Super Mario spotted on Dundas West

Good street art doesn't need to be particularly elaborate or political in nature — sometimes its defining characteristic is a clever location. Case in point: this Super Mario stencil spotted on Dundas West by photographer Martin Reis yesterday. Those strange-looking green poles that line the street north of Trinity Bellwoods Park are dead ringers for pipes that Mario and Luigi navigate in the 8-bit Nintendo franchise that many of us spent way too much time playing in the late 80s.

Now that's a clever bit of opportunism by the as yet unknown artist.

Super Mario graffiti has actually made a number of appearances on Toronto streets over the years, though never in so fitting a location. Oh, and in case you're wondering, those green poles are in fact pipes (just like in the game), which an old Spacing post explains act as "vent stacks that release odours from the Mid-Toronto Interceptor Sewer." Apparently City staff replace the internal filters in these things once a week so as to keep a handle on the odours that would otherwise waft up to the street. This just proves, once again, how brave Mario really is.

Cue slow news day comments now.