I'm telling you, if an organization like Supporting Our Youth (SOY) existed when I was 15, I would have exploded with happiness. I was a baby-dyke-in-progress with nobody to talk to about what I was going through. The 60s sexual revolution was really a game played out in a patriarchal boys club – don't be fooled by all that long hair – and it was fiercely heterosexual.

SOY gives support to queer youth via groups (for queers of colour, writers and those piritually inclined, to give just a few examples, counselling, drop-ins and a mentoring program (conflict alert – my partner runs it) and has been wildly successful, tapping into the GLBT community in amazing ways. 

SOY celebrated its 10th anniversary at a rockin' party at Circa last night (Thursday), complete with cool entertainment and fine food that got scarfed back by a diverse crowd.

Ryan G. Hinds was dazzling as the host for the evening's festivities, flashing hot sequins and a festive headdress. Hinds got his start at an early version of SOY's annual artist showcase Fruit Loopz and he's now a fully mature talent. He introduced speakers and performers who celebrated 10 years of dynamic work in the queer community and a 10-minute video about SOY directed by Sarah Sharkey Pearce. 

Hot performers included Evalyn Parry, whose persona as an Always sanitary napkin singing about the pleasures of getting insides women's pant sis a riot and Mata Dance, a troupe of Latin women dancers who  revved up the audience with some hot lesbo-style moves.

Proof of SOY's impact – Circa was rammed with all kinds of young queers by the time the DJs started spinning.

Send me comments if you've ever experienced the benefits of SOY programs.

The mindless whinging that followed in the papers and on the sports radio talk shows after this week’s firing of coach Paul Maurice just provided more evidence. As one headline aptly summed up – No GM, No Captain, No Coach... No Hope.

If is isn’t clear yet to the doofuses in Leaf Nation, those running the show at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment could care less what product they put on the ice, as long as there are dumb asses filling the seats. For MLSE the emphasis is on entertainment, not sports. And Richard Peddie and company provide more off-ice charades than a bad Benny Hill rerun. There are always bigger fish to fry, more fans to filch, for the big boys on the board.

Lately, its been the much-rumoured purchase of Sheffield soccer club of the English Premiership. MLSE, it seems, is done playing footsies when it comes to the beautiful game, now that their small investment in Toronto FC – helped by a sweetheart deal from the city – is paying huge dividends.

Not on the pitch, of course, but that’s not the point.

Whether it’s hockey, basketball or soccer, in this town mediocrity for the masses will do. It’s all about marketing. Keeping alive the illusion that things, no matter how pathetic, are looking up, moving forward – even if those names most mentioned as the next hires to take the Maple Laughs over the top – if they can make the playoffs first – are tired retreads from yesteryear. See Pat Burns. See Cliff Fletcher. Haven’t we read this script before? Maybe we should put Tie Domi on the MLSE board. Wait, we may be too late. Ah the nostalgia. Poor Leafs fans have been sucking on that one for 40-plus Stanley Cup-less years and counting.

Things I learned at California Cruisin’, the Sante Wine Festival's Golden State-themed wine tasting at the ROM:

• If you’re trying different wines, rinse your glass between tastings with either a little drop of the wine you’re about to try or nothing at all. Water is a worse pollutant than another wine.

• Francis Ford Coppola makes a good wine.

• The ROM is becoming my favourite place to party. I often enjoy jams at Casa Loma during TIFF, but mingling with beverages is much more exciting when there’s a giant Buddha in the room.

• Very few people know where Napa Valley is.

• One should be leery of anything that’s labelled “table wine.” It tends to be “low-grade” and “pedestrian,” but good for sangria or to bring to a party.

• Brie cheese should not be served chilled.

• It’s legal to order a batch of wine from a winery representative.

• Each wine at a tasting tends to have its own business card.

• Oka cheese was first made by the Trappist monks in the 19th century.

• In describing wines or cheeses, feel free to overuse the words “exquisite” and “elegant.” Everyone else does.

• It’s very difficult to not sound pompous when talking about aromas of gently crushed grapes or the nuances of lingering oak tastes.

• Paul Dolan, of the organic-friendly Mendocino Wine Company, promotes sustainable farming practices, uses solar and wind energy, and does not harm trees when he puts labels on his wines. He also can give wine presentations without notes.

• Robert Craig is of no relation to James Bond actor Daniel Craig.

• Virgin now has its logo on bottles of wine. No explanation was given as to why.

• I really disliked that movie Sideways. Hated it, even. This isn't so much learning as it is remembering.

J’ENTENDS PLUS LA GUITARE (Philippe Garrel). 95 minutes. Subtitled. Screens Friday (May 9) and Saturday (May 10) at 7 pm at Jackman Hall.
Rating: NNNN

The first movement of J’Entends Plus La Guitare takes a little getting used to; Philippe Garrel’s 1991 semiautobiographical reminiscence of his on-and-off affair with Velvet Underground singer Nico has the static framing and measured pace of a storyteller on the nod. And that’s as it should be, since the characters’ drug habit is both an enabler and symptom of their codependent relationship.

And once you get into its rhythms, the film is as seductive as the blonde Marianne (Johanna Ter Steege), the enigmatic, mercurial woman who bewitches Benoit Regent’s Gérard, the Garrel surrogate who glumly endures the phases of her interest. When she’s fully present in their relationship, he’s slightly less mopey than usual, and willing to discuss philosophy with his friends; when her affections fade out, he retreats into himself – and a succession of other women.

It’s all very glum and very French, and Garrel does flirt with self-parody in letting his characters sulk so profoundly for so long, especially once they start snorting heroin. But by that point – hopefully – we’ve already fallen into their rhythms, and are invested in their situation. Basically, if you don’t run screaming from the theatre at the “bathroom intimacy” scene - which was probably shocking in its bluntness in 1991 but now feels awfully precious – you’ll find much here to appreciate.

When I turn forty later this year, I will have been a working film critic for half my life. But I've never been to Cannes.

As a member of FIPRESCI, the international critics' association, I've been to a number of film festivals – Montreal, Palm Springs, London – and sat on juries there. I've covered the Toronto festival for two decades, never missing a single day. But this year, NOW is sending me to Cannes.

Colleagues and friends have been asking whether I'm ready for it, in tones that imply I can't possibly be. Honestly, I don't think it'll be such a shock; it can't be any more frenzied than the fever pitch that is TIFF's opening weekend, and the weather will be nicer. Also, I'm told there will be pastries.

I'll be filing daily reports in this space, so check back often; if something particularly amazing happens, or I find myself sharing a latte with Harrison Ford or the Dardenne brothers, you'll read all about it here. But don't get too excited; I understand Harrison likes to keep to himself after his press conferences.

This just-leaked video from Kardinal Offishall shows off our hometown hero's recently forged bond with Senegalese R&B singer Akon as well as his club-ready and woman-friendly side.

Granted K.O. looks pretty fresh in lime green and sounds even more fresh over a synthed-up 80s track, the whole affair simply highlights his dubious partnership with Akon. That guy's high-pitch hooks are already sounding dated, thanks in full to the slew of similar sounding hits from last summer. (Those are, in order of level of annoyance: that ubiquitous Gwen Stefani track The Sweet Escape, Don't Matter, Smack That, and I Wanna Love You.) Not to mention, Akon's one-time protégé T-Pain has completely supplanted him as the go-to hip-hop robot.

And in addition to sounding straight 2007, the "she's dangerous" bit betrays all of Kardi's previous work: The auteur behind such grimey mixtapes as Bloodclot Bill and Canadian Coke now thinks video vixens are dangerous?

The Jane Jacobs walk I chose to stroll with - the Blue Jay Village Walk - sounded intriguing for two reasons: 1) What's this about condos being part of a village? and, 2) While I appreciate adding population density to the downtown core, which in my opinion is supposed to be dense, I often wonder why condos are always so ugly.

Unfortunately, both queries, as simplistic as they were, went unaddressed. That's because I couldn't even find the walk. Perhaps scheduling the meeting point at the Rogers Centre at pretty much the exact moment a Blue Jays game lets out wasn't the wisest of choices, in retrospect.

With the rise of comic book-based movies, Iron Man being the most recent, you may just be interested in the Free Comic Book Day events, taking place on Saturday, May 3rd.

Apart from the regular meet-n-greets with artists, both local, and non, Chris Butcher of The Beguiling and TCAF is running one is specifically for kids (12-5pm @ Palmerston Library). The ever charismatic Chris can show you the way of the panel and point you to something that suits your tastes. Participating shops downtown include The Silver Snail, Hairy Tarantula's, 3rd Quardrant, and 1,000,000 Comics. But for the full list of participating shops, the FCBD site has a nifty store locator to help you out.

The list is lengthy and worth-while enough to bother getting your kiester off the couch and over to your local shop. My top pick is Top Cow's BROKEN TRINITY PREVIEW, along with HELLBOY/B.P.R.D., ALL STAR SUPERMAN #1, and X-MEN. I did a review of The Stranded and Dan Dare, and while it really didn't work for me, at least you don't have to spend a dime trying it out. There's also a silver list that gets limited distribution, as well as some figure giveaways, including a snazzy re-tooled Iron Man Heroclix figure.

Allan Sparrow, former City of Toronto and Metro Councillor and public space activist, died this week at the age of 63.

Sparrow was a key figure in stopping the Spadina Expressway, a three-term reformer at City Hall and a long-time advocate for the Toronto Island. Several tributes, from NDP chief Jack Layton to Mayor David Miller, were paid to the 1970s community organizer. However, no words on the life of Sparrow are more appropriate than his own: shortly before he passed away in London Health Sciences Centre’s Victoria Hospital on Wednesday, he penned his own obituary, or, as he called it, an 'autobit.'

The following is how Sparrow saw his own life - in his unedited own words - followed by a brief biography written by his friend, Marc Brien (in italics).

One of the good things about being dead is that you don’t have to gnash your teeth at the usually well intentioned but often off the mark obituaries that others write about you.

This is my modest attempt to combine a compressed autobiography and obituary into my ‘autobit’.

I was probably best known as a councillor representing Toronto’s downtown core from 1974 to 1980 who fought rapacious developers, gouging landlords and a xenophobic police force, while simultaneously helping to craft a new city plan ..... This period is now widely referred to as Toronto’s `golden age’ of community participation.” My election in 1974 was supported by all of the downtown neighbourhood groups and attracted more than 1,000 volunteers to defeat a developer-backed incumbent who was determined to bulldoze the historic and unique Toronto Island community and to devastate the Church/Wellesley community with a series of road widenings. Today the Island is recognized as a model car free, green and creative neighbourhood and Church/Wellesley is the lively heart of Toronto’s gay community.

Out of this crucible of conflict in the 70s, my progressive City Council colleagues and thousands of civic activists crafted a new neighbourhood-based city plan for Toronto. Much of this plan remains in place today and contributes to Toronto’s vitality. The plan was enacted in spite of opposition from the three daily newspapers and Toronto’s self-serving establishment including a puffed up and wrong-headed Board of Trade. Some things never change.

What is now considered “corruption” was legal. Politicians could pocket “left over” campaign contributions, and many raised money almost exclusively from the limitless coffers of the property development industry.

To counter these pre-owned politicians, I helped form Reform Metro, a progressive, metro-wide political action group that recruited and supported community-based politicians. A decade later, I formed Reform Toronto, a city-based group which published The Badger, a hard-hitting and irreverent tabloid newspaper about city issues. Tens of thousands of copies of The Badger were distributed by volunteers throughout Toronto neighbourhoods. The tabloid let municipal voters see their city councillor’s voting record and was a key to electing a progressive council in the 1988 election. Reform Toronto was early into many of the environmental battles still facing Toronto, including the need for more affordable TTC fares and expanded and safe bike lanes.

One of the highlights of my political career was forging an alliance among the leaderships of the Black, South Asian and gay communities to take on the Toronto Police Commission for tolerating racism, homophobia and sexism on the force. I helped found The Working Group on Police/Minority Relations. When it was rebuffed by the police, a more pro-active organization, The Citizens’ Independent Review of Police Activities was born. It set up a 24-hour hotline staffed by volunteers to field complaints about police misconduct, indentifying a group of officers who engaged in systemic abuse, so much so that Amnesty International cited their misconduct and the failure of the police leadership to curb it.

The police fought back with lawsuits and charges against community leaders, including against me. I knew I must be doing something right when I was simultaneously sued by the Toronto Police Association for libel and by the self-styled king of the body rub parlour operators for cleaning up the sex-for-hire businesses that had taken over parts of Yonge St.

On the positive side, I helped steer the design of the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood, a new model downtown community, embracing a mix of affordable and market-priced housing centred on a park and community recreation centre. My greatest joys were facilitating the construction of non-profit housing projects, organizing tenants to achieve meaningful rent controls, eliminating discrimination against families with children in rental housing, imposing tight zoning controls to protect older residential neighbourhoods from destruction, establishing the 519 Church Community Centre, as well as setting the stage for community centres at Harbourfront and St. Lawrence.

After three terms at City Hall I stepped aside enabling the first openly gay candidate, George Hislop, to run for office.

Bracketing these initiatives was my involvement, before being elected, in stopping the Spadina Expressway and, 30 years later, stopping the bridge to the Island Airport and fighting to restore the airport lands to their zoned use for public park and recreation. In the case of Spadina, activists used the threat of raw political power to unseat the incumbent Tory MPP, and the province capitulated. As for the ongoing battle over the future of the Island Airport lands, some things never change. The privileged and civically disengaged will continue to pollute and degrade Toronto’s waterfront with their “save a few minutes at all costs” life style. Like Spadina, at the end of the day, the larger community will prevail, but not without struggle.

In 1981, I founded Domicity Ltd., an information technology consulting company which has helped reshape the use of advanced IT in large private and government organizations. Domicity also advises IT hardware, software and services vendors on competitive issues and business strategies. For several years I was the federal government’s consultant of record for attracting IT investment to Canada and led missions to Japan, Korea and Silicon Valley.

My partners in Domicity, Sue Sparrow and Marc Brien were my mainstays in life and, laterally, in the effort to prolong it. Trust me it is harder on the caregivers than on those who receive their loving attention.

The organizing, electioneering, hectoring and hard work throughout my lifetime were leavened by travel, movies and more movies and my personal credo of “sex, politics and rock and roll” including last sets at Grossman’s, The Horseshoe, the Bev, Midwich Cuckoo, the Cameron, the Gasworks, the Elmo as well as community fundraising concerts organized by Sue, ranging from pianist Anton Kuerti to Perth County Conspiracy, the Good Brothers, Ernie Smith’s Roots Revival, Teenage Head and Johnny and the G-Rays.

There’s more of course - my remarkable romance of 45 years with Sue and the family and friends with whom I’ve shared so much love and affection. These memories will live on with them.

My early years are captured in my upcoming novel NAMAO … the God of Speed and Death. Built on an autobiographical framework, NAMAO uses events during my childhood to trace and analyse major trends - the back story - of the second half of the 20th century.

By way of background
Allan Sparrow was born July 22, 1944 in Vancouver BC. He was raised an air force ‘brat’, growing up on a series of bases across Canada, including Vancouver, Edmonton, Trenton, Picton and Ottawa.

Following his marriage to Sue in 1965, the two spent a year travelling to New Zealand and Australia.

After returning to Canada they lived in downtown Toronto and moved to Stratford in early 2007, a town Al spent much time in during his boyhood.

As a three-term Councillor (1974 to 1980), and as a community organizer before and after this period, Al helped lead many fights to improve city life.

Al died of colorectal cancer. The original prognosis gave him just six to 18 months to live. He was into his seventh year when he died, thanks to his indomitable spirit and a treatment regime based on aggressive nutritional strategies and multiple surgical interventions.

Al will live on in the hearts of all those for whom he improved the world or cajoled into watching movies, attending football games or listening to rock and roll.