Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Name that tune!

Ok, so some guy has created a program that scans your iTunes and creates a musical signature based on your top rated or most frequently played songs. Even though this means that some program is scanning your computer, it's pretty awesome!

Here's mine.

Cookies to the person who guesses the most songs!

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Oh Saugeen...


My former res is living up to its reputation. Two girls were apparently paid to put on a strip show in some guy's room, and now that there are pictures of them all over the internet, they're a little bit pissed off. Not that this shocks me - it just brought out some funny Freudian slips from my friend who told me about the episode:

"talk about a ruined reputation.... i fell bed for them"

and then something about them knowing that there was a "comera"


Oh silly boys. And girls.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Take a hike

I've decided that when one starts posting about making 2-D versions of themselves, or about going to the dentist, they should probably get out more. I'm going to declare 2006 "year of the Jen who gets out more."

Currently reading:



The world through the eyes of a little girl somehow seems a little bit nicer.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

So its beena long time since I've had a normal checkup at the dentist... a really long time. It had gotten to the point where I hadn't been in so long, I was embarrassed to go because I'd have to tell them how long its been, and then of course, I had another reason to put it off. This morning, I went! They couldn't get all of the crap scraped from my teeth in the time I had for the appointment, so I have to go back next month for the last 1/4 of my mouth (and for filling 2 cavities...), but I guess in a way, I'm still saving loads of dentist time since 2 visits for a cleaning is definitely less than the number of visits that I've missed.

Of note: It didn't hurt. It got uncomfortable for all of 10 seconds, out of a 45 minute cleaning. I don't really know why the hygenist wanted to show me my gums while she cleaned, she knew I wasn't in pain. You know how little kids don't feel hurt when they fall down until they look and see blood on their knee? It was kinda like that. Except it actually didn't hurt, even after looking plaque in the eye.

I also got radiated - mutant Jen coming through!!

Monday, November 28, 2005

My weekend of not writing essays was quite nice - I got lots of realxing done, and I made doll version of me:



(to make one of you, go here.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Say it ain't so

So apparently there are "better drugs on the market":

B.Y.O.B., New Brunswick hospital tells patients
From the CBC

One of the few remaining hospitals in New Brunswick to prescribe liquor and beer is telling patients they'll soon have to buy their own alcohol.

The long-standing practice of prescribing alcohol for medicinal purposes – such as giving beer to breastfeeding women, to help people sleep or to increase appetites – still exists in three New Brunswick hospitals. Dr. Edouard Hendriks, head of Edmundston's health authority. Hospital pharmacies in Saint John, Bathurst and Edmundston keep alcohol on hand for for prescription-only, therapeutic purposes. But as of Jan. 1, the hospital in Edmundston will no longer keep a booze supply. The head of Edmundston's health authority, Dr. Edouard Hendriks, says times have changed. "The main reason is because in the past few years, research on medical use of alcohol has diminished, and actually, we have so many other medications on the market that work, that are much safer and can still meet the patients' needs," said Hendriks.

However, the change doesn't mean an alcohol-free hospital. Patients can still have their families bring in liquor or beer, if it's prescribed. "It's up to the family to bring it, providing the doctor has determined it is to treat a medical condition," said Hendriks. "So if the doctor prescribes, for example, an ounce of something to fall asleep, it will be controlled by the medical professionals at the hospital to ensure the patient receives it in a safe and timely way."

Alcohol use criticized:

Medical beer under lock. The medicinal use of liquor or beer has its critics. Dr. Raju Hajela, a past president of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine, says the use of alcohol is far too common when there are better drugs on the market. While alcohol may be used under strictly monitored conditions in the hospital, he says, the patient may not be able to control how much they use once they get home. The patient may think 'If one beer is good, two beers are great,' he said. It could also be a problem for nurses, who have to enforce the alcohol cutoff for patients, said Hajela.




In other news, my birthday was fantastic, and proved that Mark is definitely deserving of the boyfriend of the year award! Alos, I now own skis, so if anyone feels like going skiing, I'm in!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

I'm A-OK

Its good to know. I wasn't really worried or anything, about whether I wasn't ok, but it's nice to be assured that I am. Thanks to Mark for that confirmation.

This last weekend was exhausting, but pretty great at the same time. Mark and I drove out to London on Friday for Megan's (and I guess mine too) birthday party, where I had a great time talking to people like Megan and John and Mark and cool new people like Danielle and Arieh. I also got killed at Mario Cart, but I'm going to remedy that in a couple of weeks by buying myself a gamecube and the game and getting some crazy skills. First I'm hoping that I can finish at least ONE of my two papes, because lord knows how much work I'll get done after getting the gamecube.

Fantastic news: on our way out of london, we went to Barakat so I could get my shawarma fix. I told Barakat-guy how much I miss their shawarma in Toronto, aka "the land of mediocre shawarma" and he said that he might be opening up a Barakat in toronto soon! I don't think my fingers can get any more crossed.

Saturday night was spent at Matt Doherty's for the leafs game and there must have been something in the tea because everybody was hilarious.

Sunday was recovery, American Analog Set, and school.

And TOMORROW is Green Room!

Yay!

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Things of note:

- Deborah pointed out that during our Neurobiology of Vision class, some lady randomly walked in and was about to grab food from the fruit/cookie platters that Hugh orders for us (best class ever), and then she decided not to, and left. This was during class, and likely during class presentations. I'm figuring she left emptyhanded because she caught the fiery scorn in Deborah's eyes.

- Tonight Im doing a fill-in from 9-10 on CHRY, and I'm going to be playing only songs from bands that will be in Toronto in the next two months.

- This week has been CRAZY. I can't wait until tomorrow (the partying in London part, not the weeping for freedom part).

- If you didn't get that last part: tomorrow is Rememberance Day.

- Tomorrow is also drive to London day!! Megan and I will be celebrating in STYLE. By style, I mean drunkenly wearing animal toques.

Friday, November 04, 2005

Of Montreal video

Dave's right - they won't be showing this on much music very often. But it's very very good, in an untalkative bunny sort of way.

Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)

Another thing: Frieda Kahlo is awesome. Her documentary kept me up much longer than any other documentary I've ever watched, which is a lot to say, since documentaries are visual dramamine for me.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Boo!

I love halloween. Probably because it makes me feel like I'm 8 years old again, and because its fun to run around neighborhoods at night. This year was fantastic - one of the best halloweens yet - spread between staurday and last night of course.

I spent the weekend in Ingersoll and London with Sharon, and pretty much had her all to myself which was very nice. We had such a good time - I managed (on average) to drink responsibly, by drinking more than a bottle of wine the first night and being DD the next. We went to GT's on Saturday, probably one of my favourite London bars since it's one of the few that isn't whore'd up as much as the other London bars/clubs. I fell back on my cat costume - if I can't be super creative, at least I know I make a good cat - and had the most fun that I've ever had at a bar while sober. ohn showed up, which was probably the highlight of the whoel night - I miss that boy so much! And I got to meet hs lovely girlfriend, what a sweetie. Dave was hilarious in his handmade (by him!!) Robin costume, and Sharon was a hot vampire who attracted all the boys. The wingman of the guy with her tried picking me up, to no avail, and I found out that the 3rd friend was Mark's childhood buddy. GT's indeed. Then we had post-bar McD's, and a late night spoon/talkfest. I left the next day feelng so happy & at peace.

Holy wallstands batman!


Jen's later attempt to get Sharon biting random bargoers backfired, and she turned into a vampire cat - well, got a red neck at least.


The Cat, The Vampire, The Robin, The Rapper, and The Token Brown Guy.

Last night was almosta wreck - I was sitting at home with Mark debating whether to start the movie or watch tv and getting grumpy about all the halloween that was going on outside without me, when we got up, got dressed (me = cat, mark = christmas!) and walked around the neighborhoods for an hour or so and had ice cream out there. I got to see me some super-cute kids, and some awesome neighborhoods/decorated houses.

Halloween, I give you an A+.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

conflicted!

Ok - in no way am I pro-Bush. I wish he wasn't their president. I hate his foreign policies, as well has the state of affairs in America. But THIS makes me feel unexplicably sad. It's something about the expression, the silence, and the infitity of it. Somebody give that guy some circus music!!

Also: No more asignments for a whole MONTH (not counting the weekly ones...).yayyyyyyyyy

Top model and knitting tonight. My mind is getting a rest.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Why I like the indie rock.





It's been a fantastic weekend - Megan finally got to see the love apartment, and now it really feels warmed. We took her for her first sushi experience, she was very polite about it - din't make us feel crazy for eating raw (mechanical..?) fish. We made up for the insane amount of walking and city-ing around on Friday by staying in the entire day yesterday, watched 28 days later, then Citizen Cane and Casablanca. Cooked gourmet dinner. Devoured bottles of wine. Took many pictures of annie. I can't wait till the Constantines now!!


Thee more shallows were fantastic: the crowd was really small and it felt like they were playing just for us. Mark's memory kicked in near the end so we got our request for Where have you gone, or whatever that song is called. It doesn't MATTER what the name is (referencing the Rock is the new white belt). I really really enjoyed them, they're super nice and seemed really happy that we were there and bringing them love and adoration. And that's why I love the indie - people who support band always matter, but when you're one of a hundred thousand, it just doesn't feel like it. Anyone who gets a mix from me in the next... years... will likely get some TMS on it.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Thee More Shallows, again.


I know I've posted about them before, but I'm still obsessed with their newest album AND they're playing Toronto (@ silver dollar, college & spadina) on Friday. I've managed to (almost completely) set up an interview with the band for the fill-in show I'm doing on Friday here from 1-3pm. I've been doing a bit of research on the band, seems they've had comparisons to every band from Low to Yo La Tengo to Godspeed, and it seems all of the people i know think they're death cab. It's been wierd - I can kinda see these comparisons when I'm looking for them, but usually I don't.

Anyway, the point of this post is to say: come on Friday night to the show. They're here all the way from San Francisco, and I have a feeling its going to be fantastic. And you'll be able to tell everyone you know that you saw them play at the Silver Dollar Room before anyone knew who they were, and before they got onto an O.C. soundtrack.

Again, preview them here.

Friday, October 14, 2005

RawkChester

I'm in Rochester on a Mother-daughter-nana weekend, which is actually quite nice so far.

Hilarious hijinx at the hotel, where our reservation for a non-smoking room with 2 dbl beds apparently equals a smoking room with one king size bed, and numerous conventionsbooking out the rest of Rochester's hotel rooms. Alls I can say is that I'm very very happy that problem got fixed - my nana ate onions for dinner and NO-ONE should have to share a bed with that.

I'm now trying to get some work done (unsuccessfully). I feel ok though - I got a ton done last night AND I handed in my thesis proposal today, hi-fives all around :)

Tomorrow I'll get to go outlet shopping, can I get a woo-hoo? I didn't think so.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

CHAIRS

but first - plans for tonight. I should be staying in, since I still don't feel caught up from sleep, but... too many staying in nights makes a grumpy Jen. So the deal is:

THE POUR HOUSE
6PM
HOCKEY!
CHEAP WINGS!

and now, the chairs:

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Today I actually did a bit of work on my application. It's been a pretty good day overall, and I still have Steve Carrell SNL to look forward to. Right now I'm hanging out with mark while he fills in for someone at the JCC - which means just sitting around at the closed front desk until second cup closes. Its a pretty sweet deal - for him, and for me, since I get to use the computer and he bought me a latte.

Last night, m and I went to Soundscapes, and picked up Constantines new album (and later, Metric's new album) and some American Analog Set tickets. I hope I wasn't supposed to pick any extras up for people, because I didn't. If I was supposed to, I'm sorry. But I don't think it will sell out. Then we got Sushi, and American Apparel (in the opposite order) and I'm baffled at how generous Mark is. With love and money and everything. I feel bad taking the money, but the love is fantastic. I'm v. lucky. The walk home from Sushi was really great - we stopped in at Madeline's for a pop (Pop Shoppe Lime Ricky) and saw some of the cutest girls every -they were doing awesome butt dances and kept farting and gigling about it. I also saw the world's most beautiful baby boy, but that was earlier, and on a bus. Next, on the walk home, we got stopped by some people who were moving out. They asked us if we wanted free furniture - a polynesian table and chairs set. They are honestly the most awesome and terrifying things ever, and these awesome people delivered them to us!! We baked them cookies.

Today was fantastic - kintting and shopping with Jamie (and mark) and bath and now hanging out with mark. Mark spent 4 times as much as me - I'm proud of my awesome finds and my awesome restraint. I think I'm going to whitby tomorrow.

Friday, September 30, 2005

H&M&MEEEEE!

Monday was a mini-christmas. I gave Jaime back her cd, and an iPod sock that I knit for her, and she gave me a box of origami supplies and an invite to H&M friends and family day!! Now I get to put my unexpected bonus to good use, and buy lots of fahionable stuff, with Jaime as my personal shopper. I'm v. excited! Also, I've developed a newfound love for typing v. when I want to say very - it just feels so sophisticated ;)

I'm in a v. good mood.

Haagen Daaz Dulce de Leche is v. delicious.

Autumn is my v. favourite season of all. Every time I step outside I have the feeling that the feeling would only be more perfect if I was in an apple orchard - next weekend for sure.

Friday, September 23, 2005

October!!

For some reason, October is THE best month for music. Case in Point: Wavelength. Fantastic.

Sunday October 9 – WL 284

Band: North of America
Description: Canadian math-rock legends' long-awaited return.
Contact: northisacurse@gmail.com

Band: The Lava Witch
Description: Suburban Toronto aggro-dance sensations.
Website: www.lavawitch.franktowndesign.com
Music: www.myspace.com/thelavawitch
Contact: doyle30@hotmail.com

Band: Dog Day
Description: Post-rock from North of America's fello Halegonians.
Website: www.dogday.tk
Music: http://www.myspace.com/dogdaytheband
Contact: sethsmith@gmail.com

+DJ JEREMY SAMSON FINKELSTEIN

-------------------------

Sunday October 16 – WL 285
Band: Germans
Description: Indie pop. But complicated.
Website: http://esistgermans.cjb.net/
Music: http://www.myspace.com/germans
Contact: sicksound@gmail.com


Band: The Lolo Project
Description: Hanna-Barbara hip-hop experiment from the Midways' keyboardist.
Website: http://www.sonicbids.com/Theloloproject
Music: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=299372
Contact: Peter@milkshakemusic.ca

+ DJ TANNER

-------------------------
Sunday October 23 – WL 286

Band: Vermicious Knid
Description: Toe-tapping agular-rockers from Brampton release their
first full length!
Website: www.thevermiciousknid.com
Music: www.thevermiciousknid.com/music
Contact: ford.fordplant@gmail.com

Band: Beef Terminal
Description: Post-rock electronic music – CD release!
Website: www.beefterminal.com
Music: www.noisefactoryrecords.com .
Contact: info@beefterminal.com

Band: Thomas & The Evil Computer
Website: http://www.evilcomputer.ca/
Music: http://www.thefordplant.ca/thomas.htm
Contact:
+ DJ SEPARATE BILL

Thursday, September 22, 2005

New Harvey Danger!!

Harvey Danger are some cool folks. They've FINALLY released their 3rd album - and get this- they're releasing it as a free download BEFORE it hits the shelves next week. Granted, you have to know how to use bittorrent (which I don't) but still, its pretty cool. And next week, when they release it in CD form, they're also putting it up in mp3 form - for free, forever. In hopes that they can prove what we've been talking about all alaong, that people will listen to it, and decide whther to buy it or not.

You can check it out here (and if you figure out how to download it, let me know!!).

UPDATE - i figured out how to use bittorrent (I'm an idiot - i just had to change .zip to .torrent) and so far, the album is mighty good.
My last post felt a bit pretentious. I wastrying my hand at a new way of writing. Here's a way better review of Sigur Ros written by an actual writer, for Pitchfork.

I'm still freaking out about applications, but I started knitting and its helping a bit.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

so good, but unquoteable

Today is unproductive. I've accepted it, and I'm going with it. Instead of reading Ch. 1 of the required reading for my insanely frustrating History of Psychology class, I'm going to write about some music. Specifically, Sigur Ros. (But I may rant *just a little* about the logic of assigning a poorly written text to a largely waste of time course that I'm required to take even though it will barely graze upon topics relevant to my field. Said text was written by the course instructer - I cry foul).

Moving on.

Mark surprised me on sunday with tickets to yesterday's Sigur Ros show at Massey Hall. We both have reservations about paying so much ($50) for concert tickets - we rarely need to shell out more than $10-$15 for the shows we want to see - but there's a bit of legend surrounding a show by Sigur Ros. Most people that have gone to see them in the past have reported life-altering beauty, or at least something that makes them seem a bit.. umm.. floaty... for a few days afterwards. So Mark got the tickets.

We didn't leave the show feeling floaty. It was really really good anyways. If not floaty, I at least felt a little bit moved. It was an excellent show. As far as I can tell, $35 extra for a ticket gets you a cushy seat in a beautiful venue, and the band gets to fly in from Iceland and bring some fancy light show materials with them (really, a projector and a big curtain...). They also get to bring a wonderful opening band/backing string section (Amina) with them that adds depth. Here's a picture:

Monday, September 19, 2005

Mooses!

I was almost ready to call off camping last thursday when the forecast switched from clear and sunny all weekend to rainy and shitty till saturday night - SO glad I didn't. The rain did follow us all the way during our drive to Algonquin, but stopped just before we entered the park and stayed away the entire time that we were there. It was one of the most gorgeous trips I've ever been on - I feel completely refreshed after so much beauty. The trees are just starting to turn - most are still green but there are a few spectacular red and orange ones. Mark completely wore me out with hours and hours of canoeing, but I got him back with a 10k hike (Centennial Ridges - again, more pretty sights than you can shake a stick at). Here are some pics:







Also: I saw a sign that said "Parents, children are your responsibility!" I was overwhelmed.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Photo update! (oh, and we're idiots)

This is what I've been doing for the last couple of weeks (no pictures of sick jen --the red nose just isn't becoming):

Housewarming! The house got very warm - we felt the love :) I hope it gets filled like this very often.




Cookies! and Scrabble! Arguably, the best way to spend a few days sick at home. Must include lots of tea, drooling cats, and garlicked soup.



Sufjan!! The show was soo nice. We got there a little late, missing the opener and the beginning songs of Sufjan, but it was worth it as we were able to celebrate a bit of Mark's friend's birthday - tons of cupcakes, nice people, and wine. The church was a perfect venue for sufjan - his shows already contain much reverence (from the crowd) and it just seemed right to have a proper venue for that sort of feeling. The show felt way too short, and it probably wasn't quite as good as last year's Lee's show, but it was still worth every penny. I managed to record "The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!" with a hilarious intro - apparently the song is based on an early camp experience Sufjan had with a friend, when theyscared themselves silly about a predatory bird wasp that they saw in everything - birds, sheets, you name it. It's probably my favourite song on Illinoise, so I was quite happy.




And now to the idiots portion of the post: Last night we had tickets to see the Notwist/Themselves, so we hauled ourselves down to the horsheshoe for nine. When I asked if theNotwist were playing, or if it was just the bands' collaboration "13 & God," I was informed that whoever was playing, they were doing it at Lee's Palace. We looked at our tickets for the 4th time that night, saw that Lee's Palace was printed very clearly on them, front and centre, and hauled ass to Lee's where we sold our tickets and went home to watch the 40 year old Virgin.

PS - Everyone should listen to the new Thee More Shallows album, More Deep Cuts. Its fantastic and the best album I've put my hands on in quite a while. There are two mp3s on that site, get'em while they're hot, and buy the ablum when they come to Toronto on October 21st!! Honestly, their music makes my heart swell. In a good way.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

FUNHOUSE

So, while having a quick look on craigslist for a friend who's looking for a place to live, I found this. WOW.

http://toronto.craigslist.org/roo/97681686.html

Friday, September 09, 2005

Friday afternoon!

This week was full of being sick in my newly-warmed house, and this weekend will be full of celebrations! Tonight, my dad is being honored for 20 years service to Durham Regional Police, and I get to have my hair done and dress all purdy for the ceremony. Good job dad!

Tomorrow: Vegetarian food fair! It's meat- and money-free! And then a birthday party, a Sufjan Stevens (!!!), and maybe another house party!

Sunday: Mark's BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Co-Shacker-Upper!!!

I'm not excited at all.

(!!!)

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

mmmmmmmontreal


(not my pic, lifted from their website)

Of montreal are beyond fantastic. They played Lee's last night, their second time in Toronto this year, and while dancing my pants off, for the first time in my life considered becoming a groupie. Owning an existence of long drives listening to nothing but the 8 gazillion Of Montreal records, and nights of dancing. But then I realized its more fun to dance with friends and Mark, because he's got the MOVES, so I'm staying put for now. The show started off with about 5 hits right in a row - all from the same album. They had butterflies on their guitars, gigantic smiles on their faces, choreographed rock action, and very very good fashions. I crushed and swooned (with restraint, and respect for my dancing man).

Check out some of their MP3s here!

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Housewarming on Saturday!! 7pm or later, BYOB, and we've got the baked goods!

Monday, August 29, 2005

Vacationing subway stations

The TTC is announcing all subways stops, with hilarious results of course. This morning the commute was made a little bit funnier:

"Lawrence West is... uh... Now arriving at Lawrence West."

WHERE WAS IT BEFORE?! Methinks it just got up late, and thankfully managed to arrive just as my train got there.

Monday, day of rest.

I'm feeling not very refreshed after my 9-hour sleep last night, because it wasn't nearly enough to make up for the total lack of sleep over the weekend. I got to feel pretty lame on Friday after watching a What Not to Wear marathon with my mom, and then waiting up till 2:30 for my dad to call for a ride home from his night of beer and wings. He decided to find his own way home instead, forgetting that I was waiting up, and his feeling bad landed me his car rather than my mom's van for my road trip to guelph. For those (everyone) who don't know, his car has the best car stereo EVER (and air conditioning!). I think it could make even Britney spear sund fantastic. I had a very nice time blaring Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and other newly acquired music all the way to the Will Ferrel Marathon.

Speaking f Will Farrell marathons - if you're told that there's going to be a movie marathon followed by going to a bar, you're going to assume this things starts early, right? i figured Marathon = 3 movies, which at 2 hours each should mke a good start time about oh, 2 pm? I showed up at 1:30, figuring I'd be right on time with a chance to hit up the LCBO, only to find out I was SIX AND A HALF hours early. I'm the most unfashionable person in Ontario I think ;) It gave a me a chance to catch up with Aine, Lesley and Ben and get the nachos eaten before other people showed up to devour them.

In other Ferrell-a-thon news, they were actually raising money for will ferrell. They had a big thermometer sign (Ferrellometer) and a Save Ferrell cup that was passed around the party AND the bar. People at the bar chipped in about $10 - they love their Ferrell. Lesley is going to convert this money to cheque form, and mail it off to Ferrel, so he might be able to get a nice hot meal out of it. S random - but a very very fun thing to do at a bar.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Crash

For anyone who hasn't seent he movie Crash, see it. I watched it last night and it was absolutely shocking and terrible, but very very good. It's a bit of a look at racism and ugliness, with a bit of redemption (of the non-religious sort) thrown in so that you don't end up wishing the world would just go away.

Busy weekend ahead, starting from tonight: Sushi at Jun-Jun and then Pretty Girls Make Graves/Tangiers at the Mod Club. I think I'm going to work from downtown tomorrow since I need to get annie to the vet before she loses her remaining teeth. Then on Saturday, its off to see Aine and Lesley at their Save Will Ferrell-athon. The Sunday, back to Whitby by 1pm for a goodbye party for my big cousin, who's moving to Vancouver in a week. Good times!

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

puponabun

Lifted from puponabun.blogspot.com. I don't know them, but they have impeccable taste in weiner dogs:

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Of Montreal!

After talking (to myself) about if for about a month, I finally biked down to Rotate This and got tickets to see Of Montreal next week at Lee's. If you're looking for a night of craziness and dancing, this the place to be. I'm going to get me a button this time. Between that and my (restraned) shopping at American Apparel on the way home, I'm broke, but my consumer urges are sated :)

Monday, August 22, 2005

Clap your hands say... khaki

Sooo funny:

Clap your hands say DANCE PARTY!

Don't rain on my grotto

I think Mark and I managed to get one of the only rainy weekends of the summer for our much-anticipated camping trip. It worked out well anyways, I'm not much for complaining. We had nice dry nights around the campfire, hiked to the Grotto at tobermory, and a beautiful beachin' day yesterday. We ended up driving to Sauble, where the water and waves were fantastic. It was nice to get back to a comfy bed last night though.

Oh, and on Friday, I got to go see some of the tennis tournament with Mark and some of the kids frm Variety Village. What a great time, and what a sweet bunch of kids. Adults I guess. I got to see Clijsters kick some ass in the quarter finals - I felt a bit bad for her opponent, but it was really cool to see someone play so well that another pro can't even get on the board.

Here are some pics, including the first visitors (Basia & Becky) to the new apartment:





Thursday, August 18, 2005

I normally like Thursdays. Today, however, has been wierd. I have a strange feeling in my stomach and even though I know the cause, it still feels strange. It's a result of the horrible dinner (hot wings, onion rings, and popcorn) that made me sick and didn't let me fall asleep till two; it's because of the really emotional Me and You and Everyone We Know and the almost being hit, and definitely being hated on, by cars; and it's the complete craziness of this week. I also dreamt that one of my best friends was dating my ex-boyfriend, and they both were following me around to see if i was ok with it and I just couldn't get away. So upsetting.

Tonight I finally have a peaceful night at home - it's going to be relaxing but also maybe a bit lonely. Mark's going home to Richmond hill so it's going to be very quiet. We still don't have TV and I'm not missing it at all, but maybe I'll bring the laptop home and watch some movies and bake cookies. Ideally I'll unpack some more boxes.

Tomorrow is camping - a long drive to MacGregor Point at Georgian Bay, which means that I should get to do some serious relaxing this weekend.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

A good weekend.

Friday's show went really well - no technical slips and I felt really happy and confident. I chair-danced the whole time. Here's the setlist:

What Ever Happened? The Strokes

Gentleman Reg/ The Boyfriend Song
Sam Prekop/ C+F
Arcade Fire/Neighborhood 2 (Laika)

On to you/Cons
Sufjan Stevens/Predatory Wasp
The Notwist/One With the freaks
Of Montreal/The Party’s Crashing Us now

(Cuff the Duke/the future hangs
Great Lake Swimmers/Various Stages
Kind of Like Spitting/Old moon met New
Clap your hands say yeah/In this home on ice
Broken Social Scene – 7/4

Friday night was a mix of furious packing and relaxing at Future's - I meant to go for a half hour for one cup of coffee, and ended up staying till two (3 hours) for that cup of coffee plus two pitchers of Sangria. It was really night to have a good night with Ainaz and Kurt before the move. We stayedup packing till about 4, and were up fr 7 to move up to the new apartment. It's looking pretty messy right now with all of the boxes, but I'm pretty sure it'll be beautiful when everything's done. I'm happy.

I'll put up some pictures as soon as it's a bit more organized - tmorrow if tonight is productive!!

Friday, August 12, 2005

Up for Sale!

I thought I already posted this... but it's dissappeared. I'm sitting here feeling slightly hung over from the four drinks I had last night over 6 hours, and I've decided that the only thing that will fix this mess is a Louisiana Chicken sub and possibly a new apartment. Good thing both are in my grasp...

I'm filling in today for Daria's show "Up for Sale" on CHRY 105.5 - Nicole's going to help me out :) I've made a semi-finalised playlist and i think it's going to be a very good show. You can listen at the interweb. I also found a brand new broken social scene song, "7/4 (Shoreline)" that I'll be playing for folks who like that sorta stuff.

Tomorrow I get to move, which means tonight my hungover self gets to pack.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Holopaw just put out a new record. I haven't heard it yet, except for the 'single' (curious) which can be found here, but I'm sure its just beautiful. The last album they put out was one that I always knew I should buy, because it's wonderful, but I never actually got around to buying it. I'm pretty sure I'll own this one by the end of the week.

Also, Audioscrobbler just updated their site, and it's got a lot more pink and a lot less blue than before - I guess they're trying to attract the ladies ;) Anyway, its a great site, you should add yourself, and then add me as a friend - I'm here.

My mom saw my new apartment last night when I went to pick up some boxes from Nicole, and I'm shocked that she actually likes it. I mean, I think it's nice and warm and beautiful, but my mom is known for hating the places that I live in - she actually cried when I moved into the place on Dupont, and it wasn't because I was leaving home again. 3 days!!!

Annie embarrassed me into actually packing, rather than reading and looking at the empty boxes by actually climbing into one.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

A quick thank-you

Thanks very much to Matt, from the great mp3 blog/music info site
  • You Ain't no Picasso
  • for giving me the code for my new "playing incessantly" section!

    Hah - I just remembered a moment from my first relationship - he had called me I guess while I was sleeping, and I guess I just kind of worked it into the dream I was having. Anyways, I apparently thought I was talking to my friend about this cute actor boy she liked at school. I was, however, just babbling about this cute boy to my then-boyfriend, who was mad at me for a while after that, and I'm not sure if he believed me about the dream talk. I wish I talked in my sleep more often - I'm pretty funny sometimes.

    Monday, August 08, 2005

    Two Countdowns!

    One is to this Friday, when I might be doing a radio show on CHRY from 3-4 due to Daria's New York vacation.

    The other, even better one, is to Saturday, when Mark and I move into the new apartment, hooray! It's exciting AND stomach-churning.

    And now a weekend recap:

    Megan is amazing. I came home after work to find a bouquet of roses waiting to cheer me up , which really worked. Honestly - nicest girl ever.

    Went out on Friday for Fadi's birthday - Here's us at Maggie's before the bar and before birthday boy got pukey:

    On saturday, I got up early to take my mom and nana for a day of shoe-shopping and gambling. Nana got lucky and won a bunch on the slots, I got lucky and had a nice pair of boots bought for me, and a piece of nana's win :)
    I got back to Toronto in time for fake prom, and ended up going to Taste of the Danforth instead with Mark and his friends - it was good times and sooo much food - although we spent the whle night looking for a good, cheap souvlaki and ended up not getting any before we were too full from other things


    Sunday: Boated all day and the went to the Danforth AGAIN, this time just with my parents and Mark. What a nice, happy day.

    Here he comes to save the day:


    And yes, this is my mom climbing fully-clothed into the lake:

    Friday, August 05, 2005

    Pretty colours!



    It's from my parents supremely thick-skulled dog, who took advantage of (planned?) me being laid up on the couch with my eye covered with a massive bag of frozen stir-fry to go and snoop around the kitchen for edibles.

    Thursday, August 04, 2005

    Terrible and true...

    Deborah pointed THIS SITE out to me. It makes me want to go be a bank teller or something.

    Tuesday, August 02, 2005

    Montreal part deux

    So this was montreal for the second time in as many weeks, but this time the only goal was fun (and maybe a bit of loooove).

    I had some of the worst coffee of my life on the way there at the big apple; it was full of terribleness to the last drop (which of course ended up all over the car door and my jeans. Put your head on your left shoulder:

    Mark and I snuck succesfully into a single room at the residence, thus avoiding an extra $140. We got there at midnight on Friday, and walked around the city till 2ish when we managed to drag our weary bodies up the mountain and into bed. Woke up early on Saturday thanks to beautiful sun, and crazy Aussie rugby sounds coming from the McGill football field right beneath our window. The next 8 hours were spent walking around the city, basically having a culinary tour. Crepes (ham w/ cheese and apple & maple syrup) for breakfast, and Schwartz' smoked meat for lunch, mmm greasy.

    We decided to nap at around 6, and were woken up around 10 by the fireworks (Symphony of Fire). We had a pretty decent view from our window, so we watched the whole show, which was absolutely beautiful. Tried to arrange some hook-up with Basia, and had some Sangria on St. Denis to kill time. We eventually found Basia at Miami's really sketchy rooftop patio, and I managed to get one drink out of the bartender (who was out of wine for sangria, sour mix AND whisky). It was a pretty fantastic night, hanging out with Basia is always fun, but it came with the added bonus of seeing some people from Western that I hadn't seen in a really long time. After the bars closed, we had some street peanutty chow-mein, followed up by poutine at the 24 hour poutine place... mmmmm.

    Met up with Erin and Nick for Tam-tam on sunday, which was pretty cool but no where near as interesting as the crown of 60 medieval dudes wailing on each other with weapons made of duct tape and foam. Highlights included the Archer, who was very cool (relatively speaking) and Rat-Man who was super odd (relatively speaking.


    We couldn't find the picnic that Basia had told us about so we ended up going to Fairmount Bagels and having some more yummy montreal food. Took Erin out for some belated birthday sangria, and then Mark and I split off for some romantic times in Vieux-Port. We had a really nice dinner at Jardin Nelson, the really pretty garden restaurant that I found with Seema a couple weeks ago, and then walked around taking in the place for the next few hours.


    Yesterday, we came home (after another stop at Fairmount Bagels, and the best hot chocolate ever at Au Festin du Badette) and watched the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was nowhere near as good as the original. The drive home was nuts:

    All in all, fantastic weekend that was at least 50% food-related.

    Thursday, July 28, 2005

    horses in the sky

    Things are getting back to normal, which means that I'm still way too busy for my tastes (but then again, when things slow down I'm always bored). Went to see A Silver Mt. Zion with Mark, Matt and Michael, and forgot to bring along my camera so there won't be any pictures unless I find them on the interweb. I repeat: massive photopost to come (or maybe not).

    The show was very much worth staying up till 1:30 on a weeknight, and coming back to the city a day early for. That band is heartbreaking and beautiful - chills and tears came often. I wish I had time to see them again - they're playing tonight and tomorrow night, both shows still at the Tranzac.

    But tonight and tomorrow bring ther fun things: Tonight is Stef's going away party at Fran and Hugh's, with a stop in at Sneak's to see the Burdocks if time permits. Tomorrow is the long-awaited road trip, which has finally been given a destination - Montreal! The trip will be a roaring success if I can manage to pull an all nighter, and only slightly less succesful if all we manage to do is get a really big poutine and see the Big Apple (y'know, that giant APPLE on the side of the 401 that I've always wanted to go to).

    Also, Sufjan finally came in the mail, and it's the limited edition superman cover. It's beautiful (the music, not the cover).


    (I use parentheses a lot)

    One really nice thing that came out of this weekend: Maggie is wonderful. Dan's also kinda cool.

    Monday, July 25, 2005

    Ode to a Beautiful Man

    To Papa:

    I can't even think of words to describe you. Thank you for making my life so much brighter - you'll always be in my heart. I love you.

    Friday, July 22, 2005

    Waterloo'n

    I'm in Waterloo now for the last day of the conference... I haven't been here since the Peter period and it's very strange to be back. Seeing all the places from then brought up some very strange feelings, and the damn iPod kept playing sad sad music.

    The morning was brightened somewhat by Seema's comments on some of the music playing: "Wow, this sounds very Beach Boy-sy" (which is good I guess when you're listening to the Beach Boys!).

    Going to the Jane Bond tonight, excited.

    Wednesday, July 20, 2005

    A breath of fresh air.

    Things are cooling down now, literally and figuratively. I finally got a good night's sleep (under the covers even!) now that its a bit cooler, and my head is a little less worried. Things are looking good on the homefront, and in school. I finally worked up the nerve to ask someone to be on my advisory comittee (and being super-nice, they agreed), and now I guess I'm ready to get down to some serious work (Nicole, watch out...)

    I also keep forgetting to bring my usb cable in, so the big photo update will have to wait.

    One more thing: I'm reading 'A Fine Balance' by Rohinton Mistry and I've resolved that the next book I read will be light-hearted and uplifting. All of my recent reads, including this one, have been absolutely beautiful but incredibly depressing. A Fine Balance is set in India during the Emergeny declared by Indira Ghandi in the 70's, and the complete lack of human rights is unbelievable. It makes me really upset that humans are capable of such things, and really really lucky to have been born into a world where we really don't have to experience anything like it.

    Monday, July 18, 2005

    whew...

    Well, Montreal was very awesome and I'm very tempted to go back there instead of Chicago with Mark on our mini-trip. I was kind impressed with myself for staying up late every night and enjoying the city rather than enjoying the dorm room (which was actually very enjoyable). Aside from missing Mark, which I did a lot of, I had an awesome time with Seema walking all over the city and shopping, and hanging out with the rest of the lab. Saw some interesing talks and posters, and came back just in time for the CIHR workshop, which is now.

    Saturday, July 16, 2005

    Of Montreal (brief)

    1. Everything is hup a hill.

    2. Our Hotness crosses all boundaries.

    3. Said boundaries include Shawarma counters.

    Tuesday, July 12, 2005

    Wow...

    The house that Mark and his roomates lived in for two years, ending about a month ago, was destroyed in a fire two days ago along with seven other neighboring houses. I was always worried about fires & his house, since he had a basement room and there was only one possible exit from that floor. I'm really really glad that they had all moved out. I feel so bad for his neighbors; they were so nice and worked so hard on their houses. Absolutely nobody was hurt though, which is pretty awesome. I was driving back from Whitby that day and saw what I thought was smog hanging over the city, turns out it was actually smoke fromt he fire!! The GTA section of thestar.com has details if you want to know more.


    The house that the stream of water is going towards is Mark's old house. Spooky.



    Better stuff:
    This weekend was pretty awesome (soory again to Nic, whose party i missed completely), Paula (best friend for about 10 years now) came to visit for the first time in months, so it was great to catch up & enjoy the summer. We hooked up with Maggie (& Brandon & Mark for some much-needed laughs and drinks. I got some much needed naps too. I loooove girls nights. Even when Marks show up. We got some sailing & swimming in on Sunday, which has been one of my best days all summer, documented by my sweet 'tan'. Pics to come soon I hope!

    One bad thing:
    I just found out that I might have to go to court next week because my #$^#$% roomate hasn't paid rent in 6 months. And I'm cosigned on the list. No pics to follow. I'm trying very very hard not to let it stress me out.

    Wednesday, July 06, 2005

    Sufjan Stevens 'Illinois' was supposed to be out yesterday, but is going to be held back for a while since they decided to put Superman on the cover without checking with DC Comics first... and now the world has to wait to hear the fantasticness. Pitchfork gave it a 9.2 - its going to get huge methinks. I'm hoping that I'll still get the one I pre-ordered, since it supposedly shipped a few days ago, and then I'll have me a nice collector's item :)

    In the meantime, I'm listening to lots of Smog - got it last night on a whim at Soundscapes, and its BEAUTIFUL.

    Winter weather is not my soul
    But the biding for spring...

    Why’s everybody looking at me
    Like there’s something fundamentally wrong
    Like I’m a southern bird
    That stayed north too long

    Winter exposes the nest
    Then I’m gone


    Beautiful.

    Tuesday, July 05, 2005

    I'm BORED. I want excitement! I want to go out every night and have so much fun that I don't get tired and go to bed by midnight.

    Wednesday, June 29, 2005

    This one's for Nicole, who was kind enough to inform me what a dag was:

    Tuesday, June 28, 2005

    And now, pictures!!

    Metric:



    Broken Social Scene:

    Monday, June 27, 2005

    Fantastic weekend recap!!

    Friday night: mark and I go visit my grandfather, and then walk around the college/bathurst area till our feet are killing us. We also managed to pick up some Sufjan tickets, since ticketmaster was closed when I tried at school - hooray! I can't believe this means that I'm making Sptember plans already...

    Saturday! Meet Megs and Jan at the Apple store in Yorkdale, just in time to witness the purchase of a beautiful new computer & various other fancy apple stuff. Which leads to setting up the computerwith the help of yummy cosmos. And walking down Church street and seeing many very interesting sights, and lots of boobs (of the fleshy kind, thankfully there were none of of the jackass kind around). Then Thai food, and the deadly white russians, and Basia's sold out show at the C'est What?!
    Note to bouncers: please please don't get upset at performers who've sold out your venue because they've also strained your capacity. It's not their job to enforce fire regulations. I can't beleive the nerve of the bouncer and owner who were yelling at Basia before she took the stage because there were too many people in the club. It was an awesome show anyways, and I ran into so many people that I haven't seen since I was at Western!
    Something I'm very excited about: Alt passed me a cd of what I assume has some videos recorded at a show - to repay me for passing one to him of the Arcade fire a year and a half ago. I'm really really excited - maybe this will be the next superband?

    Sunday! White russians carry out full-scale seige of my stomach from 5:11 am till 7:20 am - is this the end of my olympic island day?! Of course not! Stomach pulls itself together, and except for one slip-up, is valiant and strong for the rest of the day! I <3 my stomach. The island was amazing in every way - beautiful weather for strolling the boardwalk, odd strawberry-eating chains, lying beneath trees and on beaches, and nice cold wading pools to soothe my aching feet. All this and a mind-blowing concert to boot! I finally got to see Do Make Say Think, which is really really nice music to lie under a tree to. Metric was amazing, and had Megan and I dancing up a storm. Broken social scene made me wonder why they weren't headlining - I can't believe how good they were. I dont know what I was expecting, but it was the first time I'd seen them in 3 years and for some reason, I wasn't expecting awesomeness. When they bring their ladies (Feist, Amy Millan of Stars, and Emily Haines of Metric) out, they're completely unstoppable.
    Last up: Modest Mouse. I saw them last summer at the Kool Haus, where they put on an OK - but somewhat lacking- show. This time, they were so energetic and played lots of my favourites - they even started the show with paper thin walls and did an extended dance mix of Tiny Cities Made of Ashes (which had me dancing extendedly ;). I left partway through, cause I'm a loser and chose sleep over encore, and missed them play Custom Concerns, a song I love so much I named my livejournal after it. That show was very worthy of the sky-high ticket prices that I didn't even have to pay (thank you mark, thank you thank you thank you).

    Thanks also to M + J for making it a very wonderful weekend :)

    Thursday, June 23, 2005

    So after seeing Nicole & Kevin's blogs, I decided "hey, why not?" - so here it is. This is in addition to my livejournal, my myspace account, my audioscrobbler... the newest in a line of neat little ways to make your existence known on the internet. It all really comes down to my always being willing to add another form of procrastination to my day. I'll try to make this one a little different from the rest of it.

    Here are some things that I'm enjoying these days:

    -The Photo Album - Death Cab for Cutie: I had this album a few years ago, but it had been lost for almost as long. I saw it for $15 at HMV the other day so I decided to replace it... so good. It's not really a summer album, but I think that may even be part of the reason that I'm enjoying it so much. Walking around in 28˚ heat and singing along to "I put on my overcoat, and walked into winter/my teeth chattered rhythms" or "I don't mind the weather/I've got scarves and caps and sweaters" makes me feel a little bit of crazy and a whole lot of happy.

    -Looking forward to the weekend: Megan and Jan are visiting from London (ON), which means a huge party on Toronto Island (Modest Mouse, Broken Social Scene, Metric and Do Make Say Think), Thai food at the best Thai place I've foud so far, and either sailing or spending some of my tax return on very fun things. I haven't decided what sort of fun things yet....

    -The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M.G. Vassanji: For someone who knows very little hstory about Africa, it manages to be very eye-opening and enthralling. It's about the life of an Indian who grows up in Africa, and though I haven't gotten to this part yet, becomes one of the most despised people to come out of the independence movement. So far its all been a very sweet story of childhood friends & loves.

    -Having some sense of accomplishment about my thesis. Finally.

    And some things that have been bothering me:

    -A TV weight loss ad targeting teenage girls: "I lost 60 lbs over summer vacation, and my life was so wonderful the next year. I even became valedictorian." Thanks TV, thats wonderful.

    -The man sitting beside me in a waiting room yesterday, trying to get me to join in on his gay-bashing. And the news show that was playing at the same time, which was trying to celebrate Pride Week and the Liberals attempt to allow gay marriage - they had people call in and voice their opinions. All of these calls, except were the first, were so misinformed and homophobic (all puffing up the guy beside me, of course). The best argument against gay marriage? It's unnatural. Because marriage is supposed to be for procreation. But wait? what about old people getting married? Or infertile people? Of COURSE thats ok, as its a man and a woman. Letting two other people be joined in marriage really doesn't affect anyone else - nobody is forcing religions to change their rules. I really hope that people start to get a little bit more accepting soon.