Squid games

for when nothing but tentacles will do

A DISAPPOINTING Chinatown Festival, with not a lion dancer in sight.

But blame that on the weather — bouncing off the 40C mark under a blazing sun with not even a hint of Prairie wildfire smoke to cut the glare.

If I’d been forced into a lion costume on a day like this, I’d be off sleeping in the shade as if I’d just chased down and eaten a gazelle.

As if.

But in keeping with the spirit if not the actuality of the weekend, here’s a picture from a past Chinatown Festival.

And another,

for no other reason than it’s kinda cute. Like seeing someone in the process of losing a rather complicated game of hide-and-seek.

The entertainment when Lesley and I walked through was confined to a group of young dancers, non-lion, on a stage at one end, enthusiastic but visibly wilting, and at the other two guys in red shirts and straw hats playing Red River Valley on saxophones:

So come sit by my side if you love me.
Do not hasten to bid me adieu.
Just remember the Red River Valley
And the cowboy that has loved you so true.

Sorry, fellers, that’s western, not eastern.

And, with the best will in the world, not very good either. A bit on the squeaky side.

A variety of food stalls, including a couple of variations on “stinky tofu.”

Thank you, no. I prefer my tofu…

given to someone else, who might appreciate it.

All manner of squid offerings.

From the King of BBQ Squid

to squid on a skewer, with a place for people (or squid) to line up. There were no people (or squid) lining up.

To special-offer squid, the whole thing or bits thereof:

The mathematics of that one escaped me rather.

Wouldn’t it make better fiscal sense to buy a whole squid (which has two tentacles and eight smaller arms) for $15 than two tentacles for the same price?

Two squid (a brace?) for 25 bucks seems a real steal. That’s four tentacles, 16 arms and two bodies.

I’m not sure if the bodies are edible, but that’s academic. I wouldn’t eat a squid if you held a water pistol loaded with octopus ink to my head.

Oh, right, Olivia Chow was there too, the 66^th mayor of Toronto and the first person of Asian descent to hold that office.

She was born in Hong Kong and lives close to Chinatown. And she’s the mayor. So where else would she be?

As my mother-in-law (Australian) used to say,

“It wouldn’t be a show without Punch.”

In the nicest possible way.

It’s a thankless job and the hours are shocking.

Probably no mayoral discount on the squid, either.