Virgin Mobile Angels

I think that the Victoria Secrets Angels have a little competition - I saw a couple of Virgin Mobile Angels with black wings during the weekend around the MMVAs. Virgin Mobile sponsors Lady GaGa's Monster Ball Tour and she headlined the award show at Much Music on Queen Street West.

I only saw them for awhile, then they jumped into the air and flew back towards Lady GaGa perched high on the stage (okay, I made that up).

Things to do in Toronto June 25-26, 2011

Arghh, there are so many fun things to do in Toronto that the weeks and weekends pass so fast - Spring ends today (Monday, June 20, 2011)! This is the last weekend in June and then we are in the prime of summer. The June 25-26 weekend is chock full o weekendy goodness and just perfect for welcoming the warmth of my favourite season. Just don't drink too much because you tend to see things like red dinosaurs. You can also find a sandy beach and an umbrella along Queens Quay.

Friday, June 24 - Sunday, June 26: Harbourfront Centre Franco Fete. A francophone culture celebration at the waterfront.

Friday, June 24 - Sunday, July 3: 2011 Pride Week festivities and parades. The street festival and parades begin Friday, July 1. Don't forget the Roller Derby 'Clam Slam' on June 30.

Friday, June 24 - Sunday, July 3: Toronto Jazz Festival. Wow, Aretha Franklin performs a free concert at Metro Hall on the opening Friday night (8:30pm).

Saturday, June 25 - Sunday June 26: 23rd annual Dragon Boat Festival on the Toronto Islands.

Saturday, June 25 - Sunday, June 26: Taste of Asia at Kennedy and Steeles.

Saturday, June 25: Black Creek Summer Music Festival which runs from June to September. On June 25 singer, songwriter James Taylor performs at the Rexall Theatre.

Saturday, June 25: Toronto Roller Derby Championship Game - The Battle for the Boot between the commanding Gore-Gore Rollergirls and Chicks Ahoy.

Saturday, June 25: Samsara an IIFA buzz event at Rogers Centre. A South Asian free outdoor celebration.

Saturday, June 25: MEC Bikefest in the Distillery Historic District.

Saturday, June 25: G20 Anniversary Rally at Queens Park.

Saturday, June 25 - Sunday, June 26: For fans of stock car racing the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCTS) has the Vortex Brake Pads 200 at Bowmanville's Mosport International Raceway. It's a little jaunt away from the city so it is nice when racing comes into town with the Honda Indy Toronto in early July. NCTS practice is Saturday and the race is Sunday.

G20 Anniversary

This weekend will mark the one year anniversary of the G20 2010 Summit held in downtown Toronto and to celebrate the happy memories there will be a 2pm rally on June 25, 2011 at Queen's Park. Bring an anniversary card and cupcakes in lieu of cakes and presents. 'Protest your right to protest'!

There have been calls for inquiries and investigations but society isn't necessarily interested in exposing the reasons behind some of the decisions made during the protests. Many still believe that anyone downtown was responsible for the rioting and they deserved whatever they got. My shock was finding how easy it was to lose your rights and start to fear the police and politicians. There were few people held responsible for the issues that developed throughout the summit, whether it was the Black Bloc or the authorities, and only a few gained notice beyond the Toronto G20 weekend - except maybe for Officer 'Bubbles'.

It was a great weekend

The weather was perfect, the events and festivals were excellent - what a great weekend it was in Toronto. Celebrities were jetting into the Big Smoke, bodybuilders, fitness and bikini models were taking over the downtown core, bus tours and hippos filled the roads and there was music everywhere. I had a lot of hair earlier in the day at the NXNE venue, above, and later it was gone after photographing the Pro SuperShow and some Luminato.

Graffiti demonstration at Yonge Street

There was a graffiti artist giving a demonstration on a large white canvas at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas in Toronto today. I like to think that the white canvas was actually cut from a building and will soon be stapled back in place.

And as a bonus here is a panorama of the comings and goings of the intersection while the paint was being sprayed.

Celebrate Bloor Street Festival

Starting in 2007 with the ever unpopular Bloor Street watermain replacement project, then the much hated Bloor Street Transformation project, the exclusive neighbourhood known as the ‘mink mile’ celebrates the renovated street during the Sunday, June 19, 2011 street festival. The festival, sponsored by the Bloor-Yorkville BIA, shut down Bloor Street between Avenue and Church to vehicular traffic, put down an enormous red carpet and threw a party.

Platinum Blonde rocks the crowd

The party included food and free musical performances by Keshia Chante, Shawn Desman, Royal Wood and Platinum Blonde.

To make things interesting there were a lot of beautiful ladies from the Miss Universe competition. Also on the carpet were ladies passing out information on the area and dressed in black with big, black hats and white rimmed sunglasses – I thought I was at the Kentucky Derby! Award winning Canadian writer and director Paul Haggis also dropped by – he started the charity ‘Artists for Peace and Justice’ and they recently focused on relief for Haiti.

There were also great displays of bodypaint where people became the canvas as they were painted like famous artworks – groovy baby, walking art by @PicassoEvents. The Yorkville Exotic Car Show was also held in the area, just in case you needed new wheels. Speaking of wheels, there were a couple of big wheels attached to an IndyCar in front of William Ashley China – the race car was supported by bone china cups, on top of a spectacular dining room table. That reminds me; the Honda Indy Toronto is coming in early July! I think they will be happy that the race does not take place on Bloor Street.

Okay, time to start shopping again.

Posted by Joe Hamilton. More photos after the jump.

MotorExpo at Brookfield Place

Within the long public halls of Brookfield Place are a few luxury cars ready for your viewing pleasure. The cars are in the spotlight as part of the 2011 Toronto MotorExpo. This is the first Canadian visit for the ‘World’s Largest Free Automobile Event’ which showcases the latest vehicles. It is not surprising that this takes place in the heart of Toronto’s financial district along Bay Street, later you can head up to Bloor Street to pick out your mink.

The electric TELSA (at top) goes 0-97km/h in 3.7 seconds with '0 tailpipe emissions', the Ferrari has a few more tailpipe emmisions. There are going to be a few E-Type Jaguars on hand to mark the 50^th anniversary of the brand. The show starts Monday, June 20 and will run until Friday, June 24.

I dropped by early to see what is up – I didn’t really know what to expect because Brookfield Place is not that big. The cars aren’t jammed into the place, so in comparison to the fantastic Canadian Motorsports Expo (CME) – the MotorExpo would be in one of CME’s closets. I went early to see if there were any car models because it really isn’t a car show without models, but I think they were still in bed. I will stop by again in the afternoon to see if anything is happening, will happen, or gosh darn it, already happened and I missed it, or if looking up close at the cars and putting in your order is the limit of the activities you can take advantage of during this show.

MuscleMag Bikini Model Search: Pro SuperShow

The 2011 Toronto Pro SuperShow also included the MuscleMag Model Search and women got their bikinis out to wow the crowd. Luckily my camera wasn't burnt out by this time and I was able to capture some of the gorgeous ladies as the poses worked their well oiled and tanned bodies. I think the tanning must be a requirement in the rule books because almost everyone must spend a little time out in the sun in between crunches.

There are plenty more ladies after the jump.

NXNE: I love a girl in uniform

Both the Luminato Festival and the NXNE Festival ends today - but I am left with happiness of the Monster Energy drink girls with their cool hats at Yonge-Dundas Square. I also took a picture of a young lady who wanted a reminder of the NXNE Festival.

Oxygen Fitness Model Search: Pro SuperShow

One of the Women's competitions at the 2011 Toronto Pro SuperShow was the anticipated Oxygen Magazine Model Search. The Women's fitness magazine had a lot of entries for the competition and it was exciting to watch the ladies as they posed for the judges and the audience, they certainly knew how to rock short, shorts.

See more Oxygen Models after the jump.

etalk at MMVAs

etalk's host Tanya Kim reports from the site of the 2011 MMVAs at the Much Music building on Queen Street West, I was lucky as Ben Mulroney wasn't around. She was doing a report during sound checks on the MMVA stages. I think this was before Lady Gaga landed into Toronto.

Women's Bikini & Fitness: Pro SuperShow

These ladies are fit and competing in the 2011 Toronto Pro SuperShow Women's events. Toned and with bold, colourful bikinis these ladies put on quite a show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre during the preliminary judging in the main Expo area in front of an appreciative crowd.

See lots more bikinis after the jump.

Women's Pro Body Building: Pro SuperShow

The Toronto Pro SuperShow 2011 featured IFBB Women's Pro Body Building competitions on the Expo Stage and the ladies were cut and bronzed and ready for the challenge. Women's events on Friday also had Pro Fitness, Pro Figure Open, Pro Figure Master. Here are some of the beautiful, dedicated ladies and their well oiled muscles.

The International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) was founded in 1946 in Montreal and is a not-for-profit organization that puts on more than 2,500 annual competitions. They support bodybuilding and fitness as an anti-aging lifestyle that discourages use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

See more photos after the jump.

Hamilton Airshow

I thought if I, James Hamilton, went to the Hamilton Airshow I would get in free, but such was not the case - my family shouldn't have sold the City of Hamilton many years ago! I almost turned around after seeing all the lineups. Then after waiting in lineup for a bus, they drove us in the bus to a larger lineup where we had to wait to get on another bus. The show was held at the John C Munro Hamilton International Airport June 18-19, 2011. The airport is home to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and the iconic Lancaster Bomber.

Supermarine Spitfire MK XVIE

The show featured prop planes dating from the second world war and while there were some jets on static display, they were not involved in the airborne display. The location along the runway allowed for some great shots of the planes taking off and landing. The price wasn't bad especially when it included the parking and shuttle service.

More pictures after the jump.

Hula Hoop Flash Mob Toronto

The lunch hour brought out a large flash mob at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas Streets in Toronto on Friday, June 17, 2011. Starting at each corner the mob started spinning their hoops, then when the pedestrian scramble came on (all way pedestrian crossings) the individual groups joined together in a large circle and ran around the intersection. People like the flash mobs but I think the people involved in the mob have the most fun.

When the road returned to vehicular traffic the flash mob ended their altogether brief entertainment for so many busy workers and tourists in the heart of downtown Toronto. Swiss Naturals then passed out t-shirts to the participants and fast forward to a later time and we see the hula hoops raised high above the milling pedestrians walking across the road or along the sidewalks in front of Yonge-Dundas Square.

See more of the flash mob after the jump.

kd lang at Luminato 2011

Toronto embraced Canadian musical superstar kd lang as she played a free concert at Metro Hall as part of the fabulous activities know as Luminato. What a treat it is to see the singer work her magic on her well known hits with the band Siss Boom Bang during the Friday, June 17 event at Metro Square which also saw special guests The Belle Brigade opening for kd. It was also a pleasure to see Denise Donlon of the CBC hosting the night's concert (photo below).

The Luminato appearance is the official launch of the grammy and juno winning kd lang's latest North American tour. PS did I mention that I loved her singing Hallelujah at the opening of the 2010 Canadian Winter Olympic opening ceremony - way to represent.

So it is extremely exciting to see her in Toronto, what a score for Luminato. Thanks to Dan and Michelle from Luminato for getting us onto the press riser.

The full square takes in The Belle Brigade in advance of kd's appearance.

See more pictures after the jump.