Toronto’s Legendary Jeff Healey Dies of Cancer at 41, Raptors Performance Listless Without Bosh: TorontoIAM

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Bobcats Take Bosh-less Raptors

In the latest from Raptors News, Mike Cranston describes the Raptors’ “listless performance against one of the NBA's worst teams.” Without their top scorer and rebounded Chris Bosh, out with a sore knee, the “Raptors gave up 30 points to Charlotte's Jason Richardson, and allowed the Bobcats to dominate the glass in a 110-98 win on Sunday.” The Bobcats snapped their five game losing streak with a 50-37 rebounding advantage. The Raptors didn’t seem to miss Bosh while “building an 11-point first-half lead, only to implode after halftime.”

Cranston states in his post that “Toronto hardly looked like a team trying to secure home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.” According to Coach Mitchell, Toronto “didn't box out. [The Bobcats] beat us up on the glass. There's nothing else to say.'” For the Raptors, “Anthony Parker scored 24 points and Bosh's fill-in, Rasho Nesterovic, added 16 points, but 13 came in the first quarter.” Andrea Bargnani didn’t “step up his game” and finished with “six points and five rebounds on 2-of-8 shooting.” All in all, it was an “embarrassing night for the Raptors.”

Cyclists Encouraged to Attend Bloor/Dundas Visioning Session

Vic at I Bike TO reminds readers of the second Bloor/Dundas visioning session this Wednesday March 5, and encourages all local cyclists to attend. Vic states in the post that “the developments and changes at this intersection could have a big impact on the West End for cyclists.” This session is the second of three planned by the City “to get public opinion from residents about potential developments in the Bloor St. W. and Dundas St. W. area.” The first session took place on January 16th and over 100 residents were in attendance.

Some of the issues that cyclists may bring up at this meeting include an East-West bike lane on Bloor St., the lack of connectivity in the current Bike Plan, bike parking, and access to Dundas West subway and Bloor GO stations. “Cyclists across Toronto have called the lack of cycling facilities along Bloor-Danforth the biggest missing piece of the whole network.” Vic writes that with the current streetscape in the area, “there is plenty of room for cyclists to ride away from the main through-traffic and away from the door-zones. So the space for new bike lanes is there.” His wish is that the current configuration isn’t made worse! He points out that the Bike Plan map seems to do “its very best to make cyclists AVOID the Dundas and Bloor area... a major east-west (Bloor) and north-south (Dundas/Roncesvalles) corridor and destination for cyclists.”

Legendary Musician Jeff Healey Dies at 41

The Torontoist pays homage to Jeff Healey, beloved Toronto musician “and owner of Jeff Healey’s Roundhouse on Blue Jays Way,” who died of cancer over the weekend at age 41. Healey, blind since the age of one, had “an operation to remove cancerous tissue from both of his lungs in January of last year.” Healey had been touring across Canada and was planning a European “even as he got sick.”

This news “comes just under two months before the domestic release of [his] new album, Mess of Blues, recorded with what Healey called ‘the best damned bar band in Canada.’” According to the post, you can find plenty more information about his life and music on his blog. “Funeral and memorial arrangements are forthcoming.”

The Best Live Music Venues in Toronto

Continuing its reader poll “bests” of Toronto, Blog TO reports on the city’s “best venues for live music.” Factors used in discerning these venues included the acts they book, “the sound quality and acoustics, the lighting, the vibe, the selection of beers they offer, and even how disgusting the washrooms are.” According to blogger Jerrold, we’re pretty lucky in Toronto, as there are plenty of “great places to check out music of all genres, a good variety of venue sizes, and they're well spread out around the downtown core.”

The readers have spoken, and the legendary Horseshoe Tavern ranked came out on top. “Open for more than 60 years, the ‘Shoe has seen and hosted musicians from many great eras, earned its great reputation, and is tops in the hearts of Torontonians.” In second place was Lee’s Palace, a mid-sized venue “featuring some of the best local and international indie and up-and-coming bands.” The popular Little Italy venue Mod Club came in 3rd. “Live music, DJ sessions and dance parties are all part of the mix at the Mod Club.” More voter results can be found in the post.

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