Kensington Market Festival of Lights 2006

Homeless Funding Now!

A couple days ago I attended a protest outside of Jim Flaherty's office (federal finance minister) to protest the massive cuts to homeless programs and funding. Although we could not get in to see the minister (there was heavy security both inside and outside the Sunlife building), we did have a good picket outside, and a turkey lunch was served. Here are some pics from the event.

Liminal Landscapes at York University - Post # 1

Today I went on a tour of the 'liminal' landscapes at York University, as part of my Imagining Toronto course. The majority of the York campus is sterile, angular, full of concrete and devoid of character. However, there are many beautiful and historic natural features on the campus, which few people (including faculty and staff) know about. It was hard to believe we were still on campus, and not on a hike somewhere in a conservation area!

Enjoy this post, and the next one which feature scenic fall foliage from "wild" locations on campus, Stong Pond, the Maloca Garden and...that body of water you see is Black Creek! Yep, its not just an expressway, you know.

Liminal Landscapes at York University - Post # 2

Sunday Afternoon in Dufferin Grove Park

Today being a day of unseasonable warmth in Toronto, my partner and I decided to venture out to Dufferin Grove Park, which has been described as a community centre without walls. Couldn't agree more.

This is a pic of the cob courtyard, a fun area where kids can play about. I love this roof! Have you heard about the great composting toilet they're putting in very close to this structure? It has galvanized the community, will bring greater awareness of composting toilets and their environmental benefits, and will give parents quick and easy access to a washroom when they're using the playground with their kids. More here.


Here are some pics of general park fun, and some saucy squirrels!

Toronto's First Annual Nuit Blanche 2006 - Post # 3

This is the final post in a short series about the Nuit Blanche Festival in Toronto.

These three pics are on Philosopher's Walk (behind the ROM). This is the much publisized fog sculpture, the idea (or so I heard) being that as you walk through it, each person changes and creates the scuplture. Although walking through the fog with a bunch of strangers was really cool, I didn't find that the above idea really held. Its interesting how fog can be captured on film.




These next two pics were, I think, also on Philosopher's Walk. Each of these long pieces of paper ties to tree branches with tinsel were printed with wishes. Bad part: there were only a few originals, the rest of the papers were just repeats. The good part: visitors took it upon themselves to write in some of their own wishes in pen. Most memorable, something like "I wish that everyone could be happy in their own way". Amen to that! Testify!

And, finally, my friend the lovely Miss Kitty Galore (aka Kristyn Dunnion) did a reading of her most excellent literary work (at the Heliconian club which can be seen in the previous posts).

All in all, this was a great festival, and I hope they do it again next year, and every year following. Toronto has been trying extra hard in the last few years to promote itself as world city (Waterfront Revitalization, Four Seasons Centre, ROM, AGO and Royal Conservatory renos, downtown wi-fi) just to name a few. This can thus be seen as the latest attempt to achieve this end. Let's see if the results are good enough to see it thorough to next year! To see what other people were saying about Nuit Blanche, see bloggers here and here. On Flickr, the Toronto Star, and the Globe and Mail, and of course, Spacing.

Toronto's First Annual Nuit Blanche 2006 - Post # 2

Second in a series of posts about the Nuit Blanche festival.

These two pics were at the Heliconian Club in Yorkville. It was pretty frightening for my partner and I, who had never actually been to Hazelton Ave before. Yipes....each store more expensive looking, trendy and pretentious than the last. This was formerly a church (more on its history here), and is a beautiful space. We met a lovely and very chatty woman there, who is part of this exclusive club. She told us that the space has been used by a womens' musical ensemble since 19-0-something (hey it was 3:30 am, and I'd been nipping from my friend's flask, so don't expect me to remember exact details). I just loved the atmosphere: cushions strewn about, fireplace roaring, and they even served free hot chocolate and cookies! The actual event was a reading, one more pics of that in my third and final post.


These next two were in an alleyway off of Queen West, and featured a wall covered with various white shoes, with interesting notes written on the wall.

A beautiful ice sculpture on Queen West.

Toronto's First Annual Nuit Blanche 2006 - Post # 1

Toronto has finally decided to join the ranks of many other "world class" cities (Paris, Brussels, etc.) and has thus started to hold the Nuit Blanche Festival. Although they did reject my proposal (not that I' m bitter or anything), I went, I frolicked, I drank lots of coffee (and other intoxicants) and had a blast. It was so cool to navigate the city at night and see so many people out. I was reminded of my trip to Spain many years ago, when it was such a novelty to me to be out in a foreign city, at 3 am, and feel totally safe because there were families, couples, etc, just strolling around. If you haven't been to Spain, get off your ass and go!

Anyway, on to the Nuit Blanche pics:

The Drake was hopping, as it is anyway on a Saturday night. These projections onto the building added some visual interest.

Some trendy folks busting a move outside the Drake. Note to very trendy and dressed up ladies seen on Queen West and Yorkville: heels and light capes are not appropriate attire for running around the city in misty weather.

A car wash on Queen West that had four "garages", each one set up like this, but with a different video playing. Brilliant idea, although not many people were actually sticking around to watch them.

On Queen West, this was quite the extravaganza. The man below was performing a live play, and he was featured in a separate performance on the screen which was set to dramatic opera music, while the people on the sidelines waved flags and fire. Can you find the sign that says "Queen W is Dead"?

Another one of the Queen W. car wash videos.

Festival of South Asia 2006

On Saturday I checked out the Festival of South Asia in Little India. The rain held out, and we got to take in soe great dance, music and food. The beautiful Kathak dancer below was the best I've ever seen. This is my fave kind of Indian dance because the bells on the ankles add an interesting element, and it takes incredible skill. My dad commented that you could tell how good she was because at certain points her feet were moving so fast that it looked like she was levitating!
















Other pics below are of some (pre roasting) corn, and a Punjabi Bhangra dance troop. I really have to start doing ore Bhangra dancing, its so much fun!

Alleyjaunt 2006 - Post # 2

I didn't get to see what was in the garage (the door never opened, you had to lay down like these folk to see what was in there), but I thought this looked neat!



This garage was amazing. The inside of it was completely covered in this aluminum like material, which was much more airy and flexible than aluminum. What you see here is some metal posts that were knocking in rhythm against the material on this spinning record player.

Can't remember the name of this collective, but these ladies have spent the last year or so making the city of their dreams in textiles. Can't say enough good things about this one: beautiful, inventive, cute, the urbanists' dream work in textiles. Got the pics in the wrong order, but they're the one below, and the last one.

This one (I believe the people are called the Quicksand Collective) are pushing quicksand awareness.