The 'Sure Man' Event

As fans of this blog know, our friend Milos Divic passed away suddenly this past summer. Saturday night a benefit concert and silent auction was held at the William Lea Room with the proceeds going to the RESP's of Milos' sons Stefan and Kenzo as well as the ICU of St. Michael's Hospital. Kudos to Paul Flint, James Ross, John Fleck, Marc Jamieson, Mark Daprato, Jimmy Johnson, Kelly Moorhead and Lisa Cruikshanks for their hard work and dedication in putting it all together. The bands were Rotary Phone (yup, that's their name) and of course, the newly re-formed Pottery Road. Collectively they pretty much managed to blow the roof off the joint.

And yes, 'sure man' was one of Milos' favourite expressions.

Gulu Walk Toronto, 2009

What's Gulu Walk? You can read about it here. Toronto's walk on Saturday was one of over seventy held in sixteen countries, all inspired and organized by Kieran Hayward and our friend Adrian Bradbury, both of Athletes for Africa fame. Saturday's walk was attended by young and old, many altruistic canines, a few ex-pat Ugandans and some of Toronto's finest to provide much needed traffic control. Oh, and the guy in the pink was dressed that way for a fund-raising stunt. Honest...

And speaking of fund-raising, you can still donate without walking any farther than your computer or the post office.

Athletes for Africa 5v5 Charity Soccer Tournament

Brainchild of Adrian Bradbury (see very first pic below) the tourney was held yesterday at Cherry Beach on Toronto's lakeshore, a round robin event to raise money for a youth centre in northern Uganda. Among the celebs who generously gave their time were Rivers Cuomo, Michael Cera and Rick Campanelli of ET Canada fame, all amazingly skilled with a soccer ball. There was also an impressive array of local soccer talent on hand as well as a small army of volunteers. And, oh yeah, it was actually fun.

Of course a soccer tournament means action shots, action shots, and more actions shots. But while yesterday's action is over, Athletes for Africa is an ongoing concern. You can donate any time.
















And since I took 'em, there's more action soccer shots here.

Toronto Band Pics

Just call or email me if you'd like a quote on band or musician photography services. Getting good images in the dark of a club can be awfully tricky so a professional is the way to go whether the shots are for publicity or your own personal scrapbook. Prices depend on how extensive a package you're looking for. And, of course, all your images will be featured on one of my blogs. That's free!

Bio

A graduate of McGill University in Montreal and the American Film Institute in Los Angeles I've forgotten all the French and Spanish I ever knew but can still communicate in English if people talk slowly. I was once in a coma for eleven days which was actually much more hilarious than it sounds. My photographs have been used by everyone from CTV to Penguin Canada. I'm also the author and creator of the almost world-famous local nature blog Toronto Wildlife.

I now use this site mostly for street portraits, but you can see other types of images here.

UPDATED: March 24, 2011.

To Remember Milos Divic...

One last non-photography related post, for those still checking this site for a look at Milos' very happy concert, please consider donating to the trust for his sons Stefan and Kenzo. This can be done at any branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia, with donations made to Mutsumi Hasegawa in trust.

He will be missed....

Rock On To Fight Cancer 2009

(The post and images below remain exactly as they first appeared on the afternoon of July 10, 2009, before I or anyone else knew that Milos Divic, the organizer of this event and our friend, had been struck by a sudden and devastating illness. He passed away on the afternoon of Sunday, July 12, 2009, less than 72 hours after these photographs were taken.

For more pictures of Milos from this night, follow this link.)

Click here for information on the trust for Milos' children.


(UPDATE: To donate to the trust for Pete Somer's children please click here.)

(FURTHER UPDATE: To get prints of Pete or Milos from this event, click here. The prints are free provided you make a donation to the appropriate trust. Thanks.)


Rock On To Fight Cancer 2009 (the first annual?) was a blowout charity event held July 9 in east Toronto, organized by Canadian banking magnate Milos Divic. Featured performers were Pottery Road, a kind of throwback 'supergroup' comprised of veteran local musicians, along with special guest vocalist Pete Somers, straight out of Brooklyn the 519 area code. A great time was had by all, and because it was such a special event I'm going to post way, way (way) more images than I normally would. Click on any image to enlarge.

If you weren't able to attend, you can still make a donation directly to the Canadian Cancer Society.