Dancing in the streets. Pride 2022.
Photos from Dyke March 2022
Instead of pictures of this year’s Pride Parade, I am posting some photos from previous Pride weekends from my archives. I have tried to use pictures that weren’t chosen for prior blog posts. As you know, the fall out from Covid-19 includes cancellation of parades in Toronto this summer. There was a virtual Pride parade online this year (so I hear) but that doesn’t lend itself to photography. We miss the social interactions that normally occur. We miss the atmosphere and the fun. This collection is a poor substitute for the real thing but maybe it will bring back a few memories….. See you in 2021!
below: Think! or rather Stop and think. Above that, tbonez with The Forge Fury in another urban ninja squadron sticker.
below: There is a new public art installation nearing completion at the corner of Carlaw and Dundas. When the project is done, the obelisk shaped sculpture by Pierre Poussin will be in the middle of a small park. It is made of laser cut rusted metal and will feature internal LED lighting.
below: Shadows of the trees along a winding trail.
below: There really aren’t enough fairies in the world. The ones that are supposed to clean my home haven’t shown up yet either.
below: This looks like it was once an artwork pasted to a wall. An eagle’s head is still visible at the very top. Are those its feathers at the bottom by the shoes – one dark blue and one red stiletto.
below: The northwest corner of Pape and Dundas. The “This is Toronto” mural by J. Chiale is still there.
below: An old and worn sign
below: A not so old sign with three lovebot stickers on it.
below: Old cars seen in an alley. Any ideas on what model and year the brown car is?
below: Santa Claus hasn’t returned to the North Pole yet! This front yard looks quite barren
below: … compared to this one! I am happy to report that the “doll house” still exists. There is at least one Santa Claus in there!
below: Not quite every inch (centimeter!) is covered. Christopher Robin and Tigger, Ernie and a Picachu. Tweety bird in a blue jacket and a white horse, Dora the Explorer is eating an apple.
below: These stickers still exist! A Star Wars family with a dirty back window.
below: Usually if a couch is waiting for the garbage man it’s sitting closer to the edge of the street!
below: Symmetry at the back of Bruce Junior Public School built in 1923.
below: And then there is the asymmetry created when one side of a semi-divided house explodes upwards.
below: Leslieville has two murals. This one covers the side of the building plus the back in pink, red, and orange stripes. This Guidant Bikeshare mural was painted by Mediah, aka Evond Blake, in 2017.
below: Nearby at the intersection of Queen and Jones is this mural by Elicser Elliot (2016).
below: The Coca-Cola Coady Sweets ghost sign is still there but the convenience store under it has been replaced by a Spanish restaurant.
below: Queen Street East
below: This is on the wall beside a vacant lot on Queen Street East that has been empty for years.
below: Another vacant lot but more recently so.
below: An alley view, behind Queen Street East
below: Waiting for spring?
below: Dundas Street East
And how can we end without re-visiting the doll house?!
On Saturday there was another small protest by a group that goes by the name PEGIDA which is actually an acronym for a German organization that can probably be called far right. The protest attracted a counter protest by a larger group of people. By the time I passed by, police and metal barricades stood between the two groups. Apparently the protest had planned to walk down University Ave. but the counter protest prevented them from doing so.
below: “Smash racism, no platform for fascists”
below: Patriots of Canada Against the Islamization of the West . P is for Patriot, whatever you think that that word means or implies.
below: “Fascism is a death cult” and “Nationalism is for losers”.
below: “When the state protects bigots, hate is state sanctioned.”
There’s a new mural in one of the Kensington alleys! It was painted recently by Dave Setrakian. It is also too long, and the alley too narrow, to get a good picture of the whole mural.
below: A parrot, an airplane and some Italian.
below: An Immigration Canada stamp from the 29th of May 1986 beside an Italian flag just out of reach.
below: Inspector Gadget appears on TV – a kids’ cartoon produced in the 1980’s.
below: A little yellow car with an Armenian flag in the back passenger window.
below: A large palm tree grows here, along with a Kuwaiti passport stamp and Kuwaiti flag