Attention attendees of the 61st Annual World Science Fiction Convention

A special entry for the attendees of this weekend’s WorldCon:

Hello, Writers! Hello, Fans! Welcome to Accordion City!

If you look to the south of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (the location of the Con) and upwards, you’ll see the CN Tower. If you look elsewhere, you’ll see…

Nothing.

Well, you’ll see an office complex and some pretty sad-and-generic resto-bars across the street from the Convention Centre. West of it is a lot of condos and construction sites for more condos. To the east is the south end of the Financial District, which is pretty quiet at night.

Don’t let the boringness of the area around the Convention Centre (or the recent Simpsons episode set in Toronto) fool you into thinking that Accordion City is the Canadian Cleveland! Toronto, long-derided for being “too boring” by the Americans, “too American” by Montrealers and “too uptight” by Vancouverites, is none of those. Instead, it’s North America’s most multicultural city, a city the size and population of Chicago but much, much safer, has waaaay more nightlife than San Francisco (I know, I lived there) and hey, the weed’s pretty good (so I’m told).

Watch this space for places to go. I’ll mention lots of places that are either within walking distance or a quick cab ride away from the Con that get the Accordion Guy seal of approval. And if you can’t trust a guy who walks around with an accordion, who can you trust?

Alernately, you can hire me as your guide for a night out on the town. For the low, low price of a couple of pints of Guinness, the use of your powers to get me invited to a suite party or a signed copy of your book/graphic novel/model lightsaber, I will take you out on a Saturday night tour of various hangouts mentioned on this blog, including Toronto’s most notorious speakeasy. Drop me a line if you’re interested.

I am also available for accordion performances and am not above filking. I am not proud.

And once again, welcome to Accordion City!