High tech building security

A mannequin in a raincoat keeps watch over the demolition site across from the famous Toronto Flatiron building. I worked a bit in the former Keg Restaurant site which was in this block of buildings being removed by Priestly Demolition in an area that will soon be home to a boutique condo (I think that means it comes with a tiny purse and high heels). You can see an artist rendition of the future site here.

Scotland Yard Timepiece

It is a cool clock, I wonder who the guy is on top of the piece. The Scotland Yard Pub waits for you to show up and enjoy a nice cold beer in the St Lawrence Market area at 56 The Esplanade. Toronto is full of great little restaurants and spring and summer will make for great times on the patio.

Banksy in the alley

Banksy's Toronto graffiti still survives, barely, in a few places. Luckily he picked the right alley on Church Street because the building next door looks like it is coming down, while the second one away is down - done like dinner, nothing left but the splinters.

I was surprised to see that the Church Street Keg Restaurant has moved out of it's old building and into a new home on The Esplanade. I worked in that Keg for one night covering their staff party night - that's right I used to work for the Keg (Mississauga (the old Dixie-Dundas Keg) and the Brampton (the old downtown Brampton Keg)). Sadly, I just noticed that all my old Keg Restaurants are gone! I met and married my wife when we worked at the Keg and I have a ton of great memories from those days. Rock on Keg Staff.

Photo Vault - fun in Toronto

For a photographer, life in Toronto is full of fun and so many great photo opportunities. The people of the big smoke get behind and support so many worthwhile causes - from gay rights to charity drives. One of the biggest celebrations and show of support is for the many LGBT marches during PRIDE week. The Dyke March  is one of my favourites and I always like when they bring out the big rainbow flag. Brim Stone #21:8 is from the mighty Gore-Gore Rollergirls of the Toronto Roller Derby League.

See more pictures - including some more photos from the Ms Chin Bikini Pageant, after the jump.

The architecture in Toronto includes shiny new condos and old buildings and neighbourhoods that make the city a great place to live, work and play. While mayors come and go some of the buildings get better with age - like the iconic flatiron building in the St. Lawrence Market area.

Mayor David Miller

There is also a lot of competition in Toronto as sports teams and beautiful people compete, head to head and toe to toe. The Chin Picnic's Ms Chin Bikini Contest draws so many beautiful women it would be very hard to pick out a winner.

There is also a lot of promotions going on - there are a lot of people out there who hope to increase business and they give out free stuff to get people to try their products, go see their sports events and buy tickets to the latest concerts. My wife says that as good as Bon Jovi songs are, they pale in comparison to his handsome good looks. Bon Jovi will be at the Air Canada Centre (ACC) on Februrary 14 and 15, 2011 if you want to see him in action.

Hockey on Yonge Street

Ivanovic & Wozniaki

Baking in the sun and watching fireworks is a good way to spend quality time together.

You can always chuck it all, drop your drawers and head to Toronto's naked beach - Hanlan's Point or wait for the next Naked Bike Ride.

Saturday at Buskerfest

The fun continues at the Scotiabank Buskerfest and I watched some exciting shows and performers including the Russian Bar Trio (above) and their aerial show pictured below.

The fest is extremely popular and like many events in Toronto the event is always jam packed, especially if the weather cooperates which it has this year.

Sprinkled throughout the streets are large boards showing the schedule and locations of the acts. You check out what you want to see and head to the area early if you want to see the show. Usually the first row sits on the ground and the rest gather round, after three or four people deep you usually can not see the act so you have to look for another. 

There are quite a few artists, like Silver Elvis and Kate Mior, that set up at one location and stay there for quite awhile.

Some of the performers wander around and spread joy and sometimes mayhem as they make their way through the crowd. I really liked the group called Saurus from the Netherlands which is three large dinosaurs with heads that extend high above heads and large claws that could rip you to pieces if they were real. The sounds of the dinosaurs as they pass by is another great touch.

Another group that was fun to watch was the Calypso Tumblers from the US their banter and athletics was exciting, especially during the finale when they jump over a large group of young kids pulled from the audience.

Don't forget to bring some money to donate to Epilepsy Toronto and to give to the performers who work hard to earn tips.

See more photos after the jump.

Buskerfest 2010

The buskers are in full buskering mode at the St Lawrence Market neighbourhood so grab some money and head on down and let them busk you at the 2010 Scotia Buskerfest in support of Epilepsy Toronto. The fun lasts until this Sunday and the streets are also full of venders and there is even a beer garden on one of the side streets. Here is my post with photos taken during Saturday's performances.

Toronto's Flatiron building

When I went to Detroit I was surprised to see their Flatiron building was one of the boarded up, abandoned buildings that litter the street-scape of the motor city. Toronto's Flatiron building was constructed in 1891 which was before the 1899 Detroit building and even before the more famous New York Flatiron building. Seeing it's lonely, triangular shape made me want to visit Ontario's version again. Beside the unusual shape the colour and texture of the building is what makes it such a nice landmark.

TO's building is in the heart of the vibrant St. Lawrence Market and the iconic structure is further enhanced by the  large art installation of, funnily enough, the side view of a building which can be seen from the Berczy Park side. It is also a favourite of tourists and tours as many of the yellow and red tourist buses stop, empty out their passengers who point their cameras at the red and green triangle. In fact I felt like I got swarmed when one group moved across the street to my location and started taking pictures.

2010 Toronto Buskerfest - Aug 26-29

Update: You can see my photos of the Buskerfest from Thursday here and from Saturday here.

Get ready for amazing tricks and fun, fun, fun as we fast approach the 2010 Scotiabank Toronto Buskerfest during the 26th to the 29th in the St Lawrence Market area. I found Silver Elvis in a small town warming up for his work in the buskerfest, posing in front of a beautiful red, classic, Falcon convertible. I told Elvis that he was on the poster for the event and he was surprised.

I also found a winged vampire - she was promoting Screamfest which is coming to Acton in October.

Woofstock 2010

Pooches of all kinds were playing and sniffing down in the St Lawrence Market area during the June 12-13 weekend Woofstock. The free event is billed as the largest festival for dogs in North America. There were a lot of cute little teacup dogs, some with costumes that were cuter than they were - which is hard to do.

International uber Canadian celebrity Carla Collins broke free from Hollywood to judge some dog contests.

The rain which had been ready to fall since early morning finally started around 3pm and everyone found some type of nook or cranny in an attempt to stay dry. This guy had his own rain suit.

This is definitely an event that you don't need to have a dog to enjoy the day, you enjoyed other people's dogs - without any of that poo pickup required.

I really would like to see a Meowstock but have you ever seen a bunch of cats on leashes being dragged around because there is no way anyone can walk a cat; they go where they want to go and screw everyone else.

More pictures after the jump.