Nuit Blanche

Nuit Blanche is a good excuse to be in downtown Toronto at night. Imagine having the whole downtown Toronto as your huge gallery, theatre, stage.
Art in any form, can be found, seen, heard -- be it painting, photographs, film, music, performances, sculptures.
Armed with a good pair of walking shoes - (walking was the best way to move from one exhibit to another), a warm coat (as it was a chilly night), and an open mind we went.

Partner and I started early from home with plans to watch a movie before sundown (when Nuit Blanche officially starts). Upon reaching downtown area, we immediately headed to the nearest Tim's for a start up caffeine boost. Could be the coffee, could be us – as plans changed right away. We will walk just around and enjoy Toronto downtown streets on a weekend – something we have not done in a long, long time. By 6:30 we were back at the Eaton Centre and had pizza. People-watching. Amazing what you see at the mall!

First Nuit Blanche stop was the giant balloon at the mall. Into the Blue. Was not impressed, but it looked cool in pictures.
Out of the mall, we headed to Fifteen Seconds at Yonge and Dundas. Nothing spectacular - maybe because there was not a lot of people yet. We had our hort 15 seconds of fame though.
Next stop – Domaine d’l’angle – despite the foreign sounding name – it was false advertising number 1. Photo in program showed a forest in an office, but what we saw was an alleyway with a dumpster and a homeless. Probably a good concept, but didn’t work.
To the City Hall for Project Blinkenlight : Stereoscope. Mayor Miller was being interviewed when we got there. Beautiful lights (were they real office lights or programmed lights from somewhere?), but I wished there was some music to go with it.
False Advertising number 2. Commerce Court at King Street. Was expecting a boardroom setting with selected audience asking questions. All we saw was a 2-3 minute monologue of an actor flashed in one of the walls.
Waterfalls. With all the hype this exhibit got, I expected more and the idea was brilliant. I completely, absolutely concur with its message. Bottled water is never good.
Time-Piece 2008. Simply Awesome. 27 phases of the moon seen in a minute or so.
We dropped by Meeky : The Strangest Little Boy in the World, but the line up was too long. Guess people are still attracted to the strange, the odd, the not so normal.
Walk, bump, walk towards the Sound Forest. Pretty nifty voices.
Now we need a sustenance break. Hotdog stand in sight -- hurry, get one.
Noticed the long line up at the Gardiner Museum, the ROM, Uof T’s Déjà, Presque, Jamais: three views of creative sound, and even St. Patrick’s church. Last stop was the Japan Foundation.
Then we were off to another round of coffee at Tim’s, passing by the Circus of Dreams at the Toronto Reference Library.

To experience Toronto and the Arts.