I have my very first solo photography exhibition running this month at the North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge St. entitled SLOW DOWN, LOOK CLOSER. Please check it out if you’re in the area and see Willowdale from a “bee’s eye view”.
Details over at http://slowdownlookcloser.chrisnolan.ca/
LoveTheRavines has their Fall4Ravines photography exhibit on display at Patagonia Toronto (500 King St W) until the first week of December, and four of my photos are on display. Please take a few minutes to consider signing their petition to add the Don and the Humber Rivers to the Ontario Greenbelt.
I wanted to give a shout out to the other photographers (in no particular order) who had their images selected. I look forward to meeting you Dec 3 at the evening reception at Patagonia.
Nicole Czorny nczorny , Jacquelyn Sloane Siklos (ig: @sloanesiklos), Joanna Johnston (ig: @joannacjohnston), Sammy T (ig: @sammytangir), Ashley Therriault (ig: @ashtario), @lisarobertsonpics, Jonathan Scott Duder (ig: @jonathanduder ), Jeff Coussin: aka The Life & Adventures of Lenny Dawg (ig: @luciditydesign), Gabriel Bizeau-Régis (ig: @atroutatemyhomework), Gary Wallenwein ig: @totemblaze, Dan Berman ig: @scriptdr.
Here is my collage of the images as arranged to match those hung and curated by Phil Anderson, Executive Director of Gallery 1313. I had excepted image titles and instagram ids at the exhibit, but there wasn’t any when I checked it out Nov 15 (update: the Official Facebook album had captions/titles for the images so I updated below (only 17 of the pics are there though)). I’ll included them as I searched around below.
Collage 1, top left to bottom right are:
Collage 2, top left to bottom right:
And the final collage are three by sammytangir:
Here is a link to all the #Fall4Ravine tags on instagram via iconosquare.
Follow-up to previous post from last year, 5 options are on the market at the moment if you’d like to be my neighbour.
Many options on the block at the moment. 2 new builds, 2 existing homes and one for lease. On Ellerslie Ave between Tamworth and Senlac (one is two houses the other side of Senlac).
From east to west:
Photography student Hannah Price was first catcalled shortly after moving to Philadelphia in 2009 and was thrown off guard. She reacted by taking the portraits of the men who were doing the cat calling and has put together a gallery exhibit entitled “City of Brotherly Love”.
NPR’s Codeswitch as an interview with her titled A Photographer Turns Her Lens On Men Who Catcall, and the Morning News as a piece titled My Harassers.
A video with the photographer done for her exhibit at the Stockton Art Gallery is worth viewing as well.
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh took her displeasure of having to suffer this behaviour nearly daily to the streets themselves. She began a series of posters she put up around her Brooklyn neighbourhood as her way of speaking back to her harassers and this has spawned the Stop Telling Women to Smile project. After a successful Kickstarter campaign last month, she is taking the posters on the road. You can also buy some posters to put up in your neighbourhood too.
There are stories all over the web from women who do not appreciate this behaviour: a project last year simply called Catcalled collects the experiences of a set of women over a set period of time, and blogger Nic has a well articulated article on her experiences.
Have you been catcalled or wolf whistled? How did it make you feel? What is an acceptable form of compliment in your opinion? On the flip side, men, do you wolf whistle and if so, why?
The next few weekends have a lot of action going on. Here are some of the things we’re doing, what is keeping you busy?
September 7 we’ll be meeting at the yet to be revealed location (Update! Cabbagetown Festival Another update — CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER) for our Green Eggs & Ham Storymob! In the morning Jen will be helping out at the Ladies Learning Code Introduction to Drupal.
September 14 the kids and I will be returning to the Toronto School of Circus Arts for another exciting session of all things circus.
September 15 is the Ice Ride. We’ll be participating in Toronto’s ride to help save the arctic.
September 21-22 is the Toronto Mini Maker Faire, and the Sunday has recently been announced as Family Day at the Faire, where families can go as a group and enjoy some activities as well as all the awesome makers and their creations (such as the ‘Mothra’ skis).
Toronto Mini Maker Faire banner
I’ve just learned of International GoTopless Day , promoting Topfreedom around the world, and am intrigued. Not, as my wife thinks, because “it’s a chance to see boobies”, but because it’s a struggle for freedom over one’s body. I know first hand what it is like to be told the choices I make about my body are not tolerated, or permitted by authorities. I support these people in their struggles around the world. Their take on things is one of equality: “As long as men are allowed to be topless in public, women should have the same constitutional right. Or else, men should have to wear something to hide their chests”.
In Toronto (for its sixth year), where it isn’t against the law, but there is still stigma and discomfort doing so, the International GoTopless Day will be at Ashbridge’s Bay Park (Corner of Hubbard Blvd and Hammersmith Ave so further to the east past Kew Gardens (map)) from noon (or maybe 11am as some places claim) to 4pm on Sunday August 25, 2013. The GoTopless Coordinator can be contacted at 416-691-6911 before noon on Sunday August 25th for more information?
Some people who have made press over this in the past are Moira Johnston, advocate and activist for a woman’s right to go topless, Holly Van Voast who has an upcoming film call Topless Shock Syndrome, and Phoenix Feeley who went to jail and went on a hunger strike to fight for her rights. An interview with Moira can be seen in Episode #10 of Street Epics, and on BeastTV.
A facebook event for International Go-Topless Day is available, a map of many many events around the globe is on the organizers site..
An uncomfortable aspect of these events, for me, is that it is sponsored by Raelians.
Here is a funny cartoon by Scott Metzger
Scott Metzger obscene cartoon
A question to you all: do your young daughters go topless, or not, and if so why or why not?
My wife and six-year-old son today rode in the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Ride for Heart. My wife’s father passed from a heart attack a long time ago.
Overall the organizing had more than 13,000 riders and raised over $5.5 million today.
Jen raised $235, and my son raised $130. Thank you to our friends and family who supported them in this adventure (looks like the website is still taking pledges? hint hint)
My son had been looking forward to it for months and he exceeded our expectations in completing the trip in 2 hours 20 minutes (avg Speed 11km/h). Route mapping done via the MotionX-GPS app.
Update for 2014: Here is their fundraising link for this year’s ride.
When I received the press release from Marvel announcing that their Marvel NOW product launch would be featured via product placement as a category on Jeopardy in tomorrow’s (Dec 13 2012) episode I was astonished. Jeopardy allows companies to buy a category or answer on their show? In my youth I was a faithful viewer of the quizshow and admit I haven’t been a TV watcher in over a decade so figured I should do a bit of research.
Seems to the day in 2005, Jeopardy had a category “Apple of my Eye” which Apple Computers bought. IBM started negotiations with Jeopardy in 2008 to feature their Watson computer on the show. April of last year featured the MET Opera‘s new season line-up. According to the Jeopardy FAQs website, the show is rife with commercial tie-ins these days.
I wonder, was it always so and I was too naïve to notice, or is this a change in the product in the last 7+ years? Do you have other instances you’d like to share of Jeopardy selling out?
If you’re interested in being entertained, surprised, and/or delighted this month in Toronto, check out the following options.
DynamO Théâtre‘s I on the sky is currently playing at Young People’s Theatre in Toronto with tickets still available for this weekend’s performances.
My kids and I saw the show today (they perform twice a day for school groups as well as the ticketed weekend shows) thanks to a Toronto4Kids contest win, and it was excellent. An acrobatic trampolining energetic costume filled play without words that is also touching and heartfelt, not to mention laughter inducing. If you can find the time to squeeze in the 60minute show, I recommend you do, you won’t be disappointed. Side fact for my circus followers — two of the actors are former Cirque du Soleil performers.
The program suggests it for an audience of 10 years and up, and YPT suggests grades 3 to 7, but my 3 & 5 year old were engrossed completely. There is conflict, and bullyish behaviour from the ‘thugs’ as I named them, plus some violence near the end from the ‘soliders‘ but it didn’t seem to register on the kids.
For an added bonus to your outing, after the show get a peameal bacon sandwich from St Lawrence Market and head a block south of the theatre to David Crombie Park and you can sit on a back to back green bench, almost like the ones in the show. Minus the trampoline in the middle.
If you’re still not convinced, here is a video preview of the show.
Plus a special mention to ‘Jeff‘ for overruling the front of house staff’s aversion to my barefeet.
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