The weather’s been all over the place, warm, cold, hot, cold again, back and forth…. like May weather usually is. We were fortunate to have great weather this past holiday Monday and a lot of people took advantage of the day! As I walked around, this is some of what I saw.
This little walk starts with the artwork of Marleen Sleeuwits and her ‘Not the Actual Site’ exhibit at Brookfield Place (Allan Lambert Galleria).
A short walk from Brookfield Place westward along King street towards Metro Hall….
where pictures from John Edmonds ‘Hoods’ series are on display (as are the people who walk past!).
Across the street from ‘Hoods’ is Caroline Monnet’s, ‘History shall speak for itself’. These photos are the south and west wall of TIFF.
Just a bit farther west (at Spadina) you can find a large purple hued image by Felicity Hammond on the north wall of 460 King St. West.
A few more smaller works by Felicity Hammond are in the Contact Gallery at 80 Spadina – the building immediately north of the parking lot where you can find the image above. The gallery glowed in pink and purple light.
below: Object shapes are cut outs from a thin sheet of acrylic on which photos were printed. These shapes are held up by clay blobs.
And that’s our tour for today!
Revelation Day of Khalsa celebration at Nathan Phillips Square.
Fabulous colours and smells.
And LOTS of people! The people came from around Ontario as well as some from New York state.
below: There was free food for everyone.
below: There was a place for prayer
Last weekend
This weekend
I hope that you all had a great weekend! It was fabulous to be out and about enjoying the warm weather – everyone is happier when the sun shines and the snow melts! The following pictures were taken today when I was out walking along Queen West, people watching as I went.
below: Street artist SKAM and his graffiti tag. The original was painted in 2012 and had not been tagged over or messed up too much. Some of the paint was peeling so it was time for a make over.
below: Part of the latest Uber5000 mural is reflected in the window as SKAM paints.
below: Trinity Bellwoods Park (This is also where the ‘believe’ in yellow is woven into the chainlink fence – photo above).
below: The albino squirrel of Trinity Bellwoods Park – he’s up here somewhere!
below: Found him!
below: Reaching for a coffee
below: Walking the dog!
below: It wasn’t a happy day for everyone.
below: Smoking room
below: Supporting the locals. It’s also play-off time of the year and this year both the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs are still in the playoffs in their respective sports.
Welcome spring!
April 20, 4/20, 420 day with its annual marijuana protest. The nature of the “protest” has changed over the years now that the fight for legalization is almost over. This year was more like a group of friends hanging out together at Nathan Phillips Square and enjoying the warmest day that we’ve had in a while. A few items, seeds, edibles, etc, were available for sale. The group didn’t have a permit for the event (they were turned down) but that didn’t stop them. The police (and other security) presence was very visible but confrontations were kept to a minimum – at least for the time that I was there which was early on. I left while Nathan Phillips Square wasn’t crowded.
below: Green whistles were distributed and there were times when the sound they made was quite loud!
Well, that was quite a weekend. An April winter storm with snow, sleet, ice pellets, freezing rain, and even some just plain rain. The streets were icy and the sidewalks were slushy and wet. Chunks of ice have fallen off roofs, tree branches have broken off with the weight of the ice that formed on them. And then there was the wind that blew hard. Of course I went out!
below: Dressed in our April finery. Black parkas.
below: There is a small, but interesting, exhibit at the Toronto Reference Library at Yonge and Asquith that I wanted to see. It’s called ‘Toronto Revealed’ and it’s in the TD Gallery on the main floor. It features drawings and paintings of Toronto’s past.
below: One of the paintings in the exhibit is this one, ‘Cherry Street Hotel’ by Gerard Lazare (1978). The Cherry Street Hotel was built in 1890 at the corner of Cherry and Front Streets. It later became the Canary Restaurant (1965-2010). The building is still there but it stands empty.
below: There was a display of small artworks by Nicholas Hornyansky (1896-1965), including this one of St. James Cathedral (1938). Hornyansky was born in Hungary and immigrated to Canada in 1929. He is known for the etchings and aquatints (another print making technique) that he did of Toronto buildings and landscapes.
below: Most of the paintings were very realistic (documentary) except this one – a wacky view of Bloor Street looking west from Yonge towards Bay by Carlos Marchiori, painted in acrylic in 1976. Even then, it is fairly true to reality. The darker tower on the right is on the NW corner of Bloor and Yonge. Stollerys store (the low building on the SW corner) is long gone.
While I was at the library, I wandered around and took a few pictures of its vast open spaces. It was warm and dry! I was expecting to be told to put my camera away, but no one seemed to care.
below: Most were too busy working to notice.
below: One more picture from the ‘Toronto Revealed’ exhibit is this painting of the intersection of King and Jarvis by Vernon Mould. It was painted in 1979. Was gas really 20 cents a gallon in 1979? No! That was the year that prices went metric and a litre of gas was 20 cents. I came back to this picture because I chose to chase down that intersection to see what it looks like today.
below: Et voici, same intersection, approximately the same angle. There is now a building (with a Second Cup on the ground floor) where Mould would have stood. By the looks of it, the three storey brick building on the NE corner has been fixed up since 1979. So glad to see that it hasn’t been replaced by a glass condo tower!
below: I wanted to find out more about the building, so I googled Sportsman’s Shop and I found a wonderful old picture of it from the 1970’s, obviously taken before it was renovated. Apparently, it was fixed up in the early 1980s.
photo credit: Gary Switzer, source: Urban Toronto
below: The next photo was taken as I stood on the same corner of King and Jarvis, but pointing my camera in different direction – looking west on King towards St. James Cathedral. This is the eastern limit of the King Street streetcar project which is why the multicoloured barricades block part of the righthand westbound lane.
below: These women are waiting in the wrong place. Although the city changed the location of the streetcar stops along King Street, the bus shelters haven’t been moved yet. At least they were (sort of) out of the rain. They soon realized their mistake.
below: Looking back, the prerequisite photo of a TTC streetcar through a rainy day window.
It’s always better to end a blog post on a happy note, right? It may be a dream (I hope not!) but spring can’t be too far away. April showers bring May flowers, right? On my second warm up stop I saw this cheerful, hopeful drawing tacked to a wall. It was one of many on the wall, all the work of Maihyet Burton. They were at the Artscape building at the Distillery District.
below: Headed home again.
Don’t put away your boots and hats yet!
Twice this week I have come off the subway at Dundas station, and twice I have come to the surface to the sound of protest chants.
The first time it was a Free Tibet march as it proceeded up Yonge street.
below: “Don’t forget Mr. Lingsta Tseten Dorjee, activist for non-violence. It’s been 5 years since we lost Lingsta Tseten Dorjee”. The banner then goes on to list Dorjee’s five demands including the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.
below: More protesters with signs and placards. “Free Shokjang now”. Shokjang is the pen name of a Tibetan blogger who was detained by the Chinese authorities in March of 2015.
This afternoon, it was blue flags that I saw. They are the flags of East Turkistan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. On a map you’ll find it as Xinjiang in the most westerly part of China, right next the the “stans” that became independent after the break up of the USSR (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, etc). The name says autonomous but there is no self-rule or self government for the Uyghurs.
For a brief time in 1949 it was an independent country but it was invaded by communist China that same year. Historically, East Turkistan is part of central Asia. The people are not Chinese but are more closely related to the Turks. The Uyghurs are the indigenous group of East Turkestan.
below: “Stop forced abortion, Freedom for East Turkistan”
below: “Islamic scholar Mohammed Salih killed in Chinese concentration camps. We want justice.” Muhammad Salih Hajim, 82, died in custody back in January, about 40 days after he, his daughter and other relatives were detained in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province. They were held without charges being laid. He was the first to translate the Quran into Uyghur.
Also today, and just around the corner… A few minutes later I ran across another protest. This one was at the corner of Gould and Victoria streets, at Ryerson University. It was a quiet, civilized affair – more like a dance than a protest.
below: Both sides of the right to abortion debate were present.
below: The anti-abortion sign would be turned, the ‘file not found’ sign would be moved in front of it, repeat every couple of minutes.
below: It seemed to be a debate or a dialogue rather than a protest even though the people involved might disagree. For such an emotional and polarizing subject they were being respectful and engaging. At least they have the right to protest…. and to counter protest.
The St. Patricks Day parade in Toronto is usually just a small parade – certainly not as big and crazy in places like Boston or New York City. Part of the problem might be the fact that the weather is usually cold. This year the parade was 6 days before St. Patricks Day. I’m not sure when it started or how it happened, but Toronto’s parade is on the Sunday before the actual day. At least the sun was shining this year. It may be a small parade but those who show up, either to watch or to participate, seem to have a good time. A few photos from this year’s parade:
below: Police on horseback led the parade. Here they are passing the TV cameras.
below: Carlton, the Toronto Maple Leafs mascot, was there. Once upon a time, the Maple Leafs were known as the St. Pats and they wore green uniforms.
below: 32 flags, one from each of Ireland’s 32 counties. The GAA is the Gaelic Athletic Association.
below: Five Deloreans (cars) parked by the flags for the parade, before joining it at the end. This is directly across Bloor Street from where the TV cameras were. Deloreans were made near Belfast but for only a short time in the early 1980’s (1981- 1983). About 9200 cars were produced. The Delorean company went bankrupt in December 1982.
below: Carrying Donegal County flags
below: Doug Ford, now the leader of the Ontario PC party joined the parade.
below: That’s quite the hair – he insisted that it was natural but I think it’s because of the green beer…..
below: Maybe it’s true, maybe everyone is Irish on St. Patricks day.
below: What would St. Patricks day be without a leprechaun or two?
On Saturday Toronto FC, Toronto’s pro soccer team, won the MLS (Major League Soccer) championship when they beat the Seattle Sounders 2 – 0 in the finals. To celebrate, there was a parade from Maple Leaf Square, near the Air Canada Centre, up Bay street to Nathan Phillips Square.
The team was founded in 2005 and began playing in 2007. They were the first Canadian team in Major League Soccer. Since then, 2 other Canadian teams have joined the league, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact. There are 22 teams altogether.
below: A line of photographers join the parade
below: Outside Nathan Phillips Square.
below: She had the action happening right in front of her – including me!
below: The team players made their entrance into Nathan Phillips Square with lots of people lining the barricades. You’ll notice that I have no photos of the players themselves. It was just too crowded. Besides, I have more interest in the fans and supporters!
below: ‘All For One’ in the Toronto FC motto.
The space in front of City Hall was crowded! Hundreds of fans in red and white filled most of the available spaces around the Christmas Fair booths. They also lined all the upper ramps and walkways. There were speeches and then….. I will admit to running off to find a warm drink in a warm place instead of sticking around to listen! I don’t follow soccer but considering the size of the crowd today plus the fact that attendance at a TFC game averages over 27,000, many others do follow it….. soccer has definitely found a home in Toronto.
I arrived at the protest in time to see a very large Palestinian flag being held up by some of the crowd.
The recent decision by Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was the issue that sparked yesterday’s protest. I missed the largest part of the gathering but there were still quite a few people in front of the court house on University Avenue – or more importantly, across the street from the American Embassy.
The flag was rolled up from both ends.
City TV dropped by as well. Every time anyone came near the reporter, she stopped and waited for people to pass. Then she started over. This was take 5 or 6 and once again, she stopped seconds after I took this picture. I’ll assume that she eventually got her story.
below: Two flags. Palestine. Canada.
below: “Trump Embassy in Jerusalem…. stupid idea”
below: The image of Recep Erdogan, President of Turkey, on his back and a Turkish flag in his hand.
below: A group has their picture taken with the Lebanese flag.
as I walk Toronto 