Fabulous Toronto Questions

if you're in the new year fiscally prudent mode like many of us you'll be looking for free ways to entertain yourself.

luckily in toronto there are many options. i welcome suggestions from any readers who stumble across this little blog. for now i'm going to tell you about theatre.

toronto is full of small independent theatre companies. when people think of theatre often they think of big budget extravaganzas like andrew loyd webber shows and the like. but no my friends, there is far more than that.

toronto is filled with little theatres which are able to survive because of the support they get from volunteers. it's great, you go, be an usher for the night, meet some fun people, and get to see the show for free. what could be better?!?

i suspect that you can volunteers at any of these:
buddies in bad times
tarragon
theatre passe muraille
factory theatre

and likely there are many more that i'm missing.

so, wanna do something fun, warm and free? go volunteer at a theatre and get a free play out of the deal!

I want to learn.

Specifically I want to learn about cutting hair, 'cause, for whatever reason, it's something I love doing.

I'd like to find somewhere to do a night class for that. This is probably more specific than I had intended the questions on this blog to be.

But... it does lead me to another question, one that is general enough that it may be of use to others. Where would I find out about continuing ed courses? In Guelph there were two types, the ones put on by the college and the ones put on by the city. Both of them had things that ranged from badminton nights to tarot card readings to actual academic pursuits.

Is there anything in Toronto that is similar? The closest I've found is The Learning Annex.

oooh oooh ooh!

my first requested question! ready?

here we go:

where do you find out about indoor ice skating in toronto?

i will now do some research to find out, but comments letting me know are not only welcome, but encouraged.


*UPDATE*
it's listed in the parks and rec section of the City of Toronto website under Leisure Skating, but if you have a favourite rink, or heck, wanna tell us about some great outdoor rinks ('tis the season after all) then please leave a comment!

ever wondered if that restaurant down the street from your office is any good? wish you knew how to find out without dropping any coin on the endevor? well, might i suggest you visit chowhound toronto.

want something a bit more straight forward? well, NOW reviews lots of restaurants, it even has categories like 'best patio' and 'best vegetarian' and it has a searchable database.

eye also reviews and although the site isn't as friendly the reviews are still great, and it too has a patio listing (of course, it's january, so what do you people care about a patio listing?)

toronto.com lists restaurants, but honestly, i don't find them much help in terms of qualitative descriptions, much the same with menuplace.com

if you're looking to spend a bit more money on you meal might i suggest checking out what toronto life has to say about restaurants.

or, if you don't have the budget for those fancy restaurants, but you have the taste for them, then check out the special fixe prix menus for winterlicious (or summerlicious)

of course this all focuses on where to eat out, where to buy food? well, that's a whole other posting (one that i don't have enough knowledge on to talk about yet actually).

when you're looking for good food in toronto where do you look?

where is the best place to find out about free events in toronto? any kind of event would qualify, just as long as it's free and would get you out of the house.

my thoughts:
- toronto arts council has some stuff listed
- the AGO has a free night
- the ROM has a free night
- metro morning sometimes has stuff listed, as does here and now
- local theatres need volunteers to usher and such, and you get to see a free play out of the deal (like, theatre passe muraille for instance...)

additions?