Photos: August 2009 Archives

       

After thirty years, one of Toronto's most legendary independent bookstores will close its doors for good in only a few more hours. At Pages Books and Magazines, customers are scouring the almost bare shelves looking for an excuse to make one more purchase.

Since she no longer returns our phone calls, Torontoist decided to visit Ossington in person. Our mission: to chronicle what happens when the booze isn't flowing, the restaurant staff have yet to wake, and the denim and flannel are being worn by actual construction workers. Drama! Passion! And the distant sound of an old Portuguese man watering his sidewalk!

              

The Ex opens today, and as noted in Urban Planner and Newsstand, admission is cheap! These images were taken a couple of nights ago on the midway as the last preparations were being made for the opening.

       

If you're hankering after some urban greenery but you're tired of High Park, then you could do worse than a visit to the Humber Arboretum. It's free, it's quiet, and best of all, there are surprisingly few wasps.

                            

With the temperature shooting above 30ºC (and with a "feels like" of 39ºC), today will go down as one of the hottest days of 2009—but with hot weather only lasting a quarter of a year, we have to make the most of what we've got. Here are some images from the Torontoist Flickr Pool of Torontonians enjoying themselves this summer and in summers past. Get out there—there's only about a month of this left.

       

What might become of our current streetcars when they're replaced by shiny new ones over the next few years? No one knows yet, but they might well dream of seeing out the rest of their days at the Halton County Radial Railway.

                   

This summer's been something of a bummer, weather-wise, but that doesn't mean that there haven't been plenty of moments that have left us completely in awe—like last night's colossal long-lasting lightning storm, which covered the city for several hours, and which might be duplicated again today. Above are a selection of photos from photographers in Torontoist's Flickr pool, who braved the storms by holding small metal, electric objects pointed up at it, many of them focusing on the lightning conduit that is the CN Tower.

       

People gathered in Nathan Phillips Square yesterday to mark Hiroshima Day in Toronto with music and speeches, finishing after dark with a lantern ceremony in the reflecting pool. The Peace Garden in the Square features an eternal flame, which was lit from an ember of the Peace Flame in Hiroshima, and a fountain, to which water from a river in Nagasaki was added.

       

Last Sunday, Torontoist trekked to Woodbine Beach for a sandcastle-building extravaganza hosted by Art Attack!, the arts themed division of the Toronto Public Space Committee. The event was free, and open to anyone who wanted to participate. Liam O’Doherty, the event's organizer, told us that the purpose of the event was "to bring strangers together" and "have as much fun as possible."