Posts Tagged ‘workers’

from Korean to Italian

Posted: December 1, 2019 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, public art, stores
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I like the camera part but I’m willing to prove the “no fun” part wrong.  The other day I went meandering with a friend.  We started near Christie station (at a coffee shop of course) with no particular destination in mind.  Generally south was the consensus… and with a pinch of playfulness (forget that no fun nonsense!) and a dash of distraction that’s more or less what we did.

sticker on a yellow pole, camera with legs and arms, also a sticker below it that says no fun

below: As you may know, Bloor Street east of Christie is Koreatown with lots of Korean restauants and tea shops.

below: … including cheese tea.  This seems to be a new trend, or at least new to me!  Apparently it is black or green tea with a foamy topping made from cream cheese, sugar, and whipping cream (or variations thereof).  Next time I may indulge.

below: “Imagine your Korea” mural on the side of P.A.T. Central, a large Korean store.

below: A fire breathing dragon and many scared people trying to run away. It’s a pity about the garbage though.

large mural on the side of abuilding, a large green dragon is breathing fire and scaring people out of their homes and stores and into the streets,

below: By Bathurst street the Korean restaurants have disappeared.  Once upon a time (it seems so long ago!) Honest Ed’s dominated the SW corner of Bloor and Bathurst.  Now there is just hole there, and a very big hole at that.

below: This picture is just a small part of “Utopic Isles, Neon Nights, a Flowery Future”, which consists of three panels of images by grade 11 and 12 visual arts students from Central Tech high school.  They are part of the hoardings around the construction site here.

picture on construction hoardings on Bloor St near Bathurst, an owl in a tree, a cat sitting below the tree, trees are weird shapes

below: Another section of hoardings feature collages of old pictures of Honest Eds – a project by Jessica Thalmann called “To Dwell is to Leave Traces”

hoardings on Bloor Street near Bathurst, a series of collages featuring old pictures of Honest Eds and the area, in many colours, by Jessica Thalmann

below: To try gluing pictures on hoardings is also to leave traces!  Its’ another “no fun” find.   All rather cool until you learn that no fun is a branding thingy.  Stickers as promos for businesses are now very common, posters like this on, not so much.

two posters that were glued to construction hoardings but that have been largely torn off

below: Construction makes room for the two buildings on Bathurst that refused to sell to the developers.  You can still see the ghost sign on one of the buildings – baby carriages repaired

below: Looking west from Bathurst Street across the big hole to the backs of the houses on Markham Street that are empty and boarded up.  Some of them will be retained in the new development.

below: A concrete lovebot hides in the corner.  He’s missing an arm and has three bricks instead of a leg.

an old concrete lovebot with an arm and a leg missing. on two bricks instead of the leg, in a pile of leaves, beside a rust coloured wall

below: Near lovebot is another ghost sign – Coca Cola, sold everywhere (Bathurst Street)

large ghost sign on a brick wall, coca cola sold everywhere, Bathurst Street

below: This frog has four points on his crown and lips made of plaster.   Looks like he’s found a home on top of the garbage pin.

below: ‘Keep hustlin!”  Don’t linger and watch out for cars.  I was going to make some comment about Toronto becoming increasingly dangerous for pedestrians but I decided that I needed some documentation to back me up.  I learned the acronym KSI (killed or seriously injured).  Toronto has the research on the KSI stats for 2005-2018 as part of their Vision Zero plan and the results are “mixed”, i.e. the trend isn’t upwards.  In fact, I don’t think there is a trend of any sort.

below: [Can we stand two social issues in a row?  LOL.]  What I didn’t realize was there was a “worldwide “Nobody Pays” call to action on November 29 for fare evasions” (source).  Chile in the poster is a reference to Chilean high school students protesting transit fare increases with a series of mass evasions starting on the 7th of October.    I don’t recommend burning your Presto card just yet.

below: The very small print at the bottom of the poster gives references to two documents (from 2012 and 2014) that outline the funding of the TTC and where the money comes from.

below: Well it is December after all…..

Christmas decorations in a store window, little tree ornaments of Santa, one with him holding onto a little parachute and one with him on a bike

below: Well it is December after all…..

a sticker of a black faceless man in grey suit, black tie, and black gloves, with arms raised with two hands in peace symbol, words that say destruction, despair, death

blue outline simple drawing of a persons head and shoulders

looking down a path between houses, green chainlink fence with sagging wood fence immediately behind it

below: Conversation on a garage door.

a garage door with the words, are you happy?

a car parked in a backyard of a house that has been gutted and is now being rebuilt

empty backyard of an older two storey building, with brick buildings on either side of it, seen from the laneway

an old car is parked under a tree and beside a house with graffiti on it

below: Sometimes Mother Nature endures.  There was no stopping this tree and it seems to have thrived even with the metal of the fence embedded in it.

a tree has grown up around a chainlink fence so the fence is embedded in the tree

below: The omnipotent metal fence strikes again.  This time flamingos in love and an Al Runt mural are in danger.

chain link construction fence in front of a mural of dancing pink flamingoes

below: Continuation of the mural by Al Runt around the corner of the building

part of a mural by al runt on a wall and on a metal fence

below: This mural has suffered a different fate, that of the creeping billboard posters.  As much fun as “procaffeinating” is fun to read about, I’ve seen more than enough of them around the city.  I’m not sure that it was someone’s sense of humour that resulted in Holt Renfrew posters being displayed beside those for  Pathways to Education that play on poverty and lack of education.

poster put up on a wall covering a mural that was there

below: But….  [one day I will do a post where only the words in the photos do the talking.  There are some great stories out there]

below: I especially like this one, Just Keep Going.

below: A white horse in an alley

splotch of white spray paint on a rusty part of a garage in a laneway looks a bit like a horse

below: As well as two little astronauts.

green garage door with a white square, on the square are two black stencils of an astronaut

below: Blood and bandages barber shop. Wonderful name!

blood and bandages barber shop from the outside, lights in window, bike parked outside

When you walk across College Street in this area you can’t help but notice that you’re in Little Italy.

below: As we walked westward along College Street, we saw three of these blue areas painted on the NW corners (of Roxton, Ossington & Dovercourt)

part of a lower storey of a building, as well as part of the sidewalk directly in front of it, are painted bright light blue

These are the Blue Room, by Stanislav Jurkovic and they were supported by the College Promenade BIA.   From the website: “Similar to a 3 dimensional ‘green screen’ in film production, the space becomes stage and canvas.”  It has also won a Toronto Urban Design Award.   Some photos that people have taken of these spaces can be seen on instagram by searching on #blueroomcollege (although the same photos are fed to the Blue Room website that I linked to in the first sentence).

two people waiting in a TTC bus shelter, part of a lower storey of a building, as well as part of the sidewlk directly in front ot it, are painted bright light blue

below:  In the entrance way to a store that sells a lot of things including DVD’s in Little Italy.  The 4 moschettieri – the 4 muskateers! A film from 1962 with Georges Riviere as d’Artagnan (the wonder of Google!).  At the bottom of the photo is the name Salvatore Samperi; I am not sure which film it is for but Samperi  (1943-2009) was an Italian film director & writer.   I find it intriguing that these old posters are still on this wall, torn and discoloured as they are.

wall in a doorway with old posters for Italian movies, some on top of others

below: Same store.  Italian movies on DVD’s for sale.  ‘Maruzzella’ (in English, ‘The Mermaid of Naples’) came out in 1956.  If you are an aficionado of old Italian movies, be quick, as I think this store is having a going out of business sale.

old Italian movies on DVD for sale in a store window

I’ll leave you with an image that I found online, a full copy of the poster that is partially covered up above – for the R rated film Malicious/Malizia in 1973. (photo source)  That’s 40+ years ago.  You see, when you start wandering you start finding all kinds of strange and fascinating things – no fun? indeed not.

copy of an old film poster for the Italian film malizia from the 1970s

 

International Market

Posted: October 19, 2017 in construction, old buildings, stores, transportation, windows and walls
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International Market in this case refers to an area in Toronto, approximately around the intersection of Dufferin and Eglinton West.

street sins on a pole, a one way sign, plus two signs with street names, Belgravia Ave and Dufferin Street, both with orange tops that have the words International Market

There is definitely a diverse (as in multicultural) feel to the area

below: … such as Jamall, Carribean Custom Tailor

older building, with some green around the doors, sign says Jamall Carribean

below:  and the Lady Ann Superstore African Boutique with the adjacent Centro Cultural Latino American.

storefront, Lady Ann Superstore African Boutique with a mannequin, child size, on the sidewalk outside dressed in red African style clothes.

Because Eglinton Avenue runs through the area….

 

street scene on Eglinton Ave with bus shelter, utility pole, street signs, stores, and billboard

there is a lot of upheaval caused by construction of the Eglinton Crosstown line.

wire fence in front of a construction site, lots of dirt, street and buildings in the background.

below: Completion of the subway/LRT isn’t scheduled until 2021.  That seems like a long way off doesn’t it?

a surveyor at work, behind construction fence and cones and in front of stores, Chamsine, and Shantys take-out, which are two storey brick buildings

below: A subway station is being built at Oakwood Avenue.   Because the space is too small for a conventional crane like the ones you see all over the city, this green horizontal structure is being used instead.  It is supported by the metal beams and can slide along the top rail.

a large horizontal crane stretches over a vacant lot where a subway station is being built

below: Rendering of Oakwood station that I found on the Eglinton Crosstown website.

drawing of Oakwood Crosstown station, design plans, taken from Crosstown website.

below: Immediately south of Eglinton is a small lane, Reggae Lane.  Welcome to Reggae Lane was the second mural painted here.  You can see the original Reggae Lane mural in the background.  I blogged about it when it was first painted two years ago.

view looking down an alley, cars parked behind buildings, two murals, Welcome to Reggae Lane,

below: Some of the concrete planters on Eglinton have old black and white photos on the sides.  This was an Art Starts project.

a small tree grows in a concrete planter in front of a grocery store

below: The pictures are small and difficult to see but they are historical photos of the area – stores, people, parks, etc.

small, old black and white photos reproduced and mounted on the side of a concrete planter outside

below:  One of many restaurants on Eglinton, the Budapest Restaurant and Biguly Bar, obviously Hungarian.

a car parked in front a Hungarian restaurant, the Budapest

below: There is also Uzbek cuisine, the Taj Restaurant.   Uzbekistan is one of the “stans” found in central Asia (near Afghanistan) that gained independence from the former Soviet Union 25 years ago.

a blue food truck is parked in front of the Taj Restaurant, an Uzbek restaurant

below: A yellow phone booth?

a public phone, small yellow phone booth mounted on a blue brick wall

below: Faded memories of years gone by.

looking in the window of a store that sells photo frames and such, an old TV sits in the window too. The pictures are all faded to shades of blue and purple

below: The Popular Car Wash – a great price for a car wash.

an old sign for popular car wah, $5.99 in front of a gas station

I’ll leave you with a few more images of the area.  It’s seen better times but it was an interesting place to walk around.   There are signs of improvement – and we’ll see what impact the subway has once it’s finally finished.

street scene with construction cones and signs, some traffic, sidewalk, pedestrians, and stores,

a window of an empty store that is covered with posters

5 black mailboxes arranged vertically in a row between two doors.

three storey brick building with stores on the ground level, traffic in front,

open door of an electronics store, with some speakers and other electronics on display outside too

looking across Eglinton Avenue to some stores, construction traffic cones in front,

meanderings on a Monday

Posted: October 16, 2017 in galleries, public art
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There are always options….
and sometimes they are polar opposites.

a yellow construction fence in front of a stairs between two buildings, two signs on the fence, both are green arrows but they point in opposite directions.

Also, plans are made for changing.

I was going to go to Brookfield Place to see the World Press Photo exhibit – a good activity for a grey and wet day.  Just before I left, the rain stopped so I switched plans and turned the outing into a walk.   There was a protest in the afternoon at Queens Park, a march against white supremacy.  I knew that I probably missed it (it would have been wet!) but I went in that direction just in case there were still some remnants.  But all was quiet and the people were long gone.   So I wandered on.

below: In front of St. Regis College, a sculpture called ‘Homeless Jesus’ by Timothy Schmalz.  In memory of Joseph and Mary Benninger.

a sculpture of a cloth covered person sleeping on a bench, in front of a large window, with a white bench nearby

There is a small park at the corner of Bay and Wellesley with trees, water, and sculptures.

a small waterfall, over rocks, between two concrete fence around grassy areas, trees, small park

below: ‘The Three Graces’, 1971  by Gerald Gladstone (1929-2005).  Part of the Governement of Ontario Art Collection.

a fountain sculpture called Three Graces, in a circle, surrounded by a shallow pool of water

below: ‘Hunter With Seal’ c. 1966-1968.  Sculpted in Canadian black granite by Louis Temporale after a soapstone carving by Paulosie Kanayook.

stone sculpture of an Eskimo hunter with a seal, on a short stone wall, trees behind

below:  Workers in stone – surveyors, men with shovels and picks and wheelbarrows, and a scientist with a microscope.  Part of the artwork above the door of the old Stock Exchange Building on Bay street.

relief sculpture across the top of the door of the old Stock Exchange Building on Bay street, scenes of people working

below: At one point the sun even came out – shining on the almost blank west wall of Commerce Court North.   This 34 storey building was built in 1931 and at the time it was the tallest building in the British Empire and remained so until 1962.

large mostly black stone wall of a building with a large shadow, flowers in planters at the bottom as well as three people walking past

below: When the site was redeveloped in the 1970’s, Commerce Court North was preserved.  It is now surrounded by glass and steel high rises.

two people walk across a courtyard behind an old stone building that is surrounded by newer glass and steel high rises.

below:  The mama and baby elephants that stand behind Commerce Court are under wraps.  I could say something about going into hibernation for the winter but I think that they are in the midst of being renovated.

a sculpture in a public square is covered by grey plastic

below: Just down the street,  one of Toronto’s early skyscrapers is celebrating its 50th anniversary.      The black towers of the Toronto-Dominion Centre are icons of the Toronto cityscape.    They were designed by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.    The 56 storey Toronto Dominion Bank Building was completed in 1967.  Two years later the adjacent 46 storey Royal Trust Tower was finished.   The buildings are steel structures and are clad with bronze-coloured glass and black painted steel.

reflections in the black Commerce Court buildings, with a Canadian flag flying in front of the building.

below: Rocks? Large balls of wood? Plastic made to look like something else? They were inside and I was outside so I didn’t get a close up look.

three rock-like sculptures inside a window

In case you’re wondering, I did get to Brookfield Place.

glass ceiling of the Alan Lambert Galleria in Brookfield place with the world press photo exhibit underway, people looking at the posters

below: Photo is the winning photo in the people category, ‘What ISIS Left Behind’ by Magnus Wennman.  It shows a girl,  Maha age 5, at Debaga Refugee Center.

part of a world press photo display at Brookfield Place, with a picture of sick young girl, in the background, people are sitting in a cafe

below: Center photo is by Canadian photographer Amber Bracken and it was taken at the Dakota Access Pipeline protest at Lake Oahe at Standing Rock Sioux reservation.

photos at an exhibition at Brookfield Place (Alan Lambert Galleria), of portest of Dakota Access Pipeline, by Canadian photographer Amber Bracken

below:  Four coloured photos by Peter Bauza.   Third prize in the Contemporary Issues category – a series of pictures taken in the Jambalaya neighbourhood in western Rio de Janeiro where people squat in derelict apartment blocks that lack basic infrastructure.

display of photos in front of a store with a male mannequin dressed for fall, also a woman on the other side looking at the pictures

 

newspaper boxes in different colours in front of a large window of the BMO building, a city scape is etched into the window. Some reflections in the window too

 

 

Labour Day parade

Posted: September 8, 2015 in events, people
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Toronto Labour Day Parade 
Monday 7th September
from Queen & University to the CNE

A group walks in a labour day parade, they are carrying a red banner that says A union for everyone. THey are also carrying red unifor flags.

Two people in a labour day parade. The man is wearing wonder woman sunglasses.

A man holds a banner in the Labour day parade, only part of the banner can be seen but it is for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

A group walking in a lbaour day parade, they are carrying a large banner that says I am ready for change, the Union of hospitality workers

Two women in black caps and T-shirts are walking in a labour day parade. One of them is carrying a Canadian flag

A large group from OPSEU SEFPO union walk in a labour day parade behind a large banner stating Standing Up For Workers Rights and good jobs for all. they are wearing blue t-shirts.

Four women in purple t-shirts from SEIU healthcare union walk in a labour day parade. One woman is wearing sunglasses with agents of change written on them. Another woman has the words The Social Picketer written on the front.

Two people walking in a Labour Day parade. One of them has a small circular sign covering her face with a picture of a pair of glasses on it, and the words library worker on it.

A group of people walk in a labour day parade

I man from the shoulders up. He is wearing a camo like t-shirt and hat with the ironworkers union label, and he is standing in front of a blue ironworkers flag.

An IATSE union group walks in a parade, Stagehands according to the banner that they are carrying.

A girl in a blue hat and holding a unifor union flag sits on a flatbed truck in a labour day parade. An Asian woman sits beside her.

A group of people walks in a labour day parade wearing orange t-shirts and carrying small flags that say Vote for Historic Change

A young man waves a pennant for the ONA, Ontario Nursing Association, as he walks in labour day parade

A t-shirt hanging in the window of a car. It has a picture of Stephen Harper wearing a crown and the words No More Democracy. There is a button on the t-shirt that says Harper's last day, 19th October 2015.

Four kids with flags walking in a labour day parade with their parents.

A black woman wearing a brightly coloured hat is waving a small sign that says I am not alone. She is walking in a labour day parade with a group from local 75

workers from local 183 union walk in a labour day parade while carrying union flags

Three people stand on the sidewalk by La Abuela, a Peruvian restaurant. A young girl is holding a CBC sign above her head while her father stands beside her. A woman in black burka and white head scarf is also on the sidewalk.

A young woman is holding up a sign about youth cares about and then it lists a few things like employment, tuition fees, unions, climate and the environment, at a Labour day parade

A woman carries a purple parasol as she walks in a labor day parade. She is wearing purple sunglasses that say Agent of Change on them

A couple look at his phone while they walk down Dufferin Ave. in front of a parade. Walkers in the parade are in ornage t-shirts in the background.

A labour day parade, people in red t-shirts walk behind a red banner for Toronto ACORN, Social Justice, Economic Justice. ACORN stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The backs of a group walking in a labour day parade, they are wearing purple t-shirts with the words The Society of Energy Professionals, IFPTE local 160. One of the women is wearing a red hat with a Canadian flag on it.

Two women walk in a Labour day parade in support of the CBC

Labour day parade - ACTRA group walking behind a banner that says respect the artist

Men walking in a labour day parade. They are wearing baseball caps. One of them has a small union flag tucked into the back of his cap. transit workers local 113

Two kids in the back of a pick up truck in a lbaour day parade. The truck is pulling a trailer with a picture of a circle of hands

men and women from IBEW (electrical workers) walk in a labour day parade

A man carried a purple flag and wears a placard on his front with a picture of man on it. Missing person, Bernardo Flores Alcazar. The person behind him is holding a picture of Jose A. Navarrete Gonzalez

A man who is walking in a labour day parade is carrying three signs, first Pwer work union, second Settlements based on perjury is wrong and third supressing evidence is wrong

A group walks in a parade beside a large truck that is carrying more people on the back of it. They are carrying placards and banners in support of Canada Post. There is also a yellow banner that says Smash Capitalist Austerity

Two people in a labour day parade are carrying round signs, one says national health care program and the other says a fair minimum wage.

An Asian woman holds two small NDP flags as she stands on a sidewalk on Queen St. West by the Rex bar as she watches a labour day parade

Labour day parade - two marchers, one with a sign that protests agains the WSIB and the other person's sign says This person wants justice for injured workers

Group shot of union IATSE local 873, Toronto Motion Picture Technicians, prior to walking a labour day parade

Labour Day parade - hand written signs on the side of a truck that say, My work place is safe thanks to my union, and, I retired with dignity thanks to my union

A dog has a pink bandana around his neck. He is with a group walking in a labour day parade although only their legs and feet show in the picture

An Asian woman rides her bike in a labour day parade. She is wearing a CUPE 2484 shirt. Her bike has two baskets, one in front and one behind. Both are covered with artificial flowers and buttons. She has a small NDP flag in the back basket.

A man is wearing an orange T-shirt with round green stickers and buttons on it. They all say Go Vote