Ambition

(Audio only, no real video.)

Okay, I love sports

1. So, my mom bought a bike. She says she was inspired by the Olympic athletes. She's 48 going on 49, and she has never ridden a bike. With my dad overseas for business, she's got no one to teach her in Vancouver, so she's trying to teach herself how to ride a bike, with rear-coaster brakes nonetheless (which I never mastered). Her goal is to surprise my dad when he comes back to Canada. She is, by far, the cutest.

2. Norwegian curling team pants 1:0 Canadian cross-country skiing team fishscale suit.

On that note, the day I understood the point of curling (read: yesterday) is like the day I was granted my Canadian citizenship. I'm so proud.

3. Okay, somebody explain ice dancing to me. What the heck is it? But long live the quadruple toe in men's figure skating--to quote Elvis Stojko, "In what sport do you have to hold back in order to win?" ISU judging system is still a work in progress--it's not perfect, nor was the 6.0 judging system. I hope this doesn't get abandoned in the works. These athletes need to be encouraged to progress, not regress. Nonetheless, Evan Lysacek did skate beautifully, and I do commend the artistry of (my future husband #348204) Stephane Lambiel.

4. I have discovered my love of snowboarding. Shaun White isn't human, right?

5. I don't care if they're milking it, I love Alexandre Bilodeau and his gold.

6. I also don't care if any national media, Great Britain to say the least, is ripping apart VANOC for its various flaws; safety at these games, however, is something else. Petra Majdic's fall, the flips at the bobsleigh competitions, unprecedented number of DNFs at alpine skiing events and the tragedy of Nodar Kumaritashvili--it's terrifying, actually. I do not understand the logics behind the architecture of these athletic structures, of course, but it's disconcerting.

6. Tonight I'm going to see Shutter Island, but in turn I'm missing short-track skating. This is what they meant when they invented the phrase "win-lose situation".

Short words

O Frailty.

A mountainous Christmas

I am on the West Coast! Spirits are as high as the mountains here, and I think I will forever be jealous of the waters and the hills here, no matter how much I love Toronto. Tonight I'm watching In Bruges, my favourite Christmas movie (though it barely qualifies... tee hee), and tomorrow I'm going up to the Burnaby Mountain Park, on a suggestion from a friend. I also booked a NYE trip to Montreal, leaving on the very day that I arrive in Toronto. EXCITING!

I did a favourites list last year, and I do miss the time I spent with the music, but I think I'll just share some Christmas music this year.

Merry ho ho ho, and everything else too. Warmth and love to you, and everything else too.











Talk soon.

Bienvenue

The first 24 seconds of this video is how I feel right now.

The other 6 minutes and 46 seconds of it is brilliant.

ps. Watch Part II for effects intended by the playwright.

Happy belated Halloween!

I have no costume, since I have been too busy (and also, loaded with lame excuses). Truth be told, I think I'm too old for Halloween (at prime 21), and I'm not sure if I was ever hugely into it ever since I stopped going out to collect candy. I will admit to wanting to drown in a bag of Tootsie Rolls nonetheless. Did you see the Google banners? They were sooooo cute.

Anyway, happy Halloween to those who enjoyed the occasion--I may have no costumes for myself but I'm in the process of costuming 20 others, for the upcoming production of As You Like It by William Shakespeare, at the Ryerson Theatre. Stay tuned!

And happy November! I should have perhaps shared this during the month of October:

LOL WUT

I hearby call on Stephen Harper to sing all his rebuttals to Michael Ignatieff.

Musique en plus

Found this on my computer today:

And there's my talking voice.

Thank you, internet

The things on the interwebz are just too good sometimes.

But I guess they get 'em from TV, sometimes.

Lord of the Flies

I should perhaps be writing about the adversities in North Korea that strikes too close to home for my liking (being that half my relatives live practically next door to Kim Jong Il, considering he thinks he can hit anywhere between the White House or the kangaroos in Australia with his long-range missiles), but this is distracting:

ILY Barack.

ps. I'm nursing my first sunburn ever. Thanks, Provence!

eta: If I can sit at a computer long enough, I'll soon write some actual thoughts about the North Korea thing. I used to live right south of that border, and most of my family is still back home, and it makes me home sick.

Before I leave

This past Thursday I went to the Grizzly Bear concert, and I know you hear this from me, but God, what an amazing show. This time I really, really mean it. I was amazed by everything, even by how big Chris Taylor's mouth could get when he sings, but especially by Ed Droste's voice, and by how the ever-lovely Leslie Feist made a guest appearance. Observe and admire:

What a grand send-off (I leave for Europe tomorrow). When I come back I'll be seeing Amy Millan of Stars and my rainbow-endorsed imaginary husband Gentleman Reg at the Harbourfront Centre on July 25th, the Rural Alberta Advantage (the newest Saddle Creek addition, if you haven't heard yet) on the 30th, and St. Vincent on August 8th. I think that just about makes up for all the great shows I'll be missing: Beirut + the Dodos, and the Toronto Fringe Festival among others. My two former roommates are performing in two shows at the Toronto Fringe, Goodbye Rounds and Tim Buck 2 (scroll down a lot to find this one). I swear I almost considered going to Europe at some other time, but I'm really damn lucky to be living in this city. Dear Lady Luck, thanks for placing me here.

In a totally different news, my sister is now inhabiting the wonderful stad of Antwerpen (pronounced Antwerpuh), read her Euroblog here and her great story of how the name of the town came to be.

Yesss

Okay, 1) I leave for Vancouver in 11 hours so I should be getting ready and 2) it's seven months till Christmas but this is important:

This is going to be the first time in a few years that I'll be looking forward to Christmas. Hooray!

Record store day.

Consider this a punch in the face for the interwebz.

Tomorrow - Saturday April 18th - is Record Store Day, with vinyl-only releases from my lovechildren some amazing musicians such as Andrew Bird, The Gaslight Anthem, Iron and Wine, Flight of the Conchords (yes, I know), Talking Heads, GRIZZLY BEAR (note the all-caps), and even a split from Sonic Youth and Beck. Since I'm not the coolest or the hippest of all music fans, as evidenced by my lack of a record player, I won't be taking advantage of much else other than the magical 10% off pretty much everything but the tickets at Soundscapes.

If you're in Toronto, go drop by at Soundscapes, Penguin Music, Criminal Records or Sonic Boom. I heard from a little birdie that Sonic Boom is also hosting a show in honour of such a day.

And speaking of records, here's a sweet little track written by Jens Lekman...



Are you sick of me swooning over Jens yet?

ps. May go to Vancouver for the first week of June, right before Europe. May do a show in Muskoka in August. May go to Koreatown for lunch tomorrow with my awesome sister. Stay tuned!

Canadian Music Binge

I am so CMW-ed out! Ten artists in three days (sixteen including those that were not a part of Canadian Music Fest) and fifteen hours of combined sleep. It was my first festival experience (don't even ask why I've never done CMW or NXNE before) and I'm happy to have made it alive.

I took this photo before I decided to me quasi-rude and start using flash, so I apologize for the blurriness. I'd heard of the $100 fame before, but it was my first time seeing the band, and Simone Fornow's voice is seriously something else. Listening to their myspace now, I have to say it was quite different in person, but in a good way. There's something rural about this band, rolled together with hardness. And I love steel guitars. It was such a good way to start the three days.

I should mention that I'd never seen the Horseshoe Tavern like this before. It's definitely one of my favourite venues, but it was packed, I felt like I was a croissant baking into golden perfection in the oven. Women, ironically made up of five dudes, was of a genre that I haven't yet familiarized myself with, so I reserve all judgement. I have a good gut feeling about them, though.

I love Reg Vermue! I think everyone in Toronto has a secret soft spot for Gentleman Reg that gets revealed once you see him perform. The sweet banter and constant good humour, backed by the danceable indie pop lines and his endearing voice, is enough to make him one of my favourite acts to see live (my fourth time and counting). Watch my video from the night of The Boyfriend Song.

CHAD VANGAALEN!!! If you remember this post I had named his 2008 album Soft Airplane as my favourite of the year. That opinion hasn't changed much, and seeing him live only encouraged my sentiment. I have this belief that the reverb/delay pedal was pretty much invented for his voice (I'm not a master of pedals, so don't quote me on what that pedal's called). He opened with Willow Tree (click for my video. A rhetorical question to the MFers who are talking through the first twenty-five seconds of the song about being rude: Irony?). When I listen to him I feel like I'm listening to every sound on the planet. Not sure where that feeling comes from, but it sure is amazing. I just learned yesterday that I'll have missed him by 2 days when I get to France in 12 weeks (!) and had a mini-heartbreak.

If there is one band in Toronto that I feel like I'm watching grow, it's Hooded Fang. My friend Sharmin (who has been my common-law wife for the CMW period, and has very good reviews on her blog as well) and I speculate that their name probably comes from Jacob Two-Two, just as I imagine these magical boys and girls of the indie-pop band would. They are exactly what to call indie-pop, and I love it. I saw one of their very first shows, and now they are polished--nothing complex, nothing too serious, just the things that they do so well, catchy lines and fun harmonies. Watch for yourself here.

These guys from Iceland gave us some good options for leaving the venue safely and arriving sound in our homes: Learn to say their band name, or buy an EP. I learned to say their Icelandic name from Snorri Helgason, the lead singer himself, how to say their name, and safely left the place (I thank him for his humble kindness that remained even after he found out that I wasn't playing the following band). They call themselves "Icelandic indie pop for the masses", and that's pretty much bang-on. It was hard not to pick up their energy and throw it around the room myself.

As a lover of indie music, I want to have nothing bad to say about indie bands. Unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about these guys. There is a fine line between showmanship and self-indulgence, and that line was crossed every which way.

Black Hat Brigade, on the other hand, is a completely different story. Definitely one of my favourites from the festival. I have a lot to thank them for, seeing as they are the band that prompted me to go out, look for and support indie music, back sometime now. They are so solid from any angle, carry the best energy and know how to hook you. Their new EP is coming out in May, titled "Fathers", look out for it.

They've already featured this video on their myspace, but they're so damn good I'm going to embed it right in here.

I'm dedicating this to Bryan, who fills up my Facebook inbox to keep the fans up-to-date.

I actually only caught one song by Herman Dune (his myspace sounds great), but this picture pretty much sums up the crowd at any CMW Showcase. Thanks for showing up.

I'm in love with this girl. She is as adorable as one can be, but with one of the biggest voices in Canadian music today. She's got those love songs and prayer songs, ukuleles and autoharps, and with the lacquer of violas and drums it's just got a permanent place in my heart. Watch Before I Knew here.

There, I'm done. Thanks for reading!

Don't divorce us.

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Watch & sign this.

Wooden sounds

Timber Timbre live at Soundscapes...
One of the many reasons why I think I've got unfinished business with the city of Toronto. His new self-titled album is incredible.

Check out his myspace here.

edit: I (heart) Music has a feature on him this week.

The favourite sixes of 2008

So, everytime I've tried to make a top 5 list, I found myself always wishing I could add one more... so I composed a top 6 list. This list is music-related stuff only, and I am without a doubt fickle and may be making changes to the list... but all the albums that I've been waiting for this year have come out (the last one being A Mountain is a Mouth by Bruce Peninsula, and it did not disappoint!) and hopefully it'll stick! I'll stress that this is a favourite list, which isn't necessarily to say the best and of course, I have probably heard 1/97204865203th of music being made in the world right now, but this is where I am, and I love everything here.

Six Favourite Shows
February 21 - Bruce Peninsula and Plants & Animals - Drake Hotel
March 12 - Bell X1 with David Ford - El Mocambo
March 29 - Basia Bulat with Katie Stelmanis - Lee's Palace
August 27 - Final Fantasy with Nico Muhly, Samamidon and Doveman - Danforth Music Hall
September 20 - The Swell Season with Smog - Massey Hall
November 27 - Broken Social Scene with Land of Talk - Sound Academy

Six Favourite Canadian Albums of 2008
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Katie Stelmanis - Join Us
Timber Timbre - Medicinals
Bruce Peninsula - A Mountain is a Mouth (this album is only available online until February 3 2009, I stream it on CBC R3)
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
Hooded Fang - Hooded Fang EP

Six Favourite Canadian Songs of 2008
(...by artists that haven't been mentioned so far)
Laura Barrett - Deception Island Optimists Club
Hawksley Workman - Piano Blink (los manlicious remix)
Feist - Brandy Alexander
Jill Barber - Oh My My
Hello, Blue Roses - Shadow Falls
Plants & Animals - À l'orée des bois

Six Favourite Non-Canadian Albums of 2008
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Skinny Love was my ringtone for a very long time)
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (The First Aid Kit cover of Tiger Mountain Peasant Song is wicked good, thank you!)
Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
Loch Lomond - Paper the Walls
Tapes 'n Tapes - Walk It Off
Ray LaMontagne - Gossip in the Grain

Six Pre-2008 Albums that I Still Listen to
Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (Opposite of Hallelujah is my new, much-happier ringtone)
Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
Elliott Smith - XO
Christine Fellows - Paper Anniversary

--

Hope you all had a year full of fantastic music! E-mail me--adroitiste at gmail dot com--if you'd like anything mentioned up there/have stories to share, I'll do what I can.

ps. Supposedly there is a freak storm coming to Toronto, I'm slightly afraid, I won't lie.

le chat

I've been comparing my state to a cat: I just want to bask all day in the sun and play with balls of yarn. A difficult task to achieve via living in a basement in Toronto in November.

I painted Captain Pringles (I didn't intend this, but they ended up bearing a striking resemblance) for a friend's birthday in August. I'm not sure what it's supposed to mean, but a lost sea captain celebrates his birthday at sea while a whale navigates... is what I ended up implying.

Before I go, and just so I seem at least a bit more literate than a cat, I want to comment on the situation in Burma. A hundred peaceful activists are imprisoned again. The regime refuses to negotiate terms for UN's visit due in December. Half a million people are displaced in their own country. They've appealed, by democracy and by religion and by sheer humanity, but none of this seems to impress anyone of power. Something's got to give, but whowhenwherehow?

ps... A woman lives with 130 cats.