Saturday, March 27, 2010
Update: Ontario saved 560MW, or about 4%, during the 2010 Earth Hour between 8:30 and 9:30pm.
We gathered at the Yonge-Dundas Square to see the lights go out for the 2010 Toronto Earth Hour celebration. They had moved the event from Nathan Phillips Square to the Yonge-Dundas Square for some reason, not sure why. I thought that room would be an issue but they also closed down Yonge Street from Queen to Dundas. 
Mayor David Miller (center) joins CityTV hosts Dina Pugliese and Kevin Frankish on stage. 
It was a chance to think about the environment, to enjoy the music and join in the countdown to Earth Hour. Here is my Youtube video with a bit of Jarvis Church of the Philosopher Kings and the countdown in the Square.
There were a few cheesy acts including a guy that put balloons in one nostril and out the other and no flame acts that I could see. They should have had more buskers on Yonge Street, instead most of the street was eerily empty except for the penguin and the Climate Action Now guys.
The adjacent buildings and advertisements kept shutting down gradually instead of a massive lights out at 8:30pm. Earth Hour seemed anticlimactic when it was finally counted down. Here is a Yonge Street looking north towards the billboards at Dundas Street as the lights started to go out.
Quad City Chaos is in Toronto this weekend (March 27 & 28, 2010) at the Downsview Park Hanger. The seleted pros of four cities will battle it out over two days on the flat track at the Downsview Park Hanger (75 Carl Hall Road). Here is a panorama of the hanger with the track.
I have been dying to go to a derby rumble for quite awhile now so hopefully I can get tickets and get some great shots of the action - I did and here they are.
The top ladies of the Toronto Roller Derby (ToRD) joined together to create the all star team of CN Power and will battle against Vancouver's Terminal City All-Stars, Montreal's New Skids on the Block and Hamilton's Hammer City Roller Girls. They also had a pillow fight during the first intermission and a live band after the first match. The music during the whole event is fast paced and gets the crowd cheering.
Schedule(from the ToRD website) and single day tickets are $18 and are available at the door.
SATURDAY MARCH 27
1:00pm…........ Doors Open
2:00 – 3:30pm…. Toronto vs. Vancouver
3:30 – 4:30pm…. INTERMISSION
4:30 – 6:00pm…. Hamilton vs. Toronto
6:00 – 6:30pm…. INTERMISSION
6:30 – 8:00pm…. Montreal vs. Vancouver
SUNDAY MARCH 28
12:30pm…....... Doors Open
1:00 – 2:30pm…. Toronto vs. Montreal
2:30 – 3:00pm…. INTERMISSION
3:30 – 5:00pm…. Vancouver vs. Hamilton
The players pick their funky names and numbers such as Bambi, Judge Jodie and Mis Carriage and #4077, 2x4 and 1/2 pnt.
The floor is flat and concrete and these ladies don't take these matches lightly. They hip check and end up slamming into the ground.
The ladies only use elbow and knee pads and helmets for protection. The team shirts match while the rest of the uniform is up to the player to complete. The roller blades are the old style, 2x2 wheels, the type you would see in Laverne and Shirley.
I read one twitter post that said that Roller Derby is about underwear on the outside and there were a few ladies doing just that. Here is Toronto CN Power's Land Shark #13 and her chomp undies!
Watch my slideshow of the action on Youtube and here is my Youtube video of a bit of the warmup and a bit of the action of the Toronto VS Vancouver match.
So go out and support these hard working athletes and check out an upcoming match with the Toronto Roller Derby League. You can see my pictures of the 2010 Season Opener between Gore_Gore Rollergirls and the Smoke City Betties.
