Did You Know About Zanta?

Every city has their own collection of oddballs and wierdos and Toronto is no exception. We have several Santa Claus impersonators downtown that beg for change or just make a public spectacle of themselves all year round. I spotted one Santa at Fashion Week wearing a red leather jacket, hamming it up in the media lounge that I'd given money to in the winter when I thought he was homeless. I nearly asked him for my twoonie back. Like that turban wearing, electrical guitar toting dude on rollerblades in Santa Monica, Harry Perry, some of our Santa's are practically famous.

Take Zanta, for example. No, I have not spelled his name wrong, this dude goes by "Zanta". He wears nothing but shorts, boots and a Santa hat on all year round, is obsessed with doing push-ups in public and shouting "Yes yes yes" and "Merry Christmas". He is also known for disrupting filming outside the CHUM building, his appearances on Speaker's Corner etcetera and so forth. There is a theory that he bumped his head and has been nuts ever since.

He has been banned from the TTC (public transit), and, last I heard, the City of Toronto, though I'm not sure how that's possible.

Sooo.... wanna meet him?














The man has his own Wikipedia page and yes, this is how I spend my time when I don't feel like studying.

Oh, and here is his website.

And here is a really funny article about Harry Perry.