Photos: Fireworks and Tall Ships

The bark Europa, originally built in 1911, found itself far from its home in The Netherlands during the Parade of Sail in Toronto, Ontario on 4-July-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site continues coverage of summer in Toronto, Ontario with events along the water. The Festival of Fire filled the skies with fireworks above Lake Ontario on 3-July and 10-July-2010, and the Parade of Sail featured Tall Ships passing through the Western Gap of Toronto Harbour on 4-July-2010. Other scenes along the waterfront round out this week's update.

Margin Notes: Will Power, Oil, Blog, Ferry

Will Power approached the start-finish line during a testing session in Toronto, Ontario on 16-July-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - It turns out that I took only one picture of the car that would win Honda Indy Toronto--Will Power's #12, sponsored by Verizon. (What was I thinking? The guy was the points leader!) It's been said many times, but Will Power has to be one of the all-time great race driver names, right up there with Lake Speed.

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The Indy race was a nice distraction from real news in the world, much of which centers on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Is anyone else amused by the fact that the local accent there makes the word "oil" sound a lot more like "Earl" to my ears? I'd hate to have that name and be living in that region right now; everyone would be watching for me, wanting to clean me up, and despairing that my peak had probably passed.

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I was questioning my own hearing at another point earlier this week, as a story on the radio started talking about "vets." As I pictured military veterans, it seemed to make no sense in the context of the story. Was I losing my hearing? No, the story was just talking about veterinarians.

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That story proved to be graphic enough that it almost needed censoring. One thing I learned in my recent travels is that if you are reading this, it's not in a public library. Libraries across the United States censor pretty much every low-traffic blog, including this one. Yet, high-traffic ones with sexual allusions and swearing (yes, I mean you Blatherwatch) are not censored. I'd love to figure out that algorithm. I think there's a real free-speech issue there--the little guys can't have their say to the whole public.

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One of the libraries that censors this blog is the one in Kennewick, Washington. The city of Kennewick had a moment of pride this week when Washington State Ferries announced that the third of the new 64-car Kwa-di Tabil class ferries will be named the "Kennewick." The second will be named "Salish" and the first, of course, now in sea trials, is the "Chetzemoka." Hopefully, this completes the class of boats which have been nicknamed "Tub Toys" and the next ferry to be built will be a more generally useful 144-car model.

Culture: Festival of Fire

A longer exposure lent a different appearance to the fireworks during the Festival of Fire at Ontario Place on 10-July-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - When I moved to Toronto not that many years ago, the Festival of Fire was a major multi-night event around Canada Day in the summer. On a string of closely-spaced nights, fireworks lit up the sky over Lake Ontario at Ontario Place, with each night dedicated to a different country (inevitably including Canada on 1-July and the United States on 4-July), and a finale at the end. If Wikipedia is accurate, the tradition dates back to 1987, when it was known as the "Symphony of Fire" and was sponsored by Bensen & Hedges tobacco. When it was no longer legal for tobacco companies to sponsor such events starting in 2000, it morphed into the "Festival of Fire" that I came to know.


Some planet-like ringed fireworks surrounded a standard ball during the Festival of Fire in Toronto, Ontario on 3-July-2010

As the economy has cooled, sponsorships have waned and the number of nights in the Festival of Fire has gradually declined. This year, it was down to just three nights, consecutive Saturdays surrounding Canada Day. I was out of town for one of the performances, so this year I saw only two shows in the Festival of Fire, a far cry from when I used to feel okay missing any given night since there were so many.


A long exposure made a ring-shaped firework with rockets following look almost like a flower during the Festival of Fire in Toronto, Ontario on 10-July-2010

The best seats for viewing the Festival of Fire are inside Ontario Place, but there are places to view the displays for free. This year, I establish a routine of walking along Sunnyside Beach at dusk east to Marilyn Bell Park and setting up near the windmill to take in the show. At 10:30, it's time to tune in the simulcast on CHFI 98.1 FM and before long the sky lights up.


Two hearts appeared as the simulcast played Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" during the Festival of Fire in Toronto, Ontario on 3-July-2010

The simulcasts have been a mixed bag in recent years. It's hard to argue with selections like "What a Wonderful World" or "My Heart Will Go On" coordinated with heart-shaped fireworks, but some other songs just befuddled me. How P!nk's "So What?" (which was used on 3-July) makes any sense at all with any fireworks show is beyond me--that can't even be blamed on Canadian content considerations.


A red star appeared during the Festival of Fire above Lake Ontario in Toronto on 10-July-2010

The Festival of Fire has become synonymous with specialty fireworks. Hearts, rings with things inside them, and even star-shaped fireworks all appeared this year along with more conventional shapes. Colours varied, with more half-and-half coloured shells appearing this year.


The finale of the Festival of Fire reflected in Lake Ontario as viewed from Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto, Ontario on 10-July-2010

For me, part of the interest in the Festival of Fire is figuring out how to photograph it. I'm never satisfied with my camera settings; just when I zero in on a good exposure time for a series of fireworks, the style shifts and the settings clearly aren't working anymore. For the finale, though, the sky is so bright that it's often clear--speed up the shutter to near-daylight settings. Then, it's all over until next year.

Photos: Summer Fireworks around Toronto, 2009

Red and white fireworks gave a patriotic flare to the Canada Day fireworks at the Mississauga, Ontario Civic Centre on 1-July-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site focuses on recent fireworks displays. With the city strike canceling some of the displays in Toronto, I decided to take in the Canada Day fireworks at the Mississauga Civic Centre on 1-July-2009, including some of the day-long festivities beforehand. Toronto still had a number of shows, including the finale of the Festival of Fire over Lake Ontario observed on 4-July-2009.

Margin Notes: Garbage, Fireworks, News Hour

The strike by city workers in Toronto, Ontario affects both the primary topics in this photo taken on 1 July 2009--garbage is not being collected, and the ferries to the islands being advertised are not running

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The city worker's strike continues in Toronto. Talking to friends, it is affecting more than just the garbage collection pictured above and the cancellation of city events written about here on Canada Day. City inspectors are not inspecting buildings, parking tickets cannot be paid, and pretty much everything the city does except transit is affected in some way. It looks like it's going to be a long summer here as no movement has been reported in the ongoing talks.

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Hearts were coordinated with the "I love you" lyrics in "What a Wonderful World" during the Festival of Fire in Toronto, Ontario on 4 July 2009

One of the signs of a normal summer is the Festival of Fire over Lake Ontario. The Festival of Fire generally features the most innovative fireworks seen around Toronto in the summer. While I found the accompanying soundtrack broadcast on CHFI quite unimaginative this year--what place does "Mambo Number Five" have in a fireworks display ten years after it was a hit?--I must give them credit for nice coordination of heart-shaped fireworks with the lyrics "I love you" from "What a Wonderful World" as sung by Ray Charles in the middle of the 4 July 2009 show.

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Unusually-shaped fireworks were included in the Festival of Fire presentation over Lake Ontario in Toronto on 4 July 2009

On the other hand, I couldn't figure out what the fireworks shown above were supposed to be during the Festival of Fire. Were they supposed to be a human face? A baseball? One set was fired off during Elton John's "Circle of Life," so maybe they were just supposed to be circles.

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The "Roundhouse" sign was erected on the coaling tower at the John Street Roundhouse in Toronto, Ontario on 3 July 2009

Not a circle but a half-circle was the shape of the new "Roundhouse" sign that was erected on the coaling tower of the John Street Roundhouse on 3 July 2009. The sign joins other signs advertising the Leon's furniture store that is scheduled to have its opening ceremonies in the higher-numbered stalls of the roundhouse on Wednesday.

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That event will likely receive some local press coverage, but it certainly won't appear on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. Traditionally, the News Hour opened with a news summary. Sometimes, during a crisis covered for most of the show, it would move these headlines to the end of the show. For the past few months, it has moved the headlines to random times in the middle of the show after the lead story. I don't understand this practice--the top story is no longer in the context of the rest of the news of the day, it's not possible to tune in for the headlines specifically, and the show generally feels like it has no flow on many broadcasts. They should drop this practice and either air the headlines at the beginning of the show (my preference) or move them permanently to the end of the show. That formatting would at least make some sense.