Garbage Strike Day 6

Here's a couple of pics taken on Queen Street.  I find it amusing that Torontonians in a bid to not litter,  removed the seal put on the public trash cans to prevent people from filling the cans the city knew were not going to be emptied, and filled the trash can.  And the when the trash can was full, they placed it close to where they know it should go.  " Look Mommy! I tried."

Why it didn't occur to any of these citizens that answer to their waste was to take a travel mug, bring a refillable water bottle, bring their own bag and take the garbage home with them.  Oh well, Queen St is the only neighbourhood I've seen like this.  Kensington, Yorkville, St. Lawrence, Chinatown are immaculate.  I'm making a generalization here but it is predominately youth that populate Queen Street and they are at a stage of life too self-centered to contemplate what impact their grande skinny caramel machiatto frappaccino has to their fellow humans.   Like all mothers say, " That mess isn't going to tidy itself.  Clean your room!"

Short days, Hot Days

Time seems to follow the laws of physics and moves faster the hotter it gets.  It feels like just yesterday June began and this weekend it will be all over.  Solstice has past and the nights are getting longer; the days more humid. And the humidity has gone to people's heads as the city workers have gone on strike-no garbage pick up, no recycling, no pools, no community centres, no ferry for island residents, no childcare,  no public works.  The LCBO ( liquor store for those not from Ontario) threatened to strike leading to panicked shoppers emptying out stores.

The Worldwide Short Film festival wrapped up last weekend.  Pride is in full swing and Canada Day is just around the corner.  July is another cornucopia of festivals.

Many people ask me if they will ever have another chance to see films from the Short Film Festival.  There are many resources for short film.  There is Movieola the short film channel and if you are unable to subscribe, they post online.  If you live in Toronto or Montreal, the National Film board has Mediateque where you can sit a comfortable viewing station and access hundred's of the NFB's back catalogue.  They also have a number of films available on line.  And with a little research, I was able to locate a few films from this year's festival online ( I am in no way promoting them or rating them as favourites, they're just the ones I could locate):

Post-It Love  An endearingly sweet office romance.

Pencil Face   Lives up to the title

The Herd A little bit of documentary about an unusual member of the herd

Between  An experimental film exploring dark areas of human psyche

King of Laughter A documentary about the Guinness Book of World Records title-holder for longest laugh.

Lost Tribes of New York Funny animated film featuring voices of New Yorkers.

Everyday is Fish Day  A day in the life of an ordinary Norwegian fish.

Western Spaghetti  A creative animated dinner 

Loop Loop  A playful experimental film derived from film and stills taken on the directors journey in Vietnam ( I know I said I would not pick favourites but this was my fav of the few I had time to see.  The sound and editing are supurb)