Josh is a young Jamaican-Canadian and this blog is about his music & travel adventures and anything that takes his interest. He sings bass, and studies organ, piano, violin & viola.
(This blog was last updated in April 2019, and will no longer updated in the future.)
Last night Mom and I went to Medieval times with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins.
It was strange in way because they expected us to eat with our hands. But, Mom knew I wouldn't like that and she was prepared. She carried cutlery for me to use. I ate the garlic bread and the apple turnover with my hands though. I liked the bread and the turnover and I also liked the tomato bisque but I didn't like the chicken or potatoes.
The show was very entertaining.
The knights showed how skilled they were on the horses and they even jousted!
Part of the fun was knowing that it was all a show and they were safe. (I'm glad they jumped off the horses instead of falling off because falling would have been dangerous.)
Here is a picture of the narrator.
I really liked his horse!
These were the knights who competed in the tournament. Our knight was the one in the red and yellow. I had fun cheering for him and booing the other knights.
This part was pretty cool.
The knight who won the tournament had to fight this bad guy....
We've known for a long time that the elephants at the Toronto Zoo were going to be moved to a Sanctuary in California.
I looked back in my old journal, and I found this from 2011:
I did not expect it to take this long, but I saw on the news this morning that they are leaving today. It should take them about 3 - 5 days to get to California. That's a really long time to be in a small space. I hope that they have enough food and water on the trip and that they'll be as comfortable as possible. I really hope they survive the journey!
Here is a picture from when I did the overnight Serengeti Bush Camp at the zoo.
And here is an old picture of all three of the elephants.
Mom, Dad and I went to see Cirque de la Symphonie and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall last night. I love the TSO and I was hoping that the performers would make it even better. It was very different - in a good way.
The TSO was conducted by Steven Reineke. He is their Principal Pops Conductor.
The orchestra was sitting very far back on the stage so that the acrobats would have a place to perform. There were aerial flyers, dancers, strong men, a juggler and a lady who could change her clothes very fast.
My favourite piece was "The Ride of the Valkyries" by Richard Wagner. Sagiv Ben Binyamin was on an aerial rope. The orchestra was all together and it was beautiful.
For Sabre Dance from Gayane, by Aram Khachaturian. The orchestra played it wonderfully! The juggler was pretty amusing too. He even juggled with someone from the audience.
I loved the 4th and 5th movements of Capriccio Espagnol, Op 34 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov especially the violin and the harp! The tango dancers, Aloysia Gavre and Sagiv Ben Binyamin were excellent too!
People were clapping throughout the songs for the the performers and the orchestra seemed more like background music for them. But, there were some songs that the orchestra performed without the acrobats. I really loved the Intermedio from La Boda de Luis Alonso by Geronimo Gimenez. I really loved the castanets!
It must have been hard for the conductor because he had to figure out the tempo for the music by looking at the performers but the performers were above and behind him. He was twisting and looking up behind him while he was conducting! He even had to duck when a piece of rope was going right by him.
I wonder if it was hard for the musicians to concentrate. The performers were sometimes flying over their heads. It must have been really distracting. But, the musicians of the TSO are excellent and were mostly able to focus while they were playing.
I finally started back visiting places that were built in Victorian Era in Toronto. Today, Dad and I went to St. Lawrence Market to get ingredients for our Thanksgiving Dinner.
I took all the pictures today. I'm not as good as Mom or Dad at avoiding people and St. Lawrence Market is very busy on Saturdays.
They have a Farmers' Market where you can buy local fresh fruits and vegetables. You can meet the farmers who grew them!
This is inside the North Market which is newer than the historic South Market. They had fruits, vegetables, fresh meats, breads and pastries, honey and beeswax candles as well as flowers.
We went outside to get to the South Building which is the one that was built in the Victorian Era.
The South Building is open most days. They have more permanent vendors.
Some of our favourite ones are Rube's Rice, Di Liso's Fine Meats, Crepe It Up Cafe, Cruda Cafe and Sausage King. Dad loves the kitchen gadgets at Placewares.
Here are some pictures from the outside of the South Market.
I think it's cool that St. Lawrence Market is still around and I can imagine that William Lyon Mackenzie's family would have shopped there.
Last night, Dad and I went to see the TSO's Opening concert for the 2013-14 season!
I'm so happy that they're back. I missed them over the summer.
They were conducted by Peter Oundjuan and Alisa Weilerstein was the cello soloist.
CBC Music recorded the concert for it to be broadcast on October 13, 2013 on In Concert, CBC Radio 2 (94.1 FM).
The very first thing they played was the Canadian National Anthem. It sounded wonderful. It made me proud to be Canadian.
I really loved Benjamin Britten's Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op 34 . (The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra). It starts so strong and it becomes so light-hearted and fun and it has a strong but playful finish! I really loved the clarinet part in this piece.
The Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85 played by Alisa Weilerstein was really good. It was written at the end of the First World War. It must have been a really sad time. We've studied a little bit about the First World War but this makes me want to learn more about what was happening while he wrote it. I wonder if the performers ever end up crying when they play.
The final piece that they played was Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. No. 70.
I love the dramatic music. We needed it to balance out the concert after the piece written in World War One.
After the concert, I got my CD signed by Alisa Weilerstein!
Here's a picture.
For more information about the TSO's concerts, here's a link to the tso's website. www.tso.ca
Yesterday, Dad and I went to Wychwood Barnes for the 100th anniversary of streetcars running on St. Clair West in Toronto. They had a special streetcar running on the route. They brought back a PCC (President's Conference Committee) Streetcar just for the 14 and 15th of September.
We got it on the first run of the day.
Councillor Joe Mihevc was on the streetcar asking us questions about streetcar history and the history of St. Clair West. I answered his question about CLRVs (Canadian Light Rail Vehicles).
Here's a picture of what the PCC streetcar looks like inside.
This is a really cool picture because you can see the PCC streetcar running out on the road instead of in a museum. It's cool to ride on it in a museum like the Halton Radial Railway Museum but it's different when you get to ride it when you can really go somewhere!
Here are some of the old signs they had hanging up in Wychwood Barnes.
