May the 5th, or Cinco de Mayo, is celebrated the day after Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you) and is a Mexican based victory party. It's also the day we are all Latino.
Harbourfront Centre has a weekend Cinco Fest to celebrate Mexican culture, traditions, music and food.
Just five more weeks till the World Naked Bike Ride which will see hundreds of naked, or nearly naked, protestors riding through the streets of Toronto on Saturday, June 8, 2024. The protest ride will be led by organizer Gene Dare (pictured above) with his colourful banner flying high off his bike as the ride's circuitous route starts and ends in Coronation Park.
Dress code: Casual or fancy clothes free, everyone likes costumes and body paints, come bare as you dare.
When: Meet at Coronation Park, just south of Princes' Gates and Exhibition Place. Come early for socializing and body painting, people will probably be there from 9am on.
Protest ride: Leaves Coronation Park at 1pm and heads up Strachan Avenue towards Trinity Bellwoods Park. Takes about 3 to 4 hours and you can leave, or join, at any point in the route.
The Route: Hits many of Toronto's favourite tourist and iconic spots including Kensington Market, Yorkville, Queens Park, Yonge-Dundas Square by the Eaton Centre, Nathan Phillips Square and the reflecting pool, Harbourfront and the two urban beaches - Sugar and HTO Beaches.
Why: Less Gas, More Ass (one of my favourite slogans). Clean, Green and Body Positive. Fight back against climate change, fight for the environment and try not to body shame.
As we get closer to WNBR I will provide another post with some tips for the preparation for the ride, otherwise time passes fast so it will be here before you know it.
Young teen girls from British Columbia were filmed over years as part of 'Curl Power' and the resulting documentary was tinged with a lot of sadness, partly because their unrealized desire to be junior curling champions, mostly because they were teen girls growing up as their lives were diverging. Still it was a beautiful and emotional journey shared with the audience.
Hot Docs programmer with director Josephine Anderson
The movie, directed by Josephine Anderson, was shown as part of Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2024 (April 25 to May 5) and I watched it Monday night beginning at 9:30pm at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. The director showed up and took to the stage prior to the screening and later returned to stage with some of the cast and crew at the end of the movie.
Josephine, Ashley Dezura, her Mom Diane Dezura, an editor and a cinematographer have a discussion and a question and answer period
From the Hot Docs website, "The 4KGIRL$ have a single goal: to become Canadian Junior Curling Champions. They know how it is to feel like underdogs but think this could be their year. With phones in one hand and brooms firmly in the other, teammates Hannah, Brooklyn, Savannah, Ashley and Amy are regular teenage besties living in suburban British Columbia who push their limits on and off the ice. Throwing rocks while updating their socials, they’re living under pressure that tests their self-confidence. Amid their rigorous training and competition schedule, with three of their moms (who are former Olympic curlers) as their coaches, they still face the familiar adolescent rites of passage like working part-time jobs, applying to college, and dating. Director Josephine Anderson crafts a thoughtful and captivating observational portrait about coming of age, friendship and overcoming adversity both in life and in a game of inches where every shot counts and sometimes things don’t go as planned."
Now Hot Docs has been in the news a lot lately as post Covid concerns over attendance and fundraising have called into question the survival of the film festival. Hopefully making films and the associated festivals will find their way and continue these amazing productions.
Exploring things for free and seeing places that are typically not open to the public, this is the premise for the annual Doors Open Toronto which "unlocks the city’s hidden histories on May 25 and 26." The weekend adventure includes over 150 participating sites, 17 free guided tours (register in advance), themed talks and the occasional workshops and fun activities. City Hall will also be a hub for public programming suitable for families.
Some of the more interesting visits is to the Bay Lower Subway Station, the El Mocambo, Elgin & Winer Garden Theatres, Redpath Sugar, Fort York National Historic Site, R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant and the City notes that "Toronto City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square will once again be a hub for family-friendly programming that invites the public to go behind the scenes at this important civic site. Visitors can see the Mayor’s Office, find out what happens inside Council Chamber, explore the Hall of Memory and enjoy remarkable views from the 27th floor Observation Deck. The Red Chair Sessions, a portraiture series by Toronto Photo Laureate Nadya Kwandibens, will also be on display."
Some of the guided neighbourhood tours include; The Women of Park Lawn Cemetery, Hidden Queer Histories of Hanlan's Point, Restoring the Canada Malting Silos, Welcome to the Rouge! and Downsview’s Aviation Legacy.
Had a whirlwind week in Vancouver and area checking out the west coast city along the Pacific Ocean, nestled into the Strait of Georgia along Vancouver Island and wow, what a place to visit. The mountains along the northern view of the city still white capped with snow and even past the rainy period, still foggy and damp for half of our visit.
At Canada Place
Looking to Canada Place from the Vancouver Lookout
Canada Place with the sails lit up in various colours
We stayed in Century Plaza Hotel on Burrard Street in a great big room that included two beds and a kitchen, perfectly located to allow us to walk to a lot of activities, attractions, restaurants and also close to a lot of transportation options and free shuttles. It is also close to a hospital so you will hear the occasional ambulance.
Vancouver Lookout reflected in an adjacent building
The famous Gastown Steam Clock. It blows a tune every 15 minutes but when we were there the clock was wrong so you have to be ready for the music to start.
Gastown Steamclock plays a tune
Digital Orca by Douglas Coupland at the Convention Centre
An illuminated earth globe hanging in the Convention Centre
There is a three hour time difference between Toronto and Vancouver so we gained those hours on the flight in and were able to do a lot of things on that first day; Canada Place with the Cruise Port, art installations, the Vancouver Convention Centre and the 2010 Olympic Cauldron (photo at top), the Vancouver Lookout and Gastown with its famous Steam Clock.
Canada Place also has a manned, extensive tourism information kiosk with plenty of brochures and some discounts to the attractions.
Toronto's graffiti murals and art installations make Toronto interesting. Sometimes they are beautiful and have a message like artist Artur Bordalo who creates art around the world using trash. The one in Toronto (Dundas Street West near Lisgar Street) is of a large bunny, part of the Big Trash Animals series completed for Toronto Portuguese communities.
His website notes, "The excessive production and consumption of stuff, which results in the continuous production of “garbage” and consequently in the destruction of the Planet, are the central themes of his production. This “garbage” assumes itself as the unusual and unique raw material that Bordalo uses in the construction of small and large scale pieces that he has spread around the world and that, above all, intend to be the vehicle of a universal manifesto."
Toronto Police Services have plenty of divisions and specialties including the Bomb Squad, complete with a very impressive vehicle. I saw it parked out on Front Street East and I thought should I be running away from this vehicle, or from the building it is parked beside? The truck should have a sign that says "work in progress - RUN" or "just on a coffee run - relax."
Toronto's professional baseball team the Blue Jays are playing in a newly renovated Rogers Centre. Ripping up the 100 level seats and expanding the room each chair occupies - as well as adding cup holders (gosh darn those spoiled richies), happened after the 500 level seats were changed to add a number of open space, non-assigned seating areas, as well as a few other changes, came at the cost of some 10,110 seats. The capacity of the arena is now at 39,150 down from 49,260.
To make up the costs I think that they may have jacked the costs of seats and sent the price of stadium food through the retractable roof. It seems to have driven some people out of the lower levels and up into the previously sparsely populated 500 levels. One of the best deals you can find is the Loonie Dogs Night presented by Schneiders. Those tubular beauties are available at quite a few of the food vendors and are quite tasty. And just in case the costs of food is bringing you down, remember that the Blue Jays allow you to bring outside food and non-alcoholic drinks into the stadium which is a great way to keep your sports night outing to a more reasonable cost.
The Jays sold almost 700,000 Loonie Dogs in 2023 alone so I recommend that you check the promotion schedule to see when Loonie Days are coming in 2024.
