Among the other exhibitors at this weekend's Interior Design Show is a smart Toronto upstart called Bookhou Designs. The two partners, Arounna Khounnoraj who focuses on textile and sculpture and John Booth who designs furniture, marry their talent to create beautiful handmade products for your home that seem so obviously Canadian in their adorable and unassuming way.

Last year my friend, actor and indie filmmaker Brett Reason, shot and cut a short video which followed four car junkies (including himself) getting wasted and heading to the auto show. Their goal? See how long they could sit in the Mercedes S550 before someone kicked them out. After he showed me the piece, we debated what the name of it should be. He thought Loaded at the Auto Show would be good, I figured Fully Loaded would be more slick. It was his bit, so he won.

Brett called a couple days ago to tell me what the slogan is for this year's show - it's Fully Loaded. I'm not sure if he was more excited that we nailed their ad slogan before they did or just because the show would be starting today, either way he got me hyped to go and I'm no car buff.

While him and his buddies cruise the fast car corner I might see what's new in hybrids. If you're still driving an old jalopy maybe you should check it out too - Metro recently reported that the biggest emissions (up to 37 times the normal amount) can come from cars 20 years old and up.

Scrap watching the auto show's promotional vid on their site, there's nothing innovative about it. Instead, amuse yourself with a little dark humour at theigloo, where you too can get Fully Loaded at the Auto Show.

photo: Richard Tamayo

Painters, designers, artists, photographers - this is your moment to shine! It'll be months until the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition takes place at Nathan Phillips Square, but you've only got until March 1st to submit your application to exhibit. There's more to it than exposing yourself to a massive crowd, there's also $30,000 in awards doled out. Everything you need to know is online and there's a big drop box just waiting for your application in the lobby of 401 Richmond.

I've got some favourite artists I hope to see again this year - like Julie Moon, who's lamps take human form, and Marco Cheuk with his bright and beautiful prints - but there's always room for more.

The journey starts in the Toronto office of Vice, in Parkdale, where Derrick Beckles is doing an impression of God creating woman (read boobs). It's the intro to Beckles' piece on Paraguay for the Vice Guide to Travel, out on DVD. Sitting with him is Johnny Knoxville to whom he reveals he's heading to Nueva Germania to see what still remains of the place that survived briefly as an "Aryan utopia" in the 1800's and later became a refuge for exiled Nazis after the war. The answer is not much, just a couple bricks left to disintegrate.

With no real story to follow Beckles piece starts falling apart here too. To keep it going he finds some backwoods brothers rumoured to have turned to cannibalism. He asks the geezers a few questions, none of which get to the heart of the dark deed. It's journalism-lite but Vice seems happy just to prove to us they can look danger in the face and take us along for the ride.

In the guide, which Vice co-founder Suroosh Alvi calls a "60 Minutes meets Jackass" kinda thing, Vice correspondents take us on a tour of 7 not-so-hot tourist destinations like the most radioactive place in the world, Chernobyl's Red Forest, and then a Pygmy village in the heart of the Congo in search of a dinosaur.

There's nothing too exciting about Toronto's Yonge and Bloor intersection even though it's known as the busiest crossing in the city, connecting our east-west Bloor corridor with Yonge, the longest street in the world. That could soon change.

Developers, who have long considered building up the southeast corner, are finally pushing forward with their plans for a 60-story tower. The landmark tower, based on a proposal approved by city council in 2002, would include retail and residential space as well as a multiplex cinema.

Though it's popular to bash ill-fitting condo projects in this city, here's one that seems to makes sense. It could go a long way toward revitalizing the lackluster corner and it'll make use of existing amenities such as subway access. Increasing density along subway lines in the core is a smart move, especially where it fits into the flow of buildings already towering above the bustling streets below.

photo: nate archer

Well before the condo signs started popping up on Queen West, modern furniture boutique stylegarage had made its mark on the artsy neighbourhood. From its wrap-around windows lined with eye-catching lighting, the shop, on a quiet corner of Shaw, exudes muted and sleek sophistication. It was enough to draw me in. I'd been on a hunt for a wide and low television stand with large industrial wheels for awhile and decided to browse the boutique to see if I could find it.