Monday, December 31, 2012

Ring in the New Year #Toronto

The 28th annual City NYE 2013 (#City2013) bash starts at 10 pm on December 31 in Nathan Phillips Square with headliners Johnny Reid, The Tenors, Kardinal Offishall and hosts Dina Pugliese, Kevin Frankish, Gord Martineau, Tracy Moore and other celebrities.
Also included in the lineup are Serena Ryder, Bridgit Mendler, Victoria Duffield, Shawn Desman,
Massari and Jully Black.
The scaffolding and stage have been rising for over a week

"With Canada’s most diverse lineup of musical talent, City New Year’s countdown show invites viewers to ring in 2013 with millions of their closest friends during the 28th annual City New Year’s Bash, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/CT and 8 p.m. MT/PT. Hosted by Citytv and Rogers Radio on-air personalities City New Year’s Bash 2013 will usher in the New Year live with exciting musical performances, and loads of family entertainment in front of tens of thousands of revelers from Citytv’s three party centrals: Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, Olympic Plaza in Calgary, and Churchill Square in Edmonton."
See more of the stage setup after the jump.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

#Toronto Sugar Beach covered in sugar, Sugar!

White crystals blanketed the urban park at the edge of Lake Ontario across from the Redpath Sugar factory. Believing a freak windstorm had blown the sugar onto the umbrellas and Muskoka chairs I tasted the white stuff, after several minutes and a touch of frostbite on my tongue I knew that I was incorrect. It was winter in the city.


Playing in the snow

Falling snow makes a great portrait in Berczy Park down near #Toronto St Lawrence Market.

Idle No More in the Eaton Centre

Members of the Aboriginal community and their supporters began a demonstration in the lower level of the #Toronto Eaton Centre around the fountain. The December 30, 2012 flash mob started in the early afternoon and was in solidarity of Chief Theresa Spence and her request to meet with Prime Minister Harper.
The Chief has been on a hunger strike since early December and is currently living in a teepee along the Ottawa River. She did meet over the weekend with former Prime Minister Joe Clark.

"Idle No More is a peaceful organization that is working towards profound social, political, and economic change. Our goal is to use education to build consciousness and awareness in all Canadians on the resurgence of Indigenous sovereignty and environmental protections. We are working on building relationships within our communities as well as across Canada and globally. We also call out to each community to organize teach-ins and peaceful demonstrations – we believe an educated public is the best form of action. Each community has different needs, and we support the various actions that are taking place across Turtle Island, however because of the many decades of colonialism, some community members are seeking stronger forms of action such as blockades. While we need to protect the land from further damage, we hope that this will be used as a last resort to protect Mother Earth, and not as a symbolic act. We are working hard to maintain INM as a positive movement that includes all cultures in a vision for justice for all people and for our earth."

Posted by Joe Hamilton. See more of the peaceful gathering after the jump.

Early winter Sunnyside

New Years Eve is tomorrow night and on New Years Day you can wash away 2012 with a refreshing Polar Bear Dip in Lake Ontario at Sunnyside Park. I went by the beach during the latest brief spurt of winter that provided a nice blanket of white fluffy stuff and no one was swimming in the cold water yet. And you should really practice being a polar bear before the actual event.
Dinosaurs think that the snow is the start of another ice age
The dip happens January 1, 2013 at 12 noon (arrive at 10:30am for registration and pre-dip events).
Significant accumulations of snow settle on the geese

Swans keep together in the inner harbour
Swimming sign and symbols

Saturday, December 29, 2012

It's a white post Xmas in #Toronto

The snow stayed away from the GTA leading up to Christmas, then on boxing day we started to get hit with the white stuff. Saturday, December 29, 2012 brought some more and the roads around the city were slick.





PS This was a test of my new blackberry playbook.

Friday, December 28, 2012

2012 is only the beginning!

A red eyeball graffiti painted on a bridge pier in #Toronto. It is a beginning but we have to remember that nothing lasts forever, especially not graffiti. Also 2013 is just around the corner so 2012 is pretty much done.

More graffiti from under the Bathurst Street Bridge crossing the railway lands, just south of Front Street and adjacent to Old Fort York.



Evidence of the graffiti artist, possibly including some DNA.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Honda Indy #Toronto Boxing Week Sale

Speed freaks can quench their appetite with a @HondaIndy Boxing Week sale - it ends Jan 2, 2013, or when the ticket limit has been reached.
IZOD IndyCar races will return to the race track in Exhibition Place during the July 12-14, 2013 weekend doubleheader on the Streets of Toronto.
There is only a few days left to take advantage of the offer: "SELECT 2-DAY START/FINISH GRANDSTAND TICKETS FOR THE PRICE OF A SINGLE DAY, OVER 30% OFF - $85 per ticket (SAVE $40!) BUY TICKETS Offer valid Friday December 21 at Noon through Wednesday January 2, 2012 at midnight. * Limit of 150 2-day Start/Finish Grandstand tickets available for purchase."

See more racing after the jump.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Top New Years Eve travel


Champagne and fireworks are the stuff of New Years Eve and if you are adventurous you can always take to the airways and hit one or all of Expedia's top five destinations for Canadians to ring in the new year; 1) New York - $329, 2) Las Vegas - $646, 3) Fort Lauderdale - $637, 4) Orlando - $629 and 5) Miami - $631. The prices shown are average round trip ticket prices for stand-alone bookings on Expedia with departures between December 27-31, 2012.

"Regionally, New Year’s Eve destination preferences varied. Las Vegas was the only city that made the top five list for each market studied – Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Consistent for all departure cities was the prevalence of warmer southern destinations such as Orlando for East Coast departures and Los Angeles for those out West. New York, world-famous for its countdown in Times Square, appeared only as a top destination for travellers flying out of Toronto."

Expedia also offers a Boxing Week Sale where you can even find savings up to 50% on their hotel bookings.

Bravo! #Toronto

For being so interesting. Here is a photo mega-post of things I have seen around Metropolitan Toronto.
A masked swimmer waits for the Polar Bear Dip at Sunnyside Beach
Gregory Alan Elliott's red heart
Pink bike in Graffiti Alley
Weird ants take part in a Buskerfest
Megaspeed show models
CAW dirigible in a protest parade
Disco Nathan Phillips Square
Chinatown festival
Cosplay participant looking forward to the Hobbit
Bollywood festival at City Hall
Ferries in the fog
Street hockey
Window shopping
The Occupy Toronto occupod by GAE
Flat track Toronto Roller Derby hug
Them, Us and You graffiti

Doors Open

Scarborough Bluffs

Pride

Redball

Beaches

Graffiti

Lake Ontario

Nathan Phillips Square

Transportation