Posts Tagged ‘ rides ’

The ex-ex-Ex

Posted on August 21st, 2022 Comments Off on The ex-ex-Ex

For the last two years the Canadian National Exhibition, a.k.a. The Ex, has been shut down due to the government’s benign love and concern for us all. So for a while there it was looking like The Ex was going to become The ex-Ex.

But it looks like management managed to turn it around and revive the moribund fair.

And we went.

Off the top I’d like to voice my disappointment at the entrance fees. Frankly, $25 for an adult with a measly $5 discount for junior or senior is a bit steep just to get you onto the grounds. And once you’re in, almost everything else costs extra.

By the time we got in it was starting to get dark and stormy and moody but in every other way it was the traditional ex-ex-Ex we remembered.

The same old (heavily weighted) games of chance line the main concourse. The games reluctantly release the same old ubiquitously crappy prizes into the stream of humanity as it flows by.

If I sound a bit snarky it’s only because I have some insight into those prizes beyond merely having them start to come apart a few weeks later. It’s not even that I remember the toys being of any better quality during my lifetime, it’s just that I got to look behind the curtain, as it were.

But I digress.

As you can see by the dearth of photos when compared to some past expeditions, we didn’t stick around too long. We’d gone out on a lark, not really expecting to be able to get in. I grabbed only the camera, and only “just in case”.

To our mild surprise we did find a way in but there would be no frozen ketchup or iced mustard, just mild paranoia followed by cops performing desperate CPR on a man with a cane and an artificial leg.

Should we manage to get in again, next time we’re coming prepared.

Filed under: B Sides, Patrick Bay, Pictures

Goodbye summer, we hardly knew ye (pt.3)

Posted on September 20th, 2010 Comments Off on Goodbye summer, we hardly knew ye (pt.3)

…continued from previous post

Believe it or not, despite taking inexorably long I actually had a point to make with this entire series. It has to do with the kinds of people that attend the C.N.E. (or even just the grounds), and I’m going to call these people Conservationist Urbanists.

balloon pop, carnival, fair, cne, canadian national exhbition, toronto, city, life

… Continue Reading

Filed under: B Sides, Patrick Bay, Pictures

Goodbye summer, we hardly knew ye (pt.1)

Posted on September 6th, 2010 3 Comments

As I’m sure I’ve already mentioned, the terminus of the CNE marks the official end of summer here in Toronto. Yes, the Grand Old Lady once again shutters her carnie abodes, winterizes her hot dog stands, and abandons the Exhibition grounds to make way for more indoor, agriculturally-based pursuits.

And a Grand Old Lady she is, probably because of all the foods that abound within the burgeoning fair. It’s the main reason I went this year! :)

funnel cakes, cne, canadian national exhibition, toronto, city, life

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Filed under: B Sides, Patrick Bay, Pictures