Last night we went to the Concord, to see Indio Saravanja... Since Dylan gave me the heads up about this guy (who he saw play in Yellowknife last summer), and since the Concord is a) rad and b) 5 mins from our house, I figured we should check it out.
It was a pretty good show, of the Freetimes/one guitar and one mic variety - although I was a bit tired. Also, the key to a lot of Indio's songs seems to be in the storys that he is telling... which can be hard to catch, especially in some of his more wordy songs.
My faves seemed to be the ones that were about living in small Northern towns... something universal, yet super-Canadian going on (at least in my mind - see Daniel Howlett if you want more examples).
Pretty sweet though, especially since we are old and boring now, and never see any live shows any more.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Weekend update
On Friday afternoon, Leah and I went to the scary yellow and blue world of Ikea. We spent loads of money.
On Saturday, I wrestled with an Ikea flåren. Some underpaid factory slave in the abused world had drilled some holes in the wrong spots, and I refused to spend the 3 or so hours it would take to go back to Ikea to return one piece of wood. Instead I used my limited tool-set to beat the shelf into submission. This was more successful than hanging the thing on the wall, which took a few tries. I eventually added an extra bracket, 'cause that thing is pretty heavy, and hangs directly above the toilet. Leah suggested that we leave a bike helmet in the bathroom.
Later that day our new mattress showed up. After sleeping on a futon for the last forever (one that Leah bought about 6 years ago or something) this is a new development for us. Unfortunately, the mattress is a lot thicker than a futon, which brings our previously high-but-comfortable bed to a high-and-a-bit-too-close-to-the-ceiling level. I am seriously considering chopping a few inches off the legs.
That evening we met Jen at Bradbucks. Unfortunately, Bradley was not working. We also checked out BMV, the big cheap blue book/DVD store. I don't buy DVDs, generally, but this time I did purchase Joe vs the Volcano. I couldn't find it at any rental places, so this was pretty much my only option if I wanted to see it. Which I did. I used to list it as one of my top favorite movies, and I wanted to see if it is actually any good. Turns out it is! (although I'm not sure Leah would agree). When was the last time someone (other than small indie film-makers - this thing stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan) went out on such a long limb to make something that whacky and creative? Leah also bought one of those Rolling Stones books, showing the first 1000 covers of the magazine.
On Sunday we went to Billy's for breakfast.
Church involved Leah on guitar, Bradley on bass, and 3 to 4 guys (myself included, for a few songs) on various percussive instruments ranging from the didgeridoo, to the cajon. The potential for hippie-drum-circle chaos was somehow avoided, and it ended up sounding hippie-drum-circle kinda cool.
On Saturday, I wrestled with an Ikea flåren. Some underpaid factory slave in the abused world had drilled some holes in the wrong spots, and I refused to spend the 3 or so hours it would take to go back to Ikea to return one piece of wood. Instead I used my limited tool-set to beat the shelf into submission. This was more successful than hanging the thing on the wall, which took a few tries. I eventually added an extra bracket, 'cause that thing is pretty heavy, and hangs directly above the toilet. Leah suggested that we leave a bike helmet in the bathroom.
Later that day our new mattress showed up. After sleeping on a futon for the last forever (one that Leah bought about 6 years ago or something) this is a new development for us. Unfortunately, the mattress is a lot thicker than a futon, which brings our previously high-but-comfortable bed to a high-and-a-bit-too-close-to-the-ceiling level. I am seriously considering chopping a few inches off the legs.
That evening we met Jen at Bradbucks. Unfortunately, Bradley was not working. We also checked out BMV, the big cheap blue book/DVD store. I don't buy DVDs, generally, but this time I did purchase Joe vs the Volcano. I couldn't find it at any rental places, so this was pretty much my only option if I wanted to see it. Which I did. I used to list it as one of my top favorite movies, and I wanted to see if it is actually any good. Turns out it is! (although I'm not sure Leah would agree). When was the last time someone (other than small indie film-makers - this thing stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan) went out on such a long limb to make something that whacky and creative? Leah also bought one of those Rolling Stones books, showing the first 1000 covers of the magazine.
On Sunday we went to Billy's for breakfast.
Church involved Leah on guitar, Bradley on bass, and 3 to 4 guys (myself included, for a few songs) on various percussive instruments ranging from the didgeridoo, to the cajon. The potential for hippie-drum-circle chaos was somehow avoided, and it ended up sounding hippie-drum-circle kinda cool.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Radiant City
Last night we rented Radiant City - I've been wanting to see it for a while (it's all about the suburbs, and why/how they are killing us). It was OK, although the ending was a bit odd. I think I will like it more the more I think about it though...
Check it out if you're too lazy to read Kunstler's books (he's in the movie... and I must admit that I still haven't made it through the Geography of Nowhere despite a number of attempts), or for a more 'emergent' perspective, if you roll like that, Sidewalks in the Kingdom (which I actually thought was pretty good... I finished it at least!)
Monday, August 20, 2007
The Update
On Friday evening some folks came over to our place for a barbecue. It was fun times (even though the Hubbles didn't show!)
Afterwards, Leah and I went to a late night showing of Dark Side of the Rainbow, at the Bloor cinema. This is basically The Wizard of Oz with the audio switched out for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Supposedly, the album audio lines up with the film in all sorts of crazy ways - I had never seen it before, and was pretty interested to see how it works.
Given the merging of Pink Floyd with the freakiness of Oz, we fully expected a high number of stoners in the crowd. What we did not expect was for the ENTIRE audience to pretty much light up IN THE THEATRE as soon as they got through the doors. The kids in front of us even pulled a home-made bong out of their bag. Canada. The stench of weed, coupled with the precocious idiotic babble coming out of their mouths convinced us to move over to the far side of the theatre.
The movie/soundtrack thing was a bit of a let-down, in my opinion. Leah disagrees, but aside from the odd (admittedly pretty cool) synchronicity, the main highlights for me were seeing the OZ movie (I don't think I'd ever seen it all, and frankly, if you more or less know the story, you don't need the audio), and listening to the album through cinema speakers.
We got home too late.
On Saturday I went to the furniture bank, for their monthly sale. I scored a fairly nice (albeit huge) coffee table for $31 (which included a $6 delivery fee!). That evening we watched Looking for Leonard, a kinda not-great indie Canadian film, which I plucked at random from the shelves of Blockbuster, and which turned out to be more enjoyable and better than your average non indie/foreign movie.
On Sunday, I took a fairly major nap before church, and then we some how ended up at Rice Bar. Again! (On the way there, we drove past a crazy man skipping energetically up Spadina with his pants pulled down...)
Afterwards, Leah and I went to a late night showing of Dark Side of the Rainbow, at the Bloor cinema. This is basically The Wizard of Oz with the audio switched out for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Supposedly, the album audio lines up with the film in all sorts of crazy ways - I had never seen it before, and was pretty interested to see how it works.
Given the merging of Pink Floyd with the freakiness of Oz, we fully expected a high number of stoners in the crowd. What we did not expect was for the ENTIRE audience to pretty much light up IN THE THEATRE as soon as they got through the doors. The kids in front of us even pulled a home-made bong out of their bag. Canada. The stench of weed, coupled with the precocious idiotic babble coming out of their mouths convinced us to move over to the far side of the theatre.
The movie/soundtrack thing was a bit of a let-down, in my opinion. Leah disagrees, but aside from the odd (admittedly pretty cool) synchronicity, the main highlights for me were seeing the OZ movie (I don't think I'd ever seen it all, and frankly, if you more or less know the story, you don't need the audio), and listening to the album through cinema speakers.
We got home too late.
On Saturday I went to the furniture bank, for their monthly sale. I scored a fairly nice (albeit huge) coffee table for $31 (which included a $6 delivery fee!). That evening we watched Looking for Leonard, a kinda not-great indie Canadian film, which I plucked at random from the shelves of Blockbuster, and which turned out to be more enjoyable and better than your average non indie/foreign movie.
On Sunday, I took a fairly major nap before church, and then we some how ended up at Rice Bar. Again! (On the way there, we drove past a crazy man skipping energetically up Spadina with his pants pulled down...)
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Weekender
Friday - we hit the kitchen with a coat of paint. Turns out the old paint was oil-based, so the new stuff kinda slides on. That evening we went to a church elders meeting.
Saturday - I cruised up to the old neighbourhood with Don, and sold him my old drum kit. Afterwards I finished off the last details of the frustrating getting-any-service-from-Bell-Canada-to-actually-work process of having a functioning internet connection. I went for a long walk, and then went to buy a few groceries at the Duff. Whilst there I purchased the latest Drive-by Truckers CD, and the first Lynrd Skynrd album. Yes. That is correct.
That night we went to the Bloor to see Knocked Up. The Bloor is cool, but the movie was... not great.
Sunday - we had breakfast with The Guerette trio (although Dominic didn't get anything) at Billy's. Afterwards, I added another coat of paint to the kitchen.
Church.
Pancakes for dinner.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Week Update
It seems like its been a busy week - we had an old-school church prayer-meeting on Wednesday night. It was really good, although it ended a bit late. And then last night we went to Two by Two. It was fun, and we wanted to stick around to see the fashion show segment... which is pretty much the highlight of the evening! It is hilarious to see people you know wearing clothes made by people you know doing their hilarious versions of runway strutting. The Freedom gang has a really fun style all around, and the models always seem to have fun too, making for a great show. Highlights incuded the series of sweaters converted to pants and held up by suspenders (!), a couple of really sweet dresses, and of course Luke M, with his odd gyrations and Zoolander attitude. Again, a late night!
Today we will begin to paint.
Today we will begin to paint.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Weekender
It was a long one... and I worked like a pack-mule.
On Friday we hit up New Canadian for some wood. I built version two of our bed, and this time it is six feet off the ground. It is pretty sweet 'cause the desk fits underneath it. Yesterday I went back for some wood for a ladder, 'cause the chair to dresser to milkcrate-on-dresser seemed pretty sketchy. I notched the posts at every rung of the ladder, and it took FOREVER (using an XActo saw and a $2.99 hacksaw - it wasn't pretty).
We also finished converting the kitchen to a reasonable state of cleanliness (the bathroom is still kinda grisly), and we managed to get most of our stuff unpacked. Once we paint (next weekend?), we can put up a few more shelves and get the rest of our stuff sorted out.
I also got the internet sort of set up... running a 25' cable from the phone jack, getting everything plugged in, sitting on the phone with tech-support for 20-30 minutes... only to be told that someone would contact us within 24 to 48 hours, once Bell fixes whatever the problem is that makes things not work!
Also set up and tore down church on sunday, and played the melodica... afterwards we hit up RiceBar (again) with Jamie and Bradley. Bradley came over and we stayed up too late.
Other highlights included being visited by Esther Parry, riding the bike with two 10' long pieces of wood on my shoulder, and rocking the new Tegan and Sara album...
On Friday we hit up New Canadian for some wood. I built version two of our bed, and this time it is six feet off the ground. It is pretty sweet 'cause the desk fits underneath it. Yesterday I went back for some wood for a ladder, 'cause the chair to dresser to milkcrate-on-dresser seemed pretty sketchy. I notched the posts at every rung of the ladder, and it took FOREVER (using an XActo saw and a $2.99 hacksaw - it wasn't pretty).
We also finished converting the kitchen to a reasonable state of cleanliness (the bathroom is still kinda grisly), and we managed to get most of our stuff unpacked. Once we paint (next weekend?), we can put up a few more shelves and get the rest of our stuff sorted out.
I also got the internet sort of set up... running a 25' cable from the phone jack, getting everything plugged in, sitting on the phone with tech-support for 20-30 minutes... only to be told that someone would contact us within 24 to 48 hours, once Bell fixes whatever the problem is that makes things not work!
Also set up and tore down church on sunday, and played the melodica... afterwards we hit up RiceBar (again) with Jamie and Bradley. Bradley came over and we stayed up too late.
Other highlights included being visited by Esther Parry, riding the bike with two 10' long pieces of wood on my shoulder, and rocking the new Tegan and Sara album...
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Dos por Dos
If Leah and I didn't have to unpack and organize our apartment tonight, I would totally be at the WETBACK screening tonight.
Do you have to unpack and organize all your worldly possessions tonight? No? So go already...
Do you have to unpack and organize all your worldly possessions tonight? No? So go already...
Moved
So we moved yesterday. We picked up the van at 7:30am, and I dropped it off around 11:30 last night. We moved all of our stuff, and a lot of Jessica's, and somehow in there ended up moving about 4 couches... 2 of which were sleeper couches (=heavy) and pretty much all of which had to fit through ridiculously small doorways.
I don't know if we will ever get our new couch out of our apartment if we ever move again (which we're not ever doing, by the way!) - highlights included dropping off the gross 'free' couch that we decided we didn't want at Value Village (it was so easy...) and also scoring an actually nice couch for $40 after randomly spotting it in someone's driveway.
We 'slept' for about 4-5 hours on the living room floor, between the desk and the couch... and for some reason, at about 3am, the cats decided to go freaking mental. Petrie was racing back and forth from the bedroom, through the living room, and into the kitchen, the full length of the house (the typical long skinny Toronto floorplan is a new thing for him, I guess). This of course means that he was racing back and forth across our heads! Eventually I got up and locked them both in the bathroom. They are seriously mental.
This morning I got up and scavenged the chaos of boxes for food, clothing etc. and then rode my bike in to work. I called up Bell, and they are sending a technician by our house sometime today. Maybe I should phone Leah and let her know... oh wait, I can't, the phone doesn't work.
[update] 537 7469... or 416 53-SPINY... or 416 LESS?-HOW?..
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