originally sent July 3rd, 2004
| The Anniversary - Well it has been a little over a year and counting since I returned from Nassau, Bahamas to Toronto, Canada, and about three months since my last Toronto Update, so I figured it was high time to do something with all these digital photos I keep accumulating. Now some people have suggested that this site of mine is nothing more than an excuse to post photos of me in the company of lovely women, and I well understand that accuasation. However, as a full-fledged graduate from the Jaymz Bee school of "How To Make It Look Like You're Getting More Than You Really Are", I can assure y'all it's just show. I actually lead a very monkish existence, even if a few of these gals would tell you otherwise...: | |||
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The Migration - so is that dirt on the lens in this pic? No. it's Canada Geese flying back to Canada for the summer, just like I did last year. And with arrival of the warm weather comes a multitude of pretty flowers (my friend Sandi has been giving me numerous horticultural lessons). But spring is also a time for great bands to come to town, and even though I missed getting any pix from the Delgados, Zero7 or Bob Dylan's club gig at The Phoenix, I did manage to get some snaps of Stereolab's multi-media pop-art show, Lloyd Cole's terrific solo acoustic gig, Kevin Hearn and Thinbuckle's CD release party, Nellie McKay's fantastic one-woman show, and the Magnetic Fields' 2 night stint at Trinity Church with the bizzare and wonderful Andrew Bird opening. |
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The Local Yokels - Toronto is also a great place to see some local bands (although the lighting is never as good) and I even have a few friends who make their living as musicians. There's cabaret queen Lenni Jabour (also a total bitchin' babe - see left), jazz temptress Leigh Graham (another bitchin' babe), and the boys from The New Black (I also made their bitchin' website). Other bands recently seen (local and otherwise) include: the glam-rock spectacle of Bobby Conn; the freaky beats of Trans Am; the sultry world-music sounds of Pacifica; the darkly moody noodling of Secret Machines; the mellow drone of Mellowdrone; the indie-rock stylings of Fire Theft; and the laughable frat-rock bombast of Mathew Good (luckily I didn't have to pay for that last one). |
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The Chance Meeting - One serendipitous evening I went to see the amazing Harry Manx (a virtuoso sitar-blues guitarist) and who should be in the row directly in front of me but my old friend and co-worker Jana (left), whom I haven't seen in over 3 years! Turns out her cousin is the tabla player in Harry's band. Funny thing is, to this day I still run into people I know in Toronto that I haven't seen since before I left for Nassau back in January 2001, and so there's always a lot to catch up on. And meeting the loverly Jana also put me back in touch with her friend (and mine) Michelle Rasky who had a CD release party and concert a few weeks ago. All that cuz I called up the local radio station, answered a skill-testing question and won tix to the Harry Manx show. | ||
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The Classics - But music in Toronto isn't all strobe lights and electric guitars. I also attended the symphony last month, with my culture vulture friend Paula (left), at the la-de-da Roy Thompson Hall (da joint's so classy even the "unknown busker" outside was playing classical guitar). Anyway, we saw a stellar performance by virtuoso violinist Nikolaj Znaider, and my friend Paula even got him to autograph the CD of his she bought after the show. Our seats for the evening were pretty high up (they were FREE so I can't really complain), but I still managed to get a shot of the conductor Peter Oundjian entering, and also taking his final bow. Shooting during the actual performance would have been far to declassé, even for me. | ||
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The Reel Life - Movies are also a major passtime here in Toronto (I have many friends and acquaintances in the industry), and virtually every week there's a film festival of some sort in town. But one of the best fests by far is the Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival, held every spring. One reason I like this fest so much is that the guys and gals at Pneumatic.com (where I work occassionally between job contracts) design and maintain the Hot Docs website, and so they get plenty of screening passes and party freebies. I actually had a hand in designing the Hot Docs website back in 2000, so I feel justified when some of the festival goodies trickle down to me. I saw about 11 docs that week, and the closing night party was quite a bit o' fun since I knew so many people there. The free drinks helped too. |
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The Wedding Belles - One of the more offbeat parties I attended recently was the wedding of my friend Kyree Vibrant (left) to her long time beau John Kalangis. The ceremony and reception, at the über-kitschy Casa Mendoza Motor Inn on Toronto's lakeshore strip, had a "dress-like-a-nut" theme. And since Kyree and I have so many mutual friends, it was like one big reunion. The outdoor ceremony (which went ahead despite the weather) was performed like a musical revue, complete with costumes, dancers, opening acts, and monologues. But traditional vows, ring exchanges and nuptial smooches were also part of the show. And man was that a happy bride! As it happened the ceremony was held one day before my birthday, so I felt like her reception was the next best thing to having my own birthday bash with all my old pals in attendance. There was even a cake! | ||
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The Honeymoon - After the wedding mentioned above, some friends of mine and I sauntered off for MY own personal B-day celebration starting at 12 midnight. About 6 of us ended up at the Red Ball Fashion Party (we were on the guest list) where we downed a few shooters as the clock struck 12, and then watched a crazy drag queen floor show. After a while the owner, who was a friend of one of our gang, found out we were having a birthday celebration and out came about 20 more shooters as half the bar joined in on our party. And that sexy girl in the red... she wasn't wearing much else. Hot stuff! All in all, a great ending to a fun day, and my new friend Lisa (left) made sure I got plenty of birthday attention. | ||
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The Day Off - My actual B-day, the next morning, was luckily enough a national holiday (May 24th) so I could sleep in. And as nothing else was open that day, my friends Iain and Jan and I spent the day at the Distillery District (a slightly cornball manufactured tourist mecca) where they treated me to a quick lunch, a few drinks, and afterwards we caught a bit of the Jazz Festival (including the energetic Be-Bop Cowboys and red-hot local diva Sandra Caldwell). I also ran into quite a few people I know that afternoon, including the loverly Leigh Graham (left) and an old family friend Garry Kahoon, who hasn't laid eyes on me in about 15 years but still picked me out of a crowd in an instant. | ||
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The Mystery - One week later I awoke to the news, passed on by an unreliable source, that my old pal and drummer extraordinaire Great Bob Scott (left) had suddenly fallen dead 3 days earlier. A few frantic phone calls proved the rumour to be unfounded (it was a different musician named Bob that had passed away) so I made an arrangement to catch up with GBS that same day at Dundas Square where our friend Richard Underhill of the Shuffle Demons was staging an outdoor concert. And, together with over 900 assembled volunteers, Rich and the boys hoped to break the Guiness World record for the most saxophones playing at once. And they did it! (BTW the song chosen was the theme to "Hockey Night in Canada") My pal Julie was one of the throng, and although I did record the event on a video clip, I can't say it's exactly Mozart. | ||
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The Opening - Summer brings visitors to our fair city and I hooked up with my friend Edith the other week (we met in Berlin last October) at the opening party of The Power Plant's new summer art exhibit featuring, among others, my other Berlin pal, artist Laura Kikauka (originally from Ontario). The group show features a ferris wheel for cars, several amusing exhibits, and Laura's own mind-boggling room installations, featuring various weirdness from her seemingly inexhaustable collection of "junk". Afterwards, a few of us headed over over to the fabulous Cameron House bar, where Edith became transfixed by the local flower seller (see.... only tourists buy those things). Laura K and her beau, experimental musician Gordon Monahan, stopped by the bar later that evening, (shoes in hand), as our little party spilled out onto Queen Street. The perfect closing to an excellent opening. | ||
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The Holiday - I spent the last week in June visiting my friend Shelley who has been living and working in St John's Newfoundland for the past few months. The first night we caught some live music at the infamous Ship Inn (left), and the next evening we attended the city's annual Nickel Film Festival where I ran into Newf celebrity Cathy Jones (from This Hour Has 22 Minutes). At first Ms Jones didn't want to be photographed (the last film had made her cry) but then she said "just one shot from the back muh luv!" I also managed to try a lot of the local cuisine while out east, including fresh lobster, pan-fried cod & scrunchins, and fresh mussels, but the seal flipper pie and moose steaks at Chucky's restaurant were the most unique meals by far. I also tried the local drink (a dark rum called Screech) and a few locally brewed beers. For a more complete photo journal click here and then here. | ||
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that's that. See how much there is to see and do in my little town (and other people's towns)? Did I forget to mention anything? Well, all you keen observers should have noticed that I just recently got sheared. My friend Zan is a stylist extraordinaire (and clothing designer with flair), and she took special care, with my long flowing hair. And she did a nice job too, but I don't normally use all that styling goop she put in afterwards. I'm really just a natural man/monk. So till next time.. adios and goodbye! |
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