Posts Tagged ‘families’

hanging out at Queens Park

Posted: September 28, 2019 in events, locations, people
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Today was Climate Strike day…  a Friday where there were rallys and protests to call for action on climate change across Canada and around the world.   Here in Toronto Queens Park was the gathering spot.
at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, a group of young people with their home made protest signs, some on brown cardboard, and one on pink bristol board,

By 11 a.m. the park in front of the parliament buildings was quite full and people were congregating all down University Avenue as well.   I wandered (pushed my way?) through the crowd while we waited for some speeches (that almost no one could hear) to finish before the walk part of the day started.   These are some of the signs that I saw and some of the people that I talked to.

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, a young girl holds a homemade sign that says save are trees, two other girls are with her

two people in costume, one a bee and one a fox (badger?). They have a yellow sign that says If we die we will take you with us. Act now. at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September

below: All eyes on the camera man.

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, a group of school kids holding protest signs that they've made, but keeping their eyes on a man with a large TV camera

below: People Act Now It’s Critical, PANIC

5 kids, each with a sign. Together they spell panic. each letter is in red on a green circle. The boy holding the C at the end is sitting on the ground

The best thing I heard this morning was one boy who said, “It’s not socialism, it’s a better kind of capitalism”.

 

below: Holding a sign that she made herself.

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, a girl holds a poster placard that she made herself, it says save our and then it has a picture of the Earth

below: Respect your mother.   There were lots of references to Mother Earth.

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, a young boy sits on the grass between two women. Behind him is girl with a sign on her back that says Respect your Mother

below: The turtles are only the beginning

a girl has her face showing through a square hole cut out of a piece of white bristol board, sign saying that the turtles are just the beginning, her face is part of the turtle body

below: Change is coming wether you like it or not.  We need real change.

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, three girls with pale blue signs, Change is coming,

below: Being interviewed as she holds her climate danger rating sign.

a woman is being interviewed for television, at a climate change protest,

below: Standing with the trees, and partially under the pines.

standing under some pine trees is a woman who is holding up a sign that says standing with the trees

below: Make Ontario Greta again.

a man holds a spiral bound sketch book on which he's written Make Ontario Greta again.

a young girl in a pink jacket stands between a woman with a walker and a man in a plaid shirt and green hat. She is holding a hand drawn protest sign

Roses are dying,
violets are too.
Save our planet,
we’re counting on you.

below: We want a green future

two little girls holding a bristol board protest sign that says we want a green future

below: Every single use item is a time bomb

in front of Queens Park, lots of people in front, crowded out to the street, south side, on road, a woman is sitting on the shoulders of another woman while holding a sign that says each single use item is a time bomb

below: Taking cues from Kermit the Frog, it ain’t easy being green.

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, a middle age woman dressed all in light green, pants,jacket, and hat, and holding a sign with a picture of Kermit the frog that says It ain't easy being green but we must

below: Continuing with the colour theme… All that glitters is not gold.

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, a young man dressed in gold and holding a sign that says All that glitters is not gold

below: A common theme today was, “The Earth is hotter than”.  In this case, I think that’s a Korean boy band?  K-Pop? Or something like that?

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, an Asian woman with a sign that says the earth is getting hotter than. At the bottom of the sign are pictures of a Korean boy band.

below: More “hotter than” – this time an imaginary boyfriend.  How can you not smile at that?

three people holding three placards, one says The earth is hotter than my imaginary boyfriend. also one says Change is coming whether you like it or not.

below: Look me in the eye, from up above.

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, a girl is on her parent's shoulder. she is holding a yellow sign that says look me in the eye

below: Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone, plus Clean Energy = New Jobs

climate strike, rally for action on climate change at Queens Park, group of people, adults and kids on University Ave

below: Our world is melting

climate strike, rally for action on climate change at Queens Park, a group by the trees in the park, two signs, one with a bear on it and words about melting ice. The other is being held by a woman who is on another person's shoulders

below: Fight climate change or die frying

below: Another theme kept appearing today was an anti fossil fuel stance.  “In 2018 Canada spent 3.3 billion on fossil fuel subsidies”

a young girl holds a carboard sign that has a picture of of a peace sign made with a picture of the Earth

below: This is why we can’t have nice things.

at the climate strike rally at Queens Park on a sunny morning in September, group of young people, including a woman with a cardboard sign that says This is why we can't have nice things

below: Why should I study neuro when we’re all going to die?

climate strike, rally for action on climate change at Queens Park, a young woman with a blue sign poses for a photo being taken by a friend

Another post with more photos from the climate strike are immediately below this page.

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Posted: November 19, 2018 in events, people
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Santa Claus Parade 2018

a girl with a red hat with red reindeer ears stands on the street on a parade route, a group of policemen is in the background.

The 114th annual Santa Claus parade filled the streets with lots of fun and excitement.

two young boys on the sidewalk enthusiastic cheering for the parade

Floats, clowns, and hundreds of characters in costumes.

a clown in red polka dot clothes and bright red wig, smiles as she stands beside a float at Santa Claus parade with a large Carlton Bear, the Toronto Maple Leafs mascot

And people, lots of people!

a clown with bright orange hair and a multi coloured outfit, in front of a crowd outside

a man poses in an instagram frame that is being held by two clowns with bright orange hair

a father holds a toddler son in his arms, outside, beside the street, with crowds watching parade, winter, warm coats and hats

a clown in polka dot outfit and red wig bends down to high five with kids on the sidewalk who are watching the parade

a clown with a bright red nose walks in a parade, in front of people dressed as snowmen with red scarves and black belts, clown has a chequered outfit on, in primary colours plus green

three people involved with the Santa Claus parade pose for a picture. A woman in a red cardinal costume, a girl with a light blue wig holding an oversized gingerbread cookie with white icing, and another girl in a shiny blue and orange outfit

a man in a fuzzy grey animal costume waves to the crowd on the sidewalk at the Santa Claus parade

two girls sitting together on a float at the Santa Claus parade, shiny green and purple costumes

a group of people on the sidewalk watching a parade, kids in front on chairs and under blankets, parents behind standing.

young woman with rainbow wig, and bright coloured clothes, clown in a parade

3 girls dressed as clowns with rainbow wigs, and big red noses.

girl with hat with shiny red reindeer ears, also sunglasses

a girl in red and white striped hat and outfit, and red mitts, sits on a float in the Santa Claus parade and waves to the crowd

a man dressed as a tin soldier walks in a parade, waving to the crowd wearing white gloves & red uniform

three kids sitting on the kerb reach out a hand to shake the hands of a clown wearing white gloves

two women are dressed as flowers in terra cotta flower pots, walking down the street in a parade, followed by some people dressed in black and yellow bumble bee costumes

a woman leans back in a golf cart, marshall & crowd control, before the start of a parade,

a kid's head is in the middle of a red petal flower

two girls waving to the crowd as they walk in a parade, white gloves, turquoise outfits, shiny star shaped crowns on their heads

a child in red glasses is inside a bacon costume.

man in straw cowboy hat, red and white bandana, yellow shirt and cow print vest, smiles and holds hand up at shoulder level

a young girl in a red and white outfit holds a pole that is part of a large Chines dragon, she is watching the others with poles

clowns in purple and green outfits and many colours in their wigs, walking in Santa Claus parade

a male clown in pink wig and pink and yellow ruffle collar, large floppy blue hat and lots of make-up on his face

two girls on a float at the Santa Claus parade, dressed in shiny blue clothes with fuzzy white furry trim, smiling and looking at the camera

two camera men with large video cameras filming the Santa Claus parade

older man with grey hair, beard & moustache, and slightly balding, talks to another clown in a bright yellow wig

man's face, wearing sunglasses in the middle of an orange and yellow flower, part of Santa Claus parade

woman with long black hair, smiling, in a parade, wearing a red and white costume with ivy on the hat and a cape

a woman with long black hair stands waiting for her turn in the parade, wearing a shiny blue and gold costume and holding an oversized replica of a gingerbread cookie shaped like a Christmas tree with green frosting and red frosting

man dressed as Santa Claus in a parade

And of course, Santa Claus at the end of the parade sitting in his sleigh with toys and Christmas surprises.  The star of the parade, the person everyone came to see.

Santa Claus stands in his sleigh that is being pulled by reindeer on the top of a float in the Santa Claus parade.

Open streets on Yonge and Bloor.

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

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

below: Axe Capoeira

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

below: Mayada’s Belly Dance at Yonge & Bloor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

below: Decorating bikes and scooters

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

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

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

a woman with flowers in hair in profile

below: Trumpet lessons

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

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

below: Yoga in the park

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

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

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

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

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

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

below: A Lamborghini.  0 to 60 in how many seconds?

turquoise Lamburghini bike locked along with other bikes

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

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

fan faces – Fan Expo 2018

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

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

Here are some examples of the people that I saw.

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

below: Looloo from ‘The Fifth Element’

a woman with a bright orange wig

below: The Littlest Mermaid, Ariel

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

below: Robin, Boy Wonder

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

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

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

 

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

below: The Queen of Hearts

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

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

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

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

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

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

below: A Sailor Moon gets a touch up

woman with green hair is applying blue lipstick

below: Batman comes in many shapes and sizes!

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

woman in black leather and tophat

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

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

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

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

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

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

man with shite face and yellowish green eyes

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

below: Anime inspired costumes.

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

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

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

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

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

below: Anonymous mask

person wearing anonymous mask from v for vengence movie

woman with orange hair

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

Khalsa colours

Posted: May 1, 2018 in events, people
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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.

man sikhs in colourful turbans and saris crowd into Nathan Phillips square, and are around the 3D toronto sign, which is backwards in this photo (taken from behind the letters)

women in a crowd, smiling and talking, wearing sunglasses and colourful saris and head scarves

an older sikh man stands in front of Henry Moore's sculpture, The Archer, at Nathan Phillips Square, he's wearing a yellow turban, white shirt and beige vest. Sitting around the base of the sculpture are many people - men with turbans and women with long saris.

below: There was free food for everyone.

male and female volunteers serve food to people at khalsa celebrations.

a man in a blue turban and with a long black beard carries a tray of french fries to serve to people

shoes inthe dorground, people sitting on a green mat, people standing in line waiting to pray beyond that

below: There was a place for prayer

sihks in turbans and saris praying at a khalsa event outdoors

men seated on the ground, back to camera, all wearing turbans, dark blue, orange, and light orange,

Under a tent covering, a man from Punjabi TV is filming khalsa prayers and celebration at Nathan Phillips square

statue of Winston Churchill at city hall in Toronto, hands on hips, in the background, many people are on the upper ramp around the city hall building

crowd of people at nathan phillips square, as seen from above

a group of sikhs, men and women, sitting and standing outside

sikh women in pink, orange, and yellow saris, standing outside and socializing

black jeep decorated as a float in khalsa day parade in toronto

a young sikh woman stands in front of a crowd of people, yellow sari, black leather jacket and green and gold scarf around her neck

a young man carries food in styrofoam packages as well as a drink, as he walks past people sitting around the sculpture, The Archer at City Hall

an older sikh man with a long grey beard and an orange turban holds a younger boy in a blue jacket and hood

two young men in turbans, one blue and one yellow. one is wearing reflective sunglasses

the back of a jacket being worn by a young man, white jacket with red map of canada and the words Canada 150, wearing an orange head scarf tied at the back.

music and dancing in the street

Posted: July 28, 2017 in events, people
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shoes of a man who is moving as he sings, street and sidewalk in the photo

Beaches Streetfest 2017
Pictures from last evening’s fun.

below: Spock was there too.

a man dressed as Dr. Spock from Star Trek hugs a musician at an outdoor music festival

below: Old Man Flanagan’s Ghost plays their Irish and Scottish music outside The Stone Lion.

the band, old man flanagan's ghost plays on a street corner, a bass player, a guitar player, and two fiddlers,

two musicians with lights on them, from the back, with the crowd standing on the street in front of them, one woman dancing

a singer with his arm up in the air, a woman across from him also pointing upwards

below: A saxophone player from The Achromatics shows off her style.

a woman in a red skirt plays the saxophone on the street, a part of the Achromatics, a music group, a man on keyboards stands in the background

below: Johnny Max Band

singer Johnny Max sings at a street festival, blue fedora, purple check shirt, a man in the background with a 416 Toronto T-shirt on

below: Dancing to the music.

a couple dances on the street, attending a music street festival, some people look on.

below:  Someone wants to play along.

a little girl runs towards a temporary stage set up on the sidewalk, she is pointing to it. The musicians have moved forward and are playing closer to the crowd

below: Jenie Thai

a woman in sunglasses and teal dress plays the keyboards. A man with a small beard is playing the guitar beside her, a red wall with text street art is behind them.

below: Shooting bubbles. These bubble makers were being sold at the festival so there were lots of bubbles all over the place.

kids playing with plastic bubble shooters in a crowd on the street.

below: Guitarist Neil Chapman from the Zedheads in a rare moment when he lifted his while playing the guitar.

guitarist, neil chapman, playing outside.

below: Another Zedhead member

bearded man with sunglasses and black basebell cap sits at a drum set. Hhis baseball cap says Zedhead on it.

below: A window seat behind the stage

a woman is seated in a restaurant by the window that is open, she is looking out and watching a group of musicians perform, there is a man on a drum set as well as another man.

a young boy in a large yellow T-shirt is watching musicians outdoors.

below: Queen Street as the sun went down.

evening, darkening sky, many people on the street at a street festival, most people are facing away from the camera except one woman in front who is looking straight ahead. Musicians playing on the right, standing in front of stores

below: Excitement!

three young girls watch an evening outdoor music performance by a band of 6 musicians on a street corner

below: Under the red lights.

a youngblack man in sunglasses and black hat sits at a keyboard with mircophone in front of him, evening, some red lights are shining on him. outside.

back of a girls head, long hair tied in a ponytail, outside, in the evening, as she watches a music performance with a small crowd of people

people, part of a larger crowd watching a street performance, one woman has a bright orange mohawk hairdo.

The festival continues all weekend (July 28, 29 and 30)

#beachesjazz | #beachesstreetfest

South Asian Festival

Posted: July 24, 2017 in events, people
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Toronto in the summer means street festivals every weekend.   One of the festivals this past weekend was the 15th annual South Asian Festival in ‘Little India’.   Gerrard Street East was closed to traffic between Greenwood and Coxwell for the occasion.

below: Shopping, strolling and playing games.  Try your skill at cricket or buy some jewellery or some clothing.

street scene at South Asian festival. a man hits a ball with a cricket bat, two women in head scarves are talking, men behind a table are selling jewellery and clothes

a woman leans on the top of a rack of clothing for sale, sidewalk sale, as part of the South Asian Festival on the Gerrard Street.

three women are looking at a blouse (dress?), red and white pattern, on a hanger at an outdoor sidewalk sale, as part of a street festival. They are looking at the same piece of clothing

mother and daughter look at bangles, jewellery, for sale outside, at street festival. Both are wearing sunglasses

an older man sits behind a small table covered with a white cloth. on the table are toys that he is selling. he is holding an orange Nemo shaped bubble maker plastic toy. behind him, a man is standing smoking a cigarette

Like all street festivals, there was lots of food and drink available.

below: Extracting sugar cane juice.

a man shreds sugar cane in a machine to extract the sugar cane juice which he is then selling, outside, street festival, Little India

below: Fresh baked naan, straight from the oven.

a man removes freshly baked naan from a tandoori oven

There were many photo ops provided.  For instance, there were cut outs for faces in pictures of Bollywood actors.

at a street festival, two people are putting their heads through cut outs while others take their picture, cut outs are on faces of Bollywood actors and actresses.

… and a richly decorated cart (What is it’s proper name?)

an older couple pose for a picture while they are sitting in a decorated cart, purple velvet, and many colourful tassles

and mannequins in traditional costumes.

two young boyus pose with a manniquin dressed in traditional Indian (South Asian) costume

below: There was also entertainment.   In this case, a rapper in Hindi and English.

a man with a black shirt with the word security on the back watches a performance of a rap artist who is on a stage with many people watching him

one woman adjusts the floral headband on another woman, both are dressed in traditional South Asian clothing

young kids lean over a yellow barricade as they watch a performance a girl is giving a thumbs up sign

a woman is airbrushing black paint onto a stencil on the upper part of a small girls arm, temporary tattoo

a woman with shiny bangles, bracelets, on her wrist puts her hand on her boyfriend's lower back

… and there was even a large elephant parked beside Victoria Whole Foods!  It looks a bit tacky with the big advertising  banner on its side but it was still a popular place to take selfies.

a couple, man and woman, each with a dog on a leash, is taking a selfie in front of a large elephant sculpture

road losed sign and yellow metal barricades, street festival going on behind the sign & barricade. Also racks of sarees for sale and in the distance, a large fake elephant

When Irish feet were dancing

Posted: March 20, 2017 in events, people
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legs and feet of girls in frilly green tutus as they dance in a parade

St. Patricks Day Parade, 19 March 2017

bagpipe player wearing a green hat for St. Patricks day

Watching floats, bands, banners, flags, leprechauns, bagpipes, drums, dancers, hurlers, soccer players, dragons, shamrocks, leprechauns, crazy hats, green hats, green everything, but most of all, people.

woman holding a metal flag pole, she's wearing big shamrock shaped glasses

feet and legs of two girls dancing on a float in a parade

a woman in a green cowboy hat with a green fringe, a green shamrock sticker on her cheek and wearing a green, orange and white scarf

a retired fireman with a green tam, moustanche and a big green bowtie

st. patricks day parade, man wearing a costume that makes it look like a large leprechaun is grabbing him around the knees

a man holds one end of a white banner that says County Kildare, St. Patricks Day parade

boys running a parade. one is wearing an orange body suit that also covers his face, also green tshirt and white shorts and green bowler.

a flute player in a blue uniform plays and walks in a parade. Other musicians in the background

two women with little green hats perched on their heads watch the St. Patricks Day parade

Ramses shriners band marches and plays in the St. Patrick Day parade. Red trousers, black jackets, large green shamrocks decorating their drums

a man playing the bagpipes in a St. Patricks day parade. he's wearing an oversized green and white striped hat with a band of shamrocks on it. Also wearing a big green bowtie

a middle aged woman in a fireman's jacket sits on a float in a parade (firetruck?) whe is holding a small teddy bear with a green sweater and a young girl is with her

a man is walking a dog in a parade. the dog is wearing a grewen hat for St. Patricks day

a group of adults and youth from Scouts Canada walk in the St. Patricks day parade, carrying lots of Canadian flags

a girl wearing green sunglasses and a scout uniform

a man stands on a sidewalk along with other people. he is dressed a costume that is a green beer bottle, his head is the neck of the bottle

adults and kids sitting on the sidewalk watch drummers go past in a parade. girl with big green bowtie and boy with long green tie and green bowler hat

three boys among a crowd of onlookers at a parade. The boy in the middle is wearing green and dancing as he watches

five kids sitting on a float in the St. Patricks day parade

liuna union members walk in the St Patricks day parade in Toronto

a young girl with a liuna union jacket on walks in a parade. she is wearing beer bottle shaped glasses

St. Patrick in the parade, talking to spectators on the sidewalk

a woman with a big smile and wearing purple gloves is holding up a white banner in a parade

a father and daughter have seats on the sidewalk as they watch a parade go by

two old yellow police cars in the St. Patricks day parade

chinese dragon, with two people inside it working it, walking down the street in a parade with spectators standing on the sidewalk

people standing and sitting on a small outdoor patio, on the sidewalk, watching the St. Patricks day parade go past. The bar is the Smiling Cow.

an older man in green Irish tophat and green coat and green bowtie

a man is dressed in an elvis costume, he's silver Elvis - skin all with silver makeup, holding a guitar

two boys wearing hats and oversized green ties watch a band march past in the St. Patricks day parade, bag piper in the very foreground.

a man and his two kids watch a parade. They are wearing big green and white hats

a woman cheers as she watches a parade from the sidewalk. Her partner is standing beside her

from the back, not much of his face is visible, a man wearing a green wig and a green tam with a pom pom on top

Kathleen Wynne, premier of Ontario, talks to a policeman and another man outside, before the start of a parade

 

ice

Posted: February 27, 2017 in events
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This past weekend was the 5th annual Bloor Yorkville Icefest.
It’s an event that features ice sculptures in the park at Cumberland and Bellair.

The theme this year was Canada 150, as 2017 is Canada’s 150th birthday.

a group of people sit and stand on a large rock behind an ice sculpture of a maple leaf with the words Canada 150 under it, all carved in ice.

below: Sculptures in an enclosure (i.e. no one gets close enough to touch).  The Parliament building in Ottawa is on the left with a very tall RCMP Mountie standing beside it.  I’m not sure who the sculpture in the middle is supposed to represent.   On the right, a large 1867, the year of Confederation, on top of a large 2017.

people standing on a large rock to look at ice sculptures of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, a tall RCMP mountie and the numbers 1867 2017 .

below: A number of artists worked on their sculptures as part of the festival.  This mountie and beaver had  just been completed before I arrived.

an ice sculpture of a mountie and a beaver has just been finished. The tools used by the artist are lying around on the ground below the sculpture.

below:  A large chunk of ice gets cut into smaller cubes.   Each cube contains a small toy that had been frozen in the ice.  For $2 you could buy an ice cube and smash it to liberate the toy.

a man is using a chainsaw to cut a chunk of ice into smaller cubes. Small toys have been frozen into the ice. Other people are watching, especially two kids.

Don’t miss the sign in the background!

below: Complete with spelling mistake. Charlottetown is spelled wrong.
Also, the term Newfie is included? Apparently it’s no longer an insult to call someone a Newfie.

a young woman in black coat and brown tuque stands beside a block of ice that has the names of some of Canada's cities carved into it.

below: The warm temperatures were making some of the thinner pieces more fragile than usual.   The little ‘knobs’ on this replica of the Taj Mahal were barely hanging on.  Luckily the temperatures dropped enough that most of the sculptures survived.

a woman is standing behind an ice sculpture of the taj mahal.

people at the Bloor Yorkville Icefest

a girl in a bright pink jacket stands behind a podium built of ice and in front of a wall made of ice. Both have curvy lines and swirls carved into them.

an ice sculpture of a face, perhaps a man weraing a hat with a black hat band?, crowd scene in the background, a woman's face on the left side of the photo.

a ice sculpture of a mountie standing at attention and saluting, light by pink and red lights,

a young man stands behind an ice sculpture to pose for a picture, one hand up with peace sign of two fingers, a young woman is looking at him from the other side of the sculpture

a coouple stand on a set of stairs behind an ice sculpture to have their picture taken.

#blooryorkville | #icefest17

Flotsam and Jetsam and others

Posted: February 21, 2017 in people, public art, waterfront
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 Two empty chairs sitting in the sun.  This photo is only a half truth; it suggests that the beach was sunny but empty yesterday when I took the photo.    Sunny yes, empty no.

two empty muskoka chairs on the beach beside Lake Ontario on a sunny February day

Back in the winter of 2015, I discovered the first “Winter Stations” event on a day when the temperature was -20C.  There weren’t many people there that year!   In contrast, yesterday was a beautiful and unseasonably warm February Sunday.  Temperatures hit the double digits and lots of people come out to take advantage of the weather.  It was also the first weekend of the 2017 version of ‘Winter Stations’.  Although the installations officially opened today, all but one of them were completed and ready for the public yesterday.

below: One of the installations is “North” which was designed by studio PERCH in Montreal.   Yes, it’s Christmas trees hung upside down.  They are prickling to walk between.  This year there seems to be a recycling and reusing theme in a lot of the installations.   At least I hope these trees weren’t cut down specifically for this project.

on the beach, people in winter jackets stand around looking at an art installation that consists of evergreen trees, Christmas trees, hung upside down.

below: Another installation is “Collective Memory” designed by Mario Garcia (Barcelona Spain) and Andrea Govi (Milan Italy).   People are encouraged to leave messages in the bottles.

an art installation on the beach, people in winter clothes, two parallel walls about 10 feet high made of a layer of horizontally arranged empty plastic bottles with the opening facing in, people are writing on paper and then putting the messages in the bottles.

below: Paper is provided as are the bottles.  The walls are constructed of horizontal empty plastic water bottles with the openings all on the inside of the structure.

a boy is rolling up a piece of paper in inserting it in the opening of an empty plastic bottle.

below: The sun shining through the plastic bottles makes for some interesting effects.

sunlight shines through a wall of plastic bottles, some people walking in front of it. Collective Memory installation at Winter Stations 2017 on Toronto's waterfront.

below: Like most of the installations, “Collective Memory” encloses a lifeguard station.

an art installation on the beach, people in winter clothes, two parallel walls about 10 feet high made of a layer of horizontally arranged empty plastic bottles with the opening facing in, people are writing on paper and then putting the messages in the bottles. view form one end, the walls enclose a lifeguard station, 4 kids are on the lifeguard platform

below: The installation that wasn’t ready yet is “The Beacon” designed by Joao Araujo Sousa and Joanna Correia Silva (Porto Portugal).

a woman pokes her head inside a hole in a tall wood structure on the beach, other art installations are in the background, lots of people, some people sitting on chairs.

The installation in the background in the above photograph is “BuoyBuoyBuoy” designed by Dionisios Vriniotis, Rob Shostak, Dakota Wares-Tani, and Julie Forand (Toronto Canada).

below: One of many photo ops!

three kids stand on top of a lifeguard station that is enclosed by an art installation that is construction of many oval shapes joined together. Some are white, some are clear and some are reflective. A mother is taking a picture of the kids.

below: Notched ovals made of wood and clear plastic were used to build this installation.  The wood pieces were either painted white or covered with silvery reflective material.

close up photo of part of an artwork made of wooden oval shapes that are notched together.

kids climb up the center of an art installation called buoy buoy buoy, standing on the lifeguard station platform that is the middle of the artwork. Made of wooden oval shapes that are notched together.

below: More reflections, this time in “The Illusory” designed by a group from Humber College School of Media Studies & IT, School of Applied Technology.

a girl in a turquoise t-shirt is reflected many times in a wall of relfective material and several posts around the wall covered in the same material.

below:  Someone has already written on (scratched?) the surface.

three men are reflected in a shiny surface on an art installation. Someon has scratched the word LOVE into the surface

below: “The Illusory” in front, “Flotsam and “Jetsam” behind, and lots of people in between.

lots of people walking past and looking at two art installations on the beach as part of Winter Stations event

below: “Flotsam and Jetsam” was designed by a team from the University of Waterloo.  It consists of cubes made of wire cages.  The cages on the bottom are filled with empty plastic bottles of different colours and shapes.

people looking at an art installation on the beach made of wire cage cubes stacked on top of each other. The ones on the bottom are filled with empty plastic bottles of different colours and shapes. The upper cages are empty and they are joined together to look like the head of a creature.

two boys peer out from behind a wall of wire cages filled with empty plastic bottles. One of the cages is empty as looks like a window

sun shines through empty plastic bottles and looks like the bottles are lights

empty plastic bottles in a wire cage sits on the sand of the beach

a tower of plastic bottle filled wire cages stands in front of Lake Ontario

***

a father and daughter link fingers behind the mother's back, the women are in winter coats, father is in jeans and plaid long sleeved shirt

The Winter Stations will remain until the 27th of March.

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