Report all activists to the police!

Advertising posters tend to make up most of the visual garbage plastered onto all forms of street furniture. This time I found some good old fashioned propaganda style sayings using good old fashioned photos, looking like an late 60's, early 70's advert in a fancy home or beauty magazine.

Beside the headline asking you to 'report all activists to the police' you can also find four signs of political dissent which include free-thinking, library usage, optimism and illicit lifestyle (used clothing, recycles, gardens or rides a bicycle). Examples of subversive agents are shown to be helpful - I think it might have been the cast of Bewitched.

'Stay the course. Capitalism is going great!'

'Third World Exploitation? Count me in!'

'Dance your fears away!'

Fears include peak oil, austerity, climate change, etc.

Back to current posters - here is Toronto subculture's greatest target, Mayor Rob Ford, in a spoof of Barack Obama's Hope poster, he is the big 'NOPE'.

Sugar and Salt boats

Most people will put salt and sugar on the table, maybe the sugar in cute little cubes, the salt in funny little shakers next to the pepper mill. In Toronto we do everything in a big way. Beside the Redpath Sugar factory the pier is often visited by St Lawrence freighters that are dropping off raw sugar to be refined and shipped to customers all over Canada. You can watch the action from Sugar Beach.

Sugar Beach chairs beside Redpath Sugar.

Natural Cane Sugar Crane

Along the harbour at Cherry Beach you can see large piles of salt being moved from ships to shore using long conveyor belts. The salt then sits like immovable mountains covered over in tarps, some of it dissolving and already rusting your car. Now if someone can point out the rest of the Margarita fleet I think it's time for a cocktail.

Dropping off the salt at Cherry Beach.

Last day of the CNE

Lakeshore was jammed, parking lots were jammed and the Exhibition was jammed, only our wallets were empty after visiting the Canadian National Exhibition - those deep fried butter and Twinkies were expensive (we didn't see the donut cheeseburgers though).

Panorama of the midway.

Coming in for a day of fun we inched forward on Lake Shore Boulevard heading towards the grand old lady. As the stop and go traffic moved slowly we watched the Canadian International Air Show that was going on over our heads and into the heart of the city - it was a good viewpoint sometimes.

I was greatly surprised at how busy it was and how cold the last day ended up being. People dressed only in shorts or t-shirts were freezing. Had it rained I am sure that the grounds would have been empty of 95% of the visitors - but it didn't so we squished in with the rest of the crowd and wandered throughout the midway and into some of the buildings.

The Mardi Gras Parade was pretty neat and we caught tons of beaded necklaces thrown from the floats (see photo above). All in all it was a nice visit and I am glad we made it in. There are more pictures after the jump.

Cool Fall weather in Toronto

After a scorching long holiday weekend the September weather brings historic average temperatures of 23 degrees. Only 23 stinking degrees! Most students will begin their school year sometime this week so if you have an empty nest you can get out in the big world and check out stuff that they don't like. Then you can drop by a patio and cry about the money they are costing you for a big party and maybe a bit of education.

 

The Pavillion, boardwalk and beach at Sunnyside Beach is quiet in the early morning sun and the Sunnyside - Gus Ryder Outdoor Pool and the elevated lifeguard chair are empty as they await the opening later in the day, pictures above. Update: Sunnyside pool was emptied of most of it's water, sometime early September,  in preparation for winter 2011.

The pool sits empty, waiting for winters cold.

Watching the air show I burned my feet on the hot, hot sand of Hanlan's Point Beach. Now I sit by my window and I feel the cool wind blowing into the house - I really should put some clothes on and shut the window. Speaking of lack of clothes, we will have to wait for next summer for the Chin Picnic and Bikini Contest.

All is not lost because I remember going to small town fairs in the middle of September and it being on the warm side. Enjoy the beaches, wading pools, pools and patios around town while you still can. Here are some random beach pictures.

Cherry Beach and the lifeguard row boats.

See more pictures after the jump.

Toronto Blue Jays back in town

Okay Blue Jays, Let's play ball! The professional MLB team the Toronto Blue Jays comes home for a week of games. They start with a four game series against the Red Sox from Monday September 5 to Thursday September 8, 2011. Then they finish off with a three game series against the Orioles to Sunday September 11, 2011 - you can see the Blue Jays schedule here.

They have zilch chance of making the playoffs this year but go have some fun, buy some cheap nosebleed seats and enjoy a great day of entertainment.

The big white dome with the removable roof sits next to the CN Tower.

Fire Guy

Queens Quay often has street performers or buskers and luckily we caught up with the Fire Guy as he finished his last show of the day. He started his setup and people quickly gather around anticipating his brand of entertainment. He lit up a torch and the flame drew people into the area where he was going to put on his show.

His costume featured a big red cowboy hat and running shoes with flames along the side which was quite appropriate - he said he got them from eBay.

The Fire Guy juggled flames, balanced on props and finished by eating fire.

See more pictures after the jump.

Massive train derailment at Roundhouse Park

I had recently posted an article about trains and the Roundhouse Park in Toronto when I found myself once again in the area of Rogers Centre and the CN Tower on Saturday, September 3, 2011. The large tent which contained the play Railway Children had been taken down and the Steam Whistle Brewery was booming - there was even a wedding reception going on. It was late afternoon when the miniature train carrying children around the tiny gauge railway track derailed and the engine plow off the track and onto the sidewalk. The engineers made sure everyone made it off the small train safe then they surveyed the damage in the photo at top.

Train staff sell tickets to the train ride as passengers start to fill the cars.

The train pulls out and everyone thinks things are all rosy, but we know better.

With a large thump the heavy train engine goes off track and twists metal as the train comes to a quick halt. Children are helped off their seats and they manhandle all but the engine back onto the track. They said they had to get a forklift to lift the engine. From what I could see there were no hazardous materials on this train - unlike the famous 1979 Mississauga Train Derailment.

See more pictures of the park after the jump.

Hot and Spicy Food Festival

Harbourfront Centre was full of music and tasty things during the Hot and Spicy Food Festival. The Queens Quay hotspot didn't fully come awake until the evening but during the day families enjoyed the music on the various stages and checked out samples and meals from several vendors.

Hot sauce was a popular choice and I looked for some for my son who really likes hot, hot sauce. I got him several samples including one named BEWARE.

The Centre's website says "Hot, spicy, fresh and fiery! The summer's premier food festival is back and bigger than ever! Four savoury days packed with a full menu of culinary arts, music, film, demos and dance."

CNE and the 2011 Air Show

I went back to Hanlans Point on the Toronto Islands for the Canadian International Air Show (CIAS) which started out a little slow this year with plenty of dead air space. This location is very popular and many took the time to relax on the beach along Hanlans Point. You can enjoy the sand, catch some rays and if you get to hot you can jump into the cool waters of Lake Ontario.

The show opening plane was a CF-18 fighter jet which had some warning lights go off, then after a short they were pulled from the show. Then lighting and thunder hit Pearson Airport and they decided to pull the plug on the Saturday, September 4, 2011 edition of the annual weekend air show. Two bad days in a row starting with the Friday practice and more rain predicted for both the Sunday and Monday. I like the picture of the biplane at top because the colour of the photo makes it look like an antique picture.

The A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthog) passes by a water slide. 

It was late when we decided to take a ride beside the Exhibition and see if they still had the $5 after 5 offer. They didn't so we found a place off of Lake Shore Boulevard where we could see the Ferris wheel. The big wheel was really cool. It had some great lights, not just small bulbs, not long fluorescent tubes, but instead it looks like they were almost like small tv screens that had patterns and colours that constantly changed.

Ferris Wheel, going slow.

Here is shot of the ride as it sits still while it lets off some passengers.

Here are more pictures from the air show.

CF-18 opens the show

See more planes after the jump.

Cobwebs on the Islands

I did enjoy my time on the Toronto Islands and saw some interesting designs from nature. The fog and humidity kept the moisture hanging on spider cobwebs and I took some pictures of the fragile artwork and insect traps while I waited for the return ferry.

Toronto Air Show Practice

I went out on the ferry to Hanlan's Point on the Islands early in the morning to watch the Friday practice for the Canadian International Air Show (CIAS). The aerial show runs throughout the long weekend as part of the Canadian National Exhibition and starts tomorrow (Saturday, September 3, 2011). I passed a couple of navy ships as the ferry pulled away from the docks, the ships included the Montreal which you can tour while it is parked at the Quay.

The day started off a little foggy but seemed to promise a great day. Well I was wrong about that, the fog pulled a San Francisco and rolled in over the harbour, looking it up tight and screwing up the practice. A couple planes got out in the air before the fog really took over the sky and once the fog hit the planes were grounded. I waited a few hours before finally heading back on the ferry to Queens Quay.

Then around noon the sun burned out the fog and the planes took to the sky. Gosh darn it - couldn't get any good shots during the rest of the practice even as the fighter jets screamed over the city and the Snowbirds circled around the lake in formation.

Floating figures and window reflections

The street art installation features cutouts of people hung on the wall with care, visions of commuting dancing in their heads. The stairs always seem to be blocked, wasted space abounds while someone sits along the staircase.

You can find other examples of outdoor art around the downtown area in the art walk.