Thursday, November 27, 2008

Neil Young

If you (or your employer) has the bandwidth, check out this live concert recording from 1968...

We have Harvest, and we have the Decade double album... and I have been listening to them quite a bit recently. Perhaps I will have to get some more Neil for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

Last night I went to the AGO - it is free on Wednesdays.

I wanted to see the newly unveiled Frank Gehry renovation. Overall, I think it is well done - it is sort of the opposite of the ROM. Fairly reserved - well thought out - and I found the new galley spaces way less annoying than the labyrinthine older galleries are.

Also - I saw some pretty cool art. There was a FREAKY sculpture by Evan Penny - I can't find a picture of it online - it is an astonishingly realistic bust, but stretched out vertically to an alarming aspect ratio. It is really crazy.

There was also a huge cube sculpture covered in iron filings, by Mona Hatoum. The filings make visible the magnetic field formed by a whole bunch of covered magnets. The thing looks furry and rippled, and is almost impossible to not touch.

Lastly, in that big windshield of a space along Dundas street, there were huge vertical sculptures by Giuseppe Penone. These consited mostly of huge pieces of wood, with portions carved down to the size and shape of the tree at some point in its past life. They are amazing - check out some pics...

Monday, November 24, 2008

The weekend

I am surprised that I have kept up doing the old weekend update blog for so long...

This weekend had us practicing Friday night - we had an almost 4 hour rehearsal, which was good.

On Saturday, we went to the FT leaders meeting/day. We showed up late, skipping the pot-luck lunch part...

Afterwards we went to Andrew and Esther's to record a couple of parts for a Christmas CD.

On Sunday - I went to the Common in the morning. I was halfway home when I realized that I hadn't paid for my coffee and shortbread, so I had to walk back.
I went to get a haircut before church. I ended up running sound, since there was no sound guy. Marty had managed to figure out enough for the band to get through sound-check/rehearsal, and it ended up being a pretty easy job.
After church we went to Andrew and Esther's (again!) with a whole bunch of people, for a pot-luck dinner and game-playing.

The end.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Weekend Update

On Friday, Brad came out to the rehearsal space with us and played bass. It was fun, and useful to have a new set of ears listening to a couple of our songs. We have a lot of work to do...

On Saturday, I went to the (first ever???) FT men's seminar. It took up the bulk of the day. That evening, we bummed a ride out to the 'Sauga for Cyril's birthday party. We ended up staying pretty late (after a bunch of people left, we stuck around and watched B-Boy Nation).

fun fact - the previous owner of the house that Cyril and Mae bought was the guitar player for Megadeath.

Sunday was kind of a write-off. We tried to sleep-in (I pretty much have to fight to NOT wake up before 8), and then were pretty tired all day. Leah played music at church. Afterwards, we went to Anne and Joel's for a pot-luck dinner, but didn't stay super long.

Last night we had a really crappy sleep, so I am TIRED today.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Weekend

Friday night was practice.

On Saturday, Leah and I walked along Queen street from Roncesvales to Ossington. We went into a few antique stores and art galleries, and ended up having lunch in a small cafe.

That evening we went to see Changeling with Brad and Sarah. My recommendation would be that you do not watch this movie. I don't understand the fairly positive reviews this one got. (I didn't understand what was supposed to be good about Mystic River either). Clint Eastwood seems to be mistaken for a good filmmaker simply by telling miserable/horrible stories. And then, in this case, cranking up the drama as much as possible. I actually threw my hands up on multiple occasions. I suppose I shouldn't go to see a Clint Eastwood movie if I want subtlety and nuance. Or good storytelling. Or anything other than badass tough guys.

I don't understand how the same guy made A Perfect World.

On Sunday - I cooked a whole bunch of food, and then a whole bunch of people came over for dinner after church.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

SP

picture by AkaokA
Last night Leah and I went to the first of two Smashing Pumpkins shows at Massey Hall. Despite the venue being a bit weird for such an event, and our somewhat odd vantage point from the side balcony, it was a pretty great show.
The band only played a few of their huge hits - saving the rest for tonight's show, I suppose. They did take the opportunity for some long-form guitar/pedal/feedback numbers, which were pretty great, and some almost Canada-Arts-Council ambient noise (guitar/pedal/feedback) sessions too.
Embarrassingly, some of the audience was a little less receptive to these pretty freaking cool sections, and there were some embarrassing moments of idiots yelling things like, 'Play a song'. For the rest of the time, they seemed mostly satisfied with the full on onslaught of noise and volume.

Monday, November 03, 2008

BARACK THE VOTE !

Halloweekendupdate

Leah and I pretty much skipped Halloween for band practice.
On Saturday we went to a wedding, and then watched Bladerunner until Leah fell asleep.
On Sunday Leah played music in the morning at the Anglican church. I did laundry and then went to non-Anglican church early to help set things up. I also ran sound - which was hard work as usual, but I was pretty pleased with how things went.
Afterwards, we finished watching Bladerunner - that movie is pretty freaking good.

I also managed to find some almost-at-cost tickets on Craigslist to the sold-out Smashing Pumpkins show tonight. I never knew the huge number of idiots who try to make a killing off of selling tickets on Craigslist for WAY more than they paid for them...