Pix of Toronto

Archive for June, 2010

This weekend of the G2 summit and Luminato, some of the best fun in TO is available down at the Toronto Islands.

First of all there is the Toronto Islands Dragonboat Festival where the big news is that the junior boats fro the high schools are setting down some race times that many a senior dragonboat crew would love to have. The setting is perfect for spectators as they can get up close to the race on either side of the  lagoon. The walkway bridge over the lagoon gives a panoramic view of the scene .

Better still there is lots to do on the Island. Centreville has a great collection of rides for the 4-9 year old kids [or their guardians who seem to enjoy the fun and games just as much as their charges.

Whose Having Fun?

As well there lots of tree-lined trails to explore, plenty of picnic spots with  tables and beaches to go wading in around the island. The South of the Island has  a beautiful ramp and pier taking viewers nearly 200 feet  out into Lake Ontario. And for the older kids there is the Toronto Islands Concert -

which is getting rave reviews . . . . . .

So come to the Toronto Islands for the exciting and cheer-filled Dragonboat Races

Nearing the Finish

But also enjoy all the extra fun to be found at the Islands.

Luminato has taken some time “to get its rhythm” as the World Cuppers say it. But some of the shows this year are proof that Luminato is gaining full creative stride. Take Waves created at/by YCT-Young Centre Theater in the Distillery District. Lots of music, singing and dancing – much of it in inspired participatory fashion in the many rehearsal rooms at YCT. Example,  a BedTime Stories and Lullabies where participants take a pillow as  their free ticket, get to lie down on cots and slumber to song and lullabies. Jukes and Jives allowed audience mebers to choose a favorite song from  JukeBox and then the Virtuosity Singers performed the song while one of the YCY Guest Dancers pejived to the max – really great entertainment.

Another noteworthy example: the YCT Impromptu Jazz Ensemble. Featuring a great variety of musical instrumentalists, dancers, vocalists and a poet. This performance featured a superb Jazz Poetry reading by Dennis Lee in great style backed up the YCT Ensemble:

Wonderful late Night Reading by Dennis Lee at YCT’s Waves

It is not too late to catch Young Theater’s Waves this G2 Weekend in Toronto.

After taking in Nature’s Beauties with a Janes Walk in in Trinity Bellwood Park , then  a look at the  Trendy Art Shoppes and Studios along Queen West between Bathurst east to Niagara seemed a natural choice. Besides this Walk was being lead by William Huffman of the Toronto Arts Council. But to my dismay I discovered I had done a dyslexic trick on myself  and had read the start time for the Art Walk as 2:30PM and not the correct 12:30PM. But all was not lost because Queen West easily beckons not only with Art Studios but also great fashion boutiques, dining places and a vast array of various shops and curiosities.  So I ventured forth along Queen  with camera in hand  and here is a sampler of the “Art to be Found” on Queen West going west from Bathurst.

First and foremost, there are a lot of clothing dens,  galleries, antique stores and specialty shoppes to be found on this stretch – almost too many:

Cabaret for upscale fashion

Preloved for a mix of old and new; Type for all things Fonts and Paper

Queen West Food and Dinery

Zili Otto for fine home notions

To see a  complete album  of Queen West  shops and spaces go  here to feast on the shopping opportunities  that this short stretch of Queen West affords strollers. But the other noticeable factor beyond all the chic shops and studios was the amount of artistry seen  all over  along the street

Artistry Alive

Poster art has been a Toronto specialty with designers like Theo Dimson and Ibraheem Youssef among others providing creative energy and inspiration. But the thriving music  clubs, live theater and special events provides Toronto with many opportunities for great poster productions. And with verve Toronto poster makers have produced a an onslaught of   nifty posters with Queen West  almost unrivaled for the range and stylings to be found:

Construction and Repair Wall are Poster Palace Walls

And there are some great local artists poking onto the poster scene:

Love this Buck Shot

John Butler Trio is black and white and Read all over

And if you run out of wallspace – staple to the nearby hydro/telephone pole

The creative design and writing spirit is alive and well on Queen West. As a poster collectors the PixOfToronto staff was drooling over the selection of  posters to be had. However, artistic design percolates all along the Queen West. Signage, window displays, street-side goods for sale – Queen West is rich with artistic hints and cues.

Store Window Display at Type

Two Pet Supply Stores within Biting Distance of Each Other

Downward Dog Yoga Center

The Paper Place with its Op Art Display Window

The designs are often dashingly creative using a mix of sculpting, digital media, and old fashioned crafts. Perhaps one of the most innovative is the Downward Dog Yoga Center which has decked out its digs in stunning wall paintings:

From the Downward Dog Doorway

Along the Entrance Way at Downward Dog

And why shouldn’t Downward Dog revel in painted splendor. Right nearby along Queen West is some of the best samplings of wall paintings in Toronto. The styles are diverse but color impression is a consistent fashion. Just consider what is just down the street from Downward Dog:

Wall Canvas Paintings

Soon become a color fresco approach to imagery as in this wall oeuvre just West of Bathurst:

Wall Mural Near Bathurst, just off Queen

You have to catch these wall paintings as quickly as you can. I had gone looking a few weeks before for some favorites but most of them were painted over – so no guarantees for Ars Aeterna. But as one might suspect the backstreet impromptu wall painting start to sneak directly onto Queen Street:

Not saying exactly where to find this impish rendering

So a missed Janes Walk is easily rescued by all the business and artistic goings on along Queen West between Spadina and Christie. And this visual excursion has barely scratched the surface of great places to see, shopping things to do, and great dining to top it all off.

There is a stretch of alleys and bars along Queen Street West that are festooned with some of the best wall paintings in Toronto. But on Janes Walk I got a  big surprise at Cameron House on Queen West where one of my favorite bistro wall paintings, a most nifty portrait that cleverl uses the windows and sills  was completely redone. The new look  - well here is  quick sampler:

Suddenly lush greens and florals are replaced with fire-engine red:

and expansive stylings:

But what PixofToronto found amusing about  the wall work is its puckish  sense of humor. For example, here is a head on look at the Big Grinning Mouth featuring the side door entrance front and center. Just chomp on this one, Cameron patrons, for a moment or two.

And above the front entrance there is an equally nippish sign:

Now I should mention there is a superb front mural of a girl smiling reminiscent of the original portrait.  Interested parties can go here for some glimpses; but there were too many patrons moving to and fro in Cameron House’s front  pub garden for a good picture to be taken – you just have to quench your thirst some day at Cameron to get a a good luck at this great wall rendition.

Now just across the street, there  is a great AutoCAD like wall mural that has lasted  for about 5-7 years – a lifetime for wall paintings in the heart of TO.

If you have a favorite set of wall paintings in TO, add a comment and PixofToronto  will add the art image and may do it as a feature. Also check out Bing Maps new Art Wall map app that shows off urban art scapes innot only in Toronto but all over North America.

As already noted, Janes Walk at Trinity Park provided Springs colors in full vernal splendor. There was  a nifty divertissment in the discovery of Bike Polo on the deserted Bellwood  Tennis Courts. But this was just the first of many Janes Walk surprises this year. But one hardly expects a kids playground to catch your eyes. But hearing the kids squeals of delight one had to take a peek to see what all the excitement was all about – and so voila:

New Slide, Monkeybars, Boing Seating Pads and Soft Flex Ground Surface
Now being a swings, merry-go-round, seesaw, and big slides kind of kid – the playground shapes were  a strange cross between astonishing and fascinating.  For example, the slide looked downright dangerous until a kid swooped down feet locked around  and hand clutching the curves from behind. Speaking of which, a little girl did exactly that going down on her stomach in a flash and then racing up the slides ladder to do it again.

However, the soft-flex playground surface also serves its cushioning purpose because more than once I saw a kid careening down the slide and onto the ground. Certainly the slide has  not only a sneaky curve but no containment edges. Yes, I saw one little boy go down the slide head first with legs and arms wapped around the slide. And  let me tell you – rounding the curve was an adventure. The kid  was hanging onto the underside by the time he reached the bottom. The whole trick appears to be to  slow yourself down.

Likewise – look at the white Monkeybars in the background. No better yet here is a close-up shot:

Can you see the potential complications in clearing through these bars ? Now I can remember many a day hanging about halfway through a traversal of the old ladder-like monkey bars and thinking which would come first: my arms breaking-off or my sweaty fingers slip-sliding away. Somehow hanging by my small pinkies was so enticing – I can remember losing my handbar grasp of reality and hitting the turf many the time. However, these monkey bars appeared to be impossibly impassible. I saw one little girl tarzan-ing through. But to be honest she had two parents standing as a safety catches right nearby.

If the slide and monkey bars were old familiars just updated, the next two playground fixtures were unexpected:

The green tubes look like dinosaur or whale rib cage bones while  in the background  there appears to be a Spiderman net. The latter was also the most popular for the kids. I saw lots of action among the kids; but also I saw many a parent rescuing their tiny Spideys from some precarious positions in the web. In contrast, the kids seemed to be able to navigate the rib cage with ease. Again, the monkey bar girl just smiled and deftly scooted and  threaded her way through the dinosaur rib cages with the greatest of ease. Even her parents did not see the need for close supervision … maybe her confident chirps warned them off.

Now right nearby there was a more traditional playground rumpus center with high walls and ordinary slide:

However, In the 20 minutes I watched the kids at the playground no one set of fixtures seemed to be preferred over the other.  The soft flex ground material was less dirty and seemed to absorb trips and falls a bit better than the traditional sand; however its Spidey Web looked downright hazardous to this trained playground eye. But now that I reflect on it the giant swings, slides and fast whirling merry ground and dismount disasters of the teeter totter hard their own peculiar disaster risks too. In sum, it took a new playground to show how the joys of a playground had us little munchkins flirting with danger too. It is wonder we didn’t return from the playground every time, bent, folded and otherwise mutilated. Why in my day we didn’t have sand let alone the new fangled soft flex surface. Thus, we were courageous and daunting Huckleberry Finns – or so we imagined.

Janes Walks for 2010 turned out to be an absolute delight. First, and foremost I found the Walk’s guides to be well prepared and full of interesting facts about the various venues. Second, as in the case of Trinity Bellwood , the Walks allowed me to fill in various curiosities that had been lingering in mind for two many years. Last but not least, I stumbled on some great additional finds like Bike Polo in Trinity-Bellwoood Park. But lets be clear,  the stars of this Janes Walk were the Trees in the Park.

The Trees of Trinity Bellwood Park

Trinity Bellwood Trees Were in Full Color Form

I am not sure if it was the city or the Friends of Trinity Bellwoods Park Association that authorized  an inventory of the status and health of all the trees in the park . But the naturalist and tree census taker,  Brian Volz who  lead this walk, was chock full of information on all the trees and their arboreal health.

The morning started drizzly, as forecast; nonetheless, about a dozen hearty souls turned up.

Under the  Boughs and Branches
At the outset of the Walk, Jane’s Troupers had to deek under the trees’ leafy protection as the drizzle accelerated; but 10 minutes into the tour and the doughty clouds remained but not the rain.

Now as a Boy Scout many moons ago, this party picked up a Forestry merit badge and a fascination for trees and their biology. To get the merit badge, one had to be able to identify any  tree both in Spring and Summer, when you have the extra help of leaf form and seeds and in the Winter as well. Here bark, nuts, branching and general tree size + shape offer clues. Fortunately, all of this “knowledge” has not drained out and so looking at the bark it was surprising to see so many of what appeared to be Elm trees in the park.

And Brian confirmed my suspicions, noting that Trinity Bellwood’s Elms had largely escaped the blight of Dutch Elm Disease which had devastated so many urban cities in Southwestern Ontario and the US Midwest. One can see by the Elm’s many samara fruit

Dense Elm Samara Fruit
that  this tree was doing quite well, thank you. And in effect all over the park, the Elms showed up mostly as  strong trees: healthy bark, straight trunks, few cankers – general good silvin-health. For those who have seen the regal beauty of 80-120 feet tall American Elm, this is a hardwood bounty well worth preserving despite its Yankee leanings.

Craggy Hickory Branch
Not all of Bellwood’s trees are thriving.  Brian identified some of the signs of tree health  but also some maladies. As you can see from the picture some trees had not weathered the Winter well. Here was a late, a very late hickory starter in the splendor of a Bellwood Spring. In a way that echoes the history of the park. There are a great variety of trees to be found in the park, many ornamentals planted during the 1930′s to 1950′s when the old Trinity College and  St.Hilda’s School were razed or put to pasture [see image below].

Remains of St. Hilda School hiding behind the trees

Even more riveting, the  the natural ravine was filled in  so now an underground pipeway draws the old stream and acts as an underground aquifer across Queen and King and Wellington streets before outletting  into Toronto Harbor and then Lake Ontario.

Ravine Remnants Come to an Abrupt End
Occasionally the underground stream overflows filling the ravine with moist soft spots – and the trees, deciduous hardwoods do not take kindly to the drenchings not to speak of Trinity-Bellwood Park goers.

But what really stands out on this Janes Walk tour is the myriad colors and hues to be found among the park’s plantings – flower beds by the Library, shrubs everywhere but most notably the trees. Its is a full spectrum of colors

Spring Spatter of Color
The colors of Spring are chimeral. They change from pastels  and delicates through  variations on yellow and green to increasingly full vibrant hues. Bellwood was in transition towards the  full vibrant hues of Spring when Janes Walk took us through to admire the Color Symphony.

It was early on a cool Saturday morning in Toronto – and I had come down the DonValley Parkway for a cobwebs  and mind-meld with a  client. But I was about an hour early. The ride down the Parkway had been spectacular with delicate Spring colors of startling yellow green , fungent tans,conifered hunter green and every shade of brown, bark and gray imaginable splashing through the woods that cling to the valley’s ravine walls. So I decided to get off at Pottery road which is close to the Danforth meeting site and see what was to be found around the TodMorden Mill. I was not disappointed.
TodMorden TodMorden Mills is the city remains of a once vibrant industry that occupied up to the 1940′s much of what is now  the Don Valley Auto Speedway….uhhh, Parkway. Yes, indeed most of the ravines and land have been devoted to parklands if not Condo Towers. But here just before the Bloor Street Overpass, on can get a glimpse of Toronto heretofore. Something that is becoming more precious after the 1950 to 1970′s ravaging of almost all that was historical, interesting and even beautiful in the Queen City. 

So seeing the delicate colors of Spring ad a luster to TodMordebn was most welcome:

Spring TodMorden Colors
Despite the construction renovation ogoing throught the site, Springs renovations took precedence and added a sense of joy despite the cloudy and overcast day. Wherever one turned there was Spring bursting through. You could almost the hues were bucking through:

Stable Farm Right Across the Road
As one can see waiting for the Godot of Printemps was certainly in mind this year.

Mill Sights 

But the Mill itself delivered a lot of  forms and colors of fascination:

Ramp Way into the Mill
The Sun and camera caught a whiff of a Blue Mood that hovered outside the Mill’s main entrance way. It was as if the   thought of so much good and worthwhile activity gone, lost forever but for some pictured memories permeated the scene.

Window Brawn
One can easily imagine the bustle and brawn that constatly took place at these delivery posts at the old Print and Paper Mill. Great rafts of commerce of the 19th and early 20th century trundled in and out of these ways,

New Doors Mark Old Entries
One can think of the shift changes or the door left open in the heat of the summer – one hears the rustle of spirits – is it laughter or resigned risibility that whispers … just barely whispers here.  

Metal Markers
All over the mill building there are bolts and metal markers of the the constant tug and pull of business. It seems remarkable that these thin bricks could support such stress and wear.

New Arts
But when one peers into some of the Mill’s Windows one sees new art and form inside – enough to sustain an city or an economy? One wonders.

The Spring Gods

On leaving the Mills I think I caught site of the some Resurrection Spirits looking down my way -

Three Spring Gods
Then again, it could just as well have been the spirited designs of an over active imagination.

About 20 years ago my brother Greg introduced me to a sport, Ultimate, that was one of the neatest I had seen or played in a long time. I know the Summer and Winter X-Games feature all sorts of great new sports but Ultimate [or Frisbee football] has a simple infrastructure [all you need is a frisbee and open field plus 8-12 players] plus an elegance and flow that is most appealing. Well this year, on Janes Walk in Toronto I got introduced to another elegant sport that is catching on in the urban environ – Bike Polo.

Actually I had seen Bike Polo in Vancouver about 5-6 years ago when I was at a meeting on the UBC campus but by the time I got out of the meeting and had a chance to investigate the players had long vanished from a hockey rink/tennis court. So it was at a Janes Walk in early May within Trinity Bellwoods Park which inadvertently re- introduced me to Bike Polo.

This game was being played on the otherwise near empty tennis courts in the park. There are 3 players to a side, their mounts are bikes, and they play with a mallet which has a hollow plastic head. The teams here were playing games of “first to 5″ and that is just about the extent of the rules that I could puzzle out and pick up in a quick 15 minute watching of the game.

Mallets used in Bike Polo.

The real skill in Bike Polo is maintaining balance on the bike in the constant stop and go that is part of the game. For example, at first the game looked like PeeWee Soccer where the kids gather like bumble bees all around the soccer ball. There seemed to be little positional play. But after awhile I got used to the rugby-like scrum and the ability of crafty players to break away from the scrum and rush “down field” for a break away pass.

However, the trick is not just the making but also the receiving or braking of the pass that is a key skill. Because if a

Breakaway Play
player even slightly bobbles a pass the opposition is on it and can either create their own return break away, or at the least, get in position to defend their goal. Very quickly one could see that a wide range of skills including mallet dribbling and passing, wheel blocking, and vision of play are each important in the game. If I had not agreed to meet a friend for another Janes Walk this same day, becoming steeped in the subtleties of bike polo could have become a whole afternoon’s delight. Like one bike polo player noted, “what is bike polo to me? No doubt – like a second woman”.

No wonder that Bike Polo is catching on in Toronto area. See the story here in the Toronto Star which neatly profiles the game. And

Where to go in TO for Bike Polo:
The League of Bike Polo.
TO Bike Polo Facebook Connection
General Bike Polo Blog