Just a little playing around on the streets
Yonge Street, at Melinda Street, had been closed off for the Santa Claus parade…but I think that some people had as much fun playing in the warm steam that was pouring out of this vent.
They played –
games and photo ops
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jumping and dancing
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warily watching
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careful observation and investigation
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running and laughing……
Anti Rob Ford protest
A cold but clear November afternoon at Nathan Phillips Square.
people, signs, cameras, writing, chanting, speeches, media.
Step down or fall over.
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The city’s budget has gone up! Every year Rob has been in office.
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Nathan Phillips Square about 1:00 p.m.
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There was a good mix of people there, young and old.
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View of the crowd from part way up the steps just before they moved towards the front door of City Hall.
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Many creative signs. RoFo, the man from Monopoly, gravy train…..
It’s not about the drugs, it’s about the lies.
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Writing on the wall, about 12:40. I am not sure when the writing started, but when I first got to Nathan Phillips Square there wasn’t too much on the wall yet.
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Of chalk and signs
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A little bit later, a few more words on the wall as well as on the ground. Sashay away! Fraud Nation. No to Drugs. Harper + Ford = Corruption. Help yourself & help Toronto, Step Down.
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You smoked your own pipe. More writing on the upper wall.
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I assume that it became “Get Help”
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Etobicoke, Ford Co. most wanted.
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another view of the crowd
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…finally!
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Resting on the Archer
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Protesters, spectators and photographers. There were a lot of photographers! A lot of media, print, radio and television, were there too. Newstalk 1010 (where the Ford brothers had their radio show) had at least one person walking around with a microphone.
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Leading the chants
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Looking at the ones inside while the ones outside are reflected back
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wanted, A new Mayor! asap
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Writing in the square.
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I got him and he got me (I probably got the better photo!)
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#savetoronto #topoli #robford
With thanks to the Starbucks at Queen and Victoria where I was able to park myself and my laptop while I put this blog together. Wifi and an electrical outlet for the price of a tall coffee, can’t beat it.
Graffiti and street art on the garages
of David French Lane and Alan Powell Lane
David French Lane runs south from Barbara Barrett Lane (just south of Bloor St.), one block to Sussex Ave. If you cross Sussex Ave., the lane continues as Alan Powell Lane. Both lanes are lined with garages for the houses on Borden St. and Brunswick Ave., the streets that run parallel on either side of the lanes. Alan Powell Lane also runs behind Central Tech Collegiate.
There is an excellent interactive map of the lanes of Harbord village and the people for whom they were named at http://www.harbordvillage.com/laneways/lanewayinteractivemap.html
A railway locomotive roars past the corner of Barbara Barrett Lane and David French Lane.
Camille is loved.
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Darth Vader and the dogs
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The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, in duplicate. Looking north up Alan Powell Lane.
A posr rabbit lurks in the corner, Alan Powell Lane
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Barbara Barrett lane is located in Harbord village. It runs east-west and is immediately south of Bloor Street West between Borden Street and Brunswick Avenue.
The lane was recently named after Barbara Barrett who was the founder of the Toronto School of Art in 1969. The school was originally located at Sussex and Brunswick. Barbara died in 2005 in her 89th year.
Like many lanes and alleys in the area, there are a number of murals and interesting pieces of graffiti.
birds on a wire
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solving Rubiks’s cube
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one way to the window
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at the corner
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girl on a swing. She is in the entranceway to the Green Room restaurant.
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smiling, laughing stencil faces
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zipping around
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a door in the mural
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On the 19th of April, 1904, a large section of downtown Toronto burned for nine hours.
Map showing the area of Toronto affected by the fire of 1904. Bay Street from the Esplanade to Miranda Street (just south of King Street) was the hardest hit. At the time, this was called the Wholesale District of the city.
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Aftermath, Bay street, April 1904.
In part, because the fire started in the evening, there were no fatalities. As a result of the fire, 5000 people were left without a job. In 1904, the population of Toronto was about 200,000 so the loss of employment on this scale had an impact on the city.
Mural painted on the back of the building on the northwest corner of College St. and Croft St. (398 College St.), commemorating the fire of 1904.
Demolition of the ruins left by the fire took many weeks. On the 4th of May, John Croft died while using dynomite to bring down the remains of the W.J. Gage building on Front Street. His was the only known death associated with the fire. What is now Croft Street was renamed in his honour.
The east side of 398 College St., at the south end of Croft St., is painted with a mural as a memorial to John Croft.
northeast corner of the building
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Burned out buildings, April 1904
The images of the fire’s aftermath are available online. The originals are kept at the City of Toronto Archives, located on Spadina Road., just north of Dupont Street.
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This post is a continuation of the previous post, titled Croft Street.
There is a red, white and blue mural at the south end of Croft Street. It covers the side of a three story brick building.
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flat black apartments at 396
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Croft Street is not a street, but it’s more than a lane.
It runs between Harbord Street and College Street, just west of Bathurst Street. Although there are many different interesting things to be seen when you walk along this street, I have chosen to focus on the street art for this blog post. The following is a selection of what I saw.
surveying the scene
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a closer look
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paint and rust
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can’t sleep so I write
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Harbord street sign
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Did you know our Monty the cat?
King of Croft and all that
(Ask your dog. Ask your cat)
Did you give him a pet
Once you had met?
Or tickle his soft silken tum tum?
Did he tell you his tale in articulate meow
And share his affection with a rub of his brow?
His loss here has left us really quite blue
But remembering all of those of YOU
Who knew how to share a sweet kindness true
Who would pause on the way,
In midst of each day,
To offer wee beastie
affectionate feastie
In Memory of Monty
Thank you!
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painted cat on painted window sill on painted brick wall
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on the streets of Toronto
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hidden doorway
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tutti frutti
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with hands on hips and with added words
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art at the front door
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greenery
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black and white and red all over
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Here I stand in silence
but the patter of the rain
who I was, you’ll never know;
my triumph
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staring eyes
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mail man
At the south end of the street, there is a large red, white and blue mural by posr. I have not included it in this blog post because it warrants a post of its own. It’s the next blog post, or the URL is https://mcfcrandall.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/posr-on-croft-street/
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umbrella, parapluie, paraguas
red, rouge, rojo,
Grey, damp days always need a touch of colour.
Yesterday, as I walked from Dupont subway station to Kensington I made use of my red umbrella. It kept me dry. It brightened up a few photos!
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Every rainy day needs a splash of colour.
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caught in the alley
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When this mural was first painted, there was a downspout for the eavestrough running down the side of the wall. Her hand was painted to look like it was reaching for, or holding onto, the downspout. Because that downspout is no longer there, I decided that she needed something else to hold on to.
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left in a puddle
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‘Whatsoever you do’, a sculpture by Timothy Schmalz. It is also referred to as ‘Homeless Jesus’. This installation is outside of St. Stephen-in-the Fields church on College Street. It was installed on 14 September and was originally scheduled to remain there until 6 October. According to the description of the sculpture, it is a fiberglass cast of a silent, huddled panhandler. A person that people walk by and ignore. But if you look at the outstretched hand, you will see the stigmata (the wounds of Christ).
When we first placed the umbrella over her, we worried about the appropriateness of such an action but as I took the photo, a passerby commented on how people have been known to place cheeseburgers and other food in her hand.
The statue was stolen at the end of November. More information
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car roof reflections
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red and yellow
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top hat, umbrella…. where are my dancing shoes?
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Toronto siesta
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something old, something new
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The End
Special thanks to Sasha and David who played along and made the day even better!
Also to Michael for crouching against a purple wall!
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Toronto Zombie Walk, Nathan Phillips Square,
26 October, 2013
The rain stopped just before the Zombie walk started but there was a very chilly wind blowing. The weather didn’t stop the zombies! It didn’t stop the fun either.
I met a zombie, and it was fun.
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keeping it in the family – like mother, like daughter
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zombie repose, by the archer
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A rat’s best friend.
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cute but bloodied
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They humoured me.
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even Pokemon was not spared.
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dripping blood, and the eyes…….great zombie eyes!
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an eye for an eye, oh wait, a pencil for an eye
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bulletproof
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screaming, blood curdling screams……
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one of the many great interactions between the zombies and their audience
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so much for the orthodontics
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even zombies need a break
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Rob Ford meets zombie
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paper people of Graffiti Alley
Three Bills
This is now a recurring theme in stencil/paper graffiti. Originally, the Bills were used in response to ‘post no bills’ signs on fences surrounding construction sites.
The Bills here, from left to right, are Bill Gates, Bill Murray and Bill Clinton
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In the fall of 2011, many of these Rob Ford stencils appeared in Graffiti Alley, amongst other places. They were the work of Toronto street artist, Deadboy. This might be the only one that remains in this alley.
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Leonard Cohen: “only one thing made him happy and now that it was gone everything made him happy”
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“I don’t do floors”
“Clean it up yourself”
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big ears and the astronaut
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I have not included all the stencils in Graffiti Alley as some have appeared in prior posts. See https://mcfcrandall.wordpress.com/2013/08/22/walking-graffiti-alley-again/
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alien in the alley
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With thanks to:
Georgette for her help with the three Bills
and Sally who recognized Leonard Cohen.
as I walk Toronto 