Nuit Blanche 2018

Nuit Blanche is certainly something I look forward to every year. I never know what I'll see or experience!

If you saw my posting last year, you'll know that I spent a fair amount of time with a friend at the Aga Khan Museum in Don Mills. I had such great memories of that experience that I thought I would make it my first stop this year.
Once again, there were shuttle buses leaving, this time from right in front of the ROM (chartered school buses - did that bring back some memories; mainly, how much smaller I was back in school!)
This year, for the first time, there were installations way out in Scarborough (and shuttle buses going there, too), but there was enough to see for a downtowner like me already - maybe next year?

There were some displays on the reflecting pools of the Aga Khan Museum, as there had been last year, but they weren't animations this time. They were still striking, though, and the more I look at these pics of them, the more fascinating they become.

I stood back a little from these first two, the better to get views of the buildings behind them.

The first one appears to be a kind of fantastical interior, with pink arched upper parts diminishing into impossibly fine points to a blue-hued mosaic floor.

The main museum building is in the background.

The next one has another pink-and-blue colour scheme, with star shapes against a "hollowed-out" hexagonal background.

The atrium of the remarkable Ismaili Centre is in the background here.

This one seems to be a combination of the last two, with one of the pointed, arched pieces from the first one resting on flat versions of the star-shapes from the second one.
A yellow and green colour combination here.

By contrast, this one uses only a simple arch shape as its motif, with a teal and reddish-orange colour scheme:

That wasn't all of those pieces on display, but I found these four the most interesting. As I said, they kind of grow on you!


As they did last year, the museum generously allowed Nuit Blanchers to explore the displays on the first floor of the museum at no cost. You could take pictures, as long as you didn't use a flash. I thought I'd take a little more time looking around this year, and there were some terrific things that I hadn't noticed last time.

What caught my eye first was this stunning fountain from Syria. I don't think it was here last year; I'm sure I would have noticed!
These would be embedded in the floors of dwellings, presumably with water coming out of the central "tower" into a cooling pool in the centre.
The marble and sandstone mosaic work is absolutely breathtaking.

This amazing pitcher was something else that really caught my eye. Again, the detail is incredible: On the bottom part are depictions of mythical characters, while around the rim is Arabic script, of an elongated type that isn't used nowadays.
I regret that I didn't get the picture I wanted, because, all around the inside of the rim was running more of that beautiful script. I thought I got it in the picture, but didn't. Maybe next time...

It's still a beauty, though, isn't it?

Also different this year was a display of three large tapestries. The nicest was this one, which was roughly three by ten feet in size.
It may be hard to tell from the picture, but you can tell it's hand-woven if you look carefully at the patterns that seem to repeat, but are actually slightly different.

In last year's posting, I mentioned some illustrated manuscripts that I found very beautiful, so this year, I got a picture of one of them.
It depicts princes Salm and Tur receiving their envoys, and is part of the legend of a mythical Iranian king who granted the whole of the country to only one of his three sons, two of whom were Salm and Tur, who then ended up with nothing. They had their brother slain in revenge, only to discover that he had a son, who had been raised by the king, and would therefore be the heir instead.
They sent these envoys to the king to beg forgiveness on their behalf, and the illustration shows them getting the bad news that none was forthcoming!

Once again, the pic didn't come out as well as I thought; the amount of detail is much better than you see. Apologies.

I may take time every year to explore this terrific place!

But there was more to see, so it was back (on a bus with a group of rowdy teenagers - wow, I'm getting old) to the Bloor and Avenue Road area.


There were all-night performances at the Church of the Redeemer by several  Asian dance and music troupes, collectively entitled Star Moon Water Stone.

When I arrived, this dance ensemble was performing a traditional routine. Their costumes appear to be Korean, but I never caught their name.

Next up was the amazing high-energy taiko drumming ensemble, Nagata Shachu.
I've seen these folks in a full-length concert, and believe me, there's never a dull moment!

Then, it was down St. George Street to the Astronomy building at U of T, for this installation, One Sky.
(While waiting in the (long) lineup for this, I struck up a conversation with a young couple who had come all the way from Orillia for Nuit Blanche!)
It featured a projection of the night sky over Toronto, with music (roughly a 12-tone E scale) based on the positions of the stars and other celestial bodies. You may notice how some stars will twinkle more brightly, based on their proximity to earth; they will be accompanied by louder notes to match.

Next, down to Queen and University for this whimsical installation by Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi, entitled Life's Little Worries. Using the statue of Sir Adam Beck as a base, he spent hours stacking objects like a desk, computer monitor, books and so on, apparently to represent Toronto's progress since Beck's time.

Beck advocated for a publicly-owned hydroelectric power company, and was the first chairman of what would become Ontario Hydro, now Hydro One. So it's kind of a tribute to him - in a backhanded way, I guess.

This year, Nathan Phillips Square was rather empty, relatively speaking. This installation by Ibrahim Mahama, Radical Histories 2012-2018, however, took up the entire rotunda.

The artist spent years assembling this huge collection of jute sacks from markets in Africa, then stitching them together to form an enormous tapestry.

The sacks would have contained products like cocoa, coffee and charcoal for export to first-world countries.
Looking at the writing and markings on them, one can only imagine the journeys these rough sacks have made.

This year, there was an installation in the parking garage under Nathan Phillips Square, by Gayle Chong Kwan, entitled Preserved. It's enlarged, mounted photographs of immigrant neighbourhoods in different cities, like London, New York, and Toronto.

The sign on the left-hand building (in English and Cyrillic) reads "Russian Baptist Mission"

None of the areas in these photos truly exists anymore. They are from New York's Little Italy, London's Limehouse district, and the Toronto area known as The Ward - the latter having been mostly demolished to make way for - yes - Nathan Phillips Square.

A Chinese laundry and a Kosher restaurant are neighbours here.

There is a bit of Toronto's original Chinatown still left along Dundas Street West near Yonge, but interestingly, the area between Bay and University is kind of a "little Tokyo," now, with sushi and ramen shops in abundance!

Chop suey isn't actually a true Chinese dish - it was concocted for the American palate.

The last attraction I got pics of at NPS was this one, All Eyes on You, sponsored by car company Infiniti. I took the shots from the elevated pedestrian walkway.
It's an actual car, covered with LED lights, with sensors picking up the movements of passersby.

People were having a good time, waving, twirling and jumping in front of it!

This was called Continuum: Pushing Towards the Light, by Brandy Leary and the Anandam Dancetheatre. It featured dancers moving slowly through the new pedestrian walkway between the Eaton Centre and Hudson's Bay.
The soprano sax you hear in the clip wasn't the actual accompaniment to the performance; it was a nearby street musician. Oddly, it was kind of suitable!

The last thing I saw was at the remarkable Cloud Gardens on Temperance Street. If you follow my blog, you may remember my stop here a couple of years ago as part of the Jane's Walk that explored the hidden art treasures around our downtown.

This piece was called (G)listening, and was created by David Rokeby. It's an arrangement of lighting setups that pulse and flow through different parts of the park. I stood on one of the bridges at the west end to capture the display.

And that was it for this year's Nuit Blanche. I saw a few more things than I've posted here, but these were the highlights.

Every year, I wonder what they'll come up with for this event, and every year, I'm astonished by the endless creativity of our own artists, as well as those from other countries who submit their works for our consideration.
Personally, I try to make the night last until about 1 or 2 am; I'm usually pretty beat by then. Maybe one year, I'll go through the whole night - just to say I did it!

Buskerfest 2018

It's a while since I posted something here, so having taken several pictures at this year's Buskerfest, I thought it might be fun to share them.

I hadn't been to this spectacle for a while; it used to be held along Front Street, and got kind of crowded in the narrow space. So, when they moved it to Woodbine Park a few years ago, I intended to go, but didn't get around to it until this year - my loss!

There were several stations in the wide-open spaces of the park that made it much easier to see each of the acts.
As seems to be my fate, several of them seemed to wind up just as I'd get there, but I was still able to get some decent shots.


This first act called himself Reuben DotDotDot, and, as you can see, was a daring aerialist. This was the climax of his act, where he balanced on a pole 17 feet high, on only one arm, then dismounted, sliding down the pole head first!

The pole was being held up by those four cables, which were anchored by volunteers from the audience!

The next act was Jack Wise, an Irish magician.
He had great stage patter (with a charming accent, as you can imagine!), and had great fun teasing the young boy from the audience, whom he had given trick glasses ("for eye protection"), which made everything appear about six inches lower than it actually was!
He "gave away" the trick he was doing - making it seem like a playing card appeared in that opaque green balloon - then made one appear in a clear balloon anyway!

This act was called the Mental Floss Sideshow. You were supposed to go inside this tiny tent and see "ten oddities and curiosities," but this gentleman was just as entertaining, with a steady stream of very authentic 19th-century carnival-barker dialogue.

Having a pavilion to themselves, this act, from Ontario, was called The Twisted Ones.
They made animals, crowns, tiaras and hats for children, but also incredible life-sized creations, like this dragon creature - all from balloons!

The little boy at left seems ready to defend himself. En garde!

This fellow called himself Wacky Chad, and used a number of novelty vehicles, like a tiny bike, regular unicycle, and this 10-foot high one.
Like Reuben DotDotDot, he got several men from the audience to help him mount this unicycle, and then had a young woman toss him two pins and a large knife to juggle while up there!

Oh, and there was music as well, from several performers.
I got a shot of this local a cappela group, After Hours, who, with only a pitch pipe, sang everything from 1950s doo-wop to George Harrison.

This act was called The Big Wheel Show, and featured Hannah Cryle, a gymnast who performed with hoops, as well as on this large German Wheel.
Unfortunately, I found her timing and patter a little off-putting - frankly, she seemed kind of cranky! - and didn't stick around for the whole act.

The last act I caught was FlameOz - from Australia, as you might expect.
There were three performers, and this husband-and-wife duo performed some amazing tricks with these fiery cables.
I didn't get a pic of it, but she then spun flaming hula hoops while standing on his shoulders!

So, after a few enjoyable hours, I headed out.
Going out the east exit, I came across this amazing musical contraption. It made me think of something out of Dr. Seuss; all these little "whos" were sure having a blast banging away on it!

Why aren't there more fun things like this in Toronto's parks?

The hot weather made me tired, but it sure was a fun afternoon!

I also recently went to the Beaches Jazz Festival along Queen Street East. Like this event, I hadn't been in some years, but had such a great time that I couldn't help wondering why I didn't go every year!
Note to self...

On the Waterfront - Toronto's, That Is

In June, there was another Waterfront Festival, and though there wasn't as much to see as last year, and the weather was quite bad, I still got in a good walk and some pics along our waterfront.

Some of these pictures will be from the Festival, some from FrancoFete, which was happening on the same day, and a couple simply because I found them amusing!


One of the attractions of the Waterfront Festival was this acrobatic troupe, AquaCirque, who were performing at Sherbourne Common.
Unfortunately, I wasn't in time to catch their entire act, and could only get a picture of their closing bit, but you can see they're an acrobatic/circus act with a nautical theme.

There were other attractions along Sherbourne Common and at Sugar Beach, but they were almost exclusively alcohol-related, local breweries and wineries and such. I'm no teetotaler, but lack of time, interest, and OK, funds, kept me from sampling anything.

Continuing west, I had to chuckle over this warning sign: apparently, there were a number of red-winged blackbird attacks in Toronto this spring (nesting season, you see), so they actually put up these signs along the waterfront.

I've actually been attacked by protective birds myself - more than once - while walking unaware near a nest, and it's quite startling, so I can't blame them for being cautious!

Continuing along, as I got to Harbourfront Centre, the rain genuinely started coming down, and I sought shelter under an overhang to wait it out.
It was pretty amusing to see this ducky couple waddling around without a care in the wet weather, so I thought I'd better get a picture!

At least someone didn't mind the rain...

The main attraction of this year's Waterfront Festival was this tall ship, the HMCS Oriole, which was docked at HTO Park.
It's a Marconi-rigged ketch, and is in active use as a training vessel for junior officers in the Royal Canadian Navy. She was first launched as an ocean-going yacht in 1921, and commissioned into the Navy in the 1950s. The ship is 102 feet long, with a deck measuring 91 feet.

The mainmast is 102 feet high, the mizzenmast is 70 feet, and the ship has 10 sails in total!

Here is the main wheel, the compass across from it, and the ship's crest at bottom left.
There is a crew of approximately 20 men, and there were a couple of entrances to below-decks, but we weren't allowed down there - but we could take a peek if someone was coming up!

The ship also has a 230 hp diesel engine, and two generators.

A view along the deck, showing the huge main sail wrapped up.
The deck was quite wet that day, but was surprisingly not slippery at all; I think there is some kind of rubber compound between the boards.

And, here's the bow, showing the anchor, and the winch they use to haul it up. The crewman told me it was motorized, but in a pinch, it seems like you could operate it manually, with handles that would slip on to the two posts on either side of the machine.

The other main feature of the Waterfront Festival was this sculpture, Pendulum Wave, by local design firm Decor & More.
It features six enormous beach balls, which swing back and forth on pendulums...

...as you can see here.
Also, as you can see, there was a small crew working on re-inflating the balls, so the piece wasn't actually in motion - so yeah, it wasn't exactly my day for catching the Festival's attractions at their peak!

But, as I mentioned, the other show that was going on at the same time was Ontario's annual Franco-Fete, something I usually don't get to see, so there you go.
At the UnisTV Stage, there were several acts during the afternoon, including this African-influenced Francophone group, Kizaba:

You may be able to see that it's raining; the group bravely played until the showers just got too intense.

As I waited out the rain, I was entranced by a quartet of male African vocalists who were rehearsing in the nearby shelter. They sang completely a capella, at times using parts of their own bodies for percussion, and employing the most exquisite rhythms and harmonies you ever heard. What beautiful, natural talent! I was sorry I couldn't hear more.


And later (post-rain), this acoustic-rock ensemble, Kyris, played some pleasant tunes:

But the highlight was this group at the main stage, purveyors of (by their own description) "le trad-rock," Les Rats d'Swompe.
It was high-energy roots-rock, not unlike, say, Great Big Sea, but of course, with a French flavour. They were full of energy, and everyone had fun, despite the rather stiff breeze coming off Lake Ontario by that time.

And that was all for that rather unseasonably chilly June day.
I'm looking forward to future events in the city, and will certainly be posting those worth posting in this space. Keep it locked on this channel!

Doors Open 2018

Well, another year, another Doors Open! This is something I look forward to every spring.

As always, there were many places of interest that I wanted to look at, and as always, I preferred to go to the ones that were within walking distance from my home downtown. This year, I did end up catching the Spadina streetcar to get to the last place, but only because it was someplace I'd wanted to visit for years - The City of Toronto Archives.


The first stop, though, was relatively close by, on Eastern Avenue. I knew the city had repurposed many of the industrial buildings along Eastern over the years, and was curious to see what they'd done with this one, at 433.
As it turned out, the older building, below, had been made part of a city works complex, with newer buildings behind it.

Other buildings of this type, particularly along Front St., have been made into theatres and police stations!

What they had on display was some of the equipment that keeps the city working.
In the pic below, clockwise from bottom, a snowplow, paving truck, salt spreader and street sweeper.
The workers there were happy to explain how the machines worked, and if you look at the street sweeper, you may notice it has two sets of controls (pedals, steering wheels) so that one-way or narrow streets can be worked more easily.

You may also notice the boy at the controls of the sweeper; children were especially fascinated by the equipment.

Here's a side view of the salter.
Having seen them in operation, I knew that the disc assembly in front of the rear wheels was where the salt was sprayed from.
In the background, you can see a leaf-clearing machine. The jaw-like device on the front opens, scoops up piles of leaves, and deposits them in a dump truck. It was kind of a scary-looking thing!

Not related to Doors Open:
Striking along Queen St., I came across something I'd forgotten about: the aftermath of a horrendous fire several weeks ago that consumed much of three of these lovely 19th-century buildings. Happily, there had been no injuries or deaths as a result - but it's still a mournful sight.

The next stop was Jarvis St. Baptist church, at the corner of Jarvis and Gerrard. I'd been by here many times, and had always been curious what it looks like inside (if you read my blog, you'll know that I like exploring Toronto's many churches).
I was particularly interested by the spire, which is placed diagonally, facing the corner, instead of one street or the other, like virtually every other church I've seen.

The main entrance is actually on the side, along Jarvis St.

At the entrance, a gentleman was giving out copies of this newsletter from 1944 (they apparently had lots left over!) - a special issue which solicited funds for the rebuilding of the church, which had suffered a tremendous fire in 1938.
It offers a guide to many of the architectural features of the building (including photographs and floor plans), and so was a valuable resource for my tour.

Poignantly, there is a note to "Readers in the British Isles," asking them NOT to send money. As you may imagine, they had much more extensive rebuilding of their own to carry out in 1944.

On entering the building, you're struck immediately by the wooden pews, altar and choir loft, and the huge array of organ pipes:

Something that sets this church apart is this huge rose window, set into the ceiling, rather than one of the walls.
It's apparently patterned after the rose window in Westminster Abbey, and is 43 feet across (which also happens to be the approximate size of the north and south rose windows in Paris' Notre Dame). It is lit from above by 500-watt lights (at the brightest points), with 1000-watt lights above them!

It looks like sunlight, doesn't it?

Another unusual feature is that the sanctuary is horseshoe-shaped, though there are other churches with this feature in Toronto, like Trinity-St. Paul's at Bloor and Spadina, or St. Andrew's on Simcoe - but perhaps not to this extent.
We were allowed to roam as we wished, and from the arched window at the middle of this pic, I took the next one...

...of the entire sanctuary.
You may notice instruments, chairs and music stands around the altar, and the mixing console in the foreground; they were going to have a concert later that day. I was sorry I wasn't able to catch it.

I was struck by the many Gothic features of the architecture, including these pillars and the high vaulted arches:

And to add to the Gothic feel, there were even gargoyles on the outside, surrounding the main entrance. I love gargoyles!

And, finally, the view along Gerrard St., showing the curvature of the roof to match the horseshoe-shaped interior.

There was another display in one of the adjoining halls, with photos of the 1930s fire and its aftermath. They also very generously were offering free coffee, cookies and bottled water there to visitors, and I was grateful to have a bottle of water to take along for the rest of the day.

The next trip was up to St. Mary St., to St. Michael's College at U of T.
There were several relatively newer buildings on this campus, like Brennan Hall, here:

We could go round the back here, and enter the building from this arched doorway for a look around:

Much of the space here was taken up by this cafeteria. I liked the lamps, the wainscoting and the large ceiling beams.

On the east wall of the cafeteria was this pretty impressive painting, a copy of Guido Reni's 1636 depiction of the Archangel Michael trampling Satan in the victory of good over evil, as depicted in the Book of Revelation.

Visitors were invited to explore this modest chapel next to Brennan Hall, St. Basil's. It was first opened in 1856, but has undergone many renovations, the most recent being the cleaning of the exterior brickwork (finished just last year), making it look quite new!

Inside, there is a long nave, flanked by pillars and vaulted arches.
The inside was painted white - also in just the last few years - and it is quite lovely and bright inside.

Here's a shot of the organ loft at the rear, complete with brilliant organ pipes and a rose window, which you'll see better shortly.
I would have liked to go up and see the organ more closely (something else you know I like if you read my blog!), but I saw a young couple who had ventured up there being quietly escorted out, so I chose discretion over desire.

Over the altar is this beautiful stained-glass triptych window, showing, left to right, the Archangel Michael (looks like he's got Satan pinned down here, too!), St. Basil the Great and St. Charles Borromeo.

And, as promised, over the organ pipes,  the rose window, which depicts the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, surrounded by other religious symbology.
I was quite taken by the bright colours of the stained glass in this modest church - apparently repurposed from clerestory windows over the course of several renovations.

Walking out to the quad, I noticed the stainless steel sculpture and fountain to the right, and was told by some guides to check out the next location...

...which turned out to be the one-time residence of Marshall McLuhan, on St. Joseph St.
He came here from his time in England to teach at St. Mike's, virtually inventing the concepts of media and communication studies.

Here is a reproduction of his workspace. There was a very enthusiastic guide there, who pointed out many interesting things, like the desk and typewriter (middle right) used by McLuhan's secretary, who apparently typed what he dictated - he never wrote notes by hand.
When I asked about the copy of James Joyce's Ulysses on the desk, the guide had another amusing story: Allen Ginsberg (photo to left of table lamp) came to U of T in the 60's for a conference, and asked McLuhan if he'd ever taken LSD. McLuhan apparently replied, "No, but I've read Finnegans Wake."

Across St. Joseph St. from the McLuhan house is the Kelly Library, a four-storey brutalist structure:

At the time of Doors Open, they were having tours of the library, including talks about these two printing presses:

Unfortunately, I couldn't catch those tours either, but got pics of these beautiful old printing presses, one on the second floor, and this one on the ground floor.

And, I guess this speaks for itself:

Next, it was over to Beverly Street, and the George Brown House, another building I've passed many times and never been into.
It was completed in Second Empire style in 1876, and was where George Brown, his wife Anne and children lived. As you may know, Brown founded what is now the Globe and Mail newspaper, and was also one of the Fathers of Confederation. One of Toronto's largest community colleges was also named for him.

I studied computer programming at George Brown College - I wonder what he would have made of that concept?

The house has undergone many owners and renovations over the years, and here is the dining room, done over in Art Nouveau style around the turn of the 20th century:

I couldn't help but think that these shutters must have been original to the earliest construction of the house:

I was taken by the inlay in the floors: the hallway has tiles, and there is a pattern in wood on the floor of the dining room.

'Scuse my feet there...

And there is more tiling in the ground floor hallway:

Again, a great view of my feet...

Here are a couple of views of Brown's study, as it must have looked in his time:

For the library, the Ontario Heritage Trust looked for as many books that Brown actually owned as they could find (about 2,000) to fill these shelves:

The upper floors of the house are presently all offices, and visitors weren't allowed there - but you could take a picture.
You can see the preserved plaster cornices and ceiling medallion, as well as the dark wood banisters and doors.

My last stop (after a ride on one of the beautiful new streetcars up to Spadina Station) was another place I've always wanted to explore: the City of Toronto Archives, on Spadina Rd., north of Dupont.

There was much to see here: An exhibit called "Wide Open World: A Celebration of the Suburbs," a series of photos and text about the opening-up of Toronto's suburbs after WWII; and three huge books where you could look up your street address, and see who lived there in the past (turns out my place has been divided into apartments for at least 50 years).

But the most interesting was a display about the waning days of World War I (a century ago this year), with photos and charts showing timelines and such, but also these original copies of The Daily Mail and Empire that chronicled the day-by-day news from the war:

Also, many interesting ads and opinion columns from the time.

The theme of Doors Open this year was "Film: The Great Romance," and on the second floor, there were many original architectural drawings and sketches of some of Toronto's great movie houses, like the Imperial and the University.
It made me sad to think that all that's left of the University (where I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey (in re-release), Alien, The Empire Strikes Back, and most importantly to me, Apocalypse Now, for which they had to fit a new sound system, and the like of which I'd never seen before) is a small part of its facade, on a high-end store.
It's a shame about the other great ones, like the Uptown and the Eglinton, though it is encouraging that some, like the Bloor, the Revue, the Kingsway, or the Mount Pleasant,  are still being put to good use.

Well, back to the Archives: here is something that took my breath away. On the first and second floors, there are large windows where you can see the records centre. It is truly astonishing; there are over 123,000 boxes in here, taking three storeys, or 36 feet, of shelves!

Someone asked one of the guides if these records couldn't all be digitized, but think about it: even at no expense (and there would be expenses), by the sheer volume, this task would take several lifetimes to complete!

I mean, look at this! Sheesh!

And, that was Doors Open 2018 for me.
It's always a great pleasure to explore my city's history, and there are always things I don't get to; I just have to hope they'll be open to explore in the future!



In a couple of weeks, the annual Waterfront Festival is happening, and I'm looking forward to sharing photos and thoughts with you on that.
See you then!