Posts Tagged ‘watermelon’

downtown on a Saturday afternoon

Posted: July 16, 2019 in general Toronto, people
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Like most summer weekends in the city, this past weekend was a busy one.

below: There was a Thai festival at Yonge Dundas Square with dancers performing in front a screen that was showing a video, in real time, of them dancing.

a man in Thai costume and holding a Canadian flag does a Thai traditional dance on the stage at Yonge Dundas Square. behind him a video of another dancer is playing on a large screen

below: Women carving intricate floral shapes out of watermelon,

an older Thai woman is making an intricate carving from a watermelon

below: carrots, and other root vegetables.

a woman is carving carrots and another white vegetable into flowers

below: The colours of the Thai flag

yarn in the colours of the Thai flag wrapped around two sticks making a square of red, blue and white stripes

below: A small parade for the Festival of India made its way down Yonge street towards the ferry for Centre Island.  Sweepers cleared the streets while other people joined together to pull the floats.

a man, with back to camera, sweeps street in front of a float in Festival of India parade that is being pulled by people using two large ropes

below: This parade for Ratha Yatra is an annual event.  A more complete description of the parade, as well as some photos from 2016, can be found on a blog post that I wrote three years ago (how time flies!), or even older, is a post from 2015.

elaborately decorated festival of india float in a parade

a small boy stands behind his mother, he's wearing a blue t shirt and has a lollipop in his mouth

below: A parrot, belonging to one of the men walking in the parade,  perches on a policeman’s bike helmet to everyone’s delight.

a police man holds a brightly coloured parrot, or rather the parrot sits on his bike helmet

a man in long white robes holds an umbrella as he stands on the sidewalk talking to a woman in Southeast Asian clothing

below: With the parade and all the people on Yonge Street, traffic was slow.  This may not be unusual!

a man in an open jeep is driving down Yonge Street, people walking are passing him as he is stopped for a red light

below: Yes, I am 6 feet tall!

a young man stands by a maximum height 6 feet sign at the entrance of a parking garage, to see if he is 6 feet tall

below: Mellow Dee plays the piano outside the south entrance of the Eaton Centre.

Mellow Dee, a male musician, plays the piano outside Eaton Centre on Queen street as a woman gets out of a white taxi behind him

a man with no shirt and bare feet lies on the sidewalk surrounded by some of us stuff, people walking past him

below: Finding shade wherever they can… it was a hot one!

a group of older men and women in sun hats stands in a bit of shade cast by a little tree outside the Rex on Queen Street West

below: It appears that selling bras isn’t a very exciting job?

an older Chinese woman in a wide brimmed straw hat falls asleep sitting beside a table of bras that she is helping to sell

below: Some people sit and read, while others sit, smoke, and watch the world go by….

three men sitting on the steps, one unlocking a bike, another reading a newspaper and the third just sitting

… and others go skate boarding past….

man in spiderman suit, but without the mask, on a skateboard on a sidewalk

street food…. sort of

Posted: August 29, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Toronto’s first “street” art – a mural on the pavement, painted on the street itself.   It’s located on Baldwin Street in the Kensington market area.

below: The mural was painted on Pedestrian Sunday (28 Aug) when the streets were closed anyhow.

a young man and a young woman painting on the street, painting part of a mural on a street in Kensington market area

Murals on the street aren’t legal in this city.  In 2015 City council voted against making them legit.  Instead, they allowed this one to go ahead as part of the StART Road Mural Pilot Project.  Plans are afoot for a few more to be painted in the next couple of months.  The city has imposed some restrictions as to where they can be painted, rules such as the murals need to be away from intersections and be on streets with a low volume of traffic.   It is rumoured that future road murals will be on Condor Avenue (west of Greenwood subway yard), Lauder Avenue (near Dufferin and St. Clair), Hiawatha Road (Little India), and lastly, somewhere in North York

below: The next two pictures were taken from the upper level of the adjacent parking structure (where I had a chat with a security guard, private property and all that).

view from above of a mural on a street, fruits and vegetables, carrotes, eggplant, watermelon, beet, mushroom, lemon,

The pilot murals are all the result of work by community groups – people within a community working together to produce something representative of that community.

view from above of a mural on a street, fruits and vegetables, carrotes, eggplant, watermelon, beet, mushroom, lemon,

below: Painting a raspberry.  The shapes were drawn by artist Victor Fraser and then painted by a number of artists and volunteers.  It is an acrylic based paint that will wear off in 6 to 9 months.

a young man paints part of a pink raspberry that is in a mural of fruits and vegetables, on a street in Kensington

below: From street level – peas in a pod, a clove of garlic, a bunch of spring onions, an artichoke, a banana, and in the distance a lot more!

from low on street level, view of a mural painted on the street of fruit and vegetables, peas in a pod, a bunch of green opnions, a raspberry, with other food farther down the street,

This project was organized by Stas Ukhanov and supported by the Kensington Market BIA.

summer in the city, July edition

Posted: July 29, 2016 in general Toronto, people
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July is almost over – yes, summer is flying by.
So far, it’s been a good one!

below: Staying cool and having fun in the Yonge Dundas square fountains

young children play in the fountains at dundas square

below: A giant bite from a giant watermelon slice

a woman attempts to take a bite out of another woman who is wearing a giant watermelon costume

below: A Bay Street hug and kiss.

a photo shoot on Bay St., downtown Toronto. The bride and groom are kissing on the crosswalk in the middle of the intersection. People turning to look.

below: An impromptu serenade

a young man plays a guitar for a mother and daughter, sitting on the edge of a planter outside. Another woman is watching

below: Watching the entertainment at the waterfront – it’s magical

a magician entertains a crowd on the waterfront, many people are watching, men, women and kids

below: Making comfort at Afrofest, Woodbine Park

a couple are lounging on a large light blue foamy thing, amongst a crowd at an outdoor music festival

below: A Canada Day kiss.

A man in a red cowboy hat in the foreground on the right, a couple kissing on the left. People watching a show on a stage in the background with Canadian flags and a banner that says Happy Canada Day

below: Leave your message by the outdoor facilities!

Two lines of Johnny on the spots, facing each other, in the middle is a small message board on a metal pole, outdoors, green leaves above

below: A mother and daughter stroll on the waterfront

A mother and daughter in sarees walk hand in hand along the waterfront. Paddle wheeler boat for scenic tours behind them, mother on a phone

below: Posing, Pride fun

Pride weekend, two policemen with rainbow sunglasses and small rainbow flags pose with two men in drag, wearing green dresses, one in a curly blond wig and the other in a black wig

below: Blowing bubbles by the lake.

A family sits by the lake, two young sons in matching fedoras. Mother is yawning, father and one son have backs to camera, other son is blowing bubbles towards the camera

Happy August everyone!

Many legs and feet on a red carpet outdoors. People dressed for hot weather, only face in the picture, a young girl looks bored as she looks at the camera

textiles and curios

Posted: April 26, 2016 in stores
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First, a big thank you for being welcomed into Gadabout to explore and take pictures.  Gadabout is a store on Queen St East and it is home to “vintage clothing, nostalgia, ephemera, textiles and curios.”  It is packed full of old things.  Interesting things.

Exterior of the Gadabout store on Queen St East showing the window display and entrance. The window is full of things for sale and there are also a few things sitting outside the store that are also for sale - old glamour magazine, old men's skates, a teddy bear, a crocheted coat,

below: And when I say packed, I mean it!  Floor to ceiling.

Against a wall in Gadabout store, shelves with small cubbyholes all filled with small items, curios, b=vintage, treasures, such as old producs, toys, figurines, household items,

below: Who could resist a watering can purse?  In pink even.

a pink purse in the shape of a watering can hangs from a hook on a wall. A pair of beige gloves hangs below it. Folded fabric items are on the shelves beside the bag and gloves. Blankets or sweaters.

A small doll with a very lifelike face is looking towards a shelf filled with small ceramic and porcelain items such as vases and figurines

below: Containers and packaging for Mennen baby powder, 40 cents for J.R. for Athlete’s Foot, Silvo silver polish, a tire repair kit, 6-12 insect repellent, and wintergreen oil.  The latter is used topically to relieve muscle aches and pains.  It’s labelled as a poison as it is easy to overdose on it if ingested.

A small section of shelf in a store selling vintage items, on this shelf are old drug store and household products such as wintergreen oil, silvo silver polish, baby powder, athletes foot treatment,

below: Knights Templar black bicorne hat with feather along with matching cuff.

An old black military hat with a white feather in it sits on a head mannequin. Beside it is another mannequin wearing a tartan kilt and a white shirt. The shirt has a brownish leather cuff with a red cross on it.

below: All those drawers are filled with old photographs.

old wooden drawers filled with old photographs, a mirror, and an old chair with a vinyl watermelon print fabric on it.

old photograph of a man in uniform, a front page of the Daily Mirror newspaper, more drawers, all in a store filled with vintage items.

below: Vintage clothing

sleeves of colourful shirts and blouses hanging on a rack. Orange polka dots, red poppies, wild prints, all vintage clothing

a teddybear sites in a can with a painting of flowers on it. An old Glamour magazine with a yellow cover
Old pins (buttons) in the foreground with beaded necklaces in the background.

below:  Fancy handbags and shoes.

items in a vintage store on Queen St East in Toronto, on the wall there are some small handbags, as well as some high heeled shoes. Some of the bags are beaded and one is a shiny gold colour.

Gadabout website