Specifically: A Serious Man, An Education, and Nine. Each of these movies feature, as their main character, a magical time occurring somewhere between the end of World War II and the birth of the cellular phone. Men and women wander through the movies wearing lovingly recreated period suites and dresses. But apart from the strong visuals, I can’t recommend A Serious Man, An Education, or Nine: watching the movies feels more like watching a historical recreation than watching an actual story.

Snowfall in Toronto this winter has been, well, non-existent so this city’s shoe lovers have been able to go crazy and kick off their usual cold weather boots and Uggs (thank goodness!) in favour of more interesting footwear.

Both women and men are sporting flat-sole leather oxfords, dance shoes and brogues, as well as desert boots (pointed and round toes). Pretty much anything with a pointy toe –  with laces, slip on, flats or heels – is in vogue with the hipsters and styles are evocative of either the 50s, 80s OR 90s in what can only be described as a jumbled multi-decade mess of influences!

In other Toronto winter firsts – local guys can stop their vintage whining come mid March as vintage stores, Stacked and Lost + Found, are co-hosting a menswear only vintage sale. Rock ‘n’ Rogue is on March 12, 13 and 14^th at Cream Tangerine Gallery Café at the Great Hall and will offer a wide selection of hand-picked pre-loved items. Good vintage menswear is so rare that this event is a big treat for Toronto’s fashionistas.

There has been an explosion of new restaurants in my neighborhood — San Francisco’s Mission District. Among my favorites are a sausage joint and a new vegan Mexican place — which, oddly enough, I think draw a cross-over crowd.

Gracias Madre is the Latin vegan restaurant of a notoriously hippie raw food place called Cafe Gratitude — where each of the plates are named something like “I am plentiful” or “I am whole,” giving the opportunity for an “affirmation” when the food arrives (“You are plentiful,” “You are whole.”) Gracias Madre has kept the communal seating but dropped forced hippie interactions. And the food is incredible. The majority of it is grown at a local farm, and with dishes like mole enchiladas stuffed with mushrooms in the most delicious tangy sauce and served with garlicky kale and beans, it’s hard to not love it. You can also get vegan Mexican hot chocolate, homemade horchata and a huge selection of wines.

On the other side of the neighborhood — and the other side of the spectrum — is Rosamunde Sausage Grill, an order at the counter kind of place that fits right in with the current German food craze. You can sit at Oktoberfest-style long wooden tables, drink pints of beer and choose from a host of delicious sides to go with your sausage. Currently they have only one vegetarian option, which is what I always get, and I hope they’ll add more soon.

Good new music venues rarely pop up around town so the Garrison on Dundas Street West is a welcome addition to the landscape.

Thanks in part to its smoking hot location and a well-known booking agent, the Garrison has made quite the name for itself in a relatively short time. Housed in a space that was once a Portuguese sports bar, the bar has a cozy front room and a large back room with a stage and tons of room for dancing. Already on the way to institution status the space has already hosted well-known local parties such as Turning Point and Trampoline Hall, and live acts like experimental punk band, Aids Wolf, and queer electro pop dancers, Kids on TV. Just this past month, Iowa legends, Leslie & the Lys, had the crammed venue jumping in a sweaty dance party.

Another great venue to open recently is The Annex Wreckroom. This space has existed in several previous incarnations  including The Tequila Lounge where I saw Peaches perform with Tracy and the Plastics in the 90s but now it hosts local DJ nights and brings in Canadian and international talent. It will be one of the many venues for Canadian Music Week coming up in mid-March.

As a teenager, I majorly missed out on music videos: I didn’t have MTV, and streaming video was a distant dream. So it’s only now that I am getting caught up on the great music video canon, especially Spike Jonze’s old videos. It’s entirely possible that I just don’t watch enough videos these days (I do have MTV but would never dream of sitting around and watching it — I mean, do they even play music videos anymore?), but it seems to me like they are so over produced and over reliant on sex appeal.

My favorite video that’s been made recently is definitely A Place to Bury Strangers video for “Keep Slipping Away,” off their most recent album, Exploding Head. I must’ve watched this video ten times in a row when it first came out. The atmosphere, the slow speed camera, the colors — it’s pitch perfect. And moreover, it’s a rare video that actually makes me think more deeply about what the song means.

I really wish that there was some online site that curated music videos, new and old. If there is already one, I don’t know it.

The format of the variety show has, for the most part, been tossed in the  trash can and replaced with a global obsession with reality TV. Blech. But thanks again to the internet for allowing me to unearth endless vintage treasures from across the globe!

My passion for the medium erupted into an obsession when I discovered the brilliant Italian variety star from the 80’s, crazy blonde diva Sara Carlson. The bizarre range of her performances are MESMERIZING. Check out my link for all the goodies. The outfits! The moves! Sheer brilliance.

I then became deeper submerged in the genre when I started watching clips from Dolly Parton’s incredible show, aptly named “Dolly,” that ran on ABC for one glorious season during 1987-1988. This show was the last American attempt at the variety format, and why it declined in popularity I cannot begin to imagine. Featuring an all-star cast of guest stars including Tammy Wynette, Merle Haggard, Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck, and Oprah (and so many more), I cannot begin to get enough.

Another show that is currently blowing my mind is The Good Old Days, a British variety show that ran for thirty years (1953-1983) on the BBC. Designed to mirror the feel of Victorian era music halls, even the audience got into the spirit by dressing in 19th century costume and participating in the performances. Wah?! Check out some wacky footage here.

Proof: I took these two pictures at Graveyard on New Years Eve. The entire place was packed with the hippest (and drunkest) people I’ve ever seen. Since that night, I’ve happily made Graveyard my weekly watering hole.

As print media migrates online, there are some things that just don’t translate. For instance, there is just no replacement for the feeling of leafing through a beautifully designed magazine, its heavy, matte pages emanating that fresh paper smell. One new magazine, existing only online, comes close to rivaling print in design: The Bold Italic, which chronicles the offbeat in San Francisco.The Bold Italic is a project of web design firm Pivotal Labs. They use a stable of freelancers (“The Bold Locals”) for the writing, but what really makes them stand out is the graphic design. Each story is laid out and designed individually, based on what the subject is. Design templates are not their thing.

It seems, unfortunately, that the Bold Italic has put all its resources into the design, as the writing is not on par with it. Perhaps the design is just so good and interesting that it’s difficult to pay attention to the text, but I have yet to read an article fully through without skimming — perhaps the greatest challenge that an only-online magazine must face.

I would like to see the Bold Italic acknowledge the limitation of the online platform and branch out into other forms of visual storytelling, including photos and videos. In the meantime, the design alone is enough to keep me coming back.

Just a few weeks ago, I was drinking a Lone Star and listening to one of my favorite musicians of all time (Jonathan Richman of the Modern Lovers) sing some great tunes at the Austin landmark The Cactus Cafe. Located right in the bizarre student union of the University of Texas, this tiny bar has hosted a slew of musical legends since it opened its doors in 1979. Now the big news around town is that it’s on the verge of closing. Huh?!

This living room-sized mecca has been the start of many a country star, and the brilliantly dysfunctional Townes Van Zandt was rumored to play over one hundred shows here over the years. Apparently he played some of his most legendary and horrifying shows here. Sometimes he would be the genius weaver of country tales, and sometimes he would pass out in the middle of a song.

You win some, you lose some? Read about the fight to save the Cactus Cafe here or join the Facebook group here.

Finally glaceau vitaminwater has opened destination vitaminwater, a pop-up store in downtown Stockholm where a lot of interesting music, art, design activities are taking place over the next month or so.