The usual cast of characters, plus or minus a few.
Floats, marchers, and crowds.
Flags, banners, and signs.
Flamboyance, body paint, and tutus.
Unicorns, fruit, and super soakers.
Posts Tagged ‘rainbow’
anti-Trump rally
Posted: November 20, 2016 in eventsTags: anti-Trump, banners, bersih, bolshevik tendency, Donald Trump, flags, giant step backwards, greenpeace, love trumps hate, nathan phillips square, people, placards, politics, protest, rain, rainbow, rally, signs, trans lives matter, Trump, umbrellas, wet
Nathan Phillips Square, Saturday 19 November
A cold wet day.
below: Stop the Fascists
below: Make America Love Again
below: We all share one atomosphere, one ocean, one earth
below: Demand accountability from elected officals – stand up for the disempowered.
below: Greenpeace
below: We are the Storm and we will leave light in our wake.
below: “Not fit for president, wake up America!”
below: Nathan Phillips Square during the rally.
below: Canada rejects bigotry
below: Nastywoman hashtag in action
below: Can’t comb over sexism and bigotry
below: Trans Lives Matter and Love Trumps Hate
below: One giant step backwards
below: With butterflies, hearts and sparkles
below: Bersih demonstrators join the rally. This group is calling for the resignation of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak
below: Trump Election: Byproduct of Obama/Clinton Neoliberalism – Bolshevik Tendency
#trumprally | #lovetrumpshate | #nastywoman
underpass musings
Posted: July 28, 2016 in graffiti and street artTags: druid, faces, graffiti, head, meet me, poem, pot of gold, rainbow, right and wrong, rumi, stencil, unity, words
There is a railway underpass on Dupont just before it meets Dundas West. Several years ago the north side of the underpass was decorated with some murals. Most of them are in bad shape or have been tagged or painted over.
below: Unity is one of the original murals here. It is the best preserved.
This wall has also become a place to comment on life in words and and poetry.
below: Through the fires of chaos, let there be light! ~ ” blessed be!”
“The man who misses all the fun is he who says it can’t be done.
With solemn pride he stands aloof and greets each venture with reproof.
Had he the power he’d efface the history of the human race
There’d be no motor cars or streets lit by electric stars
No telegraph nor telephone. We’d all linger in the age of stone.
The world could not be run by men who say it can’t be done”
– Druid
Been through rough times – keep your head up!The poem in the above transcription comes from ‘The Book of Virtues’ by William J. Bennett with one little change. The last line in the original is as follows: “The world would sleep if things were run By men who say “It can’t be done.”
***
below: When I researched the source of the message below I discovered that it was from a poem by Rumi. He was a 13th-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic amongst other things but apparently he’s also one of the most widely read poets in North America.
The lines of the poem are translated/shared in slightly different ways including
“Somewhere beyond right and wrong, there is a garden. I will meet you there.”
and
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.”
***
below: Things aren’t what they seem? I’m not sure if you noticed it, but someone has added, very faintly, “sometimes it’s a gold pot”.
below: Someone’s commentary on the world today.
“Teens fight but don’t know what 4.
It’s really sad 2 see them _e.
Teens killed at subway stations,
young innocent girls being stalked by perverted men.
When will it all end,
what will happen 2 us.
What’s Happining 2 The World Today?”***
dyke march 2016
Posted: July 3, 2016 in events, peopleTags: banners, bikes, crochet, cyclists, decorations, diversity, dog, dressed up, dyke, dykes on bikes, leather, LGBT, march, motorcycles, parade, people, pride, protest, rainbow, signs, topless, umbrellas, women
This year’s Dyke March (the 20th!) was an energetic, supportive, and positive celebration once again. It was led as usual by motorcycles and then Dykes on Bikes. Numerous groups and individuals walked and there was a good turnout that lined the sidewalks to watch the parade pass by. Colourful. Joyful.
#pride | #prideTO | #prideToronto
from Portland to Niagara
Posted: July 10, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locationsTags: alley, art, birdo, calvin and hobbes, clowntearz, cruz1, crwales66, Elicser, face, garages, Graffiti Alley, grominator, guitars, happy face, ice cream, kill'em with niceness, Kim Jong, letter, lovebot, man, painting, rainbow, stencils, stickers, street art, sundae, tags, unicorns, wallnoize, woman, words, yipyaps
A few days ago I posted a series of photos of some of the graffiti and street art that I saw in Graffiti Alley between Portland and Spadina. This post is a continuation of that one as it consists of the photos that I took on the same day but in a different section of the alley, between Portland and Niagara streets.
stand together
Posted: January 27, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locationsTags: city scene, diversity, downtown, graffiti, green, hands, long arms, mural, orange, parking lot, rainbow, Richmond St. East, spud, spud bomb, street art, suit, tattoos, together, Toronto, urban art
Stand Together,
a mural on Richmond St. East between Church and Jarvis streets.
Painted by Spud, 2014
The center part of the mural is a little 3D Toronto under a rainbow.
The CN Tower is there as well as a few cranes. Perhaps you recognize other buildings?
It even has a painting of the mural in it!
pride parade
Posted: June 30, 2014 in events, peopleTags: asses, bananas, bare asses, bare bums, Bloor St., bums, chaps, colours, cops, crowds, fun, gay, girls, guys, laughs, men, parade, people, police, pride, rainbow, raunchy, silly, smiles, topless, Toronto, wigs, women, Yonge St.
Shooting the pride parade was a lot different from shooting the dyke march! The pride parade is much bigger and by necessity much more tightly controlled. I was able to walk alongside the women in the dyke march but the streets were barricaded and non-participants kept off the route for the pride parade.
.
looking west on Bloor towards Yonge.
I walked the first part of the route, along Bloor Street, just before the parade started. Lots of crowds were behind the metal bars; a few police were watching/ignoring me. When I turned the corner at Yonge St., I realized just how controlled the crowds were! I chose not to continue walking south on Yonge. A policeman opened the barricade enough to let me out. After that I walked amongst the crowds….. and saw nothing of the parade! Too many people! But they were interesting people and I enjoyed walking amongst them. …. until Dundas when there were so many people and no one could move. That’s was my cue to exit stage right.
So here’s a salute to all those who joined the fun. A little raunchy and a little over the top at times but all good.
Kudos to these two ladies who showed up in banana costumes! I asked them if they were part of a group, but no, they’re just fruity they said. I hope they joined the parade had fun (and didn’t get too hot!… unless they peeled…. )
.
timeless
.
pink, with smiles, waiting for the parade to begin
.
Before the parade started – They were actually posing for someone else… but I suggested that they look a little livelier, wave their hands or something…. thanks for obliging!
.
viewable, & captured, from all angles
.
boys just wanna have fun
.
keeping the sun away. These umbrellas were great – very photogenic!
.
.
.
big grins! The one in blue was more game than his partner…. you could almost say that one in grey is grimacing more than grinning. Thanks guys!
.
He had such a wonderful smile and he seemed so happy that I couldn’t resist taking his picture.
.
ninjas, mostly unmasked
.
a better view!
.
The crowds at Yonge and Wellesley just as the parade reached that part of the route.
.
How does one even start to calculate how many people were there?
.
A quick shot – he saw my camera, turned and quickly posed, and I got the shot. It wasn’t until I downloaded the photos that I saw the marvellous juxtaposition!
.
almost their own little parade!
.
stopping the parade to let the College/Carlton streetcar through
.
She doesn’t seem to be having fun – standing in the window of Starbucks at College & Yonge.
.
I walked the parade route at about the same speed that the parade went. An hour and a half later, I reached Yonge & Dundas where the crowds were so thick no one could move.
.
At the corner of Yonge & Dundas – by the time I made it to this intersection, I was beginning to agree with the boy in green!
.
posing with the body painters – Body Art by Tania was the booth on Church St., near the start of the parade.
.
actoronto – AIDS Committee Toronto
.
*****
