The dazzling Canada Dry Festival of Fire is taking place at Ontario Place from June 29^th – July 7^th. The countries participating will be:

• Italy on June 29^th
• Canada on July 1^st
• U.S.A. on July 4^th
• The Finale on July 7^th

These fabulous displays of pyrotechnics choreographed to beautiful music will begin in the evenings at 10:30 PM, weather permitting of course. For more details call 416- 314-9900 or follow the link to the Ontario Place website below.

http://www.ontarioplace.com/en/events/festival.html  For reserved grandstand seats, call TicketMaster at 416-870-8000 or follow the link to the TicketMaster website below.

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/10003EC5FD7D7316

Happy Birthday Canada! We are 140 years old and better than ever. Let’s get out and celebrate. But, how can you choose with so much going on. Here are some events that you may not have attended before.

http://www.country953.com/contests/canada_day_jam_main.cfm The New Country 95.3 presents the 5^th Annual Canada Day Jam at Sunnyside Park. Over 250,000 people attend this awesome event annually and this year looks like it’s shaping up to be the best ever. The stellar lineup includes Prairie Oyster, Aaron Pritchett, The Road Hammers, Jason Blaine, and Corb Lund.

http://www.torontoribfest.com/ is now in its 7^th glorious year. Over 100,000 visitors come out to this great event put on by the Rotary Club of Etobicoke featuring live music, to-die-for ribs, and some great beer to wash it down. Bring the whole family. There are pony rides, carnival rides, and plenty of cotton candy for the kids. At dusk there will be a great fireworks display.

http://www.pdp.ca/events/rockthepark.cfm at Downsview Park is great fun for the whole family featuring 7 Canadian bands in addition to face painting, arts and crafts, a petting zoo, and of course fabulous fireworks.

http://rcl258.com/CanadaDay.html Join the Highland Creek Legion in Canada Day celebrations. Enjoy the parade, live music, beer garden, burgers, dogs, and bacon-on-a-bun, fun, games, horseshoes, and a tournament.

http://www.highlifefestival.com/ Come down to the Docks for the High Life Festival featuring local and international performers. The headliner is the Nigerian Afrobeat artist Femi and Positive Force.

What are you planning to do this Canada Day?

It’s time for one of the highlights of our summer season – the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival! Incredible Canadian and international acts will be playing on outdoor stages in addition to more than 30 clubs, restaurants, hotels, and lounges around the city. World class talent like Herbie Hancock and Holly Cole will of course be on hand. But, what often lands up making the most impact are the fabulous acts that are not yet world famous.

Each and every day during the Jazz Festival you will be able to enjoy free performances at Nathan Phillips Square and the Alexander the Great Parkette located at Danforth and Logan Avenues. At Nathan Phillips Square there are free concerts at the OLG Lunchtime Concert Series and the Primus Stage, daily at noon during the week and at 1:00 PM on weekends and at 4:00 PM every afternoon. Some great bargains and some great local jazz can be found at http://www.tojazz.com/Pages/Toronto_Downtown_Jazz_Festival_pgM96.asp

A terrific venue is Mezzetta Restaurant. The owner, Safa Nematy, is a great jazz fan and features live jazz in the restaurant every Wednesday night. During the Jazz Festival he has 2 shows a night at 9:00 PM and 10:15 PM with a cover charge of $9.00 or $10.00. Don’t forget to have something to eat. The food is fabulous! Follow the link below for more information.

http://www.mezzettarestaurant.com/

After the shows at the main stages are over, jazz lovers don’t go to sleep. They continue to the clubs offering late night jazz and the ability to still serve alcohol thanks to their liquor licenses that have been extended to 4:00 AM during the Festival. For some late night jazz, drop any night to Lolita’s Lust, The Rex, Dominion on Queen, or at Live@Courthouse on weekends only and you just may find that some big name jazz artists have stopped by for an impromptu jam.

June 22^nd – July 1^st is the time. Follow the link below for complete details.

http://www.tojazz.com/Pages/Toronto_Downtown_Jazz_Festival_pgM29.asp

Are there any terrific little venues that you would like to recommend?

Are your kids doing too much homework? There are 2 teenaged trustees at the Toronto District School Board who think so. As a matter of fact they are so adamant that they have asked their elder peers to consider officially banning homework for students on weekends, Christmas holidays, and on March break. Doesn’t this sound a little like the inmates trying to run the asylum?

Homework guidelines are already in place at the Toronto District School Board allowing 10 minutes of homework per night per grade. In grade 1 homework assignments must not exceed 10 minutes, in grade 2, the limit is 20 minutes, and so on. The board is now trying to implement a regulation that would not permit teachers to hand out any major assignments 4 days or less prior to an exam so as not to place undue stress on the students. Also under consideration is banning tests on Mondays, which apparently is also too stressful for students.

This issue has created a great deal of heated discussion on both sides. Many feel that kids should be kids and have lots of play time and less homework. Others feel that school is a training ground for life and that we shouldn’t be coddling the kids as much as we do. Where do you stand on the issue?

The Pride Parade is one of the highlights of Toronto’s summer season. Some of you may not know that the Pride Parade marks the end of Gay Pride Week, which may seem like an oxymoron because it is actually a 10 day arts and cultural festival. From Friday June 15^th to Sunday June 24^th we will celebrate our interesting cultural diversities and sexual and gender identities at one of the world’s largest gay festivals.

Over 650 artists will be appearing from June 22^nd to June 24^th on 7 entertainment stages. June 23^rd and June 24^th is a time to celebrate the family with family-friendly events and activities taking place on the grounds of the Church Street Junior Public School. Cindy Lauper and her True Colors Tour will be making their only North American stop at the Molson Amphitheatre on June 19^th. And of course the culmination of Pride Week is the absolutely amazing Pride Parade on Sunday, June 24^th.

To learn more about Pride Week and the unforgettable Pride Parade follow the link below.

http://www.pridetoronto.com/

Did you know that men love to receive flowers? Any why wouldn’t they? Everyone likes to feel special. This Father’s Day do something different and send Dad flowers.

Flowers are not for sissies. There are lots of great flowers that have a decidedly masculine allure. Stay away from pastel coloured carnations and think big, bold, and bright. In case you haven’t noticed, men are intensely visual creatures. Choose flowers that exude power. Red, purple, bright yellow, and orange are great colours for a man’s bouquet. Hawaiian tropicals such as heliconias and ginger flowers come in a rainbow of shapes and sizes and can range in length from 6 inches to 6 feet and in tone from the deepest coral to the richest orange. Exotic arrangements with anthuriums, proteas, passifloras, and birds of paradise in a large linear-shaped vase create a fabulous and masculine look. Many men have developed a passion for growing orchids. Send Dad an orchid and launch him on his new favourite pastime. Green or flowering plants are also a great choice and a safe fallback position in case you’re a little worried about sending flowers. Have you sent flowers for Father’s Day before? If so, what kind did you send?

I just found the most amazing site for gifts for Father’s Day or any other day. I know that everyone on the planet knows about eBay. But have you ever heard about Bidding for Good? This site takes online auctioneering to a whole new level. They’ve got fabulous gifts – just today I saw an acting lesson with Glenn Close, a Burberry Golf Bag, 2 grounds passes to the U.S. Open, adventure sport fishing vacations, gift certificates, hotel room nights – the list is endless and fabulous!

Here is the twist. The proceeds from the online auction go to non-profit organizations such as the Salvation Army and Boys & Girls Clubs. So, you buy a gift and support a great cause at the same time. And a lot of these items are impossible to come by and would not be available any other way. Can you imagine calling up Glenn Close and asking her for an acting lesson? This Father’s Day, give Dad a great gift and support a great cause, all at the same time. Follow the link below to the Bidding for Good website.

http://www.cmarket.com/biddingforgood/

In my search for interesting Father’s Day events and activities I have found one that I am planning to do with my father. I am going to take him to the Toronto Aerospace Museum because they have a full-size replica of the Avro CF-150 Arrow Supersonic Interceptor and the actual and very rare flight training simulators used in the 1940s and 1950s. Did you know that for over 50 years Downsview was an air force base and home to Canada’s oldest flying squadron?

This is a great place to visit for anyone who is an amateur historian, flew old planes, or loves old planes. The Toronto Aerospace Museum staff, aided by volunteers is currently hard at work painstakingly restoring a Lancaster bomber. There are many exhibits to see including artifacts and full-size aircraft. You can even buy models in the gift shop.

The Toronto Aerospace Museum is located at Downsview Park at 65 Carl Hall Road. Please follow the link below for complete details and information including admission, hours of operation, and directions.

http://torontoaerospacemuseum.com/home.html

Finally Toronto will be laughing this summer! After 25 successful years of delighting the crowds in Montreal, we’re finally going to be able to enjoy the Just for Laughs Festival without having to head east on the 401 to enjoy it. Our first ever Just for Laughs Festival will be taking place from July 26 – July 28 and if you’ve never had the pleasure of attending Just for Laughs before, you are going to love it!

There is a real all-star lineup coming to town. Massey Hall will be the venue for the 3 consecutive gala performances headlined by none other than Howie Mandel, George Lopez, and Craig Ferguson. The Just for Laughs Festival is not just a high priced ticketed event. Going back to its roots in Montreal, it is a real street festival. Yonge Street, between Dundas St. and Shuter St. will be closed to traffic and feature fabulous acts including Circus Orange and highlighted by a free evening of comedy at Yonge-Dundas Square on July 27^th hosted by Brampton’s own Russell Peters.

Hopefully this will be the first of many Just for Laughs Festivals to come. For all of the details and to buy tickets follow the link below.

http://www.hahaha.com/toronto/

It is a sad commentary on our society that we desperately need Project ERASE – Eliminate Racing Activities on Streets Everywhere. Did you know that in the GTA alone 36 people since 1999 have been killed as a result of street racing? Project ERASE is the collaborative effort of officers from 12 different police agencies, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of the Environment. The goal is education and enforcement.

Project ERASE evolved from the diligent work of 3 police officers from York Regional Police, Peel Regional Police, and the Ontario Provincial Police. In 1996 in the hopes of containing the growing problem of illegal street racing in Toronto these officers created Operation Dragnet, which has grown and evolved into Project ERASE. There are laws for modifying cars. Please follow the link for more information on what modifications are illegal.

http://www.yorkregionsavealife.com/Erase/ProjectErase.htm

Let’s support this great initiative and do what we can and stop the killing because of an insatiable need for speed!