Culture

Tough Love, Jamaican Style

Many Jamaican parents believe that to spare the rod is to spoil the child. Are they right? By Bria Barrows | Featured image courtesy of David Peterson via Pixabay | Updated April 20, 2020 My dad, Charles Barrows, leans his back against the ledge of our kitchen sink in Toronto as he recalls growing up…

Women Reinventing Ink

AN ALL-FEMALE TORONTO TATTOO SHOP IS HELPING TO COUNTERBALANCE AN INDUSTRY THAT HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN MALE DOMINATED. By Alexa Gregoris | Featured image courtesy of Adrian Boustead via Pexels | Updated April 20, 2020 Behind the Tinkerbell-green door of the HeartStrong tattoo shop, a small team of female artists are making a name for themselves…

Reading the Tarot

What was supposed to be a fun evening involving tarot cards surprisingly leads to some interesting insights. By Shannon Attard | Featured image courtesy of Alina Vilchenko via Pexels | Updated April 20, 2020 Last March, 22-year-old Adynn Montgomery skips to the mahogany table with a bottle of Girls’ Night Out Strawberry Sangria in her…

Inspiring Actors

Jonathan Higgins offers Toronto actors unique ways to improve their craft. By Anastasiya Ivanova | Featured image courtesy of Pexels | April 24, 2019 Jonathan Higgins presses his forearms into his chair’s armrests, supporting his body forward.  His face is inches away from a 20-inch TV, unflinching, studying. Inside the classroom of his Actor’s Imagination…

Looking Beyond

The perplexities of the spiritual world are explored through John Pothiah, a well-known Peterborough psychic. By Bianca Mazziotti | Featured image courtesy of Pixabay | April 18, 2019 We hear his footsteps coming down the stairs. Andrea Hester and I stop our conversation and look up to see her husband, John Pothiah, standing in the…

The Real Witches of Toronto

As a professor at OCAD, the founder of Toronto’s first pagan festival, and a witch, Monica Bodirsky is anything but the average Torontonian. By Shahroze Rauf | Featured photo courtesy of Shahroze Rauf | April 22, 2019 Crystal pendants of black quartz and a clear white gem hang around Monica Bodirsky’s neck, framed by brightly…

The Counterfeit Clothing Wars

When fast fashion companies copy independently-made designs, Toronto’s independent artists find that fighting back is rarely an easy battle to win. By Olivia Quenneville | Featured image courtesy of Pexels | April 17, 2019 During the last week of November 2018, Khloe Kardashian’s clothing brand, Good American, released a holiday collection that included a black…