Thursday, September 30, 2010

Walk a Mile in her Shoes

The 2010 Toronto Walk a mile in her shoes (http://www.walkamiletoronto.org/) event had Yonge-Dundas Square filling up with individual and team participants getting ready for the walk which left the square at 12:45pm. The best part was the local home town heroes, the police and firefighters, putting on their high heels and strutting their stuff for the media and the crowd.

The walkers included students, blue and white collar workers and plenty of business people in suits.


More pictures after the jump.


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

9 Cool Steampunk Inspired Artworks










Museums in Toronto

Toronto is fortunate to have several world class museums where you can see artifacts and art from times gone by - and some current stuff as well. The Art Gallery of Ontario building is also interesting with it's curved windows along Dundas Street and it's silver staircase out back facing onto a large city park.
Certainly the changes to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and it's new crystal  facade has stirred up some controversy but inside you will find exciting worlds to visit and it doesn't need a boring building to scare people away (the dinosaurs inside might scare some of the youngsters though).

There is also the Gardiner Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), the Spadina Museum and other Municipal museums, the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Canadian Air & Space Museum, the Bata Shoe Museum, and the Textile Museum of Canada. For those that like museums on the sassy and spicy side there is the Toronto Sex Museum

We also have major outdoor art festivals including Luminato and Nuit Blanche. Nuit Blanche, the all night art thing is this Saturday, October 2nd starting at 6:57pm. There are so many installations for Nuit Blanche so you need to review and pick out your primary and secondary locations that you want to visit. You need secondary locations because the crowds are immense and sometimes you don't want to wait forever. Remember that art is in the eye of the beholder because a lot of the time you will say "it's cool, but is it art?" and even if you don't think it is art it still is exciting to spend the night with the crowds of Toronto exploring cool things.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer

I have heard of the Ride to Conquer Cancer but today I found out about Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer benefiting The Princess Margaret and presented by Boston Pizza. To promote the event there was a road hockey game at Yonge-Dundas Square with members of the media battling celebrities which came down to a shoot out between the two teams. The media was in black and celebrities were in red jerseys and Carlton the Bear was a goalie, oh yeah, the celebs kicked ass.
Paul Henderson launched the event while attending celebrities included Curtis Joseph, Scotty Bowman, Kurt Browning, Jake Gold, Dennis Maruk, Billy Talent and many others.
The Road Hockey fundraiser is scheduled for next year on October 1, 2011 and will be an all day tournament.  "This Dawn-to-Dusk fundraising event will feature an unprecedented number of spirited road hockey games, as well as musical acts, celebrity appearances, interactive activities, food and beverages, and so much more! If you enjoy a challenge, being part of a team and donating your time and effort to an amazing cause, this is the event for you."


See more pictures after the jump.







Car Tuning

Car Tuning

There are different equipments that speed enthusiasts can attached to their car’s engine to boost power. One of them is what you call turbochargers. Plainly speaking, turbochargers are pumps that collect and compress air into the cylinder. By compressing the air, it allows more air to fit into the cylinder, creating more power because of the increase in combustibility of air-fuel mixture. There are turbo kits available for different cars that are commonly modified for racing. The kits normally include manifolds, down pipes, intercooler, turbo, waste gate, blow off valve, fittings, and tubings, depending on the car make or model.

You can also get a turbo for your car from among different manufacturers such as HKS, Blitz, Greddy, and Garrett. Each manufacturer has different specifications of their turbos, therefore it is important to know which one fits your engine. Intercoolers usually go with turbos. Intercoolers make the compressed air cooler so that the cylinders can take in more air to increase horsepower.
Turbo boost controllers are used to increase the boost pressure of turbos. You can choose from industry leaders including HKS, Blitz, Greddy, and Turbosmart. They offer turbo boost controllers with different features and specifications. Some even allow you to program boost curves to vehicle speed.
Other turbo accessories include boost gauges and turbo timers. Boost gauges practically allows you to monitor boost levels, while turbo timers keeps your engine running for a specified time, giving the turbo time to cool down. It automatically switches off your engine after the preset time has lapsed.
Superchargers are just basically like turbochargers in function and use. The difference between the two lies in what run the air pumps. Superchargers are belt driven while turbochargers get power from the exhaust gas. It is simpler to install a supercharger than turbocharger because it has fewer parts than the latter. However, turbochargers are still preferred by most boost-hungry drivers due to its market availability. This means that drivers will not have a hard time looking for a turbo that will match with their engine.
Nitrous Oxide Systems (NOS) provides extra oxygen to burn more fuel resulting to increased energy and power. Nitrous Oxide is stored in its liquid form inside a highly pressurized container, but comes out of it in vapor form. It is injected into the engine’s intake valve, breaks down into its basic components of nitrogen and oxygen upon reaching a certain temperature level, producing more oxygen to burn more fuel, resulting in increased horsepower. This is excluding the power gain resulting from the inherent cooling property of nitrous oxide. A power boost of 100 to 300 percent over stock is not impossible with NOS.
What’s good about NOS is that is it versatile. You can use it in one car, take it out and install it in another without hassle. You can use NOS only when you need it; meaning you can use your car in its normal state saving you some gas money.

Monday, September 27, 2010

New Audi Cars Concept

The company is headquartered in Ingolstadt, Germany and has been a wholly-owned (99.55%) subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen AG) since 1964. Volkswagen Group relaunched the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi 60 range. Shortly thereafter the name was acquired as part of Volkswagen's purchase of the Auto Union assets from former owner, Daimler-Benz.
The company name is based on the surname of the founder August Horch, the name itself an English cognate with the English word "hark", meaning listen — which when translated into Latin, becomes Audi.

Audi Cars
Audi Cars
Audi Cars
Audi Cars
Audi Cars

Bugs Bunny at the Symphony

As someone who grew up watching Bugs Bunny and all those Saturday morning Looney Toons I was pleasantly surprised to see that Bugs Bunny at the Symphony will be coming to the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on April 9, 2011.

Their website says "Tickets as low as $38. Don't miss this showcase of classic Warner Bros Looney Tunes projected on the big screen, with their exhilarating original Carl Stalling scores played LIVE by the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.

This brand new edition features beloved classics like What's Opera, Doc? and The Rabbit of Seville, new additions such as Tweety's Circus and A Scent of the Matterhorn, plus special guests Tom and Jerry in The Hollywood Bowl, The Flintstones, and Scooby-Doo! Don't miss these, plus many more favourites in this 20th Anniversary concert of Warner Bros' cartoons on the big screen with live orchestra! See more information about the show by clicking here."

I remember that Bugs ended up bringing the symphony building down in one cartoon so hopefully the rebuild of the Centre will be beefed up to avoid this type of calamity when it has a grand reopening on October 1, 2010. I would also like to see if the singing frog and Leopold will be at this show.


More suds in Berczy Park fountain

Walking by the Berczy Park fountain I noticed some bubbles along the sidewalk and in the road. I followed the trail back to the fountain and, aha, found the source. Someone, or something, had placed soap in the water and like a big washing machine the churning water had soon created a cloud of bubbles.

This also happened in 2008 and 2009. I don't believe in coincidence so I think it is just someone, probably a broke University student, doing their laundry - once a year.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

NCTS Champ 2010 #17 DJ Kennington

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCTS) 2010 Championship title was awarded to D.J. Kennington of the #17 Castrol Edge car. D.J. (second from the left) shares a laugh with some of the other NCTS drivers during recent qualifying laps for a race at Barrie Speedway, he later went on to win that race. The NASCAR website says that as the Champion he "earned a starting spot in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, the prestigious post season event that has earned the title as 'the Daytona 500 of short-track racing."
from left to right: J.R. Fitzpatrick, D.J. Kennington, Ron Beauchamp Jr., Scott Steckly and Mark Dilley

Here are some pictures of D.J. during a 2008 race in Cayuga when his sweet Castrol ride was a little green.


Luxury Car Modifications

Luxury Car Modifications

Spyker Car Modification│2010 Trend Modification

Spyker Car Modification│2010 Trend Modification

Expect to see some abashing orange on the alley actual anon as Dutch car makers Spyker accept appear that a limited-edition LM85 will anon hit the anchorage and this one will be a street-legal adaptation of the acclaimed chase car. A Street-Legal adaptation of C8 Laviolette GT2-R racecar, accepted as the C8 Laviolette LM85 will anon be accessible but will be bound to absolute 24 cartage that will booty shape.
Spyker additionally appear that it will be assuming a pre-production archetypal of its accessible C8 Aileron sports car at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. The car will accept a 4.2L agent laying bottomward 400 hp and 354 lb-ft. of torque. It tips the scales at 3,142 lbs. and should additionally top out at 187 mph. The Aileron should do 0 to 62 mph in a hardly beneath extreme, but still absorbing 4.5 seconds.
While no added capacity accept been accustomed apropos the LM85’s latest alley version, it will be added than account the delay back it absolutely hits the road. Keep an eye out for this babyish back it rolls out but additionally be assured that it will bake a aperture through your abridged and more!

New Cars 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS

New Cars 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS 1As standard, the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS has a six-speed manual gearbox and the seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK), is available as an option. Compared Carrera S. The upper speed GTS with manual transmission increases 2mph to 190 mph. In general, the acceleration from zero to 62mph is improving, 0.1 seconds; for GTS Coupé with PDK and Sport Chrono Package Plus Sport Plus mode, the source sprint takes only 4.2 seconds.

New Cars 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS 2
New Cars 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS 3Special attention was paid to charge exchange in the 3.8-litre flat engine delivering 408 hp: In a special resonance intake manifold, six vacuum-controlled tuning flaps switch between power- and torque-optimized geometry whereas in a Carrera S power unit there is only one tuning flap. Thus, maximum torque of unchanged 420 Nm is already available at 4,200 rpm, 200 rpm earlier compared with the Carrera S. Add to that a sports exhaust system with two dual tailpipes. Their outer shells are painted in black and their inner tubes are polished on the outside and nano-coated.

Unique within the 911 Carrera family, the GTS combines the 44 millimetre wider body of the all-wheel drive Carrera 4 models – including widened rear track – with a classic rear-wheel drive configuration. The Porsche 911 Carrera GTS sits on 19-inch centre-locking RS Spyder alloy wheels, painted in black with high-gloss finished rims, with 235/35 ZR 19 tyres on the front axle and 305/30 ZR 19 tyres on the rear. Further features include the SportDesign front apron with spoiler edge painted in black, special side skirts also in black, and the Carrera GTS logotype on doors and rear lid, in black or silver depending on the body colour. The area between the two tailpipes on the rear apron is also finished in black.

The new Porsche 911 Carrera GTS will have its global debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show on October 2 and goes on sale in the UK in December, priced from £76,758 for the Coupe and £83,493 for the Cabriolet.

New Cars 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS 4
New Cars 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS 5