Nuit Blanche - October 1 - 7 pm 'til Sunrise

This will be another first for me. Nuit Blanche is the French term for an all-nighter. With my raising, usually an all-nighter involves copious amounts of alcohol, and/or a very vigorous... err... friend... so meandering about and checking out art installations all over the downtown will be a change of pace. Then again, there are enough bars in the downtown core to make the combination bar-hop-art-crawl into one multi-headed hydra of awesomeness.

The idea started in Nantes, France in 1984, and quickly became an international sensation. Nowadays, over 120 cities worldwide have a night, or several nights that they shut down city streets, and have all manner of art - sculpture, light, performance, painting - you name it, it's probably there.

This year's will be the 6th event in Toronto, and feature 130 installations all over the downtown core. They've got a handy map and night planner app for smartphones to help you plan your trapsing. I'm going with the age-old travel method of tagging along with people who've been paying more attention than I. That'll free me up to pay more attention to my rigorous training regimen for the Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer tournament that I'll be spending dawn-til-dusk playing in. Burning the day at both ends FTW.

So, enough fluff. What's on my hit list for the night?

Sans Façon - "Limelight" - Glasgow, UK

The concept is simple - they replace ordinary streetlights with spotlights, making the street into an impromptu stage, where we're the performers. The artists say that their "work aims to question places and invites a renewed outlook at everyday situations." Maybe a little overstating, but it'll be fun to see how people ham it up in the glow...

Grosvenor Street, just west of Yonge.

Kurt Firla, Elliott Mealia and Po-Mo Inc. - "Ride the Rocket" - Toronto, ON

Kind of like a simulation ride at an amusement park, this bad boy is going everywhere and nowhere at once. Dreamed up by animators and comedians, it's a stationary street car that will "visit" all kinds of far flung locales, with a trained "TTC driver" (who we all hope will stay awake for the duration...) to guide the tour. Probably a big line for this one.

600 Bay Street.

Christine Irving & Interactive Art - "The Heart Machine, 2010" - Toronto, ON

Flames shooting 25 feet in the air from a 16 foot high symbolic representation of the human heart? The only thing that could make that cooler (and cause a corresponding jump in the demand for natural gas in the Province) is if it shot flames in the air on command from passers-by. Oh, wait, they thought of that. Touch the sensors that represent the arteries, and try not to toast any pidgeons in the process. People got to play with this at Burning Man this year. Now it's our turn. To be fair, it's supposed to be 9 degrees on Saturday, so we need it a little more than those dirty hippies in the desert, right?

640 Bay St.

Artist Bloc - "The Happiness Project" - Toronto, ON

Each room in the studio building is designed as the artist's take on happiness... then people will be in there musing about happy thoughts, while orchestral music plays in the background. I may just curl up here for a nap... 134 Ossington Ave.

Of course, these are just four that caught my eye out of what I've seen so far. There are tons of things to see on this night... and you should never refuse the opportunity to have your city become your playground.

I'm bringing my camera.... this may be that catalyst for that T.O. Slideshow I've been pondering for this thing.