It's cherry

A quick visit to the Niagara region for some sightseeing included a visit to some local orchards where cherries hung ripe and red on the trees. I have never seen a loaded cherry tree, it was quite incredible to see how much fruit could fit on the branches. 

We also returned to Reif EstatesWinery to pick up some wine that is unavailable at the LCBO - Riesling Gewurztraminer. This year's crop of grapes still are growing on the vine so eat some cherries and drink some of last year's product and enjoy the scenery.

God's Garden is in #Toronto

St James Park is a lovely place near the downtown core and the plaque shows the flowers are growing in God's Garden with "The kiss of the sun for pardon. The song of the Birds for mirth. One is nearer to God in a garden than anywhere else on Earth (Dorothy Frances Gurney)". There are many other sights of beautiful nature through out the city, you just have to keep your eyes open.

Nearby is the Sculpture Garden which still has the stacked car bodies

And a toy horse sits in the window, surrounded by vines and flowers

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park's RaceFest #Toronto 2014

@CTMPOfficial SportsCar Grand Prix (July 10-13) brought some high performance cars to the Square and built some excitement for Canada's biggest sports car race. Live Pit Stop demonstrations by champion driver Ron Fellows and his crew brought the throbbing sound of power that even the shoppers in the adjacent Eaton Centre could hear.

The former Mosport track is one of my favourite places to watch races and this weekend's four day event presented by Hawk Performance includes six championships and ten races along with off-track fun.

Also on hand was the Daytona Prototype number 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP from Wayne Taylor Racing and the AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia and the Michelin Man.

A fenced off area in the middle of Toronto's urban park kept visitors away from the danger of Ron's Corvette sport car as he practiced pit stops with the TUDOR United Sports Car Racing Team on Wednesday, July 9 from noon to 2pm. Around the Square were several booths and race cars on display. Plus you could get free ice cream!

Kuno and James

Kuno Wittmer, factory driver for the SRT Motorsport Viper team, signed autographs and talked with race fans.

See more of the cars after the jump.

#Toronto Caribbean Carnival launch 2014

The costumes and the Mas dancers were bright, bold and beautiful as @TO_Carnival kick off took place at Nathan Phillips Square Tuesday, July 8. Rain kept the dancers from mingling with the many hundreds of people that attended the colourful and musical event at City Hall but the new covered stage came in very handy.

Mayor Rob Ford, absent of stupors, attended and presented a proclamation to the assembled Carnival people.

Meanwhile just down the stage was Mayoral candidates Olivia Chow, John Tory and David Soknacki and other politicians like Federal Minister of Finance Joe Oliver, Provincial Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sport Michael Couteau joined hosts Andria Case of CTV and Pooja Handa of CP24. The star of the show was the masquerade dancers and their magnificent costumes.

The entertainment included a "colourful parade of over 100 Mas players, Afropan Steel Band, Calypso Soca Monarch Macomere Fifi and Reggae Artist Steele. Caribbean food vendors will be on-site."

See more dancers after the jump.

More Miss CHIN Bikini 2014

Looking back at the lovely ladies of the #Toronto multicultural CHIN International Picnic swimsuit competition. See my first post here.

See more bikinis after the jump.

It's almost Honda Indy #Toronto time

With the race track and stands under construction the start of the Verizon @HondaIndy and the 2inTO race July 18-20, 2014 weekend. Time to start remembering some of the sights and sounds from the Exhibition Place and Lake Shore Boulevard street course race.

IndyCars take a turn

The drivers love their scooters

Colourful pit lane during practice runs

Tim & Brenda’s Cruise for the Cure 2014

Raising money for Prostate Cancer Canada and the Alzheimer Society of Ontario by showcasing Southern Ontario Custom and Performance Cars and Bikes. The annual car show and entertainment event happens Sunday, July 20 at 13200 Weston Road starting at 9 pm. Competitive car and bike owners will fight for the title of Grand Champion along with People's Choice and 50 runners up.

A 'traveling guitar' owned by Carpet Frogs lead vocalist Nick Sinopoli has been on tour all over Canada and in places like Las Vegas and Hawaii and has been autographed by some legendary musicians and will be auctioned off online to help in the fundraising.

"The all-day event, with expected attendance of 10,000+ people and upward, will also have live entertainment, by Rik Emmett formally of Triumph,The Carpet Frogs, and Pop Cherry, children’s mini carnival including a giant Ferris wheel, food & beverage. Joining Tim and Brenda will be famed members of the hit television show Counting Cars, Danny Koker and Kevin Mack. There will be raffles and 50/50 draws to help raise money for these wonderful charities. It’s fun for the whole family."

Cost for parking is a donation for $20.00 per car load and for those competing in the car show a registration donation of $30.00 is asked. Registration is open from 9 am-1 pm.

Guinness World Record @SkittlesSelfie

Over 400 people joined with Degrassi celebrity @MelindaShankar in #Toronto and officially broke the record for the most number of selfies in one hour. The Guinness World Records rep shows fans how to pose before the start of the official self portrait attempt and the star crushed the previous record.

"On the shores of Lake Ontario, amongst Canada Day celebrations bursting with national pride, Shankar posed for Selfies with fellow Canadians at a rate of five per minute to break the record and make Canadian history. "I am pleased to officially declare that Canadians, with the help of Skittles, have successfully broken this Selfie record," said Philip Robertson, an adjudicator with GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS. "On Canada's birthday, these Canadians gave their country the gift of a world record. That's a pretty sweet present."

Melinda gives away some cool prizes 

On July 1 , 2014 Harbourfront Centre had plenty of entertainment to celebrate Canada's birthday with buskers, bands and the Natrel Pond full of rental watercraft. A tent set up in the south common exhibition area held the stage where people signed up to pose with Melinda and pick up free Wrigley Skittles and Skittles bandannas. Starting around 6:30 pm the crowd then proceeded to get next to Melinda while she took the photo with a smartphone. You can see all the photos on their website here.

"Canadian Selfie enthusiasts lined up patiently for their chance to be part of the historic record attempt and help break a world record in Canada, on Canada Day. "I love my fans' passion for a good Selfie," said Shankar, "and I was so excited to help Skittles capture the Selfie spirit and make Canadian history."

Excitement builds and the Guinness rep reads the official rules

Hug Me you big @CocaCola machine

I waited patiently for the machine to reach out to me, but sadly I had to make the first move and yet the machine just teased me. After some loving and squeezing the cold hearted, sensor loaded, beverage holder   just sat there, empty of love and refreshing Coca-Cola. Ann and Fresh Joe try to coax the machine to action until the crew from Coke showed up to cart the soft drink equipment away to another location.

The red and white pop dispenser had a big heart and a request to 'Hug Me' at its location in the Toronto Harbourfront Centre. Frustrated I continued on my way to find the Canadian beer fridge that waited for Canadian passports to magically open for business.

Happy #CanadaDay 2014

Enjoying the fun at Mississauga City Hall and #Toronto @HarbourfrontTO included a #SkittlesSelfie Melinda Shankar. July 1st also includes a lot of fireworks so I hope you found some great shows at dusk.

James and celebrity Melinda Shankar making the world record selfie attempt

See more of the celebrations after the jump.

Waterloo Air Show 2014

Bright, shiny birds flew free over the Waterloo Airport on June 28-29 with the Canadian Snowbirds highlighting the exciting ground and air performances. The CF-18 demonstration jet streaks off the runway at top.

The show includes "Jet School Bus -- a 367 mph school bus may be impractical for getting the kids to school but they're going to love the roar and flames as the Indy Boys take to the runway
• B-17 bombers – not one, but two historical WWII B-17 bombers will be in Waterloo this year. Last
year did see one B-17 in Waterloo but it was on ground display. This year, one will fly. And incredibly,
both B-17 Yankee Lady & B-17 Sentimental Journey will be offering rides for $450 U.S. With 12,000 B-
17s built, they became one of the most important aircraft of WWII.
• Lucas Oil Skydivers -- Look way up and marvel at these 3 talented skydivers as they ride the winds
using their highly maneuverable parachutes.
• Mike Tryggvason – hard work comes easy to this son of Canadian astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason;
Acts rounding out the 2014 Waterloo Air Show line-up include:
• Canadian Forces Snowbirds - with their awe-inspiring 9-plane aerobatic formations
• Canadian Forces CF-18 demonstration jet - Canada's fighter jet
• L-29 - flown by air show co-producer Richard Cooper
• Kent Pietsch & his yellow Jelly Belly plane - veteran U.S. aerobatic performer with 3 separate acts
• Mike Wiskus, aerobatics - a former U.S. aerobatic champ, Mike’s performance is incredible!
• Gord Price - a 71-year-old aerobatic pilot from Thornbury flying a YAK 50, Serial #1
• T-33 Silver Star - the ‘Mako Shark’ from the Jet Aircraft Museum in London
• Harvard Formation Team - 4 planes from the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Assoc. in Tillsonburg
• Wayne Hadath - a Kitchener resident who races his home-built F1-Rocket
• Danny Richer - Brantford resident flying his Strikemaster
• Pyro - lots of smoke and flame -- kaboom!

Lucas Oil Skydivers

(all acts are subject to change due to operational duties and mechanical difficulties)
A Static Display (aircraft parked on the tarmac all weekend) will offer this year’s guests additional opportunities to see aircraft up close, take photos and speak to the pilots. Most significantly are a number of WWII and post-WWII aircraft including a B-17 (offering rides), TBM Avenger, AC-47 Spooky, C-46 Commando, C-123 Provider and a B-25 Mitchell."

Posted by Joe Hamilton. See more planes after the jump.