Music vs. Movies

Sure, it's the opening weekend of TIFF, and it's all gala this and red carpet that and trying to sneak into screenings (NOTE: Sketch does not condone sneaking into movies)

But in the midst of all the hoopla over films and starlets, it's important to note that a few very worthy non-movie, music-related events are also gracing our fair city this weekend.

To whit:

• Genesis christens BMO Field in Exhibition Place tonight as part of a massive reunion tour.
• M.I.A. and k-os hit Ryerson's frosh bash tonight (sorry, must show student ID to get in)
• The above two artists plus many others light up Virgin Fest in Toronto Island Park Saturday. The Festival of Virgins (no proof required for admission) continues on Sunday.
• Do-gooder Hilary Duff keeps her tween fans (and their parents) satisfied Saturday night on stage at the Air Canada Centre

• The expected gong show that will be the Festival Ball is at the Berkeley Church with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs tonight. More than 900 people are hoping to show up, according to the Facebook invite, and the rsvp list is closed (We know coz we tried to get on it).
• And finally, for the stay-at-home set, Sunday night is the MTV Video Music Awards. The event will be telecast live from Las Vegas on CTV at 9 p.m.

And now back to your regularly scheduled movie coverage.

Harbourfront's new night light

Residents in the Harbourfront area might have thought the city was being invaded in the wee hours this morning as darting lights flooded the dark sky.

But be calm Torontonians and come out from under your beds, it was only another practice run for Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's huge light installation, Pulse Front: Relational Architecture 12, which will be officially launched on tonight night as part of the Luminato festival. The Mexican-Canadian artist likes to work at night, and has been doing so for the past couple of nights.

Pulse Front consists of 20 powerful spotlights along the boardwalk behind the Power Plant. Passersby will be able to touch Lozano-Hemmer's sculptures which will react to people's heart rates, changing the matrix of lights in the sky from dusk to midnight.

It's to be the largest light installation ever produced and is touted as being visible up to 15 kilometres away.
For condo dwellers who live mere metres away on Queens Quay, you may want to pull your blinds for the next 10 days.

Hit Parade

I often joke to out-of-town friends that there's a parade every weekend in the Greater Toronto Area. But recently I started wondering if it was true. (Purely from a journalistic perspective, of course, not because I was procrastinating on my editing duties or anything)

Everyone thinks of the biggies: the St. Patrick's Day parade, the Santa Claus one, the Pride Parade, etc.

But there are a lot of smaller, more obscure ones that boost the number of parades in the GTA to well over 52 annually (about 300 street closures in Toronto alone due to parades and other events) so I won't bother to do the math, but suffice it to say there are a lot.

Here then, are a few less obvious ways to promenade, march and otherwise get your parade on this summer:

Mammoth Parade, June 2, Streetsville, Mississauga. Part of the Bread & Honey Festival (mmmm, you had me at bread) this 35th annual event is being marshalled by Hon. Col Dave Devall (the CTV weather guy who magically draws umbrellas out of thin air)

Polo Pony Parade, June 22, Gormley Polo Centre, Richmond Hill. Who doesn't want a pony? Especially when a whole bunch of ponies go trotting around for a good cause at the Polo for Heart fundraiser.

Teddy Bear Parade, July 29, Benares Historic House & Bradley Museum, Mississauga. Sing it with me: "Today's the day the teddy bear's have their pic-nic." And to work up an appetite, the teddies, and their owners, take a little stroll around the museum grounds. 

Filipino fluvial regatta, Aug. 17-19, Harbourfront Centre Parade with a splash: part of the Filipinos Making Waves festival at Harbourfront will recreate the Philippines' famous river parades on Lake Ontario. 

-Shauna Rempel