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!
Posts Tagged ‘flags’
Pride, no parade 2020
Posted: June 28, 2020 in events, peopleTags: crowd, dancing, flags, float, flowers, fun, laugh, LGBQT, naked, nude, parade, people super soaker, rainbow, spectators
Rambling Leslieville
Posted: March 6, 2020 in alleys, graffiti and street art, intersections, old buildings, public art, storesTags: alley, architecture, Bruce Jr Public School, Carlaw, dolls, Dundas, Elicser, Elicser Elliot, Evond Blake, fence, flags, graffiti, houses, J. Chiale, Leslieville, lovebot, Mediah, murals, old cars, Pierre Poussin, Queen St. East, residential, streets, think, trees, urban ninja squadron
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?!
protest and counter protest
Posted: March 26, 2019 in events, peopleTags: fascism, flags, immigration, people, politics, protest
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.”
Go Go Gadget
Posted: September 19, 2018 in graffiti and street art, locationsTags: #keep6hah, airplane, alley, Dave Setrakian, flags, hand, Inspector Gagdet, Kensington, lane, mural, painting, palm tree, parrot, passport, realistic, scooter, television, TV, yellow car
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
Labour Day Parade 2018
Posted: September 3, 2018 in events, peopleTags: ACTRA, AFL-CIO, Amalgamated Transit Union, Canadian Media Guild, CNE, CP24, CUPE, dog, Doug Ford, flags, IATSE, Jennifer Keesmaat, justice, lock out, millwrights, NDP, OPSEU, parade, pay equality, people, placards, protest, rights, sex ed, signs, slogans, Sprinkler Fitters of Ontario, Toronto Civic Employees Union, TTC, unions
below: IATSE Local 58 led the parade this year. They have been locked out of the CNE who brought in workers from Quebec and Alberta to help set up the Ex this year. Usually the parade ends at the CNE grounds at the Dufferin Gate and participants get free admission to the Ex. This year, the parade ended at Lamport Stadium instead.
below: Mayoral candidate, Jennifer Keesmaat, walked in the parade with the IATSE locals. At Bathurst St., the groups at the front slowed down to let the others catch up. At that point, Keesmaat was interviewed by CP24.