A Winding Road...

For those who don’t know, I signed up to volunteer for the Toronto International Film Festival this year. I’m incredibly glad I did. Seriously, if anyone is interested in film, and wants to see what the festival has to offer, volunteer. The perks are suh-WEET! So far, I’ve seen four film in three days, for free. The last one was a gala at Roy Thomson Hall and featured Gerard Butler!

Recaps of the films I saw and my random celebrity-hunting adventures are coming soon. For real. But if they don’t blame school work. 

PS: I’ve been tweeting about it all so if you want you can follow me: @leonicka

Guess who’s volunteering?! *does a happy dance* This is shaping up to be the best summer ever. Love my life :)

Home. Toronto from the sky. :)

(Source: )

nationalpost:

With public warnings, police walk a fine line between safety and victim-blaming
Police, wary of victim-blaming, are walking an ever-thinner tightrope when issuing public safety warnings to women.

On Saturday, Edmonton became the latest city to host a SlutWalk — gatherings of scantily dressed women protesting victim-blaming. The walks, in more than 60 cities across Europe, Australia and North America, were spurred by a January comment by Toronto Police Constable Michael Sanguinetti that women should “avoid dressing like sluts” in order not to be victimized. As one sign read at the April 3 SlutWalk in Toronto, “Don’t tell us how to dress, tell men not to rape.”

Police have taken notice. Departments across Canada have denounced Const. Sanguinetti’s comments, and at Saskatoon’s SlutWalk on May 28, Saskatoon Police Chief Clive Weighill even made an appearance. “We want to show that the Saskatoon Police Service is a very progressive service and we take this seriously,” he said.

However, in the wake of the movement, police are finding that issuing even standard safety warnings to women is becoming fraught. What would have been considered routine public safety pronouncements are now being viewed through the highly politicized lens of the SlutWalk.

Photo: Bayonne Said and Jennifer Kay take part in the “Slutwalk” , on June 4, 2011 in Edmonton. (Greg Southam/Edmonton Journal)

The Lion King. Before you ask, yes I went alone. If I had waited for people to have enough time or money to join me, I would have missed it (that’s how I missed Wicked). I had so much fun. The costumes were amazing. The choreography was spectacular. The actors (especially Nala and the cheetah) moved in a way that demonstrated power, elegance and royalty all at once. I also have to say it was refreshing to see so many talented black actors on stage. This cast and crew took my favorite childhood memory and elevated it beyond my imagination. I was blown away.

nationalpost:

New CN Tower attraction to offer hands-free, outside pod walk
Extreme junkies take note: you’ll soon be able to take a hands-free walk along the outside of the CN Tower’s main pod — 356 metres up in the air.

EdgeWalk is billed as the highest full circle walk on a 1.5-metre ledge in the world.

Similar to another attraction in Auckland, New Zealand, visitors will be attached to an overhead safety rail with a trolley and harness system and will travel in groups of six to eight.

“I’m trying to psych myself up slowly to try this. It will be on my bucket list,” said Mark Laroche, president and CEO of the Canada Lands Company, owner and operator of the CN Tower. 

Introducing Marie Claire, tour guide from the afterlife. She made her debut in Yorkville but will be guiding 7th and 8th grade students through a walking tour of Quebec City this summer. On her days off she haunts department stores looking for a  fur hat. Don’t ask her how she died.

Floating Forest

A unique art installation celebrating Earth Day 2011
Brookfield Place in collaboration with Canadian artist, Max Streicher

Billboard in Toronto

Fort York. Birthplace of Toronto and the largest collection of War of 1812 era buildings in Canada.