The CNE
This past weekend my wife and I decided to visit the Ex.
I am trying to think of good things to say, I really am. But no, I can't. I mean okay, the midway is cool and all, and I am sure some of the special events were neat, but most of the regular events were mediocre at best in my opinion. No longer did it seem that the Ex was a hands on exhibition or showcase of the country and its people, no, instead it was more of a hands off portrait of a protected society.
Okay, I can understand some of it I suppose. Sure new advances in farming have found that letting people walk between animal pens touching different animals can spread germs. But... I know it is kinda strange to say this, it was kinda fun to be walking thru the animal pens when I was younger. And surely if the animals get sick, the farmers can get a vet for them.
The air show? yeah that was a sucky fail too. It was promoted by Porter Airlines, and thus every time a Porter Airlines plane had to land at CYTZ they would had a long break in the show where they schilled to Porter Airlines and talked about how great their planes are. Apparently the reason it sucked so much, and there were so many pauses was because the US Military backed out of it last year, and vowed never to return due to some event that happened. So all they had were bi-planes, a stunt plane, some skydivers, some heritage planes and a few private jets, a CF-18 (which was at the start of the show) and the snowbirds. Not worth sitting there for 3 or 4 hours in my opinion.
The only thing I found interesting there was the food court, and the arts building. Mind you the food court was very expensive, and there were no free samplers like in the days of yore. The arts building was filled with mostly cheap trinkets that were overpriced. That being said some of them were kinda hard to find. I neglected the usual tradition of purchasing a coyote tail at the Ex this year, as they were about $25. I recall them being about $15 in the past. But I did purchase some raw Honeycomb. Mmmm, that will make a lovely snack later on while camping.
It was still fun to walk around and experience everything. The eye candy was nice at times, and I am sure I was caught staring at a few women's cleavages. And it was also nice to visit my friend Alex who lives nearby. And it was especially cool to stop in after the Ex and see my other friend Richard who was in from Vancouver for the weekend. His response to me not knowing he was in town was that I should have Facebook, and maybe I would of known... ~grins~ touche, I suppose...!
In the end, maybe I am just so used to a cheaper, but more genuine lifestyle in Buffalo, NY. The hip new world and culture of Toronto is lost on me... Which brings me to Hipsters... But I will touch on that in another post!