New Toronto Rocket - Video Uploaded!

Went to the opening of the new Toronto Rocket before heading out today.  Please excuse the the video -- it was taken from the camera, but I think you get a pretty good idea of the expanse of the new look! 
The New Rocket

New Toronto Rocket!

Toronto Rocket is finally here!

It's finally here!! As promised the New Toronto Rocket will be arriving at the Davisville Subway Station, on the southbound platform : on  
SUNDAY MAY 29TH BETWEEN 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM


The new trains will have all kinds of neat features:

• Open design- one long car with no poles in the middle!
• More accessibility for strollers and wheelchairs
• Vertical hand rails containing anti-bacterial holds
• Onsite cameras
• Audio and Visual info system

They will be replacing the old junkers over the next 3 years!

Garrison Venue

My friend at work won 2 tickets from a radio station , 98.1FM! I agreed to go along and check out Matt Nathanson! There is only one song he does I have heard playing a few times on the radio, "Come on Get Higher".

The venue was at "The Garrison" which I had never been to.  Their website is here if you're interested in checking out some eclectic local talent. 
The Garrison

The Garrison is very casual, almost to the point of shabby and the actual stage room is pretty dark.  It took about an hour before Matt appeared on stage.  By that time the room was full and we were all sweating.  

Matt Nathanson totally blew me away!  His personality would easily sell tickets alone for his quirky sense of humour in between self composed/written songs.  His style is a lot like John Mayer.  You get the sense that you just want to root for this young guy making it big because he's just so damn likeable.


I've got some pretty bad pictures to share (because the venue was so dark) and if you can catch some of the video at all, you're welcomed to listen to it, even if you can't see anything.
My silly introduction

and the one song I knew from him: 
Come on Get Higher <-- This is a Youtube video, my video was just too large to upload and inaudible :)

Riverdale Park and Zoo

Off of Broadview Avenue down through the Riverdale East Park and west on the footbridge over the Don Valley, lives the the Riverdale Park and Zoo.  

Riverdale Park, Toronto

Footbridge

Never before have I been there that I can recollect; although my parents tell me I went there as a little girl, I don't remember any of it. The Riverdale Zoo was originally established in 1856 when the City of Toronto had bought 119 acres of land to establish a park and a 'jail farm'.  Ten years later the jail was moved away from the parklands.  I found it rather odd that one should visit a Park and a Jail within the same place.  The Riverdale Park was opened officially about 20 years later. In 1894, the Riverdale Zoo had opened as

Toronto's first zoo.  Its collection of exotic animals included ocelots, camels, a dromedary, monkeys, a Siberian bear, a hippopotamus and some lions.  Donations of money and animals continued and although a typical zoo for its period, the animals were really just displayed in cramped cages and were not allowed to roam freely.  It took many years, but thankfully in 1974, the Riverdale Zoo closed its doors.  A committee was formed to build a major modern styled zoo for the animals to run free in a mock natural habitat.  This proved to be far more beneficial as the people could experience a much broader view of the animals in their natural behaviors.  Glen Rouge was the site for that zoo and still exists today as one of the largest, most beautiful zoos in the world, known as the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo.

Today, the Riverdale Zoo is known as Riverdale Farm and is home to many farm animals and birds like cows, goats, sheeps, pigs, poultry and horses. The Donnybrook and the Island House buildings are the only original structures that remain from the original park.  New additions are the Simpson house which was built as an exact replica of the original.