Streetwalking

While streets were made for driving they can be a lot of fun to walk and ride in when busy roads are closed to cars - let freedom reign. Yonge Street and Bay Streets are favourites roadways that Toronto likes to open for pedestrians only during festivals and other large events.

Sometimes people are so jubilant that they gather in such large numbers near the Yonge-Dundas Square that they shut down the streets without official City approval - like when someone's soccer team wins a world tournament or a local beach volleyball team creams the competition down at Ashbridges Bay.

It takes a bit of skill to ride your bike in the busy downtown streets.

On the way somewhere with big, blue sunglasses.

Kevin Clarke still getting the message out

I passed by Kevin Clarke sitting on a grate on a major city street spreading his word, passed by thousands of people who probably don't realize that the flamboyant homeless gentleman was a past Toronto Mayoral candidate and is looking at running in the next provincial election. Kevin was the master of using invisible paint that, when dried, became highly visible on the streets and sidewalks.

When I asked if he was in the running in the upcoming federal election he said no, that he wanted to run in the next provincial election and was attempting to get a party officially recognized.

STOP Graffiti Vandalism Now

The Mayor of Toronto wants to stamp out graffiti vandalism, which is an excellent idea, especially since it explicitly excludes art murals, "One or more letters, symbols, blah, blah, blah, that disfigure or deface a structure or thing, blah, blah, blah, does not include an art mural". The blahs are mine, if you want to read the information check the city website.

Devil baby breathes fire!

Saying you want to get rid of graffiti is like saying you want to cure the homeless problem. It is very expensive, will cause much debate over who/what can stay in the streets and in the end won't cure the problem.

Fresh Homelessness

But I agree bad graffiti is either vandalism or gang markings and should be removed from city streets and alleyways and art murals should only go up on buildings with the owners permission.

See more graffiti after the jump.

Sandals and cherries - Bell Sucks!

I am without home internet as my Bell wireless modem (2wire) has again crapped out because of their failure prone power supply. When a new power supply finally gets to me, hopefully within a month, I will celebrate my fifth unit and hope its lifespan is far greater than the previous units. Something must be in the air because when I was still on my third power supply Bell sent out a new one in a general mailing saying that they have had a problem with the ac to dc conversion units and here you go.  It didn’t take me long to need that new unit and now that replacement has gone to a better place.

I hate dealing with Bell and I hate getting hosed by Bell and I really hate when they tell me, once again, that I am not listed on my account. PS my name is James Hamilton and I am addicted to the internet and Bell Sucks!

Floating Forest in Brookfield Place

The art installation titled ‘Floating Forest’ by Canadian artist Max Streicher hangs over the heads of people walking through the great hall of Brookfield Place. The trees are manufactured from recycled billboard vinyl and are a memorial to lost forests. The “mirage in an urban landscape” has trees that maintain their shape with internal fans so “It is a forest on life support, pointing to the futility of a civilization whose aspirations are frequently in conflict with the earth.” The piece will be in the long hall of the Allen Lambert Galleria from until April 22, 2011.

 Check out the Brookfield Place events page for upcoming events.

High tech building security

A mannequin in a raincoat keeps watch over the demolition site across from the famous Toronto Flatiron building. I worked a bit in the former Keg Restaurant site which was in this block of buildings being removed by Priestly Demolition in an area that will soon be home to a boutique condo (I think that means it comes with a tiny purse and high heels). You can see an artist rendition of the future site here.

Toronto Clean Up Day - 20 Minute Makeover

Toronto’s annual community clean up day is this Friday, April 15 at 2:00pm. The 20 minute makeover helps to get rid of the winter garbage, long dormant under a bed of clean, white, then grey and finally black snow and it is a nice way to welcome Spring back into our lives. You can visit the City’s website to review the information but the date to register is passed.

I like the big yellow caution sign they have placed on Queen Street West just in front of City Hall – the mop they are will have to use must be gigantic!

Red Canoe and Bobbers

The Canoe Landing Park and it's bright and gloriously red canoe sits beside the Gardiner Expressway. It's bigger than you think and sits at the apex of the slope rising from the street towards the south. You can see my picture of the park taken from the Gardiner on my post here. It is definitely a visually rich park, perfect for lounging in the sun and walking the dog.

The open space park overlooks a soccer field and provides an outstanding view of the downtown condos and the CN Tower. It looks like you are in a painting when you are beside or in the canoe. There is a gigantic fishing bobber art installation near the street - bobbers, you know those things that go up and down in the water when fish are biting.

See more pictures after the jump (click Read More >>, below).

Go Leafs Go

The Toronto Maple Leafs maybe out of playoff contention, but for many of the hockey team's fans this is nothing new. There is still time to take pleasure in going to the game, downing a few ice cold beers and cheering on the lovable losers. A pair of guys in stretchy blue outfits, from the toes to the head, walked towards the Air Canada Centre - sponsored by Highway 407 ETR.

Hockey fans walk by the Hockey Hall of Fame on their way to the ACC

The Maple Leafs played a game against the Montreal Canadians at the Air Canada Centre Saturday, April 9, 2011 and lost 4-1. The small blue man group must be more blue watching the loss, which I didn't think possible; poor blue, blue men.

Seen at the Spring Motorcycle Show

Roller Derby - Gore Gore Rollergirls vs Chicks Ahoy

April 9, 2011 at 6:30pm (doors open) in Downsview Park's Hanger is where two mighty Toronto Roller Derby teams go wheel to wheel, lingerie to lingerie, and put the hurtin' on. The almost unstoppable Gore Gore Rollergirls, resplendent in leopard print uniforms, go against the Chicks Ahoy dressed in green and black. The Chicks know how to fight and will try to crush the Rollergirls so the Chick's Jammers will have to put the hammer down.

The Chick's hammer came up short as the Gore Gores won the battle with a final score of 132 to 83. It had been so close up to half time - then the Gores staged a rally after the break. Members of the Toronto Argonauts were at the game (they even blew the whistle to officially start the game) and I think they may have been intimidated by the hits the girls were giving and getting. They met a few of their own fans at the derby game.

Gore Gore Manager Reverend Ramirez during the pre-game workouts as fans fill the Hanger.

Hurlin Wall #89

After the game group shot

See more derby action photos after the jump (click Read More >>, below).

Fan Appreciation of the ComicCON type

Hobbystar Marketing gives back to the Fans during a special FREE Toronto ComicCON event at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  This Fan Appreciation event runs April 9 and 10, 2011 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Comics, Illustrated books and cosplay are a big part of the show and there were some really interesting costumes. Don't forget the Fan Expo Canada which is coming to Town August 25-28, 2011.

The program schedule has two full days of entertainment and I looked forward to seeing Richard Hatch  (above) from Battlestar Galactica and the sad guy (Alan Ruck, pictured below) from Ferris Bueler's Day Off among many other entertainment guests.

SATURDAY APRIL 9 (show runs 11am-6pm)

• Q&A with Industry Legends Geof Darrow and Bob McLeod
• Sketch Duel: Chris Sprouse and Patrick Gleason
• Q&A with Battlestar Galactica's Richard Hatch
• Workshop: Drawing the Human Figure from Memory with Ty Templeton
• Q&A with Actor Alan Ruck

SUNDAY APRIL 10 (show runs 11am-5pm)

• Q&A with Actor Dominic Keating
• Sketch Duel: Khoi Pham and Marcus To
• Q&A with Anime Voice Actors Jaimi Marchi and Trina Nishimura
• Workshop: Comic Book Penciling and Inking with Leonard Kirk

See lots more pictures of the cosplay after the jump (click on Read More >>, below).

Toronto Spring Motorcycle Show 2011

I have seen some bikes out on the road now that the snow is off the roads and the temperatures are starting to climb. While snowmobilers wait for the first flakes of the season to hit the trails, bikers check the sun, wait for Wiarton Willie's prediction of Spring and then, when the conditions are right - out come the choppers. For bikers, or biker want to be's, it's time to drool over motorcycles and biker chicks. Leather and tattoos were the dress of the day but most of the motorcycle milfs were a little too conservative at this party.

Full leather outfits are a little binding, so cut out the ass and feel the breeze in your new chaps. You can then use your chaps on the trip to Port Dover on Friday, May 13th 2011. It will be a little cooler this May as compared to last year's August run so you might actually want to leave the ass in your motorcycle pants.

The show was smaller than I thought it would be and didn't have that much going on but it had some beautiful models and a couple of really far out choppers on display.

Located at the International Centre, the Toronto Spring Motorcycle show was on April 9 & 10, 2011. Here is the information and here is an online coupon for $2 off. Besides making sure their metal shines like a second sun, bikers must always be thinking about crashing because they tend to like the skull and zombie motif - sounds like the end of the line to me baby.

 See more photos after the jump (click Read More >>, below).

Pleasure Craft

Arrgh Billy, have you ever been to sea? Well if you do then you will need a Pleasure Craft Operators Card (PCOC) beginning April 15, 2011. You can go to the Transport Canada website, do the online study guide, then take an online test known as the BoaterExam and become a smooth operator. On this page you see boats of all types, if one turns you on, I think it is a pleasure craft. I believe that this rule applies specifically to recreational boats that have a motor, therefore the Great Lake steam ships (above) and the paddle boats at Ontario Place (below) don't really count.

But if you are doing it in either one of the two vessels shown above, is it a pleasure craft anyways?

Pleasure craft with motors - now that's what I'm talking about.

Reflections of yesterday

There certainly is a lot of glass in Toronto and in the reflections you can see some old buildings that Toronto is full of - it looks like many were grand old bank buildings. Some have been converted into pubs where you can withdraw a brew and make a deposit later. This one is the former Bank of British North America, wow I haven't seen that on a credit card (although it was bought by Bank of Montreal), turned into the Irish Embassy Pub at 49 Yonge Street.

Bunnarchy in the T Dot

Facebook's Fun Toronto posted some upcoming events and the Bunnarchy thing sounded way out there. I have never heard of it before so I had to check it out. Well, not too much to check out really, put on bunny costumes - the least being a set of bunny ears, and hop around the street in a large group, stopping in bars to get some drinks. This funny gathering starts Saturday, April 16 at 6pm. Get hopping people.

There are Bunnarchy events in Vancouver and Seattle so Toronto is good company.