Toronto Delivers

There are three stores connected in the 7-24 video store chain but after calling the Church/Wellesley branch, they confirmed that they are only loosely connected with the Sherbourne/Jarvis branch and not the other one (anyone can tell me which location that is? I can't find it). I visited two of the three. It is unfortunate to report that my experience at the Church/Wellesley was not as pleasant as I wanted it to be but only with certain individuals. It was actually quite simple - the Asian employee (who I later found to be the owner) did not understand me when I told him my phone number (which you can do if you don't have your membership card - a definite security issue since now everyone in hearing distance knows your phone number and last name!). He scolded me for not saying my area code when in fact this was the first three numbers I indicated when I first came up to the counter (and it was even delivered in musical but in clear English fashion the first time as I was quite happy to see that they were carrying the BuffyDVD with the musical episode "Once More with Feeling" that I wanted to see again) and progressively louder the three other times later but to no avail - he still didn't understand and then said for me to get my card and leave the films there?! I was 7 yo again at the principal's office for showing Henry my woo woo! So I left. Edward took care of renting it when he came back with the card. What is interesting to me is my immediate stereotypical response of "Is this an Asian attack thing? Just because we're both Asians now I'm clawed by other Asians? Was it an inability to speak proper English, Asian thing?" I was obviously upset with the comment so figured to have the Caucasian husband do the work instead. That wasn't the reason for this "Not World Class" rating although it ranks up there with, "[horrified look] OMG did she just picked up my uneaten table bread and gave it another client?!" comment that I had when we were in Mexico City's WalMart's VIPS restaurant two weeks prior. The reason for the rating includes the following ~

1. If I'm on a wheel chair I won't be able to get up the 2nd level to see the new movies
2. The tacky handwritten sign on each cash register to "turn off your cell phone before you come up to the counter" with an additional taped sign that says "turn off your ipod"
3. The inconsistent employee performance

What we liked? They have a good old TV show series, LGBT film collection and their Tue-Thur 3 DVDs for $8 special. That's the only reason why we would come here otherwise we'd go to Rogers on Wellesley and Yonge instead where employees are in uniforms and actually have been customer service trained.

And if you walk down a couple of doors on Church looking for another video place, don't even think of stopping by the Adult Video store. You'll be asking yourself "What's THAT SMELL?" (and not in a good way) as you walk towards the DVD shelves. And the place is just crumbling in its foundation, it seems. It seems like if you fall off from their front door no one would even notice you for days since its in such disrepair that the new locals have left it untouched. Our suggestion if you're looking for a good video in a clean environment? Down the street on Wellesley towards Yonge and go to the Rogers Video. If you're looking for porn, you can go to 7-24 but be quick about it, bring your card, make sure you have exact $$ and don't talk to the employees. "In and out" would get you quicker to your wanking.

Don't even let us start on Sushi Garden. They were quick to clean up our table (2 seconds flat from our last bite of our 7 piece $4.99 calamari) but the taste was salty and the avocado roll was bland. And this is a chain (six locations in TO). We've gone to two (Wellesley and Yonge) and unfortunately I'd like to just make my own maki at home, thank you. Service was good because it was quick but quality and taste, I guess you get what you pay for. Its cheap so the food feels rubbery and cheap as well. I'd move on to the next sushi place.

Everything in the menu is $7++. You wouldn't know it if you don't read Korean but its on the corner of Bloor and Clinton. The signs are all in Korean. The menu is all in Korean with simple English that is not translated well so if you have not eaten Korean food before, then you'll be at a loss - but you can always point to whatever your neighbouring seat is having (if you fancy it) and voila! It'll be at your table in about 15 minutes. Its packed. Its bustling. Is it clean? Don't go to the bathrooms. Don't stare at the waiters who sometimes pick their runny noses. Don't try to look through the kitchen window (you won't be able to see anything since its so tiny). The food is fab. If you speak Korean, you're in luck. Ed and I had our Bulgogi and Dolsot Bibimbob but look at the photo on the right, what is this? Its water poured to my rice container. It was turning progressively brown as we were going through our meal. Was I to make it as a soup? Was it a hand sanitizer of some sort? We've been to many Korean restaurants in many countries including Korea but maybe we haven't been to one where they actually do this - we have much to learn about Korean meal service. If you know what we were supposed to do with this, do tell. None of our neighbours were touching their brown water-on-rice pots either.

Overall rating? Lots to upgrade and improve if they want to be world class. The way their business is going, they may not care. But for sustainability and when there's actual government sanctioned restaurant rating systems, they'd need to clean up the place and put English signs. It was an experience though. Want an adventure, head out to Clinton and Bloor. Parking is not that difficult in this area of town.

These eggs are fine right? Over easy, great! But what if this is not what you've ordered and given to you over 30 minutes from the time you sat? Would you just take it and don't worry about the cholesterol? We did. Our quick morning getaway from the office to have breakfast turned into an annoyingly long wait time. The reason? They were understaffed. Normally this is ok IF we were told ahead of time that they were and we'd just deal with it. But when you are sat, ignored for more than 30 minutes and then Nino, the manager, comes in to take your order and tell you that you should be happy that he is now here since they were understaffed and other people are waiting longer than you, then there is a problem. Especially when the rude attitude comes from the manager of a chain - Pickel Barrel (312 Yonge Street location). This along with a waitstaff that brought in the food but had to wait another 10 minutes to get utensils!

This is the same location where we had dinner a month ago and the waiter just handed us our food (yup, we had to set it on our table ourselves).
Normally not a problem if this was a deli in New York but this was a sit down place and with just the two of us and two plate orders you'd think the two hands of the waiter could have easily been used to slide the plates to the table. But no, that was too much work for him so he handed it to us (and this is not in a difficult table to reach). AND he did a 360 turn and did not acknowledge us until we had to flag him for the bill.

With two wildly unappealing client experience, we rate this restaurant NOT WORLD CLASS. And there needs to be an upgrade on their customer service training. Starting with the manager down to all employees. The place looks great and the food is ok, even the menus remind us of Cheesecake Factory, but with this bad service, everything else falls secondarily to how they treat clients.

If you receive a coupon in the mail, you'd expect it to be worth it for you, right?
If you receive a coupon in the mail, you'd expect it to be targeted to your needs, right?
If you receive a coupon in the mail, you'd expect it to be available within the period of time that's on the coupon, right?

Well, not in this case.
If you were one of the individuals who received this coupon in the mail, you are out of luck.
None of the Starbucks around the area where I normally go to in Downtown Toronto has this latte variety. In fact the barristas would initially say back in late February that they will have it next week and four weeks later they continue to not have it. Now? They just don't carry it. What happens to the coupon? Kaput! This is a $6 coupon that is being given away to Starbucks cardholders but not owning up to it. What's up with that?

This program sucks. Starbucks has to rethink a quick alternative to people they've invited to participate when they promote something that falls flat. Our rating? Not World Class at all! Boo to their marketing people on this project.

Ever had an urge for Dim Sum? We did and we made a big mistake-and we didn't even eat. That describes our experience at Red House Dim Sum at 456 Bloor West, at Howland, in Toronto. Don't let the pretty decor fool you. After all, those boots were made for walking, right?

We should have known that this was going to be a "memorable experience" when our waitress could not understand English. Let's face it, words like "Diet Coke" and "How much" should be on every new immigrant's vocabulary list. Well, of course, until you take a visit to the Red House.

We are used to slow service, but this takes the cake. The place was not that busy for a Sunday around 12:15pm, but our drinks never came after ten minutes. What did come, however, was another waitress to ask our order all over again. When we told her that we had already ordered, she questioned why there was an extra table setting and menu on the table. Well, we asked, maybe we should ask you...you work for the place. Rudely, she tore the menu and the extra table setting away from the table, like there was some poor child in China that desparetly needed it .Alas, another waiter with no English and no service skills. Two for one...

Finally, the clincher. The only male waiter, hovering over the Internet (or whatever he was doing with his POS system) in front of us began to stare and not let go of his staring. I finally got tired of it and asked him what he was starring about. He said some mish-mash English word with the word "problem". I finally said, there is a problem, rudeness. He looked away and did not respond. I guess we can't speak English, have no customer service skills and are zombies to boot.

We finally thought to ourselves-"Do you want to support this type of business with our hard earned cash?" We both shook our heads in unison and walked out.

Sorry, no dim-sum today, or ever again at the Red House Dim Sum Restaurant. The food may be good (I have heard) but the service and the service staff have no customer or interpersonal skills whatsoever. We will bring our dollars elsewhere where we are appreciated-and can be understood.

Have an urge for a great burger? Yummi's on Erwin and Yonge is a great place to have a non-commercial, tasty juicy burger. The burgers are HUGE and fresh (one burger is enough for two people) and exude quality. The good news is that if you get your order to go, this will be your impression. Do not pass the cash station.

I warned you...don't pass the cash station. :) If you do so, your experience at Yummi's may not be so delectable. The place is in total disarray (and dirty to boot). The air conditioner plate is falling off the air conditioner as it did on my first visit (I cannot make this up if I tried). The area near the staircase is used as an open garbage dumping ground- a bug's dream...

The staircase leading to the washrooms is scary (see for yourself). There is merchandise stacked all over the walls. and the washrooms are, well, unflushable.

How can a restaurant with such good food operate in such an unkept environment? Where is Toronto's Board of Health when you need them?

Is this experience still "Yummy for Your Tummy?" Well, I will let you decide.

We don´t have a car... being the ex-Manhattanites that we are... so we rent cars when we need to go grocery shopping, do stuff that may not be easily accessible by public transportation or when just want to get away from the city (Niagara Casino anyone?)

What´s the first stop before heading to a rental car service? Go to Expedia to check which is cheapest. Then compare using the rental car´s websites. Then book a car. Then get your and enjoy the rest of your trip.... But unfortunately this is not always how the rental car world works. Hertz is one, if not the supposedly best, rental car service in the world. They're sometimes the slightly more expensive ones around but you do get better service. At least that's when we lived in the States. In Toronto at the Bloor & Yonge location, its a different story.

Here's the deal. We are part of the #1 priority club. You should if you are renting cars. Just like having an Aeroplan card, you get points by joining this club towards discounts and such. This also allows you to get in front of the line or have a separate dedicated line to priority club members. The sign in each Hertz counter around the world will indicate this. So we were surprised when we were told that there is no such service at the Bloor and Yonge location when there is a clear sign (with offers to join the club all over the property) right there. "What's up with that?" we asked. Somebody was sick so we don't have people to take care of you. If someone is sick, wouldn't there be a shift in how they manage people especially those who are most loyal? The club members? Wouldn't there be a process in place to find a way to remove the sign if there is indeed a lack of resources for that day? What's interesting is that this same comment was made in two other occassions within a 3 week period. How sick is this person that after three weeks there was no replacement and no process change?

PLUS the person who is supposed to take care of you downstairs (where the picture is taken) is either non-existent or would not even acknowledge that you are there. In fact, he came off as if we were bothering him (you know the look - the frown, the shrugged shoulders, the annoying attitude).

So what's up with this Hertz location's customer service? Have they not gotten a memo that training on customer service was required? Or do they even have training for that matter?

This location is definitely NOT world class service. Boo to this location.

Mela is an upscale Indian restaurant. The lunch buffet is good and the choices range from Chicken Masala to various types of Naan. Across the street is Veda, a "healthy" [franchised] take out option provides an alternative with pita-tasting Naan. Do we pay a bit more for satisfying food or do we get what we pay for (as one of our friends said to us after indicating that the Veda meal was quite unsatisfying).

Let's explain further. At Mela, the Tandoori Chicken's yogurt and spices marinate was both light and exacting in taste. The Butter Chicken tasted freshly made and the tough of honey and ginger made it quite delish. At Veda, the butter chicken tasted a bit too creamy and the spinach basmati rice seemed like yesterday's plain basmati rice that was recooked. The Naans at Mela range from plain, to garlic, rosemary, roti and lacha paratha. At Veda, it was plain or well, plainer. The foil wrapped naan tasted definitely from a non-descript food court and not expected from the beautiful patio laden location they are in.

Unfortunately Veda needs to either upgrade their food, upgrade their marketing to get a different expectation, upgrade something to align with their food options. We do like the Tiffin Combo’s easy 4-step ordering process which zips people through the line (if they were there). They do know they are across for a more upscale Indian restaurant so they have to make sure that they don't get the comparison that we just did that we could not help but do because they had no indicator of anything otherwise.

Veda gets an Upgrade Something, Not World Class rating. Mela gets a World Class rating.
Customer service on both locations are actually excellent so kudos to that. We know Veda is new so maybe a couple more months and it will have an identity of its own. We'll see and maybe even review it again here.

Have you ever been to a hotel where right after you've checked in, unpacked, got settled and turned on your TV only to stare at a blank screen? It isn't working! And the solution of the hotel staff was to move you to a different room because they couldn't figure out what's wrong with your TV so without providing assistance, will you still move to the other room so you can watch TV as you relax after a very long and tiring trip?! It's the little things but after a very tiring trip, we've pretty much had it with incompetencies. This is the experience we had at the Quality Hotel in Epping, UK today. Would you request to cancel this stay because you found a better deal closer to London? We looked. We found a better deal. And we called the front desk to tell them we're leaving in two days. So we requested to cancel the rest of our stay after giving them more than 24 hours of notice (a requirement of the hotel). We decided to call it a night.

But by 22:30 [10:30 pm] (yes this is early for some but we haven't slept for 24 hours flying from North America and heading straight to work then to this hotel) they wake you up with a loud phone ring asking why you requested to cancel the rest of your week long stay into two days?! Do we need a reason? we asked. We didn't have to (we thought). We didn't owe them anything (we said to each other). We can leave anytime we want so long as we provide enough time as per their cancellation notice. (we continued to read each other's mind). Was it anything we did, the front desk person asked. Too late (we mumbled as we awaken from deep sleep). Besides, we paid a non- cancellable fee for the entire week already at a different hotel in the heart of Central London (as it was part of a last minute deal). No, we answered instead. No! I want to know why you canceled the rest of your stay, the insistent front desk night manager asked. Was it something we did? he seemed to be looking for a scape goat to blame. If you continue asking me you will be the reason for me leaving, I said with anger and continued You've awaken for this? To insist on asking me why I canceled? I don't need a reason to leave your property? Do I? No your cancelation is already in the system, but I wanted to know...as his voice trailed off because I cut him off with Since you don't need a cancelation reason, I am not giving you one. You've awaken me and now I'm angry. So good night sir and I had to hang up. I'm exhausted and the last thing I want to hear is some front desk person realizing that he should amend an error in judgment but have expressed this quite inappropriately.

Thus the need for further training especially in understanding their clientele. When we checked in we saw four tables in the lobby filled with businesspeople in suits smoking and reviewing documents and had their laptops on. Wouldn't one think that the hotel staff know that their clientele are business people? Wouldn't that mean not just business people from UK and maybe have clientele from other countries as well? Which logically mean time zone issues? I even said I'm quite exhausted and one look at us, you would not even for a moment think otherwise. It was a very long day. This was not an appropriate reaction. Thus a rating of NOT WORLD CLASS and definitely NEED TO UPGRADE SOMETHING. ~ cyberworld

YOU DO IT! This is the response of the female barista when I asked her to mix an improperly created, mess of a tall decaf non-fat no whip mocha that I ordered at this store this morning. How are you supposed to mix a drink that has a glob of chocolate syrup, coffee and then ice on top of it.

I cannot believe that a company such as Starbucks with such high standards of quality and customer service would allow such a person to work on their premise.

Is this the end result of globilisation that we allow inconsistent labour practises to ruin great, established standards? I ask you-have you ever in your life heard a Starbucks anywhere in the world tell you this?

What is Guk anyway? We got our first Lick's exposure by seeing their sauce on shelves at Dominion's. What's in it? Click here for the nutrition label.

Lick's Homeburgers apparently are not just a Toronto phenomenon but can be seen all the way to north of Barrie and even beyond that. Started as an ice cream place in the Beaches area and we were told that their "homeburgers" took off and the rest is history.

What we don't like: Three points... let's start:
1. There is no clear ordering process for the newbie. There are no directional signs and the one cooking the burgers just stared at us without saying a word or being helpful. A client who came in 5 minutes (yup, we were standing in front of the burger prep lady without being helped) told us to come up to the counter to order (a cashier who was not there but was busy chatting with the ice cream lady so she didn't even care to welcome us properly when we arrived).

2. The marketing (discount to Wonderland on paper used to line the tray) had no clear direction on how to acquire it. We had to ask the cashier who said she would give this to us - again she wouldn't have just done it nor provided an indication that it was in existence if we didn't ask.

3. The guy cooking the burder was also swirling his broom around to clean the place up. Do you really think cleaning and cooking match? That seems to be a health risk issue. Besides no one wore a hair net or a cap to keep their hair or particles thereof from getting to my food. Is there no law in Toronto about this?

What we liked:
1. Guk actually tasted different (we didn't say fabulous, we said different). It's their secret sauce that got their burgers that famous status, says the nice lady next to us while we were munching and taking photos of the place. The fries were non-descript. We should have ordered the poutine, that might have been more exciting (especially for our arteries).

2. The cute names like "Ring-ed-dy Dings" or Taters n' Cream's TNC would have been good if we ordered it. We did read about it though. We do like the personalization portion so we know exactly what goes to our burgers. No onions please.

Suggestion: Don't go to Lick's if you want great (or even mediocre) service. Get the Guk! sauce from the store and grill your own burgers, you're better off that way.

Overall rating: Not world class and definitely Upgrade Something [for reasons indicated above] ~ richard

Last night, a visit to La Cabana and Café Frappe defined the difference—and the importance-- between successful customer service and poor customer service.

In the past, Toronto Delivers has expressed dismay in the lack of good, inexpensive Mexican restaurants in Toronto. La Cabana at 467 Danforth steps up to the challenge in all three areas of food, service and price. Eduardo, the owner, met us at the door, thanked us for dropping by, and seated us. After a little chitchat, he took our order. His friendly, laid-back manner felt genuine, as if his welcome was sincere.

We ordered the Nachos Originales for an appetizer, followed by the chicken chimichanga and the beef quesadilla. The nachos arrived with a drizzling of sour cream and hot peppers, and a side of salsa that was smoky and just the slightest bit spicy. The main courses were also drizzled with sour cream, and came with a small salad and rice, all of which was delicious. Especially notable was the fact that the quesadilla had ground beef, not beef steak as a filling. It made for a richer dish that didn’t fall apart at first bite.

When the check came, we were pleasantly surprised by the price. An appetizer, two entrees and drinks came to just about $30. As we paid, Eduardo thanked us and suggested that we drop by again for margaritas. The place has just gotten their liquor license, so his invitation was ingenious word of mouth advertising.

After such a good meal, we decided to stop by Café Frappe at 519 Danforth for dessert. As we entered, a waitress passed by and mumbled that we should just sit anywhere, which we did.

I would love to tell you how delicious and creamy the ice cream is at Café Frappe. Or how savory the crepes are, or how rich the coffee tastes. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you any of those things, as we never had a chance to sample their offerings. After that mumbled greeting, the waitstaff failed to acknowledge our presence. Had the place been busy, we could understand a delay in service. The dining room was nearly empty, and only one waitress was serving the outdoors area.

The other two members of the waitstaff were standing around doing nothing for the entire duration that we were there. At one point, one of the waitstaff met my eyes, then quickly looked away. After fifteen minutes of the silent treatment, we just walked out.

What is amazing is just how different the service was in each restaurant. Eduardo at La Cabana made us feel at home, as if we were guests that had dropped in for a visit. By contrast, the waitstaff at Cafe Frappe made us feel like we didn’t belong and weren’t welcome. I’m sure you can imagine which establishment will get our return business. Café Frappe lost not only one sale but all of the sales we will take elsewhere. Interestingly, we counted at least ten other places where we could get the same kind of food as Café Frappe serves, while La Cabana is the only Mexican restaurant in the entire area. One would think that Frappe would work harder in light of the increased competition, but that is apparently not the case.

La Cabana rates a World Class across the board. Café Frappe, on the other hand gets a Not World Class, simply because there is no lower rating in the system. ~ robis

One of the last things you would expect from a celebration of fetish culture is predictable. At the very least, a fetish community should embrace innovation and a desire to push boundaries. So why is Folsom Fair North so average?

The fifth FFN took place on Sunday, July 22 at the Allan Gardens Conservatory. The fair consisted of about two dozen booths and two stages. The booths were pretty standard displays of merchandise. Only two offered any incentive for actually stopping by. Steamworks had a pick-up Twister game and an unnamed vendor held bondage demonstrations every two hours or so. [click here for flickr photos of this event]

While the products offered were varied, there wasn’t a lot of variety across vendors themselves. Why buy a leather armband from booth 005 instead of booth 011? It would seem obvious that there has to be something that sets a particular vendor apart and draws in a crowd. That bit of wisdom seems to have completely eluded the vendors at FFN. Listless folks behind unremarkable displays made the least possible effort to sell their wares to what struck me as fairly uninterested attendees.

While we were there, the performances on the stage were even less thoughtful or creative. A drag queen in an evening gown singing Whitney Houston standards and showtunes? Does that strike anyone as particularly relevant to the community, or even the least bit innovative? I’ve been told that later in the evening the music got better. But the fair was not just an evening event.

The irony, of course, is that in a community noted for its creativity and tendency to push the envelope, Folsom Fair North was notable for nothing. Change the leather for dresses and you could have Drag Ball North; change the dresses for nudity and you could have Free Nature North; change the nudity for t-shirts and jeans and you could have Bear Invasion North. And as soon as your event becomes so interchangeable, it stops becoming a celebration of the community it serves and becomes just another place to sell a $20 cock ring. Folsom Fair North rates a Not World Class and an Upgrade Something (or in this case, upgrade everything). ~ robis

There are two ways to build a customer base for any business. You can win your customers over (through good customer service) or you can screw your customers over (by using questionable tricks to keep them uneducated about their options). While choosing a health club, I encountered both.

A few months ago, I joined Jump Fitness, formerly located on Pape. It was near my home, was no-frills, and they offered me an excellent price. But six weeks after I signed a contract with them, they were bought out by Extreme Fitness. Extreme promptly closed Jump and required all Jump members to move to Extreme’s location on Danforth. The only information provided was a flyer showing a beautifully designed club (certainly not the Danforth location) and a photocopied sheet informing members that they were limited to that one location and that Extreme would graciously honor the prices we were already paying. The Danforth location, however, is currently under construction, with half of the club closed off and unfinished. The two times I stopped by, I was unable to work out because the machines I use were not working, and the dust that accompanies construction really bothered my sinuses. Worse yet, customer service at the gym was nonexistent.

And their gracious offer to honor current agreements? At the same time as the Jump closure, Extreme was offering the same level of membership at the Danforth location for $20 less than what the average Jump member was paying.

I, of course, did what any smart consumer would have done. I looked around for a new gym. I found it just down the street from Extreme. href=" http://www.virtualtour.tv/riverdalefitness.wmv /">Riverdale Fitness, which has been around since 1949, is located at 835 Danforth, above the Blockbuster. I dropped in unannounced, and the general manager stopped what she was doing to welcome me, and to give me a tour around the gym. The gym itself is small but clean, and well-maintained, and looked like just what I wanted in a gym. Then we sat down to talk over terms. She was willing to give me the same terms that I had at Jump Fitness, and explained the contract that she asked me to sign. I left Riverdale Fitness feeling the way I should have felt when Extreme took over. And two days after I signed, I received a nice welcome card in the mail, which included the general manager’s business card and a free coupon for one of their excellent protein shakes.

But my story doesn’t end there.

My next step was to inform Extreme that I was refusing the new terms of the contract they were offering me. I assumed that Extreme had a procedure for former Jump members to refuse, so I sent an email first to the contact information provided to me. The email bounced back. I then looked up the contact information for the general manager and sent an email asking what the procedure was for refusal. He replied that I was committed for a year under my old contract. I sent a second email informing him that I was not willing to be held under a contract with a company I did not negotiate with, and that all I wanted to know was the procedure for refusing membership at Extreme. This time, he ignored my email entirely.

It finally took sending him an official letter of complaint, obtained from the Ministry of Government Services for him to answer my simple question. All I had to do was come in and sign a membership cancellation form. I went in as soon as I could, signed the form and I was done. It took all of two minutes to do, once I had the information.

Perhaps Extreme Fitness was not trying to screw me over (a a search on the net shows that it is likely they were, though). They certainly gave the impression that they were. What if they had tried to win me over? What if they offered every Former Jump member a tour of the facilities? What if the information packets given out had included everything needed to assess Extreme and make an informed decision? What if, after I expressed my intent to refuse Extreme’s contract, the general manager had tried to entice me to stay? I may very well have stayed at Extreme.

And Extreme did not just lose me as a customer, but everyone I mention this story to (including you, reader), and everyone they mention it to. Screwing customers over is a losing proposition because the time and energy you save by not wooing a potential client is offset by the effects of bad word of mouth. On the other hand, I’m telling everyone just how well I was treated at Riverdale Fitness. For the price of a greeting card and a ten minute walk-through, the pay-out is big.

Ratings? Riverdale Fitness is most definitely World Class. Extreme Fitness is a Not World Class (and my own personal advice to run away from them as fast as your legs can carry you). ~ robis

On August 26, Xtra
held the first ever Writing Outside the Margins queer literary festival on Church Street. The day-long event featured readings from various authors, a number of vendor booths and a couple open mic events.

While I was looking forward to this event, I wasn’t expecting very much in the way of any envelope-pushing. A review of the advertising revealed very little in the way of actual alternative writing. In fact, many of the writers seemed to fit only because they were queer and because they wrote literature. For an event called, “Writing Outside the Margins” I would have liked to have seen more actual writing that qualifies as being outside the margins. Jim Bartley, Marusya Bociurkiw, and Michael Rowe might all be great writers and well worth reading, but they aren’t exactly what one would consider literary high risks. Many of the other guests were lesser-known and much more keeping with the theme of the title. But why were the big-names used in the advertising (i.e., James St. James and Patrick Califia) both from the United States? Why not showcase any number of queer Canadian talent that comes to mind?

Further, why the sparse festival ground? There were essentially two stages at either end of Church, with a few booths set up between. The effect was a long literary wilderness that does not realistically reflect either queer lit or the lit scene in Toronto or Canada. I can think of any number of groups, shops, publishing collectives, etc., that could have been recruited to set up a booth and fill out the street.

Both of these observations lead me to believe that the organizers missed many opportunities to reach out to a very vibrant literary community in Toronto. Where was Outrights, the writer’s group that meets at the 519 Center? What about any of the dozen or so queer zines I could name that are produced in Toronto?

Sadly, this festival rates as well as most of the Queer festivals I’ve attended: no initative, no imagination and no effort. Safe, safe, safe. There’s a place for safe, but literature is not it. The Writing Outside the Margins Queer Literary Festival rates a Not World Class for remaining in that safe space. --Robis

We saw this and said to ourselves Is she really sitting on the counter where she serves my ice cream?

I'm not quite sure this is appropriate behaviour. Although Ben and Jerry's was not yet open so she had time to kill by reading her school books but the market where the store is located is open. She could use the chair that was behind the counter but she choose to be right there for everyone to see.

What do you think? Is this appropriate?

I would rate this Not World Class and Needs to Upgrade immediately. A little bit a coaching would do the trick. ~ richard