DesiFest

Yonge Dundas went a little south east asian today, as the 2012 edition of DesiFest was held today.

The square was teaming with lots of people there to watch the performers, buy some products from the various merchants, or try some snacks like fruit freezies, or some red hot sauce, and even some yummy chips! And there was even a mascot for the show, Miss Suhaag!

While I was there, tthe show presented a rocking female vocalist,

Urvah Khan, who belted out some great songs! And fortunately for me, there were also lots of lovely ladies around!!

Anime

Every year the fans of Anime get together at the Toronto Congress Centre in all their finery. Lots of wigs, dresses, and weird weapons are produced by those attending, and its always a great show simply to see those who go.
They are even more dedicated to costuming than what I see at Comic Cons and SCi Fi events.
And best of all, they like to hang out in the parking lot, or travel between the many buildings holding the event.
Some of the costumes were simply fantastic, including a wicked pikachu:

Some of the other costumes:

Enzo Matrix from Reboot!

I'm always amazed at how many of the fans of this are female. And I've got to say, they too have some very nice costumes!! Of course, with all these costumes, you get some very interesting women who show up. My favourite, someone I've seen at other events is this woman,

who I've seen before during the pillow fights,

which happend to be arranged by Lori Kufner,

who is the cofounder of Newmindspace.

Here are some of the other lovely women of Anime:

It was well into the evening, and the group was still going before we called it an night, said see you to everyone!

Open the door and let him in.....

This weekend in the Toronto area was the annual "Doors Open" event. Various buildings were open to the public, and even better they ere open for free, including the kitchen of For York!

On hand was a city of Toronto guide, in uniform, from Fort York, as well as a Fife and Drum band.

And keeping with that theme (War of 1812), the Waterfront BIA had 15 ships docked along the waterfront. There were two tall ships on hand. The first was the Empire Sandy.

Now when you see this ship, you would be amazed to know that in fact, it was involved in WW2, and used to be a Deep Sea Tug! After being decommisioned and ready to be sold for scrap, a new owner took over and spent 5 years transferring it from a tug to a tall ship.



But I was there to see the Toronto Brigatine sail-training vessel (STV) Pathfinder. And the reason was that this ship is going to be involved in the The Navy of 1812: Sailors on the Lakes at Niagara on the Lake on July 14 and 15, 2012. She is a very nice looking ship, with lots of sails, ropes, and varnished wood!

The wheel and compass of the ship.

one of the main mast,and the various spars that hold the many sails that power the ship.

I'm hoping that during the 1812 event that they will mount some canon for the demo, but who knows!! Here's the info on the ship: Specification Value Year Built 1963
Designer Francis A. MacLachlan
Location Built Kingston, Ontario, Canada Builder Kingston Shipyards
Hull Welded steel, 1/4″ hull plating, 1/2″ keel plating, frames every 2′
Length Overall 22m (72′) Length On Deck 20m (66′) Length Waterline 14m (45′) Beam 4.5m (15′) Freeboard 1.3m (4.3′) Draft 2.5m (8′)
Registered Tonnage 31.63 tons
Displacement 50 tons Ballast 12 tons
Foremast Height 16m (52′) Mainmast Height 16.5m (54′)
Sail Area Over 250m2 (2,600 sq. ft.)
Sails (Sails in bold are standard press) Jiptop, Jib, Foresail, Forecourse, Foretopsail, 2 Forecourse Studding Sails, 2 Foretopsail Studding Sails, Fisherman Staysail, Main Staysail, Mainsail, Main Gaff Topsail, Spritsail Hull
Speed 8.2 knots (15.3 km/hr or 9.4 mi/hr)
Cruising Speed (under sail) 4-8 knots (7.5-14.9 km/hr or 4.6-9.2 mi/hr)
Cruising Speed (under power) 7 knots (13.1 km/hr or 8.1 mi/hr) Water Tank 1200 litre (300 gal US) Waste Tank 800 litre (200 gal US)
Fuel Tank 1800 litre (450 gal US)
Engine Volvo TAMD41-H Engine Power 110 kW (150 hp) at 3000 rpm
Complement Total 28:
1 Captain
1 First Mate
3 Watch Officers
1 Bosun
1 Cook
3 Petty Officers
18 Trainees

who's a good doggie?!

This morning the Ontario SPCA held its first dog walking fund raiser. Early this morning people and their dogs headed to Corination Park, just outside the CNE, to walk 3km in support of the SPCA. Individual walkers were to raise money for the orginization in an effort to help the many animals the SPCA take care of. After a bunch of introductions, a quick warm up, the crowd moved to the start line to wait for the ribbon cutting, done by Tanya Kim


, who works for E Now.

And then they were off,

with lots of pooches making there way around the course.

After the walk there were loot bags, lots of BBQ food, and fun times for all!

Green Fashion

After visiting Wizard World, took a quick trip to the Direct Energy Centre to check ou the Green Living Show. One great feature was that if you brought electronic waste, you got a free ticket into the show. Dead VCR in hand, I picked up my ticket and headed in. Now, there is lots going on at the show, inlcuding solar power, hybrid/electric cars, organic foods, organic clothing, etc, but I was there for the Green Fashion Show! Ok, this wasn't a fashion show made up of green fabric, but was an attempt to lower the impact of fashion on the environment, by reusing fabrics, give new use to old fashion, as well as lowering the chemicals used in fabrics.

Hosted by Kelly Drennan, Founder of Fashion Takes Action, a number of models were on hand, with makeup and hair (by salonWORLD) done in a "sustainable" way.

Now these models are doing the typical "icy cool" thing where there is no emotion, and no interaction with the audience. I never really understand that.











So, after seeing the models,



there was only one girl that stood out to me.



Now this girl is a very attractive woman, but what really caught my eye was exactly that, her eyes! She made specially note to make eye contact with me during the show. Ok, it was the camera, but she did this all around the event, as she moved from the stage, into the audience. This gave me a connection to her, and honestly, I paid more attention to her than any of the other women. And considering this is a fashion show, don't you, as a designer, want me to pay attention the most to the girl wearing your clothes? I would think so!

Wizard World - Day 2

Sunday morning held the promise of a great interaction between Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, stars of the Wizard World Toronto Comic Con, in a Quantum Leap reunion. The two were scheduled to attend a Q&A with the fans, telling stories about the show. And it certainly did not disapoint!



A packed room was on hand for the two stars, as they talked Quantum Leap, and a little bit about Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica.



Scott talked about how he was amazed that an actor of Dean's stature would be on the show, but was glad he was.



The both joked that "Sam's" main contribution was a total of two words..."Oh Boy"! But Scott was able to turn that around on Dean by saying that he said it different every episode!!
Neither understood the ultimate ending of the show, and also left it to the audience to pick there own "best episode", but Scott was able to tell everyone that the final show was a "maybe" show, in that Donald Bellisario had to write it assuming that there may, in fact, be another season. He went through much the same with Magnum PI, in which Magnum was in a coma, and once the decision was made to bring the show back, Magnum recovered. Unfortunatley for QL fans, that was the end. The crew didn't even get a wrap party, the show just came to an end. Speaking of Magnum, there was discussion to try and get Tom Selleck in for a mirror shot, so Sam may have jumped into Magnum!!



Some of the other stars at the show included Amy Acker, who was on the show Angel,





Colin Ferguson, who stars in Eureka,



and even Simpson's illustrator Phil Ortiz, who for a small fee would do a quick drawing of whoever you want, be it live, a picture, or even a cell phone image. He had a long line of people wishing to be "simpsonized"!!



What I can only describe as some "DIY" costumes including R2D2 and Han in Carbonite!



A couple of Bat peeps;



Transformers....who are robots, but in disguise!!



Are you looking at me!??



Aliens vs Ghostbusters!



And here's some other characters at the show!