#mexican day toronto

[uglyandtraveling]

Mexican Independence Day in Toronto Canada 2024 (Urdu/ Hindi Vlog)

Join me as I take you through the vibrant and energetic 30th annual Mexican Independence Day celebrations right here in Toronto! This exciting event commemorates Mexico's call to arms in 1810, sparking the Mexican War of Independence and shaping the nation we know today.

Every year, Mexicans across the globe unite to celebrate their rich culture and heritage, and Toronto’s festivities are recognized as one of the largest outside of Mexico!

From traditional and contemporary dance performances to mouthwatering Mexican street food, this event is packed with excitement. Expect a day filled with music, colorful costumes, arts and crafts, kid-friendly activities, and a bustling food festival.

Whether you’re part of the Mexican community or simply curious to explore the culture, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Through my vlog let’s dive into the heart of Mexican culture right here in Toronto!

Whether you're a local or a visitor, my vlogs offer a fresh perspective on Toronto's vibrant urban landscape. Therefore, subscribe my channel for more exciting travel vlogs showcasing the best of Toronto and beyond.

And if you enjoyed watching this video, please don't forget to like and comment leave your feedback. Thanks for watching! 🌷🌆🚶‍♂️

[queerasfact]

Queer Calendar 2023

We put together a calendar of key (mostly queer) dates at the start of the year to help us with scheduling - so I thought I’d share it around! Including pride and visibility days, some queer birthdays and anniversaries, and a few other bits and bobs. Click the links for more info - I dream one day of having a queer story for every day of the year!

This is obviously not an exhaustive list - if I’ve overlooked something important to you, feel free to add it in the reblogs!

January

3 - Bisexual American jazz-age heiress Henrietta Bingham born 1901

8 - Queer Australian bushranger Captain Moonlite born 1845; gay American art collector Ned Warren born 1860

11 - Pennsylvania celebrates Rosetta Tharpe Day in honour of bisexual musician Rosetta Tharpe

12 - Japanese lesbian author Nobuko Yoshiya born 1896

22 - Lunar New Year (Year of the Rabbit)

24 - Roman emperor Hadrian, famous for his relationship with Antinous, born 76CE; gay Prussian King Frederick the Great born 1712

27 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day

February

LGBT+ History Month (UK, Hungary)

Black History Month (USA and Canada)

1 - Feast of St Brigid, a saint especially important to Irish queer women

5 - Operation Soap, a police raid on gay bathhouses in Toronto, Canada, spurs massive protests, 1981

7 - National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (USA)

18 - US Black lesbian writer and activist Audre Lorde born 1934

12 - National Freedom to Marry Day (USA)

19-25 - Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week

March

Women’s History Month

1 - Black Women in Jazz and the Arts Day

8 - International Women’s Day

9 - Bi British writer David Garnett born 1892

12 - Bi Polish-Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky born 1889 or 1890

13 March-15 April - Deaf History Month

14 - American lesbian bookseller and publisher Sylvia Beach born 1887

16 - French lesbian artist Rosa Bonheur born 1822

20 - Bi US musician Rosetta Tharpe born 1915

21 - World Poetry Day

24 - The Wachowski sisters’ cyberpunk trans allegory The Matrix premiers 1999

April

Jazz Appreciation Month

Black Women’s History Month

National Poetry Month (USA)

3 - British lesbian diarist Anne Lister born 1791

8 - Trans British racing driver and fighter pilot Roberta Cowell born 1918

9 -  Bi Australia poet Lesbia Harford born 1891; Easter Sunday

10 - National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (USA)

14 - Day of Silence

15 - Queer Norwegian photographer and suffragist Marie Høeg born 1866

17 - Costa-Rican-Mexican lesbian singer Chavela Vargas born 1919

21-22 - Eid al-Fitr

25 - Gay English King Edward II born 1284

26 - Lesbian Day of Visibility; bi American blues singer Ma Rainey born 1886

29 - International Dance Day

30 - International Jazz Day

May

1 - Trans British doctor and Buddhist monk Michael Dillon born 1915

7 - International Family Equality Day

7 - Gay Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky born 1840

15 - Australian drag road-trip comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert premiers in 1994

 17 - IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia)

18 - International Museum Day

19 - Agender Pride Day

22 - US lesbian tailor and poet Charity Bryant born 1777

22 - Harvey Milk Day marks the birth of gay US politician Harvey Milk 1930

23 - Premier of Pride, telling the story of the 1980s British activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners

24 - Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day; Queer Chinese-Japanese spy Kawashima Yoshiko born 1907

26 - queer American astronaut Sally Ride born 1951

29 - Taiwanese lesbian writer Qiu Miaojin born 1969

June

Pride Month

Indigenous History Month (Canada)

3 - Bisexual American-French performer, activist and WWII spy Josephine Baker born 1906

5 - Queer Spanish playwright and poet Federico García Lorca born 1898; bi English economic John Maynard Keynes born 1883

8 - Mechanic and founder of Australia’s first all-female garage, Alice Anderson, born 1897

10 - Bisexual Israeli poet Yona Wallach born 1944

12 - Pulse Night of Remembrance, commemorating the 2012 shooting at the Pulse nightclub, Orlando

14 - Australian activists found the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands in 2004

18 - Sally Ride becomes the first know queer woman in space

24 - The first Sydney Mardi Gras 1978

25 - The rainbow flag first flown as a queer symbol in 1978

28 - Stonewall Riots, 1969

28 June-2 July - Eid al-Adha

30 - Gay German-Israeli activist, WWII resistance member and Holocaust survivor Gad Beck born 1923

July

1 - Gay Dutch WWII resistance fighter Willem Arondeus killed - his last words were “Tell the people homosexuals are no cowards”

2-9 - NAIDOC Week (Australia) celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture

6 - Bi Mexican artist Frida Kahlo born 1907

12 or 13 - Roman emperor Julius Caesar born c.100BCE

14 - International Non-Binary People’s Day

23 - Shelly Bauman, owner of Seattle gay club Shelly’s Leg, born 1947; American lesbian cetenarian Ruth Ellis born 1899; gay American professor, tattooist and sex researcher Sam Steward born 1909

25 - Italian-Australian trans man Harry Crawford born 1875

August

8 - International Cat Day

9 - Queer Finnish artist, author and creator of Moomins Tove Jansson born 1914

9 - International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

11 - Russian lesbian poet Sofya Parnok born 1885

12 - Queer American blues musician Gladys Bentley born 1907

13 - International Left-Handers Day

22 - Gay WWII Dutch resistance fight Willem Arondeus born 1894

24 - Trans American drag queen and activist Marsha P Johnson born 1945

26 - National Dog Day

30 - Bi British author Mary Shelley 1797

31 - Wear it Purple Day (Australia - queer youth awareness)

September

5 - Frontman of Queen Freddie Mercury born 1946

6 - Trans Scottish doctor and farmer Ewan Forbes born 1912

13 - 1990 documentary on New York’s ball culture Paris is Burning premiers

15-17 - Rosh Hashanah

16-23 - Bisexual Awareness Week

17 - Gay Prussian-American Inspector General of the US Army Baron von Steuben born 1730

23 - Celebrate Bisexuality Day

24 - Gay Australian artist William Dobell born 1889

30 - International Podcast Day

October

Black History Month (Europe)

4 - World Animal Day

5 - National Poetry Day (UK)

5 - Queer French diplomat and spy the Chevalière d’Éon born 1728

8 - International Lesbian Day

9 - Indigenous Peoples’ Day (USA)

11 - National Coming Out Day

16 - Irish writer Oscar Wilde born 1854

18 - International Pronouns Day

22-28 - Asexual Awareness Week

26 - Intersex Awareness Day

31 - American lesbian tailor Sylvia Drake born 1784

November

8 - Intersex Day of Remembrance

12 - Diwali; Queer Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz born c.1648

13-19 - Transgender Awareness Week

20 - Trans American writer, lawyer, activist and priest Pauli Murray born 1910; Transgender Day of Remembrance

27 - Antinous, lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian, born c.111; German lesbian drama Mädchen in Uniform premiers, 1931

29 - Queer American writer Louisa May Alcott born 1832

December

AIDS Awareness Month

1 - World AIDS Day

2 - International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

3 - International Day of Persons with Disabilities

8 - Pansexual Pride Day; queer Swedish monarch Christina of Sweden born 1626

10 - Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners host Pits and Perverts concern to raise mining for striking Welsh miners, 1984

14 - World Monkey Day

15 - Roman emperor Nero born 37CE

24 - American drag king and bouncer Stormé DeLarverie born 1920

25 - Christmas

29 - Trans American jazz musician Billy Tipton born 1914

[operafantomet]

COLOUR VARIATIONS IN THE CONFIDANTE COSTUME

ROW 1: Orange/pink. The possibly rarest shade. Maybe even just one dress showing this; that worn by Jeanne Marie Nigl in Stuttgart. The other in this photoset is from Hiroshima, but as seen in the next row it might be pink.

ROW 2: Pink. Very common in the US, not so much elsewhere. Usually quite patterned dresses as well. Here's some of the less patterned and more obviously pink versions, as worn by Kitty Heaton on Broadway and an unidentified actress from the US Tour. Last photo shows a backstage photo of a newer Japanese dress.

ROW 3: Purplish gold. A more ombiguous shade, which can change the look quite a bit from backstage to stage lamps. Seen here is Mel Gowie in West End, unidentified actress from the South Korean revival, and Paige Tuddenham from either Toronto or the Canadian Tour.

ROW 4: Purple. Sometimes it's difficult to separate between purple and more patterned blue dresses, as these too tend to change colour quite a bit on stage. But here is two from West End (unidentified actresses), and one on display in Vienna.

ROW 5: Very blue. The very blue dresses seems to be a recent trend. Here's a fairly new one from the costume maker in the US, a similar US dress worn by Jennifer West in the World Tour revival, and an unidentified actress from the West End revival.

ROW 6: Sky / pale blue. The most common shade. It's what was seen in the original West End production (left), plus to examples from Hamburg, worn by Stephanie Watt and Tanja Petrasek.

ROW 7: Sky / pale blue. More of the same, as worn by an unidentified actress (Lisa Dyby Waddingham?) from early West End days, as well as Eline de Jong in Oberhausen, and Nicola Rutherford in West End.

ROW 8: Metallic green / yellow / undetermined. Some dresses are a bit hard to pinpoint, because they are made of a metallic fabric and it may act up under stage lamps. But here is a greyish/blue/gold dress from the original Stockholm production, a golden dress from the Mexican / Spanish / original Brazilian production, as well as a mint / blue one from the Copenhagen revival. Alas I don't have the name for either actresses.

(original design by Maria Bjørnson)

[hockeychatstea]

the players in dallas don’t get recognized. in highschool for 3yrs i worked at a juice bar and a whole foods located where the majority of them had condos/houses and would see players on a daily basis. thats how i got into hockey bc my friend/coworker was a big hockey guy & would freak out when they’d come by but literally no one else ever approached them. tyler seguin came in alot sometimes twice a day and on sunday mornings he’d always have a random woman with him-either a brunette, mexican or mixed woman and they’d always appear older than him like 30-34. he was always nice. drunk uncle vibe. dad jokes. The dallas Mavs players were the ones to be recognized bc they’re giants. I moved for college came back after grad to work as a nurse at a rehab fitness center. it turns out alot of the Stars & Cowboys players go here. i don’t interact bc i work uptop in the medical part where you get infusions/labs & the NHL /NFL has their own private medical team, but occasionally the older Stars players will come up to get vitamin infusion/hydration infusions or just to yap with my boss who used to work in their medical team. unfortunately none of the stars players past/present have ever been cute or interesting to me nor do i route for the stars-now if it was Toronto or Nashville players i’d freak out🤩side note: most of the cowboy players are rude AF like very entitled. my boss has gotten into it with 3 of them already and the year just started 💀 also the guy coworker from the smoothie shop who originally got me into hockey was the one who introduced me to these nhl gossip blogs in highschool- he was an SMU frat bro and introduced me to puck bunny blogs 😂 these type of blogs have a more diverse audience than you think.

Yeah Dallas isn't a big hockey town so it isn't super surprising that they wouldn't lol

And you never know who is behind the anon so there definitely is a bigger diverse audience on here lol

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

JINJER's TATIANA SHMAILYUK Celebrates Seven Months Of Sobriety

Vocalist Tatiana Shmailyuk of Ukrainian modern metal frontrunners JINJER is celebrating seven months of sobriety.

On Saturday (July 15),the 36-year-old singer shared a new mirror selfie on Instagram and she captioned it: "#7monthssober today. Let's see how far I can get".

Last December, Tatiana spoke to Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", about how she met her husband, former SUICIDE SILENCE and current P.O.D. touring drummer Alex Lopez. She said: "I met him through Internet. Of course, he was a famous person in the heavy music industry. So I liked him. And then it kind of happened that they [SUICIDE SILENCE] invited us to be a support act for them in Bratislava, Slovakia back in 2017. So I was, like, 'Well, that's destiny.' We took a picture together after the show. And then we started chatting through Internet. It was not very consistent talk — once a month, once every three months, short [messages]. And then we were talking about us, JINJER, coming to the States, and at that time it seemed impossible to come here, because, oh my God. [Laughs] And a year after, in 2018 I think, we went to the United States supporting CRADLE OF FILTH. And he came to our show to say hi and stuff. And then here and there, that's how it happened. So I think I made it happen. [Laughs]"

When Radioactive MikeZ noted that she was the "aggressive one," Tatiana clarified: "Not aggressive, no. I just was more enthusiastic. You know what I mean. Sometimes women have to do the first step to get what we want. [Laughs]"

Tatiana also talked about what it was about Alex's appearance that first drew her to him. She said: "Yeah, I felt like he looks like me, but like a male version of me. We're both shorties, brown eyes, brown hairs. I love Mexican culture, and he's full-blown Mexican."

Asked how she likes living in Whittier, California, where she shares a home with Lopez, Tatiana said: "Well, I like it because it's in the middle of everything — 30 minutes to downtown L.A., 30 minutes to Laguna Beach, 30 minutes to another beach to another beach and another beach, and then an hour to Big Bear mountains. So it's the perfect location. But I don't go out much because, honestly, I didn't find anything to go out to. [Laughs] And I have a lot of work to do, so I'm just sitting there chilling in the house, enjoying the sun and hummingbirds flying here and there. So, [it's] pretty cool. I love California in general — it's a beautiful place. I don't think there's a big difference between [Whittier] and another small town somewhere in California."

JINJER will embark on its own headline tour following the band's support dates on DISTURBED's 2023 "Take Back Your Life" trek with fellow special guests BREAKING BENJAMIN. The headline trek kicks off on September 7 in Huntsville, Alabama, making stops across Canada and the U.S., including Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto and more before wrapping up in Vancouver on September 25. Several of the tour's stops are produced by Live Nation.

JINJER played its first live show since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on June 10, 2022 at last year's edition of the Greenfield Festival, which was held in Interlaken, Switzerland. The concert took place just days after it was announced that JINJER had been given permission from authorities to leave their war-torn nation and tour Europe as ambassadors of the country.

[gohandinhand]

1, 7, 25

1. chipotle order? ugh okay not to spoil 26 but despite growing up on mexican food i have no spice tolerance, so i have a pretty basic order. either burrito or burrito bowl with extra black beans, brown rice, corn salsa, cheese, double lettuce, and guac.

7. what animal do you look forward to seeing when you visit an aquarium? finally my favorite question 🥰 i'm always thrilled to see cephalopods, especially octopus! any mammals they have tend to be quite interesting. but the biggest thing is anything special that aquarium has. i went to the scripps aquarium on my work trip a couple of months ago i lost my everloving mind about the little penguins - there are only 5 other aquariums in the country that have them and i've been following the new zealand national aquarium online for years because of their little penguin exhibit. thankfully by this point i'd long since ditched all my coworkers so when i finally tore myself away from the penguins after 40 minutes i immediately walked into the seadragon feeding and sat there entranced for another 25 minutes. unforch, seadragons live in low light conditions lmao

i also got to see a cookie cutter shark specimen which i was so surprised and excited abt and i did stick my hand in the cleaner shrimp touch tank because they get to opt into interacting so it was rly fun! i was also thrilled to see mola mola at the monterey bay aquarium, and the shark tunnel at the toronto ripley's aquarium had me truly & completely losing my shit with excitement, i insisted on going through multiple times. anyway sorry that turned into a recitation of cool shit i've seen, i genuinely am excited to see everything at the aquarium and i love to spend hours in there reading the placard on every single display, i'm very lucky that i get to visit so many aquariums when work is flying me around! i love them and i'm going to visit an aquarium on my birthday again this year! however i am surprisingly reserved about touch pools? i'm happy to look but idk... i know they swap the creatures out regularly so none of them get too stressed but it still doesn't feel right to me to go poke the urchin when i get plenty from looking at it. cause can't you stare at this shit for eons?

25. would you say you have good taste in music? idk about good but it's. hmmmm it's sure something. no one can figure out what it is. a couple of friends can now pretty consistently guess whether i'll like a particular song but god knows what the unifying thread is. my sister was visiting recently and i drove us around for a day trip and asked her to describe my music taste and she said 'irish folk' which is funny because i don't actually have a single irish folk song in my library? anyway angie labeled a lot of my music 'snoozers' so a lot of people probably think it's bad yeah

[3416]

What do you think the narrative(s) are for marns and matts?

fjldfdsklfjdks oh boy, here’s some more ranting about them, lol. i'm tired so truly... pardon me

well for auston… the media already has the whole thing laid out for him tbh. you can just search his name on youtube and find 4829439 videos or short docs interviewing him or his parents and talking about how he was raised in the desert of arizona… one of the most unlikely places to ever get into hockey. and he had a pretty unorthodox method of getting to the nhl. instead of playing at a college or junior league before he was drafted.. he went to switzerland to play professionally which is very uncommon for high level nhl prospects, and then he ended up being drafted by toronto and like. kind of immediately became the face and savior of the franchise a bit, from what i can tell. literally scored 4 goals in his nhl debut like.. that has never happened fslfjds. franchises have whole rebuilding efforts and auston is one of the people, if not THE person, at the center of torontos. and since then, he’s just been breaking toronto records and putting up insane numbers for a young player, on track with some of the best to ever play. for the 21-22 season, he won the hart, the ted lindsay, and the rocket awards which are all prestigious individual trophies in the nhl, and even though this year, his numbers aren’t tracking as high as the past couple, he’s clearly focused on putting up a fight for best defensive forward of the year bc he is ON IT. still arguably the most effective player out there a lot of nights even when he’s not the one scoring. many (goofy imo) people think that him going back to arizona to play for the coyotes is in the cards some day because like… it’s kind of a popular thing in the nhl to return to your “hometown” and play with the team you watched growing up but. there is also something to be said for how many of the greatest players have career-long stints on these teams they’ve dedicated themselves to and succeeded with. and auston is just a crucial part of the core of the leafs and the leadership in the room and him having an unconventional path and being half mexican and being unafraid to bring some personality and style into areas of the nhl where it’s been frowned on (like his magazine shoots, pushing the fashion on game days, his custom skates and sticks, his charity work, etc etc) is just superstar level stuff. people of his caliber get a huge say over their own futures in these sports, and i have a feeling he’ll be with toronto for a long time. he bELIEVES IN THIS VISION like i was explaining and has a super great relationship with kyle dubas and all his teammates.

and mitch marner is just…… toronto boy gets drafted 4th overall by his HOME TEAM… the team there’s footage of him saying was his favorite when he was just a little guy… in a pretty highly competitive draft year (like.. connor mcdavids year, lol) so it feels like fate that mitch ended up on the leafs of all teams. he’s magic out there, but was a bit underestimated because of his size, esp at first. when mitch was a rookie, he took lots of heat for all sorts of stuff AND it came out later that mike babcock used some pretty demeaning tactics to try to coax mitch into.. working harder? i guess?? but he got fired for that and everyone worthwhile sided with mitch, so lol. i’ve seen so many articles suggesting he be traded or that he wasn’t a worthwhile investment for the leafs from that time period, and i think it’s one of those things where… he didn’t especially totally fit the hockey player mold either (just in a different way than auston)? like he’s SO happy and outgoing and affectionate out there, super crafty with the puck.. crazy good playmaking… king of assisting… and everyone on the team loves him, and he’s not a physical player at all, but then the media or outside shit takes hold and next thing you know… he’s soft and undeserving and should be traded, lmao. he’s always had a harder time with the media and dealing with it, and also, one of the first ever vids i saw of him was this local news story that showed his dad absolutely yelling at him from behind the glass and going nuts about his hockey and his effort when he was liek.. 8, lol, and i think that tells you what you need to know about mitch and his daddy issues. his dad has inserted himself in some of the nhl stuff when it came time for his contract negotiations, and THAT was a whole big thing, and i just find that the toronto media has been super hard on mitch, especially considering how crucial HE is the core of this team. even just the beginning of this season when he had a stretch of off games (like the whole team had, lol), people were calling to blow up the franchise and trade him and how it’s over and they don’t have the drive, it’s like ???? then mitch goes on to set a franchise record point streak. he’s just clever and doesn’t rely solely on brute or goal-scoring to make his impact on the ice, and people are crazy. mitch is just a goofy, lighthearted guy who makes it his mission to keep the mood of the room and the team up even when it’s hard, and i feel like he’s such a key to their resilience and their seeming closeness as a team, and i love it. and all the sweet personality stuff is just an insane addition to his unreal hockey sense and iq on the ice.

and mitch and auston as a duo is just……………… when they were rookies, they became friends pretty quick. mitch even tells a story about chanting along with a crowd when auston got drafted to the leafs, and they have such a unique position as these two guys that have been faces of the franchise since they basically entered the team. i feel like… if the responsibility to Carry this team is on anyone, at least on it’s face, it’s on auston and mitch. like.. jt’s captain but hasn’t been there as long, and mo and willy are also crucial parts, but they came in at different points and aren't like... as impactful as mitch and auston imo. they're in such a unique position, alternate captains who understand the team and intense individual scrutiny and who have matured on this team together, even when they haven't been on the same line. in the early days, they didn't play on the same line at all, although according to reports..... they were "dying to play together." in their very first practice.. auston legit broke a pane of glass off mitch's pass like. if that wasn't a show of what kind of powerhouse stuff was going to come from them.... idk what wouldve been. i just think it's poetic that these wildly different ppl from different backgrounds ended up becoming these bff star players in one of the most historic hockey franchises. like they play their best hockey when they're together.. they've developed little rituals and traditions together (like drawing on their gloves to remind themselves hockeys supposed ot be fun, being the last ones on the ice during warmups just blindly passing and shooting, etc) and they've even like. gotten attached to the same ppl and infiltrated other ppls family lives like patrick marleau and jumbo and freddie.... even just earlier this year.. i forget which game and i forget which commentator but someone said "they are who they are because of each other" and i feel like that rlly sums it up.. their impact on each other's game has lead to record setting stats for both of them in different ways and i hope hope hope they end up being the lifelong leafs like i think they're capable of. it's amazing to look at some of the most longstanding and successful pairs and trios in the league and know that mitch and auston could be that and have that together some day. like they clearly enjoy hockey the most when they're playing it together too and i hope the very best for them. they rlly make hockey loook fun and joyful.

[chillwildwave]

Introducing… Corey Hernandez, my 4*Town Oc.

Hi there, 4Townies, while I’m coming up with a few more Headcanons for the group, I decided to create an OC during the time being who is going to be in the rest of the story, so without further a do, let’s get into it!

This is Corey Hernandez, he is a 23-year old Mexican-Canadian who is aspired to be a famous actor in the future, at the moment, he is at university to get a bachelor’s degree in acting so that he could make it big in Hollywood someday.

He is known by many for being a private and quiet person, he’s the type who is willing to help others whenever they needed it most, he’s also know by people as a person who is willing to change the world and is a good listener however, when it comes to socialising and making new friends, Corey can be hard to get to know when you first talk to him due to his introverted personality and the fact that he is very private and hesitant at times.

Now that I talked about his personality, let’s get onto the backstory!

So, Corey Hernandez was born in Toronto, Canada on April 12th 1979 to Mexican parents, his family life is pretty much like any other child, he had annoying siblings that tried to drive him nuts, his mother and father were extremely supportive throughout his lifetime but they were worried for the rest of his life as they noticed that he feared change, if there was anything that Corey couldn’t stand…

It was change!

So, at the age of 5, his parents gave him a talk about dealing with change when he was asked to join a primary school, from the looks of it, beads of sweat caressed his face, his heart was already in frantic mode in a few seconds, you could tell he wasn’t ready for it yet, but his parents said that they know that going into the big world is scary at times, and it’ll be OK, and they know that Corey will be fine with their final words being that he should be brave as this is a big challenge for him and he should learn to accept it!

During his time at primary school, he found a love for acting after attending Drama class, this would later on change everything in his life, because this was where his comfort zone was, when his parents first came to his first ever school play, they noticed that Corey was different on stage because of his boisterous personality as a character who he played.

It was also at that time when his parents took him to drama classes every Saturday since they found out about his dreams of being an actor and also, as a way for him to make new friends, one of them, would be a pop star in the future...

It was Robaire who he met at the drama school when they were asked to work as partners for a mini play of two pirate thinking of a way to steal treasure from a cave, when Ro tried to say hello, Corey didn't say anything since he was a private person and wasn't ready to talk yet. Despite this, Ro tried to get him talking by discussing their interests but Corey still wouldn't speak to the point where he told his parents about the school day and the fact that this boy wanted to talk to him but wasn't ready to yet.

He also told them that during drama school, people were worried about him since he sat at the other side of the room while everyone else was together, like he didn't know what to do with himself...

That is until 1996, when at age 16, on his next year at drama school, he met Robaire again with even more confidence and said hello to him for the first time, this was when during the years that came forward, he learnt how to challenge himself into speaking to new people even though it could be eerie by being brave and confident to get out of his comfort zone. After he said hello, him and Robaire started talking about their interests and just like that... They became best friends, this was also when Ro look deeper into Corey's perspective of the world around him and why he didn't speak to him in the first place.

This was because he was only shared his deepest thoughts with his family, not anyone else as he feels like they're the ones with the most support in his entire life, and he also didn't feel ready to be an actor in Hollywood when he got older since he believed that the world around him was judgmental and harming.

But luckily, Robaire understood him from then on to the point where Corey listened to Ro's story; he actually wanted to be an actor before his mother wanted him to be a singer after singing at his cousin's wedding, since then, she was constantly pushing him to be in the world of fame while also getting him to keep his imperfections in a box as a way to impress her and to look more "presentable" to the audience; he was also struggling to figure out his identity at the time. Corey also understood his flaws and told him that there was no need to hide them because everyone slips up sometimes and it's alright, it's what makes him a person.

During the years of their friendship, they would meet up outside Ro's house, they would go out shopping for clothes, they would go to an empty dance studio to rehearse for Ro's career and Corey's play, and during those times, their bond was so close to the point where Corey gave him a hug every time they said goodbye...

But during 2001, Corey and Ro went to a French restaurant as a "date" according to Corey himself, after the date, him and Robaire shared a passionate kiss outside, after that moment, he asked Ro how he felt if they took their relationship to the next level, this made Robaire's tummy turn around like a ball, he nervously replied by saying that he was ready to be his boyfriend (this was after he came out as bisexual).

Since then, in 2002, Corey was invited to the studio to write "Nobody Like U" as 4*Town's first single from their third album "Breaking Free", he couldn't really go since he was coping with his grandpa's cancer diagnosis and that he feared that he wouldn't live long enough since his grandpa was pretty much the coolest person alive, so for a few days, he stayed at home until his grandpa felt better.

But...

When Corey found out that his grandpa succumbed to his disease, a misty grey cloud hovered over him as tears gently raced down his cheeks, it was there that he wasn't ready to write the song yet since he was still dealing with his grandpa's death. However 3 days of mourning, he managed to cope with it quickly by meditation, writing his thoughts in his diary and being supported by the rest of his family, during this time, he was ready to go into the studio!

After "Nobody Like U" became a rousing success, Corey's lyrics helped 4*Town cement themselves as legendary superstars! Since then, he remains as their main songwriter while also on his way to earn a degree in acting!

As for his relationship with Robaire, well, since they're now boyfriends, Aaron T, Z Jesse and Tae were extremely supportive of them together, especially Ro's mom although their relationship is private during what was called "The 4*Town Craze."

And that is my OC here, who'll be part of my upcoming story about 4*Town from my own perspective, what I aim to do with this story is to show that celebrities are just like us and I also would like to showcase the dark side off the music industry while also showing that not everyone gets along very well as a group but in the end we come together to solve each other's problems.

That's all for now, I would like to hear you thoughts about my OC, what did you love about him, what makes him a relatable and realistic character, what could I do to improve my writing and what name would you use to ship Robaire and Corey?

Let me know, on the comments below or via message!

[litandroses]

Book Recommendations for when you’re feeling low

Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett

A lost young woman returns to small-town New Hampshire under the strangest of circumstances in this one-of-a-kind novel of life, death, and whatever comes after from the acclaimed author of Rabbit Cake.

It was a source of entertainment at Maple Street Cemetery. Both funny and sad, the kind of story we like best.

Natural-born healer Emma Starling once had big plans for her life, but she's lost her way. A med school dropout, she's come back to small-town Everton, New Hampshire to care for her father, dying from a mysterious brain disease. Clive Starling has been hallucinating small animals, as well as visions of the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, once known for letting wild animals live in his house. This ghost has been giving Clive some ideas on how to spend his final days.

Emma arrives home knowing she must face her dad's illness, her mom's judgement, and her younger brother's recent stint in rehab, but she's unprepared to find that her former best friend from high school is missing, with no one bothering to look for her. The police say they don't spend much time looking for drug addicts. Emma's dad is the only one convinced the young woman might still be alive, and Emma is hopeful he could be right. Someone should look for her, at least. Emma isn't really trying to be a hero—but somehow she and her father set in motion just the kind of miracle the town needs.

Set against the backdrop of a small town in the throes of a very real opioid crisis, Unlikely Animals is a tragicomic novel about familial expectations, imperfect friendships, and the possibility of resurrecting that which had been thought irrevocably lost.

Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo by Sandra Cisneros

A long-forgotten letter sets off a charged encounter with the past in this poignant and gorgeously told tale masterfully told by Sandra Cisneros, the celebrated bestselling author of The House on Mango Street, in a beautiful dual-language edition.

As a young woman, Corina leaves her Mexican family in Chicago to pursue her dream of becoming a writer in the cafes of Paris. Instead, she spends her brief time in the City of Light running out of money and lining up with other immigrants to call home from a broken pay phone. But her months of befriending panhandling artists in the subway, sleeping on crowded attic floors, and dancing the tango at underground parties are given a lasting glow by her intense friendships with Martita and Paola. Over the years the three women disperse to three continents, falling out of touch and out of mind--until a letter unearthed in a closet brings Corina's days in Paris back with breathtaking immediacy.

Told with intimacy and searing tenderness, this tribute to the life-changing power of youthful friendship is Cisneros at her vintage best, in a beautiful dual-language edition.

Fight Night by Miriam Toews

The beloved author of bestsellers Women Talking, A Complicated Kindness, and All My Puny Sorrows returns with a funny, smart, headlong rush of a novel full of wit, flawless writing, and a tribute to perseverance and love in an unusual family.

Fight Night is told in the unforgettable voice of Swiv, a nine-year-old living in Toronto with her pregnant mother, who is raising Swiv while caring for her own elderly, frail, yet extraordinarily lively mother. When Swiv is expelled from school, Grandma takes on the role of teacher and gives her the task of writing to Swiv's absent father about life in the household during the last trimester of the pregnancy. In turn, Swiv gives Grandma an assignment: to write a letter to "Gord," her unborn grandchild (and Swiv's soon-to-be brother or sister). "You’re a small thing," Grandma writes to Gord, "and you must learn to fight."

As Swiv records her thoughts and observations, Fight Night unspools the pain, love, laughter, and above all, will to live a good life across three generations of women in a close-knit family. But it is Swiv’s exasperating, wise and irrepressible Grandma who is at the heart of this novel: someone who knows intimately what it costs to survive in this world, yet has found a way—painfully, joyously, ferociously—to love and fight to the end, on her own terms.

Marikit and the Ocean of Stars by Caris Avendaño Cruz Pub date: October 18, 2022

A magical middle grade debut, inspired by Filipino folklore, about a ten-year-old girl who embarks on a quest in the world of gods and spirits to save her and her family from a sinister shadow god. Perfect for fans of The Girl Who Drank the Moon and When You Trap a Tiger.

Marikit is used to wearing recycled clothes. Her mother, the best seamstress in the barrio, has become an expert at making do ever since Marikit’s father and brother were lost at sea. But for her tenth birthday, all Marikit wants is something new. So when her mother gifts her a patchwork dress stitched together with leftover scraps from her workshop, Marikit vows to never wear it. That is, until the eve of her birthday, when shadow creatures creep into their home, attempt to take Marikit away, and upend the very life she knew.

When she’s swept away from the human world, Marikit discovers that her dress is a map, one lovingly crafted to lead her to safety in the magical lands of the Engkantos. She trudges through the enchanted lands of mythical creatures, making friends out of monsters and challenging gods. With the help of her friends, including an exuberant firefly and a cursed boy, Marikit journeys through the land of the Engkantos to find the key to saving her family, all without being eaten alive.

[boggleoflight]

Get to know me!

Tagged by the ever-lovely @sasslett Thank you so much!! I love these sorts of things.

Share your wallpaper:

My background cycles through a bunch of gposes and commissions/gifts from friends, currently it is on this one:

which is a gorgeous gift I received from @lookbluesoup!! I still heart-eyes at it every time I see it.

The last song you listened to: Well I am currently listening to Inkpot Gods by The Amazing Devil, which is wonderful, highly recommend giving it a listen.

Currently Reading: Nothing. :( I keep meaning to pick up a book but I just haven't had the energy to start something new and nothing I've already read is appealing to me right now.

Last Movie: I have no idea tbh?? I don't watch movies very often, but I think it might've been Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, which is one of my major comfort movies. It's super fun and cute!

Craving: Good Mexican food. I miss how easy it was to find when I lived in the South.

What are you wearing right now: Pajama tunic thing + flannel. It's my day off and I refuse to change until my video appointment later today.

How tall are you: 5'8 I think?

Piercings: None, though I'd love some. The last time I tried to get my ears done, it got supremely infected despite the fact I took extreme pains to keep it clean and the fact I got it done at a very nice tattoo place. Unsure of what happened but I may try again at some juncture.

Tattoos: Nine! A crystal on my thigh, a vintage camera on my ankle, a coffin with an iris on my shin, a little book on one arm, a scorpion on one wrist, a grasshopper on the other wrist, a quote from Lisa Hannigan's 'Funeral Suit' in my girlfriend's handwriting on my forearm, a macaron with a sprig of lavender on my shoulder, and a little design on the other shoulder that I got as part of a donation drive. I've got a load more planned for when I have the means, too.

Glasses? Contacts?: Glasses! I've been told to get contacts but with the state of dark circles around my eyes, I think I'll stick to the extra bit of concealment that some chunky frames mask lmao

Last drink: Tea! Morning ritual.

Last show: I think it was the Shoujo Cosette anime adaptation of Les Miserables. I wasn't able to finish it because the website I was watching it on kept bugging out for me but I do intend to finish it at some juncture.

Last thing you ate: A little breakfast spread I made last night for supper.

Favourite colour: A toss-up between a nice rich phthalo green and a nice foggy, silvery blue.

Current obsession: Well I think you could probably guess shdjfgj FFXIV

Unrelated Obsession: Hozier. Not in a weird parasocial way, I just am obsessed with his music and the fact that he's unconscionably handsome.

Any pets: Three cats (Phyllis, Terence, and Constance), and one rat (Aymeric)!

Do you have a crush on anyone: Starry-eyed crush on my wonderful girlfriend.

Favourite fictional character: You might expect me to say G'raha Tia (and you would be right to) BUT. It's actually Urianger. Perpetually holding him up in my head like that one Marge meme. I just think he's neat.

The last place you traveled: Toronto to meet up with a friend of mine to watch some musicals that were touring through. We saw Come From Away and The Band's Visit!

TAGGING! I don't know who hasn't been tagged yet but @lookbluesoup and @seasaltandcopper just in case!! No pressure or anything of course!

[delicatelysuperhottub-blog]

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS294NtB1/

Mexican Day

#victorviroovallen #victorviroovallen23 #toronto #ontario #canada #mexican

[blackhawkrepairman]

9/10/2024 Not exactly the next day, but I am going to make my post like it is. It is rather difficult typing when you are driving between 50- 80 mph on the way through NWI and Michican. We started the day by packing for a week in Toronto. We started planning our trip 2 or 3 (maybe 4) months ago and our first travel day has finally arrived.

We started off when my buddy arrived to paint my downstairs ceiling. He dove into starting his work while we continued packing for our trip. We started our drive around noon, while my friend continued painting. I94 towards Michigan was actually a rather nice drive without major trucks and traffic. We took a break in battle creek and stopped to eat at Los Aztecas Mexican Bar & Grill. This place stood out from most of the places we go to, and is worthy of a good yelp review (even though I don't do those). We both had Burritos - different types, but their food had better flavor than most of the places we go. That, and the 34oz Dos Equis was very tasty in a frosty mug.

Ended up pulling into the Doubletree in Port Huron around 6pm local time. Time changes always mess with me. Very nice room with a king bed, but if we wanted to go to the casino across the river, we would have to cross the border into Canada. We decided to just wait to cross the border the next day. The casino looked kinda rinky-dink anyway.

We finished the evening eating at the attached restaurant Freighters after wandering through the biggest selection hotel gift shop I have ever seen. I didn't get you anything. After the girl read back the order for a cheesburger incorrectly, then bringing the food out without tomato like was asked for. We finished the meal and headed back to the room. I personally never change an order on a menu with subscription for the exact reason that I don't want to be disappointed with the meal. That girl read back a simple tomato, onion mustard mayo order wrong, she was corrected, and she still brought out the burger without tomato and mayo. Time for our first bad Yelp review.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.5

Holidays

Achalasia Awareness Day

Amazon Rainforest Day

Beard Tax Day

Be Late for Something Day

Bill Murray Day (Canada)

Clifford the Big Red Dog Day

Day of the Languages of the Peoples of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)

Dia de Santiago Iglesias Pantin (Puerto Rico)

Engineer’s Day (Egypt, Tanzania)

Entrepreneur Day (Finland)

First Day of School (Vietnam)

Flag Day (Mozambique)

Flag-Flying Day (Denmark)

Freddie For A Day

Freddie Mercury Day

Gaura Parva (Nepal)

Hassaku-sai (Kyoto, Japan)

International Day of Charity

International Day of the Vaquinta Marina

International Indigenous Women’s Day

International Multiple Myeloma Day

International Pierre Robin Sequence Awareness Day

Jury Rights Day

Mexican Marigold Day (French Republic)

National Actdumb. Day

National Cellulite Day

National GIF Day

National Shrink Day

National White Cat Day

On the Road Day

Red Cross Day

Regata Storical (Historical Regatta; Venice, Italy)

Scouts’ Day (Argentina)

Straight Story Lawnmower Day

Teacher's Day (India)

Tweet Like Werner Herzog Day

Working Mothers Day

World Day of Siblings

World Day of Tourism Journalists

World Spinal Cord Injury Day

Yrittäjän Päivä (Entrepreneur Day; Finland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bitter Beer Day

National Cheese Pizza Day

World Samosa Day

Independence & Related Days

Bir Tawil Empire (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

1st Thursday in September

International Day of the Orchid [1st Thursday]

Jeûne Genevois (Geneva, Switzerland) [Thursday after 1st Sunday]

Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]

Thankful Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Therapy Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thin Crust Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thirsty Thursday [Every Thursday]

Three for Thursday [Every Thursday]

Thrift Store Thursday [Every Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

Festivals Beginning September 5, 2024

Ayden Collard Festival (Ayden, North Carolina) [thru 9.7]

Berlin International Literature Festival (Berlin, Germany) [thru 9.14]

Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair (Clinton, Maine) [thru 9.8]

DOKer Film Festival (Moscow, Russia) [thru 9.15]

Farm-to-Fork Festival (Sacramento, California) [thru 9.21]

Grape & Fall Festival (St. James, Missouri) [thru 9.7]

Greek Festival (Union, New Jersey) [thru 9.8]

Marion Popcorn Festival (Marion, Ohio) [thru 9.7]

Montgomery Turkey Trot Festival (Montgomery, Indiana) [thru 9.8]

New Mexico State Fair (Albuquerque, New Mexico) [thru 9.15]

Niagara County Peach Festival (Lewiston, New York) [thru 9.8]

Oktoberfest (Helen, Georgia) [thru 10.27]

Plattsmouth Harvest Festival (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) [thru 9.8]

Time-Based Art Festival (Portland, Oregon) [thru 9.22]

Tipton County Pork Festival (Tipton, Indiana) [thru 9.7]

Toronto International Film Festival (Toronto, Canada) [thru 9.15]

Utah State Fair (Salt Lake City, Utah) [thru 9.15]

Vancouver Fringe Festival (Vancouver, Canada) [thru 9.15]

The WhiskyX (Nashville, Tennessee)

Feast Days

Abdus of Susa (Christian; Saint)

Alto (Christian; Saint)

Bertin (Christian; Saint)

Caspar David Friedrich (Artology)

Cathy Guisewite (Artology)

Charbel (Christian; Martyr)

Day of Ganesh (Everyday Wicca)

Day of the West Wind (Pagan)

Duhamel [du Monceau] (Positivist; Saint)

Frank Armitage (Artology)

Gargling Day (Pastafarian)

Genebald (Christian; Saint)

Genesia (Day of the Dead; Ancient Greece)

Gregorio Aglipay (Episcopal Church)

H.L. Mencken Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Janmasthami (Birth of Lord Krishna; Hindu)

John Cage (Writerism)

Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

Laurence Gustiani (a.k.a. Laurence Justinian; Christian; Saint)

Maurice Quentin de La Tour (Artology)

The Moes (Muppetism)

Ralston Crawford (Artology)

Teresa of Calcutta (a.k.a. Mother Teresa; Christian; Saint)

Three Candles Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Ursicinus of Ravenna (Christian; Saint)

Wag and Carrot Fancying Day (Shamanism)

Yodeling Day (Pastafarian)

Zechariah and Elisabeth (Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Church)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Premieres

Batman: The Animated Series (Animated TV Series; 1992)

Blue Christmas, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1957)

Bonanza Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

The Chain Gang (Disney Cartoon; 1930)

Citizen Kane (Film; 1941)

City of Illusions, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1967)

The Criminal, by Jim Thompson (Novel; 1953)

Dr. Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak (U.S. Novel; 1958)

Gnomes, by Wil Huygen (Art Book; 1976)

Greenpernt Ogle, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 105; 1961)

It (Film; 2017)

Just Ducky (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1953)

Louder Than Love, by Soundgarden (Album; 1989)

The Mail Animal or Bullwinkle Stamps His Foot (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 106; 1961)

No No: A Dockumentary (Documentary Film; 2014)

The One-Man Navy (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1941)

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (Novel; 1957)

Ping Pong Playa (Film; 2008)

Sherman’s March (Documentary Film; 1986)

Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (WB MM Cartoon; 1931)

A Street Cat Named Sylvester (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Trolley Troubles (Ub Iwerks Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Disney Cartoon; 1927) [1st Oswald]

The Wrestler (Film; 2008)

Today’s Name Days

Albert, Larentius, Roswitha, Teresa (Austria)

Elisaveta, Hari, Zahari (Bulgaria)

Borko, Eudoksije, Lovro, Roman, Tereza, Terezija (Croatia)

Boris (Czech Republic)

Regina (Denmark)

Preedik, Priidik, Priido, Priidu, Priit, Reedik, Vidrik (Estonia)

Mainio, Roni (Finland)

Raïssa (France)

Hermine, Roswitha, Urs (Germany)

Zacharias (Greece)

Lőrinc, Viktor (Hungary)

Vittorino (Italy)

Klaudija, Perse, Persijs, Vaida (Latvia)

Dingailė, Erdenis, Justina, Stanislova, Stasė (Lithuania)

Brede, Brian, Njål (Norway)

Dorota, Herakles, Herkulan, Herkules, Justyna, Laurencjusz, Stronisława, Wawrzyniec (Poland)

Regina (Slovakia)

Obdulia, Teresa (Spain)

Adela, Heidi (Sweden)

Elizabeth, Raisa, Raya, Zachary (Ukraine)

Bert, Bertha, Bertie, Bertin, Berton, Burt, Burton, Rigoberto (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 249 of 2024; 117 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of Week 36 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 5 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 3 (Red-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 2 Elul 5784

Islamic: 1 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 9 Gold; Twosday [8 of 30]

Julian: 23 August 2024

Moon: 5%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 25 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Bouguer]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 78 of 94)

Week: 1st Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 15 of 32)

Calendar Changes

Rabīʿ al-ʾAwwal [ٱلْأَوَّل or رَبِيع] (Islamic Calendar) [Month 3 of 12] (First Spring Month)

[brookston]

Holidays 9.5

Holidays

Achalasia Awareness Day

Amazon Rainforest Day

Beard Tax Day

Be Late for Something Day

Bill Murray Day (Canada)

Clifford the Big Red Dog Day

Day of the Languages of the Peoples of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)

Dia de Santiago Iglesias Pantin (Puerto Rico)

Engineer’s Day (Egypt, Tanzania)

Entrepreneur Day (Finland)

First Day of School (Vietnam)

Flag Day (Mozambique)

Flag-Flying Day (Denmark)

Freddie For A Day

Freddie Mercury Day

Gaura Parva (Nepal)

Hassaku-sai (Kyoto, Japan)

International Day of Charity

International Day of the Vaquinta Marina

International Indigenous Women’s Day

International Multiple Myeloma Day

International Pierre Robin Sequence Awareness Day

Jury Rights Day

Mexican Marigold Day (French Republic)

National Actdumb. Day

National Cellulite Day

National GIF Day

National Shrink Day

National White Cat Day

On the Road Day

Red Cross Day

Regata Storical (Historical Regatta; Venice, Italy)

Scouts’ Day (Argentina)

Straight Story Lawnmower Day

Teacher's Day (India)

Tweet Like Werner Herzog Day

Working Mothers Day

World Day of Siblings

World Day of Tourism Journalists

World Spinal Cord Injury Day

Yrittäjän Päivä (Entrepreneur Day; Finland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bitter Beer Day

National Cheese Pizza Day

World Samosa Day

Independence & Related Days

Bir Tawil Empire (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

1st Thursday in September

International Day of the Orchid [1st Thursday]

Jeûne Genevois (Geneva, Switzerland) [Thursday after 1st Sunday]

Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]

Thankful Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Therapy Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thin Crust Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thirsty Thursday [Every Thursday]

Three for Thursday [Every Thursday]

Thrift Store Thursday [Every Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

Festivals Beginning September 5, 2024

Ayden Collard Festival (Ayden, North Carolina) [thru 9.7]

Berlin International Literature Festival (Berlin, Germany) [thru 9.14]

Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair (Clinton, Maine) [thru 9.8]

DOKer Film Festival (Moscow, Russia) [thru 9.15]

Farm-to-Fork Festival (Sacramento, California) [thru 9.21]

Grape & Fall Festival (St. James, Missouri) [thru 9.7]

Greek Festival (Union, New Jersey) [thru 9.8]

Marion Popcorn Festival (Marion, Ohio) [thru 9.7]

Montgomery Turkey Trot Festival (Montgomery, Indiana) [thru 9.8]

New Mexico State Fair (Albuquerque, New Mexico) [thru 9.15]

Niagara County Peach Festival (Lewiston, New York) [thru 9.8]

Oktoberfest (Helen, Georgia) [thru 10.27]

Plattsmouth Harvest Festival (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) [thru 9.8]

Time-Based Art Festival (Portland, Oregon) [thru 9.22]

Tipton County Pork Festival (Tipton, Indiana) [thru 9.7]

Toronto International Film Festival (Toronto, Canada) [thru 9.15]

Utah State Fair (Salt Lake City, Utah) [thru 9.15]

Vancouver Fringe Festival (Vancouver, Canada) [thru 9.15]

The WhiskyX (Nashville, Tennessee)

Feast Days

Abdus of Susa (Christian; Saint)

Alto (Christian; Saint)

Bertin (Christian; Saint)

Caspar David Friedrich (Artology)

Cathy Guisewite (Artology)

Charbel (Christian; Martyr)

Day of Ganesh (Everyday Wicca)

Day of the West Wind (Pagan)

Duhamel [du Monceau] (Positivist; Saint)

Frank Armitage (Artology)

Gargling Day (Pastafarian)

Genebald (Christian; Saint)

Genesia (Day of the Dead; Ancient Greece)

Gregorio Aglipay (Episcopal Church)

H.L. Mencken Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Janmasthami (Birth of Lord Krishna; Hindu)

John Cage (Writerism)

Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

Laurence Gustiani (a.k.a. Laurence Justinian; Christian; Saint)

Maurice Quentin de La Tour (Artology)

The Moes (Muppetism)

Ralston Crawford (Artology)

Teresa of Calcutta (a.k.a. Mother Teresa; Christian; Saint)

Three Candles Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Ursicinus of Ravenna (Christian; Saint)

Wag and Carrot Fancying Day (Shamanism)

Yodeling Day (Pastafarian)

Zechariah and Elisabeth (Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Church)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Premieres

Batman: The Animated Series (Animated TV Series; 1992)

Blue Christmas, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1957)

Bonanza Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

The Chain Gang (Disney Cartoon; 1930)

Citizen Kane (Film; 1941)

City of Illusions, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1967)

The Criminal, by Jim Thompson (Novel; 1953)

Dr. Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak (U.S. Novel; 1958)

Gnomes, by Wil Huygen (Art Book; 1976)

Greenpernt Ogle, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 105; 1961)

It (Film; 2017)

Just Ducky (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1953)

Louder Than Love, by Soundgarden (Album; 1989)

The Mail Animal or Bullwinkle Stamps His Foot (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 106; 1961)

No No: A Dockumentary (Documentary Film; 2014)

The One-Man Navy (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1941)

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (Novel; 1957)

Ping Pong Playa (Film; 2008)

Sherman’s March (Documentary Film; 1986)

Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (WB MM Cartoon; 1931)

A Street Cat Named Sylvester (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Trolley Troubles (Ub Iwerks Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Disney Cartoon; 1927) [1st Oswald]

The Wrestler (Film; 2008)

Today’s Name Days

Albert, Larentius, Roswitha, Teresa (Austria)

Elisaveta, Hari, Zahari (Bulgaria)

Borko, Eudoksije, Lovro, Roman, Tereza, Terezija (Croatia)

Boris (Czech Republic)

Regina (Denmark)

Preedik, Priidik, Priido, Priidu, Priit, Reedik, Vidrik (Estonia)

Mainio, Roni (Finland)

Raïssa (France)

Hermine, Roswitha, Urs (Germany)

Zacharias (Greece)

Lőrinc, Viktor (Hungary)

Vittorino (Italy)

Klaudija, Perse, Persijs, Vaida (Latvia)

Dingailė, Erdenis, Justina, Stanislova, Stasė (Lithuania)

Brede, Brian, Njål (Norway)

Dorota, Herakles, Herkulan, Herkules, Justyna, Laurencjusz, Stronisława, Wawrzyniec (Poland)

Regina (Slovakia)

Obdulia, Teresa (Spain)

Adela, Heidi (Sweden)

Elizabeth, Raisa, Raya, Zachary (Ukraine)

Bert, Bertha, Bertie, Bertin, Berton, Burt, Burton, Rigoberto (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 249 of 2024; 117 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of Week 36 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 5 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 3 (Red-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 2 Elul 5784

Islamic: 1 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 9 Gold; Twosday [8 of 30]

Julian: 23 August 2024

Moon: 5%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 25 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Bouguer]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 78 of 94)

Week: 1st Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 15 of 32)

Calendar Changes

Rabīʿ al-ʾAwwal [ٱلْأَوَّل or رَبِيع] (Islamic Calendar) [Month 3 of 12] (First Spring Month)

[traipseartist]

July 22nd - 28th - Toronto / ([ˈtɹɒnoʊ]) /Terannō & "The Food City"

When I was a small child, my parents took my sister and I to Niagara Falls. It might be my earliest memory, as my mom claims that I was either just barely or not yet three. I can remember, faintly, the family in ponchos my dad kept in the Astro van's back seat glove (?) compartment from Disney World (which, I think, insinuates that either my Aunt Laura bought us Disney-themed ponchos for a trip to the Great White North, or my family had already spent money to take me to Disney world even though my little play-doh ball of a brain wasn’t in the business of forming lasting memories, yet). I recall my father lifting me up, Simba-on-Pride-Rock Style, and the water from the falls reaching what felt like miles away across the roaring gap and the plexiglass railing to splash me.

I remember in my youth thinking of this memory with a bitter sense of betrayal. Human shield! To keep him dry! But as an adult I find the image in its own way a little funny. I’m sure my jelly-sticky hands were pressed to that plexiglass, watching the water drip down. My sister, tall for seven and a half, probably had her chin on the smooth aluminum of the barrier. I can’t help but think I surely laughed before I cried, as three-year-olds can do in a turn. Joy veering into terror and back into joy again.

Perhaps that’s why I was a little disappointed that Toronto was less… emotional? I suppose I wasn’t looking to be moved by a city truly only just over the border from my home country… but Mexico felt like something distinct despite the southeastern United States also being Mexico for so long. I kept looking for the slight identity of Canada that deviated from the US, something beyond All Dressed Lays chips and the sticker shock of the Canadian Dollar. I wasn’t going to see it with my eyes.

I was going to feel it in their kitchen.

I feel like trying to describe what Toronto the City felt like is going to be like trying to describe a lesser-known band’s sound with other lesser-known band names as descriptors: unhelpful and--even if you did know what I was talking about (because you’re also so cool)--likely pretty reductive. I was there for a week. And working remotely during the day—so I didn’t even get the dopamine hit of trouncing around a novel landscape, free from the binds of my daily grind.

But! I feel confident in describing the food culture of the ~3-mile radius in which we stayed, as I made sure my mother and my sister came with me to hell-and-gone to eat and drink our way around town.

I was told Toronto was a Food City™ which, yeah—ok—what major cultural hub isn’t? NYC is a “Food City.” San Francisco is a “Food City.” New Orleans wouldn’t forgive you if you left it off of the list. Los Angeles would like to have a word. I think I’ve always taken this descriptor to be “you have a lot to choose from.” Living in Pittsburgh (and hearing some people attempt to also describe it as a Food City, which, like, bless you, but you’re wrong) I’ve come to understand the value of this. I really can’t get high-brow Mexican food at the drop of a hat anymore. The sushi of Pittsburgh, PA quivers in the enormous, crushing shadow of the Thai that dots the pizza-slice. I won’t contest that Pittsburgh has good food. Certainly, don’t sleep on Apteka, The Vandal, Morcilla, Pierogi Palace—but you’re not rolling in off of the sidewalk to be wowed by every establishment you hole up in. And frankly, Stinky’s pub doesn’t really need to serve anything more than dumpster nachos to be worth the visit.

But this is not in defense of Pitty! Come to town, I’ll show you around. I know more than enough to make it worth your time. This is intended to do a little bit of smithing on the digram: Food City.

New York has its fair share of junk places. I ran into plenty of grimy, middling donut joints in Los Angeles (whilst searching for the good ones). San Francisco is notoriously hit-or-miss. And Toronto of course has its own spots hamming it up for the occasional tourist. But Toronto’s food scene felt like it had deep heart in ways that the most stunning of establishments in many cities I had visited before in the US had not managed, despite Toronto being, for all intents and purposes, incredibly American (minus the metric system, which… well, I’m coming around but I don’t want to talk about it). The city had captured something from its European predecessors that Americans dropped on the ground when we started outsizing the value of things beyond the dinner table: a way that the feeling of being/eating/drinking in a restaurant was more than the sum of its parts.

I have a thrill in a new city of following an industry-rabbit down a hole: Where does the bartender at this quirky dive get breakfast? Where does the woman putting salsa on my burrito eat lunch when she’s sick of eating burritos? Does the barista putting chocolate milk in my cappuccino have opinions on the neighborhood I’m three blocks over from? In some places, this can be a dead end (especially in places with a troubling wage or class disparity… because it means the people who are serving you don’t eat where they work, sometimes), and you must be a judge of more than just taste when talking to people giving you recommendations—an entirely separate skill I certainly haven’t mastered. But! People who work in the food I like, if they can swing it, are as hooked as I am on the intoxication of a good haunt.

And Toronto is full of them. While many of them came as advertisements from the industry humans that float among them, some of them were so easy to pick out from the street I kept holding my breath waiting to be disappointed by the subtle cues that usually indicate a place is worth eating in: People dwelling at empty tables over an already paid bill. Maybe someone actually thought about the art that’s on the walls. If they gave up on the décor, they’d didn’t chintz on the wine glasses. They have a gin on the shelf I couldn’t find in an airport lounge. Somehow everyone who works there looks like they’ve always worked there.

Even the greasy spoons were not hard to spot, because it felt like the people of Toronto cared about them, too. Every place we ate or drank, we shouldered our way up to bars or were tucked into corners from the traffic of locals and tourists alike. Refreshingly, we had servers unabashedly tell us what to dodge on some menus, what everyone ordered but they didn’t think was very good, what they had a hand in creating, what they kept trying to kick off the menu, but the regulars kept dragging it back in like a dead cat.

Canadians are in some ways, fiercely practical, and unlike some cities in America that feel eager to have immigrants assimilate and adjust their dishes for a more homogenous palate, the places that stuck out were run by very recent immigrants, or immigrants that never saw the value in doing anything but highlighting or reinventing their unique dishes with ingredients they could never get their hands on (or get away with combing) in their countries of origin.

I had crème brulee with caviar dotting the surface and fatty duck salted, cured, and sliced like salami. We tasted ravioli made with tomato puree and spinach puree, separated only by the pasta’s seal and raw cacao nibs were sprinkled over the foam of my mocha to bring a bitter crunch to the usually-too-sweet drink. I had hot. Apple. Pie. With. Gruyere. Grated. Over. The. Top. IN FRONT OF MEEE!

Some of the innovations made me feel stupid. Of course Lillet Blanc made an incredible spritzer with black berries. Yeah, actually, spicy cajun brisket and pickled carrots do go in bahn mi. Why hadn’t I wrapped a whole-ass shrimp in egg-roll skin and deep fried it in one go? Or made “ribs” with corn, elote style?

Maybe we had gotten lucky, perhaps we had chosen well, and not every dish was amazing in every establishment, but every place we managed to stumble into felt like it was working to make more than it had been given. Though Toronto is not the land for street fashion or incredible scenic views, it more than makes up for it with the way they’ll make your plate. I will be delighted when I get to reprise the role of Pac-Man in that city on the lake, some day, soon.

Find all the places we ate here and play along at home.

[theultimatefan]

Cicadas, Expansion Talk and Holidays in June: Ten Things to Know in the American Assoc. This Week

The American Association of Professional Baseball (@AA_Baseball) season continues with a full slate of series this weekend, all available for free live viewing at aabaseball.tv.

Here are 10 Things to Know about the AAPB this week:

The colorful cicadas may be an annoyance to some, but the Kane County Cougars aren't one to brood. Instead, with the 13-year and 17-year cycles converging (we're not entomologists, but we play them on AABaseball.tv), tonight is Kane County Cicadas Night at Northwestern Medicine Field vs. the Kansas City Monarchs. The team will wear special Cicada-themed jerseys which will be auctioned off for charity, and the first thousand fans receive a custom insect swatter.

Juneteenth, Father's Day, Flag Day, Pride Month and National Cucumber Day (ok, that one might be a stretch) are all celebrated across the country in June. But two AAPB teams have a couple of other ideas... Halloween (Chicago Dogs, Saturday) and Halfway to Christmas (Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Tuesday) will bring those popular holidays back a few months early.

On Tuesday, the AAPB announced another in a series of key corporate partnerships, this one with MOBILEMONEY, now the official cashless payment solutions provider to the league and its member clubs.

Sometimes a change of position can make all the difference. The Kansas City Star and Yahoo! Sports have the story of Monarchs outfielder-turned-pitcher Nate Tellier, a .342 hitter in college whose coach suspected – rightfully so – that the mound might be a better route for the righthander in the pros. So far, so good, as he’s posted a 2.11 ERA over 17 innings at press time.

Big things are happening around the AAPB, and the time might just be right to grow the footprint, which now currently extends to 12 team across 10 states. Commissioner Joshua Schaub recently discussed the prospects for expansion at Fargo’s Valley News Live, potentially doubling the number of franchises by 2028-29..

Another 10Things, Another Homecoming as Winnipeg native Ben Onyshko signed with the hometown Goldeyes last week. The 27-year-old lefty was originally selected by the Seattle Mariners out of Steston (Fla.) Univ, reaching AAA Tacoma. He started his Goldeyes career with two innings of hitless relief on Friday to help preserve a win over Sioux City.

The Gary SouthShore RailCats along with other businesses sponsored a luncheon for local businesses and leaders for clean air initiatives for Northern Indiana last week. The luncheon awarded three college scholarships to local students in the areas and recognized four businesses making voluntary efforts to improve clean air quality in 2023.

In a few alumni moves:

Kane County outfielder Je'Von Ward had his contract purchased by Toronto and homered in his first game with Single-A Vancouver on Saturday.

Now former Kansas City Monarch Blake Rutherford is heading to Mexico to play for Toros de Tijuana in the Mexican Baseball League. Rutherford, a former MLB player, originally drafted in the first round to the New York Yankees in 2016, but finally made his big league debut in 2023 with the Washington Nationals. This season with the Monarchs, he posted a .328 batting average, .911 OPS, and launched three home runs.

After hitting .331 in the Low-A Florida State League, infielder Payton Eeles (Chicago '23) was promoted to Cedar Rapids, the Twins' High-A affiliate.

The Record Watch department has its eyes on Fargo's Izzy Alcantara, who has 30 stolen bases through his team's first 33 games. The AAPB record is 71, set by the Milwaukee Milkmen’s Bryan Torres last season. Torres continues to rake with the Cardinals’ AA affiliate in Springfield, hitting in eight straight games last week to boost his average to .329 with 16 stolen bases at press time.