Toronto Sexapalooza 2015

Follow your desire and explore sexuality at the consumer show for the frisky and adventurous. With the impact of Fifty Shades of Grey they may have to upsize their kinky Dungeon stronghold and bring in a few more whips and restraints. Three seminars addressed this kink with Sensual Spanking, Exploring Your Sexual Fetishes and BDSM 101 This is the show that has a lot more to offer than that which can be found in the local adult store. The Hustler ladies, above, say that "Bad Girls Do it Well".

HouseSM fashion design and costume store

Their highly anticipated seminars can increase your knowledge of bodily delights and the main stage entertainment gives you a break between cruising the aisles looking at the many exhibitors products. Remember that even though cameras without external flashes are allowed, professional cameras with lenses over 3" were being stopped at the door.

Adult film star Alexis Texas during a spicy Q & A session

"Our Main Stage Entertainment is almost non-stop throughout the weekend. You are able to get up close and personal to watch burlesque, male erotic dancers, body painted models, bondage bed demos and more. The Main Stage area feels a bit like being at a nightclub with lighted cruiser tables clustered around the stage. Audience participation is welcomed by some entertainment. Contest participation means a guaranteed door prize. Shy to go on stage to win a prize? You can still win one of our fabulous door prizes which are drawn hourly by our MC. Burlesque Dancing, Pole Dancing Performances, Fashion Show, Bondage Bed Demo, Male Dancers, Drag Queens"

Sexapalooza takes place from February 27 to March 1 at Hall 6 of the Toronto International Centre (Friday 5-12pm, Saturday 12pm-midnight and Sunday 12-6pm).

It is amazing how many beautiful women you see at this show

Posted by Joe Hamilton and James Hamilton. See more after the jump.

Some interesting Toronto sights

Batman spins around in the intersection - his bat senses tingling, sensing danger at all times, ready to champion the pursuit of justice. Really, you don't see things like this everyday and we really need a break right now from the dreaded winter and the bitter cold we have been experiencing for the last month. February is almost over and it is only 20 days until Spring! You can keep updated as to the Spring countdown on this site. Here are a few other interesting things that I have seen walking around the city streets.

Clean it up Toronto

Celebrity horses with cool glasses

Cosplay

Giant eyeballs on the beach

Festivals at Nathan Phillips Square

Go Leafs Go

Smoke bombs for the Toronto FC

Pretty Zombies at the Toronto Zombie Walk

Toronto Sexapalooza this weekend

Update: See photos from the 2015 show on my post here.

Bring on the whips and chains because this weekend is the return of the friendly and intimate consumer sex show. The lights will be set to romance in the International Centre during the February 27 to March 1, 2015 singles, couples and friends event.

A rack of whips

"Looking for something new? Interesting? Maybe a little risque? Come to Sexapalooza this weekend in Toronto for all of that and more. Take in a few seminars or sit back for an erotic video. Stop by and play in the dungeon. When you're ready, head on over to the main stage with a drink in hand to take in the sinful sights. Ask our knowledgeable exhibitors how to revamp your love life with new products and bedroom tricks. Everything you are hoping for and more at Sexapalooza Toronto 2015!"

Motorcycle Show Toronto 2015

After the Jaws of Death, Jordan jumped his motorcycle over several people, including his trusting wife and son, then his son actually drove his little motorcycle over his dad - it was either payback or he needs to work on his skills more. The Trials and other demonstrations at the Motorcycle Show - Toronto complemented the masive hall filled with the biggest motorcycle manufacturer's showcase of existing and new bikes for 2015.

The show is within the grounds at Exhibition Place at the Direct Energy Centre from February 20-22 and the theme for 2015 is "Whatever your ride, feed your passion here". The bonus of the location is that there is lots of parking in the area and under the Centre which came in handy during Saturday's snow day.

Demos and seminars also featured the Yamaha Riding Academy for Kids, Clinton Smout's How to Seminars at the Race Cafe, Team Empire Stunt Demonstrations and the OPP Golden Helmets. You can also enter for a chance to win a 2015 Triumph Bonneville Newchurch Commemorative Special Edition motorcycle.

Front and Centre in the show were large displays from Honda and Harley-Davidson and we visited Honda first and discovered that they had one of those motorcycle displays that pivots. So I hopped on it and pretended that I was taking a corner at high speed - with a beautiful girl stunt riding with me. The other major brand displays included BMW, Victory, Indian, Triumph, Ducati, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Besides motorcycles you could also find ATVs, side by sides and scooters.

Walking the long aisles of the Centre we kept hearing a very quiet jet engine firing up and wandered around until we came upon the Harley-Davidson Livewire Electric motorcycle display. They had a stand-alone setup where people could climb on the stationary motorcycle on a dyno machine which allows the back wheel to spin. People cranked these babies up and the whisper quiet bikes turned into powerful beasts ready to launch you on the open road.

Brand new 2015 models include Yamaha who are "releasing five new bikes this year one of which is the all-new R3. It sports a new twin cylinder 320cc engine and all new chassis. The R3 offers class-leading power combined with light, agile handling. The 2015 Bolt C-Spec has all the great engine characteristic of the Bolt, plus low slung clip-on handlebars, new solo seat with rear seat cowl and a more sporty riding position. For those that are looking for fun, affordable transportation there is the fully automatic SMAX. Powered by a 155cc single cylinder, 4-valve, fuel-injected engine, the SMAX easily keeps up with traffic, with loads of wind and weather protection, it’s virtually vibration fee."

Posted by James Hamilton and Joe Hamilton.

Chinese New Year 2015 celebrations

Toronto Chinatown BIA brought out big lions who ripped apart some lettuce and generated some wealth for all. Not all, I just got some wet lettuce bits on my camera! February 19 was the Lunar New Year, beginning the year of the sheep. Spring Festival weekend events took place during the weekend at Chinatown Centre on Spadina Avenue. And the party will surely continue to the Lantern Festival.

The calm before the lettuce storm

VIPs pop balloons filled with confetti

Posted by Joe Hamilton and James Hamilton.

Toronto Icycle 2015

Snow was in the air, studs were in the tires and the bicycle courier racers were up to the challenge of keeping upright while circling the rink in Dufferin Grove Park. Unfortunately some of them did not manage to keep upright, or from slamming into the sideboards, but all of the bicyclists did put on a great show for the cheering crowd.

The Emperor

Linda Shin - Ladies Champion once again

A great ape takes part in the 'only rubber' finale

 Posted by Joe Hamilton and James Hamilton. See more fun on the ice after the jump.

Stephen Hawking and the tour of a lifetime

The world famous scientist became a tour guide for London's Guest of Honour on a recent visit to the Science Museum and he talked about providing his computer voice in the Oscar nominated film The Theory of Everything. While he lent his voice to actor Eddie Redmayne, who played Stephen in the movie that explored his diagnosis, his career and  relationship with his ex-wife, the theoretical physicist explained that Eddie did not inherit  his looks. I admit I do love his voice - he has even appeared in the Simpsons.

California resident Adaeze Uyanwah won the contest created by VisitLondon and VisitBritain as part of the UK's GREAT Britain campaign. Adaeze asked the Professor to identify humanity's shortcoming and how he would change it, to which he replied, “The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression. It may have had survival advantage in caveman days, to get more food, territory, or partner with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy us all. A major nuclear war would be the end of civilization, and maybe the end of the human race. The quality I would most like to magnify is empathy. It brings us together in a peaceful, loving state.”

The contest allowed Adaeze to tour several well know London tourist destinations with special tour guides at every step of the way. She had an afternoon tea at Lord's Cricket Ground with Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter, appeared in the cast of Mamma Mia, visited the Royal Opera House with ballerina Darcey Bussell, had an Oxford shopping spree, a fashion photoshoot with Fenton Bailey and many other magical moments.. These experiences can be enjoyed by everyone that visits Britian except possibly without the famous tour guides. You can also enter the contest at the visitLondon site by March 31, 2015 to win a chance to be a guest of the city.

The trip to the Science Museum was a chance to visit one of Stephen's favourite places with London and he showed several items that were important to him - including his first speech synthesiser which was custom-made in 1985 and in the Space Gallery he stressed the importance of travel off planet, “Sending humans to the moon changed the future of the human race in ways that we don’t yet understand. It hasn’t solved any of our immediate problems on planet Earth, but it has given us new perspectives on them and caused us to look both outward and inward. I believe that the long term future of the human race must be space and that it represents an important life insurance for our future survival, as it could prevent the disappearance of humanity by colonising other planets.”

The Theory of Everything had a world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and will be judged in five categories during the upcoming 87th Academy Awards on February 22, 2015.

Photographs supplied.

Baby it's cold outside

Frigid air blasting south from Santa land has descended into Toronto, continuing the recent string of extreme cold weather alerts. Temperatures with wind chills expected to bottom out at -35 degrees Celsius over night, now that is bitter. The inner harbour has frozen and the Toronto ferries shuttle back and forth to the islands through a path cut by an ice breaker, although the ferry even gets stuck a time or two.

We venture close to the Portlands Energy Centre located beside the old Hearn Generating Plant and watch in awe as the twin smokestacks pump billowing clouds of waste exhaust and heat. Hearn was converted from coal burning to natural gas before being mothballed and replaced with the new Portlands combined cycle, natural gas fired electrical generating plant. The cloud looks interesting in the sky of blue.

Down by Cherry Beach we were able to venture out onto the frozen waters of Lake Ontario, passing over broken and frozen over mini-icebergs until we hit a wall of broken ice that piles up in a massive traffic jam. It looks like a current goes through the middle of the harbour and circles along the shoreline. A river of smaller ice chunks carves a path through the surrounding ice before the colder weather froze the river in place.

Posted by James Hamilton and Joe Hamilton. See more ice after the jump.

Canadian International AutoShow 2015

I went because I thought it was a spy convention, probably with a Kingsman, but no, CIAS is not a show about the Central Intelligence Agency. Instead it is a big, crowded Auto Mall with a splash of concept cars, a little bit of the classics and a touch of new product model launches.

Taking up the entire Metro Toronto Convention Centre from February 13 to 22, this show is so big that they even have a shuttle bus running between the north and south buildings. I would be tempted to forget about the bus and ask for a test ride in something fancy and if it was electric I could probably drive it inside and shave off a bit of the travel time.

IndyCar Driver James Hinchliffe

Actually the place is big enough they should have set up a racing oval and let people really take a test spin. Speaking of racing, IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe made an appearance at the show - along with one of his cars. James will return to town for the June 12-14, 2015 Honda Indy Toronto race.

Ford Go Further

Art and the Automobile and Auto Exotica are two of the many features that liven up this car buying extravaganza. "Auto Exotica: The Exotics are back at the AutoShow! Expect to be stunned by first-class vehicles crafted by McLaren, Tesla, Pagani, Ferrari, Maserati and much more! This is the only place in Canada where you can see this many exotic brands under one roof. You will have the luxury of experiencing the lifestyle behind the World’s Finest Automobiles at the 2015 Auto Exotica. Explore this feature on Level 100 in the North Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre."

I met up with brand ambassador Theresa Longo who was working with Ford Canada demonstrating their wearable technologies and ergonomic advancements.

Posted by Joe Hamilton. See more cars after the jump.