Chalked a different, yet this time around it was a precisely measured nine lane “Peace Labyrinth” in the same intersection as last year’s Toronto Ukrainian Festival.
Checkout the peace labyrinth at Bloor and Armadale pic.twitter.com/70p6rS3AnS
— Toronto Ukrainian Festival (@TorUkrFestival) September 16, 2023
Tonight is the 20th Anniversary of the 2003 Blackout.
Each year on this evening since,
Michael Louis Johnson + Shamez Amlani have curated an Annual Blackout Anniversary Party.
On the Fifth Blackout Anniversary in 2009,
I created a Luminaria Tea Light Labyrinth on Ossington Avenue where the event took over the street.
Tonight’s 20th Anniversary Blackout Party began with a Picnic + Music in Grange Park from 6 p.m. onwards.
The Makeshift Music Venue was set up alongside the west edge of my Grange Park Labyrinth.
The Grange Park Labyrinth tonight was transformed into the evening’s Performance & Dance Floor…
Look closely in the background, you can spot two little ones who kept coming into and out of frame as they completed their Labyrinth Walk while the Trumpet completed What a Wonderful World.
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Visit our booth at Grange Park today for the Grange Park Festival from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm to learn about our programs and enjoy a day of fun activities!
Learn more: https://t.co/CTeDymUvLq pic.twitter.com/u9geUTdYVa
— Skills for Change (@SkillsforChange) August 11, 2023
Well, free ice cream for ALMOST everyone 😜🍦 pic.twitter.com/6KxJcXbzIl
— Kevin Vuong 王啟榮 (@KevinVuongMP) August 11, 2023
“I had the pleasure of joining a Jane’s Walk led by HiMY SYeD today.
“He wore a Labyrinth pattern shirt and had a Labyrinth pattern jacket as well.”
I had the pleasure of joining a Jane’s Walk led by @LabyrinthsDOTca today. He wore a labyrinth pattern shirt and had a labyrinth pattern jacket as well. #JanesWalkTO pic.twitter.com/Xk9LFRfT5Z
— Richard Eriksson (@sillygwailo) May 6, 2023
Happy World Labyrinth Day Julie!
Thank you for joining my World Labyrinth Day: Toronto City of Labyrinths Jane’s Walk!
Many thanks to Sarah Jensen (@the.heartofbarrie)
For joining my Toronto Jane’s Walk
And for sharing images
ReGrammed from her two posts :
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr4gdO_M3dR/
&
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr4lpNbsKZV/
“I’m in Toronto for the weekend for Jane’s Walk Toronto.
A Jane’s Walk is a walking conversations inspired by writer and urbanist Jane Jacobs.
They’re held in hundreds of cities across the world.
(Including 5 of them in Barrie throughout May)
Tonight’s walk through Parkdale Village and Exhibition Place shared ideas from her 11 books.
And it was led by HiMY, the guy who (somewhat illegally) paints Labyrinths all over Toronto! @LabyrinthsDOTca 👏
This first half of the walk featured community gardens, one of the ping pong tables I’ve been eyeing up for Barrie and Trenton Terrace, home to the most adorable workers cottages (that were once affordable).”
— Sarah Jensen, The Heart of Barrie
Grateful you found attending this evening’s Jane’s Walk worthwhile.
I did not make the connection between you and Barrie.
I know you have car-free days through the summer, I intend to pop up there in Barrie during one or more of them to chalk Labyrinths in the open car free public spaces.
I trust people will enjoy exploring & walking them.
Thank you for joining my Jane’s Walk!
“Such a great walk to start the weekend, thank you!
I’m based in Barrie, but in Toronto fairly often, especially the Parkdale area.
It’s one of my adopted neighbourhoods.
I enjoyed learning more about it and Jane.
We’d love to have you come to Barrie and create Labyrinths!
We’re running our car free Open Air Dunlops twice a month, starting June 10th.
Let me know if you’re coming up.”
— Sarah Jensen, The Heart of Barrie
Our Jane’s Walk began in front of the Parkdale Labyrinth
Inside Masaryk Park in Parkdale, Toronto.
I shared that since Childhood, Jane Jacobs was fascinated with Mazes and Labyrinths.
Cities as Labyrinths, without dead ends, rather than Cities as Mazes with many dead ends, is something that informed Jane Jacobs on her understanding of The City and its Streets, which comes through and can be found in her writings.
Jane Jacobs had at least one book about Mazes and Labyrinths on the shelf in her personal library at home, at the time of her passing in 2006.
Labyrinths and “Mazing” of streets by using one-way streets and forced turns for vehicles to improve quality of life inside residential neighbourhoods was something I did my best to express at the start of my Jane’s Walk.
Our Jane’s Walk made it as far as Fort Rouille located inside,
Or rather located as an interrupted concrete outline on the ground,
Within present day Exhibition Place.
Our final stop was opposite Ontario Place.
Here I suggested that “Ontario Place For All”,
The group aiming to save Ontario Place,
Should rename themselves as:
“Ontario Place for All, Austria Place for Some”
Because during the Spadina Expressway era,
Whenever the group was mentioned in print or on TV,
It included their SOS mandate:
“Stop Spadina Save Our City” [ Co-ordinating Committee ] .
Likewise “…Austria Place For Some”
Grateful to Olivia Chow,
Who joined 34 fellow Jane’s Walkers on my
“The 11 Books of Jane Jacobs All in One Jane’s Walk”
Almost everyone ( 30! ), including Olivia, stayed til the final walk stop opposite Ontario Place.
“HiMY SYeD leading a Toronto Jane’s Walk celebrating Jane Jacobs’ urbanism and philosophy through her books.
“We are imagining the Spadina Expressway nightmare and are grateful of Jacobs’ role in stopping it.
Grateful to #OliviaChow,
Who joined 34 fellow Jane's Walkers on my
"The 11 Books of Jane Jacobs All in One Jane's Walk"https://t.co/qo0ZUp5PdI
Almost everyone ( 30! ), including Olivia, stayed til the final walk stop opposite Ontario Place.
| #JanesWalkTO #JanesWalk #TOpoli https://t.co/IJO5nvzTbs
— HïMY SYeD 🍥 City of Labyrinths Project (@LabyrinthsDOTca) May 6, 2023
“Nice to see Olivia Chow on a Toronto Jane’s Walk led by HiMY SYeD on the topic of Jane Jacobs’ books on cities.”
Nice to see @oliviachow on a @JanesWalkTO led by Himy Syed on the topic of #JaneJacob books on cities pic.twitter.com/PfDognqnkS
— Ushnish Sengupta (@ultush) May 5, 2023
Itto Kagutsuchi is one of Canada’s most respected fire eaters and rope dart artists, as well as an in-demand teacher of both flow arts and all things having to do with sword-play.
Her performed atop The Grange Park Labyrinth during University Settlement’s 81st Annual Grange Festival, in Downtown Toronto on Friday August 5 2022.
Smells nice pic.twitter.com/JuxdohmkLn
— Maltese Petard 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@shawnmicallef) April 29, 2022
Dark Age Ahead – The Wizard of Ossington Jane's Walkhttps://t.co/QudFTCVL3p
Date : Friday May 6 2022
Time : 5:30 p.m.
Start : Meet in middle of Medicine Wheel #Labyrinth atop traffic island opposite Christie Street Subway Station entrance
| #JanesWalkTO #JanesWalk #Toronto pic.twitter.com/UOldpIOks0
— HïMY SYeD 🍥 City of Labyrinths Project (@LabyrinthsDOTca) April 6, 2022
World Labyrinth Day – Sunnyside Jane's Walk
Walk Canada's largest, most complex, Octagon Labyrinth!
+ Two more Labyrinths
Date : Saturday May 7 2022
Time : 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Start : Budapest Park, Beside the Dinosaurs
| #JanesWalkTO #loveTOwalk#WorldLabyrinthDay #Labyrinths pic.twitter.com/HKxGHTRiUG
— HïMY SYeD 🍥 City of Labyrinths Project (@LabyrinthsDOTca) April 9, 2022
World Labyrinth Day ~ Blue Zone Scarborough Jane's Walk
Learn how Labyrinths transform Neighbourhoods into Blue Zones
Date : Saturday May 7 2022
Time : 7:15 p.m – 8 p.m.
Start : Traffic Island, Teesdale Place
| #JanesWalkTO #loveTOwalk #BlueZones#WorldLabyrinthDay #ScarbTO pic.twitter.com/eY5jFM1JRI
— HïMY SYeD 🍥 City of Labyrinths Project (@LabyrinthsDOTca) April 9, 2022
The Girl on the Hat – A Children's Jane's Walkhttps://t.co/mOWBwTod4s
Date : Sunday May 8 2022
Time : 1 p.m.
Start : 69 Albany Avenue, sidewalk in front of Jane Jacobs' house
(Parents+Grandparents can come too!)
| #JanesWalkTO #JanesWalk #loveTOwalk
#storytelling #Toronto pic.twitter.com/3jyC5Yd85n— HïMY SYeD 🍥 City of Labyrinths Project (@LabyrinthsDOTca) April 7, 2022
This Thursday Morning was the Big Day !
Your favourite local Labyrinth Maker, wore his Red Labyrinth TEE, to the Mobile Vaccination Clinic !
I signed up at 10:03 p.m. last night on a Stand By List for First Doses at MAC ICCO, Islamic Community Centre of Ontario operated by Muslim Association of Canada.
There was no guarantee of getting a first shot today, the email confirmation warned us.
We may have to wait all day from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.
But that’s not what happened at all.
The company that was outsourced by the Region of Peel to handle the online booking system for Vaccine Doses at this location pretty much were overwhelmed, almost from the first day registration opened on April 30 2021.
Confirmation emails or phone calls were not being sent or made.
Many people had MISSED their confirmed Vaccine Appointments at this Mobile Vaccination Clinic.
MAC created an easier parallel online booking system for “Standby Appointments” to ensure all available doses were used.
Almost all the people ahead of me in line that you can see in the above photograph, were Standby.
And all of us received our first dose of Moderna before Noon !
There was a somewhat Labyrinthy Experience to everything.
Before you enter you start with Questions,
Like any worthwhile Labyrinth walk.
Having satisfied the Security Guard that we were Vaccine Dose eligible,
we enter the Vaccine Clinic Labyrinth . . .
Followed a winding path marked by duct tape on the carpet and arrows stickered on the floor 6 feet apart.
Sometimes the Centre of a Labyrinth has spaces that resemble rose petals or alcoves.
People sometimes sit down in those places inside the Centre.
Today’s Centre has Vaccine Stations.
And this where I sat down . . .
My Vaccine Dose was administered by Andrei, a registered nurse.
I asked him if there was any difference between getting jabbed in the right arm or the left arm.
It was something I had been wondering about.
Did the Heart being closer to one’s left arm have anything to do with it?
Nope.
There was no difference in efficacy, either arm can be chosen to receive the jab.
Because some people might feel a little soreness for a day or so in their arm,
People are recommended to get jabbed in their less dominant arm.
I am mostly right-handed, so I got jabbed in my left arm.
IF any soreness pops up today or tomorrow, my right-handedness won’t suffer.
Oh okay.
Minor Mystery solved.
Here we go . . .
Time of Dose : 11:37 a.m.
I know I felt something,
but I almost can’t describe what getting the needle in the arm felt like.
Painless.
Over in seconds, if that.
As almost everybody knows by now,
After getting your first dose,
You need to hang around on site for 15 minutes.
If this were a trip,
This is the part where we ask, “Are we there yet?”
Because we are stationary,
We instead ask, “Are we then yet?”
Like the Jab that was painless,
This passing of 15 minutes of time went by almost unnoticed.
Because I was a Standby Vaccine Appointment, while checking out at the exit desk, they could not confirm date and time for my second dose.
That would be in an email to be sent later.
No matter.
I was giddy and feeling euphoric while this portrait of me standing beside the retractable Vaccination banner stand while pointing to my jabbed arm was being taken by a MAC ICCO volunteer.
Many times, one needs to walk a Labyrinth more than once to get the most out of it.
I’ve gotten my first Vaccine Dose at the Mobile Vaccination Clinic today.
To ensure COVID-19 immunity, I need to repeat the steps above a second time, but that’s for another day.
Today was another success at the MAC ICCO mobile vaccination clinic. We managed to reach the maximum capacity of the clinic with 737 vaccinations administered today. We supplemented the inefficient Alio bookings with standby lists and limited walk-ins. #VaccineForAll pic.twitter.com/Nh1ZebY7Q0
— Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) (@MACNational) May 7, 2021
Over the years, thousands of parents have had life-saving/soul-saving rests here as their toddlers were occupied by the labyrinth for up to 2 full minutes.
— IanKiar (@IanKiarrrrrrr) April 1, 2021
“Just like a scene from a movie,
A group of Toronto teenagers were having a hip hop dance party in the weekend night.
They took turn to show off their talent for dance,
No TV show jury,
No commercial tickets,
Everyone was a star on the center stage,
And everyone gave their admiration and encouragement to each other.”
Even though I wasn’t able to walk my Vancouver Public Labyrinth on this Pandemic Summer Solstice,
Grateful to see that at least one Vancouverite did . . .
