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.

Mussel Ranch?

I call a lot of businesses in my job, and recently, I called a number on the East coast that was for a mussel ranch.
I'm sure these are pretty common in those parts, and I imagine they're just places where they breed/keep/raise mussels, but I couldn't help letting my mind roam for a few minutes.
Hmmm..."mussel ranch"..."mussel ranch"...

"Boy! Git in here!"
"Yeah, pa?"
"You done left that net open agin, an' them bull mussels got out!"
"Sorry, pa."
"Never mind that, boy. We gotta git them rounded up. Lord knows how many inches away them critters are by now!"


Or, if there's a mussel ranch, maybe there's a...

~MUSSEL RODEO~

Featuring:

Mussel Roping and Branding

Musselwagon Races

Bull Mussel Riding

Mussel Slurping Contest

Mussel Recipes (for the Ladies)

~COME ONE, COME ALL!~

Well, you get the picture.

Coming Soon...

I've spent the last few Saturdays attending athletic (and related) events at the PanAm Games here in Toronto, and will post about them shortly.
I took tons of photos, so it's mostly a case of going thru them and deciding which ones are worth posting and talking about. I was tremendously excited and pleased about this event (especially seeing a Canadian athlete on the medal podium!), and I think that enthusiasm will come through.
So, bear with me for a bit - I'll have them up soon.

Nice Day For A Visit...to PRISON!

The old Don Jail, around Broadview and Gerrard, has been rehabilitated (so to speak) into offices for the new Bridgepoint Health Centre.
I had been told some time ago that parts of the original building (cells, doors, walls, etc.) had been left intact as a public attraction. It's only open during business hours on weekdays, though; so, having a day off work, I thought I'd drop in.

They've done a lot of work on the grounds, demolishing the adjacent detention centre that had been there since the 1960s, and spiffing up the old building and grounds.
I took a few snaps during the demo, and Tweeted them, but here are a few "before and after" pics for this blog:

This is the detention centre being demolished last winter; you can see the old jail to its right.

After demolition, they worked on filling in basement levels, and leveling the grounds. The old jail is at left, and Bridgepoint Health Centre at right.

As it looks now. There's signage, and green space where the detention centre stood.

As you approach the front entrance (only the rear is shown in the above pictures), you can see what a foreboding place it must have been for someone being taken there to serve their sentence:

The doors are actually a combination of wood and metal, and though the sign simply says, "Push," it takes a bit of effort to get them open.


Above the door, and its single lamp, is this grim, stark face, thought to represent Father Time, a reminder of the hours, days or years the prisoner would be spending inside these walls:

Once in the main foyer area, and looking to the right (east), you can see the original structure of the different levels of cells and balconies, still preserved (though the railings are certainly new):

I can remember this view myself from some years ago, when I was briefly with an agency that hired out people as extras. I was to portray a convict in a prison for one of the "Heritage Minute" ads they used to run on TV. It was about female MP and prison reformer Agnes McPhail, and would show the terrible conditions in Canada's jails at the time (this jail was in transition when I was there, and was still a rather frightening place as it was).
I never got my "moment," though, as they wanted me to get my head shaved right down to the scalp (they did that at the time to distinguish prisoners from the general public in case of escape, as well as to keep fleas off their heads), but having a regular day job, I wasn't willing to do so. They paid me for the time I was there, anyway.

Well, back to the present...

Looking straight ahead, you can see three levels of doors (administrative offices at one time) in the north-facing wall, as well as the newer railings, and a banner with the Bridgepoint logo:

Obviously, it's much brighter and cleaner here now, though there was always natural light in this area, due to the large skylight in the roof, part of its original design:

There is also a glassed-in opening in the floor here of the same shape, and parallel to the roof, that was also part of the original building.


The wrought-iron balcony supports in this area are quite striking. On the foyer side, they have the shape of dragons (the guards?), and on the side where the cells and prisoners were, serpent shapes:

Here is a view of the dragon-shaped supports, looking toward the west cell block:

Visitors can go down the steps you see past the bars in the above picture to an area where they've preserved the vintage cells. Here is what the row of cells looks like; the flagstone floor, brickwork and iron cell doors are all original:

And lastly, one of the cells itself:

On the right of the doorway, you can see an opening where there was probably a large bolt slid into from these doors at one time. There are none on the doors now, but you can imagine them clanging shut as a prisoner was locked in.
The cot is probably not original, but it gives an idea of what kind of space a prisoner had in one of these cells. Of course, there would have been a thin mattress and blankets on the cot, and a "night bucket" (nice euphemism, eh?) under it.
Over time, they needed to house more prisoners in here, and two, or even three, men would be packed into these tiny spaces, probably using bunk beds.
It should be noted that the prisoners weren't in these cells all day, only at night; they were kept busy doing labour of various sorts during the day.

The Don Jail was intended as a "rehabilitation" facility, and was quite modern in its time, with useful labour for inmates, and plenty of natural light.
It looks awfully grim now, though.