Posts Tagged ‘cars’

Captain Hawley and others

Posted: September 12, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, stores
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

below: This lane was recently named for William Hawley, a retired Toronto firefighter and Leslieville resident.

sign for Captain Hawley lane, with new third and fourth floor additions to a building in the background

Captain Hawley lane runs north from Eastern towards Queen St East.  It is west of Leslie Street.  There are a few other little alleys in the vicinity all of which seem to be unnamed.  This blog post shows some of the things seen in these alleys as well as on the major streets around them, Queen, Leslie, and Eastern.

below: Elicser Elliott’s Leslieville mural still looks great at Queen & Jones.

young man crossing Queen Street near Leslieville mural, and beside a TTC streetcar

Leslieville mural

below: “Community” by Candace Bell on Queen East

painting on sidewalk traffic box, in front of store, on Queen Street East

below: Who is the photographer?

a camera is set up on a tripod, on the sidewalk outside a cafe, man sitting on chair nearby, another man sitting too

workman in hard hat and work boots, spray painting a line on the pavement, street,

below: Stores on Queen East.

stores on Queen Street east

below: Northeast corner of Larchmount and Queen East.

intersection of Larchmount and Queen Street East , northeast corner

queen street east, north side

below: Photo taken on a day when gas was $1.43 a litre, albeit full service which you don’t find everywhere these days.

sun gas services station on queen street east

below: An afternoon break on a patio.

woman on patio of duke tavern, red building with mural on the side, white umbrellas,

below: Waiting to get into the Duke, Men’s Entrance

mural, line up of men wanting to enter the duke tavern, men's entrance, plus a boy sitting on the steps outside

mural, line up of men wanting to enter the duke tavern

below: Leslie and Queen East south side,

glass of bus shelter, with Leslie St sign on it, people walking on sidewalk, front of Shish restaurant on Queen Street, construction on southeast corner of Leslie and Queen in the background

below: Construction on the east side of Leslie – one of countless large holes in the ground.

workmen talking, construction site, Leslie street at Memory Lane

below: Houses on Leslie, south of Memory Lane.

houses, Leslie Street and Memory Lane,

below: A house with a bright turquoise front door and another that is now taller and skinnier.

row of houses on leslie street, one has a bright turquoise front door and the one beside it has had a third storey added to it

below: 27 Leslie Street

small blue building at 27 Leslie Street

below:  Non-believers on top – “No Truth to it!” over “Jesus saith unto him…. “.

Note on pole that says, but someone ha written over it, no truth to this

toronto street sign for eastern avenue, on a pole covered with vine and ivy

below: On Eastern, the AMCO gas station is now closed because of a recent fire.

gas station on Eastern ave, scene of a recent fire

men boarding up burned out gas station
AMCO gas station on Eastern ave, scene of a recent fire, with backs of houses beside it

below: “Navalny” and “Text” by Nigel Smith

text street art by Nigel Smith, on old office building, two signs, one says text and the other says Navalny

below: There is still a large vacant lot on the south side of Eastern Avenue (with views towards the Port Lands)

temporary building structures on a large vacant lot
no trespassing sign on fence surrounding a large vacant lot on Eastern Avenue

… and now the laneway scenes …..

below: Starting with the now  ubiquitous laneway garden suite

new infill house development in a lane

low burlap barrier draped across an alley, repairs being made to the concrete and pavement behind the barrier

a large billboard on Eastern avenue, with advert for second cup coffee shop, summer drinks

below: These  houses  with the square-ish shapes at the back are disappearing as more and more home owners renovate and/or expand upwards.  Brick is no longer the cladding of choice (and hasn’t been for a long time).

back of house, alley view, square red brick two storey house, one window, wood fence

alley views, back of two semi detached houses, that share a chimney, one green siding and one one white siding

white camper of RV parked behind house, goldenrod weeds growing by the back door.

back of house, alley view, painted wood fence, lots of trees

vines growing on overhead wires, over a lane, with garages along the sides of the alley

back of house, alley view, wood fence, white sun umbrella, grey cover on barbecue

back of house, alley view, white house, white van parked behind, green wood fence

backyard alley view, back of newly renovated house, expanded, fence down at back, bags of yard waste

backyard alley views, old tire, trash bins, rooftop terrace with umbrella

small red car parked in a lane, line of garages, tall trees,

backyard alley view, overgrown grass and shrubs, hard to see the house, chainlink fence and gate

backyard alley view, lots of stuff, including a shopping cart full of basketballs and soccer balls, chairs, sheets and clothes hanging from a yellow rope clothes line

chainlink fence, old painted wood, rusty metal, latch, gate in an alley

red gate in an alley, with black line drawing on it, locked, latch,

old plywood on a fence, once painted red, now faded to slightly orange red, with dirt splotches and worn areas, texture, pattern, abstract

 

everything’s for sale

Posted: March 26, 2025 in construction, locations, stores, windows and walls
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

below:  Signs. I always read the signs.  As I approached the fence, I was preparing to read about yet another condo so I was pleasantly surprised to read, “building with Electronic Gaming and Bingo Hall”!   Apparently Dolphin Gaming has submitted a number of applications for developing this site over the past few years and finally, back in November the plan for a lowrise building with plenty of parking was approved.

blue and white city of toronto development notice sign,

I came across the above sign a few weeks ago when a small group of us explored a rather forlorn section of Scarborough. “Forlorn” can be fun because often it equals interesting photography opportunities.  It was still winter then; back when there was still snow on the ground.

do not enter sign on chainlink gate, in front of light industrial, storage facility

Many people react to seeing a group of people with cameras walking in their neighbourhood.  Some of the natives are friendly and want to talk, even if it’s just a minute or two of small talk.  We can be a chatty group.  A number of times during this walk we were asked if we were looking to buy.  When we asked if what they had was for sale, the answer was frequently, “everything is for sale”.  I can not vouch for how true that is, but in this section of Scarborough it certainly felt possible.

city street signs on a stop sign pole, cleanside road and warden avenue, vacant lot behind

a yellow digger and a full blue dumpster on a snowy vacant lot, behind barbed wire fence

cars and other junk stacked three levels high, outdoors,

small plastic santa claus beside a mail box

large 18 wheeler truck cab, with three mirrors on drivers side

looking between the backs of trucks that are parked close to each other

below: Signs!

below: Oh no!  I can picture the driver jumping out of his Cybertruck already for his shift in a school bus!

Tesla cybertruck parked by Stock school bus office building, small yellow school buses in the background.

below: Most of the architecture is one storey brick buildings, long and low.  This type of roof over the entrance probably has a name, canopy? awning? – it seems very 1960s or 1970s.

one storey light industrial building in scarborough, with zigzag roof over entrance

below: Largest in Canada!  Pink windows say: Open to the public…. We can finance your kitchen for a few dollars a week….Big or small, we auction it all…  (and more)

building housing a company that specializes in liquidation, buying and selling of items unsold or unwanted by others

below: Old style bus shelter with no ads.

Warden Ave in Scarborough, bus shelter in front of low rise red brick building with green roof,

below: Railway tracks cross Warden Avenue at a level crossing

private property, no trespassing sign beside railway tracks in scarborough

 

hoardings with photos of city buildings with blue sky backgrounds, behind chainlink fence

broken front headlight of a purplish coloured van

old purple van with patchy bodywork

pile of stuff outside a red brick building, including a gatorade vending machine, green plastic chair, two shovels, a metal container, a red plastic gas can, and more

stuff being stored outside behind a gas station including a sign that says hand car wash, yellow dumpster,

gas station in winter

wood chair with old beige cushion sits on a snow covered sidewalk in front of a building under construction

below: A large pile of old used wheel rims
pile of old wheel rims, other piles of scrap metal and metal for recycling

large dump truck entering Triple M Metals site

looking through chainlink fence at large dump truck entering Triple M Metals site

behind chainlink fence, old cars parked bumper to bumper

locked gate, steps leading up to gate, mound of dirt behind gate, winter, snow on ground

rusty barbed wire drooping down across chainlink fence,

signs on the side of a building, one of the signs is partially fallen off

a red brick building with two tall skinny windows is beside and slightly in front of a yellow clad building, picnic tables in the space between the two, snow on ground,

two piles of pallets sitting outside a brick building with graffiti on the walls

below: “Puzzle” created by Elaine Teguibon, Tara Dorey, Raymond Cho, as well as  youth employment program artists, 2011.  Funded by the City of Toronto.  It covers the front of the Youthlink building .

youth theme murals on low rise building, mural routes

kids playing cards, youth theme murals on low rise building, mural routes

below: It has a couple of Mediah murals and a Scarborough 3D sign, and now its for sale…. (more details at: Scarborough Mediah blog post)

building for sale. mediah murals on two sides, big for sale sign in front, bus stop, painted storage container in front, warden ave in scarborough

below: More for sale!  All one storey.  This is steps  the new Eglinton LRT (we think!).   It is zoned M4A-225 which is industrial.  Also sneaking into the picture –  You might recognize the large white city of Toronto water tower near the corner of Warden and Eglinton.

large for sale sign beside stores and businesses on warden ave., toronto water tower in the background, snow,

below: Domestic Tank & Equipment with its wall of small panes of window glass.  There must have been hundreds of these types of buildings in Toronto once upon a time.

gates of Domestic Tank and equipment factory, yellowish bricks with large windows made up of hundreds of small panes of window glass

I tried to find some history on this building… instead I learned a lot about “liquid storage solutions since 1952”.  Industrial use tanks are actually quite interesting!

part of wall of windows at Domestic Tank and equipment factory, yellowish bricks with large windows made up of hundreds of small panes of window glass

below: Where an Electronic Gambling & Bingo Hall just might go …

vacant lot with concrete barrier blocking entry

old roller gate, open position, driveway now blocked and lot now vacant

old faded and rusty metal sign on chainlink fence

As I was taking the above three photos, I had my back to another very large abandoned site which happens to also be the place where I ended the walk. A large and very empty Rona store occupies a large chunk of prime real estate.  It was made redundant when  Lowes and Rona (both were big box hardware and building supply stores) merged a few years ago.  A second, but very active, Rona store is only a block or so away.

below: It is quite a large piece of property.  Present asking price is just over $50,000,000.

snow covered field in front of empty rona store in scarborough

side view of main entrance to rona store

view of empty loading bays at empty rona store

billboard in empty parking lot of a now empty rona store

below: Although I know that big box stores are big, they look even bigger when they are empty.  There doesn’t seem to be much to them – some beams to make a metal frame, add a few pipes and some wires, and wrap it on all sides.  An engineer or a contractor may disagree, but it looks so simple.

interior, empty Rona store

interior, empty Rona store, looking in through window with reflections of exit door and parking lot

below: Over and out!

exit door from old abandoned rona store

Thanks to the usual Wednesday walking group for letting me join them once again – All bundled up for walking on a winter day!

backs of people walking on sidewalk, past shiny reflective hoardings, with new housing in the background

the purple house and its neighbour

Posted: November 11, 2020 in old buildings
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

It’s not as purple as it used to be. Over the years it’s faded a bit. It wasn’t in good shape when I first saw it years ago; now it’s in even rougher condition. The ground floor storefronts are boarded up but whether or not the upper floors are unoccupied is questionable.

pale purple brick building boarded up, plywood on windows, yard overgrown,

The whole block (1423 to 1437, Perth to Sterling) has now been acquired by a development company but so far there has been no proposal for the site.

below: There can be delightful lines and colours in old things.

old window with metal bars painted over but rusting, board over window,

below: A bit of a squeeze. Plywood over a window, a shovel ready for winter (or left behind?), and a doorway hidden on the right.

very narrow entranceway between two buildings

below: Pasteups by some familiar names, Feelings Boi, Urban Ninja Squadron, and Sketchrat

paper paste ups on a plywood board covering a window beside door on abandoned building, Closed sign still on door

peeling posters on plywood on window of old building

below: The back has been turned into a storage place for cars.

used cars parked behind two empty buildings

cars without licence plates parked behind an old building, alley,

downtown in the time of Covid-19

Posted: April 29, 2020 in construction, locations, old buildings, stores
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

below: A lonely ladybug and bumblebee await the return of the kids.   Playgrounds still closed because of Covid-19.

playground with a large ladybird to sit on and a webshaped climbing ropes also with a closed for covid-19 sign

below: Barriers around the pool in front of the Toronto 3D sign at Nathan Phillips Square.  A perfect spot for a quiet picnic.

3 D toronto sign in front of city hall

A couple stands behind the o in 3 D toronto sign, barriers in front of sign, most of the water has been removed from pool in front, so have puddles with reflections of sign and city hall

below: New mural on Charles Street – painted September 2019, by Justus Becker (from Frankfurt Germany) as part of the 2019 StART mural exchange program.  One lens of the glasses is reflecting Toronto while the other lens mirrors Frankfurt.

tall mural onthe side of an apartment building, about 10 storeys high

below: Behind College Park (777 Bay Street)

behind 777 college street at college and bay streets, large tall condo buildings with a park in between

street scene

reflections in a large window on Yonge Street, a woman walks towards the window, the reflections of a man walking the other way are in the window

two men sitting on the sidewalk feeding pigeons, many pigeons, a security guard stands by a door behind them and a woman with a face mask walks past

a slightly arched window in an old brick building. Some panes of glass are gone and holes boarded up with plywood. Other panes are cracked. A pigeon rests on the window ledge by a gap in the window

s couple standing on a corner on Yonge street waiting for a light to change, and talking

below: If plants die on city property and no one is there to notice, does it really matter?

pale lime green planters in front of a concrete building, with dead plants in them.

below: Two big rats anthropomorphized into a cute little Chinese couple on a Canada Post box.  They appear on some of the stamps issued by the post office in honour of the Year of the Rat.  The rat is the first of the 12 animals in the  12 year cycle of the old Chinese calendar.  The rat also represents the hours of 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., in other words, both midnight and the beginning of a new day.   Perhaps we are approaching midnight and our new day is just around the corner?

Canada Post mailbox decorated with a picture of a mouse couple dressed in Chinese traditional outfits, cartoon-like, to celebrate lunar new year and year of the rat

below: Is this seat taken?

two mattresses discard in a lane beside a blue railing

below: Who can resist Unicorn Beauty?

two store fronts on Yonge Street, Unicorn Beauty and a Japanese restaurant

Social distancing can be challenge even when most people are staying home.  The way that the city and construction sites manage the sidewalks downtown barely worked before.  Now, the confinement of the sidewalk space makes it impossible for two people to pass and still comply with safety guidelines.   With some awareness, along with the ability to walk on the streets, it is possible to give everyone ample room.  There is a debate going on about whether or not to close some streets, or at least close some lanes to traffic, to provide more space for walkers.   Those on the “no” side such as the Toronto Public Health,  claim that it just encourages more people to be out when they should be at home; it undermines “directives against people congregating in groups”.

More recently, a program called CurbTO has begun whereby some curb lanes are opened to either pedestrians or to parking for curbside pickup from stores.  But even here, it’s not necessarily for walkers, but for people lining up to get into stores.   It’s going to be a very different situation once pedestrian and  traffic levels start to return to what they were in the old days and there are going to have been some infrastructure adaptations.

below: Navigating the sidewalks while still complying with what governments and health officials are suggesting.   Note the poster on the wall “We are all in this together”.

a woman walks down Yonge Street under a covered walkway (for construction) and towards a man half sitting and half lying on the sidewalk, with one leg stuck out into the sidewalk

below: It’s not often that traffic stops on Yonge Street for pedestrians and their pets.

a car stops on Yonge street to let a man and his white dog cross the street

below: On the southeast corner of Yonge and Gerrard, the facade of an old building is being preserved.

building on south east corner of Yonge and Gerrard is being demolished except for the facade which is being preserved

facade of a building on a corner being saved while rest of building is demolished

below: Brick and roofline details.

corner of a facade being saved during construction, old brick and detail work, window with no glass, showing metal supports keeping the wall up

below: I was impressed by the engineering that is involved in keeping these old facades intact while the interior is gutted.

metal framework and concrete weights that are used to shore up the walls of a facade being saved during redevelopment

a man sits on the stairs in front of the Ryerson Student Union building while another man walks past

ambulance with paramedics talking to a man who is sitting in the ambulance, at Yonge and Dundas in front of the Easton Centre

In front of the zanzibar club, sign, with flags and words, that say no corona here we only sell Molsons,

below: Talking to the polaroid guy.

a woman in a yellow and black striped scarf stops to look at a picture on a wall decorated with many black and white stripes going in many different directions, on the stripes is an enlargement of a polaroid picture of a man standing in a field with an airplane flying over him

a woman walks towards the side of a TTC streetcar as it crosses over Yonge Street

below: No standing takes on a new meaning

street signs now partially obscured by covering over sidewalk at construction site

below: Looking south on Bay Street from Queen.

Bay street, looking south from Queen

below: Richmond Street construction, west of University Avenue.

Richmond street, construction, looking west from University Ave

This was my first time on the subway since mid-March.  There were very few people there so it was easy avoiding them but once again, safely re-opening a city is not going to be easy.    The packed buses and subways are going to be problematic.

below: Only some subway seats can be occupied.

empty seats on TTC subway car, signs on seats saying do not sit here, social distancing measure re covid-19

 

Broadview & Danforth

Posted: April 27, 2020 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, locations, stores, transportation, windows and walls
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

  Most people are still staying home or at least close to home.  You’re still not going to see many people in my photos because I am still avoiding them, still walking in quieter places.  Sometimes those places happen to be streets that once upon a time (only a month ago?) were busy.

below: An empty parking lot.

brick wall of a building beside a parking lot, with sign saying reserved parking

below: A very quiet Broadview subway station.

Broadview subway station, west side,

below: A very tall and lanky animal on a pole.  It’s missing a leg or two.

long narrow shapes made of wood and painted blue an red and attached to wood utility pole

line of houses on a street by Broadview subway station, very tall trees with no leaves, semis, one is painted red

below: The TTC streetcar tracks in the middle of being replaced, on Broadview just south of Danforth.

a red truck in the middle of Broadview Ave as TTC streetcar tracks are being removed, lots of dust.

below: More TTC construction, this time another access to Chester station is being built.

fence in front of construction site at Chester subway station, sign with arrow pointing way for pedestrians

below: After a month of no shopping except for food and even no window shopping, this bright red telephone caught me eye as I walked past.   Salt and pepper shakers in a store window: Flamingoes, pink swans, penguins, cats, monkeys, and little yellow chicks – cute ones and funny ones like the hot dogs, as well as political ones like Trump and his North Korean counterpart.

looking in a store window, bright red rotary phone and a display of different types of salt and pepper shakers in differernt shapes - flamingoes, monkeys,

below: Inspired to do stuff?  I think I identify more with the mug beside these days.

mugs with cat theme pictures on them, on shelves, in window of a store

below: A Covid-19 message from the Danforth Music Hall – “Please take care of each other”.

front of Danforth Music Hall on the Danforth

below: Posters reminding people to share smiles and kindness

posters on a sidewalk bulletin board,

below: An electric sign outside Eastend United Church invites people to join their Sunday services on Facebook.

electronic sign on church saying worship with up on facebook

below: The mannequins had the most stylish face masks.

mannequins with metal stovepipe as neck and head, wearing covid face masks, one is black and white pattern with big red lips

Words scrawled on the side of a concrete block garage in an alley that say Macedonia is Greek

text graffiti in yellow on green wood fence, plywood, peeling paint, faded,

below: Beware of rabbit.

backs of houses and a garage in an alley, graffiti on garage says beware of rabbits

below: A hummingbird is painted on the pillar.

street art of a hummingbird on a pillar, with red flower

bright red gate between two buildings, 2 mailboxes on the gate, one white and the other a brass colour. Brass mailbox is 735

in an alley, the back of houses

a house, semi-divided, two storey, porch, rounded lines on the porch railing,

below: Takeout with distancing – a story that is repeated all over the city as restaurants try to stay afloat.

signs and posters on a glass door, entrance to restaurant

below: Social distancing leads to line ups outside Tims

line up outside Tim Hortons, social distancing for Covid

below: “See you after the curve flattens”

a sign on the glass door of a store selling old lights and lamps that says

front yard and porch of a house, walkway is concrete slabs that are uneven, pine bush on grass, metal railing on porch, small garden in front of porch

back of a small white building, store, in an alley, small porch on upper door with exterior stairs up to it
building beside a parking lot with three cars parked there, white car, blue car and red car

evening, Spadina and Front

Posted: September 8, 2019 in construction, locations, people
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

One part of the city that has changed immensely over the past few years is the area near Spadina and Front streets.  I was in the area last night and had a few moments to spare so I thought that I would take a look at what’s there now.

below: Waiting for the 510 streetcar

back end of a new TTC streetcar, at a stop on Spadina, people waiting, a man is on his phone as he waits, condo behind

below: Looking south on Spadina approaching Front Street.

looking south on Spadina near Front, streetcar stop and shelters in the middle of Spadina, some people waiting for streetcars, 2 small trees, tall condos in the background

below: Many cranes working at the site of the old Globe & Mail buildings on the north side of Front Street, just west of Spadina.

3 cranes at construction site on Front Street where Globe and Mail used to be

below: Intersection of Spadina & Front, looking southwest

looking southwest at intersection of Spadina and Front, condos

below: Looking west from Spadina as it crosses the railway tracks.

yellow metal pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks, looking from Spadina bridge, condos in the background, lots of tracks, no train

below: City Place, south of the tracks.  Red sculpture is ‘Flower Power’ by Mark di Savero.

red sculpture in front of condo buildings

below: On the south side of the railway tracks, east side of Spadina, part of Northern Linear Park.

trees in a small park along the side of the railway tracks, condos behind

below: There is still a parking lot on the northeast corner of this intersection. This image is the view across the parking lot to City Place.

looking across parking lot at north east corner of Spadina and Front towards the traffic and lights at the intersection, billboard, people

below: Reflections in the clear and green glass of a new building on Front Street, just east of Spadina

reflections in clear and green glass

below: Waiting for the light to change

a young man sits on his bike and checks his phone while waiting at an intersection for the traffic lights to change

below: And once we started walking across the intersection, I loved how her skirt moved as she walked.

a woman's long red skirt moves as she walks across the street

a food truck

east on the 506

Posted: August 6, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, people
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

506 is the number of the Carlton streetcar which runs from High Park in the west to Main Street subway station in the east.  The older cars still run on this route and one advantage of these older streetcars is that they have windows that open.  This makes it easy to take pictures while travelling; yesterday I went eastward from Yonge as far as Coxwell, sometimes on the streetcar and sometimes on foot.

below: Pointing the camera out the window, D & J Mart Convenience store at the corner of Gerrard & Sackville.

picture taken out the window of a streetcar on Gerrard, an older 2 storey brick building with retail on the lower level, two large old wood hydro poles

below: A new curvy building rises up on the corner of Carlton and Church.  The older building on the left with the R U on the top is the old Maple Leaf Gardens, now part of Ryerson University as well as a large Loblaws.

new highrise building under construction beside the old brick building that was Maple Leaf Gardens on Carlton street.

below: People, striped hoardings, and closed sidewalks.

people walking past painted hoardings in front of a construction site, painted in stripes

below: Waiting outside Jenny’s at the corner of Parliament and Gerrard where the streetcar makes another turn.

a young man stands beside a stroller outside Jenny's Convenience store on Parliament street, large red and white sign with kit kat logo on it twice - once at each end

below: Another convenience store on a corner on Gerrard.  This time there is also a construction site in the picture!  Are there more construction sites than variety stores or vice versa in this city?

from the streetcar window, a food mart on the corner and construction across the street from it.

people sitting on a TTC street car, three people, two women and a man.

below: Looking south on Broadview at Gerrard.

Broadview looking south from Gerrard with utility poles and lots of wires, people crossing the street, some traffic, the clears with the sign with a red cross on it

below:  The 506 streetcar passes through Chinatown East (the area around Broadview & Gerrard) where many of the old houses are also businesses.

older houses turned into businesses on the ground floor, two semis with Chinese businesses, one is Ly Ly beauty salon

below: The southeast corner of Broadview and Gerrard now has an A & W restaurant which seems like an intruder in an otherwise Chinese/Asian section of town.

looking at the southeast corner of Broadview and Gerrard with a large A and W restaurant on the corner. Beyond that, the other stores and restaurants are Chinese

below: At the intersection of Gerrard and Carlaw, where the railway passes over the roads, the walls have been freshly painted.  The north wall is a series of abstract shapes and colours like this.

a person in an electric wheelchair, or motorized scooter, passes by a wall that is covered with street art, traveling on the sidewalk

below: The new painting incorporates the older art that was there. In the center of the newly painted rectangles are two grey shapes, these are originals.  They are part of a 1996 installation by Dereck Revington called ‘Blue Fire’.  There is still a plaque that describes these aluminum pieces as “a constellation of five paired aluminum fragments etched with traces of a poem by Robin Blaser and suspended from the entrances to the underpass”.   Strange grey shapes (flames?) on dirty white concrete.  Regardless of what you think of the concept, the reality is that it was drab.

part of a railway overpass has been painted with street art

below: Lead artist Kirsten McCrea (also known as Hello Kirsten) and her assistants, Victoria Day & Julian Palma, have certainly brightened up the space!  The south wall is a series of frames pictures of hands holding flowers.   As seen from across the street ….

railway underpass street art, seen throughthe supporting concrete arches, paintings of hands holding flowers, framed

below: … and from close up

a dark brown hand holding a sprig of small light purple flowers

below: And lastly, the end support wall of the overpass where the flowers and the stylized shapes come together.

painting on a concrete pillar of a railway overpass, a rose with leaves, stem, and thornes, a collage of abstract shapes and

below: Store signs near Pape including the bilingual Italy Hair Design – but not in Italian!

store fronts on Gerrard including one that is painted bright green, signs over the doors including the Italy hair design store with sign in English and Chinese

below: With remnants of the past such as string of pennants faded to grey….

old three storey brick building with big bay windows on the upper two floors. Ground floor is a store or restaurant with bright red door and yellow metal bars over the windows

below: … or an old street sign still attached to the building.

side of an old brick building with stone features, an old street sign on the building Gerrard Street, now a law office with signs in the windows

below: After Greenwood, the 506 streetcar passes through Little India before it turns north on Coxwell.

food and containers on a table outside a store, with pink and green floral table cloth

below:  In the late afternoon and evening, Little India is much more lively.  Many shops sell food on the street – roasted corn on the cob (a pile is ready to cook on the green table here) as well as south Asian foods.   To the right of the corn is a bundle of sugar cane.

Mumbai Paan shop on Gerrard Street in Little India with a barbeque on the sidewalk, a bucket of corn and a pile of sugar cane

These few kilometres on a streetcar route have opened a small but fairly typical cross section of the city starting with the newer, taller, shinier center.  There’s quite a bit of multiculturalism, some history, and some colourful new art.   It’s a story that plays out all over the city in many similar yet different forms.  Familiar but unique.

 

below: Searching for a story? 😇

three people looking into the sun. Two are shielding their eyes with their hands, wearing sunglases, looking slightly upwards as if searching for something.

 

back to the snow

Posted: January 29, 2019 in nature, people
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

Hi!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here…. mostly because I have been away again.  In fact, I just got back to Toronto less than 48 hours ago.  The problem with coming home late in January is that you come home to winter.  Winter in Toronto can mean almost anything with temperatures varying from mild to frozen solid.   It’s not too cold right now but a lot of snow fell yesterday!  The temperature is forecasted to fall tonight.  It’s also forecasted to be above freezing by the weekend.

four people standing at an intersection, winter, lots of snow, waiting for the light to turn green, Yonge Street. People wearing winter clothes and boots, hats, parkas.

a small alley in winter, garbage bins covered with snow, mounds of snow,

I may (or may not!) get my car shoveled out!

cars parked on the side of a residential street in the city, covered with snow, after a snowstorm, day time, houses across the street.

fan Friday

Posted: July 13, 2018 in events
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

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!

of birds and flowers and more

Posted: March 5, 2018 in graffiti and street art, locations, stores
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

The other day I headed towards Dupont and Dundas West because I heard about a mural that I didn’t recall having seen.  Here it is … and more.

below: The most westerly part of the mural is on the north side of Dundas West where Old Weston Road and Annette Street meet.

mural on a wall beside a busy street

mural with a bird, chicakdee or sparrow beside a large orange tiger lily

mural, large painting of a tiger lily and a sparrow

 

It continues along the side of the railway underpass on Dupont (it’s a confusing tangle of streets here!)

car stopped in traffic under railway bridge, driver is looking at the mural that is painted under the underpass

….and on the stairwell up to the West Toronto Railpath.

part of a mural, a robin and an orange rose, outside, beside a staircase

colourful mural outside beside a staircase, large flowers and leaves including an orange maple leaf

It was a gorgeous day so I walked around a bit more, of course!

below: On Dundas West

street art of a young person writing on the wall with red letters that say it's just a phase

below: A row of houses with wonderful facades.  You don’t many like that anymore! .. at least not on houses.

older two storey row houses with facades that extend above the roof line,

below: These fooled me at first.  Interesting black and white photos looking grubby and worn… with a small McDonalds logo on the bottom right.   The photo on the bottom left also has a few words in small print that give away the fact this is a McDonalds promotion.  I don’t think I’ve seen any like these elsewhere – or have I missed something?

4 large black and white photos of people eating hamburgers, that is actually a mcdonalds ad

below: The large black metal staircase at the end of the footbridge over the tracks at Wallace Ave are gone.  The replacement stairs are dull and bland.  This change was meant to accommodate new development on Wallace.

new stairs at the end of a footbridge over the train tracks at Wallace street in Toronto, beside the West Toronto Railpath

below: Railpath window reflections.

reflections of the sky in a window

below: Also on the West Toronto Railpath, someone has hung this colourful ‘curtain’ on the fence in order to add a splash of colour to a sitting area.  Once upon a time there were more chairs here.  And a table if I remember correctly.

fabric hanging from a rope beside a footpath, large green cylinder stoarge unit behind it.

below: One of two chalkboards installed by crazydames where people have written notes to cyclists imploring them to slow down and use their bells.  I totally agree!  Just before I came upon this, a man on an electric bike came up behind me, silently and fast.

large chalkboard on an orange brick wall with notes to tell cyclists to slow down and ring their bells.

below: This little gnome still stands by the entrance to a convenience store.  This guarden gnome has been here (Bloor West) for a few years.

a small gnome painted on the wall beside a door to a convenience store. The door is open and people are walking past

below: Reduce, reuse, recycle – here the R used is reuse.   Truck and tractor parts and other bits and pieces craftily arranged and put to use on the outside of the Farmhouse Tavern.  It should look better in a couple of months!

planters on an exterior wall, made of truck and tractor parts

below: A fairy in a garden of mushrooms.

a mural of a fairy, woman, with wings, holding something in her hand and looking upwards, in a garden with large mushrooms,

graffiti on a black wall, white bird like head on pick square

One last look at part of that mural!

mural with flowers, shadows in front

part of a mural, large light purple flower with yellow center and dark pink at inner most part of petals

 

Older Entries