Hello everyone, I don't generally like to add long stories to my go along with my images I post as i prefer to let the images do all the taking.  However, this past weekend, i went to an event I wanted to share a little bit on my own thoughts on.

This past Saturday, there was a small protest event in the Kennsington Market area of Toronto to protest against  a plan to have  a large major food chain retailer  come into the area.  Kennsington Market , but all rights and appearances should have been torn down decades ago as the buildings there are fire traps and a  stroll through some of the back allies , one can find rodents the size of medium sized  cats and or dogs. Kennsington market has, however, survived  all of these decades because it is one of the true remaining communities where the people still mingle with other real people.

The land in question until very recently was home to  a mediation center  as seen here in an older image I found online. :

Today, this same spot is a parcel of and waiting to be developed as can be seen here ( there are my own images as shot from the event )  :

Now don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to having large corporations around as they do provide much needed jobs. HOWEVER, in this case, i oppose have one here because the community here is very unique and every type of service and staple one can ever wish for can be found here in Kennsington Market , locally owned, locally operated , community based. 

What I fear happening here is what happened along Queen street west . Queen street west used to e home to many independent business owners who were actually a part of the community the worked in. They knew the customers both socially and professionally . Along the way, slowly over several years, larger corporations moved in and now, its a giant open air shopping mall. The rents are so high now that ONLY major corporations with deep pockets can afford to be there. This, sadly will be the eventual outcome in Kennsigton  Market , if this is allowed to go ahead.

The land in question sits vacant at this point. i think a far better use for this space would be the creation of affordable, geared to in come housing, something we greatly need in this city. Those how would move into these new homes would frequent these local shops, and be a part of this community ,  something that many people just need, a sense of belonging. 

Here are a few images, of this event: 

Hello everyone, it has been a while since i added anything in here, school keeps me busy. Anyway < i thought I would add three images of a recent police investigation into a shooting that took place near the CNE grounds over the Feb 10 2013 weekend. Gun violence is, sadly, increasing at an alarming rate. I wish thank the officers of Toronto Police Service for allowing  me this close access to be able to take these images.

Here is the news story to go along with this shooting

Lastly, here is the news story image as shot  by the Toronto Sun as linked here :

 http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/10/siu-investigating-shooting-outside-muzik-nightclub-in-toronto

I have shown various images of either rescues, or, persons who perform these rescue operations. However, sometimes, a rescue operation may take place rather quickly and quietly. A few weeks ago, some workers were putting the finishing touches on the Trump Plaza hotel when one of the sky buckets malfunctioned, stranding some workers about four stories on the outside of the  building with no obvious means of escape. This was not a problem as there was another such vehicle in place working on an another section  of the same building, near by. The working vehicle simple approached the defective one and an impromptu rescue mission to rescue the stranded workers was taking place. 

Earlier this year, during the labor day weekend , the CNE hosts the Toronto International Air Show. i have attended this show every year since aviation was invented :-) Here are a few of the better images I took of this event.

I have shown images of our fire services in action before. but yet again I will showcase the dangerous work they  do.

These are a series of images from a very recent major fire on George Street. George Street is known as one of the lesser desirable  areas of the city to live in, and the reasons are justified. The street is filled with vacant building that double as crack houses, drug labs and squatting sites. The fire that took place was discovered to be an arson fire . These series of buildings are owned by the same person from what i was told. The interesting thing here is that the very previous afternoon, i was told that there was a city inspector, and a fire marshal / inspector who order these buildings boarded up as a safety hazard. Yet, twelves hours later, these very same buildings  " just happen " to catch fire. I arrived as the fire wa pretty much extinguished  save for a few hot spots. I would also like to thank the officers on site who  had put up a safety  zone , to allow me to take these awesome shots .

Here are some of the images from the fire .

Hello readers . Today I wished to share a few different images from some recent events and sighting around the city. The first image I would like to share is a simple one. This is am image of Toronto Fire Services High Rise Unity doing some training.  Many of you will have noticed that many of my images  are focused around our emergency services. This is because , to me, these awesome men and women are called upon to do what is sometimes the most dangerous , the most physically and emotionally demanding job out there.