The Tall Ship Kajama

Heading out of Toronto Harbour is the Tall Ship Kajama a three masted sailing schooner.

Metropolitan United Church - Queen St E

A crowd always gathers at the large front expanse of the church property - playing chess and passing the time in a pleasant battle of the minds while inside the cathedral is a place for reflection under the large stained glass window.



I remember there used to be another area to play chess right on Yonge Street near the old Sam the Music Man store but they have been removed along with the store. Another set of chess tables is on Queen Street in front of City Hall (pictured below).

Distillery District - mixing machine beaters

It looks like the giant beaters of a massive mixing machine are being installed in the Historic Distillery District - I can't wait to see the cake they make.

Ashbridge Bay-Watch

Lifeguards are on duty along the beaches of Toronto and the citizens of TO are on hand to enjoy the refreshing waters of Lake Ontario. I didn't see any lifeguards running in slow motion but there were plenty in their towers and lifeguard stations; rescue gear and boats ready for action.

Keeping people safe from June 12 to September 7 (until 6pm) the lifeguard services is run by the Toronto Police Department.





The huge sandy area was full of beach volleyball nets with youth games by PVB Canada going on and a seperate area for the Not So Pro Sports summer beach volleyball tour.

Ursa Major - Big Dipper

Many eyes were gazing up to the night sky for the Aug 11 to 13 Perseid meteor showers originating from the Swift-Tuttle Comet. I didn't get a picture of the comets but I did see a nice Ursa Major (Big Bear) or The Big Dipper.

Waterfalls enjoying the rain

The usual trickle of water in creeks and rivers during summer has swollen with the high levels of rain. Taking pictures along Silver Creek I make it out before the rain starts up again. The waterfalls are another place to go in the fall when the leaves turn colours.





Here is a link to waterfalls close to the Toronto area. If anyone knows of any waterfalls within the City of Toronto could they please add a comment to this post with the waterfall location? Here are a couple of hand made waterfalls in the Queens Quay area down by the Lake.

Bad weather - great clouds

Summer weather has fizzled with days both cool and wet. The bonus is it is more comfortable to sleep at night and the clouds have been spectacular. The abundant rainfall has also become an issue for crops as we get the rain that the Prairies should have received.

Badlands after a downpour

We have had no shortage of rain in southern Ontario, it keeps coming down by the buckets and that didn't change when I decided to check out the Cheltenham Badlands. Located a short distance northwest of Toronto (follow Hwy 10 north and turn left/west on Old Base Line Road). As I was heading up Highway 10 the heavy rain and thunderstorm hit, cars were stoping along the road waiting for the worst of the storm to pass.

I hoped that by the time I got to the Badlands the thunderstorm would pass, which of course they didn't, so I waited the storm out and finally the sun broke out of the storm as the lightning passed to the southwest. Luckily the crowds were light right after the rain and I walked onto the badlands expecting to sink into the wet clay. But the red clay was remarkably firm, even after the rain, and dried fast in the hot sun.

While the best time to visit the badlands would be in the fall it can be beneficial to visit in the summer as the crowds and traffic make it easier to see this amazing site.

Big, bad moon on the horizon

My father in law, Don Mincoff, has a big telescope and a nikon camera and he took a great picture of the recent full moon.

Free live streaming of Mid-Ohio Indy Race

Race fans start your free live streaming of the Mid-Ohio Indy Race on Sunday August 9, 2009.

Superman Day

Up, up and away, it's Superman Day. I received an email from Fun Toronto on Facebook describing a lot of activities going on in Toronto including this day of Superheroes. The event will be held Sunday at Cherry Beach so grab your capes and go.

Here is the information from the facebook site http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=87778023077

Superman Day: Get creative, have some fun, Superheroes, Super villains, fun characters and their pets! This is going to be the best day since Halloween! Let your kids wear the Batman cape in the public for once! Let your inner Superhero come out. Promise cherry beach Sundays Night of Mayhem. Sunday, August 9, 2009, 3pm to 11pm. Location: Cherry Beach, Toronto, ON.

Relaxing at the cottage during the Civic Holiday

When summer hits it becomes time to head out of the city and head north to a cottage with half of Toronto. If you are not fortunate enough to have your own cottage hopefully you can get invited to a cottage like we did for the August Civic Holiday. We enjoyed the wild winter weather (just kidding) in between the clouds and cool weather. It made it hard to swim in Lake Kawagama up near Dorset. We then enjoyed the fireworks put on by the fire department.





Here is a group shot of the Band Family attending the 2009 pirate convention.

There's a lot of iHoop la going on here

I continue to lament the lack of summer as spring extends it’s season into fall. The City seems always cool and wet and expectant – waiting for summer to show itself. The municipal strike that has hindered events (on par with the weather) looks like it is over so maybe we will see more action on the streets – it’s been quiet, too quiet.

 

During the bustle of lunchtime a small squad of hula hoopers takes to Yonge-Dundas Square. Was it a hula hoop battle to the death, dancing and twirling, hacking and stomping? No, I watch and nobody falls, screaming into the fountains running through the square. No ambulance responds to the imminent, expected violence.

 

Their shirts say iHoop and I look up the site on that big ol’ internets. There is an iHoop.ca (website coming soon) “where players, find game.” Yeah. Or whatever, I am not sure yet. I also find something about basketball and iPod music – maybe the hoop, you know that thing that holds the net, is represented by the hula hoops and the people are iPods or maybe balls. Go figure.

 

 

Strikers still picketing

While the City’s union negotiations await member ratification the strikers continue their pickets at various locations including City Hall.

Tractor pullin' at the Fergus Truck Show

The Fergus Truck Show is back for 2009 (July 23 to 26, 2009) and the tractors were spitting out thick, black smoke and wrecking unprotected eardrums as they pulled the weight trailer along the 300 plus foot dirt track. Here is a Youtube video of some of the tractor pulls.



The site has lost the eastern farmland used for parking and for the original pulling track. The new track has been moved west and the truck show itself has been hit by the affects of the economy. While there are still plenty of trucks in the show and shine there are far fewer vendors and give aways - I didn't even come back with a free pen this year!




They have added a large midway amusement park in the western edge of the property to keep the kids busy during the tractor pulls.



Parking is now quite some distance away but they do use a school bus to shuttle people back and forth to the show. We parked across the road in a church parking lot which for $10 which wasn't a bad deal. The $25 per day adult ticket cost does include access to the performers in the "Music in the Park" area so a full day's fun is pretty reasonable. Castrol Motor Oil had a contest and some pretty models offering a Castrol tattoo.

Edmonton Indy - live streaming video

Register at Indycar.com and watch the Edmonton Indy via live streaming video on Sunday, July 26, 2009 - for free.

The Great Lakes

Some very wet natural resources surround us in Southern Ontario and Toronto itself is perched on the edge of Lake Ontario - one of the five Great Lakes. Within a couple of hours you can also reach Lake Erie, Lake Huron and it's large appendage called Georgian Bay (home to Collingwood and Wasaga Beach).

These waters are used by millions for drinking, industry and recreation and the animals like it too.





It's time to enjoy the water and don't forget the upcoming Wakestock to be held in Collingwood August 7th to the 9th, 2009 (it has been moved from the Toronto Islands).

Fort George

We had so much fun at Fort York that we thought we would head over to Niagara-on-the-Lake for some more historic military reenactments during the "Echoes of Niagara's Past" at Fort George.

They fired off some old cannons, had a rate of fire exhibition using muskets and more modern weapons and various soldiers demonstrated military vehicles.





It was also stressed how important was the contribution of the Indians during the war of 1812. What a great way to explore the past.

Just for Laughs

The 2009 Toronto Just for Laughs Festival is in full swing from July 15th to the 19th and free concerts and entertainment are also happening in Yonge-Dundas Square. Toronto closes Yonge Street from Queen St to Dundas for the street festival from 6:30 pm to 1:00 am on both the Friday and Saturday nights.



I would like to see Russell Peters and Sarah Silverman - look up your favourite comics and go out for a great night of entertainment. Toronto comedian Russell Peters (take it and go) will be in the Yonge-Dundas Square on Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 8:30 pm where he and his friends will put on a free concert!!!



On Friday night I caught a bit of the Break Dance Trio, the Trampoline act Spring Action, Bollywood Shiamak Davar International and Dan Finnerty & the Dan Band.