Top Toronto event picks for MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd, 2009:

FOOD | Stop For Food
26 restaurants from the Cross Town Kitchens charity project offer prix-fixe dinner menus, running to March 28. Proceeds go towards Stop Community Food Centre, an organization helping the less fortunate fill their stomachs: think of it as a two-for-one dining experience. Participating restaurants include Amuse-Bouche, C5, Marben, Perigee, and Torito.
see website for locations.
$50

ART + COMEDY | Obama-Nation
An art-comedy extravaganza in honour of ethnic geekery, starring Marvel comic artist Ken Lashley and his work with the Black Panther series, and comedy by Gilson Lubin, Makesi Arthur, and Daniel Woodrow. Gavin Stephens hosts.
Beaver Hall Gallery, 29 McCaul Street.
7pm doors, 8pm show / $7

LECTURE | The Lives and Lessons of Lester Pearson
Andrew Cohen, Canadian journalist and professor of journalism + international affairs at Carleton, discusses past Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. His Globe And Mail-lauded Extraordinary Canadians biography of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate gives Cohen even more cred. Part of the 2009 Keith Davey Lecture Series.
Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles Street W.
430pm / FREE

FORUM | Humanitarian Crisis in Sri Lanka
If a situation provokes enough people to halt rush-hour traffic in downtown Toronto, that's enough reason to take off the blinders and listen up. Learn about the history and conflict between the Tamils and the Government of Sri Lanka, and contribute to possible solutions to stop the crisis in a discussion led by The Davenport Neighbours for Peace.
College/Shaw Public Library, 766 College Street. (416) 393-7668.
630pm / FREE

PARTY | Intervention Mondays
Featuring lounge-about space music by Lorenz and the Recordist Drawing Party in the back: a live life-drawing session with professional and guest artists. Bring your own sketchbook, pens, and go nuts.
The Ossington, 61 Ossington Avenue.
10pm / FREE

WORDS | The Emergency Response Unit Chapbook Launch Party
The Emergency Response Unit releases their first published chapbooks at a celebration party, with readings by Nashira Dernesch (This Snowing Under), Anya Douglas (Poems), Andrew Faulkner (Useful Knots and How to Tie Them), Marcus McCann (Force quit), and Leigh Nash (five-seven-five: train poems).
Magpie Tavern, 831 Dundas Street W. (416) 916-6499.
8pm, 830pm readings / FREE

For full listings, head on over to our events calendar.

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO calendar, contact us directly, or use our handy Facebook app.

---

Photo: "All That Glitters" by Maryam S, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.