Radar: August 19, 2009
Photo: untitled by trebbble, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
Events on Toronto's Radar for TUESDAY AUGUST 18, 2009?... lovingly handpicked from blogTO's events calendar.
FESTIVAL | Bicycle Film Festival
It may be called a film festival, but this celebration of urban cycle culture has more to offer than just movies. Celebrated in 39 cities worldwide, the BFF kicks off tonight with a performance by local instrumentalists and Broken Social Scene contributors Do Make Say Think, and pedals hard towards the weekend with an Art Bike Show tomorrow and screenings of cycle movies Friday and Saturday.
Various locations, Free-$22
OPERA | Dido and Aeneas
Ashiq Aziz and Patrick Eakin Young have embarked on ambitious project: to make opera cool again. For the first instalment of their Underground/Opera project the two twentysomethings are staging Henry Purcell's ancient story of doomed lovers and have updated it with video projections and contemporary staging. The Strauss and Puccini for the skinny jeans set, Aziz and Young have already garnered positive reviews for their first collaboration at the 2008 Fringe Festival.
Winchester Theatre, 80 Winchester Street, $22 for those under 30
FILM | A World of Shorts
Your friends at the National Film Board host this evening of short comedic films from Canada, the US, Britain and Bulgaria. Watch Being Erica's Erin Karpluk learn the truth about our furry friends in Walk the Dog, or meet some of the Big Apple's overlooked citizens in the Lost Tribes of New York. Great comedy at half the price of seeing the latest blockbuster in the multiplex across the street.
John Spotton Cinema, 150 John Street, $6
MUSIC | PWYC Wednesdays with Last of the Bandits
Being one of they city's most criminally under-appreciated music venues hasn't stopped Rancho Relaxo from hosting a great weekly concert series featuring local indie bands, and PWYC Wednesdays has become a generally reliable night to go to see up and coming, if unpolished, talent. Openers Make Me Young and Plastic Inc. bring some high-intensity rock before Last of The Bandits closes out the night with some slower melodic tunes.
Rancho Relaxo, 300 College Street, PWYC
PARTIES | Wombat Wednesdays
Local impresarios Tom MacCammon and Keith Hamilton host this night of bands, djs, and general artsiness. Noise-rock outfit Radius and Helena seem poised for big things in the near future and close out a five band roster that includes the electro sounds of Gravity Wave and Ginger and Irene. Anti-hipster hero Jesse James Laderoute (Slim Twig to you) is making some kind of sound installation that organizers promise "will make one giant sound for 20 minutes."
Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Ave., $5
FUNDRAISER | Happy Hour Splash
Help fight breast cancer by stopping off at this poolside party on your way home from the office. Nothing relieves work-related tension like sipping a summer cocktail while watching a troupe of belly dancers turn their torsos into rubber, and ticket price includes appetizers, a drink, and a bag of goodies. All proceeds go to Princess Margaret Hospital.
Sheraton Centre Hotel, 123 Queen Street, $35 at the door
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.
For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.
Join the conversation Load comments