Canada Day Fireworks

I hope you enjoyed Canada Day festivities and topped off the evening with a fireworks show. The displays of explosive colour high in the sky are so popular that driving to them is a nightmare of parking, walking and trying to get away after the show is over. The best way to see a fireworks show is find somewhere close where you can watch the display and then walk home.

In that vein I walked over to my local fireworks show put on by the Acton Firefighters Association. The fireworks are placed at the edge of Fairy Lake and Prospect Park fills up fast for the show. Around 10pm the night sky goes dark enough to launch and the show begins.

I went on the other side of Fairy Lake to try to get the show and the reflections in the lake in the shot.

See more fireworks after the jump.

Hamilton Airshow

I thought if I, James Hamilton, went to the Hamilton Airshow I would get in free, but such was not the case - my family shouldn't have sold the City of Hamilton many years ago! I almost turned around after seeing all the lineups. Then after waiting in lineup for a bus, they drove us in the bus to a larger lineup where we had to wait to get on another bus. The show was held at the John C Munro Hamilton International Airport June 18-19, 2011. The airport is home to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and the iconic Lancaster Bomber.

Supermarine Spitfire MK XVIE

The show featured prop planes dating from the second world war and while there were some jets on static display, they were not involved in the airborne display. The location along the runway allowed for some great shots of the planes taking off and landing. The price wasn't bad especially when it included the parking and shuttle service.

More pictures after the jump.

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber Memphis Belle

B-17 bomber Chuckie

more North America Harvards, above and below (and at top)

the rakish Goodyear FG-1D Corsair

the Lancaster bomber comes in for a landing while birds take flight

Biker Chicks

Well, they were at the grand opening of Canada Cruisers in Milton, so it's almost like they are beautiful biker chicks by association. The ladies were models from Randal Martin Photography. Forget about going to Port Dover on Friday the 13th (so next year) - just check out these girls who do it for the Exposure! Here is a close up of their logo, just so there is no mistake. I wish I had a motorcycle!

Let's Get Naked

There were quite a few motorcycles on display

And you can't have a bunch of motorcycles without some skulls and such

The hot chick motorcycle wash

May Police Week

Police forces across Ontario were holding open houses and meeting with the public during National Police Week which runs from May 15-21, 2011 with a theme of "Working together for a safer community". Police Week started in 1970 and helps to promote community relations and also gives a chance for the public to meet the police and see the various branches and equipment used to keep people safe and uphold the law.

A little guy dressing in tactical gear

Reppelling down a building while flash grenades were set off

I caught up to an open house in a Greater Toronto Police force in Peel Region. You could meet the tactical squad, bomb squad, traffic unit, marine unit and everyone's favourite - the canine unit.

Posted by Joe Hamilton. See more pictures after the jump.

Bomb squad robot

Police motorcycles

Bell still sucks!

I sit here, lonely and sad, in the lovely Roxy Cafe in small town Acton enjoying a tasty large latte and enjoying the free wireless. My internet loss continues now, I am sure, into its third week. Bell cannot seem to get their act in gear and get the vital part out to me. I call every second day, angry white man, disappointed and blue, and they tell me things that are less than the truth. The last guy finally admitted they hadn't sent anything out - but they will this time!

Maybe their crappy service and high prices are why there are a number of sites on the world wide web such as http://bellcanadasucks.com/, http://www.bellcanadasucks.ca/, and the ever popular post "Dear God I hate Bell Canada".

Badlands in Spring

Winter is fighting Spring and for the time being it looks like Spring is going to be Winter's bitch. I drove to the Badlands of Caledon hidden away in Cheltenham. The wet weather complements the badlands, makes them even badder. I wanted to go there since I missed the scary midway movie set for Silent Hill that was at Cherry Beach. The fog and the rain and the bare trees were almost as scary as how long the wet clay clung to my boots, ooooohhh.

Toronto's Molson Beer Vats

I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I saw the six humongous Molson Coors beer vats parked on the side of the road. With the weather being cold (it is winter and all) I thought I might see a blue mountain on the side of the large cans saying that the beer was the right temperature. When I didn't find the blue mountain I looked for the mug handles, figuring these babies were made for Octoberfest and some buxom beer maid carrying all six mugs in her hands - no go with the handles either. For some reason they have no beer in the containers. Noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Made in Germany each large fermenting unit holds almost 1 million bottles of beer (now that's a keg). The trip to the Toronto Brewery is a logistical nightmare and to reduce transportation and traffic issues the convoy travels at night, parking during the day along the side of the road. They have a twitter account documenting the movement and his latest tweet ends with "Cheers"! Mmm, beer.

I wasted a bunch of time waiting for this vat to move but after a few hours I found out that it is staying where it  is beside the Steam Whistle Brewery.

Photo Vault - Badlands

Now that you don't have to be good for Santa (for a little while yet) you can be bad - if fact you can be so bad that you have to stay in the badlands.

Sad and abandoned

In good times and bad you can usually find something that has been abandoned and left to rot. Sometimes in the hopes that it will be rebuilt and saved for glimpse into the past and sometimes because no one has the money to change things. I will keep my eye open for abandoned things in the future.

Foggy Sunrise

The sun rises over a light fog while the grass is frosted in the cold morning air – the horses eat the cold grass anyways.