Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Sushi Takeout

The neon sign of a Sushi Takeout joint on Dundas Street in Toronto beckons hungry patrons inside to try mixtures of fish and Japanese sticky rice. 

CN Tower: EdgeWalk

Can you imagine walking outside along the edge of the CN Tower's main pod 356m in the air? It scares me even thinking about it. Adventure seekers will be able to walk hands free with only a tether saving them from being swept over the edge. You can see the system of supports built around the top windows waiting for some brave individuals to take a chance.

You can order tickets I believe starting June 1, 2011. And here are people enjoying the thrill of danger high above our city. During the annual CNE Airshow you can get some good views of passing planes during your Edgewalk.


Monday, May 30, 2011

GLEE Matthew Morrison in Toronto

I have to say that I am a GLEEK, yes a fan of the television series GLEE, although not unconditionally. I like their scrappy us against the world bravado and spirit. I enjoyed when they practiced and sang some great songs and when Lea belted out some snappy tunes with her spectacular voice. Now they seem to sing all the time, going to the bathroom – break out in song. And where did that band come from? I also miss all the cheerleader outfits that they wore everywhere – it must be a 24/7 thing in the States.
Anywho, I have exclusive photos of the place where GLEE’s Matthew Morrison (they guy with the tall, creamed hair – the teacher and GLEE club coach Mr. Schuester) who has released his album called “Matthew Morrison” will do his HMV meet and greet. I know it was exclusive because everyone was covering their eyes as they walked along the area, bumping into each other, or looked in another direction (it might have been the sign with ET Canada’s Rick Campenelli name that caused the eye avoidance). I muscled past security (or shoppers just standing there, what am I, psychic?) flashing my secret non Main Stream Media (MSM) media pass and took the long awaited pictures of the seat that may or may not support Matthew’s own ass. If people had only known of this secret location there would be girls swooning everywhere – they would cover the ground with their sheer numbers and I am sure panties would also be flying in the air before the ladies collapsed unconscious to the ground.  Since no one was looking I took the opportunity to throw my own underwear as well (prep for the naked bike ride?), however my thong didn’t fly very well and I think it got hooked on the roped paddock area which winds around in front of the stage and will contain the fans in an orderly fashion.
HMV (http://www.hmv.ca/) is allowing the first 300 people to purchase the album by Matthew – damn, I already forgot what it is called, to receive a chance for one autograph and to take a picture of him today, Monday May 30, 2011, at 4pm in the Eaton Centre. The location is just beside an escalator and right outside the main inside mall entrance of Sears (at street level) which overlooks the grand hall and, far away, the flying geese at the other end of the mall. The fans with their wristbands gather in a large lineup ready for Matthew scheduled to arrive in just a few minutes from when these last pictures were taken.

Toronto Bike Month 2011

I showed up at Toronto City Hall today because it was Bike Month and I thought that meant that I would get a free bike. In the interests of the environment (my middle name is green) I would take an electric bike over some burly, exhaust spewing, carbon consuming motorcycle (because sacrifice is my other middle name).  For some reason the City and I had different meanings associated with Bike Month and I left without a free bicycle or even leather chaps. They did offer a free organic t-shirt but all they had left were size small, which would be just perfect for my right arm, so I had to regretfully decline.
Toronto Bike Month 2011 runs from May 26 30 to June 21 30 and today was Bike to Work Day (Monday, May 30, 2011). It was a hassle getting my bike on the GO Train this morning but the hassle was nothing compared to trying to ride the thing within the train as it travelled down the track towards Union Station. Commuters get awful peeved when you run over their toes in the train – even when I used the bell and proper hand signals. The stairs were a little hard to handle as well and I am sorry that I caused a lot of people to spill their early morning coffee, but in Bike Month we all have to make sacrifices.

I arrived early enough today to witness part of the setup in Nathan Phillips Square (the part that is not under construction at this particular time) as they started warming up the free breakfast that Bike to Work cyclists could get. Suddenly the City Street was full of hundreds of bikers coming from Albert Street and across Bay into the concrete courtyard of the Square. They even had police bicycle escorts.
Some interesting things seem to happen with Bike Month and I see that the Toronto World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) is on Saturday, June 11 (ride starts out at 1pm from Coronation Park near the waterfront and the CNE Princes’ Gates). So get your tight bike shorts ready and, oh right – scratch that, so that leaves bodypaint and a cute, eco-proclamation ready. There is also something called the Bike Pirates event on June 17. These pirates must be a lawless band of bikers, flouting convention and probably riding without a bell. If you are riding along and minding your own business on the 17th and all of a sudden there is the Jolly Roger flag flying and you are forcibly boarded and made to walk a plank, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Dr Pepper at Anime North

Now I am seeing Dr Pepper everywhere. They were out providing cold beverage samples to everyone attending the Anime North convention.

Beamer from Sideshow Tattoos

I ran into Beamer from Sideshow Tattoos in Georgetown at the Anime North convention. These guys do piercings and tattoos and Beamer is an artist with both. I think my daughter is addicted to piercings by Beamer and I must admit that I am very impressed with how well he gets along with his customers - he is a super guy so I can highly recommend him.
His studio has a pirate motif so I am not surprised his costume included leather boots and a sword.

Beamer went for a different look at the 2012 Spring ComiCON and AnimeCON - as a Batman villain.

Cinched Tight Corsets

There was a nice example of Cinched Tight Corsets at the Anime North convention. Their tagline is "Hold Me Tight, Squeeze Me Tight, Cinch Me Tight" and they sell Fine Latex and Lingerie. She had a fantastic mohawk as well and her name is Lady Vezina.

See more of the corset after the jump.

Anime North 2011 cosplay

The parking lot of the Toronto Congress Centre was full of PCs (see below) and lots of other people in costume going to the Anime North 2011 convention running from May 27-29, 2011. The variety of costumes was stunning - I know if it was me it would be a little bit of cardboard and a little duct tape, then Bob's your Uncle - Cosplay. A lovely lady was wearing some clothing by Cinched Tight Corsets and I found someone I knew from Georgetown - Beamer from Sideshow Tattoos. Here are some pictures from Sunday.

I think a lot of people passing by were surprised by the characters walking along the street and getting on the Dixon Road buses.
I was great having so many people that wanted to have their pictures taken and it was fun going from group to group. Then when I was thirsty I sampled some free Dr Pepper.
The Anime North website posted this in regards to the other convention happening at the centre "The Ontario Provincial Conservative party will be having a conference at the Toronto Congress Center on the same weekend as Anime North. They will be in the North building, which is completely separate from the South building where Anime North is. They even have separate parking lots. There is not expected to be any problems with these events going on concurrently.

There has been posting on some boards suggesting that our attendees should try to "troll" the tories or otherwise make a nuisance of themselves. Any kind of harassment by the members of one event on the members of another is grounds for Congress Center security to kick you off of their property, and Anime North would regard that as grounds to confiscate your badge as well. Let them have their convention and we’ll have ours."



A fellow blogger's daughter - Happy Birthday Skye

There are lots of pictures to follow after the jump. (Click on Read More >>, below)

Toronto Wings and Wheels 2011

The airport at Downsview Park got a workout over the May 28-29, 2011 weekend as cars and planes filled the Hanger as part of the Toronto Wings and Wheels Heritage Festival 2001. I loved seeing the CF-18 Hornet jet fighter up close (above) and the older, golden Sabre as well as the Snowbird and the replica Arrow.


Cockpit instruments
replica of Canada's Arrow
Sabre 5 
young Navy Cadets

See more pictures after the jump.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Cherry Beach in the fog

Cherry Beach was lonely in the early morning spring fog. The lifeguard towers and rescue stations were empty, thongs were still packed away. You could hear the loud squawks of birds that fill the Leslie Street Spit   just across the way.
The leash free dog zone had scattered canines and isolated groups of dog friends, you know friends that get to know each other walking their dogs in the same place at the same time. The bugs are starting to come out but not really biting yet, just large clouds of bugs floating in the air - probably bug friends, you know flying in the same area at the same time, looking for targets to bite and keeping away from birds. Besides the dogs you could find dragon boats practicing for some upcoming races and some kayakers getting in a nice workout.
small droplets of dew gather in a pesky fluffy dandelion

See more of Cherry Beach and Cherry Street after the jump.

Ontario Volleyball at Ashbridges Bay

Ontario Volleyball had a large competition down at Ashbridges Bay/Woodbine Beaches as players started in the light mist and heavy fog of yet another beautiful Toronto weekend. I didn't even see any visible sunscreen and the typical beach volleyball swimwear was replaced with winter parkas.
The competitions looked pretty fierce with mens, ladies and youth games on the massive beach - it looked like a colourful net farm and the crop was doing good (probably all that rain).

Don't forget Hope Volleyball: Toronto's Largest Charity Volleyball Tournament on the Toronto Island on Saturday June 18, 2011.

See more pictures after the jump.

Doors Open Toronto 2011

The widely popular urban exploration weekend appropriately titled Doors Open Toronto (DOTO) hit town again and shows just how much fun we can have seeing some really interesting buildings. Pictured above is the Toronto Harbour Commission Building while below are some pictures of the RC Harris Water Filtration and Pumping Plant.


See more pictures after the jump.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Dr Pepper, Honda Indy Toronto and Marco Andretti

2011 marks the 25th year of open wheel racing in Toronto, initially in 1986 as the CART, Champ Car 'Grand Prix of Toronto' and later in 2009 as the IZOD IndyCar Honda Indy Toronto. That's quite a few years of burning rubber and the heavy rumblings of high power race engines screaming through a site that really comes to life during the annual CNE and Indy race.
The Dr Pepper Snapple group sponsors IZOD IndyCar Series Andretti Autosport's driver Marco Andretti in the #26 Venom Energy car (pictures above). Marco now sits in 13th place in this years racing season (tied with Justin Wilson) and hails from one of the most successful racing families which started with Mario, followed by Michael who runs Andretti Autosports. Hopefully I will get a garage tour with Marco during the July stop in Toronto thanks to Dr Pepper - which has been the official beverage of the Honda Indy Toronto since 2009.
On June 1, 2011 Honda Indy Toronto, run by Green Savoree Toronto ULC, will begin the construction of the Exhibition ground race course and will launch the start of construction on June 1st. Representatives of the owners, Honda Canada and several drivers of the some of the participating series races, including JR Fitzpatrick of NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (blue car pictured below) and James Hinchcliffe of IndyCar, will be on hand to help publicize the event. This year will also see exotic car races with the Ferrari North American 458 Challenge Race and one of the drivers will be Robert Herjavec of CBC's the Dragons' Den
JR Fitzpatricks NCTS #84 Schick Hydro stock car
Dr Pepper Grandstand

I remember last year at the Dr Pepper grandstand beside turn #11, right across from the entrance to the pits and close to the start/finish line, and how they had barrels of ice cold Dr Pepper free for the people in their grandstand. I believe they also got a free Dr Pepper t-shirt on race day Sunday, a slice of Pizza Pizza and the garage tour with Marco. Hopefully they will have Dr Pepper Cherry this year! You can check out the grandstand prices here.

See more pictures of Marco after the jump.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Busy Toronto Harbour

Harbourfront and Queens Quay are Toronto's waterfront cottage. The commute is a bummer but sitting down by the lake with your toes in the water is a little slice of heaven. As the ice seems to be temporarily out of the inner harbour, the space seems to be filling with all manner of ships, boats and canoes. A loaded dragon boat paddles behind the tall ship Kajama while cruise ships are tied up at the dock.
I will eventually go on the City Lights Cruise ship for a night of merriment. Booyah!
Water Taxi

Plenty more boats after the jump.

Doors Open

Scarborough Bluffs

Pride

Redball

Beaches

Graffiti

Lake Ontario

Nathan Phillips Square

Transportation