I was talking to Mark Appleyard about his new site during the Flip Premiere. It’s finally live, Werd Life. The new site is a collaboration between Mark, Geoff Rowley and artist Todd Bratrud. With these strong skateboard personalities the site should be epic and live up to the definition.

Today is last day of the Manifesto Festival. The main event, runs noon till 10pm. A free concert at Nathan Phillips Square. The highlight of the festival so far was Friday night’s Chapter III art show. AMAZING. Three floors of music and art. Great pieces by Elicsor, Fathom and Chor Boogie. If you miss out on today’s show be sure to at least head back to 52 McCaul before or during Nuit Blanche.

The Manifesto Festival – Main Event
Nathan Phillips Square
noon till 10pm
Featuring Talib Kweli & HiTek,
Grand Analog and many others.

Been waiting for this all week. Gordon Ball graces us with a visit from Montreal for his latest photo show at Sleeping Giant.

It’s always a pleasure to see a well crafted photo in person. PIKTO is providing a special treat in time for the film fest. Head down to their space and see a collection of Karsh portraits showing until November 6th. If you missed the exhibit at the McMichael this will be a great opportunity to see a great collection of Karsh’s famous portraits.

The Fox Theatre is a Toronto gem. Operating for almost a century it remains the longest running cinema in the country. Starting this weekend they pay homage to special genre in the history of motion pictures, 3D movies.

Fox Theatre’s 3D FILM FEST features 9 classic 3D films and runs until July 23rd. Unlike Hollywood’s latest offerings these movies will be projected using film prints and not digital technology. Interestingly this allows for a more convincing 3D effect. During the festival there will also be a gallery of polarized prints and trippy aesthetics to get you in the mood for the anaglyph (red-blue) and polarized movies. Looking forward to catching the offerings from Hitchcock to Warhol to Friday the 13th!

3D FILM FEST – Fox Theatre
2236 Queen Street East

Recorded Film Listings: 416-691-7330

Forget about the garbage and take a trip back to the 80’s. Harbourfront Centre is kicking off their Wednesday night movie series tonight. This summer their movies will be all 80’s. John Hughes’ classic Pretty in Pink starts the ball rolling tonight at 9pm.

Retro Reels – Pretty in Pink
Wednesday, July 8th @ 9pm
Harbourfront Centre – Sirus Stage
FREE

The photographers have been assembled. Luis Mora, Take More Photos and others will be at the Drake Hotel for The People’s Paparazzi, a special event as part of the CONTACT Photography Festival. A creative experiment blending photography, performance art, fashion and a party vibe. Curator Vanessa Gronowski vision of bringing together Toronto photo bloggers, party goers and the creatively curious will take shape. Photos and flash bulbs will be popping all night and the 10 best photos of the night will be printed and exhibited for sale at the Drake General Store.

The Peoples Paparazzi @ The Drake Hotel
1150 Queen Street West
Thursday May 14
9PM in the Free Lounge

I had the pleasure of catching up with CONTRA magazine contributing photographer Luis Mora in Hamilton last night. This Toronto vet had just a couple of days to put together a huge show. Damn! The aptly named “Last Minute Art Show” was Luis Mora’s addition to the Hamilton Art Crawl at the Assembly. The volume and quality of the work was impressive and considering that he put it together in less than a week it’s amazing.

The pieces are due to come down just as fast, probably by the end of this week. If you can’t make it down to Hamilton don’t fret. Luis will be one of 10 area photographers shown at the Drake Hotel’s “The People’s Paparazzi curated by Vanessa Gronowski and Studio Gallery. An exhibition part of this month’s CONTACT photography festival.

Luis Mora's massive collection of spraypaint stencils, sewn images and photography as part of the LAST MINUTE ART SHOW at the Assembly in Hamilton May 8th.

Tomorrow is Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day! An interesting way to challenge the typical way of taking a photograph in the era of digital point and shoot cameras. Shooting digital or analog, people around the world will take part in this free international event created to promote and celebrate the art of pinhole photography.

I’m going to try and shoot some pinhole shots with my Lomography Diana+. I’ve been too busy (lazy) to drill a hole in an old camera body cap and fashion a pop can “pinhole lens” on to it. There are no “rules” but I thought keeping the my personal challenge on analog film would be fun.

The idea of taking pictures over several seconds (or even minutes) will be a change. A chance to sloooow down. The best part will be viewing pictures taken around the world using a tiny hole for a lens. The organizers encourage everyone around the world to submit images. Last year participants from over 60 countries submitted images to the gallery.

So try your hand at pinhole photography, be it a pop can, cigar box, old SLR, or modified digital camera. Pic your favourite image taken Sunday and share it with the world.

This is not a photo contest. There are no good or bad pictures. Every pinhole photograph is unique. Have fun!

The Tranzac always has a warm and cozy vibe. Looking forward to checking out a great double bill tomorrow (Sunday). Muskox and Jeremy Strachan (Gus is due back from Montreal so perhaps Feuermusik will be playing too?).

The Tranzac continues to be a hidden gem. Easy on the soul and the wallet with great music and cheap or PWYC shows.

Muskox and Jeremy Strachan
Tranzac – 292 Brunswick Avenue
Sunday April 26th at 10pm
Pay what you can!