Posts Tagged ‘people’

pillow fight!

Posted: April 5, 2015 in events, people
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Pillow Fight
Nathan Phillips Square, Saturday of Easter weekend
Lots of pillows to dodge.
Lots of exuberant fun.
Pillow fights, now a spectator sport!

 

two young men hitting each other with pillows in a pillow fight.

One young men is sitting on the shoulders of another. He is swinging a pillow around in a pillow fight. Many others, who are not on shoulders, are trying to hit him with pillows

A boy is swinging a brown pillow at a woman in a pillow fight.

Two Asian women wearing pyjamas are hitting each other with pillows. Lots of hair flying around.

A young man in a batman shirt is being hit over the head with a red pillow in a large pillow fight.

people at a pillow fight

A group of young men having a pillow fight outdoors,

A young woman is sitting on the shoulders of a young man. She is laughing. She has a pillow in her hand. The crowd is behind her. A large man's face is on the very left of the photo.

A group of young people in a crowd who are having a pillow fight at Nathan Phillips square. A woman wearing a t-shirt that says "Lets pretend this never happened" is ducking pillows and laughing.

A young woman is holding a pillow with a pillowcase that has pink, green and yellow geometric shapes on it. She is getting ready to hit someone with it in a pillow fight. She is laughing

A young man on the shoulders of another at a pillow fight at Nathan Phillips Square.

A groupd of young people in a crowd who are having a pillow fight at Nathan Phillips square. Old city hall is in the background.

A happy couple taking a break from a pillow fight. He is laughing, she is saying ouch and putting her hand over her ear.

a couple taking photos from the upper level of Nathan Phillips square. Down in the square below them is a large pillow fight, and a lot of spectators and photographers

four young men laughing as they partake in a pillow fight.

Three young men are in the foreground, all are at a pillow fight. One man, wearing glasses, has his pillow held tightly over his head, one is looking away from the camera and the third looks like his head hurts as he puts his hand on his forehead.

CTV reporter ducking pillows as she gives commentary. Camera of cameraman is just in view on the right. Crowd at the pillow fight is behind her.

A boy in a blue jacket is in the foreground, he's hitting a woman in a black jacket. A group of young people in a crowd who are having a pillow fight at Nathan Phillips square. Old city hall is in the background.

A young woman has her eyes closed and is smiling as the people around her are hitting each other with pillows.

A young red headed man is on the shoulders of another person in a pillow fight.

Lots of pillows being held up in the air.

crowds of people at Nathan Phillips square on a spring Saturday afternoon

Two young women and a young men at a pillow fight

A smiling man, crouched shoulders, clutching a pillow, walks past a crowd in a pillow fight.

A group of young people taking a selfie photo at a pillow fight.

Man with a spiderman pillow and woman with a pink pillow at a pillow fight

A group of young men enjoying a pillow fight as they swing their pillows at other people

Bald man wearing a ferrari jacket is smiling at the camera as he walks through a crowd having a pillow fight

pillow fight

Two young men having a pillow fight while a crowd stands around them in a circle and watches.

Young man in a black leather jacket has his eyes closed as he hits someone with a pillow in pillow fight.

Young men swinging pillows at each other and trying to hit each other, all in good fun.

A young woman wearing a maroon McMaster shirt is holding a very large stuffed yellow cartoon character bird (tweety bird?)who is wearing a blue denim hat. Posed for the camera. Smiling.

A little boy in a blue jacket with a determined and fierce look on his face in hitting someone in a pillow fight.

A man being hit in the face with a pillow

Three people in costumes are posing for a group selfie as a photographer walks past.

A young woman with black curly hair and glasses is smiling as she takes part in a big pillow fight.

Young people having a pillow fight and laughing.

Man with a beard and a moustache, wearing a white fuzzy jacket with a pale purple artifical flower pinned to it. He's smiling and holding a pillow over his head.

A young man's glasses are falling off because he's just been hit with a pillow.

Two women in a pillow fight, lots of long hair blowing and being thrown around.

Man wearing a yellow top with hood that says on the front "Random yellow fruit". He's yelling and is holding a pillow over his head.

Young woman with long light brown hair is smirking at the camera and showing off her pillow - it is a body pillow with a picture of a male movie star on it and he's dressed in purple tux and black bow tie.

A young man is swinging a pillow while someone on the left is taking his photo.

Young woman with a pillow in a mickey mouse pillow case

Boy wearing a fuzzy brown hat and a camo print fleece bathrobe over a grey T-shirt

A young man being overwhelmed a bit by a large number of pillows being aimed his way.

 

Irish for a day

Posted: March 16, 2015 in events, people
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St. Patricks Day, 17th March

Watching people watching the parade in downtown Toronto on Sunday afternoon.

A couple watching a St. Patricks Day parade. He is wearing big shamrock shaped glasses. They are both wearing green hats. He is waving to the camera.

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A woman walking a dog that is all dressed in frilly green. It's also wearing a hat that says "Kiss me I'm Irish".

A heavyset man wearing long green robe and carrying a plastic snake. He is supposed to be St. patrick, the patron saint of Ireland who drove the snakes out of Ireland many centuries ago.

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A man dressed in green, green pants, green shirt, big green bowtie, green shunglasses, and a big green hat, and he's wearing a shamrock around his neck.

A group of Irish setters with green bandanas around their necks. They are part of the parade. One of them is being hugged by a girl spectator along the edge of the parade route.

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anti bill C-51protest

Posted: March 14, 2015 in events
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Stop Bill C-51 Protest and Rally
Nathan Phillips Square, noon, Saturday 14 March

It was a foggy and damp morning before the protest.

Nathan Phillips square on a foggy wet day. Greyness. There are a few people under the stage overhang but otherwise the square is empty
but the rain held off once the rally started.

View of a protest from the back of a stage. The backs of 4 photographers is to the camera. They are taking pics of the crowd.

A young woman is holding a piece of white fabric on which words have been printed: "Fuck bill C-51" is in larger letters.

“Protect our Charter Rights. Fuck you Harper”

 

Two young girls are holding protest signs. One says "Stop Harpers Secret Police" and the other says "Stop C51".

Stop C51″. “Stop Harper’s secret police”

 

A coalition of groups under the banner of StopC51.ca organized a “National Day of Action”.  Included in the events were protest rallys in cities across Canada. 

crowd shot at a protest

A group of 3 people. A woman on the right is holding a purplish grey umbrella. The other 2 people are holding protest signs.

People at a protest rally. One man has duct tape over his mouth and he is holding a placard that says "Citizen journalism will be silenced by Bill C-51"

“Citizen journalism will be silenced by Bill C-51”

 

A man is holding a placard that says Don't Let the Terror Win at a protest

“Don’t let the terror win”

 

A protester is holding a hand written sign that says #rejectfear

#rejectfear

 

A man is handing out protest signs that say "Say no to Islamophobia"

“Say no to Islamophobia. Say no to war.”

A crowd of people at a Canadian protest rally

A boy on his mother's shoulders is holding a sign with a picture of Lisa on it.

The other side of the Lisa Simpson sign are the words “I don’t want a big brother”

 

protesters at a rally.

A group of people around Henry Moore's sculpture "the Archer" in Nathan Phillips Square. They are there for the anti Bill C51 protest. A couple are sitting and talking to each other. Others are standing under umbrellas.

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The Toronto Raging Grannies were also there with their own unique sound.

 

Photograph ers are shooting a man who has a flag around his neck

signs lying on the steps as people walk around.

“Not the Canada we want or need”

Regent Park hoardings

Posted: March 13, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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Located at the northwest corner of Regent Park Blvd and St. David St.,
(which is south of Dundas East and east of Sackville)
painted on the wood hoardings around a construction site.

 This wall was painted as part of The Patch Project
PATCH = “Public Art Through Construction Hoarding”

Unfortunately, one photo that is missing is one of the section of the wall that is a large section that says “Conquer Adversity with Diversity”, the title of this work.

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. Scenes of people and faces, kids on bikes, activities. The word Welcome is written in red cursive. Two apartment buildings are in thebackground.
Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. The words Regent Park are written in large blue & purple cursive writing. An entrance to the construction site is between the two words.
Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. A woman's head and three men's faces in profile. They are all under the same pink head covering.

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. A large woman in head scarf with her eyes closed, people on bikes riding on a path

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site.Young man in blue baseball cap

graffiti people. One of whom has there hands over their mouth.

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. Six stylized hands in a row, on blue background. Highrise apartment building is in the background.

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. Large blue boy's face with a large bird taking flight beside him

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Street art of six stylized hands on a blue background.
Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. Two men punching, one is punching while the other stands beside him with fists clenched

Street art painting of two guys on a wall around a construction site. There are words in the picture. The first word ends with e n c h I think. The other words are Generation Rising Still

More information on The Patch Project

Chinatown mural

Posted: February 27, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Chinatown Mural
2011 by Alexa Hatanaka and Aaron Li-Hill
Commissioned by the Chinatown BIA & located in an alley near Dundas & Spadina.
The mural is based on scenes from everyday life in Toronto’s Chinatown.

Part of a mural on an alley wall. There are two parts of the mural visible in this photograph. An older man is riding a bicycle in one part and twp people are sharing an umrella and walking away from the viewer in the other part

fish eye lens photo of the mural, taken from the left hand side, older man on bicycle is the closest picture on the mural, next are the two people sharing an umbrella. The remaining parts of the mural are more difficult to discern. There is a car parked in the alley

mural showing three people, a child, the head of a middle aged man with a brimmed hat in profile, and an older man sitting

fish eye pens photo of the whole Chinatown mural

part of the Chinatown mural

Part of the Chinatown mural - an older woman is with a small child

Right end of the Chinatown mural, the end that is closest to Dundas St. The shop that is next to the alley in which the mural is painted can be seen in the photo.

A bike is leaning against a wall of an alley, there is snow on the ground. On the wall is the right hand end of a long mural

Icefest

Posted: February 23, 2015 in events, locations
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Bloor Yorkville Icefest, Frozen in Time
Cumberland Ave., February 21 & 22

 Ice sculpture beside a sidewalk. The top part has the words Bloor Yorkville icefest and the bottom part has the words Frozen in time, icefest 15. The middle section looks like a large face made of Egyptian motifs.

The 10th annual Icefest featured the carving of blocks of ice into Ancient Egypt themed sculptures.

Four ice sculptures with Ancient Egyptian themes - King Tut, and a pyramid amongst them. Also a wall of hieroglypics with two guards beside it.

Both Saturday and Sunday were snowy days but the weather didn’t deter the crowds, or their picture taking.  I’m sure that there are thousands of photographs of the sculptures!
Here are a few of mine.

A man in a white parka is standing beside a sculpture with his elbow resting on it. A woman in white coat and hat is taking his picture.

A woman is facing a sculpture of a dinosaur. Both of them have their mouths wide open.

A boy is standing beside a sculpture

A mother with two little kids is posing with an ice sculpture.

A little girl in a pink snow suit it peaking throw a whole in an ice sculpture

A father is taking a photograph of his son beside an ice sculpture

A group of four people are standing around an ice sculpture. They all have puzzled looks on their faces as though they can't figure out what the sculpture is supposed to be.

An ice sculpture of a bear with it's front paws raised, looms over the interesection of Yonge and Bloor.

This bear loomed over the NE corner of Yonge and Bloor.

Most of the sculptures along Cumberland Ave (west of Bellair) are still there and will remain as long as the temperatures remain low and no one vandalizes them.

Douglas Coupland at the ROM

Posted: February 5, 2015 in galleries
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Douglas Coupland: everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything

Royal Ontario Museum
until April 26, 2015

entrance to an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum featuring a large yellow wall with the name Douglas Coupland in large black letters. In the distance are two women standing in front of a painting that is hung on point.

In the background is a large painting of geometric abstract shapes in yellows, reds and greys. In the foreground is a close up of two stacks of blocks. The blocks are old children's wooden building blocks but they are alll different. Three have letters of the alphabet on them, one has a picture of a birds nest.

The 21st Century Condition
“I want to explore how it feels to be inside the 21st century brain as opposed to the 20th century brain”

Six paintings arranged three across by two down, on a wall. One in grays, one in pink, one in purple, one in ornage and one in pale pink.

a large wall is covered with coloured rectangles and in each rectangle is an expression that has become common. For example, get a life, oh my god, delete entire history?, etc. A woman is standing to the left of the wall, taking a picture of it with her cellphone.

view of an art exhibit, some people are walking through it and a couple of people are looking at the art on the walls

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Painted with dots.  When they are hanging on the wall, they look abstract.
When they are shrunk down and viewed on a smartphone, the picture comes into focus.

three paintings hanging on a wall in an art exhibit. One is of Osama bin Laden and the other two are 9/11 related, New York .

update:  Here is an interesting article that appeared in the Torontoist on 24th Feb about this exhibit.

beside 314

Posted: January 31, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Street art seen in a small lane, on the side of 314 Adelaide East.

A dog and a face partially obscured by swirls. There are also some chemical structures in this grey and blue painting.

above: painted by Aaron Li-Hill

IAH media graffiti in blues and greys on a black wall, very geometric. Sidewalk in front has snow on it.

above: painted by IAH Media

HUG graffiti tag and drawing in blues, greys and purples on a black and white wall.

Graffiti picture of two people, a man and a woman,

people painted by Elicser

Mural of a group of people, one in a chef's outfit, one on a bike,
314 Adelaide East is the home of Artik, a custom T-shirt (and other things) printing company.

mural scene of two people working at a desk amongst paint cans

mural scene of two men working on a machine that is printing designs on t-shirts

 

Irene Ave

Posted: January 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Irene Ave. is a short street that runs behind the north side of Bloor Street West between Carling and Shaw streets, just east of Ossington Avenue.  Irene Avenue Parkette takes up most of the south side of Irene Avenue.  There is an alley that runs between the park and the back of the stores on Bloor West.

The Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre, through the Graffiti Arts portion of their LOFT program, has sponsored a number of murals in this alley.

This is what it looked like on a cold afternoon last week.

laneway in winter, some snow and ice on the ground. Three cars parked. A mural on the side of a two storey building. Reddish rust coloured background with two faces, one woman and one man.

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The next picture was taken in June of 2012.
The mural is still there but I couldn’t take a proper photo of it last week as there was a car parked too close.

A mural of Teetnage mutant ninja turtles painted on a garage door.

When I walked around the block to check out the fronts of these buildings, this is what I found

Street art mural by elicser of three men on a bench. One is smoking a cigarette, one is reading and one is holding a lunch box in his hands.

A mural by Elicser and to the right the LOFT Youth Centre for Social Enterprise and Innovation.

je suis Charlie

Posted: January 12, 2015 in events
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#jesuisCharlie Toronto version.
Rally & march, Sunday 11 January.
Nathan Phillips Square

Close up photo of two small flags, one Canadian and the other French, on the end of a guitar.

flags, music and people

Close up of a sign that says 'Je suis Charlie Toujours en vie! I am Charlie' in black letters on white paper. The sign is being held by someone who is wearing red mitts with big CAN on them in white.

One of the many Je Suis Charlie signs.

Overview of Nathan Philllips Square in front of Toronto City Hall showing a large number of people gathered on a winter day in January to rally in support of Je Suis Charlie.

The crowd part way through the rally.

Part of a crowd of people at the Je Suis Charlie rally. Many are holding signs that say Je Sui Charlie. Most are dresssed for winter weather.

Crowd scene, listening to speeches.

A man is wearing yellow clogs and holding a sign that says Je Suis CHarlie. Ik ben Theo Van Gogh

Theo Van Gogh was a Dutch film producer, writer and actor.   He helped create a short film depicting the mistreatment of  Islamic women after which he received death threats.  In November of 2004 he was murdered in Amsterdam.

A large TV camera is filming a reporter from CP24. People behind the reporter are holding Je Suis Charlie signs.

Many TV reporters were on the scene, including CP24

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Je Suis Charlie signs and a few flags

A crowd in front of the stage at Nathan Phillips square on a January day when the Christmas tree in front of City Hall is still there.

The view from behind the stage.

A man is holding a sign that says Ich Bin Charlie

German participants too

Crowd at a rally in the winter

more crowd scene

A man is holding three signs. One says 'Je Suis Charlie' and two are in arabic. He standing behind a large white sign withblack letters. The words can't be read in this photo. An Iranian flag is being held by someone standing behind him.

There was also a group there with a large sign that said ‘Free all Political Prisoners in Iran’.  A number of Iranian flags were being carried, but they were the flag with the lion in the center.

People are walking through the intersection of Queen and Yonge streets as they march in the Je Suis Charlie rally. A policeman in a yellow jacket is standing in the intersection to help prevent the cars from interfering.

The crowd walked from Nathan Phillips Square to Dundas Square.

Two women. One is holding a Je Suis Charlie sign in one hand and a Starbucks cup in the other. THe other woman has a large pencil shaped sign.

at Dundas Square

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