On the Danforth Magazine, Summer 2013
Did you miss getting a copy of our Summer issue? Well, here’s a digital version. Enjoy! Thanks to everyone in the community who helped out! See you again this winter.
Quest for the Fest
Interview with Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF
Piers Handling PHOTO CREDIT: George Pimentel, WireImage/Getty for TIFF
What’s it like to be the head honcho of Toronto’s biggest, most glamorous, and most highly anticipated arts festival of the year? Holding this position for nearly twenty years now, Piers Handling oversees TIFF’s programming and multi-million-dollar operating budget. He travels far and wide to select films for both the festival and for the TIFF Bell Lightbox year-round. I was fortunate enough to speak with him about both his job and the fall festival—and he threw in an interesting little tidbit: he lives just off the Danforth, and he says it’s a wonderful neighbourhood!
How do the staff at TIFF spend the summer preparing for the Festival?
Most of TIFF’s departments start preparing for the Festival around March and are working in full swing throughout the summer. Marketing and Creative teams start rolling out promotional materials and ad campaigns, the Sales and Industry Office spearheads leading-edge industry initiatives, and the Press Office begins accrediting media from around the globe. Year-round, our programmers travel all over the world searching for the best films to showcase during the Festival.
How can audiences spend the summer preparing for the Festival?
Category: Arts & Entertainment |
Hot Off The Presses: OTD Spring 2013
Our terrific Spring issue is here and available now, FREE, all around the Danforth. If you missed your chance at getting a copy, check out the digitized version below!
Goodbye (Again)
…But We’ll Be Back!
Sadly, it has come to that point in the year where On the Danforth Online goes on an extended hiatus. Our staff, the students at Centennial College’s Book & Magazine Publishing program, must move on to other exciting projects. Our Spring and Summer print issues will be coming out over the next few months, so keep on the lookout for those! If you don’t see them around the neighbourhood, don’t worry, we’ll be posting them here too. More good news: OTD.ca will return with a whole new crew this winter.
Photographs by Christina Guidoccio
Category: About |
Life Eruptions: Full Interview
A Closer Look at Mary Stanik and Her Novel Life Erupted
By Rebecca Taylor
Photo by Aaron Fahrmann
Life can often take unexpected turns. Jenn Bergquist, protagonist of Mary Stanik’s Life Erupted, is no exception—there are quite a few twists and turns along the way in her story. Her life is turned upside down when she meets Bianca Fiona, a new patient at the medical centre where Jenn works. Jenn embarks on a journey at Bianca’s request, but little does Jenn know that this adventure will change everything from her views on family to her outlook on life. I took the opportunity to talk with Mary Stanik about her book and about life’s many trials. Read more
Life Erupted
Review of the Debut Novel by Mary Stanik
By Rebecca Taylor
Cover Image Copyright Mary Stanik 2012
I must admit I was skeptical at first about reading Life Erupted by Mary Stanik. I have read many self-published books before, and to be honest, it is often self-evident that they are self-published. However, this book was different. The idea for the book, the way it was written, and the way everything in the novel flowed together was like a book that was published by a major publishing house.
There were some line-editing errors, but there are grammatical oversights in novels that are printed by major publishers, if we are being perfectly honest. But despite the occasional error, Life Erupted was an excellent book that was well-written, engaging, and well-developed plot-wise, which is not always the case with self-published, debut authors these days.
Now before I discuss anything further, I must warn you that there will be plot details not discussed in any summaries online that I know of, and it WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. So be warned! Read more
Old-World Pizza on the Danforth
Review of Pizzeria Libretto
By Anoja Muthucumaru
I have the good luck of reporting a taste bud-altering encounter with pizza at Pizzeria Libretto. Pizzeria Libretto is an Italian inspired restaurant that opened on the Danforth November 2011. The atmosphere is friendly with an air of laid-back sophistication. The restaurant is packed with regulars like local families, professionals, and students, so seating is limited.
The open kitchen anchors the dinning area with two Naples-made wood burning stoves at the back. The centre of the pizzeria is packed with seating and comfortable red booths at the far right. There is an espresso and wine bar to the left. Read more
Healthy Thoughts
A Year of Mental Health Awareness
By Carolyn McKeown
Photo by TZA
Mental health issues have suddenly stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight throughout this past year. Illnesses including anxiety, depression, bipolar disease, and schizophrenia are no longer marginalized and are slowly being recognized as serious forms of sicknesses. Because of recent current events, from disturbing murders to the fateful suicide of Canada’s 15-year-old, Amanda Todd, mental illness is finally receiving the attention it has so badly required.
The significance of having and understanding healthy mental development cannot be overstated. Many people recognize the importance of maintaining a sound mind, but few understand how critical mental and emotional problems are, and how important and harmful they can be children and adolescents throughout their developmental years. Mental health covers a lifespan, but events in the early years can mould children’s personalities and how they will deal with similar events later on. Generally, mental illness is not recognized until adulthood, but it is evident that mental and emotional troubles in childhood should be taken seriously. Psychiatric disorders can arise and persist from the earliest years, and they develop further into adulthood.
Stay and Play!
Oaks ‘N Acorns: A Hangout for Parents and Kids
By Amanda Kirsten Grant
Located right between Coxwell and Woodbine subways stations and across from a park, Oaks ‘N Acorns Activity Centre is in a prime location for parents and children to gather together for fun and relaxation.
Owners Winnie and Nicole wanted to create a safe and fun environment where parents in the Danforth area could come together. Oaks ‘N Acorns offers 6–12 week long courses for children newborn to seven years old. Each course—be it dance, art workshops, or baking classes—is taught by a professional instructor. The space offers lots of sitting, so parents can hang out together and chat while their kids play at various work stations.
A special favourite of the girls is the puppets, some of them handmade by Nicole. Puppet shows are performed either by staff or the children themselves; everyone is encouraged to play together. For the younger ones, there are sing-along activities.
Nicole and Winnie in the café
People Love El Pipil!
25 Years of Spectacular Style, Sales, and Smiles
By Kaavya Sivakumaran
The arrival of spring means two important things: sunshine and toasty temperatures are creeping up on us, and it’s the perfect excuse to make some fashionable additions to our warm-weather wardrobes.
“Yellow will be in during the fall season,” says Betsy Papachristou, owner of El Pipil, a chic and charming women’s boutique at Danforth and Broadview.
The Danforth became home to El Pipil when a relative of a relative of Betsy’s opened the store 25 years ago. After 18 years of owning it herself and developing a relationship with the area and its residents, she says, “we have a really good customer base in the neighbourhood, and people know us…[some of them] have been coming here for years, and we’re seeing them over different parts of their life.” Read more
