Ontario Celebration Zone - Harbourfront

Saturday, August 1


Another warm, sunny Saturday, and I decided to check out the Harbourfront area again.
As it happened, there was an ongoing Pan Am-related event taking place there, called the Ontario Celebration Zone (there's usually something going on every weekend year-round at Harbourfront, but this was special).
I'll also have some pics of a visit to the western part of the area, including Billy Bishop Airport, and Ireland Park.

First, it was Harbourfront, and the main thing you notice right away (it's hard to miss) is this zipline going over the crowd. It's apparently 400 feet long!

 At the bottom of the pic, you can see two oval-shaped shelters. They were both for musical acts; the one at left was for larger bands, and had no seating. The one at right had a smaller stage for a solo act, and there were tables and chairs, and a counter where you could order food and drinks.

 In the larger tent was the Latin-American musical group, Ruben Esguerra and New Tradition.
"Beny" (at microphone) explained that the purpose of the band was to combine the talents of musicians from all over, to create a "new tradition."
As you can see, it was a very large ensemble, with no fewer than four trombonists! They were very energetic, and you couldn't help but want to move to their music.

Moving along, at the Stage in the Round, there was a program called "Island Soul," that featured different acts throughout the day. This was a four-piece group, Isax Injah and the EOP Band.
 

From there, I decided to head west, to the foot of Bathurst St., to check out the newly-opened pedestrian tunnel to Billy Bishop Airport on Toronto's islands.
You could take elevators, or two sets of reeealy long escalators at either end to get into the tunnel.

At the top of the escalators, on the airport end, you're greeted by this remarkable sight; a replica of the Nieuport 17 fighter plane, one of the ones that Billy Bishop himself flew over Europe in World War I.
It's only a replica, but it is life-size, and really brings home how hair-raisingly scary it must have been to pilot one of these - never mind working the machine gun, which on this craft was mounted on the upper wing. Apparently, this was safer at that time than relying on synchronized firing through the propeller.

In this area, there are a number of display cases about Billy Bishop, featuring photos, notes, recollections, videos, examples of the clothes he would have worn, and - not least - replicas of the many, many medals he received for his service.

I decided to take the short (90-second) ferry ride back to the city, and, looking west, got this pic of a sailboat, and farther back, the approaching schooner Kajama, that was taking passengers for a tour around the lakefront. Just to illustrate how short a trip this is, you can see some of the airport buildings at left, and Toronto's shoreline at right!

After I disembarked, I got a good pic (through the glass walls of the ferry terminal building) of the Kajama passing through the channel, back to its berth at the east end of the harbour, there to pick up new passengers and do the tour again.

Walking back east, I saw a sign that read "Ireland Park," with an arrow pointing south, and remembered that there had been a memorial installed there to the Irish immigrants who came to Toronto in the mid-1800s to escape the potato famine in their homeland.

It was blocked to the public during all the construction that went on on Queen's Quay for the last few years, but it's now re-opened, so I decided to check it out.

The park is literally on the shore of Lake Ontario, at the spot where the immigrants landed, and where the 80+-year old Canada Malting Company silos also still stand.

First, a view from the southeast, of the large Kilkenny limestone wall (14 sections in all) that marks the memorial:

The wall apparently is supposed to reflect the coast of Ireland as it would have been seen by the departing migrants.

They're invisible here, but in the spaces between these walls are inscribed the names of some of the immigrants who died in a Typhus epidemic that hit Toronto only a short time after their arrival in 1847. Poignantly ironic...

The list also includes the names of prominent Irish Torontonians through the years.

Looking from the south, you can see the stacked-glass beacon, and some stone plinths with video screens installed. They weren't working, but I assume they tell some stories about the immigrants' experiences.

You can also see the Canada Malting silos on the right.

But the most affecting sight here is this group of bronze statues at the east end of the memorial. They represent the starving people arriving on the shores, and starkly depict their various states of mind: The pregnant woman carrying the new generation of Canadians; the joyful man with arms raised in gratitude; the child, nervous and uncertain; the fallen figure, collapsed in despair; and the man hopefully looking ahead to the future.

They are not pretty, but they are honest.

And, walking back east, to the Stage in the Round, this ensemble, SHAK-SHAK, was playing lively, danceable. politically-themed Latin/Caribbean music, and encouraging everyone to get up and have a good time.

And, farther east, there was this gentleman, James Chilton, playing an instrument you don't see too often in these parts, the digeridoo, an instrument of the Australian Aborigines.

I engaged him in some conversation after he played this piece, and he explained that there is a technique you can learn in order to keep a steady flow of air going through the instrument. which is necessary for its unique sound: He breathes in through his nose, while simultaneously blowing out through his mouth!

And that was it for this day!

Pan Am Games, Toronto 2015 - Part III - Panamania!

Saturday, July 25


I thought I should take in one of the many free Panamania events before the games closed, and ended up at Nathan Phillips Square.
Looking north from the pedestrian bridge, you can see the City Hall towers, the North stage, the South stage (at right), a troupe of acrobats performing on the water, and the now-iconic multi-coloured TORONTO sign.

Here's another view of the TORONTO sign, from ground level. It's nice and bright in the daytime, but is lit from within at night, and looks even cooler then!

From the ramp on the East side of the square, you can see Jane Bunnett and her group, Maqueque, warming up on the West stage.
Osgoode Hall Law School is past that, and the Confederation Life building on University Avenue, with its well-known weather beacon, is in the distance.

Here's a closer view of Jane Bunnett and her combo in action.
They are an all-female band (except for the drummer, as you see), and specialize in Afro-Cuban music. Bunnett has always been interested in African/Caribbean/Latin music, as well as in giving female musicians a showcase for their talents.

There were also large wrap-around screens in various places, where you could watch live PanAm coverage. At this time, it was the Karate competitions.

The next attraction was the Art Battle. It featured 20 artists from all over the Americas, each of whom had 20 minutes to complete a painting. Here they are at their easels on the South stage, getting ready for the competition...

...and, after a countdown from 10 to 1, they're off and painting!
These pics were again taken from the pedestrian bridge.

Another angle of them, from the same level, with the TORONTO sign in the background:

After the paintings were completed, they were put on display, and the public would vote for their preferred painting. The competition was then narrowed down to six finalists, and this is a shot of them at work:

The weather had been unsettled the whole day, and just at this time, the organizers got word that there was a lightning warning in effect. The whole show had to be shut down, music, painting, everything. This made for a bit of an anti-climax to the day, but it had still been fun.



Finally, here's my "artsy" picture of the day. The TORONTO sign's white areas are quite reflective, and I wanted to get a shot of that. It's the final "O" in TORONTO, and you can see the stage lights, sound booth and one of those wrap-around screens quite clearly:

And that was it for my Pan Am experience. I acknowledge that the ParaPan Am games are still going on, and I'm sure there will be lots of excitement around them, too.

As a Torontonian, I will always be proud of the job we've done on all aspects of these Pan Am/ParaPan Am Games. I think many will agree that we've exceeded expectations, and it should give us a good feeling, now and for the future, to know that everything has gone so well.

Pan Am Games, Toronto 2015 - Part II

Saturday, July 18

I attended two events on this date also, both of them at the Ricoh Coliseum.
Here, again, is a shot of the venue prior to the events. I was sitting in roughly the same spot this time, but more central.

There would be two events that day, and they were set up for both: Women's Rhythmic Gymnastics (the floor mat in foreground) and Men's and Women's Trampoline (at rear). There will be better shots of the trampolines later.
You may also notice, at top left of the "ice" area, the medal podium.


The competition started with the club routine.
The first Canadian competitor was Carmen Whelan, and here she is off to the side, warming up...

...and, at the beginning of her routine, just before she kicked the clubs up in the air and caught them:

Unfortunately, she would only achieve sixth place overall, but still did a good routine.


Later on came the ribbon competition.
Warming up here is American Laura Zeng, who did near-perfect routines on both clubs and ribbon, and would go on to win the individual gold medal.

Here's another competitor, doing her ribbon routine. I took a few pictures of this athlete (probably because I didn't have a stake in watching her routine closely), and have forgotten who she is, but I'm very happy to have caught this powerful movement!

Canada's Patricia Bezzoubenko warms up with her coach on the sidelines, prior to her ribbon routine:

And, at the beginning of her routine, strikes this breathtaking pose, with the ribbon over her eyes! She even started the routine with eyes covered, before pulling the ribbon forward and into her hands.
Patricia would go on to win the bronze medal for this amazing performance.

After the individual routines finished, showing lots of class, Patricia went into the crowd to pose for pictures with thrilled fans:

Then, it was on to team competition. Teams used both clubs and rings in their routines.
This is the team from Brazil, who, as you see, showed much precision in their routine, but also inventiveness and energy - you may almost say joy - as they performed for a crowd that took an immense liking to them right away.

And, no doubt, they were helped by their boisterous fans (in green and yellow), who showed the most enthusiasm of any that whole morning:

For their efforts, the Brazilian team would go on to win a well-deserved gold medal in the team event.
(As you may know, the Brazilian athletes as a whole ended up in third place overall at these games, after the U.S. and Canada.)



Then, the Canadian team took the floor, and also did a terrific routine, but sadly, not enough to win them a medal:

After winning the highest score, the Brazilian team acknowledged the applause of an appreciative crowd:

It was quite a thrill for me to get pics of the individual medal awards, with a Canadian girl standing in the bronze place on the podium!
Laura Zeng and Jasmine Kerber from the U.S. won gold and silver, respectively.

You may notice another crowd of Brazilian fans behind the podium, who, needless to say, went wild when their team was awarded the gold medal later on!


And, here are the individual medalists with their medals.
(Excuse the picture quality - the podium was at the other end of the building, after all!)

And, after the ceremony, Patricia talked to the media:

By this time, it was after noon, and I once again headed out to the Pan Am Park. It was another hot day, temps over 30C, and humid. If there was one thing I would have preferred here, it would be for there to be more shaded areas.

One of the fun features of the park was the preponderance of that Canadian furniture icon, the Muskoka chair.
Here, at the CIBC PanAmazing Square, people relax and watch other competitions taking place simultaneously, in this case, beach volleyball. It was a bit of a disorienting experience; the beach volleyball centre was only a few hundred feet away from here, but there was some sort of delay in this broadcast, so you'd hear roars from the crowd in the distance before anything exciting happened on this screen! Weird!

As I mentioned, they had some fun with the iconic Muskoka chair, and these giant-sized ones were everywhere. People could relax in them, or more likely, have their picture taken in them:

There was also a troupe of performers on this day, this time, stilt-walkers dressed in colourful animal costumes. They wandered the grounds to music, interacting with people in the crowd:

The most remarkable performer was this fellow, in an elephant getup. You can see him, on stilts, in green, blue and yellow, about halfway back in the costume. At one point, the trunk was used to spray a gentle stream of water!

I had a fair bit of time to kill, but kept myself occupied by sampling various foods, and catching other acts, like this one, Ron Davis' Symphronica With The Lombard Twins. It was a jazz combo (not Dixieland, either, but cool jazz), to whose music these energetic brothers would tap dance! Not something you see every day...

At 7 pm, it was back to the Ricoh Coliseum for the trampoline competition. Once again, these were preliminary, not medal, rounds.
I had a lower seat this time, and this was the overall view from there:

There were two trampolines, and the athletes got to warm up on each one, and choose the one that felt best to them.
Keep in mind that, not only can the athletes not go outside the white portion of the trampoline, they have to consistently land within the black lines inside the white area, or they have points deducted. You may or may not be able to see the black lines in this closer picture, but you probably get an idea of how small an area that is:

Next was the warmups. The women went first, and this is one of the Canadian girls (I believe it's Karen Cockburn) getting a feel for things. Karen would place first this day, then win the bronze medal the next day.

Next, pausing before her warmup, was Rosie McLennan. Unfortunately, she landed awkwardly and out of bounds on her routine (so the spotters, here in the saffron-coloured shirts, must be alert), but went on the the next day to win the gold medal!

Then, it was the men's turn. Here, I was able to catch Keegan Soehn in a pensive moment just before his routine. He was also to go on to win gold the next day.

Jason Burnett was the other Canuck who competed, and did well, but was just edged out of the medals the next day, placing fourth.

And, that was it for the competitions I attended! I went home after the long day exhausted, but happy. What a thrill, to see such high-powered athletes live in action.
I was very pleased that the Games were as well-presented and well-coordinated as they were, and that everything went off virtually without a hitch. Professionals and volunteers alike should be very proud of the outstanding job they did.


Finally, I couldn't leave the competitions without a souvenir or two, and here are mine: A pair of athletic-style sunglasses with the Roman numeral for 17 on them (these were the 17th PanAm Games), and the Toronto 2015 logo; and a cowbell noise-maker, which I put to good use cheering on the Canadian athletes.

Next, I'll post pics and comments about the other aspect of these games, Panamania. As I mentioned, these were free events that took place for the duration of the games at Pan Am Park, Harbourfront, the Distillery District, and Nathan Phillips Square. It was the latter place where I spent the next Saturday afternoon...

Pan Am Games, Toronto 2015 - Part I

Well, as promised, here is the record of my Pan Am Games experience.

Prior to the Games, I had noticed, in the media and elsewhere, a sense of, at best, complacency, and at worst, dread or resentment, towards them. I had been thinking of attending some events, and this negativity only strengthened my resolve to do so. It also occurred to me that I probably wouldn't get another chance to see world-class athletes live in action if I didn't go.
When I bought tickets in June, only about 50% of them had been sold, but by the time of the opening ceremonies, there was much more interest and excitement about the Games, and the crowds I was with were never less than noisily enthusiastic.

As I mentioned, I took many pictures, and have had to go through them carefully to decide which ones to post here (I may post them all, with captions, on my Picasa site - but that's for the future).

After sifting through the pics, I decided to divide them up into three separate postings, to reflect each of the days I went to the events. First up...


Saturday, July 11

The first event I attended was the Men's Artistic Gymnastics. It was held at the Ricoh Coliseum, known to some simply as "the Coliseum," to others as "the home of the Toronto Marlies," Toronto's Junior hockey team.
Here is a shot of the place prior to the events:

Six events took place here:
Front, left to right - vault, rings, pommel horse;
Centre - floor exercise;
Rear, left to right - parallel bars, high bar

At each event area, the volunteers (in saffron-coloured t-shirts) prepare the areas where the judges will sit.
The triangle-set LCD screens will show each competitor's name, country and score.
Near bottom left, the Games' mascot, Pachi the Porcupine, drums up enthusiasm. He has 41 quills, representing the number of countries participating in the Games. These 17th Games had the highest number of competitors in their history.
And, at top left, the competing countries' flags are on display.


One of the first "action" pics I got was of the Canadian competitor, Ken Ikeda, on the pommel horse. Sadly, he was to slip later in this routine, which knocked him out of any chance for a good standing.

The next "action" pic was of the Canadian competitor, Hugh Smith, on the rings. They move from one position to the other (mostly with swinging motions), and must hold each position to show strength. Also makes it easier to get a good picture!
But when I look at guys doing this exercise, I can't imagine the strain their muscles must take.

After all the athletes on a team finished on one of the apparati, they would then rotate to the next one, so that (in this case) the five teams competing would get a shot on all six of the apparati. Thus, the overall event lasted for a couple of hours. These were qualification events, but none the less exciting for being so.


Then, it was outside, to the Exhibition grounds, named "PanAm Park" for the purposes of the Games. It was a hot, sunny day, temps around 30C. You can see various tents set up, the Games' flags, and the BMO Field in the background, where the Toronto FC play.
There were tents for the Games' sponsors, as well as for entry areas, where they would search attendees' bags and scan each person with metal detectors.
To the left, out of shot, were food trucks, offering many choices, all of which I must say were pretty high-priced.

There was entertainment in the PanAm Park the whole day. This was a troupe of performers (I believe they called themselves The Fruits) on flexible stilts, who would gesture and sway to the accompaniment of various types of music, from opera to pop. There were many "oohs," "aahs" and gasps from the crowd, as these acrobats looked like they could fall right over at any minute!

There were also live bands playing throughout the day, at this stage on the north end of the site. They were part of the series of  free"Panamania" concerts held here, at Nathan Phillips Square, Harbourfront, and in the Distillery District. I believe this is the pop-rock group Said the Whale.

The next event I went to was something really unusual: Roller Figure Skating. It's just what it sounds like, figure skating on old-school (4-wheel) roller skates.
It was held in the Exhibition Centre, and there were just bleachers for seating. The skating surface was a series of large, smooth wooden boards, as you can see from this picture taken before the event. I was about three levels up, high enough to see the surface, but close to the action.
(Many of these pics were taken with the zoom, so, apologies, the quality won't be the best, but I hope you get the idea).

Prior to the skaters taking to the, er, boards, these two people went over the surface, picking up any small debris that might pose a hazard to the athletes.

There were women's and men's events in this preliminary short-program round, eight athletes per. All eight got a chance to limber up a while prior to the event. Then, four skaters at a time were invited to warm up just prior to their routines. The women first:

This event was very challenging for the athletes. They had to do the same jumps, poses and spins as ice figure skaters, only on rollers.
It took a while for me to get used to the "BAM" of rollers on wood, as each jump or spin landed.
Frankly, some of these athletes had a hard time of it; there was much wobbling and many falls, but it only brought home how hard this sport really is.

Here is Canada's Kaila Macri, posing at the start of her routine. She did a very good job, and finished fourth in the short program.

Then, it was the men's turn. As before, groups of eight, then four, took to the boards to warm up.
The men seemed to have an easier time at this sport. They appeared much more solid and sure of themselves on the skates. I'm not sure what accounts for the difference; perhaps the men's greater weight somehow helps. Only speculation, though.

The biggest thrill came from this man, Marcel Sturmer, from Brazil. He was solid throughout, landing every hair-raising jump and spin, to the astonishment and delight of the crowd. He garnered the highest score of the event, and a huge ovation after his flawless routine.

This event also took a couple of hours to complete. There were no Canadian men in the competition, and so it was back out, through the remarkable atrium of the Exhibition Centre...

...back out to the Pan Am Park, where another act was at the north stage. They were called USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker), and their music was high-energy hard rock, with the addition of a turntablist.

It was getting towards nine pm by this time, and I hung around a little bit longer, but then headed home, by which time it was dark. It had been a tiring, but fun day, and there would be another in a week. That's for the next posting...



(P.S. You may have noticed a dark spot on a couple of the last three or four pictures. When I took my camera into a shop to ask about it, they said it was damage to or a problem with the sensor, and it would cost a fair bit of money to fix it, so in the end, I bought a whole new damn camera. It's similar to the one I used here, so the quality of future pics will be about the same.)

All right, onward we go.