The Renaissance volunteer

3:08 pm

For Richmond Hill’s Michael Yarlett, the York Regional Police motto “Deeds Speak” is not just a phrase, but also a way of life.

For the past 28 years, Yarlett has dedicated his time and talent to the York Regional Police Auxiliary Unit, rising through the ranks to staff sergeant while also volunteering as part of the bicycle and search and rescue units.

And now, with more than 7,000 hours of service under his belt, Yarlett has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the York Regional Police Volunteer of the Year Award, in recognition of his contribution to the service and his local community.

But Yarlett remains modest when it comes to talking about his impressive record.

“There are tons of these stories out there,” he says. “I’m not a hero, I’m just another volunteer.”

As part of the York Regional Police Auxiliary Unit, volunteers are trained to assist full-time police officers in their day-to-day duties and even act in the role of a police officer if the need should arise.

Over the years, Yarlett says he has done everything from knocking on doors and handing out pamphlets to assisting with arrests. He has also helped police during two visits from the Pope, Rolling Stones concerts and national and provincial police memorials.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” he says. “When I started, I’d just moved to the York Region. And I said, ‘Sign me up, I’ll give you two years.’ I hadn’t been in a police station in my life, and I’d never held a gun.”

Yarlett says he credits his parents, who were active in the church community, as well as the blood donors he met as a teen through local blood drives, for inspiring him to become involved with his community.

“I saw people giving their time,” he recalls, “and I was impressed because they weren’t getting paid, and they were donating their time to help out.”

“I said, ‘Sign me up, I’ll give you two years.’ I hadn’t been in a police station in my life, and I’d never held a gun.”

On top of his volunteer work with the police auxiliary, Yarlett is also passionate about his involvement with the York Regional Police Male Chorus, which he joined in 1991.

The chorus performs at community events across York Region, and over the years, he has dedicated more than 2,000 hours as a tenor and assistant chorus marshal.

“I love it,” he says. “There is great camaraderie there, and it is very uplifting to be part of it. We go to seniors’ homes; do fundraising concerts for churches, police funerals and the memorial in Ottawa each September.”

And now, as Yarlett eyes retirement from some of his more demanding volunteering duties, he says he will continue his work in the community as a canvasser with the Canadian Cancer Society as well as Out of the Cold, an interfaith group dedicated to helping the homeless.

“I’ll always be volunteering to some degree,” he says. “I also plan to continue being a volunteer for the chorus and search and rescue.”

Of course, Yarlett says none of this would have been possible without the support of his family — his wife, Cathie, with whom he will celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary this September, and his five daughters.

“Obviously the biggest thing is to have somebody behind you,” he says. “My wife is a very good lady.”

Dawn Langstroth

3:08 pm

MEETING DAWN LANGSTROTH for an interview over spicy tuna rolls feels a little like a blind date.

All I know about the singersongwriter I learned from her website. She’s toured with the Rankin Family, performed at Roy Thomson Hall with John McDermott, written songs with Ron Sexsmith, recorded two fivetrack EPs and has a full-length album due in the fall. She paints — my knowledge of art doesn’t extend much beyond dogs playing poker, but her playful miragelike images, in a semi-cubist illustration style, Wikipedia tells me, are beautiful.

While her site listed no likes or dislikes (walks on the beach or black widow spiders, for example), there are plenty of photos, from stunning black-and-white portraits to candid girl-next-door snapshots. And there are tracks from her records: soulful pop songs tinged with a country music melancholy, failed relationship tunes “You Don’t Want Me” and “Elevator Music,” the jazzy uptempo “New York,” the more radio-friendly “It’s All Good.”

Among a handful of video clips is one of Langstroth in the studio recording “Mother’s Child,” a song with deep autobiographical significance. Langstroth is the daughter of the legendary Anne Murray and Bill Langstroth, who hosted the CBC musical variety series Singalong Jubilee in the ’70s. Langstroth sounds a lot like her superstar mother on “Mother’s Child” while on the other tracks her voice, at turns soaring and sweet and low and crisp, evokes Jann Arden, Shania Twain and k. d. lang with just a soupçon of Carole King.

Thus informed, I meet Dawn Langstroth over sushi.

Your mother is a musical icon, I begin, testing the waters. Did that give you any reservations about becoming a singer? Langstroth laughs, a good sign.

“You consider things, you certainly do consider,” she says with a wry smile, the corners of her mouth tugging downward ever so slightly. It’s her mother’s smile. “That’s the reality of it. People are always going to compare you to other people, judge you, no matter what job you do or who your parents are. And people might say I’m riding her coattails, or whatever, and it might be hurtful, but I can’t control that. I can only do what’s right for me.”

What’s right for Langstroth is making music (she sometimes writes while watching TV) and painting (her father taught her to draw when she was young, and it’s become something of a second profession for her). “There’s part of me that wants to be honest and real in as much of my life as humanly possible, to be as authentic with myself and others as possible,” she says. “The more yourself you are, the more people will relate to you and the music.”

For the next 45 minutes, over bites of sushi with lots of ginger, Langstroth talks about life, music, art and growing up in Thornhill. It was a “pretty normal” childhood, she says, aware how strange that sounds, given who her mother is.

She loved to hang out with her friends at the Promenade Mall, down burgers and fries at Lime Rickey’s. “With the little jukebox at the table, that was the greatest thing ever. I think they tore it down, and there’s a Mercedes dealership there now,” she says with a laugh.

Langstroth laughs easily and often, as when she recalls her first public performance. As a stand-up comic. When she was 11. “That was interesting,” she says, drawing out the word in the way someone who’s spent a lot of time on the East Coast often does. “I did it for school. My mom and dad helped me write the jokes, making fun of teachers, mostly. I thought it would help me gain friends.” She pauses. “It didn’t.” Ba-dum-ching!

Not that the conversation doesn’t occasionally turn quite serious. Langstroth has battled anorexia and was the subject of a People magazine story 10 years ago when she was 20. “I was really sick for a lot of years,” she says. “But my family helped me get through it. You do what you gotta do. You just go on, you keep fighting, doing what you do.”

Langstroth says she didn’t plan on becoming a singer, even though there was always music in her home growing up. She toyed with modelling for a while, but ultimately, she thought she would be an actress. “I was at Young People’s Theatre for a long time, and I have auditioned for things since then,” she says.

But, to employ a cliché, music is in her blood. “I started writing music at 18 or 19. I used to write poetry. I’m sure I’ve written some really horrible poetry, and the music came from there,” she says.

Langstroth is a fan of Sheryl Crow and Nirvana and Aretha Franklin, but if there’s one song she wishes she’d written, it’s “What’ll I Do,” by Irving Berlin. “It’s the greatest. So simple,” she says. The key to a great song like “What’ll I Do,” she says, is that everybody can find their own meaning in its lyrics and melody.

Surprisingly, as honeyed as it is, a lot of her own music is inspired by things that tick her off. When I mention that I don’t really hear any “Jagged Little Pill”s among her music, she retorts, “Did you hear ‘Dark and Twisted’?!” Sure, that country-bluesy song is a bit dark and, um, twisted, with its deliciously vengeful tale of being done wrong, voodoo dolls and pins and knives and such, but mostly, Langstroth is as cheery offstage as she is on.

“I think the happiness onstage for me is when I’ve gotten things right, hit the notes I wanted to,” she says. “There was a performance with my mom in Ottawa, and I got an embarrassingly long ovation, and I didn’t know what to do. I started to cry. It was a really strange, wonderful experience.”

For the next hour, we talk about the really important stuff, our favourite Simpsons episodes and movies. Langstroth mentions her awesome aunt Ethel, marvels at the hilarity of the criminally underused Catherine O’Hara, raves about the latest Coldplay album — “I just wanted to hear it non-stop, I hope people find that with mine” — and the best-selling book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (“How funny is that premise?!”), and waxes about the joys of Twitter. While her mom is currently writing her memoirs, Langstroth is sharing her life with friends and fans in 140-character installments. “It’s so addictive,” she says. “And such a great way to just keep in touch with people.”

In 1973, pioneering rock critic Lester Bangs famously gushed over Langstroth’s mother. Without a trace of irony or hint of sarcasm, he wrote that Murray possessed a smoldering sensuality and that her music was “about SE- X with a capital X.” I’m curious what Bangs would’ve thought of Langstroth, but I suspect he would’ve had a bit of a crush. Listen to her music and you just might, too.

Centre Street’s new Italian diva

3:08 pm

AT THE HEART of the restaurant infused intersection of Centre Street and Disera Drive beats Di Manno, Richmond Hill’s newest upmarket Italian hot spot. Those who want to see and be seen pack the sidewalk patio, giving privacy to diners inside who prefer a calmer, more romantic ambiance.

The room is striking with its black-and-white colour scheme, highlighted in places with a splash of vibrancy: here a pink bouquet of flowers, there a coloured glass bottle. The open bar acts as a sort of focal point, with its unique glass overhanging and bright lighting and its bustling bartender who turns out crafty cocktails to the Blackberry burdened.

Tea lights twinkle at immaculately set tables, reflected in both the doors of stainless steel and glass and in matching wine storage panels. Beautiful crystal water glasses and wine goblets and heavy silver cutlery complete the chic look.

The fancy-pantsy black bound menu divides into antipasto and salads, pasta and risotto, and meats and fish — with seafood, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes making frequent appearances throughout. Prices are steep from start to finish: Caesar salad appetizer ranks as the cheapest at $12 while New York Angus strip loin entree rings in at $48.

“CHEQUE PLEASE”
DI MANNO RISTORANTE
11 Disera Dr.
905-707-5888
Dinner for two excluding tax,
tip and alcohol:
$100

Raw meats and fish comprise a third of the appetizer list. Beef carpaccio ($17) brings a mound of peppery arugula topped with overlapping layers of thinly sliced USDA beef tenderloin under a blanket of Parmesan shavings. Although the assembly’s truffle oil seems amiss and the splash of lemon slightly understated, the marbled meat is plenty flavourful and the cheese incredibly rich and sharp. This meaty, bountiful starter, coupled with a few slices of marvellous still steaming house-made loaf from the breadbasket (crusty on the outside, airy on the inside), could easily sate as a main.

A lighter opener comes in the form of buffalo caprese ($18). The fresh heirloom tomato remains almost intact, with slabs of excellent buffalo mozzarella resting between the partially sliced fruit. A sprig of basil contributes colour and welcome pungency while drizzles of olive oil and droplets of balsamic vinegar add complexity.

Many dishes tempt from the list of nine homemade pastas and risottos (whole wheat or spelt pasta available). Crab ravioli ($26) sees plenty of half-moon pasta sandwiching intensely flavoured filling. Some of the ravioli noodles are cooked just so, others not quite enough. The robust crabmeat stands up to the tang of the generous helping of rosé and basil sauce while stewed halved cherry tomatoes add texture and sweetness.

Chicken supreme is the cheapest item on the meats and fish list at $29. Other offerings include Cornish hen; rack of lamb; sushi-grade tuna with mango, red pepper and pine nut salsa; and blackened sea bass.

Exceptional paddy pan squash, grilled zucchini and roasted yellow and red pepper quarters all cooked to perfection; hearty but not too buttery mash; and moist, tender chicken are artfully combined in the chicken supreme. Regrettably, the stuffing doesn’t deliver: not enough goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and brandy cream sauce leaves the assembly bland, and undercooked oyster mushrooms make mouthfuls chewy.

Service, like the dishes sampled, succeeds in some areas and not in others. Intentions are good, with general friendliness and affability dominating. But execution leaves something to be desired, with unfilled water glasses and an unpolished approach to ceremony.

Ratings are on a scale of one to five stars

Elvis Stojko

3:08 pm

IT’S HARD TO be certain, but I seriously doubt that T.S. Eliot could ever land a quadruple toeloop.

Likewise, and in all fairness, I doubt if Elvis Stojko could pen written works that would afford him a Nobel Prize.

Then again, perhaps jumping to such a conclusion about the famous Richmond Hiller is a mistake. Talents seem attracted to the 37-year-old — a former Canadian kung fu champion, stage and film actor, author and now musician as well — like moths to the light. And yet the two share an important and intrinsic connection, for it was Eliot’s words that changed Stojko’s life.

In March 2006, while awaiting a flight in a Florida airport, Stojko was approached by a fan for an autograph. Afterward, Stojko realized the fan had left behind the book she had been carrying. The image of a figure skater on the bookmark clutched between the pages caught his eye, but it was the words below that grabbed his attention:

What we call the beginning is often the end / And to make an end is to make a beginning.

The quote seemed to say exactly what Stojko needed to hear at that point in his life.

Canada’s focus had last been fixed on Stojko at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he finished eighth, a disappointing follow-up to silver medals in 1994 and ‘98. After the games in Salt Lake, Stojko decided to retire from the amateur circuit and follow the path to the professional skating world as Canadian predecessors Kurt Browning and Brian Orser had done before him.

During the 2002-2003 season, Stojko travelled the United States as part of the Champions on Ice tour, completing roughly 65 shows from April through August. In the same year, he did his own Canadian tour, SK8, as well as one-off shows for television, including Kurt Browning’s Gotta Skate.

Over the next few years, as the weeks and months fell off the calendar, and as the kilometres piled up through touring, something happened: skating lost its magic.

Despite the glory of the titles, the podium climbs at Lillehammer in 1994 and Nagano in 1998, the recognition and renown, the simple fact remained: Stojko was miserable.

“At the time I wasn’t loving skating anymore,” he says. “I wasn’t getting the same feeling. It was numb to me. You can’t lie to the crowd. They know when you really love to be out there, and the last little while I wasn’t feeling the same connection I had had to the sport.”

For Stojko, the words on that bookmark — to make an end is to make a beginning — seemed directed at him. And so, a few months later, after a charity show in Barrie, Ontario in 2006, Elvis said goodbye to the rink.

Elvis had left the building. Returning to Mexico, which had become his home, Stojko also returned, perhaps unknowingly, to the pastimes and activities of his younger days in Richmond Hill years before.

“I came from sort of a country boy background,” he says of the 50-acre farm he lived on before a move with his family to Richmond Hill in 1983, where his father owned a landscaping company.

“It was a small town, and the energy there was great,” he recalls. “I used to dirt bike around the area. Richmond Hill was absolutely fantastic to me. I think [it] was the perfect place for me to grow up. I’m not a city guy, so being north was great. I’d go in [to Toronto], do my work that I needed to do, train, and then I could go home and relax.”

In Mexico, Stojko spent time dirt biking and hiking, camping and simply roaming around the countryside. He spent a lot of time with friends, and even more time on his own “just rediscovering a love for life away from the rink,” he explains.

Part of this rediscovery included reconnecting with a love for music. Stojko’s father, a classically trained tenor, had been a singer for 40 years, so the younger Stojko was always surrounded by song as a kid.

He started to dabble with lyrics, and he found the experience liberating. “It really showed me that it’s not always about being number one, and always pushing the envelope,” he says. “Just to express how you feel is very, very fulfilling. And after a while you’re like, ‘I don’t want to have a shield on anymore.’ You know, you want to be vulnerable. You want to be open. And then you really understand that you are strong, even without the armour.”

Today, he is working on the release of his first album — title yet to be disclosed — which he describes as “adultcontemporary.” The album was recorded in Fenwick, Ontario, with studio owner Mark Lalama, who has worked with artists including Susan Aglukark, Amy Sky and Kalan Porter. A release date of September 1 is in the works, pending securing a distributor.

Stojko is well aware that such a undertaking will come with its detractors, the people who think that a skater should stick to skating.

“Some people are not going to like it, and that’s fine,” he says. “But you can’t follow that. Then you’re trapped in a prison of what other people think.”

Such a description might well capture the mental and emotional constraint that Stojko was feeling when he left skating back in 2006. Luckily, one Sunday evening in 2008, following a 12-hour day of dirt biking though dried lake beds in Mexico, Stojko found himself in front of his computer screen, searching for the author’s quote that had had such a profound impact on him two years before.

Typing into the search engine, Stojko couldn’t believe the first return that crossed his screen.

And with the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.

The next morning in Mexico, Stojko strapped on his skates for the first time in two years. “I had no idea that I was going to go back and skate, but it’s sort of like it came full circle,” he says. “I got back on [the ice] and it felt different. Really different. There was a newness to it.”

The king had returned.

A number of shows and circuits have already been lined up for the fall across both Canada and the United States, as well as Europe. “Interestingly enough, the path has led me back to skating,” states Stojko, “And I didn’t expect that. But I’m going by my feel.”

With a forthcoming album and a fresh outlook on skating and on life, it looks like a new beginning for Stojko. Or perhaps an end, depending on how you look at things.

Harland Williams

3:08 pm

IT’S NO EASY feat to get a serious quote out of Toronto-born funnyman Harland Williams. Just try asking the Midtown native what his favourite thing is about growing up in the city.

“I spent many of my days spearfishing in the Don River with a dandelion remover,” he says during our chat at Toronto’s Diesel Playhouse. But he never ate what he caught … right? “No. No. Nobody eats Don River fish. You might as well have a nuclear cheeseburger.”

A tad quirky? That’s Williams for you. The 45-year-old’s streamof- consciousness rants have become his trademark, and his stand-up routine is full of stories about everyday occurrences, which inevitably get turned on their head.

He jumps from Mickey Mouse to whales to America’s Next Top Model all within 20 minutes. Even if you can’t quite wrap your head around what the heck he’s talking about, it’s a sure bet you’ll be kept in stitches.

In fact, you might have enjoyed this comedy king in his most recent release, My Life in Ruins, alongside Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws), fellow Canadian Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Saturday Night Live veteran Rachel Dratch.

A romantic comedy set among the ruins of ancient Greece, it was the first movie ever allowed to shoot in the historic Greek Parthenon.

The film, which was released in June, centres on a travel guide (Vardalos) who rediscovers her mojo as she leads tourists around Greece.

Williams describes his character as “an over-the-top American tourist who never shuts up,” a role he has surely injected with some mojo of his own. What was it like working with the legendary Dreyfuss? “Oh my god, it was just fantastic!” says Williams.

Although these days he’s based in L.A., Williams calls Toronto home. The comedian-actor grew up on a little Midtown crescent. As irreverent as Williams is, he comes from a family pedigree that is anything but. Williams’ father, John Reeser Williams, was a member of provincial parliament who briefly served as Ontario’s solicitor general.

While the junior Williams certainly has the charisma to be a politician, it seems evident that comedy was his natural calling. When I ask him a second time what else he loves about our city, he responds, with a straight face: “Probably the blueberry picking.” It’s difficult to tell whether or not he’s joking.

Williams isn’t the only entertainer in the family. His cousin is Kevin Hearn, the keyboard player for Canadian rock band the Barenaked Ladies. Hearn grew up not far from Williams and his five siblings. Actually, “four sisters and one werewolf” he jibes, “but we don’t talk about him.”

Williams appeared in the band’s video Falling for the First Time, and the two even released their very own tongue-in-cheek CD, fittingly entitled The Cousins, the Love Song Years.

“He does all the instruments, and I do all the singing,” Williams says. “It’s our little rock ’n’ roll project.”

Williams’ brother, Steve “Spaz” Williams, chose the bright lights of show business as well. A director, his most recent project was Disney’s The Wild.

“I’m a little bitter toward him because he got a really welldefined chin, and I got no chin,” says Williams of Spaz’s physical attributes. “That was a bit of a drag.”

Har, as he is fondly called, loves discussing his high school days. “I was more of the class sniper,” he says when asked if he was the class clown. “I would wait for the class clown to jump out, and as soon as he did, I would try to trump him, hit him back with a joke that was better than his.”

While working toward a degree from Sheridan College in animation, Williams had a brief foray working as a forest ranger in Fort Francis, Ontario, giving him the chance to “plant a few trees” and “get charged by a moose,” he recalls. “I did it during the spring and summer, to make ends meet, and loved it up there.”

After school, the next seven years were spent honing his stand-up act in Canada before planting himself in L.A. “Once I felt ready and I was confident, I said, ‘It’s time to make the move,’ and I did.” Success followed.

Williams made his big-screen debut alongside fellow Canadian Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber in the early ’90s. He has since had a lucrative acting career, appearing in The Whole Nine Yards, There’s Something About Mary (seven-minute abs!) and the stoner comedy Half Baked, filmed here in Toronto. He is currently taking up the directing chair, directing Wing Man, a comedy about the lengths men will go to to hook women.

Despite his success on the big screen, stand-up and sketch comedy are still close to Williams’ heart.

He continues to appear in live stand-up acts and plans on releasing a live DVD in October called Child Wild, which features a taping of one-night-only standup, along with brand new wacky sketches.

He just may be the hardest working Canadian in Hollywood. The man wears so many hats it’s difficult to keep count. In addition to playing actor, director, comedian and musician, he’s a regular radio personality and a favourite of late-night host Conan O’Brien’s. Just last year, he served as judge on ABC’s reality show Wanna Bet?

The show featured celebrities making wagers on various stunts, tricks and challenges performed by average Americans — the perfect venue for Williams to show off his comedic prowess. Adding one more notch to the post, he is also the mastermind behind a series of children’s books (which he wrote and illustrated) about a dinosaur called Lickety Split.

“I just sat down one day, and I thought, ‘I love dinosaurs and I want to write a little story.’ It’s a cute catchy name, and I remembered seeing a movie called Jericho Mile with Peter Straub way back in the ’70s,” says Williams of where he got his inspiration.

“It was a jail movie, and the inmates gave him the name Lickety Split because he was a runner. When I started writing my kids’ story, it jumped out.”

How does he feel about his jack-of-all-trades status? “I love it all. I’m like a master medium maniac.… I love to jump in and at least try it. I don’t know if I’m good at it, but I like to taste the buffet.”

One can’t help but inquire about his personal life. After all, at 45, Williams makes no secret of his affection for kids. Is there a family in the future?

“I love kids” he says, flashing a mischievous smile, “I’m looking for a breeder.” He looks my way again and leans in: “Helllllloooo, magical interview that turned into a family … Helllllloooo.…” He does admit to being single at the moment. “I gotta find a good person,” he says.

“I would love it if it was a Canadian girl, but if you find someone with a good, kind heart, it doesn’t matter who they are. So hopefully it’ll come my way one of these days.… We’ll see.”

Certainly the funniest character to have come out of Midtown in recent history, Williams’ star is continuing to rise.

Bayview’s hero

12:00 am

Ray Turner’s life changed in September 2007 when he was diagnosed with ALS, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“I was told I was going to be dead in a couple of years, and you know, psychologically, I was having a bit of difficulty adjusting,” he says.

ALS is a fatal neuromuscular disease that leads to progressive paralysis of the voluntary muscles. As is the case with many, Turner admits he knew nothing about the disease until he was diagnosed.

It took about three months for Turner to come to terms with his condition, and it was at this point he began to open up reading material he was given by ALS Ontario.

Turner was unhappy with the pamphlet’s constant reminders of the fatality of the disease and e- mailed the ALS Society about it.

“I kind of said, ‘You know, that’s not very encouraging to read, and I think it’s time you change your brochures a little,” Turner recalls.

The ALS Society responded to Turner’s request, and it was at this point he began to really get involved with the organization.

The local resident began looking for possible companies that could donate funds for Lou Gehrig’s research. Then, Turner discovered where he really fit in the most.

“I found that my ability to talk to people with the same disease I’ve got was quite easy. It was not difficult to get people to open up,” he says.

Turner would lend a supportive ear to ALS patients, and they were able to discuss their frustrations in a safe, non- judgmental environment.

Once, a woman called in with feedback on Turner, who had just been talking with her husband. Turner had cheered the man up, and his wife explained that he was understanding the disease more and was having a much easier time.

“I kind of said to myself, ‘I did something good today. I got somebody out of a funk and into laughter,’” Turner recalls.

Sometimes Turner encounters fellow patients who cannot and will not accept the reality that they have ALS.

“The only thing you can do at that point is put them on a thinking path that you have to do this yourself. Using my experience, I’ve sent them down the path to help them accept it,” Turner says.

“ I feel good about myself, and that’s my definition of fun.”

His strong will and spirit in the face of ALS shines through, as he discusses how he finds ways to get out, have fun and enjoy himself. By volunteering with the ALS Society, Turner feels as though he has accomplished something.

He helps raise funds through the society’s Walk for ALS and also leads an ALS support group at Sunnybrook.

“I feel good about myself, and that’s my definition of fun,” he adds. “You don’t have to be tied up in the house all the time. You can go out and experience things. That’s what I like to do.”

On May 8, Mitch Albom’s best- selling memoir, Tuesdays With Morrie, takes the stage at the Winter Garden Theatre. All proceeds from the premiere will support the ALS Society of Canada.

The urban defender

12:00 am

REPORT CARD

STUDENT Matthew Blackett
GRADUATED Earl Haig, 1993
BEST SUBJECT History
WORST SUBJECT Math
CURRENT JOB Publisher, Spacing Magazine

OVER THE PAST decade, Matthew Blackett has been making a career of using downtown Toronto as his muse.

While working as art director at the Hockey News, Blackett self- published and drew m@b, an autobiographical comic strip about life as a twentysomething living downtown that ran in Eye for four years.

He also co-founded and publishes the National Magazine Award–winning urban social advocacy magazine Spacing, which evolved out of a downtown campaign against a city ban on postering. But despite his heavy involvement in the downtown core, Blackett still has his Bayview neighbourhood on his mind.

“I still have a really strong connection to [that] area,” Blackett says. “I really want to see that strip all the way up Yonge succeed. There are a lot of really good aspects in that strip, and all those condos there are adding a lot of people and vibrancy into that neighbourhood. It would be great to have wider sidewalks and more cycling up there. That seems to be lost from my time, to some extent.”

While drawing a monthly comic for the student newspaper and editing the school’s yearbook, Blackett played striker on the soccer team.

After graduating from Humber College’s journalism program, he began working at the Hockey News where he found himself taking passes from Wayne Gretzky.

“I got to do this media event where I represented the Hockey News for a shootout and it was during Wayne Gretzky’s induction into the Hall of Fame,” Blackett says. “I was actually getting passes from Gretzky. I was beside myself.”

While hobnobbing with hockey stars, Blackett was also fully engaged with promoting his self- published comic.

“When I started my comic book in 1998, I wanted to share it with my friends and I wanted to share some of their talents as well,” he says. “I was finding that everybody in the arts community was really interested in the other arts and that kind of hearkens back to my days at Earl Haig where you would have gifted athletes being really good artists and vice versa.”

Initially intended to be an advocacy magazine, Spacing has turned into what Blackett describes as, “a somewhat decent, successful business.” Now in its fourth year, Spacing continues to grow, and Blackett clearly enjoys being his own boss.

Toronto’s coolest corner

12:00 am

IF YOU WALK west on Queen Street toward John Street on any given weekend, you will find a curious mix of pedestrian traffic, ranging from punk T-shirt- wearing teens to snap-happy tourists to label-loving yuppies and everything in between.

The intersection’s mix of great independent stores, such as Pages and Urbane Cyclist, side by side with destination spots such as the towering Umbra Concept Store make it popular for day tripping Torontonians and tourists, alike.

In the 1980s, this strip, lined with restaurants, clubs and street vendors, was the heart of Toronto’s music scene, taking its cue from the MuchMusic broadcasting centre — a cultural hub and neighbourhood landmark. To this day, MuchMusic continues to broadcast from this Queen Street location, often opening its huge, ground-floor partitions, making the street-front studio accessible to passersby.

On a sunny morning, I met up with Sarah Taylor, the charming MuchMusic VJ. As charismatic off-camera as she is on, the reporter for MuchNews welcomed me to her “work zone,” eager to begin our tour.

Having been a VJ for five years, Taylor has developed a natural presence. A MuchMusic fan since childhood, Taylor idolized her predecessors, Juliette Powell and Sook Yin Lee. Once she landed this gig, she says, “It was either sink or swim.”

First stop on our tour: coffee. Actually, Taylor informs me, as we cross John Street and head toward the Starbucks tucked inside the three-storey Chapters (142 John St.), she’s managed to kick the coffee habit, finding solace, instead, in tea. “I just can’t handle the crash at 3 p.m.,” she says. “Because that’s when I have to really be on.”

Back outside and refuelled, the 27-year-old Taylor is on the move.

People smile at Taylor as she passes by, and shopkeepers greet her by name. Holding a high-profile job that allows her to interview some of the world’s most successful artists, Taylor values her alone time. When she’s not on-air or prepping for a show, she might be found enjoying dinner (alone or with friends) at Queen Mother Café (208 Queen St. W.) where she loves the laid-back vibe and recommends the lentil soup.

Wandering in and out of shops along this strip is another way Taylor unwinds. While independent boutiques have to compete with North American chains here, this shopping hub has a few gems.

Pages Books (256 Queen St. W.) is one of the city’s finest independent bookshops, opening back in 1979 and hosting the revered literary event This Is Not a Reading Series.

At the shop, you can find obscure Canadian titles piled lovingly next to international best-sellers as well as a wide selection of contemporary lit, art, film, and photography books.

Lavish and Squalor (253 Queen St.) is a dimly lit, artsy clothing boutique with a vast selection of his and hers vintage threads and new styles. Attracting urban hipsters and curious passersby, the shop delivers a fresh dose of originality.

An animal lover and the proud owner of a Shih Tzu pup, aptly named Vivienne Westwood, Taylor is anxious to take me to a tiny pet clothing boutique. Unfortunately it’s closed when we arrive, but K-9 Couture (313 Queen St. W.), Taylor promises, has the best booties, organic grooming products and doggie treats in town.

Leading me down McCaul Street, Taylor is eager to show off one of her favourite hideouts. If she’s having a bad day, or just not feeling it, she escapes to the confines of Malabar (14 McCaul St.) a costume rental and dancewear superstore. Filled with elaborate dresses, feather boas, hats, shoes and masks, this store evokes feelings of playfulness and childhood.

"I love to try on costumes just for fun," says Taylor with a laugh. "I usually make my own Halloween costumes, but I come in here for inspiration."

As we continue walking, we come to Grange Park, at teh north end of John Street, where Taylor and her colleagues come to enjoy the warm weather. The park, in addition to being a green oasis in a sea of concrete, is a stone’s throw from the stunning OCAD cube and the newly minted Art Gallery of Ontario.

Wandering back toward Queen, we pass the new, hot pink Umbra Concept Store (165 John St.), which is impossible to miss.

Opened in the summer of 2007, the massive store is a great alternative to the likes of Ikea for all sorts of cool knick-knacks, furniture and kitchen accessories for the home. In addition, the store features an environmentally friendly design and unique art installations that make it worth a trip.

John Street is also home to Urbane Cyclist (180 John St.) a 12- year-old co-op specializing in commuter bikes and gear. The place to go if you’re using your bike for transportation in the city, Urbane Cyclist has a knowledgeable staff and a fantastic selection.

After a day pounding the pavement in search of cool, the Fat Belgian, at 115 John Street south of Queen, offers up the finest in brews from Belgium, including rarities on tap such as Erdinger Wheat Stout and Dekoninck Amber Ale and Fruli Strawberry Wheat, as well as a full dinner menu.

Our tour winds its way back to MuchMusic.

Working in such a bustling neighbourhood certainly keeps Taylor on her toes. Her street- level desk allows her to catch glimpses of pedestrians and the many fans that wander by the studio to wave.

Sweating out the toxins in style

12:00 am

After months of hibernating on my couch watching television and eating Twix bars, I was feeling bloated and gross. I decided to check myself into a luxurious spa, where I treated myself to organic treatments fit for even the most pampered of princess.

The last time I found myself in a tent was … let’s just say it was when I was forced into one as a child. Though I love the outdoors, I don’t understand why someone would … camp. But, after forcing myself out into the cold, that’s where I find myself. OK, not camping, but in a tent … in a spa on King Street West.
I head to Elixir Organic Spa with good intentions. I’ve been trying to live a more organic lifestyle. (OK, I’ve been thinking of starting to live a more organic lifestyle.) Mostly, I want to detox the winter away.
Elixir Spa bills itself as the first 100 per cent synthetic-free spa in Toronto. Lynn Shulman, the laidback founder, celebrating Elixir’s six-year anniversary this summer, has zero tolerance for synthetic ingredients. With good reason.
In 2001, while she was working in corporate marketing, Shulman had what she explained was an “horrendous allergic reaction” to an “organic” spa product.
“I was young and dumb,” she says. “I didn’t know that ‘natural’ didn’t mean it was purely organic. I couldn’t understand how a reaction of such severity could result from something that was supposed to be all-natural.”
Thus, the idea for a truly organic spa was born, but it was a challenge to find the right products. “Many products on the market are falsely labelled as natural or organic,” she says. “Even in health food stores. You really have to read the labels.”
“If it’s not from a food, we don’t use it. Our motto is: ‘If you can’t eat it, you shouldn’t apply it on your skin.’”
The spa is small but charming and comfortable, kind of like visiting a good friend’s house. I’m offered a variety of, obviously, organic teas, opting for the white tea with peach mint.
When she first opened, Shulman admits that her first customers didn’t understand the concept of an organic spa.
“Once they experienced the facial, they kept coming back,” she says.
“When we do organic cleansings, there’s also an aromatherapy component, so you feel it emotionally as well.”
On the wall is a list of this month’s spa specials, ranging from the divine coconut lime pedicure and manicure combo with coconut lime soak and massage with coconut lime butter to the mojito body scrub and steam that includes an exfoliation with a mojito (lime and mint) scrub.
I’m here to try the slimming detox and steam. The treatment begins with a skin brushing, followed by a massage with purifying essential oils and 25 minutes inside a private steam capsule with fragrant herbs as well as a relaxation massage.
And this is how I find myself in a tent.
After the skin brushing and massage, a contraption is lowered down over my body with a hole for my head.
“When you sweat,” says Shulman, “it releases all your toxins.” She adds that if you steam in the tent you could also lose 500 calories in 15 minutes (definitely an added bonus!).
I worry that I might become too hot or claustrophobic or dizzy (I like steams, but for five minutes tops). But when you’re in the tent alone, and 15 types of herbs and flower scents are tunneled into the steam around your body, it’s an extremely relaxing experience. I didn’t want it to end. I never get too hot as cool towels are placed on my face during the steam.
She says it’s a good treatment if you have a cold or feel like you’re coming down with one.
Next, I move on to the fig enzyme facial.
Here’s a fun fact: figs contain an enzyme 20 times more powerful than papayas (though I have no idea what that means).
Also, the fig enzyme mask loosens the “glue” that holds skin cells together, allowing for a thorough cleansing. Oh, OK.
Before the mask, I get a facial scrub of dates, brown sugar and honey that is handmade at the spa (And sounds great on toast!).
This is the spa’s most popular facial, and I love that they make the masks themselves. (It’s kind of like going to someone’s house for a good home-cooked meal.).
I can’t help but wonder about those who want a quick fix, those who want to use chemicals at highend spas because they may be more focused on getting rid of wrinkles. Going organic is good, but isn’t it all about the results?
Aside from feeling completely relaxed, I’m not sure if my skin is looking any younger. The detox steam does make me feel lighter, cleaner and, dare I say it, healthier.
“Going organic is better in the long run,” says Shulman. “Sure, there are spas out there that will plump up your skin temporarily, but they are damaging it in the long term.”
It’s something to think about, but right now I smell delicious, and I’m making myself hungry. Of course, I could snack on Elixir’s own product line. But I’m not that organic … yet.

Sealed with a quiche

12:00 am

I have always loved the taste and texture of the classic quiche lorraine. But with respect to health, traditional quiches are off the charts! The rich crust is usually made with butter, lard or shortening, and the filling contains excess eggs and cream. I’ve created a variety of delicious quiches that cut the calories by at least half. I prepare one that’s crustless and the other two use either a potato or phyllo crust. This substantially lowers the calories and fat while still maintaining the integrity of a delicious quiche. I use whole eggs with a combination of egg substitute and evaporated or two per cent milk instead of the heavy cream. The tastes and textures are amazing. Enjoy!

Phyllo Pie with Veggies

Potato-Crusted Quiche

Crustless Crabmeat Quiche

Rose’s Picks: An egg a day keeps the doctor away

To buy the freshest eggs, try a farmers’ market, such as St. Lawrence Market or Kensington Market in downtown Toronto. You can definitely see and taste the difference in the eggs — they not only have much more flavour than factory farm eggs, but they are different sizes and much more yellow when cooked. You can also try the organic eggs from Rowe, available at Loblaws. Take eggs
straight home and store them immediately in the refrigerator set at 40°F or slightly below. Store them in the grocery carton in the coldest part of the refrigerator and not in the door.

Post City Magazines’ culinary columnist, Rose Reisman, is the owner of Rose Reisman Catering, the author of 14 cookbooks and a well-known TV and radio personality. Visit Rose at www.rosereisman.com.

Red wine without the headaches

12:00 am

TRY THIS EXPERIMENT at home. Take a bottle of Beaujolais and pour out two glasses. Cover each with a piece of plastic wrap and put one in the fridge for an hour. Leave the other out at room temperature. Taste them both, starting with the chilled glass. I guarantee you will not recognize them as the same wine. (The act of chilling lowers your perception of sweetness and heightens your perception of acidity.)

This is what makes Beaujolais so versatile and appealing — you can serve it at room temperature with meat or lightly chilled with fish.

Beaujolais is the foster child of Burgundy that gets no respect. It’s the cheerleader of red wines that is not taken too seriously. Probably because half of the annual production of the region, some 49 million litres, is released as Beaujolais Nouveau on the third Thursday of November. Beaujolais Nouveau, or Primeur, is an amusing little beverage that my colleague in California, Karen MacNeil, has likened to eating cookie dough.

SPRING WINES BLOOMING

HENRY OF PELHAM GAMAY 2007 • $14.95
GEORGES DUBOEUF BEAUJOLAIS • $12.25
CHÂTEAU DES JACQUES MOULIN-À-VENT 2005 • $33.95
BOUCHARD PÈRE & FILS BEAUJOLAIS-VILLAGES • $12.95
CHÂTEAU DES CHARMES GAMAY NOIR DROIT RESERVE • $16.95

But Beaujolais at its finest, and when it is made in great years, can last as long as red Burgundy. I tasted a 1947 Mommessin Moulinà- Vent 40 years later, and it was superb, reminiscent of a mature bottle of Beaune. But then, not all Beaujolaises are born equal.

There are basically three quality levels. Simple Beaujolais that is grown on the flat southern part of the region in limestone soil, Beaujolais-Villages in the hilly north grown on granitic soils, and the top wines that bear the names of ten different northern villages: Brouilly, Chénas, Chiroubles, Côte de Brouilly, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin-À-Vent, Régnié and Saint- Amour. These are the named growths of the region known as Beaujolais crus. By law, Beaujolais Nouveau can only be made in the appellations of Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages, never from grapes grown in the named villages. Simple Beaujolais is light and fruity with cherry, plum, strawberry and pepper flavours. Beaujolais-Villages has more intensity and depth. The crus have a richer flavour and a more substantial mouthfeel. If you see the term “Beaujolais Supérieur” on a label, this has nothing to do with a quality designation. It simply means that the wine has one per cent more alcohol than the basic minimum requirement of nine degrees for the appellation.

Unlike red Burgundy, which is made from Pinot Noir, the variety used for Beaujolais is Gamay. Incidentally, there is a wine that is made in Burgundy using twothirds Gamay grapes and onethird Pinot Noir called Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains.

Beaujolais is produced by a unique process called carbonic maceration — the secret of Beaujolais Nouveau and virtually all other Beaujolais wines. If you react badly to red wine you are probably reacting to tannin. This method of production cuts down the amount of tannin that ends up in the wine. And a wine with little tannin does not need to age to soften it up. So, if you suffer from red wine headaches, switch to Beaujolais and see if that alleviates the problem.

Post City Magazines’ resident oenophile, Tony Aspler, has authored 11 books on wine and food, including The Wine Lover’s Mystery Series. He is also the creator of the annual Ontario Wine Awards and a co-founder of the Grapes for Humanity charity. He can also be heard each week on 680News.

Good things come in threes for news anchor

12:00 am

BY DAY, SHE’S a barely showered mom trying to create order from chaos with one-year-old triplets. By night, she’s the well-puttogether, incredibly intelligent coanchor of Global TV’s 6 p.m. newscast. Anne-Marie Mediwake has the uncanny ability to transition between her two worlds seamlessly. Naturally, I took full advantage of chatting with her to get some advice on balancing life and babies.

“My key to survival is being in the moment,” says Mediwake. “Driving down the highway at 2 p.m. on my way to work I’m all about the day’s headlines, meetings and what’s on the show today.”

As we chat, it’s clear we have a lot in common — both living in and out of the public eye while dealing with the stress resulting from wanting to have it all. I relate to her pragmatic personality and ability to focus on the task at hand.

It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like for Mediwake and her husband, Global reporter Darryl Konynenbelt, to hear the news she is carrying three embryos. While dealing with that shock, she’s then told to spend 10 weeks in hospital on bedrest to help her babies gestate. Not an easy task for anyone, especially someone as energetic as Mediwake. But, she took it in stride. “I’m all about setting goals,” she says. “All I thought was, ‘What is it going to take to keep them all healthy?’ I would have stood on my head for three months to keep them all in.”

What’s it like to be pregnant with triplets? “I gained 80 pounds, and it literally took me seven minutes just to roll over near the end!” she says laughing.

For most women, myself included, making the transition into motherhood is difficult to say the least. For Mediwake, who went from working woman to instant mother of three, the shift was surprisingly smooth — although not easy.

She’s quick to point out she couldn’t have gotten through the early days with triplets alone. In fact, the biggest piece of advice she has for new parents is: “Don’t be afraid to ask for help. In the small town I used to live in, neighbours and the church would help. In big cities like the GTA, we don’t get a lot of help.”

“My mom was awesome. I could not have done this without her. The difference between having two and three babies is that it’s almost physically impossible to take care of three babies by yourself.”

Not one to do things halfway, Mediwake tells me she breast-fed all three babies. “Basically you nurse non-stop all day with maybe a 15-minute break between shifts.”

After a few weeks of this new life caring for three newborn babies, Mediwake and her husband agreed they needed more help. They sold their car to pay for a night nurse and bought her sister’s 10-year-old rusty minivan for a dollar.

“It was the best decision we made,” she says. “I was worried about postpartum depression because the risk increases with the number of babies you birth. My mental health is worth the money for a night nurse. It’s the difference of enjoying the first year.”

After eight months of a yearlong maternity leave, Global called to ask Mediwake to return to work four months early. “I had to do a lot of snot and tears in our living room,” she says. “I felt I was putting a price tag on my kids’ heads. I felt horrible.”

That is, until her husband surprised her by suggesting he take a four-month paternity leave so she could go back to work guilt-free.

Being a busy mom has forced Mediwake to make some personal adjustments, the biggest of which is learning to let go. “I am such a perfectionist,” she says. “If my house didn’t look perfect, I wouldn’t let anyone come over. That stuff doesn’t matter now.”

When once she had fresh cut flowers and a perfectly manicured lawn, today her dining room set is gone, replaced with an inflatable ball park, a four-foot-high circus tent and collapsible tunnel.

She laughs. “I never wanted to be one of those people whose house was overrun by toys. I used to think, ‘That’s disgusting!’ Instead, we outdid all our friends.”

Post City Magazines’ parenting columnist, Erica Ehm is the voice of yummy mummies with her playful website yummymummyclub.ca. After all, mommies need to play, too.

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“CHEQUE PLEASE”DI MANNO RISTORANTE11 Disera Dr.905-707-5888Dinner for two excluding tax,tip and alcohol:$100

REPORT CARD

After months of hibernating on my couch watching television and eating Twix bars, I was feeling bloated and gross. I decided to check myself into a luxurious spa, where I treated myself to organic treatments fit for even the most pampered of princess.

Rose’s Picks: An egg a day keeps the doctor away

SPRING WINES BLOOMING

“CHEQUE PLEASE”
DI MANNO RISTORANTE
11 Disera Dr.
905-707-5888
Dinner for two excluding tax,
tip and alcohol:
$100