Saturday, June 30, 2012

Aboriginal History Month

The Native Canadian Centre of #Toronto celebrated Aboriginal History Month with a drum performance and vendors at Yonge-Dundas Square.


Prism Aqua Pride at Sugar Beach

The waterfront in #Toronto grooves to the beat of DJ Manny Lehman, DJ Honey Dijon, DJ Aron with a special live performance by Jessica Sutta of the Pussycat Dolls during the Prism Aqua Pride on Saturday June 30, 2012. Plus there will be fireworks at sunset!
With Corus and the big rock on one side, and Lake Ontario and the Sugar Factory on the other side, that leaves Sugar Beach primed for all the action. I passed by early in the morning as they worked on getting the site ready for the big party which runs 2pm to 10pm. The big shiny disco ball goes up on the stage in the photo at top.

#Toronto Pride 2012: Dyke March and Festival

Hot summer 30 plus degree Celsius weather is scheduled but that won't keep away the rainbows during the 2012 Toronto Pride Dyke March and Street Festival on Saturday, June 30. The Dyke March begins with a 1pm Rally on Church Street (at Hayden St) before heading out on Bloor and across and down Yonge Street. There is also a post march picnic at Allan Gardens starting at 3pm.

"Dyke March Route 2012: The march will start with a Rally at 1:00pm at Church and Hayden Streets, then move north on Church to Bloor starting at 2pm, west on Bloor to Yonge, south on Yonge to Carlton and east on Carlton ending at Allan Gardens Park at Jarvis Street. Marchers and Allies are invited to join us for a picnic in Allan Gardens at the conclusion of the March to relax in the shade, participate in art and music, and use the space to make your statement! Please see the Accessibilties Resources section for information on Wheel-Trans, the wheelchair-equipped vehicle participating in the March. This section also has information about viewing stands for the Dyke March.
March, strut, scream, sign, chant, roll and dance your way through city streets. Share the truly awesome energy of thousands of other queer women and dykes. All queer women and self-identified dykes can march. The March is for all dykes and all types of queer women, including (but not limited to) dykes who are lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, questioning, trans, of trans experiences, genderqueer, intersex, and 2 Spirit. The March is absolutely trans and genderqueer positive. ALLIES, we need your help too! Your support from the sidewalks along the March route is really important. Cheer us on!" 

The parade heads south on Yonge Street as the crowd eagerly awaits

The Pride Weekend street fair takes place on Church Street, centred around Wellesley Street. The festival runs from 11am until midnight on Friday and Saturday and until 11pm on Sunday. The party features beer tents, colourful costumes and fun entertainment and events all weeked long.

See more photos after the jump.

Miss CHIN bikini contest 2012


Nothing says summer like swimsuits and sunscreen so join #Toronto at the 2012 Scotiabank CHIN International Picnic featuring the much anticipated bikini contest at the Bandshell Stage. The picnic runs all weekend in Exhibition Place but the bikini pageant only happens on Saturday June 30 from 12 noon to 2pm - with the Mr Chin Bikini is 6:30pm on Sunday. Twenty two lovely ladies competed in bright blue bikinis today with Casandra Bella #22 winning the crown as Miss CHIN Bikini 2012. Anastasia Shvets #17 was second and third place was Annie Pietroniro.
Miss CHIN Bikini 2011 Serena Di Millo will pass her crown to the new 2012 Miss CHIN Bikini winner during the event.
"With a total of $5,000 in prizes, the winners of the 2012 Pageant will receive fabulous prizes including a grand prize Home Theatre TV courtesy of CHIN Radio, Jewellery pieces designed by Louro Jewellery, $500 spa and beauty gift certificates, and other great prizes. All participants receive commemorative gifts."
The picnic is free but parking costs - so take public transit to the event if possible.



See more photos after the jump.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Angry Ape at Ashbridges Bay

A wild ape screams on the sign at the #Toronto Ashbridges Bay Pumping Station. He misses Tarzan and the Boy.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Canada Day 2012 in #Toronto

Birthday celebrations are always a time for candles and fireworks and around Toronto I think you can find a few of each on Sunday, July 1 which marks Canada's 145th birthday. The big parties are at Mel Lastman Square, Amesbury Park, East York (with parade), Downsview National Urban Park, Toronto Ribfest at Centennial Park and Ashbridges Bay/Woodbine Park (Red, White and Vinyl Festival), - they include entertainment and fireworks at dusk.


There are also events taking place Black Creek Pioneer Village, Fort York 10am-5pm, Mackenzie House 10am-5pm, High Park 12pm-4:30pm, Scarborough Museum 10am-5pm, In the Valley 12pm-4pm, Queen's Park 12pm-5pm, Toronto Eaton Centre 11am-2pm, Casa Loma 9:30am-5pm, Multicultural Canada Day at Yonge-Dundas Square 12pm-9pm and the Scarborough Canada Parade from 4pm-6pm.
For patriotic dog lovers there is the great Canada Day Weekend fun with the Woofjocks show from our friends at PawsWay on Queen's Quay 11am-3pm.

Baseball lovers can visit the Blue Jays Street Festival before the game, just outside Rogers Centre before the 3:07pm game.

"Fans are encouraged to come down to Rogers Centre early to join the Blue Jays in celebrating Canada’s birthday. The Canada Day Street Festival on Bremner Blvd. starts at noon and will feature live music, family entertainment, food, a licenced area and a variety of games and prizes for all ages. Traffic on Bremner Blvd. will be restricted to one lane in each direction from Navy Wharf Crescent to just east of Rees Street. The festive atmosphere will surround the exterior of Rogers Centre.

During the Street Festival and throughout the day, the Blue Jays will proudly honour our Canadian Forces. The pregame ceremonies will include members of the Canadian Forces who will be joined by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police presenting the colours. Also on hand will be members from the Vimy Foundation and the bands of the 48th Highlanders.

The Blue Jays will also honour and host 14 members of Canadian Olympic Team bound for London 2012, who will be on hand for the pregame ceremonies. Along with recognizing our Canadian athletes, fans will also be able to sign the Olympic Games Good Luck boards outside Rogers Centre during the Street Festival."
2012 Canada Day fireworks

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

This is NOT the art you are looking for

When you find art on the streets in #Toronto it is often not the art you are looking for. The poster is a promotion for the Don't Tell Mama Gallery located at 108 Ossington Avenue. Street artist SPUD had the gallery opening show - you know, the potato guy.
Flying SPUD graffiti on a tree

Since its not the art I was looking for I will move along, probably go looking for droids. So what else can we find that we weren't looking for.
THEY LIVE

I love happy faces and love hearts from Gregory Alan Elliott

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Clam Slam 2012

Pride usually goeth before the fall, in this case Pride happens with the fall! #Toronto @TORollerDerby shows the colours as the all queer roller derby event takes place at the Bunker on Friday, June 29, 2012. The bout is an official Pride Toronto event that will feature plenty of falls, slams, blocks and most definitely some bruising - falls come with a price dontchaknow.

"Clam Slam is the annual Pride week face off between Vagine Regime Canada and the Clam Diggers; both teams comprised of skaters from various leagues across North America! Clam Slam happens Friday June 29th, at The Bunker, Downsview Park. If you are interested in skating in Clam Slam, please contact the organizers at clamdiggers09@gmail.com. Tickets will be on sale online and in stores later this week."

Beamer takes the GO Train

You know the commute is a bad in #Toronto when a driver takes his BMW car into Union Station! It was reported today that a police officer tried to pull over two cars when they both bolted outside of the Station. The unlucky Beamer owner lost control and ended up crashing through barriers and into the below street level pedestrian passage between the TTC and the train stations on Front Street near Bay Street - ooohhh, that's got to hurt.
Luckily the off road shenanigans happened early in the morning on June 26, 2012 - rush hour has hundreds passing through this walkway every minute. After the driver and four passengers ran from the wreckage the driver was found and charged with dangerous driving (and breach of probation).
This area is just plain bad luck - first a watermain break, then a sewer break, now a BMW hole in one.

Motorexpo back in the Financial District

#Toronto stockbrokers can take a break from short positions and IPOs and check out some cherry rides in Brookfield Place. Yes Motorexpo is back in Town.
A beautiful silver Rolls-Royce car sits out front on the sidewalk, a taste of the exotic and beautiful vehicles within during the free to visit, June 25-29, 2012 show. The showroom comes to the big leagues. Inside were plenty of high end cars ready for you to slip into the drivers seat and see if the car is you or not. Besides the Rolls-Royce there were models from brands such as Land Rover, Porsche, Lexus, Jaguar, Infiniti, Hyundai - wait, how did Hyundai make it into the building? Oh, they make luxury sedans as well like the Genesis and Equus, okay then, they can stay. I missed the Audi, Bentley and Aston Martin models, maybe a second visit is required (I did, I did, but no James Bond).

This is the type of car show with sales brochures full of words like sleek, elegant, sports coupe (or coup-eh as the say on Top Gear). The machines tend to come with supercharging, turbocharging, V8s, 300 to 500 horsepower. In a moving tribute to both the recession and the environmental movement the powerful engines also tend to be described as fuel efficient - yes Victoria, your V12 powerplant can also save you a few bucks in gas - as opposed to using a jet engine. You can join the executives and walk through the hall looking at these fine automotive specimens. See more after the jump.

Monday, June 25, 2012

TIFF and thing's end

This #Toronto art installation at the TIFF condo entrance was commissioned by the King and John Festival Corporation. If consists of a blue, elastic wristband, much like Lance Armstrong's famous yellow wristband - only this one is blue, created by artist James Carl that was unveiled in 2012 at Festival Tower located at 80 John Street.
The work is kind of hiding behind all the scaffolding that covers the sidewalk and protects pedestrians from all that pesky falling glass, which is currently being replaced on the tower.
Thing's end was made as part of the City of Toronto Percent for Public Art Program which mandates that in significant private sector development, like the Daniels Festival Tower, a minimum one percent of the gross construction cost is to be spent on public art.

Pride Week 2012 Flag Raising

The Pride Flag will be flown at #Toronto City Hall with a proclamation ceremony starting at noon on Monday, June 25, 2012.
"This year's parade theme is Celebrate & Demonstrate. Pride Toronto exists to celebrate the history, courage, diversity and future of Toronto's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning, 2-Spirited and Allies (LGBTTIQQ2SA) communities, and we hope you will join us!"
This year's festivities include the major parades and the Street Festival: Friday June 29 at 7:30pm is the Trans March, Saturday June 30 at 2pm is the Dyke March, Sunday July 1 at 2pm is the Pride Parade and the Street Fair Festival in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood during the Pride weekend.
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam

See more Pride flag ceremony after the jump.

NOS model


High performance energy drink maker @NOS_Gaming was out providing samples of their drink in #Toronto. This lovely model dressed in blue with a blaze white NOS was collecting a minimum donation for the sample.
Posted by Joe Hamilton

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Spock beams down

Captain James T Kirk was somewhere trying to teach some beautiful #Toronto lady all about an Earth kiss as his logical Science and First Officer Spock was scanning the people around the Eaton Centre. Star Trek Enterprise regulars Scotty and Sulu must be around trying to round up some dilithium crystals. This is Spock Vegas - Paul Forest.
Live long and prosper my Vulcan friend. Posted by Joe Hamilton

Doors Open

Scarborough Bluffs

Pride

Redball

Beaches

Graffiti

Lake Ontario

Nathan Phillips Square

Transportation