The day after Labour Day, the official end of summer get back to school day.
So here are a few photos of the lazy hazy days of this summer past…..
summer love, in the Distillery District
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‘On a Toronto balcony’… or, ‘Looking out my window’
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Watching performers practise at Kultura, the Filipino Arts Festival, Wychwood Barns.
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Hanging out at the Music Garden, on the waterfront.
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If you can’t beat them, join them.
No matter where I went this summer, I seemed to always find the CN Tower lurking in the background.
It photobombs a lot of pictures! 🙂
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The M.R. Kane, a bright red tugboat sits tied up at the waterfront near the foot of Spadina Ave. The CN Tower stands tall above the condos the line Queens Quay West.
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behind graffiti walls in a parking lot on College Street
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Trying to hide behind the sculpture in the Music Garden, waterfront
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…. and at the Ex too!
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Where Eastern Ave. joins Richmond Street East before they cross the Don River.
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Lurking under sculptures….
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Peeking out from behind St. Andrews Presbyterian Church on King St. at Simcoe.
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Buskerfest 2014
Yonge Street was closed from College to Queen for the event.
Yonge Street on the Saturday afternoon of Buskerfest, looking north from Dundas Street
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Hovering above the crowd.
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There were street performers……
towering over the audience as they walk down Yonge Street
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DyneMike, playing with fire on high
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This guy, part of Touch2Catch, was amazing to watch. Great diabolo action!
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more Touch2Catch – jumping through a ring of fire
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side flip over Dimitri
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Samsung was putting tweets and instagram postings with their buskerfest hashtag on the electronic billboard above Yonge & Dundas. At one point I looked up and saw this one. A great photo! She captured an unobscured view of the exact moment the performer from Touch2Catch did a side flip over five people.
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sharing the limelight with Silver Elvis …. or taking over? All in good fun!
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Photo op with an angel in white balloons. Balloon dresses are available from The Twisted Ones
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What one does in the name of entertainment – putting one’s shoulders through a tennis racquet…. don’t try it at home kids.
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….. music
A toast to the cod, screeching in at Dundas Square. The Screeched Inn performed on the stage at Yonge-Dundas Square, their “kitchen party”.
All money raised by performers on the stage at Yonge-Dundas Square went to Epilepsy Toronto.
In addition, Samsung donated $1 to Epilepsy Toronto for every tweet of buskerfest that included the hashtag #samsungsbbf
….. sidewalk artists
ninja turtles taking shape on the sidewalk (artist: the Chalk Chick)
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Ariel, Disney’s little mermaid is on the sidewalk. Another drawing by the Chalk Chick.
… and curious kids, entertained kids
vantage point
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Some dogs don’t like clowns either. Great Danes have quite the bark!
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a narcissistic moment
With thanks to the Second Cup on Mt. Pleasant where I hung out while putting this blog entry together.
Corktown Common
One of Toronto’s newest parks
In one corner of the park there is a plaque that commemorates the William Davies Company, once the owners of the land and buildings in this part of the city.
“From 1874 to 1927, this site was home to the William Davies Company, reputed to be the largest pork packing plant in the British Empire. Established in 1857 by William Davies (1831-1921), the company made its fortune preparing and exporting cured sides of pork to England. Later, its products were sold through William Davies Company shops, one of Canada’s first store chains. In its buildings here, the innovative company controlled the entire process from slaughter to shipment. Processing nearly 500,000 hogs annually by 1900, the company contributed to the city’s nickname “Hogtown”.
In 1892, Joseph Flavelle (1858-1939) became a partner and managing director of the company. Under Flavelle, the business flourished until the 1920’s when it was hurt by falling markets. The William Davies Company merged with three other packing firms to create Canada Packers, which continued to operate from this site until 1932. The last of the company’s buildings here were demolished in the 1990’s.”
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An old illustrated map of the area now called the West Don Lands. The red letters are as follows:
A – Gooderham & Worts, now the Distillery District
B – William Davies Company, now Corktown Common
C – CNR tracks
D – the Don River
A version of this illustration also appeared in a blogTO post about the William Davies Company.
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The last remains of the pork processing business disappeared long ago. After remaining vacant for a number of years, the site was developed into a park as part of the West Don Lands rebuilding.
The park is starting to look a lot greener as the plants and trees grow. This photo was taken from on top of one of the man made hills in the park. August 2014
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There are now lots of butterflies….
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… and bees
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A pavilion made of steel and wood sits atop a small hill in the middle of the play area. The pavilion was designed by by Maryann Thompson Architects of Boston The blue and green ovals are where there are fountains for warm weather water play.
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Looking west, and slightly north, from the pavilion towards the downtown area. West Don Lands redevelopment in the immediate background. Autumn 2013 (the building under construction is now almost complete – see above)
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Looking northeast through the wood and red metal sculpture, ‘No Shoes’, by Mark di Suvero. May 2014
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The trees are starting to grow. They don’t look like much at the moment but give them time!
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There is even a large raspberry bush but by the looks of it, only the birds and insects have found it!
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A map of the area today. The red X marks the spot of the new park.
When the park opened in 2013, urbantoronto.ca had an article about it. You can read about it here
Some wonderful aerial views of the area can be seen in another wordpress blog
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Graffiti faces seen in alleys and lanes recently.
White bust on a wall near Bathurst subway station. She has been here for quite some time now; it’s good to see that no one has tagged over her
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musician – and my apologies because I am not sure who it is.
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colourful face
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Closed eyes between the garages
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Love Spraying Dude, a colourful little guy
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Hiding behind the trees
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In a small alley running behind the south side of College St., west of Bathurst, we discovered a large number of sticker graffiti pieces.
once it was a window, now it is a canvas of sorts
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persevering thank you very much, while the dog licks the socks
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partially obscured with purple and purple flower
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I did what I could with this photo as it was taken looking upward into the shadows of the window. Strange angle too – being much taller might have helped!
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Rad Brad hanging out on a yellow pole
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Summer in the city – although the summer feels like it’s only just begun!
Early evening rest at the waterfront
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Ice cream, slushies, hot dogs, chips, poutine…. food trucks on Queen Street in front of City Hall.
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Uncle Smoke gives away free love! Pulled pork with beans, corn bread and veg will cost you $10 though! Pedestrian Sunday, Kensington Market.
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Under the watchful eye of a few famous people – Ryerson Image Centre building.
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“Cool Story Babe, Now make me a sandwich.” Any replies ladies?
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hands on at the aquarium
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‘Sweet Alibi’ plays at Dundas Square
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game day, Jays fans
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Bulwer Street is a short street that runs parallel to, and one block north of, Queen Street West. It is only one block long, running east from Spadina Ave to Soho St.
children behind the fence
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children playing in the parking lot
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white eyes
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he’s got the whole city in his hands
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rooftop reflections
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mirrored in the glass
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facing the alley
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only half the man he used to be
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the back door
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tag – suniti? BA Kings?
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parts of three tags on a wall
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wired tags on concrete
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worn away but clinging on
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Uber 500’s little yellow bird shows up on this street too
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little fish, big teethfish
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one of the many, many, views of the CN tower
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There is an alley that runs behind Bathurst, on the west side. Most of these photos were taken in that alley. All of the photos are of sticker, or paper, graffiti that I saw when I walked that alley a week or so ago.
It used to be a window, now it is an ever changing canvas.
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spirograph on the metal pole.
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strawberry man gets licked by dog, a mask looks at you, decolonize and phi-nite, all in a small space
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have wings, will skateboard
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calzone tag unfortunately scribbled on top.
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Billy and friends
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brown girl on the wall
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blue cat with lace
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red eye
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From a vantage point over Nathan Phillips Square, we looked down on the people as they passed by. It was late in the afternoon so the shadows were long. Although we were looking for interesting characters, we were also creating compositions with people, concrete lines, and shadows as elements.
hunting shadows
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caught some!
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on the diagonal
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walking over the shadow arches
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with matching little black dresses
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Some shadows kept still so they were easier to capture.
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a multitude of lines and their linear shadows
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Not all involved shadows. Sometimes, just people in the shadow.
Resting by the fountain.
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walking between the lines
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as I walk Toronto 