TCAF

The 2011 Toronto Comic Arts Festival was jammed into the main floor and into the second floor of the Toronto Public Reference Library on Yonge Street just north of Bloor. Entrance to the event was free which was nice, but I didn't see any cosplay which was disappointing. On the other hand there were plenty of comic authors and artists on hand signing autographs, panel discussions, presentations and workshop and tons of exhibitors.

The face she made reminded me of the picture of the girl in the comic above here head.

I grabbed a flyer for free comics on the web at txcomics.com - The Princess Planet by Brian McLachlan was pretty good, he even had a funny strip that included zombies. You can also keep updated with Canadian Comics News & Culture at Sequential.

Yonge Street - fun along the strip

Yonge Street cuts through downtown Toronto and at very centre of the universe, which would be at Dundas Street, life was booming with people shopping and having fun in the city. The festivals and marches helped to fill the streets of the Big Smoke (that name was really appropriate yesterday) and at the entrance to the Eaton Centre people pressed close together to watch the buskers (Charlie Chaplin, Silver Elvis, balloon guys and the drummers were performing) or move along to the their shopping, dining or entertainment destination.

See more excitement on the street after the jump.

Freedom Festival and March 2011

At first I thought it was going to rain in Queens Park as the storm clouds grew thick and grey. I slowly came to realize it wasn't rain clouds at all, it was the copious quantities of medicinal herb and resulting smoke that hung low to the ground during Freedom Festival 2011 (see 2010 pictures here). The pied piper, or bong smokers, drew young and old alike, but mostly young, to the north yard of Ontario's political heartland where they protested some of the current laws and their voices rang out in support of free speech. Starting before noon the venders began to set up and get the food and merchandise ready for the onslaught of festival attendees. In a little under two hours the sparse group in the park began to number in the thousands.

Streams of people came to Queens Park from bus stations, subways and other points and the park began to bulge at the seams. People seemed to be pretty mellow.

At 2:00pm an extremely large group gathered and headed out of the park (the front of the parade pictured below), north on University, then east on Bloor, south on Yonge and finally west on Wellesley.  The people were well organized by orange shirt volunteers and well supported by the Toronto police.

The police mounted unit waited at Wellesley and Yonge and helped to keep the protest on track and away from the Yonge-Dundas area.

The organized march was very peaceful and and was escorted by plenty of bike police who ensured that the route would keep away from the Eaton Centre area and back to the small forest of Queens Park. Tired marchers (there was a lot of coughing) returned to the bathrooms and snacks that so many craved (for some reason) they could also listen to some great music from some local bands scheduled until 7pm.

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

High Park Cherry Blossoms 2011

The cherry blossoms in High Park finally came out to play today and the park was filled with appreciative visitors happy to see the sun and the flowers bloom and take a few pictures.

Not all the buds had opened, but there were enough to provide beauty and colour in the park.

See more blossoms from May 7th after the jump.

Share a saddle - Friday the 13th MC Rally

Leather and lace, look out Port Dover because the Friday the 13 Motorcycle Rally will be filling the streets with roaring choppers in just one week. May the motorcycle gods bring out the shining sun, just perfect for gleaming chrome, thongs and chaps. See pictures of last year's rally here.

lovely blonde on an Indian motorcycle

See more photos after the jump.

Stock Cars - pump up the jam

There is not a lot of frills on a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stock car. Squeeze into the drivers seat, feel the burn and keep the brakes from going up in flames. There is some beauty in the parts and the colours and the racing is pretty cool as well. Here are more pictures from MOPAR Day at Kawartha Speedway.

See more pictures after the jump.

By Thor's Hammer

Marvel Comics' movie 'Thor' comes out tomorrow and thanks to Dr Pepper Cherry (thanks Erin) I had a chance to watch an advance screening at the Scotiabank Theatre on Richmond Street. Great movie and it looked fantastic in 3D, which came in handy when my wife enjoyed Thor (Chris Hemsworth) with his shirt off - here is a screen grab from their site.

Lots of great action and scenery with such stars as Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings, who I loved in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, has a great comic relief part. Very enjoyable, good for the whole family, I would definitely recommend going to the theatres to see this movie - enjoy the sounds and sights of 3D, it really is made for the big screen.

Of course you may have trouble identifying the bad guy in this movie, so keep your 3D glasses ready and your eyes open. I wish the screening had sold big plastic hammers, now that would have been fun.

Don't forget to stay after the credits have rolled for a 3D trailer featuring Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury.

PS the theatre is really cool and is in the building with the Rubik Cube type thing outside. You have to go up a long way to reach the theatres and it has an actual bar in the lobby. There are also a few movie memorabilia items such as the bad guy from the Scream series of movies and a large model of a Star Trek spaceship - something like a bird of prey.

Toronto's new subway cars

A bright new silver TTC streetcar rides above the surface on a large float on the way to it's new job.

MOPAR at Kawartha Speedway

NASCAR Canadian Tires Series (NCTS) crews running Dodge vehicles gathered at Kawartha Speedway to get their cars ready for the race season under the sponsorship of MOPAR (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram car parts and accessories).

There was 7 teams on hand including the 2010 Champion DJ Kennington of the #17 car. The drivers as shown above are  Noel Dowler Jr #5, Jeff Lapcevich #23, Jason Hathaway #3, Ron Beauchamp Jr #60, Pete Shepherd III #7, Jason White #21 and DJ Kennington #17

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

Paul Tracy & Honda Canada to race again

As I noted in early April Toronto driver Paul Tracy will race a partial 2011 season with Jay Penske’s Dragon racing team, which includes five races with two of those races being the Edmonton and Toronto IndyCar events. It was just announced that Honda Canada Inc. has jumped back on board to sponsor Paul for the 3^rd year in the both Honda Indy Toronto and Edmonton races. They will also continue their support of the Make-A-Wish Canada Foundation.

The Scarborough driver, who continues to fight for his rides, will race in the car known simply as the #8 make-A-Wish Canada/Dragon Racing/Honda/Dallara/Firestone car! And I will know it as #8, or in a hurry, 8. By the way, can you imagine what one of these cars cost to fill up at the pumps?

The Make-A-Wish Canada Foundation raises money to help children with life-threatening medical conditions receive a magical wish. Last year fans and Honda Canada, with matching dollar-for-dollar donations, raised over $100,000 and hopes to do much better this year.

BIXI Bike Toronto - take, ride, return

Update: See the car accident which destroyed a docking station and several BIXI bikes on Bay Street on my post here.

Although they missed a very important step in the bike rental practice; pay. Toronto begins the public bike rental business for as little as $5 for a 30 minute ride (excluding any hold payment on your credit card which currently sits at $250 for each bike) with BIXI Toronto. The bikes look a little chunky, in fact they look like they are electric bikes but they are 100% people powered and they are definitely not as pretty as this bike decorated with red tinsel hearts.

There are a large number of BIXI Stations (80 right now) spread around the downtown core and along Queens Quay and when you take a bike (starting with 1,000 bikes in the system) you don’t have to return it to the same place you got it.

Medical Response on Queen St Streetcar

Both the Toronto Fire Department and the Paramedics respond to a medical emergency on a Queen Street TTC streetcar at University Avenue. The large articulated streetcars started to pile up as passengers were forced out of the car and onto the street to await transport by bus.

Blossoms still shy

The fruit trees along the side of Old City Hall (below) and in the University Avenue (above) centre boulevard have started to sprout leaves but the blossoms still have yet to bloom in pictures taken today. They are probably waiting for everyone to look away, maybe have some water running and then, before you know it, the blooms will pop out as fast as the green leaves that have started to fill the trees in the city.

Next door to Nathan Phillips Square is Osgoode Hall and the grounds are full of trees that have really started to show a lot of green and a bit of yellow.

With all the spring rain and leaf growth it was somewhat of a surprise to see a caution sign warning of ice (or icicles) falling from buildings.

TDSB Music Monday

Children in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) held Music Monday 2011 which is a tribute to musical education in the schools. There were quite a number of concert bands, orchestras, choirs, and ensembles bringing the gift of music to downtown Toronto. I watched as the Lester B. Pearson CI Show Choir (glee) setup and then start their set at lunchtime.

Everyone seemed very happy to be in front of a large gathering of people which may help the kids to keep practicing their musical gifts, whether singing or playing a musical instrument.

International Dance Day

April 29 was International Dance Day and part of the celebrations took place on Sunday down at Yonge-Dundas Square, hosted by Melissa D’Agostino. And remember, during International Dance Day, no dance is forbidden and the chicken dance can be done outside of wedding receptions!

Beautiful and colourful Polynesian dancers were joined by ballet, flamenco, tap and ballroom and many other flavours of dance as they performed on the covered stage across from the Eaton Centre. The participating stars and dance companies included the National Ballet of Canada Principal Dancers Guillanune Cote and Heather Ogden, the Ritmo Flamenco Dance and Music Ensemble, Allison Toffan: tap dancer, a dancer from ‘Billy Elliot’, Universal Vibes: deaf signing and dance, Sanskriti Arts Ensemble, Polynesian Dream (pictured above), Little Pear Garden Collective (pictured below), Jasmyn Fyffe Dance and the Rainbow Ballroom of Toronto. One of the important dance styles missing was ‘Dance, Dance Revolution’.

The Rainbow Ballroom (LGBTT and Straight friendly) dancers came out mixed and when the music started they went to same sex teams which the was very popular with the crowd.

Posted by Joe Hamilton.


See more photos after the jump.

NASCAR NCTS ready to race

The 2011 racing season is getting ready to roll and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCTS) will start at Mosport Speedway on May 28 with the Dickies 200.

You can meet and greet your favourite stock car racers, get autographs and see the thunder and smell of fast paced racing around the large street course. Several of the drivers have moved into the American head office NASCAR teams, like J.R. Fitzpatrick and Quebec superstar Andrew Ranger, pictured above.

And the crown jewel of racing in Ontario remains the Honda Indy Toronto taking over the Exhibition grounds starting on July 8, 2011 where the NCTS drivers will be out on the track during the full weekend of events.

See more pictures of Canadian stock car racing after the jump (click read more >>, below).

Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2011

Dress up as your favourite Anime character and enjoy a day at a fanexpo comicon cosplay event. The next official FanExpo ComicCON event is in August of 2011 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. These are pictures from the 2011 FanExpo AnimeCON.

Until then comic lovers can take in the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) 2011 this Saturday and Sunday, May 7 and 8, 2011 at the Toronto Reference Library. Unfortunately it would appear that there is very little cosplay at the TCAF which is too bad as it really brings comics to life when you can see the characters walking around the shows.

To see more pictures of cosplay see more after the jump (click read more >>, below).