Beach Volleyball

It didn't look like any organized beach volleyball games were going on in Ashbridges Bay, just a large amount of pickup games. From what I heard on a nice sunny, Sunday the beaches would normally be full of volleyball tournaments but the long weekend has a lot of people out of town. The games were coed and were a lot of fun to watch.

Most of the players really got into the games and the action was intense at times. Dives into the sand to return the ball or high jumping spikes and blocks as each team fought for supremacy.

Looking at row after row of multi-coloured nets shows how much people like to play volleyball on this beach.


HOPE VOLLEYBALL

Billed as Toronto's largest one day Charity Volleyball Tournament the 22nd annual Hope Volleyball Tournament will be held on Saturday, June 12 on Centre Island in the Toronto Islands. If you want to play you need to register on-line by May 31. Individuals can even sign up and be placed on a team.

HOPE stands for Helping Other People Everywhere and the tournament gets about 6,000 players competing in the event.

God of War

The face of Kratos from the God of War looks down on Toronto. It's quite the poster on the side of the building. Ares was known as the God of War and Kratos took over for awhile, stuff happened and now there will only by chaos, or something like that.

Now if I ever saw him in real life I might have to release the Kraken.

Sitting at the feet of Sir Adam Beck

Some young girls relax on the statue of Sir Adam Beck on University Avenue and Queen Street West.



University Avenue in this area is a large divided road with plenty of trees, statues and fountains. The traffic is heavy and it is hard to cross the large intersection in the time they give you - don't hesitate or stop and smell the roses. If you want to get above it all the statue is actually a good place to go.

Trinity Square Park

The city is once again full of green trees and colourful flowers and our grey, dismal winter is forgotten. Patios continue to spring up and people go to parks for other reasons than to walk the dog. In the space hidden behind the Eaton Centre Trinity Park's circle of trees frames the public labyrinth which is a winding, walking path that leads to it's centre. Peace and tranquility await - or as George's father would say - Serenity Now.



Trinity Square Park is also beautiful in the fall and here are some pictures to remember what it was like when the leaves started turning yellow.

Copper Cowboy

Happy May 2-4 weekend Toronto. It's time to have fun and enjoy life in the city, especially if you don't have a cottage by a lake. Enjoy the fireworks, the Circus Festival or go see a play, musical or concert. If it doesn't rain you could always hit the links and get some exercise at a local golf course.



Keep an eye out for some street performers like the Copper Cowboy out to provide entertainment for all.

Photo Vault - Air Show

I often look forward to the Air Show more than the actual CNE. My dad (Vic Hamilton) used to help with the communications for many years and we would go to Boss Control on the Island where we could watch the action up close. These pictures are from the 2006 air show when the sky looked grey and dramatic. The fire boat is center stage and turns on the water to be a highly visible marker.



If you have a hankering to see some planes then the upcoming Wings and Wheels Heritage Festival on May 29 & 30 will be just the thing for you. The event will be held at Downsview Park from 10-6 Saturday, 10-5 Sunday and will feature both aircraft and cars. That's right: aircraft and cars.

"The festival occurs each year in Canada’s 1st urban National Park and adjacent to a 7000’ runway owned by Bombardier. This unique infrastructure allows for an intimate showcase of aviation’s past and present."

Bad Movers Arrested

Today Toronto Police charged several people in a fraud investigation involving deceptive movers. Apparently people were quoted one price and on the day of the move they get the customers to sign a contract that differs from their quote, their possessions are loaded onto the truck and then the movers demanded more money. If people could not come up with the additional money their furniture and other goods were thrown onto the street. Kijiji has pages of examples of these scams.

Because the movers continued to do this to so many people the police were warning the public not to sign contracts without reading and understanding the contract and also to check with the local Better Business Bureau while looking for movers.

To cover their tracks the company kept changing names (there were about 11 companies that were involved) always looking to allegedly rip off people. In the case police have laid about 160 charges such as fraud, extortion and conspiracy against nine people. Here is the police mug shot of Syed Altaf Hussain, 57, who was charged in the fraud investigation, he's got sort of a mask thing going on there.



In addition to all the stress of moving there have been many that have had their possessions thrown onto the street or had to pay the extra money and had very little option or hope of ever getting their money back. A woman even collapsed after her furniture was taken off the moving truck. Thanks to the police for doing a good job to help the people of Toronto.

Mayoral Candidate - Sarah Thomson

Sarah Thomson is running for Mayor of Toronto and wants people to "Elect Change". I snapped a photo of her as she attended an event and met with people in the crowd.

She says "Toronto has a looming financial crisis, our debt is close to 3 billion dollars and our transit system can’t service our current needs. With my proven experience of guiding businesses through crisis, and building strong, successful, companies despite adversity, I have learned that transparency and open communications are mandatory. I am not a politician or party backroom operator. I am the only candidate who knows how to lead Toronto to a strong and vibrant future."

One thing she does believe in is road tolls.

Cute Puppy Sharpei

There was a cute puppy downtown - he was a little Sharpei, the kind with all the wrinkles. He was really friendly and when he came close I snapped a picture with his nose beside the camera so he looks like a bobble head. His name was Juice Box.

Banksy Art Graffiti

There has been a new style of graffiti appearing around the downtown core of Toronto. Seven pieces were reported to be the work of Banksy, who is an famous yet anonymous artist from England, in town to promote his film Exit Through the Gift Shop. The subject of Banksy's film - Mr Brainwash (Thierry Guetta) visited Toronto during the 2011 TIFF opening and arranged an art installation featuring giant spray paint cans and red jacketed Mounties. The popular question - is Banksy behind the art that Mr Brainwash shows?

Mr Brainwash sets up his spray can installation beside Roy Thomson Hall.

Banksy artwork commands prices up to $500,000 plus and he likes to use images of rats such as this one at Spadina and Sullivan. Update: The rat was treated to a 'no love' graffiti tagover and by June of 2011 the 'n' has been removed (see photo below) - now it's 'o love'!

Banksy's work which is really different from the traditional colourful graffiti and tags that fill many surfaces in Toronto. Some of the art shows men in suits holding signs that say things like "0% interest in people". I hoped to be able to find the works and take some pictures but people said that they were asked to not reveal the locations of the pieces.

The great blog Torontoist was eagerly following the story and reported when a piece was destroyed or painted over and I was watching my chances of seeing the work in person rapidly diminish. Then Torontoist finally decided to release the locations and grabbing our GPS we headed out on a satellite guided expedition to see the remaining paintings. Thanks Torontoist!

This one in an alley on Dundas Street West at Manning Avenue was my favourite and has been tagged over by several jealous people. The sign which read "will work for idiots" was changed to "we will not be erased" still visible through the red and white tag. A monk has now been placed at the feet of the original art.




This piece is on a building on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard West between York and Bay. A vulture has been added on top of the figure since the original painting was done.


See more of the cop and the pink balloon on this post - including work on the demolition of the building.

The last remaining one we saw was this smaller painting on Church Street just north of The Esplanade. Torontoist tells a great story where the owner was about to paint over the graffiti when he was told how much they could be worth. He soon covered it over in plexiglass for protection - and it is still there to be viewed and appreciated.



See the state of the Banksy art in the alley in early 2011 on my blog post here.

2013 update: There was a report of Banksy being arrested which turned out to be false. From the Museum of Hoaxes "A press release posted yesterday on PRLog.com announced that not only had Banksy been arrested (on charges of vandalism, conspiracy, racketeering and counterfeiting), but that his identity had been revealed—his real name supposedly being "Paul William Horner." The press release was a hoax, but a number of media outlets ran with the story before cottoning on to the deception. A humor site, IYWIB.com, appears to be behind the hoax."

Pillow Fight 2010

Update: See my pictures of the 2011 Toronto Pillow Fight on my post here.

They counted down from ten and then started pounding each other with fluffy pillows at the corner of Yonge and Eglinton during Pillow Fight 2010. The crowd started working independently, striking here and there, then at times they concentrated their forces on individual combatants.

Then they kept going and going, pounding each other, circling their prey and falling out of the large circle and taking a chance to rest. This fight is not to be confused with the Pillow Fight League that we encountered during a roller derby event.


This zombie brought a bat for a pillow fight, the best way to win.

Toronto is a rebel and we didn't synch up with the International Pillow Fight Day which happens on the first Saturday of April which in Canada tends to be a little cool. Toronto holds their pillow fight on the second Saturday of May, which was the 8th, but due to rain was pushed to the 15th.

This fight used to take place at Yonge-Dundas Square but has since moved to the Y&E location - this year for the last time as the Square will be developed and the large concrete open space will be gone.


This event was fun for the participants, all the watchers (most who had no idea why everyone was pillow fighting in downtown Toronto) and all the photographers surrounding the action.


I really liked the people and groups that dressed up.







See more pictures and video on my YouTube video.

Sex and the City 2

Beautiful, stylish women filled Yonge-Dundas Square in a promotion for the Sex and the City 2 movie which opens on May 27. All I remember is the beautiful, stylish mini-cupcakes prepared by Chic Cupcake Boutique. P.S. I think all the women were looking for Mr. Big.

Happy Falun Dafa Day

A large gathering of people were celebrating World Falun Dafa Day in Nathan Phillips Square today. Exactly, I said, what is Falun Dafa? Apparently it is a movement which originated in China in the early 1990’s and their beliefs are centered on morality. The crowd included a large marching band and there was plenty of cake ready for the celebrants.

 

Their saying appears to be Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance which can help them in their struggle against Communist China which banned the group in 1999.

 

You can find more information at their website http://www.falundafa.org/eng/home.html

 

Toronto International Circus Festival

You can find more pictures of the 2009 event on my blog entry here. And here is information on the upcoming 2010 event.

Everyone is welcome at the 8th annual 2010 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL CIRCUS FESTIVAL - IT'S FREE!

Eye-popping acrobatics, side-splitting comedy, mind-bending dare devil stunts! World class acrobats, blazing fire eaters, towering stilt characters, award-winning balloon sculptors and much more!  Go to www.torontocircusfestival.com for more information!  Brought to you by ZERO GRAVITY CIRCUS & HARBOURFRONT CENTRE 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto.

MAY 22, 23 & 24 Saturday, Sunday & Monday - 11:00 am - 5:00 pm each day Victoria Day long weekend at HARBOURFRONT CENTRE.

http://www.torontocircusfestival.com   http://www.zerogravitycircus.com   http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com