There are a couple of hidden gem events around campus – events that are generally awesome in every conceivable way, but not enough people know about them. The University College Coffee House is a great example of this. It’s a great monthly event, but often suffers from little to no advertising.

Every month, UC’s Junior Common Room turns into a stage for some of U of T’s latent talent. Come sit on unnaturally large and comfortable red couches, grab some free coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and very tasty muffins from Diabolos and enjoy a night of music, muffins, and mood lighting.

If you’re really brave, you can sign up to perform. Anything is okay – music, poetry, comedy – whatever!

When: Tuesday March 13th at 8:30pm.
Where: The University College Junior Common Room (JCR), which is located in the northwest corner of UC. Look for the big wooden doors.
Details: Free coffee, muffins, and other coffee-shop fare. If you’d like to perform, show up earlier – the list typically fills up quickly.

If you haven’t heard of it already, I Love You To Death is an upcoming short film being worked on by a group of Ryerson and U of T students. It’s a musical about Julie (a sweet young girl who’s tired of the city hubbub), Roger (a serial killer), and the love they share. The film claims to have a “hell of a lot of singing, dancing, and gore.”

It’s currently in post-production and the cast/crew of the film is holding a quasi-fundraiser party/concert to raise money for it tomorrow night. It’ll feature the musical stylings of Nolan Natasha, Josh Penslar, as well as Max Galactic and the Cloud of Evil. Parts of the film will be screened, there are prizes, buttons, and shirts and it looks like an all-round homicidal good time.

When: Thursday, March 1st at 8pm.
Where: The El Mocambo – 484 Spadina Ave (just south of College).
Details: $5 to get in.

You may have noticed an abundance of new, photocopied posters on campus, sticking out from between things informing you of parties with Jenna Jameson or black-and-white posters telling us to wake up, as we’re being lied to. Then again, you may not have. Posters on campus typically last six hours before they are covered up with something advertising another showing of Dark Side of Oz at the Cineforum.

Regardless, it’s once again campaign time at U of T, meaning that the layer of posters covering Sid Smith will grow ever larger. (more…)

The Dr. Chung Resource Library is holding a free workshop on blogs and blogging this week. The workshop aims to be a primer on blogs for both the uninitiated reader and the veteran blogger, looking at them with an analytical eye in an attempt to improve the one’s ability to both write and read blogs.

Who knows, maybe they can teach us a little something about this blogging business that seems so popular with the kids these days.

When: Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 6:30pm.
Where: Centre for Women and Trans People, 563 Spadina Avenue, Room 100.
Details: Refreshments will be served. RSVP at resourcelibrary@opirguoft.org or leave a message at 416 978 8201.

We’ve all faced the dilemma. You really want to put those hours of watching the Food Network to good use and make a quality meal instead of going once again for breakfast at 7pm at Future Bakery or having tried-and-true Tuna Kraft Dinner. Cooking and eating well can be a scary prospect to students with tight wallets. Not everyone can afford the twenty different ingredients needed for good French, Thai, or Indian cuisine.

However, there is hope! The good folks at Epicurious have put together a collection of five-ingredient recipes that’ll have you eating well in about as much time as it takes Emeril to yell “Bam!” for the eighteenth time. You can find most of these money-saving ingredients at Kensington Market – check out health food or cheese stores for the trickier-to-find ingredients, or if it’s late out, you can go to your local 24-hour Dominion.

Check it out here. These recipes will save your culinary pride while being kind on your student budget. I recommend the butternut squash salad and the sugar snap pea pasta.

Happy eating!