The South Bayview Bulldog

Manor Road United Church at 240 Manor had a full house for its annual Blue Radish Cafe variety night. Here are a few peeks. There were 16 acts performed with grace and gusto. From the top Farewell Nova Scotia by the Millers, Colleen Clancey and Deiter Hessell of the Dance Cafe School cha cha a bit and nicely, the Manor Road Cornerstone Band renders Bei Mir Bist du Shein and the Manor Road Choir (with Agnes Fodore) belts out Oh Happy Day.

Raj Dhawan and Yvonne Choi

Friends on hand

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley
Ding, ding, ding went the bell
Zing, zing, zing went my heart strings
From the moment I saw him I fell — Trolley Song 

Raj Dhawan and Yvonne Choi are happily engaged to be married after the groom-to-be organized a surprise proposal Saturday on a specially-rented TTC antique streetcar. The vehicle was timed to be parked outside Yvonne’s nail salon (a visit organized by her twin sister and Raj’s collaborator). The tram was filled with friends and family to share in the moment. All in all, a remarkable bit of managing things. May the rest of their lives go so smoothly. Raj and Yvonne met a decade ago in school but were linked up three years ago by a chance meeting at Montreal airport where she was between assignments as a fight attendant. He was early for his trip back to Toronto on a business trip. She saw him, they sat down in a restaurant and the rest, as they say.  Ding, ding, ding indeed

A young man has fallen two floors inside the Ryerson University Mattamy Athletic Centre in the Maple Leaf Gardens building. He is gravely hurt, police say. The fall occurred off an escalator, one of several that connect the upper floors of the athletic centre. Paramedics were called to the scene of Carlton and Church streets just before 8 p.m. after getting reports that a man had fallen. Toronto EMS deputy commander Evert Steenge told the CBC the victim plunged about 10 metres. He was taken to a trauma centre in life-threatening condition. The main floor of MLG houses a Loblaws with a one-storey escalator to the basement parking.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Party @TNOthorncliffe #YouthCentre pic.twitter.com/Se2Mdm4HEl

— TNO-THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ORGANIZATION (@TNOtoronto) April 29, 2017

chicken, mushroom medley

seafood

octopus

Starbucks

Can you hear the whistle?

Windows that vented steam

Merely six years ago

Great Western Railway Eastern Division Engine Shop

Saturday at Longo’s is a food shopping delight with mushroom medley and grilled chicken to take home and octopus to ponder. Amid it all, the architecture of the former Canadian Northern Railway Eastern Lines Locomotive Shop summons up ghosts of the steam era.

https://twitter.com/LeasideUnited/status/858345695752925184

If you think about it, the concept of pre-ordering coffee to avoid the lineup had to end this way. There’s a huge lineup of people waiting for the coffee they pre-ordered to avoid the lineup. Of course, it gave them something to do with their phones. That’s important. Business News Network has the skinny on Starbucks outlook and how cheapie coffee competition (especially Tim’s in Canada) is maybe troubling the green mermaid. But the coffee is good if you don’t lose the coffee habit waiting for it.  BNN

Muriel Draaisma of the CBC was right on the spot in the aftermath of this mess on the Don Valley Parkway Saturday morning. We’re looking at the DVP southbound at Don Mills Road as snapped by Draaisma. The photo at right shows someone walking away from the wreck. The 6 a.m. collision was luckily without injury.

Toronto Leaside Junior Wildcats will bring together aspiring younger girls with seasoned players of the competitive squad for a morning of hockey fun and learning on Saturday, May 13. Parents with daughters who love hockey are invited to get in on this useful hockey-rink classroom and fundraiser at Leaside Arena. The Junior Wildcats are the highest-level team in the organization. They compete in the demanding Provincial Women’s Hockey League. The morning will consist of 60-minute on-ice skill clinics for girls to help them learn what it takes to get to the next level. Coaches and players from the Juniors will be the instructors for these sessions and will work with players on all individual skills from skating, stick-handling, shooting and passing. The Junior players will also be available for autographs and pictures with our younger players after each ice session. Sign up here

Shooting: Bayview / Blythwood .. vic of a shooting has walked into hospital. No info on extent of injuries, or scene. Units otw.#749294.^adc

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) April 29, 2017

Anyone would be forgiven for finding the imminent withdrawal of the US from NAFTA — the North American Free Trade Agreement — a bit stagy. Donald Trump swears he was ready to cancel the deal as recently as last week. Then he got calls from the golden-tongued president of Mexico and prime minister of Canada and changed his mind. Who’s kidding who?