WOW

Tonite (jan 29) was the opening nite for the Winter City Festival. It was very cold, and that definately had an impact on the number of people, but it made it more enjoyable to watch with less people.

These large, fire belching sculptures kept people warm while they waited for the stage acts.





During a lull in the action, with the DJ spinning, a group of people began dancing, providing great entertainment!



Then some Wanshu action took place, including a dragon!



Which seemed to scare City Tv reporter Tara Weber!



Then a great performance from Compagnie Les Passagers, in which performers go up a down a vertical stage. It was great!


















Then, for a conclusion, a great fire works display.






And then it was over, but a few people stayed to enjoy the ice.

Canadian Motorsports Expo - City TV

I just spent the weekend at the Canadian Motorsports Expo, held at the International Centre this past weekend (Jan 22-24).
As part of the show, the 02 Kerry Micks car held a sponsorship announcement. They were proud to announce that Dickies was a co-sponsor for the Nascar Canadian Tire Series, along with Beyond Digital Imaging.

Also on hand was Mark Dailey, from City TV. Mark works with Prostate Cancer Canada, and is a fan of the stock car series, having attended a few races.
Last year the 39 Dave Whitlock car carried the Prostrate Canada cause, and this year, it will be carried by the 02 car.
I had previously done a small die cast car of the 39 car last year (it was Dave's last year in NCATS), and also sent one to Mark, because of his connection with Prostate Canada and the 39 Team.

Standing in line at the ticket booth, I first noticed MP Dan McTeague, who was there for a Fuel Seminar. And next to him was Mark. I took the opportunty to introduce myself, and he thanked me for the car, saying its displayed with his own racing stuff, as he raced in the past.
We had a chat after the Sponsorship announcement, talking a bit about his relationship with the 02 car, and Prostate Cancer Canada. I though about it first, then decided to ask him about City TV firings.

The big thing I remember about our talk was his comment that many of the on-air staff were hearing from the public about the whole situation. Many people seeing City TV personalities are voicing their disapproval of Rogers actions. It has indead created a very tense work environment. I can only hope that Rogers is listening.

After that talk, I thought back about all those people making comments that those fired will bounce back to another show, but think about 2 years ago when many on-air news personalities from Global TV were let go....we still have not seen them show up on air in Canada.

Anyways, everyone who talked with him at the CME all said great things about him, and all wished him well at his job. Mark truly is the voice of City TV. And as he left, he used that voice to giving a parting comment...."thats show business"!

City TV dumps staff

Well, looks like the bloggoshpere is full of news about all the firings at City Tv.
Toronto Mike and BlogTO both have storys.
The interesting thing I saw in some of the comments was this one:

"Hurricane Harrold on January 19, 2010 at 3:16 PM

Damn, some of these comments are horrible. LOL.


I would like to the implement of Facebook Connect to some of these comments. SMH.


Anyways, I hope this will just be a game of musical chairs, where we will be pleasantly surprised at seeing these familiar faces at other networks.

& does anyone know where Larysa Harapyn is?"


It seems there will be a lot bigger list of "Where is ___________" in the near future.

Greeting the new year, Canadian style!

Friday Morning....
First day of the year...
First thing in the monring....
What would you do in this case??
Why, jump into Lake Ontario, thats what!!!
I convinced my brother to go jump in a lake, and funny enough, he convinced his wife and daughter to join him!!
So there we were, Sunnyside Beach, for the Toronto Polar Bear Dip, in support of Habitat for Humanity.
There were dogs in there little jackets:



There was a band:


and even the news guys were there!


All that was left was to start the countdown and head into the water!




Some were very brave, going all the way under.






Global Tv reporter Rob Leth was also on hand, and after the main event, he stripped down to his Globat TV skivies, and dived into the water!


and quickly ran out after his dip!


Now, the only downer (other than the temperature) was some demonstrators who showed up dressed as polar bears, and carrying signs.
Since this was a good thing (support for Habitat for Humanity), I've decided to change my photo of them so that rather than a demonstration, it was a celebration of the event!
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION



And because I don't want these guys to get any promotion at all, I've also done the classic "line through the eyes" to "hide" their identities!!



And I do hope that after they left the event, they didn't get into exhaust producing vehicles, to their oil/gas heated homes, otherwise they are just hypocrites.

Winter Solstice

Ok, I've been to a bunch of events in Toronto, and want to offer the people putting these shows on some much needed advice.
GET A STAGE!
This was the 20th Annual Festival of Lights in Kensington Market. Now, if you happen to be 8 foot tall, then hey, no problem, you get a great view of the action.
But if your short, like me, or even average height, like everyone else, you can't see much of anything.
To take this shot, I had to stick my camera on a tripod, hold it above my head, and hope that the autofocus and timer worked together to get a shot.
Seriously, whats wrong with putting the performers on a stage, so eveyone from the second row back can also see the action!!

oh well....