Fall in Muskoka and Haliburton

The lure of a northern getaway brings thousands up into cottage country and as the season winds down, the trees change colour as the days become shorter and colder.

Two lane highways spread out from the major Highways show rock cuts and slashes through forest show sentries of brilliant trees standing tall just beyond the shoulder.

There has been lots of rain up north and the creeks and rivers are running fast

See more of the Fall season after the jump.

Zombiefestation

Shuffling down Yonge Street in #Toronto was a horrifying zombie horde. Then mixed in with theses regular commuters walking to work were the undead! I couldn't immediately tell which set were scarier, but then I noticed that some of the undead were clowns and ran screaming into the Eaton Centre.

When I stopped at Nathan Phillips Square I found some of the zombies and thought that they were promoting the upcoming Toronto Zombie Walk scheduled for Saturday, October 25, 2014. Don't forget that the Zombie Walk is in need of additional funding. "The Toronto Zombie Walk and Halloween Parade is the largest free Halloween event in Toronto. The event is run by a small group of volunteers, who spend their whole year raising the dead and money to support this event and keep it free and inclusive. With it's continued growth costs have gone up exponentially. Despite continued fundraising activities, searches to find sponsors, and grant applications the Toronto Zombie Walk is still $7000 under budget and has only 6 weeks to raise the total funds for the event."

Asking a zombie what they were promoting I was told it was for the Halloween Haunt at Canada's Wonderland.

Fall colour change 2014

Nothing better than a beautiful first day of Fall - sunny and very comfortable outside, with a splash of colour spread throughout the forests and urban foliage. This week is supposed to continue sunny and with pleasant temperatures in the 20s which is a perfect time to spend outside looking at trees.

Fall fair season is in full swing and we plan on attending the Erin Fair during Thanksgiving weekend. One of the highlights of Erin's entertainment schedule is the Sunday, October 12 Demolition Derby at 6:30 pm.

This weekend will hopefully include a trip up to Haliburton area. Have fun in the sun everyone.

Smoke over the Fair

You can feel the 4x4 pickups trucks wind up their engines after the vehicles are hitched to the sledge, like a husky hitched to a dog sled, the exhaust goes from a slight grey puff of smoke to a thick black cloud that casts a shadow over a big part of the truck pulling area.

Sunday's Highway Truck Pull was cancelled during the morning's torrential downpour. But after borrowing a pump from the fire department the volunteers moved the water off the track and with an hour and a half delay the pulling began again with some Antique Tractor Pulls, which also included the steam tractor.

The Diesel Doctor is a big participant to the 4x4 Truck pulls and many of the trucks have really excessive smoke problems. Ordinarily this would be annoying, you know the earth and all, but during the truck pulls the billowing pillars of black shooting out of the chrome exhaust pipes make the show much more exciting.

At the Acton Agricultural Society Fall Fair 2014 the Sunday gates looked a little slow in the morning as visitors kept out of the rain and many avoided the rides. But after the rain, the sun came out and warmed up and the people returned to the fair.

A Fair at night

The 2014 Acton Agricultural Society Fall Fair continues its tradition of 4H, homecraft, thrills and entertainment along with the infamous beer tent - Spot in the Park. The Albion Amusements midway is a colourful explosion of light located right beside the alley of amusement games which in turn leads past the Spot in the Park and into the areas where cows and farm animals dwell - all contained within Prospect Park. The three-day weekend fair takes place from September 19-21.

On Saturday the track was noisy with tractor pulls as the standard and modified lawn and garden tractors pulled the Giant Tiger sponsored sledge, while Mary called out the play by play. On Sunday the highway truck pull starts at 11 am and the 4x4 truck pull starts at 1:30 pm.

Saturday started great with a nice parade through town and the sun warmed the day up, considerably more than earlier in the week. Unfortunately when we went to the fair later in the evening we found that the park was in lock down, pictured below. Two children were missing and they wouldn't let anyone in the park for probably and hour or two as they scoured the grounds.

People driving to the park to take advantage of the on site paid parking found their way barred and were turned away. Visitors wait on the street outside the fair entrance waiting to see if they could eventually get into the fair

Everything ended okay as the children had walked home on their own, much to the relief of the parents and concerned community. As we waited outside the gates it also started to rain. The lock down and the rain kept a lot of the evening crowds away.  Luckily it will only thunderstorm until late Sunday morning before falling into a steady downpour of rain during the rest of the day, so get out there with your umbrella and enjoy the day.

Waiting for the last tractor pull as the rain falls down on a sparse grandstand

See more lights and pulls after the jump.

Steam Tractor in the Acton Fall Fair Parade

A Sawyer Massey blows off some steam in Acton during the 2014 Fall Fair Parade. The event started out with the Halton Hills police and fire departments leading the floats and bands down Mill Street on Saturday, September 20, 2014.

See more of the parade after the jump.

Sunflowers on University Avenue

Slim sunflower stalks grow high along the island oasis in the middle of #Toronto's wide and divided roadway leading north to Queen's Park. As the sunflowers mature, their bulbous heads fill with seeds in the middle of a halo of bright yellow petals. Soon the growing weight will cause the flowers to bend towards the ground and the long plants will seem sad and droopy.

looking south from just north of Queen Street West

Gymnasts in the square

A trio of jumpers work the trampoline and put on a show at @YDsquare during a recent promotion for Dormeo mattresses. The mid day event on September 18, 2014 also featured free servings of Gourmet Gringos food truck tacos.

An aerial silk performer hangs near the stage. 

Cool weather in Fall

I haven't turned on the furnace yet, but the windows are closed and my slippers are on my feet now and Fall doesn't even come until September 22, 2014. Only small splashes of colour can be found around the GTA right now, the peak colours are still a couple weeks away.

Get toasty around a nice fire

Like those found at the Historic Distillery District

65 running for Toronto Mayor

Rob Ford dropped out of the 2014 race for the top spot at the City of Toronto as his brother Doug has stepped in. Rob's health issues has shaken up the battle which was being led by John Tory (above, right), followed by Rob and Olivia Chow (below). Current polls suggest that Doug is now in second place. Election day is Monday, October 27, 2014.

Olivia Chow

Mayor Rob Ford during Carnival launch

"The final list of certified candidates for the 2014 municipal election is available at http://www.toronto.ca/elections/listofcandidates. There are 84 offices to be filled: one mayor, 44 councillors and 39 school board trustees.

There are a total of 606 certified candidates:
• 65 for mayor
• 358 for city councillor
• 127 for trustee - Toronto District School Board
• 42 for trustee - Toronto Catholic District School Board
• 8 for trustee - Conseil scolaire Viamonde
• 6 for trustee - Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud

Prepare for Dawn

I loved the poster for the latest primate movie - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, with the red marks on the brow of the intelligent simian as he looks out in a threatening manner.

Corner Gas - The Movie

Saskatchewan shipped a lonely, wooden grain elevator to #Toronto to promote the film spectacular that will surely open next year's tiff: Corner Gas - The Movie. Stars Eric Peterson (Oscar) and Tara Spencer-Nairn (Constable Pelly) showed up last Friday for a Sing-A-Long and sign autographs. The elevator and the karaoke singing will play during the credit sequence in the movie which is being distributed by Prairie Pants Distribution Inc and was based on a sitcom created by Brent Butt.

I am going to cut down the back forty and bring the grain in and see if they will store it in the elevator. The structure will remain in place beside Much Music/CTV at Queen and John Streets from September 13, 2014 in parallel with the film festival. The song everyone will be singing on the red carpet is the Corner Gas theme song 'Not A Lot Goin' On' written by Craig Northey and Jesse Valenzuela. The old style grain storage building really makes the area look like little Dog River.

"We're really excited to give fans this last chance to be part of Corner Gas: The Movie," said executive producer,Virginia Thompson. "I encourage anyone with a voice – good or not so good – to take part. Everyone sounds great when they're part of a chorus, and it will make the end credits of the film a great deal of fun!"

"Corner Gas: The Movie was shot in Saskatchewan from June 22 to July 22, 2014. The 90-minute feature film will be delivered to Canadians as a national event on multiple platforms in December. The first-ever release strategy of its kind, the film will open with a Cineplex Front Row Centre Events theatrical debut across Canada, followed by premieres on The Movie Network, CTV, and The Comedy Network, and complemented by a special collector's edition DVD available for purchase before the holidays."

tiff 2014 and Grey Goose Vodka

The #Toronto film festival presents unquenchable excitement, even in downpours, and Grey Goose Vodka hosts a number of soirees throughout the movie festival. Beautiful Soho House Toronto is the site of the private parties for some of the prestigious film premiers. All photos courtesy of Grey Goose and Getty Images.

Actors Amanda Seyfried, Naomi Watts and Ben Stiller at the 'While We're Young' world premiere party

The start of the weekend saw five film parties being hosted on September 6 - Kahil Gibran's The Prophet with Salma Hayek, at top, The Theory of Everything about Stephen Hawking, While We're Young with Ben Stiller above, Top Five with Chris Rock and Rosario Dawson and The Face of an Angel starring Kate Beckinsale.

Cedric the Entertainer

On the 5th of September the premium vodka held a party for the crime thriller Nightcrawler directed by Dal Gilroy and starring Jake Gyllenhall, Rene Russo, below, and Riz Ahmed.

See more stars after the jump.

Domo Arigato

Mr Roboto. Domo. A group declares Paradism where robots will lead to a world without work or money - give the jobs to the machines. I asked the robot to do something for me, but he said he was on strike. The gentle blue machine held court at the corner of Yonge and Dundas, just outside the Toronto Eaton Centre.

Then it asked for a handout (just kidding)