Little Italy festivities

Posted: June 16, 2019 in events, people
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Toronto city street signs on a pole, LIttle Italy College Street and Beatrice Street as well as a yellow do not block intersection sign

Summer in the city means street festivals almost every weekend.
This weekend it was Taste of Little Italy on College Street.

below: Lots of food for sale!  Especially meat on a stick.

outdoor barbecuing shish kebobs, a boy is cooking and serving, people waiting to buy food

below: There were also games for prizes including the one below – knock over the cans off the table with a soccer ball.

behind a net, a line of people watches as a boy starts to kick a soccer ball towards three blue cans, game to try to knock the cans over

people walking down the street towards the camera, a man in a purple Raptors shirt with marching baseball cap, a woman in a light blue blouse with a drink in her hand, a woman in a pink pant suit

below: Keep your eye on the target!

a boy pretends to shoot a woman carrying a big pink purse with a big gun made out of balloons

below: Dory blows bubbles

a man seated by a table on the sidewalk, starts to shoot a man in a red jacket with a bubble blowing gun shaped like a blue fish

a man is starting to draw a caricature of a black man who is seated, laughing, on a chair. Another black man watches

on the street, a man is giving another man a haircut, two people are sitting on a bench in a bus shelter behind, watching

people in a line up to get food at an outdoor vendor, white tent covering,

people on the street at Taste of Little Italy, passing by a bar with a large patio

a woman with a yellow popsicle, a woman in a white skirt and top and a man in a beige suit jacket, all walking on the street

three muslim women in head scarves on the street, street festival

below: Singing Italian songs

an older man sings Italian songs, Italian flag behind him, people on the street have stopped to watch him

below: … and maybe not so Italian….

a man wearing a sombrero plays a tenor sax outside, street musician

a man cooking lamb shish kebob outside at a street festival

an older man walking on the street with a woman behind him in a large straw hat and dark sunglasses and carrying a large brown and orange purse as well as a grey plastic bag

three musicians playing on the street, open violin case on the ground to collect money, people walking by

a big yellow sphere open in the middle, a drink stand, serving lemonade to people at Taste of Little Italy street festival

below: Octopus

octopus cut into pieces and placed on skewers, waiting to be grilled outside

grilling food at an outdoor street festival, taste of little italy

two little girls in pink with pink hats holding onto shish kebobs

a woman holding a small dog with a black and white Raptors we the north scarf on

a couple kissing

and even more Raptors

Posted: June 12, 2019 in graffiti and street art
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There is another Raptors mural!  Not on Queen West this time, but in the Dundas & Sherbourne area.  It was painted by Javid Jah and luvsumone (aka Moise Frank).

a mural on a red brick wall, King of the North, face of a basketball player, Toronto Raptors number 2, with a crown on his head, Kawhi Leonard

below: On Yonge Street by the north end of the Eaton Centre are these words which were painted by the same two men. The letters are supposed to be 3D and rising out of a black square hole in the sidewalk.  North Side rising.

painted on a sidewalk in front of the Eaton Centre, are words North Side, written in Raptors colours, as support for Toronto's basketball team as they play on NBA finals playoffs

below: The Raptors logo is painted on the sidewalk outside Scotiabank Arena.

the raptors basketball team logo is painted on a sidewalk along with the words Eastern Champions, painted after they won the last round of the NBA playoffs

See also
1. Queen Street Raptor and
2. Raptors updated – into the finals

bare as you dare

Posted: June 11, 2019 in events, people
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I was standing at the corner of Bay and Front, near Union Station, when the WNBR (World Naked Bike Ride) passed by.    This has been an annual event for more than 15 years now and the ride occurs in many countries around the world.  Full nudity is not mandatory, costumes and accessories are welcome, and half the fun is watching the reactions of the people on the sidewalks…. especially those who aren’t expecting to see a large group of naked people cycling past!

world naked bike ride - 3 people watching them, not sure of what to think of naked bike riders

world naked bike ride

below: I love the heart!

world naked bike ride - the behinds and backsides of a group of nude cyclists

world naked bike ride goes down Bay street, south of Front, a large group of naked people on bicycles

below: Mr. Conehead rides by

world naked bike ride - one naked man on a red bike, wearing black shoes, and wearing a conehead

below: As it turns out, this man with the suitcase is in a lot of the pictures that I took.

world naked bike ride, a man with a suitcase watches, one nude rider is carrying a Canadian flag

world naked bike ride, one cyclist is wearing Viking horns

world naked bike ride

world naked bike ride and people on the sidewalk watching them

world naked bike ride going down Bay street, crossing Front st and two large buses

If you want more information – or you want to get involved, they have a website and a facebook page.  It’s on the latter that you will find another motto, “less gas, more ass”

See you next year?

Kensington never disappoints

Posted: June 11, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
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murals in Kensington, Mona Lisa with fruit, and Poser bunnies,

Here you will find a few random things that I found the last time I wandered through Kensington, some large and some small, but most new to me including this wonderful dinosaur mural by Nick Sweetman.

on a Kensington wall, a large mural of dinosaur on a black background it's wearing a small gold crown with 3 points,

below: Kids for sale.   Perhaps they mean goats?  Hmmm……

sign in a store window that says kids for sale

below: She needs a better makeup artist.

head of a mannequin with large brim hat, shoulder length blond hair, red sunglasses, lipstick

below: An exhibit: petrified skull and horn of a Shoasaur, approx 1.4 million years old, right?

tacked to a wood fence is an old wood shoe form that someone has turned into an exhibit of a fossilized skull and horn, complete with drawings of the animal that it came from

below: A profane glove

one single glove with a face drawn on it and fuk you written on it, stuck on the top of a wood fence post

below: Pasted, ripped, and painted…. an abstract in the making.

posters on a window that have been partially ripped and streaks of red paint sprayed on them, also white spray paint

below: Soap ghost has some good advice

a small paste up on a green fence that is soap ghost, words say wash your hands

below: Two witches grace a door –  XVIII The Full Moon Witch and XVI The Hell Hath No Fury Witch

two cars stuck into the crack formed between a door and a wall, two witch cards,

below: Urban ninja guy has grown a mustache!

three stickers and paste ups on a metal post, urban ninja warrior on the top, with a black mustache, and a pink and blue bunny face on the bottom

below: Spanish graffiti says “Estamos solas pero nos tenemos todos” which equals “We are alone but we have all (everybody)”.

black and white paste up on a wall, Spansih words that say estamos solas pero nos tenemos todos

below: Weed the bored as a play on We the North.  So many Raptors references around the city these days!

chalk drawing on a sidewalk that says weed the bored

below: A candle to light Death’s way.

painting on a fence of death with his scythe and holding a candle

below: Watching the street, or has that orange cone caught his eye?

mural of a large face with eyes looking outward, looking onto the street where there are people passing by, Kensington storefront

Keep your eyes open!

Turbanup 2019

Posted: June 10, 2019 in events, people
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Turbanup with its bright and colourful fabric was back at Yonge Dundas Square again this year.

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, a famil group with some with turbans and one person having a black turban wrapped on their head, to the side a young girl doesn't look very happy about this

an older man with a beard and an orange turban, is tying a yellow turban onto the head of another man who has a large tattoo on his neck

a woman holds a yellow sign that says Ask me why sikhs wear turbans

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, woman taking a selfie as her head is wrapped in a blue turban

 

orange turbans

piles of colourful fabric on a table At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square,

a woman watches another woman getting a turban

a policeman getting a black turban at Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square,

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, a man in beard and red turban wraps the head of young person in a blue turban, in the chair behind is a female police officer having her head wrapped in a purple turban

young person in blue turban

a woman in a bright yellow T-shirt, sitting on a chair, taking aselfie of her with her new red turban

an older woman having a magenta turban wrapped around her head

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, people having turbans tied on their heads with purple fabric

 

a woman having a black piece of fabric twisted in front of her head in prep for having a turban made for her

two young boys in turbans, one in blue and the other in white. The younger boy, in white, has a red mask face painted around his eyes

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, 4 young men standing behind a barricade, all with turbans, one with a hoodie over his turban

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square,

an older woman in a light blue turban smokes a cigarette

An older woman in a beige sari sits on a chair outside, three women stand behind her, beside a table with piles of fabric in oranges and reds

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, a man in a purple and white turban wraps another person's head in the same colour of turban

3 D Turbanup sign at Yonge Dundas Square, in front of it a young woman in a black turban is helping a balding man with a yellowish green turban

a young person in a black T-shirt is directing a woman sitting to get the best pose for a photo, woman is having a pink turban wrapped around her head by another woman at Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas square

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, young person looking bored, standing behind table with orange sign above head that says free ice cream cones

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, an older woman with a white cloth over head head and a kirpan sword at her side

a sikh man in bears and orange turban carries a tray of cups of mango and rose milkshake

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, an older woman is sitting in a chair, talking (gesturing) with her hands while a Sikh man with a long beard and orange turban wraps her head in a pale orange turban

a woman with a light orange cloth draped over her head and around her shoulders and body takes a selfie

the back of a woman with white bra straps showing and a large tattoo on ther shoulder. A man pulls a length of pink fabric as he wraps her head in a pink turban

At Turbanup event at Yonge Dundas Square, a sikh man with a pale orange turban wraps a pink turban around the head of a woman who is seated, and frowning

a mother in son in bright turbans, mother in pink and son in orange, sit by a table piled with orange and pink fabric

a young boy in a red turban gives a thumbs up sign

Taber Hill & Bendale

Posted: June 8, 2019 in locations, memorials, nature
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paved path through a park, grass on both sides, on the pavement is a large white arrow, hand drawn with white spray paint

I went east this afternoon, out to the boondocks. Whenever I think of the word ‘boondock’, I hear it sung to music. Billy Joe Royal sang the song ‘Down in the Boondocks” in 1965 (You can find it on youtube).   Boondock is one of the few words that English has borrowed from Tagalog where bundok = mountain.  Yo-yo is another.   I don’t mean to be derogatory but when you’re battling Toronto traffic, Bellamy and Lawrence seems like a long, long way.

I drove but as I subsequently walked along Lawrence Ave., I wondered about buses and public transit and all the talk about a subway to Scarborough.   The Sheppard East LRT will service Scarborough to the north of here but has it even been started yet?    For now there is the Lawrence West station on the Scarborough RT but there is also talk of replacing the Scarborough RT line – that plan is still on the Metrolinx website but does anyone know what’s really happening?

looking across the street to a bus shelter that is in front of a strip mall with cars parked in front of the stores

two large utility poles side by side beside a sidewalk and a bus shelter. Two people waiting for a bus

Perhaps you’ve been asking yourself, why Bellamy and Lawrence?  Recently I had heard about Taber Hill Park and a rock that sits on top of a hill.

a large rock wits on a stone and concrete platform on the top of a grassy hill, Taber Hill memorial

The plaque reads: “TABER HILL site of an ancient Indian ossuary of the Iroquois Nation, burials were made about 1250 A.D. This ossuary was uncovered when farm lands were developed into residential properties in 1956. This common grave contains the remains of approximately 472 persons. Dedicated as a historical site by the Township of Scarborough October 21, 1961.

below: You can even see the CN Tower from the top of the hill.

view from the top of a hill, street, houses, trees, and the CN Tower in the far distance

After Taber Hill I walked to Bendale Park which is just a bit west of Bellamy.

One of the first things that I saw in Bendale Park was a mural by elicser. It is on the walls of the bridge where Lawrence Avenue passes over the West Highland Creek. The mural is beside the path under the bridge. A better angle for a photo of the whole mural would have been from the other side of the creek but I couldn’t find any access – and I wasn’t about to take off my shoes and go wading!  Instead, here are four pictures of parts of the mural.

part of an elicser mural beside West Highland Creek, under Lawrence Ave., a man in a white t-shirt sitting beside a tree

part of an elicser mural beside West Highland Creek, under Lawrence Ave., an older man in a red shirt with a white beard and moustache, beside him is a girl reading (in the mural)

part of an elicser mural beside West Highland Creek, under Lawrence Ave., a young couple, she has a pink flower in her hair

part of an elicser mural beside West Highland Creek, under Lawrence Ave., a couple, she has long braids

Bendale Park merges with Thomson Memorial Park.  Immediately north of these parks is St. Andrews Bendale Presbyterian church (that I have mentioned in a previous blog post – see link).  This is one of the first areas of Scarborough to be settled; the original St. Andrews Church was built in 1818.

below: Lilac bush in bloom. Lilacs are not native to Canada and they don’t grow in the wild. If you see a lilac bush in places like this, or along the road, chances are someone once had a home here and they planted the lilac.

lilac bush

below: Another pink flower found in abundance in the ravines at this time of year is this one, Dame’s Rocket, or Hesperis matronalis.    There is also a white variety

pink wild flowers

small word path through long grass and between large leafy trees

below: Passing through here is the Gatineau Corridor which is a bike trail ….

bike trail direction signs, Gatineau Corridor, right turn to McCowan Ave and left turn to Brimley Rd

well, actually it is a hydro corridor which runs diagonally through the city from Leaside in the west to  Meadowvale and beyond in the east.  In the late 1920’s the Great Gatineau Power Station was built in Leaside as a transformer station to enable the city to use electricity generated in Quebec and delivered via this corridor to provide power to the city.  There is still a hydro substation at Millwood and Overlea (in Leaside)

This corridor is being turned into a park called the Meadoway.   Sections of the park and bike trail are finished including this part between Brimley and McCowan.  When it’s finished, this linear park will be 16 km long and will connect the Lower Don Trail to trails in Rouge Park at the city’s eastern boundary.

three very tall hydro poles with many electrical wires, in a park, man walking on path near them

below: Reflections in the West Highland Creek

reflections of green leaves and blue sky in water

below: I saw quite a few red wing blackbirds, especially around the bulrushes and reeds in the wetter places in the park.

a red wing blackbird sits on a branch

below: The last time I walked I saw a McLaren (next blog post), today it was these flashy bright gold things!

a red van parked beside a silver coloured car with bright gold coloured wheel rims

below: More car stuff, but this time it’s my car as I was driving home.

view out the passenger window of a car, of a large flatbed truck loaded with lumber, in the side mirror of the car is the reflection of a TTC bus

signoutside St. Rose de Lima Roman Catholic Church advertising Vietnamese Mass on Sunday afternoons

… but I’ll be back. There is a lot more to this part of the city that I want to explore, including this mosque just east of Midland Avenue.

a mosque

***

 

On the back of the rock on Taber Hill is another plaque which reads:

IROQUOIS PRAYER
O Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds and whose breath gives life to all the world, Hear me.
I am a man before you, one of your many children. I am small and weak. I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunsets. Make my hands respect the things you have made, my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise so that I may know the things that you have hidden in every leaf and rock. I seek strength O Creator, not to be superior to my brothers but to be able to fight my creators enemies myself. Make me ever ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eye so that when life fades as the setting sunset my spirit may come to you without shame.
credit: White Cloud, Approved by Iroquois Council 2-2-60.

 

water logged

Posted: June 6, 2019 in locations, people, waterfront
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Each spring the water level in Lake Ontario rises as the snow to the north of the city melts.  That’s a given.  The question has become just how much water there will be.  This year the water level is very high again, perhaps as high as it has ever been.

below: Sea gulls enjoying the pond that has formed at Woodbine Beach

Leuty lifesaving station in background, lifeguard station on beach, with water and sea gulls in front of it

below: Some of the many different coloured Muskoka chairs that now dot the beach.  How many hundreds? thousands? of similar pictures are online now?  They do add an interesting and cheerful burst of colour.

4 muskoka chairs lined up on the beach, pink, blue, yellow, and red, lots of water, a person is sitting in one of them but photo is of back of chairs.

a line of muskoka chairs along the edge of the boardwalk, beach, Lake Ontario

a woman is sitting in a blue Muskoka Chair reading, with her legs sticking out the side of the chair, view from behind, water in front of her as well as a line of rocks with seagulls on them, Lake Ontario

below: A quiet reading spot of a different kind…. as the swans swim by.

a person sits by rocks and a tree on the beach by Lake Ontario, reading a book, swans swimming past

rocks and sand at Woodbine Beach, with water behind the lifeguard stations because of flooding of Lake Ontario

below: Sandbags and rocks protect part of the boardwalk from Lake Ontario water.

sandbags, some empty, line the shore up against rocks and a boardwalk with a railing, flooded,

two women push strollers along the boardwalk by Kew Beach, CN tower and Toronto skyline in the distance, other people on the boardwalk and beach too

a woman in a bright red coat is about to throw a large stick into Lake Ontario for her dog to chase, empty lifeguard station beside her

below: Putting up the volleyball nets where it’s dry, Woodbine Beach.

a man is putting up volleyball nets on the poles that aren't in the water at a flooded Woodbine Beach

volleyball court poles standing in the water, flooded Lake Ontario at Woodbine Beach

a flooded Woodbine Beach because of high levels of water in Lake ontario, poles in the water for volleyball courts, nets, but too much water

rocks and pebbles along the shore of Lake Ontario, a small island of rocks with a small tree growing on it

fence surrounding dog park, tall grasses, shrubs and trees in dog park, CN Tower and Toronto skyline in the distance, Woodbine Beach

below: The fence around the dog park is in the water

a tree in the water, part of a fence also in the water, Lake Ontario

water behind the lifeguard station, Woodbine Beach, someone has put a cross made of two branches lashed together

a flooded Woodbine Beach

below: Making friends

a woman holds her black dog while a girl in pink jacket reaches out to touch it.

below: As I was returning to my car, I spotted a slightly fancier car than mine…

pale blue and black mclaren car parked in a parking lot, woman with dog in the background

Raptors updated – into the finals

Posted: June 5, 2019 in events
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Just over a week ago, I posted about the Raptors mural on Queen Street West and how there had already been two versions of it.  Now it has changed again!

This is what it looked like this afternoon:

mural of the Toronto Raptors, 5 players in their red uniforms along with the coach and Drake. On a storefront on Queen Street West.

below: All the TTC buses and streetcars have “We the North” signs in the window.

in the window of a TTC streeecar is a we the north sign

In just over an hour the Raptors will play the Golden State Warriers in Oakland California.  It will be their third game in the NBA finals – so far the series is tied, each team has won one game.  Stayed tuned!

on the exterior wall of the Eaton Centre is a large red sigh with black letters that say Go Raps Go

a white car is parked by the side of the road, it is decorated withlarge black letters that say We the North, it is also flying a black and white flag witgh the same words on it

Also see And even more Raptors

downtown Saturday

Posted: June 3, 2019 in events, people
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This blog post wanders from Burger Mania at Yonge Dundas Square to the Riverside Eats & Beats StreetFEST and onward to the Riverdale Art Walk  out Queen Street East, with a few distractions along the way.

thre people sitting at different tables in a coffee shop

a man with glasses and hair that is shaved on one side of his head is offering another man a rice krispie square, he is holding it to the man's mouth

a woman in long overcoat and hat is talking to and gesturing, with a woman in a white head scarf and top

a man selling rice krispie squares and other desserts, outdoors, Yonge Dundas Square, from E and R Sweetery

under a red tent roof, people preparing food

a woman in a red shirt and sunglasses walking with her son who is also wearing sunglasses, south asian ethnicity

under a tent roof, a man is cooking burgers

a large inflatable pool floatie in the shape of a pink flamingo sits on the ground at Yonge Dundas Square, in front of a bar selling drinks

a young Asian woman is taking a picture of a small burger with her phone

family group - mother and father laughing, baby in stroller, Asian, at Yonge dundas square

people sitting on a bench by large red flower pot in Dundas Square. Man at end, balding with grey hair, is reading a newspaper, two people are eating

a woman sits at a high table with three small burgers on it, two dogs are beside her on the ground but looking up

a young man is being grabbed and held on to by two security guards and they are removing him from Yonge Dundas square

a topless man with a bag on his back skate boards at Dundas Square

a woman is laughing as she talks on her phone and walks up Yonge Street

a couple walking together on Yonge, passing the Stag Shop. He is wearing pink pants and a white jacket. Both have white hair.

below: Yonge Street was closed to traffic between Queen and Dundas Streets because a large crane was parked there temporarily while heavy objects were lifted onto the roof of the Eaton Centre.

a large crane is on a truck in the middle of Yonge street, downtown, with tall buildings on both sides including the Eaton Centre under renovation on the right

three workmen in orange safety clothing use a crane to lift heavy objects off a flatbed truck

a police man in a bright yellow jacket stands in front an orange cone and yellow police tape to block off Yonge Street. He's directing traffic, to make cars turn on Queen street. A woman with orange hair is walking across the street , just went in front of the police man

a man in a kiss t-shirt is talking, a black man is waiting for a streetcar behind him, streetcar is just arriving.

reflection in the glass of a door and window of a Burger King restaurant, of a woman witting on the sidewalk pan handling

a couple holds each other on the street

Riverside Eats and Beats

a man playing a fiddle, smiling, wearing a blue cap and a blue plaid shirt

below: Soundcrowd was practicing for their performance at The Opera House that evening.

a choir onstage with a man with microphone standing in front of them

in a store window, two mannequins with no heads waering gold close fitting dresses, in front of window is a rack of clothes on the sidewalk, with two women looking

a group of women talking, outside

 

Riverdale Art Walk at Jimmy Simpson Park.

a large bed of pink and white tulips in front of a white tent (roof only) with paintings on the side that are for sale, Riverside Art Fest

a woman holds a small white dog while she talks to a man, in front of a white tent with artwork on the walls for sale. Two women inside the tent are looking at the dog and smiling

two paintings on easels outside a white tent. One is an airplane at an airport and one is a barn in snow

a framed portrait of a woman on a metal grid, people standing behind it including a man with a white shirt with bright red and black blotches

large images (photosgraphs) in red, black and yellow, for sale

small artwork hanging on a white tent wall, light is coming from behind so they are silhouetted

a boy in a fedora sits cross legged on a high stool while looking at a phone. He is in a tent with artwork on the wall that is for sale

at an art show, an art piece made of metal, images on metal

Drake, by Cronenberg

Posted: May 31, 2019 in galleries
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At the Coldstream Fine Art gallery near King & Spadina is an exhibit of photographs by Caitlin Cronenberg called ‘Strange/Beauty’.  Among the photos are some of Drake, Toronto’s own rapper and most visible Raptor fan. two photos by Caitlin Cronenberg. On the right is a night time photo of Drake, the singer, standing beside a car that has its front headlights on. The photo on the left is of 4 men, including Drake, sitting at a table, all dressed in suits. a photo of Drake sitting among many colourful flowers

Cronenberg was the photographer who produced the image for the album cover for Drake’s “Views from the Six” album. The cover shot, of Drake sitting on top of the CN Tower, is also in this show.  Some of these photos appear in the digital booklet that accompanied the album.  The album was released in April 2016.

A winter scene, Drake, holding the leash of a dog, outside, standing beside a rolls royce car that has been out in the snow, and standing in front of a large house with white columns in the front

 

Remember that these photos are behind glass, hence the reflections.  In other words, these photos on this page are merely representations of the real thing.  They look much better in real life.

The exhibit is on until June 8th.

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