Archive for the ‘events’ Category

Open streets on Yonge and Bloor.

Posted: September 19, 2018 in events, people
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two young women holding signs that say, Love Open Streets, prove it. #openstreetsto

Open Streets – the second, and final, Open Streets for 2018 was held last Sunday.   Large sections of Bloor and Yonge Streets downtown were closed to traffic leaving lots of room for cyclists, pedestrians and a number of activities.

below: Axe Capoeira

a man is flipping upside down in front of an audience on the sidewalk

below: Mayada’s Belly Dance at Yonge & Bloor

the intersection of Yonge and Bloor at Open Streets, belly dancers performing for an audience, Nordstroms Rack store in the background

below: And other dancing in the street too – or rather, a very active fitness session!

four young people dancing in the street, two male and two female.

below: It looks like animals can dance too… this dog seems to be having a great time!

people in life size animal costumes including heads, dance along in a fitness session on Yonge street during Open Streets

below: Little drummer boy on a fancy Home Depot drum set!

a young boy uses wooden drum sticks to bang on upturned orange plastic buckets from Home Depot, outside, activity at Open Streets

looking east on Bloor past the Royal Ontario Museum, no traffic, for Open Streets, some cyclists, tall buildings in the background

below: Decorating bikes and scooters

close up of hands decorating a scooter with flowers and foam shapes

below: Sharing a hammock in the middle of Yonge Street.

a young couple share a hammock strung between two trees on a diving strip own the middle of Yonge Street, their bikes are parked beside the hammock

a woman with flowers in hair in profile

below: Trumpet lessons

a man teaches a boy to blow a trombone, outdoors, activity on the sidewalk during Open Streets

a couple cycles together up Yonge street, on rented Bixi bikes, holding hands

below: Yoga in the park

doing yoga on grass laid down on the street, Bloor Street, temporary park for Open Streets

below: And for those who were looking for something less active…

a man has fallen asleep on the grass beside the OPen Streets Park sign,

below:  Yonge Street was also on the route of the 2018 Toronto AIDS walk

a policeman on a bike leads an AIDS walk up Yonge Street, people holding a banner follow him and then many people wearing red T-shirts

people wearing red T-shirts and carrying signs, walking in a walk to raise funds and awareness for AIDS, on Yonge Street.

below: A Lamborghini.  0 to 6 in how many seconds?

turquoise Lamburghini bike locked along with other bikes

two women sitting on the steps of a building having a discussion, a yellow bike is in the foreground

two women walk with their young children, strollers, down Yonge Street during OPen Streets, downtown Toronto in the background

Labour Day Parade 2018

Posted: September 3, 2018 in events, people
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below: IATSE Local 58 led the parade this year. They have been locked out of the CNE who brought in workers from Quebec and Alberta to help set up the Ex this year. Usually the parade ends at the CNE grounds at the Dufferin Gate and participants get free admission to the Ex. This year, the parade ended at Lamport Stadium instead.

labour Day parade on Queen St West, IATSE local 58, banner, with the words Behind the scenes since 1898, some people walking including a young woman carrying a bag of buttons that she's handing out.

below: Mayoral candidate, Jennifer Keesmaat, walked in the parade with the IATSE locals.  At Bathurst St., the groups at the front slowed down to let the others catch up.  At that point, Keesmaat was interviewed by CP24.

labour Day parade on Queen St West, mayoral candidate Jennifer Keesmaat being interviewed by a woman reporter from CP24 news, in the midst of the parade

labour Day parade on Queen St West, a woman with a sign that says Ford needs a sex education, walking in front of large oversized effigy of Doug Ford

labour Day parade on Queen St West, ACTRA member male, carrying sign that says Artists are Voters,

labour Day parade on Queen St West, ACTRA member, female, with sign that says Come on Women, please start supporting other women

labour Day parade on Queen St West, small dog on a leach with an actra T-shirt on

labour Day parade on Queen St West, man in tartan kilt playing drums, union members carrying flags including Canadian flag

labour Day parade on Queen St West,

labour Day parade on Queen St West, a young woman holds an orange NDP sign for the local Parkdale MPP Bhutial Krapoche, as members of the Sprinkler Fitters of Ontario Union come around the corner from Queen West to Dufferin

labour Day parade on Queen St West, a man walks with large white wings, about 8 feet across (2.5 metres), he's wearing a black T-shirt with white words that say No Justice No Peace

amalgamated transit workers union march in labour Day parade on Queen St West,

labour Day parade on Queen St West, Canadian Media guild members walk with their banner, wearing red t-shirts

members of United Steelworkers walk in Labour Day parade including a woman in red cowboy hat and red frilly skirt

labour Day parade on Queen St West, young people in pink t-shirts carry blue flags for a union,

labour Day parade on Queen St West, two women carry brown cardboard signs, one says How do I snitch on my politician? and the other talks about policies affecting education ofchildren

labour Day parade on Queen St West, Toronto Civic Employees Union

a young person walks in the labour Day parade on Queen St West, carrying a sign that says society prefers somnambulism to awareness, know your rights

millwrights local 2309 walk with their banner in a labour day parade

millwrights union members carrying flags

OPSEU banners and people in Labour Day parade, inclusing two with large oversized, tall, effigies of Doug Ford and John Tory

labour Day parade on Queen St West,

Power Workers union protest signs, held by one man

labour Day parade on Queen St West, woman in pink t-shirt riding a bike in front of walkers in the parade

labour Day parade on Queen St West, an older black man carries a sign that says Hands Off our paid sick days

labour Day parade on Queen St West, a black man waves a union flag, wearing a black t shirt with the words No Justice No Peace. Some other people are riding on a flat bed truck behind him, with posters that say Pay Equality for all

a man roller blades past the parade, water bottle in one hand, grocery bags in the other, he is topless, labour Day parade on Queen St West,

fan faces – Fan Expo 2018

Posted: September 2, 2018 in events, people
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a group of people waiting for a green light, two are in costumes for Fan Expo

Fan Expo came to Toronto for a few days this weekend.   If the person beside you on the subway was dressed up in some sort of costume, perhaps they were heading to Fan Expo.  Prizes were award to the best costumes and from what I saw when I hung out around the convention centre, the competition was quite steep.

Here are some examples of the people that I saw.

man in red leather mask, holes for eyes but nothing else,

below: Looloo from ‘The Fifth Element’

a woman with a bright orange wig

below: The Littlest Mermaid, Ariel

a woman dressed up as Ariel, the Disney mermaid, long red hair and a purple flower in her head

below: Robin, Boy Wonder

a woman dressed as Robin, Boy Wonder, reddish orange wig, and large glasses

a woman in costume, black top, har, and face paint,

a woman in costume, long curly black hair, fangs, black lips, claws and fur on hands,

 

a woman in pale pink wig and totally covered face with pink paint

below: The Queen of Hearts

woman dress as the Queen of Hearts, head only, curly red hair, white face paint, tiny red heart on lips

a person in an elaborate costume looking like a metal robot figure

below: You’re never too young to dress up!

a mother with a child on her shoulders, walking to Fan Expo, child has spiky hair and an orange costume

below: The Joker and mini Joker with a Harley Quinn or two.

man dressed up as Joker pushes a stroller with a young boy also dressed as the Joker with green hair and purple suit

below: A Sailor Moon gets a touch up

woman with green hair is applying blue lipstick

below: Batman comes in many shapes and sizes!

child in long red wig and batman mask, also purple batman costume with a yellow bat symbol, Batman is in the right of the pic

woman in black leather and tophat

woman in turquoise face paint, dark blue veil and a white frilly collar and white hair

a woman in pale blue shirt, pale purple witch shaped hat, carrying a purple umbrella

woman in yellow wig, and matching yellow dress, carrying a yellow basket

a woman wearing a tall crown made of sticks, three strands of yellow beads and a cross around her neck, lots of make up to make her face look mottled and bumpy

man in black and red bandana, black vest open to reveal bare chest, tattoo above his heart, black glove, carrying a can of red bull

two women in costume, the one in front is smiling, the other is not, hair in braids, small crown on head,

man with shite face and yellowish green eyes

people walking to Fan Expo. Man in a red T-shirt with drunk 1 on it, similar to a Dr. Suess thing 1 t shirt

below: Anime inspired costumes.

four asian women in navy and white frilly anime french maid costumes, with hair tied up with bows,

asian woman in navy and white frilly anime french maid costumes, with hair tied up with bows, pompom bracelet on

asian woman in navy and white frilly anime french maid costumes, with hair tied up with tartan bows,

asian woman in navy and white frilly anime french maid costumes, with hair tied up with pink and green bows, blue nail polish

asian woman in navy and white frilly anime french maid costumes, with hair tied up with pink and purple bows,

below: Anonymous mask

person wearing anonymous mask from v for vengence movie

woman with orange hair

a woman lies on her arms on a table, sitting at the table, as she works outside at Fan Expo

brains, minus a dimension

Posted: August 5, 2018 in events, public art
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woman in a bright pink dress, holding a bouquet of flowers poses beside a brain artwork at Nathan Phillips Square while a man in a blue suit takes her picture

The brains are back!  Close to 50 brains decorated by different artists can be seen in about a dozen locations around this city throughout the summer.

This year they are 2-dimensional, not three.  They are much flatter.  Above, making an interesting companion to the fabulous pink dress is “Enigmatic Glitter” by Donald and Elaine Rafelman Creative Arts Studio at Baycrest.  When we picture art together it lights a spark and evokes a glitter of hope.

 

below: At Nathan Phillips Square, from left to right:  “Pop Art” by Mary Ann Grainger,  “No Brainer #Repainthistory” by Andrea Bolley,  “Neon Future” by Steve Aoki, “Get Me Out! by Hate Copy (aka Maria Qamar), “Mental Vacation ” by Birdo, and “My Mind is Swimming” by Gina Godfrey.

two young woman are standing beside a row of artwork, brain shaped, each in a plexiglass container, standing in the water of the fountain at Nathan Phillips Square, 7 brain sculptures, all decorated by different artists, part of the brain project in support of Baycrest

 

below:  “Power in Growth” by Amy Jeffreys in the Distillery District.  Persevere and grow.  Every human is capable of harnessing strength from their weaknesses.  In this piece, the tangled roots represent the inner struggles and complexity of one’s thoughts.

off-white artwork in the shape of a brain, covered with cords and leaves, or maybe leaves and stems

below: “Memory” by Colin Nun at Nathan Phillips Square.  “This type-based piece represents disconnect, dead ends, and memories lost to brain disease.  It is inspired by the loss of the artist’s grandfather to Alzheimer’s disease and was created as a tribute to his memory.  Take a close look to find a hidden word in the piece.  What do you see?”

2 dimensional brain, artwork, designed with orange and white lines, beside water at Nathan Phillips Square, 3D toronto sign behind it

below: “The Mind’s Eye” by Dave Bagley at Yonge and St. Clair.  Concentric rings of birds, fish, and diamonds radiate from the center.

a brain from the brain project at yonge and St. Clair, in a plexiglass display case, minds eye by David Bagley

below: Close up of the above, clearly showing the two seahorses in the center as well as the repeating yellow fish and blue birds.   According to the artist, “I believe all of humankind share an organic Wi-fi that connects everyone, all we need to do is turn on the switch… is yours on?”

close up of painting on brain shaped sculpture, called Mids Eye by David Bagley, circular pattern of fish and seahorses

below: “Puzzled” by Harm Huibers on Grist Mill Lane in the Distillery District.  The design of the brain is complex and intricate; when it’s complete, it’s a beautiful puzzle.  Diseases like Alzheimers take pieces out of the puzzle.

a plain brown puzzle in the shape of a brain, eight of the pieces are either missing or only partially in place

The project is sponsored by Yogen Fruz and Pinkberry and is in support of the Baycrest Foundation.  Baycrest, a leader in research into brain health and aging, is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.

You can find pictures of all of the 2018 brains online at the brainproject.ca as well as descriptions of the brains and the artists behind their creation.

29 July – another Pedestrian Sunday

Posted: July 30, 2018 in events, people
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People watching at Kensington Pedestrian Sunday

a woman in white sleeveless top and with very red dyed very curly hair, carrying a bottle of ginger beer,

a young black man in black wide brimmed hat sings in front of a microphone, part of a band performing ouside in front of a mural on a wall

below: The Spontaneous Poet, poet 4 hire

woman with green felt hat with floppy brim, smoking a cigarette, sitting at a small table and typing on an old Smith Corona typewriter. She has a sign on the table that says, poet for hite, the spontaneous poet.

older man with white beard and mustache, wearing sunglasses and teal baseball cap, leans on a garbage can while smoking a cigarette

a young black woman with long dreadlocks has a large snake on her forearm, she's smiling. A man with grey grey beard and moustache watches her.

man standing in an alley with street art on one wall, holding a guitar, he has just finished playing and singing, a man is behind him on a bike

balding black man with the Queen of hearts playing card stuck on his head makes a muscle man stance with fists clenched, he's performing magic tricks while people watch him

below: #whatsvictorupto painting the word ‘together’ on the sidewalk.

victor painting on the sidewalk in Kensington. He's wearing a shiny sparkly mask over the top of his head. people are walking past #whatsvictorupto

an older man in tweed jacket and cap with long white beard and mustache, black rim glasses, white plastic bag over one arm, walks down the street

young black man dancing on the street, part of a group, Pedestrian Sunday afternoon at Kensington, people in the background watching

young Asian womanin a straw coloured wide brimmed hat, smiling as she dances, she is holding the brim of her hat with both hands so it doesn't fall off

a male mime, black hamburg hat, lime green shirt, black suspenders and red carnation on the suspenders, beckoning to the crowd, outside, street festival, pedestrian sunday at kensington

a black man dances on the street, slow dance, with an older blond woman,

two women dancing, one with long hair on the top but shaved on the sides, wearing an intricate black necklace, double, one woman in focus in the front, the other slightly out of focus, purple and black sleeveless tops, close up of head and shoulders and one hand with grey fingernails

woman in short velvet close fitting top, large necklace, and holding a white parasol walks down a street in a crowd of people

young girl in Minnie Mouse tshirt and frilly pink skirt, pacifier in mouth, sits on the street beside a bike while she watched a performer, summer afternoon,

black woman with very short hair, round sunglasses and white top, wearing many strands of beads, sitting on a bench on her phone

a man wearing a purple vest and white hat, stands on stilts with long trousers covering, juggling 4 different coloured bats (or pins?) shaped a bit like bowling pins, two in his hands and two in the air. outside on the street

 

what is happening at city hall?

Posted: July 27, 2018 in events, people
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below: What is happening? By the looks of it, Doug Ford and John Tory have taken up cricket. Nice uniforms but something’s not cricket…

a woman with light brown hair holds a sign at a protest, seen from the back. The sign says what is happening? Picture of John Tory and Doug Ford as cricket players.

below: What is happening is a protest. A decent sized crowd gathered at Nathan Phillips Square late this afternoon because why?  Because another Ford, another protest. Been there, done that, and is he really going to do what? Sigh.

crowd gathered at Nathan Phillips square for a protest, TV cameras, microphones, speakers, protesters, signs, placards,

below: Making a point.  Doug Ford recently dictated that the sex ed curriculum brought in by the last government will no longer be taught because not enough parents had been consulted about its contents.  Today he announced that the number of Toronto city council seats will be reduced from 47 to 25 after he consulted with zero zilch nada of Toronto’s 2.7 million people.  Hypocrisy.  It also gives credence to the theory that this is all sour grapes – he lost the last mayoral election to John Tory and his ego is damaged.

a man in a green t shirt holds up a protest sign that says Dick-tator Ford

below: “To succeed we must secede #provinceofontario”  An interesting concept?

Crowd of people at protest rally at city hall in Toronto. One man holds a sign that says to succeed we need to secede

protesters at an anti Doug Ford and anti PC Ontario provincial government for their announcement to cut the number of city council seats

two middle aged red headed women holding a sign at a protest at city hall

a young woman holds up a sign that says Dud Ford. Words followed by a sad face. Seen from the back. Lots more people in the crowd at the rally

below: Ford did campaign on cheap beer, a dollar a can if I remember correctly.  There was no beer at Nathan Phillips square this afternoon.   No consultations AND no beer.

a woman holds a white hand written sign at a protest, the sign says You campaigned on cheap beer, not on cutting my representation in government with no public consultation where is my beer?

Young women in a crowd, holding a sign that says Ford - F for Fuck O for Off R for rude and D for Doug

below: A lone dissenter (or at least the only visible one). “Thank you Doug Ford.  You saved me a part of my battle, for the Mayor’s office.  Harris suggested this at amalgamation you put it in to action. Jim McMillan.”

people sitting by the Archer, a Henry Moore sculpture, at Nathan Phillips Square. An older man is talking to another man. He is holding a hand written sign that says Thanks to Doug Ford

Once the speeches were over, some of the protesters went inside City Hall to the council chambers where a city council meeting was in progress.  We’ll see what happens in the coming days and weeks.

below: Like most days, there were lots of tourists in the square too.  But that’s a whole other story!

a father and son by the light purple O in the 3D Toronto sign. In the background is a group of people at a protest

fan Friday

Posted: July 13, 2018 in events
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view of the stands for watching Honda Indy in Toronto, with flags flying from the top row, but not too many people in the stands because it's early in the day

Fan Friday at the Honda Indy, Exhibition Grounds. This is the day that entrance to the Indy grounds is free, although a donation to the ‘Make a Wish Foundation’ is encouraged. It was a day of practice laps and qualifying runs for a number of races. Although I started early, in a futile attempt to beat the heat, I missed a couple of events. I arrived in time to see the first practice for the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge.

four porsche race cars on the race track at Honda Indy

porsche race car on Honda Indy track in Toronto

I have never been to a car race before and although I have watched a few Formula One races on TV, I didn’t know what to expect this morning. I knew it was going to be noisy and I was glad that I had ear plugs with me. I wandered around and checked out as many vantage points as I could.

5 Porsche racing cars in the pit lane with many people around them, at Honda Indy in Toronto

When I first arrived and had my backpack checked by security, I was told that any camera greater than 10 inches wasn’t allowed. At that time I had a small lens on my camera so there were smiles all round. When I switched to a longer lens I was a bit hesitant… but I quickly realized that my camera was no where near the biggest. I also noticed that I might have been the only woman taking pictures.

porsche race car on Honda Indy track in Toronto

below: Trying to set a record for the fastest lap? Pushing the car to its position in the pit lanes in preparation to start the qualifying laps of the Pro Mazda (one of the rungs of the Indy ladder system of races).

two men in green shirts push a race car to its position in the pit lane, Honda Indy, Toronto

below: Being towed into the pit lane to prepare for the qualifying run.

four men on a cart tow a yellow yellow race car covered with DHL ads into place before the start of a race

These weren’t ‘races’ between cars. Qualifying is done by doing laps as fast as you can – a race against the clock. There were a few cars with mechanical issues but no crashes in the time that I was there.two race cars pass by stands at Honda Indy

below: Flags and fire extinguishers

flag man watches the race at Honda Indy, flags beside him as well as fire extinguishers

below: The tire comes off and the umbrella gets held.

standing around a race car pre-race

below: The next event (and the last one that I stayed around for) was the first practice run in the Verizon Indycar Series.

two nascar type cars racing on a track at the Honda Indy, some people sitting in the stands,

below: I don’t think it’s going to stop whatever the silly sign says…. racing along Lakeshore Blvd.

a blue car races on track with is along Lakeshore, behind two layers of chainlink fence

three men of three different ages stand on a grassy hill watching race cars practice at the Honda Indy in Toronto

below: Alas, I wasn’t an official photographer, so there was an extra layer of annoying wire fence in the way.

two Honda Indy official photographers get close to the race to take pictures of a yellow race car as it comes around a corner

below: Signing autographs after doing laps.

race car driver Harrison Scott signs autographs for young admirers

drivers of racing cars signing autographs for admirers

below: Spectators only get to see a small part of the track. Large monitors like this were scattered around the site showing video of the races

large TV screen mounted on a metal post outside the back of a truck, mobile TV network setup to cover the Indy. picture on screen is of part of the racetrack.
The Indy is in Toronto for the weekend as qualifying laps and practices continue, leading up to the final races. If you are near the Exhibition Grounds you’ll hear the cars as they race around the course….especially if you’re stuck in the traffic mess caused by all the road closures!

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