I'm telling you, I'm with the band... Gig Guide

Some shows folks were asking about:

Billy Bragg show happening Saturday March 11th at the Opera House. Tickets for that show are on sale now through Ticketmaster.

The Violent Femmes are going to be playing at Massey Hall on March 8th. Tickets on sale for that show this Tuesday starting at 10am.

Stars are playing all across Canada this month. The shows that I recommend for my out of town friends:
Sunday February 5th - Edmonton @ Dinwoodie Lounge
Saturday February 18th - Ottawa @ Winterlude Festival
Wednesday March 1st - Toronto @ The Docks (fricking mandatory workday (night) for me)

I'm curious enough to check out the Friday night show with Sarah Slean playing at the Spin Gallery on Queen West, but if I had to see one show this weekend, it would be The Sadies with a fricking stack of talent including Jon Spencer, Neko Case, members of Blue Rodeo, among many more who are coming together to record a live album over two nights at Lee's Palace on February 3rd & 4th.

I missed the double bill at The Horseshow with Deadly Snakes & The Constantines, would have been some good beer-soaked rock and roll.

Tasty Tapas at Oasis Restaurant

Oasis Restaurant Toronto

Much yummy goodness to be had at affordable prices. This tapas bar seems to masquerade as a pub from the looks of it. I've walked by this place dozens of times on College Street (1 block west of Spadina) and I never would have guessed they'd have such a 40 item tapas menu, cheap pints and pitchers, and a good sangria and margaritas by the pitcher to boot. If you needed a place to hide away for the night, or even a starting point for a well-trod evening, you should hit the Oasis. The basic tapas are $3.60 with 24 to choose from, and premium tapas are around $5 - $7.

Go with a bunch of people, because the more tapas dishes you buy, the better the deal: 6 of them for $19.95 or $8 for $25.95.

The more you order, the more you get to taste. From my first (and not last) meal there, I can recommend:

• Thai coconut balls (like sticky rice balls with sweet coconut coating).
• Chorizo empanadas.
• Fried potato perogies.
• Pueblo chili bathed pork tortilla wrap.
• Hummus and pita dips are great, with a nice garlic flavour.

The website has the food & drink menu listed. There is a performance space in the backroom with live bands. Washroom access is in the basement.

Oasis Restaurant & Bar
294 College St., Toronto, ON
(416) 975-0845

Teeth on the Dial - Cartoons for Grown Ups

The Cartoon Network has ordered a second season of "The Boondocks" created by Aaron McGruder and based on his comic strip. 20 new episodes were ordered and will air later this year.Zap2it - TV news - 'Boondocks' Stays Afloat at Adult Swim

Tonight is the Canadian airing of the infamous South Park episode that takes a dig at Scientology, and results in a gag where Tom Cruise hides in a closet. The phrase "Tom Cruise, come out of the closet" is then said about 30 times.
"Trapped in the Closet" - Friday, January 27 at 9:30pm ET/PT

I assume that the February 10th airing of "Bloody Mary" is still on schedule. That's the episode Comedy Central aired only once, but pulled subsequent showings after pressure from offended Catholics. The link has the details about what offended them so much.
Boing Boing: Comedy Central downs "Bloody Mary": South Park episode yanked

Jennifer Dziura Gives Good Quote

"Men find everything about me intimidating. That experiment has too many variables. Post hoc ergo propter hoc. That’s Latin for “I can crush you utterly — with my will or my thighs — and then will be heard across the land the weeping of your kinfolk and the lamentation of your entire village as they flee in fear.”

Comedian Jennifer Dziura answering the question "Do men find funny women intimidating?" Wonder how that will look on a t-shirt. Thank you Warren Ellis for pointing out this smart funny pretty lady to me.


Jennifer Dziura's main site, home of Grammatically Correct Comedy (tm):
Jen is Famous Dot Com Blog

George Bush hates guys who pose as Jesus - Kanye keeps it humble

As we inch ever closer to the point when it gets embarassing to like Kanye West, we have Kanye keeping his traditional low profile by posing as frickin Jesus on the cover of Rolling Stone (credit: A Socialite's Life). It was one thing for John Lennon to claim that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus...", but I don't recall John ever posing with stigmata. I suppose the article shows the Jesus-like burden Kanye suffers under: he is addicted to porn.

West Poses As Jesus for Rolling Stone (AP)

iPod Radio finally available

One of the two main complaints about iPods, in addition to the non-replaceable battery, is that it lacks an FM radio, something found on most MP3 players competing with Apple. Fresh on the market are two new products to solve that problem. Both Apple and Griffin Technlogy have put out combination FM Radio/Remote Control gadgets, both are well reviewed, and both are a bit steep at $60 Cdn.



The iFM from Griffin Technology is the best bang for your buck if you don't have a iPod Video or Nano model. It combines 3 helpful tools in one: an FM radio tuner, a remote control, and a voice recorder. The radio and remote work for the Mini, 4th Generation (the last black and white screens) and the Photo models. The recorder functions only with the older 4G (click wheel) and Photo models.

There is a separate model which is just the radio and wired remote. That one works for the iPod Video models and the Nano, as well as the Mini, the 4G and the Photo.



Apple has a radio/wired remote accessory too, with no recording functions. The remote is wired into the dock connector and the cute part is you tune the radio using the click wheel and the screen recreates an analog radio dial. As of this writing, the Apple model only works for the new Nano and Video models and Apple hasn't released any software to make it work with older iPods.

All these gadgets draw power from the iPod, have presets available for the stations, and got good reviews on the iLounge site. Read the reviews, as I haven't gotten a free one. I must need to increase my readership or something...

Bottom line is if you have an older iPod, go with the Griffin. Video and Nano owners can flip a coin. I'm not holding my breath waiting for a satellite radio add-on.

Review - Griffin iFM Radio and Remote for iPod, with and without Dock Connector
Review - Apple Computer iPod Radio Remote

The Apple version is $59.00 cdn:
The Apple Store (Canada) - iPod Radio Remote

The Griffin iFM is $59.99 cdn for either model:
Computer Systems Centre - iFM Radio, Remote, and Recorder for 4G iPod
Computer Systems Centre - iFM FM Radio and Wired Remote

30th Birthday Road to Ruin Party

The birthday party. Forgot to upload this. Figure on senility.

I got off to a late start as my roommate was expecting an IKEA delivery of a new bedset. I don’t know how he knew how much I love putting furniture together with an allen key. We blew off the stop at The Local and headed across the city. The theme of the night seemed to be “Taxi!”. We suited up, it was off to The Tranzac Club at 6pm.

The Tranzac Club is such a great hidden space in the city, tucked away on Brunswick and Bloor, just by The Green Room. It reminds me of a Royal Canadian Legion hall. I believe it’s available for rentals. Stuck in the City were great. Sitting in a dim pub space, with a bluegrass band playing and the snow drifting down outside, a cold pint in your hand and catching up with old friends in-between sets: brilliant.

This was also the start of the deluge of Jagermeister shots. At least it was just the one type of shot all night.

The meal at Southern Accent was fantastic. The restaurant is a New Orleans themed restaurant, with creole and soul food on the menu. Things were a little off the rail as we waited about 40 minutes for a guests who were supposed to come but dropped out without a call. While we waited thru this etiquette speedbump, we munched on hushpuppies and calamari, we were both terrific, curbing any crankiness over waiting.

The staff were really friendly, not giving us any problems over holding the empty spots at the table The food was tasty, strongly flavoured with spices, just the thing to warm you in winter. I would absolutely go back. You can just order a bunch of appetizers and that would be enough for a meal. Southern Accent is on Markham Street, behind Honest Ed’s, and they are participating in the Winterlicious festival. If they have any open slots, I would take advantage and try out their jambalaya. Props to Stephanie and Michelle for handling the spice, willing to take one for Team Carlin.

We closed the night with drinks in Parkdale. We danced at The Social for a bit before the crowd drove us out (wasn't that crowded last time). Smart owners though, using their store next door as a coat room and selling to drunks. What followed was: a birthday shot from the sweet bartender at the back (Francesca), an exit from the Social and good-byes to friends who were calling it a night, a taxi ride to reconnect with other friends, a cell phone call ("What do you mean you're down the street from The Social?"), and a taxi back to where we came from, and a nightcap at The Rhino on Queen St. West/Parkdale.

So while I didn't spend the day debauched or terribly drunk, I supposed I spent it like i spent most of my 20's: good friends, good music, good food, good pints, and an eye for unexpected opportunities. Can't go wrong with that.

Except for friends showing their affection for me by smacking my ass with a long collapsible cane. Could have done without that.

Election Results in under 200 words: My neighbourhood is Curious Orange

Conservatives in, Liberals out, Bloc down seats, NDP up seats. Canada wanted to punish Liberals, but not completely sold on a move to the Right. We’ll still end up doing this again next year. Sam “Hollywood’s MP” Bulte out in my High-Park Parkdale riding, NDP Peggy Nash finally in. Bulte took a beating in the blog & online community for her stance on stricter copyright laws while at the same time receiving significant contributions from the Canadian and American entertainment industry. NDP Olivia Chow finally won her Toronto riding also. Voter turnout was up for the first time in years. And all those leftover signs make good toboggans.

Thorough coverage of the election and its results: Canadian federal election, 2006 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. All types of pretty charts and breakdowns.


Excellent article in Slate details how the post-election results were covered by newspapers across Canada: Go, Canada - The Canadian press welcomes a new leader. By June Thomas

And just because it’s been on your minds: How would the Simpson characters vote? Daimnation!: The Springfield Campaign

For a take on the Bulte business, prominent Toronto and High Park resident Accordion Guy has all the coverage at The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century: Sayonara, Sam

trying to find my words

I’ve just come in from a walk in the rain. I was coming home from my night job and spent some time walking the extra block or two to the next transit stop, just so I’d have a little farther to walk. I walk, and I hear a set of songs on the iPod that suit my mood: Pearl Jam with Wishlist, Johnny Cash & Tom Petty on I Won’t Back Down, and Johnny Cash again with Guess Things Happen That Way. And it suits my mood, because I can’t find my words.

It’s like that little moment where you know the name of someone or the word you need, and it’s on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t find the word. And it nags at you all day, and usually comes to you at 3 in the morning. With me, I have lots of those moments. It’s almost like one long continuous moment. And I don’t necessarily ever find the words and I don’t have that “Eureka!” moment at 3 a.m.

Walking in the rain, I get just a little closer to finding the words. I can’t find that moment when I figure out where my life needs to go. That moment when I can articulate what it is I am supposed to do, not necessarily causing all the assorted pieces of my life to fall into place, but at least something to make me go “Well that’s the direction I want to go in.” The music helps – sometimes to distract me from the fact I can’t find the words, sometimes to cause something in my mind to stir, to nudge me a little bit closer to… something. There’s something I’m supposed to do, someplace I am supposed to be. It’s some indescribable something that won’t cause me to weigh options and anxiously ask “should I or shouldn’t I?”, but a something that will cause me to go “Aha, but of course, that’s what I want to do”, that will drive me and be my passion.

I think that’s one of the reasons I carry a notebook and pen: when that idea presents itself, I want to write that bastard down before I lose it. I’m just trying to figure out the idea. And one of these days soon, I will.

But for now it’s on the tip of my tongue and I can’t find those damned words.

Jason's Resolution #278

I will no longer use "With my luck..." as an excuse.

Examples: With my luck, that movie will be sold out. With my luck, that bus will be late.

What actually comes of "my luck"?

With my luck I was born in Canada, have a roof over my head, health, food in my cupboard, and friends & family I can lean on and look out for me. And a big screen TV (what, it was a lucky win).

Using "my luck" is out when you have perspective.

Planet of Sound: Jason Collett - Idols Of Exile

One of my favourite albums of 2005 was Jason Collett - Idols Of Exile. I love this album, it's just beautiful roots rock, like that sensation of nostalgia for a summer cottage night. It's been out in Canada for months, but the US release is coming up February 7th. He's a father, he's a carpenter, he sings about the suburban trauma that was growing up in Bramalea ON and of summer nights. Jason plays with Broken Social Scene and many members of that collective contribute to this album. Take the opportunity to see him live if you can.

Here is my favourite track off the album. Right click and save to give it a try: We All Lose One Another

Listen to individual tracks at the Arts and Crafts label site Idols Of Exile: galleryac.com.

Interview with Jason from NOW Magazine: NOW: Jason's back, Mar 17 - 23, 2005.

Healing America By Beating People Up

The tag line for this comic ad cracks me up. The comic should be promising, as it comes from the pen of one of my favourite mad bastards, Warren Ellis.

The premise: a group of C-list heroes join together to form H.A.T.E. (Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort) to fight Bizzare Weapons of Mass Destruction. Heroics ensue. In the words of editor Nick Lowe "It's full of explosions and kicking and fun, fun, fun!" and promises it "contains subliminal messages that will increase your IQ and lower your cholesterol."

Marvel.com - Next Wave
Comic Book Resources - Nick Lowe interview

Trailer Park and Rentals Tips to help your hibernation

What was with the trailers for Mission Impossible 3 with Tom Cruise and Keri Russell (yes, from TV's "Felicity") and Miami Vice with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as Crockett and Tubbs? I got no sense of a plot or story aside from some posing and dialogue. Hey look, Phillip Seymour Hoffman is a bad guy in MI3. So what does he want? Anything? Why is he so bad? Was that Laurence Fishburne?

Miami Vice has Michael Mann directing, and the man does crime well (Heat and Collateral), but give me something to go on here. Are these guys cops or crooks? Blech. "Smooth that's how we do it." Do what for chrissakes!???!!! All atmosphere, nothing to whet the appetite. It's like a date with a good looking person with no personality or charm. Makes me dread another summer of remakes and sequels.

The trailer for The Inside Man is far more engrossing, involve a great cast: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen as the baddie, as well as Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was such a charming villain in Serenity. And it appears we have Spike Lee doing a heist flick where all is not as it seems. Interesting.

Looking forward to Match Point in the next few weeks. Out of the usual confines of New York, Woody Allen is giving us a movie of love, lust and temptaion. I saw the trailer, loved it, and then saw "Directed by Woody Allen". That's a Woody Allen picture? Well alrighty then, he'll get my $10. And apparently, Scarlett Johansen may be giving Angelina Jolie a run in the "Best Seduction With Just a Look" category.

Good rental bets:



New release: Red Eye, a suspense movie starring Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, two very pretty people who can "bring it" acting-wise. I'm looking forward to seeing this.

Some good work from the directors Lee, Jackson and Mann mentioned above:

The Frighteners - A really terrific movie from Peter Jackson with Michael J. Fox as a ghostbusting conman who has to deal with some bloodlusting spooks. It was a horror comedy that didn't skimp on the horror. The scares are well done and it does creep the hell out of you in places. It's been re-released on DVD, never having really caught on in theaters. Give it a shot, especially if you liked Shaun of the Dead.

25th Hour - Spike Lee gives us the last free hours of a New York City small-time drug dealer, played by Ed Norton, who must put his affairs in order before starting a prison sentence. Great, engrossing work from Edward Norton and a solid cast including Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Heat - What? Just consider this an excuse to rewatch one of my favourite heist movies with a team of cops led by a pedal to the metal Al Pachino and a team of crooks led by the masterfully subtle Robert Deniro. Sooooo good with a home theater surround sound. The movie will make you want to pull off your own heist.

Monkey Business - King Kong ain't no donkey (all the good lines are taken)

Quick review of King Kong:

Beautifully made. You can tell Peter Jackson's love for this project. The camera just moves well, balancing kinetic and flow. The special effects are well done and there is a decent flick built out of the original King King plot. This movie makes me want to check out the original, just released in a restored by Peter Jackson DVD set.

Naomi Watts is astounding in this, really connecting with Kong to create genuine emotion. Andy Serkis is fantastic in the way he brings Kong to life without any real dialogue, relying on posturing and his eyes. A real accomplishment in acting.

It feels like 3 hours, but it held my attention for the whole thing. It was almost relentless in ratcheting up the tension with no release until the sad, inevitable finale. Once the first 2 hours are spent indulging in all the creatures, brawls, and action, we kind of rush to the premiere of Kong in New York, just like the original. The fights and chase scenes are fantastic, with some serious smackdown between Kong vs The Dinosaurs. With all the perils faced by the cast, I just had to think "Wow, Skull Island just really wants to kills these people." Does a pretty good job of it too.

Adrien Brody just runs around and tries not to die, while Jack Black tries, well, to not be Jack Black. And he ain't bad really. He is the manic huckster Carl Denham, trying to get famous, no matter who gets hurt. A good effort from Colin Hanks as Denham's assistant made me forget that he and Black co-starred in the goofy but light comedy Orange County a couple of years ago. Evan Parke as the first mate is also impressive, giving gravity to his part.

The only nagging bits were a couple "OH COME ON! You should be dead by now!!!!" moments, especially the way that Naomi Watts's character of Ann Darrow came out of her ride-along with Kong without a broken neck. The lady is an actress, not a trapeze artist, and Kong was tossing her around without the greatest of ease. And the fact that she runs around New York in winter in a flimsy white dress, and then dashes about the top of the Empire State building in stilettos without getting blown off just bugged me. Just a little thing but it pulled me out of the belief a little. But the scale of Kong on top of the Empire State building is well done, a very iconic image.

It's a fun popcorn movie, that really benefits from seeing it in a theatre. And wow, did I get my fix of giant ape vs. dinosaur action! But watch the bladder buster drinks, it is a 3 hour movie.

Film geek bit: the crate in the hold marked "Sumatran Rat Monkey". That was the creepy little bastard that caused all the havoc in Jackson's first flick Dead Alive (the one with the zombie vs. lawnmower).

Interesting bit from Entertainment Weekly: the way that Carl portrays the natives in his cheesy Broadway production of the capture of Kong is a recreation of the stereotyped portayal of natives in the original King King, down to the choreography, costumes, and white actors in make-up.

Jason Carlin 30th Birthday Road to Ruin Tour

I have the schedule for the Jason Carlin 30th Birthday Road to Ruin tour:

3:30pm – 5:00pm-ish
The Local
396 Roncesvalles Avenue Toronto, ON M6R 2M9
This is the pub near my house I like to go to.

5:30pm – 7:15pm
Tranzac Club (Toronto Australia New Zealand Club)
292 Brunswick Avenue just south of Bloor) (4 blocks east of Bathurst)
Bluegrass with Stuck in The City @ 6pm (my friend Andy Vaino plays in this band)

7:30pm – 10pm
Southern Accent http://www.southernaccent.com/
595 Markham Street (that’s behind Honest Ed's Bargains, one block west of Bathurst on Bloor, and a couple meters south on the left)
Cajun creole & soul restaurant – I keep meaning to have a birthday here, so why not?
Reservation is 7:30pm under Jason. The psychic is in available for bookings (if that’s your thing).

10pm - whenever
The Social http://www.thesocial.ca/
1100 Queen Street West a little west of Dovercourt
A nice bar, good music (I mean fun, actual music and a dance floor)
I was there a few weeks ago and it was indeed fun. If it ain’t we go a block over to The Drake Hotel for drinks

After whenever: plenty of late-night places to eat at if anyone is still going

I hope to see you at some point along the way, there’s plenty of room for everyone at each of these stops. Let me know if you are joining us for dinner. I have spots reserved and I can add more if needed. Karoke was booked solid at The Gladstone, so we'll have to do that some other time.

And be sure to extend the invitation to anyone else you know. Cheers.