Patio at Night - Feathering my Nest

Last night was the first summer night warm enough to sit outside on my patio in shirtsleeves - no sweater or jacket! Fortunately, my balcony had been repaired this week and I have the use of the full length of it now. We had several very bad wind storms in the winter/early spring and the repairs to the balcony had been pending - hence the rope seen in some of the pictures I had previously taken of my balcony. But no more.

It was a wonderfully warm night as I strolled home from work - finally it is the weekend! I decided to go see my daughter on the way home and stopped at the Dog's Balls bar for a beer and a visit. Laura is working at that bar whilst she gets through University. It isn't a busy after work bar, so I can visit with her for a bit while I drink my beer. She will be going back to University next September but she chooses to continue supporting herself and living on her own (actually, with a couple of girlfriends) and we needed to discuss logistics and how her course selections were coming. It was a nice visit.

When I got home it was just coming on dark but wonderfully, the weather was still warm and the threatening skys of a few hours earlier had not delivered its payload, but instead had moved on.

I sat on my balcony reveling in the lights of the city to the east, deep in thought, soaking up the ambiance. Our downtown night skyline is a pretty sight but of course you cannot appreciate really with the amateur photos I take. My new patio "couch" with all the cushions is really comfy and I can cosy up in it with my feet up.

I had my candle lanterns lit and music playing and let the stress of my wickedly busy work week seep out of my bones. I will be spending lots of time on my balcony this summer - lets hope that our Toronto weather cooperates and gives us a good couple of months of warmth.

Taking about weather cooperating, I was dismayed this morning to see that the weather forecast says that there is a chance of rain showers today. This is the last weekend of Luminata and there are dozens of outdoor events all weekend. I am planning to get to the Brazilian Guitar Festival in our Yorkville area this afternoon and then down to Harbourfront to the Cirque Du Soleil event this evening and on Sunday. I hope the weather cooperates!

Vote now for The Great Canadian Tune

I plan to be a the Yonge-Dundas Square in the downtown Toronto area on Saturday June 6th when the City of Toronto attempts to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the largest guitar ensemble. For us to break the record we need to have more than 1802 guitar players out to participate. That is how many set the current record in 2007 in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany when they played Smoke on the Water.

I don’t play guitar, but I can show up and cheer on the good fun. Also, there is a free concert that night to hear and a lot of good **Luminato** fun to be had in the downtown area!

Here are the details – there are 10 great Canadian songs which the public are asked to vote on to be the one song that everyone plays at 4:00. Voting closes on May 24th and the son to be played is selected. All the guitar players who are planning to join the ensemble can go to the site and get the music and tablature and start practicing the tune.

All you have to do is show up to register at the event on June 6th in the 2 hours preceding the 4 pm start. The band Heartbroken will do the count down by playing each ot the 10 songs – ending with the number 1 selection in which everyone will be invited to join along.

So go now to the website and listen to the songs and vote for your favourite. You go here to hear the songs and vote for your favourite and later to get the music to practice. If you play guitar (or even if you do not and want to come and cheer) mark June 6th on your calendar!

What is Luminato?

You might be wondering, what is Luminato? This is our 3rd year of an annual celebration of the arts in Toronto where our stages, streets and public places are alive with theatre, dance, classical and contemporary, film, literature, visual arts and design. The Luminato events embrace three key principles: collaboration, accessibility, and diversity. It is a wonderful 10 days of creative endeavours that all folks in the City of Toronto can get involved in. And, even better, there are a a lot of free and modestly priced events.

This year's Luminato focuses on the guitar and there are a great number of guitar themed events in the other creative arts as well as concerts.

The First Night of Luminato is celebrated with a free outdoor concert featuring Randy Bachman, a renowned as lead guitarist with The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive and now as a solo performing artist and a CBC on air personality with a weekly contemporary music show. I got this from the Luminato website:

"Bachman is a true Canadian musical treasure. Not only is he a wicked guitarist, but he's also a living piece of rock history, an amateur environmentalist and a proud Canadian... All told, Bachman RULES!" - Trevor Hargreaves, Chart Attack

See the Luminato Guitar Festival Events here. There are too many to mention here but I will sneak in a mention for one more I have marked on my calendar - the free Brazilian Guitar Marathon on June 13th!

Luminato runs from June 5-14th and you can find out all about the Dance, Theatre, Film, Visual Art and Music events here. The events are all in the downtown area of Toronto and many activities are centered around Yonge-Dundas Square or Harbourfront.

I will blog more about Luminato events in future blogs. Another last mention - the closing event is a special free Cirque Du Soleil event on the waterfront over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday! There are so many interesting things to do and so little time!!! :(