Toronto Neon Pop-up Gallery

Orphaned neon signs are on display at Junction House - free for the weekend. The Junction location is at 2720 Dundas Street West and the hours are Friday to Sunday, April 12 to 14, 2019 from 11am to 9pm.

The temporary home is awaiting a permanent museum to host the growing exhibition.

Items include the Hard Rock Cafe sign and guitar,  a Lucky sign and a big RUDE sign.

See more neon after the jump. Posted by Ann and James

The View From Here at Harbourfront

A sparse visual art exhibition is in Toronto's Harbourfront Centre titled The View From Here curated by Melanie Egan and on from March 9 till June 2, 2019. The most striking part of the works is the caribou antlers (Re-Dress) hanging from one wall by artist Sage Paul.

Some of the pieces look like they belong in a slow jewelry store and some would be perfect if they were housed in giant snowglobes. It is an interesting collection of completely different items so it starts to make sense that the show is based on the idea of an anti-souvenir shop. From Harbourfront's website; "one in which artists are motivated to act upon, react to or declare what they deem significant and worthwhile through the media of ceramics, jewellery, painting, furniture, and sculpture. How their ideas are defined and represented largely depends on their view from here. “Here” is a relative term; it may be a physical or psychological space, a continuum or a moment in time. Views can be deeply personal, introspective, or borne out of discrete experiences and research; and some may symbolize larger collective meaning, shaped by notions of community."

Denise Smith ceramic series On the Trail

I don't know if I would make a special trip into see the work, but if you are in the area - hey, why not.

Graffiti in the Annex

Went to a Randolph Theatre production of Mary Poppins, loved it by the way, and since we had some time to kill we walked the alleys around the Annex area of Toronto and checked out the graffiti murals. Some were a blast from the past as I remember seeing some of these during the old Zombie Walk days when the left from the pit in Trinity Bellwoods Park.

There are so many named neighbourhoods in Toronto that I have a hard time keeping them straight. Annex is north of the University of Toronto between Dupont and Bloor to the north and south, and between Bathurst and Avenue Roads to the west and east. Of course the area was also famous as the home to Honest Ed's discount store, home to tacky signs and Christmas turkey giveaways, at the corner of Bloor and Bathurst Streets. The store is gone and right now a big hole is being completed for the soon to be constructed Mirvish Village a mix of residential and retail units.

The Honest Ed's condo pit

Ed Mirvish graffiti mural

See more graffiti after the jump.

Abandoned Drive In Theatre

Pefferlaw's former cinematic entertainment hub sits empty now, no cars filling its rings of parking spots pointing towards the single, large screen. No superhero blockbuster movies play on the screen, no popcorn popping in the small concession stand.

It looks like it closed down around 2014 and the screen and building are slowly falling apart while the grass grows long in the concentric circles in the parking area. The site is located at 30944 Highway 48 in Ontario, just west of Durham Road 23.

A Google Map capture of the theatre grounds in better days

From the Cindrive drive-in theatre website

See more of the drive-in after the jump.

FITC Technology & Creativity Conference 2019 in April

Future Innovation Technology Creativity (FITC) returns to Toronto to explore the best of design, web development, media and innovation in technologies from April 29 to May 1 at the downtown Hilton on Richmond Street West. This year's theme is Pure Imagination.

"Canada’s premiere conference attended by local and global innovators in creative technology A three-day professional celebration of the best the world has to offer in design, web development, media and innovation in creative technologies. It’s a conference that both unites and transforms the industry - assembling its major leaders and players from across North America and the world. FITC Toronto transforms the Hilton Toronto into an international mecca for the digitally creative, abuzz with creative directors from multinational ad agencies, studio heads from Canada’s most sought-after digital production companies, the world’s most surprising digital artists, and freelancers, cultural influencers and tech lovers from all walks."

It starts with the exhibitor hall which allows hands on exploration of the latest technologies and continues inside the many meeting rooms with presentations and talks from some heavy hitters in the creative and technology world and will include a few parties after the talks have finished. Additionally there are some workshops that take place on Sunday, April 28 which require separate tickets.

Hand picked experts bring their take on interesting and informative topics like 'Evil by Design' - a look at design ethics by Kit Oliynyk at Optimo, 'Mars or Bust: Learning from our Mistakes' by Bobak Ferdowsi from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and 'Simplicity is Not Simple' by David Hogue of Google who discusses how to identify and considerations to simplify products and experiences.

Spring Beerfest TO #SBFTO2019 in May

Bring on the #BeerLove suds because spring doesn't start until the taps start flowing. To help you pick out your favourite brews you can head to Fort York Garrison Common for the Victoria Day weekend May 18-19 for Spring Beerfest TO . I always say they don't call it the May Two Four weekend for nothing. Tickets going on sale April 9.

Beer, live music, games and fun with your friends. Here comes the sun. We will keep an eye out for the entertainment and brewery announcements and look forward to Spring Beerfest TO!

Toronto Winter Garden Theatre

The historic Edwardian theatre sits atop the Elgin Theatre on Yonge Street, just across from the Eaton Centre, decorated to seem like you are sitting in a forest. The upper portion of the double-decker theatre was constructed in 1913 and shut down in 1928, closed down due to the passing of the vaudeville era until it was purchased by the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1981. In 1984 they began the restoration of the theatres which reopened in 1989.

The journey up to the theatre starts with the impressive grand staircase

Leaves and lanterns hang from the Winter Garden ceiling

From the Heritage Trust website; "The two theatres were of distinctly different personality: the Elgin was all gold leaf and rich fabrics, a formal theatre of plaster cherubs and ornate opera boxes. The Winter Garden was a botanical fantasy, its walls hand-painted to resemble a garden, its ceiling a mass of real beech boughs and twinkling lanterns. The theatres played host to such greats as George Burns and Gracie Allen, Sophie Tucker, Milton Berle and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy."

Looking back along the entrance hallway towards the doors

Even the mezzanine (balcony) has a forest

I had a chance to attend a corporate event and took the opportunity to snap some photos of the unique building. You can also tour the building on Monday and Saturdays (check their website for more info). See more photos of the theatre after the jump.

Toronto Cherry Blossoms 2019

A beautiful Saturday afternoon brought thousands out to see the High Park Cherry Trees in peak bloom and though not all trees managed to blossom, it was still a sight to behold. It was hard to tell if it was busier without cars allowed into the park during peak bloom this year or those found in previous years. I find the amount of people taking time to smell the flowers equal to the impressive flowers filling the trees.

Saturday, May 11 and peak bloom is happening now. Thousands crowd into the park, filling roads that are closed to vehicles now. Easiest option is to park at one of the beach lots and walk up.

Update: Peak Bloom in High Park started May 10th.

Mother Nature is fighting back on Spring but its coming is inevitable, soon the trees will show their first light shades of green as the buds begin to sprout. At the same time wildflowers and gardens will start to see shoots peaking out of the ground. Then around the end of April, beginning of May the fruit trees will blossom and thousands of people will visit the holy grail of blossoms - High Park during the Cherry Blossom Festival. The blossoms at top are from a previous spring, come back as I add blossom photos as the weather warms up.

Update Saturday, May 4th: cherry blossoms still hiding. Peak bloom still days away. Now expected May 10 to 15.

Update April 20, 2019: Buds have popped out and they are very cute. Late April, Early May is still the anticipated peak bloom. Now predicted early May (7th to the 12th)

High Park near Lake Shore and Parkside Drive sees thousands of people stream into the grounds searching out the Sakura trees given to Toronto by Japan in 1959, with 50 more trees planted in 2017-2018. Just as the crowds of people wind their way through the park, a steady river of cars inches their way into the entrance and into the interior, looking for that elusive parking spot so that they can also see the blooms. In the interest of safety the City of Toronto will ban cars during the 2019 Cherry Blossom Festival (peak bloom) starting May 4, 2019 at 7am so you will have no choice but to walk or take public transit to the edges of the park and walk in. Also the City asks that you do not climb the trees or remove blossoms.

If you want to avoid the crowds you can visit the many other blossom sites located around Toronto, the concentration of trees is smaller, but some of the settings are spectacular including such places as found at Roberts Library at the University of Toronto (70 trees), those around the Princess Margaret Fountain in Exhibition Place, down the centre boulevard of University Avenue, the few in front of Queens Park, inside the grounds of Osgoode Hall and the line of trees looking toward the CN Tower in Trinity Bellwoods Park (70 trees).

See more after the jump.

Blue Jays Home Opener Weekend

Starting the 2019 Major League Baseball season we were lucky to have the Toronto Blue Jays at home playing against the Detroit Tigers in Rogers Centre. From Thursday, March 28 to Sunday, March 31 the calls of Lets Go Blue Jays will ring out in the closed Skydome as the wave sweeps around the circular building. Sunday's game will start at 1:07pm just as winter has returned for a brief hammer of the city.

It was nice playing with you, NEXT

Saturday's game featured a giveaway of Blue Jays hoodies (one size fits all) for the first 15,000 fans and on the field of dreams the steady replacement of pitchers continued for both teams. Blue Jays crossed home plate three times that night, the Tigers came close but could not finish rounding the bases and now the record shows the Jays have won two games to date, the Tigers but one. Starting pitchers for the night were the Jay's Aaron Sanchez vs newbie Spencer Turnbull.

A Tiger holds off on the swing

Opening Day weekend also has a very large 50-50 draw by Jays Care Foundation which guarantees a minimum winner's payday of $500,000. It has been accumulating throughout the home opener weekend and will be drawn on Sunday, March 31, 2019.

Other Blue Jays promotions in upcoming games include bobble head giveaways, loonie hot dogs and free hats. Check out their website for promotion details. Oh and $5 beer is available - one vendor on each level will offer regular beers cheaper than the seemingly unreasonable stadium prices.

Preparing the field for the night's game

Tigers doing some pregame stretching

The opening weekend crowds were less than sell outs

Collision Toronto 2019 tech conference in May

Innovation in technology, women in tech, Artificial Intelligence, industry leaders and startups meet together at the fastest growing tech conference in North America. Appearing in Toronto for the first time after being hosted in cities like Las Vegas and New Orleans, the technology conference will be held May 20-23, 2019 at the Enercare Centre in Exhibition Place.

"Collision is the fastest-growing tech conference in North America. Now in its fifth year, Collision has grown to over 25,000 attendees. Following the lead of our European event Web Summit, Collision has become a crossroads for the world’s largest buyers and sellers of technology, alongside many of the world’s most disruptive emerging technology companies."

A wide range of over 400 speakers like Evan Williams, founder and CEO at Medium, co-founded Blogger, former CEO of Twitter and Laura Miele, executive vice president of Electronic Arts and advocate of gender diversity will take to conference stages throughout the event.

Attendees to the show can take in product showcases, machine demonstrations and see startup companies like Canada's own Receptiviti and their enterprise software solutions with a platform that uses real-time psychology to understand humans.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces the Collision Conference coming to Toronto

On the first night after the speakers have finished, attendees will have a chance to join the Pub Summit starting on King Street and heading out on a tour of some of the city's pubs from 6-8pm. Then at 8pm the Night Summit begins where, each night, many will head out of Collision and take part in an exploration of a different parts of the city; "From street parties to more intimate networking events, Night Summit has something for everyone. We'll see you there."