Spring in Toronto (PTX, Cherry Blossoms & Doors Open Toronto)

Well, not being in school is pretty fantastic.  Spring has just "sprung" in the most bipolar way possible (34 degrees yesterday and 9 today...what the heck is going on), and already I've had the chance to do loads of fun things in the city.  

A couple months ago, I saw Pentatonix in concert again!  Last year it was at the Danforth Music Hall which was probably the best venue for an acapella group.  This year it was the Sound Academy which ironically has the lamest sound possible.  But anyways, Pentatonix....I used to watch the Sing Off on TV & on Youtube where I first discovered Pentatonix (before they became a viral sensation); so yep.  We lined up about 2 hours before the doors opened, because vertically challenged individuals have to do things like that if they want to see anything at a standing concert.  Ah well, I can confidently say it was 100% worth it!  

View from the Sound Academy

Then in April, the Cherry Blossoms erupted causing the entire city to gather in High Park.  Obviously I decide to go for the first time after I've moved far away from Bloor West...instead of the during 17 years I lived in the Village.  

This month was also Doors Open Toronto, which I've never gone to either.  I happened to be strolling around downtown for other reasons, but figured I might as well check out some buildings.  I ended up visiting the Canada Life Building (observatory), Osgoode Hall, the HOK offices, Knox College and the Coach House Press.  Twas cool....who knew the city had such neat buildings!?  

View from the Canada Life Observatory

-M

Around Toronto

This week I had some time to rediscover Toronto (aka awkward tourist in my own city) as one of my friends from Japan came to visit for a couple of days!  Needless to say, I love Toronto...I mean how can you not!  From Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, Kensington, Little India....to the parks, malls, and theaters...no place like home.  



Ai Weiwei currently has an exhibit at the AGO, but one of his installations - Forever Bicycle (3144 bikes) was still hanging around from Nuit Blanche in Nathan Phillips Square.   
 
UofT's rare book library is absolutely gorgeous! For some reason I've never taken the time to check it out these past four years...so glad I did!

Grafitti alley off of Queen is a full kilometer of epic

I was really excited to check out the new Ripley's Aquarium which just opened beside the CN tower, but the lineup was absolutely ridiculous!  I think I might have to wait a couple months....

-M 

Digitour & October Hike

This weekend (between studying) I attended the Digitour concert and I went on a day hike with the Duke of Ed club!  Both were a lot of fun, and also reminded me why I love Toronto so much.  

Digitour is basically a number of YouTube personalities who do a couple shows in North America.  This year the British YouTubers I've been watching came for a show in Toronto, so my friend and I parted  ways with $50 each and got balcony tickets for the show at the Sound Academy.  In the end it was (obviously) worth every penny, and I'm so incredibly glad I paid extra for the balcony seats.  The main floor looked like madness, people were pushing so much at the front, that security guards had to lift people out of the crowd!  I also got a full view & I figured it'd be a bit more bearable being surrounded by 19+ aged fans rather than the crazy youngins downstairs. The YouTubers were awesome, they entertained the audience, and I still can't believe we saw them perform in person!  

Brit Crew <3  Caspar Lee!

& Jim Chapman!

LA YouTube Crew

View from the Sound Academy (which actually had terrible sound quality..)

So the day after that awesome show, I went on a day hike with the Duke of Ed club bright and early.  This year we went to Rouge Park in Scarborough which was surprisingly quite nice.  All the trails we hiked were very scenic considering it was in Toronto - not as difficult as other hiking trails outside of the city - but still a lot of fun!

Love the Fall!

Back to studying now!

-M

Pirates of Penzance

Any Gilbert and Sullivan fans around? 

In March 2013 I took part in Vic Chorus' production of The Pirates of Penzance.  For the past four years, the chorus has put together a Gilbert and Sullivan show in commemoration of the fact the Chorus used to be "The Gilbert and Sullivan Society" back in the day.  This year I acted as one of the Co - Producers as well as a last minute Assistant Stage Manager; two roles I never thought I'd ever experience.  It was an incredibly stressful process as I (along with my wonderful partner in crime aka my other half) was forced to deal with one insane crisis after another.  Thankfully it all came together in the end, and it was overall a pretty rewarding experience.  The photos in this post were taken by a couple students from the photography club who came in during our dress rehearsal.  

Most of the actors had been a part of our productions in previous years, so there were many familiar faces in the cast.  At the same time, we had a handful of new members and we were extremely lucky to find our male actors both within the University and outside of the University community. 

For the first time in Vic Chorus history, we had a two night run of the production and it went extremely well with only a couple minor costume malfunctions.

One of the actor's father filmed the entire performance and it's been uploaded onto YouTube.  If you're really bored on a rainy day feel free to check it out! :) -M