Monthly Archives: July 2012

07.31.12
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Kensington Market neighbourhood – ‘wear flowers in your hair’

It’s our East Village, Venice Boardwalk and 1960′s-era Woodstock rolled into one.  TORONTO’s old Jewish market, sandwiched between Western Hospital and Spadina Avenue is a welcoming place to visit in summer.  It’s packed with vintage shops, people-watching patios, galleries, a theatre, two parks, nightclubs, a food market, and some excellent restaurants.  TTC streetcars: DUNDAS and COLLEGE to Spadina Avenue or Kensington  Avenue.

   

   

    

   

<PHOTOS ABOVE – Kensington Sunday in the Market, Facebook>

07.29.12
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Ms. Wildman strikes again: another full page in the Sunday New York Times!

SARAH WILDMAN, writing in the Sunday New York Times, is doing our city and province proud.  This summer we’ve had four major stories in the Travel and Arts & Leisure sections (Justin Bieber and Stratford; radio host Jian Ghomesi of CBC’s ‘Q’; the West Queen West arts district; and today – 36 Hours in Toronto.  This is the kind of publicity that money can’t buy – given the Times’ reach and readership.

<The Sunday New York Times, 36 Hours in Toronto, July 29/2012>

To quote Sarah Wildman: “There’s something happening in TORONTO.  While so many cities lament the global economic crisis and the dulling effects of globalization, boutiques and restaurants seem to open every week in TORONTO, and immigrant neighbourhoods still feel linguistically, gastronomically, gloriously distinct.  The cultural diversity and urbanity seem limitless.  But it’s hardly an urban jungle.  TORONTO is filled with lush, insistent greenery and an abundance of parks.  It’s hard to imagine a better city to explore in summer.”

The article goes on to tour Kensington Market, the Beach, Ossington Avenue, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Trinity-Bellwoods Park, restaurants, pubs, High Park, Little Portugal, the Royal Ontario Museum, a poetry and jazz cafe, Baldwin Street, hotels, Art Gallery of Ontario, etc. etc.

    

07.29.12
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Richard Serra’s ‘Tilted Spheres’, Pearson International Airport

RICHARD SERRA, a sculptor and artist who does amazing things with weathered steel, is represented in most of North America’s major art museums.  TORONTO has installed one of his finest pieces in the Departure Lounge at Pearson International Airport.  The sculpture is called ‘Tilted Spheres’, and you can get as close to it as you like.  Of course – some Canuck humour here – you’ll need an international plane ticket in order to do so.

<PHOTOS ABOVE – Ross Winter>

ABOVE, another example of Richard Serra’s work in SEATTLE’s sculpture park.  And that’s me on top, inside a Serra sculpture.

07.27.12
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Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson’s big show is underway.

<The Mayor of London, BORIS JOHNSON, with CBC’s PETER MANSBRIDGE, July 26/2012>

BORIS JOHNSON, popular as a rock star, has been shepherding LONDON’s Olympic spectacular for the last two years.  Now it’s showtime!  Previously a Member of Parliament and Editor-in-Chief of Spectator Magazine, BORIS, 48, recently began a second term as the capital’s mayor.  He’s educated, exuberant, knows how to handle the media, and is obviously in love with his city.

Quotations from Mayor JOHNSON:
* “My chances of being PM are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive.”
* “My friends, as I have discovered myself, there are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters.”
* “In 1904, 20 per cent of journeys were made by bicycle in London. I want to see a figure like that again. If you can’t turn the clock back to 1904, what’s the point of being a Conservative?”
* “I have got a city to run and that’s exactly the point! The government of London will carry on irrespective of the temporary difficulties in providing a national government. Thank you. “

<The Mayor’s new book: “it’s a flawed, but a gripping read” – the Londonist>