AS THE winter weeks drudge on – somewhat confusingly, might we add, what with a polar vortex and spring-weather preview within the span of a week – your friendly neighborhood EICs are feeling thankful to have found respite from the January blues in all the usual places. And what might those be, you ask? Have we joined the New Year’s resolution train and gone on a health kick? No. Do we suddenly possess newfound enthusiasm for yet another semester of readings, lectures and summaries?Absolutelynot. Insteadofinvesting our time and energy into pursuits that would actually be beneficial to us in some measure, as law students, we like to feverishly immerse ourselves in, well, anything else. Lately our attention has been drawn to the myriad of exciting cultural events just around the corner, and we’re totally ok with spending hours Googling the 2014 Oscars or the new AGO exhibit, if it only means we can hone our already refined procrastination skills. Here are some ofthe things that have tickled our fancy, maybe they’ll do the same for you.
Everyone knows that the happiest time of year isn’t the holidays – it’s Winterlicious. Held from January 31st until February 13th, is a city- wide culinary celebration, featuring all sorts of exciting food events, as well as awesome prix- fixe programs at many of Toronto’s finest dining establishments. The food festival is an especially an attractive prospect for broke law students, as it allows us to enjoy a luxurious dinner for a fraction of the price it would normally cost. Especially exciting are the new restaurants participating in the event for the first time, most notably Paintbox Bistro – an excellent and socially-conscious spot located in the rapidly transforming Regent Park area. Don’t be turned off by the less-than-posh locale – the food is excellent. Get while it’s under the radar and moderately affordable! On the other hand, if eating a cheeseburger spring roll sounds like something you want to cross off your bucket list, Lee (also known as dinner-will-cost-your- monthly-rent) is never a bad choice.
The AGO’s big ticket exhibition currently on display, The Great Upheaval, has actually been open since November 30th. Having had our heads buried in textbooks for much of December, we’re a little late to the party, but excited for it nonetheless. The exhibition showcases a number of works from the Guggenheim Museum’s collection, all of which date from 1910-1918. Arguably the most exciting period of modern art (actually, there’s no argument – it unequivocally is the most innovative decade of 20th century art), the years leading up to and during the First World War saw either the debut or major stylistic innovations of artists like Chagall, Mondrian, Picasso and Matisse. For all the AGO’s strengths, modern European art isn’t one of them, so hurry to see
The Great Upheaval before it closes on March 2. Then again, you might consider missing it while it’s in Toronto so that you have an excuse to take a weekend trip to New York!
The New York Times just released it’s list of 52 Places to Travel to in 2014. Rather than being populated with the usual suspects – Rome, Paris, London, yawn – this selection was handpicked, each for compelling and concrete reason. Topping the list is Cape Town, South Africa, chosen largely for its own transformative story, as well as for the fact that it is this year’s World Design Capital. The recent death of Nelson Mandela makes the choice all the more meaningful. Other notable mentions include Umea, Sweden, the European Capital of Culture for this year and recently opened to the public Son Doong Cave in Vietnam, one of the world’s largest. The clock is ticking for the Icelandic highlands, since the country’s government has recently lifted the restrictions on development in the area, and the previously inaccessible Japanese island of Ishigaki is now within reach, given the recent launch of budget airline Peach – it’s still relatively off-the- radar, which means the beaches won’t be full of tourists (aka people just like you). We particularly recommend the list if you want to (a) distract yourself from the dreary Canadian winter with vibrant daydreams of jet-setting around the world, or, (b) feel depressed that it’ll be a good few years of paying off student loans before you can explore any of these destinations, by which time Iceland will be a parking lot and the beaches of Ishigaki will likely be taken over by Iberostar and Barceló- type resorts.
Speaking of recently-released lists, the just- announced Oscar noms for 2014 have, as usual, ruffled some feathers. We all knew the Oprah snub was coming, but it still hurts. Also, eating a live goldfish earned Jonah Hill his second nomination (we’re being a little facetious – though it is somewhat outrageous that Hill has been nominated more times than Robert Redford), as did gaining 40 pounds for Christian Bale. Unfortunately, Inside Llewyn Davis is looking like it’s going to be The Social Network all over again – brilliant, but too cool for the stuffy Academy. For shame. If you want to get yourself geared up for this year Academy Awards, check out Kendall Grant’s film reviews on page 7.
There you have it! From your always posh EICs – stay classy, Osgoode.