Some new material to post .....

Hello everyone, yes, its been a while since I posted images on here but then , I HAVE been busy taking images as well :-) 

Let me start with one I shot several years ago . this image is one of the late Jack Layton. While i am not a supporter of his political party , i though this was a good image of him :

The next image is from a recent race held in Toronto. While most runners well, ran the race, i have always been impressed with the wheelchair athletes. She was also one of the top finishers in this race.  These athletes remind me that ABILITY  is what they have. So people, don't dis their ABILITIES :

Recently, I had a chance to attend the Liberal leadership convention here in Toronto. I do however, take no  credit for getting in as I was able to get in only as a result of a good friend of mine who personally knew of of the leading candidates. Here Is Joyce Murray :

 

Being from Quebec, I have many memories  of Prime Minister Trudeau . i am delighted that his Justin has decided to follow in the foot steps of his father and I have no doubt that he will be out Prime Minister one day, soon perhaps. Just watch him :-)  

Lastly for today, I am posting some Images of the visit by Prince Philip . The Prince has here in Toronto to present a military regiment with their regimental colors . many years, when I served with out military, I had the honor of being on a color guard for a royal visit by Princess Diana . that was way back in the early 1980's . While i am obviously not in the military any longer, i still have a great attachment to the service of my country and those who serve today. I can only imagine the sheer joy these honorable service persons had on this day to have their regimental colors presented to them by none other that the Prince himself. To all who served, and serve today, THANK YOU : 

Every now and then, there are things going on in the city  which are not every day occurrences. They may be random events or sometimes, they are  planned well in advance. It is simply luck when one happens to come across such events. Take, as one example, a simple streetcar . Yes, we see these everyday. However, how often do you come across a derailed streetcar?

 

Something a little more common is the demolition of one building to make room for a newer one. This is actually quite common and we see this pretty much everyday. What I wanted to show here is the almost dinosaur-esk feel I got from this demolition project as these two giant machines were working in tandem to take down a building that seemed to be almost fortified. 

What is seen everyday are large cranes lifting heavy objects to high places. However, what is not seen everyday are these same cranes lifting these same large heavy objects THROUGH  already existing, building were these same objects are placed inside. These highly skilled persons are able to take very large objects and place them precisely through windows midway up buildings . This is an insurances adjusters nightmare. 

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.