Live concert/broadcast at Natrel Rink Saturday

This came across our email, another way to chill out by the rink on Saturday night.

SIRIUS Canada, the country’s leading satellite radio company, today announced it will broadcast a live concert on January 31 (from 9 pm to 11 pm) by emerging Canadian artist Cuff the Duke, free for all-ages at Toronto’s coolest dance floor -  the Lakeside Terrace and the Natrel Rink at Harbourfront Centre. SIRIUS listeners across Canada and the U.S. will be able to listen to the live show.

Hosted by SIRIUS Satellite Radio Canada / CBC Radio 3’s Craig Norris, the exclusive broadcast will air live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s CBC Radio 3 channel 86 from 9 pm to 11pm on Saturday January 31, 2009. DJ SK8 Nights at Harbourfront Centre are a series of seven events – from December 2008 to February 2009 at the Natrel Rink – featuring free all-ages skating and live performances by up and coming Canadian DJs and bands. The Cuff the Duke concert will be held indoors at the Lakeside Terrace, while a live audio feed will broadcast the performance outdoors to skaters on the Natrel Rink.

Heard about the Hood: Queens Quay media roundup

Photo: Part of the East Bayfront project

A lot of ink (online pages) being taken up by waxing on about the Queens Quay neighbourhood.

First, we start with a story about Toronto's big tests, pointing to the eastern part of our street [Toronto Sun]:

"And don't forget the East Bayfront -- our last great hope to get the waterfront right. Are the developers bidding for that work going to give us a dream project or a nightmare?"

Next, Christopher Hume, talks about walking the waterfront, saying 'pedestrianism is the new urbanism' [Toronto Star].

John St.: Imagine a walkway extending south from Grange Park and the Art Gallery of Ontario past Queen and King streets to the CN Tower, Rogers Centre and finally the waterfront. John's value as a vehicular route is minimal, so closing it would not jeopardize the convenience of Toronto's long-suffering drivers. Because both ends of John are destinations, the walkway would have a processional quality.

And just north of the Queens Quay neighbourhood is the planned development of the June Callwood Park. The $2-million park is to be built by 2011 south of Fort York northwest of Barthurst and Lakeshore. The winning design has been chosen and goes to committee. [National Post]

Submitted by the firm gh3, it literally articulates a quote Ms. Callwood gave in her last interview before her death. A voice wave of “I believe in kindness,” will be translated into a “sinewy path that runs north to south through clearings” in an urban forest that will be planted with native Canadian trees “that would have inhabited the Lake Ontario shore line at the time the city was settled.”

Picture below from National Post's Posted Toronto


Finally, a life story on a Jamaican in Toronto who learns to skate. The venue, of course, is our very own Natrel Rink. [Toronto Star]

The next time I ventured onto the ice was at Harbourfront with Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson and Dave Hanson, popularly known as the Hanson brothers from the movie Slapshot. They were in Toronto promoting the third instalment of the film and offered to give me some tips.

"What's your first piece of advice?" I asked nervously.

"Try something else," Steve said, bursting into laughter.

Resolution: Get fit in the neighbourhood

It's the new year and it's resolution time here in Queens Quay. A top item on many a list is to get fit and lose weight. A few options in our neighbourhood.

Booty Camp Fitness: Too late for this time, as they've sold out, but this group can be seen outside the Harbourfront Community Centre during the warmer climes. They've migrated to 77 Harbour Sq this winter. Women only and you'll have to register early as they sell out. (link)

Harbourfront Community Centre: The centre at Bathurst and Queens Quay has quite a few programs. It costs $200 for 6 months and $450 a year for a full year (plus 1 year acces to weight room). You can join classes, from Bollywood Lunch Fitness for $16 for 3 weeks or lunch boot camp for $48 for 9 weeks.  They also have yoga, pilates and dance classes as well as boxing and karate. Here's more info on their site.

Your condo's gym: Okay, most of us here live in condos and apartments that have a gym. And yes, most of our gyms are crowded and small, save for the impressive ground floor gym at the Rivera. If you have sa condo, you're working with treadmills, stationary bikes, stairmasters and weights. Here's a sample of a guide for those of you who want to know how to use them. (link)

A gym: There are quite a few boutique and designer gym studios throughout downtown but here are the big ones within walking distance. Premier Fitness at Roger Centre or the GoodLife at Union Station.

Yoga: We see lots of people walking with yoga bags/mats. Suspect they're doing it near work. Here's one place where you can search for Toronto studios

Walk, run, cycle: We often take a run on the waterfront. From Queens Quay, you can run/walk/cycle west to Bathurst then you can join the Martin Goodman Trail (in theory, Queens Quay is part of the trail, but you kinda lose it in the traffic). From Spadina, you can go about 3 kilometres to the Ontario place and pass the baseball diamonds, the waterfront trails. Here's a sample map of a route you can take from Spadina. If you're more into long distance running or want to do an hour long cycling ride, you can go all the way to Humber Bridge, a 16 kilometre round trip. And yes, they're plowing the route through the winter

Skating at Natrel Rink (prices and hours)

5 things to do on New Year's Day on Queens Quay

We've all seen how the Queens Quay area becomes a barren land during fall and winter holidays. So, here are a few things you can do on a holiday.

1. Skate: Go skating at the rink: The Natrel Rink is a nice little piece of the neighbourhood that's open late. Yes, it gets big crowds during the day but it's pretty quiet in the morning and it's absolutely beautiful to be in the hood when it's dark and the lights of the city skyline makes things nice.
Rink hours:

• Monday – Thursday | 10am – 10pm
• Friday – Sunday | 10am – 11pm

And it costs up to $7 to rent skates. You can take classes and also hit the pond, er, ice on DJ nights. See more at the Harbourfront centre page.

2. Eat: Queens Quay Terminal's open every day as a tourist destination. So, why not hit Pearl's Chinese restaurant for some above par dim sum at reasonable prices given the location, view and service. They open at 10:30 a.m. on weekends and 11 a.m. on weekdays. 207 Queens Quay (see website here)

3. Explore: Brew a thermos of coffee or hot chocolate and stroll through the neighbourhood. Experience the Music Garden in winter (worth seeing), the 'beach' and yellow umbrellas when no one else is around. The Martin Goodman trail is plowed through the winter, so you can venture past Bathurst to Ontario place but fair warning, it's pretty bitterly cold and hospitable to the winter runner and cyclists.

4. Go forage for breakfast, lunch, dinner: Shopper's Drug Mart near Spadina is open, and the reliably always-open Rabba are open. We'll leave it to a future post of what you can do with what you find at both stores, but Shopper's does sell books, magazines and DVDs.

5. Hibernate: Of course, it's the holidays and since it's New Year's, you probably were up late. So what you do is grab the DVDs the night before, stock up on food and drink and let the day go by by sleeping in, enjoying your lakefront view and watching lots of good (or bad) television.

Happy New Year.