Our weekly recap of the week’s news nuggets in Toronto will bring you up to date and add some fuel to your small-talk tank heading into the weekend.

Meet the new TTC stations

The long-awaited York University extension of the Spadina subway line is closer and closer to becoming a reality. The six new subway stations are boasting an artsy and modern flair, from Will Alsop’s OCAD-esque Finch West station to Paul Raff’s futuristic dome-inspired Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station.

Help build the world’s fastest bike in TO

A project to build the world’s fastest bike recently surpassed its funding goal of $30,000 — which means that Cameron Robertson and Todd Reichert of Toronto will be attempting to build the world’s fastest human-powered vehicle. The bike, known as Eta and looking like a cross between a shark and a bullet, will hopefully reach up to 133.8 km/h.

Beer gimmick shuts down intersection

Were you one of the unlucky people on July 7 whose commute along Spadina was disrupted due to a suspicious package? A mysterious briefcase found attached to a pole at Spadina and Dundas saw TTC diverting, police presence and eventually the shutdown of the intersection. Turns out it was a marketing stunt from Coors Light, who had placed the briefcase there as a prop for a search-and-rescue-themed scavenger hunt. Next time, Coors, try this thing called a commercial.

There’s a watering hole nearby

Blog TO has managed to compile a list of the best bars close to each of the TTC’s 69 subway and surface rail transit stations — a handy list to keep in mind when you really don’t feel like walking or cabbing it. In some cases, it may be a bit of a reach (we’re thinking, particularly along the SRT line, they mean “only bars nearby” and not “best bars nearby”).

Development notices go flashy

Local activist Dave Meslin has succeeded in convincing the city to spice up the city’s development notice signs. By next year, the old black-and-whites will be a bit flashier, a bit more colourful, and hopefully have clearer explanations so residents can have a better idea of things to come and when the meetings are.

The Wedge

For the second time, Canadian music fans will be bidding adieu to MuchMusic’s popular show The Wedge, which is the network’s premier source for underground music. The well-reviewed show never got much of a chance to succeed, being pushed to a 2 a.m. time slot after its recent re-boot. Fans from the early ’90s may remember when the queen of CBC Sook-Yin Lee was host.

Rob Ford on the small screen?

There’s already a musical in the works as well as a trailer for a fake movie starring Chris Farley, why not a TV show? Troubled American actor Alec Baldwin has mused the possibility of starring in a TV show centred around a “Rob Ford-type mayor” of New York City. Baldwin has had his own public personal issues in recent years, so it wouldn’t be entirely inauthentic — though it would be nice to see Toronto on the small screen and not New York. And few would make a better Rob Ford than the late Chris Farley.

Air Guitar Hero

Last night the city’s regional qualifiers for the annual Canadian national air guitar contest. Nationals will be held later this month, also in Toronto. Yes, this is a real thing. Contestants are asked to march out on stage and perform one minute of a song of their choice. We’re sure nothing could be more freeing than letting loose with some hard rocking pantomiming — we all do it when we’re alone, right?

Blink and you'll miss it — Toronto in the pictures!

Another list has emerged featuring even more movies shot in Toronto. This one includes Mean Girls (shot at both an Etobicoke high school and around the Bridle Path), Kick-Ass (McLovin drives his car along Queen Street at night) and Pacific Rim (who would have thought the Portlands look convincing in a dystopian, monster-ridden future?).

Crikey! Caiman caught in High Park

This week Toronto police and staff from a Vaughan reptile zoo scrambled for several hours to catch a caiman (a small relative to the alligator) swimming around Catfish Pond in High Park. The small animal, roughly two feet long, is not native to these parts, and police speculate he was kept (illegally) as a pet before he was let free. After finally apprehending the little beast, he was sent to Reptilia in Vaughan before he can find a more permanent home. Just look at those big eyes… he’s kind of cute!