Wow. This week has been one big trip down memory lane.


Stephen Stanley, guitarist for The Lowest Of The Low; temporarily on hiatas. Stephen's what? Opening for Alun? Where, where? He's what? SOLO and FOLK! Wow. What happened to his Gretsch? Well that's what I get for not keeping in touch. I haven't seen Stephen in what? Over a decade? Shhhhhh*t! Sorry Stephen.



Alun Piggins and the Quitters (plus sax in photo)... hmmm, looks like the Morganfields, smells like the Morganfields, but why NOT the Morganfields? Drummer Jay and Bassist Mike were original members of the Morganfields but because they still come and go, Alun just wanted to call them the Quitters as they keep quitting on him! Good to see you again Alun - my hometown boy... and proud father now too! Congratulations!

The Tragically Hip are legends in Canada.

It's been, oh-about 16 years (yikes!) since I last saw them; they've all aged a bit, but then arguably, so have I. One thing that The Hip has been blessed with is longevity. Even after all these years, with 10 albums under their collective belt, plus their individual side and solo projects, the five members have remained the same: Gord Downie, Rob Baker, Paul Langlois, Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay.

Downie is still the ever engaging frontman... only this time he's more lucid and not three-sheets-to-the-wind as he was back in 1990.
Perhaps after all these years he's finally settled into his own skin, accepted his fate as a Canadian icon...
( ^ hell, he did pose for a photo, mid-song)

That night, Gord battled against his evil nemesis, The Mic Stand. There were a couple close calls when the mic almost slammed into his mouth - he lost his footing on the base stand and the mic swung fast and hard into his upper chest with a thud. We at the front all cringed in unison. But as luck would have it, Gord's fancy footwork gave way to a 3 to 2 finish, advantage Downie.

And did I mention stage antics?

He's on the floor, behind the monitor, legs splayed upwards, singing his little heart out.

What a guy!


Here are the highlights:

Left: Gord Downie gets comfy with us slums down front.

Right: Rob Baker, aka: Willie Nelson.

Left: Paul & Gord.








Right: Gord S. & Rob.

Sadly no photos of the drummer.





... and the setlist:

Poor Cody.

Cody's a yellow lab; she went in for gum surgery today and left with one less canine tooth and had three tumours removed as well - oh dear, not fun, not fun at all.

Roxy wanted to convey her well wishes for a fast recovery, and something about 'milking it for all its worth'... whatever that means.


Now rub my belly damned bipod!
I'm not splayed out like a 2-cent trollop for show!

I haven't been to The Purple Onion in ages.

Last time I was there, you could get 6oz steak n' eggs for only $6.95. It's gone up by a whole buck since then - wooo, still alot of food for this little piggy.

History: owners Steve and Sunny used to cook for Tulip, a well known diner-style steak house in the east end. They left Tulip, opened up The Purple Onion and the rest is history.

Sadly it hasn't changed since I was last there: still has the same run-down, greasy spoon diner atmosphere. This is one place that NEEDS a Restaurant Makeover ... especially the basement washrooms (you can easily give yourself a concussion if you stand up too quickly from the toilet as the ceilings are low). Wonder if they'd mind if I gave the show a call on their behalf?

Nuit Blanche.

I participated in Toronto's first 'White Night' last night/this morning and what an amazing experience that was!

What is Nuit Blanche? It's all about contemporary art; there are over 130 art exhibitions, indoors and outdoors... and you go see as many of them as you can (or want), but within a time period: from 7:00pm the 30th of September to 7:00am the first of October. Twelve hours. One... sleepless... night.

Out of more than 130 art exhibitions, I managed to see 20-something installations... I lost count - and, we didn't even make it to 7am! We got a little hungry at 4:30, stopped in at Fran's (the only 24-hour eatery in downtown Toronto) for a quick bite - mistake! Once my belly was full, all I wanted was my pillow. Oh well.

Here are some photos of my favourite exhibitions from last night:

Mike's taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him, in the games area at OCAD (Ontario College of Art & Design).






A ghostly, larger-than-life image by Derek Michael Besant from his 'Fifteen Restless Nights Collection'.





Can't remember which gallery we stumbled into, but found a room of lovely lanterns all alit.






'Fog in Toronto' by Fujiko Nakaya was one of my favourites last night. An small area (on the U of T campus) was transformed; jets (seen bottom left) pump out water-based fog, creating a microclimate which moves and disappears like natural fog - cool.

Carlos Garaicoa photographs two images of the same location: one before, one after. Thread is used and pinned onto one of the photographs (seen on the right) where a building/structure once was.


They call it 'Ballroom Dancing' but who are you kidding? It's dodge ball... only with smaller and softer balls... a roomful of strangers... and any pent-up frustrations you may have.



There were a few exhibits held at swimming pools. This installation, called 'Night Swim', projected a film across the water onto the back wall. Strange and eerily quiet.






This is the penguin that Alisa wanted me to swipe for her from the 'Roy & Silo's' exhibit. NO. So instead, she went and swiped the one that was in the men's urinal... as some poor sod was taking a piss! Shameful, hehe.

I do have more images but won't be posting them as I'M GOING TO BED! Nighty night. x.

Friends.









L-R: Patricia, Tanja, Katharine, Moi & Tricia.

Are we going to be friends forever? Asked Piglet.
Even longer, Pooh answered.
- A. A. Milne "Winnie the Pooh"