Photo: Brazilfest Toronto by Pierre D., member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.

Events on Toronto's Radar for WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2009... lovingly handpicked from blogTO's events calendar.

FESTIVAL | Manifesto 2009
Manifesto is Toronto's annual celebration of hip-hop music and culture. For its third year, the 2009 edition is looking to be the biggest yet. The whole thing culminates Sunday with concert from superstars Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, but it kicks off with the Manifesto Film Festival, held in an underground theatre at Spadina and Queen (who knew there was one?). It's a double-feature chronicling the roots of hip-hop. First up is Bomb It, a documentary that traces graffiti from its origins in cave paintings to its explosion in New York during the 1970s, followed by The Freshest Kids, which documents the pioneering b-boy scene in the South Bronx during the same decade.
Acacia Centre, 186 Spadina Ave., $5, 6 pm

BOOKS AND LIT | Nick Cave at Indigo Books
Not content with being one of the most iconic musicians of the post-punk era, Nick Cave began writing books back in 1988. His new novel, the Death of Bunny Munro, tells the story of a sex-obsessed door-to-door salesman who keeps his son locked in the car while he ravishes stay-at-home moms. Tonight he'll be appearing at the Eaton Centre Indigo Books to be interviewed by Alan Cross, after which he'll stick around for an audience Q&A and book signing.
Indigo Books, 220 Yonge St., Free, 7 pm

FOOD | A Taste of Oaxaca in Toronto
The southern Mexican state of Oaxaca is famous for its cuisine, the staples of which include a complex sauce called mole and chili-dusted grasshoppers. Oaxaca City chef Pilar Cabrera Arroyo has come to Toronto to share her famous flavours with our city's gastr贸nomos. Her menu will be appearing at a rotating succession of local Mexican restaurants for the next two weeks, starting with Frida tonight, and Frank at the AGO next Monday. Can you get good grasshoppers in Ontario or do you have to fly them in?
Various restaurants, $75 and up, Until Sept. 29

FILM | Backlot Toronto
With the whole city abuzz with actors, producers, and directors, here's your chance to grab a slice of the film making pie. Backlot brings together people involved in the film industry who are looking to get a leg up and want to share ideas or network with peers. The night is divided into two parts, a Screening Room where people can share their work in hope of finding new collaborators, get distribution, or just receive feedback. There's also a Making Of section in which experienced film makers will share their artistic or business expertise. Who knows, if all goes well your work could be the highlight of next year's TIFF.
O'Grady's, 171 College St., Free, 7 pm

THEATRE | Refugee Hotel
I'm not sure what's more impressive about Carmen Aguirre, the fact that she's been playwright-in-residence at the Vancouver Playhouse and written 14 plays, or that she had a role in Best in Show, one of the funniest movies of all time. Her new semi-autobiographical play debuts at Theatre Paisse Murale tonight, and follows a Chilean family forced to live in a Vancouver hotel after fleeing Chile's 1973 military coup d'etat. Aguirre herself was 6 when she became a refugee from the Pinochet regime, and tells the story with deadpan humour and a healthy current of painful memories running underneath. Goes til October 4.
Theatre Paisse Murale, 16 Ryerson Ave., $30, 7:30 pm

MUSIC | BidiniBand and Jerry Leger & the Situation
A cry of anguish went up from the Great White North when the Rheostatics called it quits in 2007 after nearly 30 years of shaping Canrock. Luckily for all their fans, singer and guitarist Dave Bidini is still producing more than enough music, books, and documentaries to go around. His latest musical project is the aptly-named BidiniBand, who begin a two-night stand at Queen East haunt Castro's Lounge tonight. Also on the bill is promising countryish newcomer Jerry Leger and his band the Situation.
Castro's Lounge, 2116 Queen St. E., 7 pm

PARTY | Belle and Sebastian and Snow Patrol DJ Sets at Wrongbar
It's hard to imagine any member of the soft-spoken Scottish pop rock band Belle and Sebastian anywhere near the aggressively hip environment of Wrongbar, and yet that's where drummer Richard Colburn will be tonight, although he'll be spinning the tunes instead of pounding the skins. He's joined at the turntables by two of the sweethearts from fellow British superstars Snow Patrol, who are in town to play with that band U2. These TIFF parties make strange bedfellows.
Wrongbar, 1279 Queen St. W., 10 pm, Free w/ U2 ticket stubs, 10 pm

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