crossroads to call its own. Maybe, scattered like the Great Sioux Nation, the Japanese community in Toronto exists solely in the hearts and minds of its people. And while Toronto's positively lousy with sushi restaurants--they outnumber payphones at this point--anyone who's ever actually set foot in Shibuya can tell you that unless you fork over the big bucks, there's still a lack of quality in the deluge of discount sushi buffets; and there's more to Japanese cuisine than tuna rolls and tempura.

It might just take the Mystery Machine and some pesky kids to uncover the truth about where to find some decent japanese food for the ex-pats and the the japanophiles in all of us.

C'mon Scoob, don't be so404, look closely behind that suburban plaza at Steeles at Vic Park, and behold! it's...well, another suburban plaza; but this one caters to the small Japanese diaspora that call Toronto home. No Mazinger action figures, discount karaoke machines and pirate copies of Jubei Ninpucho, this one's filled with a collection of shops that provide everything from a quick sushi snack, to katsu curry, to sweet treats to take home hunks of the best otoro the city has to offer. Quietly laid out like a charming indoor market, J-town's various food stalls offer a ridiculous variety of Japanese foods and wares--all fantastic, all authentic and all hard to find anywhere else in the city. So here's the rundown, jack-san, oh, and try not to drool on the keyboard, will ya?

If you're like me, and the team you normally support is planted squarely at the bottom of the table with the impending reality of relegation pretty much academic at this point, you're probably giddy with anticipation at the prospect of employing the highly underrated cheer of 'go on my son!' while watching some (hopefully) high quality footie in a venue slightly more well ventilated than your local pub to keep you occupied for the approaching year--or at least for the summer.

In addition to selling out it's 14,000 season tickets this year (who knew there were so many football fans in hogtown jonesin' for a glimpse of Mr. Posh spice when he roles into town this summer) Toronto FC has just revealed their 2007/08 home strip.