When is Finch station a Caribbean paradise? It's possible to suspend disbelief when TTC busker Dwight Belgrove is performing.

The steel drum player winked his thanks as I stood and watched him play earlier this week. I would later discover that the unmistakable sounds of a performing pannist can be enough to make one really feel warm inside. Perhaps warm enough, in one instance, for a commuter to leave his winter coat in Dwight's instrument case, in place of tips.

With almost 19 years of sidewalk chalking experience behind him, "Chalkmaster Dave" Johnston really is a master at his craft. It's become hard to imagine the southwest Yonge and Dundas street corner without his painstakingly detailed, larger-than-life illustrations of superheroes, da Vinci paintings, and video game icons.

The palms of his hands are black as coal, and his clothes are permanently spotted with multicoloured dust. Chalkmaster Dave takes sidewalk art to the extreme, often drawing a crowd as large as the picture he so meticulously creates. He always completes his drawing in the same day. While good enough to hang for years on a wall, most of his pieces survive only a couple days at best, before fading away with footsteps or washing away with rain.

Yesterday, the Toronto Hash Mob cannabis collective gathered for what was meant to be a peaceful pot-puffing protest at Yonge-Dundas Square. In celebration of 420, the plan was to light up at 4:20 p.m. on April 20 in open defiance of marijuana prohibition.

Things would later turn sour with a gun scare shortly before the planned light-up time, but the sun-filled square was already packed with many a languid, smiling stoner from around 2 p.m. onward. I was there before the incident to capture some of the festivities.

It's hard enough to miss Toronto street drummer Snooky Tynes when he performs solo at the Yonge and Dundas intersection, befitted as he often is in a fuzzy hat and bespectacled in star-shaped shades. But it's something else entirely when he makes his busking a family affair. The 51-year-old father of four fronts the Tynes, a 60's and 70's funk tribute band in which Snooky's kids are his backup musicians.

The Tynes have already made waves on Breakfast Television and CBC Radio, but every so often, they'll just show up at Yonge-Dundas Square, set up their equipment, and draw a crowd in what seems like no time at all. I watched them play one of these nearly-impromptu mini-concerts -- a show so tight and polished, I nearly forgot that they were buskers.

They will sing, dance, and even throw in the occasional karate pose. The Tynes are a family of natural entertainers, and I'm sure they'll raise the bar on everything you expected from Toronto's street music.

The warmer weather is encouraging all of us to take it to the streets, and it's no exception for Toronto's buskers. Instead of hunting underground for my usual TTC busker profile, I decided to crawl out of the tunnels into the lively Yonge and Dundas intersection, where I promptly met talented street drummer Peter Richards.

Now, we all know what they say about drummers, but I've always admired them. It must be their unique ability to split their limbs and minds into four separate parts. Or that faraway look they get as they slide into human metronome mode.

I will say this with conviction -- Peter must be one of the nicest, most badass people I've ever met... and he's a brilliant musician. Can anyone tell a story with the drums like this guy can? Watch this week's video and see for yourself.

Two separate teen stabbings rule the headlines this morning. A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in front of a crowd of students after a fight with another student, allegedly over "a girl and 10 bucks." The victim, Mike "Biggie" McDonald, had had an ongoing rivalry with the 18-year-old suspect, who was arrested within minutes of the incident yesterday. Both were students at Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School in Oshawa. Hours later, an unrelated teen stabbing occurred in Mississauga near an elementary school, with the 15-year-old victim now fighting for his life.

In Pickering yesterday, several cars of a CN Rail freight train carrying hazardous chemicals ran off the tracks. The derailment happened near Pickering GO station, prompting the evacuation of the entire station (and, of course, a major delay in service), but no leakage was found in the end. This isn't the first time a CN train has derailed, although it's not yet clear why this most recent incident occurred.

New Ontario guidelines to be implemented this summer will have police trying to avoid Tasering pregnant women, children, and the elderly. The guidelines also instruct officers to avoid cyclists or others in moving vehicles, as well as to aim away from the throat and genitals. Medical attention will be given to multiple stuns, loss of consciousness and head injuries as a result of falling, or if any of the guidelines are breached. All of this comes after a two-year review of Tasers and other conducted energy weapons in Ontario sparked by the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski. Now I wonder what they have to say about deer...