Today’s vlog was shot at the Roncesvalles Polish Festival this afternoon, here in Toronto. The Festival continues through Sunday.
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Toronto’s “Village of Murals”
Islington is an area in the west end of Toronto – formerly in Etobicoke, and around the intersection of Islington Ave and Dundas St. The “village” is more like a commercial strip along Dundas St west of Islington. There are 20 murals along this stretch of Dundas – and I mean large scale murals.
It appears that all but one of them were created by John Kuna. He and his team have some ability. They can work on a large scale and they can create coherent and even detailed paintings. They are all pretty tame. Colours are muted. These murals are not intended to shock and I don’t think they will offend any passers-by. They all have some kind of historical reference rooted in the area.
It’s quite big project to manage the creating of so many murals. It’s too bad there isn’t a greater variety of expression and more artists represented. I noticed very little tagging on the paintings. Now that is interesting. Is it true there is little tagging over time or does the local Business Improvement area bring out a repair team to paint over tagging and restoring the paintings?
I bet a lot of people have driven by these murals and not realized there was so much public art in such a limited area.
Pilgrimage to Pembroke
I had the most remarkable weekend at the annual fiddle festival in Pembroke in the Ottawa Valley. Fortunately I knew some people who were going, and who knew the lay of the land. In particular, I’d like to thank Charlie Walden and Patt Plunket and the whole “Fred Smith Group” for welcoming me into their group, feeding me, and putting up with me much of the weekend. They made me feel very much among friends. A few folks also took the trouble to offer me excellent advice about improving my own playing (you know who you are), and also about fiddles. I really appreciate it. These players have so much more experience than me. Although I’m in my 60’s, I only got into fiddle a few short years ago and need all the help I can get.
I also had a chance to meet my fiddle teacher. You see, I’ve been taking fiddle lessons via Facetime from Cindy Thompson and after 3 and a half years we hadn’t actually met in person. I was able to to meet up with Cindy and her hubby Bruce and play some tunes and chat in person.
I hope this video provides a snapshot of the festival. I’ve included a walk downtown, along with some fabulous jams and some footage from the formal fiddle contest. This includes Charlie Walden’s winning performance in the +65 category (how does that guy look so young?).
There is an overwhelming amount of fabulous music that happens this weekend. I feel like a “fiend with his dope, a drunkard his wine”. I need more of this action soon!!
Please enjoy the video. It’s on the Rediscovering my Toronto site even though the content occured about a 5 hour drive away. I figure an occasional fieldtrip is appropriate. If you haven’t subscribed to my channel, please consider doing so. It’s free and my new videos will show up in your YouTube subscriptions.
Early morning at the best ever dog park…
For today’s Rediscovering my Toronto vlog, please join me and my dog Bonnie for a field trip to Jack Darling Memorial Park in Mississauga. The park is located just west of Lorne Park and there are 3 parking areas for the leash-free part of the park. Jack Darling is my dog Bonnie’s favourite place. She meets up with the usual suspects every morning around 7:30. Bonnie doesn’t want me to say but I know she really wants people to see her video.
Corn Dogs and Deep-Fried Oreos
I’ve avoided the Canadian National Exhibition for the past several years because it was tired and old and for me just not all that interesting. In the spirit of Rediscovering my Toronto, I sallied forth to the “Ex” the other day.
I wanted to be pleasantly surprised. I hate to say this but I wasn’t. Nothing I came across there sparked my imagination or made me smile or even felt inviting. I avoided all the weird deep-fried food – I don’t think this old body can even digest that junk anymore. Instead, I opted for a passable banh mi in the Food Building.
I got past any sentimental or nostalgic ideas I may have come in with fairly quickly and found myself thinking, this is bone lazy. Nobody has tried to really make the CNE something special or even fun in a long time. I can’t imagine it will last many more years without a top-to-bottom rethink. If I’m wrong, tell me about it in the comments.
Welcome to Reggae Lane
In this vlog, I revisit Little Jamaica. This is a follow-up to the Black Music Tour post I made the other day. If you are enjoying my videos, please consider subscribing to my channel. It’s free, and you’ll get my latest videos showing up in your feed….and it’s very helpful to me. Also I appreciate your comments.
Toronto Saturday Night
Here is my latest vlog – a Toronto Saturday night.
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Little Jamaica Toronto Black Music Tour
Recently, Sheila went on a free Little Jamaica Toronto Black Music Tour – and she raved about it. It is an initiative of the Canada Black Music Archives.
This morning, I headed for the Eglinton/Dufferin area with my buddy Stagg for today’s tour. It was a blustery day with on again off again showers, but that did not matter. The tour was excellent. our hosts, Phil Vessel, the primary speaker, DJ Donna providing the tunes, and Kenya, with additional research and photos.
The tour began at the Baptist Church on the NE corner of Dufferin and Eglinton – I hadn’t expected to be talking about gospel music. The tour moved east to several well-planned stops.
We saw a number of murals by Adrian Hayles, who also painted the 70m tall music history mural on Yonge Street.
We continued east to Marlee, making several stops. For instance, in front of a now closed storefront, Monica’s Cosmetics. It was a place Black women could get the kind of hair products they wanted but could not get elsewhere. Meanwhile, her husband was George the Record Man downstairs. A lot of great music came out of basements and businesses along this stretch of Eglinton. One basement even served as an after-school reggae school for young musicians. How cool is that?
Phil is advocating for some plaques on key buildings pointing out the cultural history of the area. It’s important to do this now. If you don’t think it is possible for a neighbourhood to change completely, just look at Ossington Ave between Dundas and Queen. Let’s honour the cultural anchors of this community now, while this community is still rocking. The murals are a good start. And the tours! Did you know that between the 60s and the 80s, Toronto became the second largest producer of Reggae outside of Jamaica? The area has endured some struggles, not the least of which is the never-ending Metrolinx construction, but it has endured and the community remains vibrant.
I think Phil and Donna and Kenya are doing important work – not just for their community, but for the whole city.
There is one more tour scheduled for September and it is full up. If you are interested in this tour let the organizers know through the CBMA website. I think word is just getting out. If there is continued demand, it’s a measure of the success of this initiative, and hopefully they will consider running more of these tours.
I knew bits and pieces of this history going in. The tour filled in so many gaps for me. I felt our hosts could have talked all day. Their love and respect for their community shines.
If you haven’t checked out my Caribana video as part of my Rediscovering my Toronto project, you can watch it below. (Oops I mean Toronto Caribbean Carnival). I’m also going to go back to Eglinton this week and create a video walk through the area, which I’ll link to this blog post. Hopefully that will give readers a fuller idea of the vibe of this area.
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Finally, here is my video walk through part of Little Jamaica.
The Other Side of the Tracks
The Wallace Ave Footbridge is a rare multi-span, steel, Warren pony truss footbridge, built in 1907. Since I was a kid, I’ve thought it would be interesting to walk up and over one day. I finally did it. The Junction Triangle neighbourhood on the other side of the tracks appears to be experiencing some renewal.
This area was once best known for ‘spills’ from factories dealing in paint and other potential pollutants. These days it seems to be a cheery and well-kept neighbourhood, with some eateries around Lansdowne Ave.
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Toronto Carribean Carnival Grand Parade
This morning I hopped on a Go Train with my friend Stagg, and we headed for Exhibition Station and the Caribana Parade. What a great time! Enjoy today’s vlog, and if you like my videos, please like and subscribe.
27th Street 