Vintage Christmas- From the Library and Archives Canada

The awkward moment when your Christmas card has a swastika on it.
This is from the William Lyon Mackenzie King fonds.
There's no date, but we can probably assume this was sent pre- WWII. 

Pork Cocktails

Earlier this summer I tried to get all Martha Stuart by inventing my own summer cocktail. I borrowed a historic recipe for Lemon Balm Tea added some rosemary, added some honey and added some gin. I served it to friends, some of whom loved it and some of whom politely told me it was more suited as a beverage to accompany a pork chop, rather than to imbibe at happy hour. Thus, the drink came to be known at the "Pork Cocktail."

The recipe is as follows-

Chop up lemon balm leaves and steep in boiling water with a sprig of rosemary for 10 minutes, strain the liquid and add honey to taste, serve hot or cold and add some gin if desired, garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

Vintage Wedding

Over the weekend I attended a gorgeous Scottish wedding at a beautiful historic house, which has inspired me to do a vintage wedding post. Enjoy!

Gord Walker's wedding St. Cuthbert's Church, Leaside,  1938

Vintage Garbage

Some Torontonians are making a stink (pun!) about Mayor Ford's privatization of garbage collection in the city.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/clock-ticking-for-private-garbage-collector-to-clean-up-its-act/article4476163/

With this in mind I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the garbage of yore- how did our forefathers in Toronto deal with the perpetual problem of trash? Hint: they dealt with it with style.

 

Dan Griff

As some of you may know it has been a pretty rough week, so I surprised even myself by mustering the energy to haul my butt down to the Dakota Tavern to see Dan Griffin Thursday night. I'd been waiting for this show for ages and I am so happy I went and that Caroline came and helped prop my tired self up. The only thing that would have made the show more epic-ly awesome is if our other friends had been able to be there.

I was so happy when Dan played his song "East Coast" and then I was sooo sad, I had to actively stop myself from crying openly over my gin and tonic.

Some songs will always have memories attached to them. When we embarked on our crazy adventure to Halifax I remember making the playlist for our two day journey. The first song was Two Hours Traffic- "Sure Can Start," naturally. The next song was Dan Griffin's "East Coast" and the rest of the CD was Joel Plaskett.

I was piled into the back seat of a tiny ford focus with Styne half sitting on my lap. The car was jam-packed; garbage bags stuffed full of clothes, two keyboards, a guitar, a fiddle... not to mention four girls. The rest of our worldly possessions were on a greyhound bus somewhere between Kingston, ON and the maritimes.

Though we were more than cramped, we had good tunes, clear skies and good company. I really can't think of a happier or more exciting two days.

So it made me really sad that the girls couldn't be with me at the Dakota Tavern jamming out to "East Coast" in the front row.

But the silver lining is that everyday Styne is doing better and better, she hasn't lost her sense of humour and is still cracking jokes and making the nurses laugh. She is rocking the physical therapy so far, and specifically requested that we play "Eye of the Tiger" for her. I know that soon she'll be able to stand again, and then walk, and then it will be no time before she is up to her usual antics and getting into all kinds of shenanigans. So keep sending out your good vibes for her, cause it is working!

Styne and I- cuddled in the backseat

Me and Court after a few too many hours together

Claire was a pro navigator

Captain Courtney

lol

We strapped Styne to the roof when we felt too cramped... just kidding

Is there anything more exciting than open highway?

Old Soul

After some introspection, I have realized that I have the soul of a 75 year old retired man. I Base this conclusion on the activities I like to do such as; drink gin, complain about how people dress, glare at noisy children on the subway, listen to oldies, go on walking tours, and attend public lectures on local history.

For those of you who share my love of old stuff, I thought I'd provide a reading list, or as I'd prefer to call it, a Gateway to Discovering Toronto's History! In addition to these blogs, you can also go on FREE walking tours of Toronto with the ROM, and also Heritage Toronto. Plus, don't forget to visit your local museums!

Photo from Toronto Before

http://torontodreamsproject.blogspot.ca/

http://torontoist.com/tag/historicist/

http://vintagetoronto.wordpress.com/

http://torontobefore.blogspot.ca/

http://www.heritagetoronto.org/discover-toronto/walk

ROM Walks

In Miss Bennets news...

Courtney stayed with us in Toronto for a good long stint in June. Of course, that meant lots of wine and music. It seemed that every night we were either going out to shows or making music at home. Happily, Apple finally fixed a software glitch that had prevented us from doing any recording for many months. We ended up recording the fruits of one jam session- a traditional Celtic tune. We originally had guitar and mandolin on the recording but we took them out and replaced them with violin. You can hear it on our Band Page, but I'm happy to e-mail the Mp3 to anyone who wants it. Cheers!

https://www.facebook.com/TheMissBennets?v=app_178091127385&app_data=eyJjb250ZW50LnRyYWNrIjoiOTg2MTA5MDkxODU4MzkxMDQifQ%3D%3D

Put a lid on it

I like hats. Some of you may even remember the time I wrote a song "Red Beret" about my favourite hat, a red woolen beret my mother purchased in London in the 1960s. In high school I used to wear a vintage grey wool fedora I stole from my father. Sadly, some cruel person (with great taste) stole my hat from a pimps and hos party and I have never seen it since.

It was only recently, however, that my grandmother casually mentioned that her grandmother used to work at a milliner shop and created hats for the Queen Mother. I just about died when I was told this. And it was the final push I needed to splurge on the summer hat I'd been ogling at Goorin Bros. http://www.goorin.com/shop-hats/cloche/toots

The Toronto location just opened this summer at Queen and Spadina. Stepping into their shop is like taking a step back in time, it is so rad! I am a firm believer that there is the right hat out there for everyone, so if you're shopping make sure to try on every shape and style. The staff at Goorin Bros. were really helpful. I actually visited three times before I purchased and tried on almost every hat in the store.

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mum- possibly wearing one of my Great- Great Grandmother's creations?

hat + dress + g&t? must be summer!

Mad Hatter

Shakespeare in the Park

It has been a resolution of mine to attend the theatre more often. And really, I have no excuse not to when there is a most delightful Shakespearean production happening all summer long just a stone's throw from my home!

 I won't pretend to know enough about theatre to write a review of the show, other than to say I LOVED it. The setting is perfect, the cast was amazing, I laughed from start to finish, and did I mention you can bring your own picnic?

Here is a more thorough review from the globe: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/theatre-reviews/a-midsummer-nights-dream-even-the-queen-can-approve-of/article4380897/

and for more information on the show click here !

Baked Goods

My dear friend Caroline was kind enough to bring me back several souvenirs from her sojourn in London, one of which was a box of apple tea from Fortnum and Mason. Since it is horrendously hot in Toronto I decided to make a great big pot of iced tea, along with a batch of yogurt and blueberry muffins. Naturally, I got the muffin recipe from Caroline's amazing cooking blog, and they were delectable!

http://scrambledeggsetc.blogspot.ca/2012/03/blueberry-yogurt-muffins.html

Tea and muffins cooling

Caroline is a much better food stylist than I am, these photos don't do the deliciousness justice!

Cheap Beauty

A few weeks ago Ally invited the girls over for a spa night. Ally is a genius at finding home recipes and affordable all-natural alternatives to the overpriced drugstore cleansers/moisturizers/exfoliaters etc. One of my favourite things we did as a jojoba oil and sugar scrub. There's only two ingredients, it is so easy to do. I bought a bottle of jojoba oil from a health supply store near my apartment, it was $13.99 for 118mL.

Just combine the jojoba oil and sugar in a bowl, scrub your face with it. Ta- da! The oil has a mild smell and you can add a couple drops of essential oil such as lavender if you'd like a more fragrant scrub. Use the scrub before bed for optimal results. It's best not to put on make-up right after using this as your make-up won't stay.

July DJ

First, let me apologize for my absenteeism. I've been a very bad blogger since summer began! I've been very busy as I'm sure you have been as well. The unfortunate irony in doing a ton of fun blog-worthy things around Toronto, is that I've had no time to write about them. So I hope to hammer out a few posts today for you, starting with my July playlist.

Summertime always seems to bring out my vintage side. Retro dresses, hats, sunglasses and of course, music. Perhaps it's because my signature dance move is the twist (it used to be the pointy finger dance but that was retired several years ago after a regrettable eye- injury incident) but 60's pop and soul and rock 'n' roll seem to be the only thing I listen to once the temperatures top 30.

So here's what I've been listening to- happy twisting!

Coolest chicks in Canadian music

Amanda Zelina of The Coppertone meets all of my criterion for a really friggin' cool lady:
1. Great hair
2. Looks good in hats
3. Blues vocals that dig deep
4. A white and gold guitar
5. Dirty, crunchy guitar sounds you'll want to snack on

The Coppertone will play The Horseshoe Tavern Friday, June 15th as part of NXNE.

Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth II, Dorothy Wilding, 1952. 

     When Elizabeth acceded to the British throne in 1952 there was talk of a “new Elizabethan age,” associating the new Queen with the past glory of Elizabeth I, and hoping for a national revival for a country still recovering from the trauma of World War II.[1] The images of the Queen in the early years of her reign focused on her youth and beauty. The Queen posed for photographer Dorothy Wilding 59 times to mark her accession.[2] In the images she is dressed in evening gowns and jewels. Wilding’s photographs were sent to embassies and were made into the images on banknotes and stamps.  Still young at 26 years old, the Queen was made into a symbol of hope and renewal. Her coronation on June 2^nd 1953 was a huge event, which aimed for public visibility. For the first time ever the coronation ceremony was broadcast globally by the BBC with an estimated 27 million viewers.[3] The broadcasting of the ceremony brought the public into the event, connecting them with a historic moment and instilling a sense of national pride.

Oh hay thuuurrr

So I realize that I have completely fallen of the blogwagon lately, however the upshot is that I have tons of cool things to blog about!

Life has been pretty rad lately. In fact, things have been going suspiciously well. So not to forget times not so long ago when nothing was going my way, I'd like to share a favourite song by Old Man Luedecke "It ain't goin' my way."

Anyways, I hope good fortune is smiling down on you as well. Cheers!

Ain’t goin my Way

I was feeling important, feeling in control
Felt like everywhere I went folks said “there he goes” I was beaming like a noonday sun
My ducks all in a row
When suddenly, all in a flash, I saw it was not so 

Chorus

It ain’t goin’ my way
Ain’t goin’ my way
There’s no denyin’ things ain’t flyin’ my way X2

Well I used to walk around a lot, feeling pretty small
Til people said you’re not so bad, and so I stood up tall But then my inner napoleon said you could have it all
I hit a curve and strained a nerve and headed for a a fall. 

Chorus 

Now I am lonely mole back in the underground,
I make bigger hills from little hills, cause I’m so tightly wound Really am I all that bad taking pennys for the pound?
Cause even from the margins, lord, there comes a holy sound. 

Chorus

Titanic

So Erica and Lynx and I went to see Titanic 3D on Tuesday. I was initially reluctant to give James Cameron any more of my money because I still regret strongly the hours of my life I wasted sitting through that blue tinted Pocahontas rip-off called Avatar, but Titanic is awesome for many reasons, the costumes, the love story, a young Leo. But before you go I'd like to remind you of all the horrible things about the Titanic movie so you can prepare yourself:

- the boat sinks
-1, 514 people die
- you hold your breath through half the movie
- the old couple in the bed about to drown
- the mother and two children in the bed about to drown
- the musicians who play until they drown
- the Irish guy who gets shot
- the captain at the helm when the windows burst and he drowns
- Thomas Andrews when he adjusts the clock on the mantle even though he is about to drown
- The foreign man and his son who go the wrong way down the passage and drown when the doors burst open
- the worker in the belly of the ship who doesn't make it through when they close the doors and he drowns
- all the people who fall off the ship when it is at a 90 degree angle, especially the guy who hits the goddamn propeller! OW
- all the people who sit in the lifeboats listening to the cries of the people in the water, and they DO NOTHING
- Jack Dawson freezes to death

Anyways, the first half of the movie is highly enjoyable, but for your own sanity leave after the car sex, as soon as you see that foggy hand print, grab your coat and get out of the theater. That way you can tell yourself that the boat made it to America and Jack and Rose lived happily ever after, and sold the Heart of the Ocean and bought a big house and Jack did nudie drawings of Rose forever, awwww. Also if you were looking forward to 3D boobs, you should know that the drawing scene is not in 3D.

Also- Erica cried at the end of the film. Apparently, it brought back all the trauma of seeing Titanic when we were 9 years old in 1997.

Rock 'n' Roll

So I popped into the Dakota Tavern on Tuesday for the last Weber Brothers show they'll be doing there for awhile. It rocked as usual and they did a nice little tribute to the great Levon Helm.

Space Sounds

I've found a new trick to relieve my occasional bouts of insomnia. Whenever the sandman is being a jerk and refusing to come visit me, I put on this recording of Jupiter's moon Io. Something about it is so soothing, it's like a galactic lullaby. I won't attempt explain to you the science behind how NASA was able to capture the sounds of planets and moons (I barely understand it), but I would like to tell you about the myth of Io and share my favourite painting of the subject.

Jupiter and Io, Antonio da Correggio, c. 1530,
 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

This song ROCKS

If you need a new ditty to jump around and dance to in your underpants this is that song. I've never heard of Vancouver's No Sinner before, but I read that this is their debut single. Way to hit the ground running!

Architour

Today Oli and I totally architecture nerded-out. We did walk number 15 (Queen Street West) from Toronto Architecture- A City Guide by Patricia McHugh. This walk focuses on 20 different buildings around Spadina and Queen. It took us about 4+ hours but we stopped for a long and yummy lunch at Kensington Espresso Bar (we both had the ham, spinach and feta cheese crepe) and we also did a good share of window shopping including poking around the pet shop at the Dragon City Shopping Mall in China Town (they had albino frogs!)

I'll probably post more photos later but I wanted to post about this beautiful Victorian gem on 25 Augusta Avenue. The building has housed the Felician Sisters Convent since 1938, and the nuns have diligently preserved the building, and it is in much better shape than most of its pals downtown. The picturesque house features bonnet dormers, canopied windows, bracketed eaves, filigreed veranda and gabled tower. The house was constructed in 1876 for a Toronto manufacturer named Edward Leadlay.

Beauty History- 1940s Part 2

Some more beauty history because I just love this stuff! Here are some girlies from 1943- beauty pageant contestants from the General Engineering Company (Canada) munitions factory in Scarborough.

 

Wooden Sky- my oh my

Yes YES! A thousand times YES!
This is what I was saying to myself last night at The Wooden Sky show. I am going to explain my reaction in list form for the sake of brevity:
- Opera House is a killer venue
- all the people standing in front of me were shorter than me = great view! (seriously, this never happens)
- solid folk- rock
- delectable vocals from Gavin Gardiner
- tight vocal harmonies
- tasty guitar riffs
- killed it on the fiddle (also- buddy looked like a hobo who used to panhandle near my high school. nice.)
- egg shakers and a wood block
- a little tribute to Levon on the drum kit <3
- a song called "Angelina"

OK- y'all need to go check out The Wooden Sky now because ages ago Will and Courtney told me I'd love Wooden Sky and for some reason I waited months to look them up. Remember, everyday you wait to check out Wooden Sky is a day you could be listening to Wooden Sky. Don't waste your life not listening to Wooden Sky. WOODEN SKY WOODEN SKY WOODEN SKY.

Here's a little video I took:

Goodbye Levon

http://www.ctv.ca/canadaAMPlayer/index.html?video=662754

Levon Helm

Levon Helm's family just announced that he is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. We all need to join together in sending our good vibes out into the universe for Levon. He has not only been a huge influence on me personally but also on pretty much every band and musician I love. Levon wrote some of The Band's greatest songs including "The Weight" "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" "Cripple Creek" and "Ophelia". I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this man and his music and how sad this makes me. I am not sure I am mentally or emotionally prepared to live in a world without Levon and where Justin Bieber is still making music. I will likely name my first born son Levon (although through a quick google search I just found out that Elton John named his son after Levon Helm).

 

Dear Friends,
Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.

Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration... he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...

We appreciate all the love and support and concern.
From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy 

Beauty History- 1940s

Previously we looked at some photographs of the Miss Toronto beauty pageant from the 1930s. Now lets have a gander at some lovely girls from the 1940s!

Mayor Robert H. Saunders with first place winner Irene Ayers- 1946

Egg Races

wikipedia definition- "An egg-and-spoon race is a sporting event in which participants must carry an egg or other roundish object on a teaspoon, tablespoon or wooden spoon and race to the finish line without dropping the egg or without running while the egg is not on the spoon. Variations include using raw eggs, hard-boiled eggs, wooden or ceramic eggs, potatoes or anything small that may be hard to balance on a spoon, such as jelly.^[1] It is generally regarded as against the rules to stick the egg to the spoon or to hold onto it with one's finger."

Easter Fashions

Are you going to church tomorrow? If so I hope you will be sporting a magnificent hat.

Vintage puppies and kittens!!

pictures of kittens and puppies from the Toronto Archives. Why? KITTENS AND PUPPIES!! That's why.

 

 

Forest Hill crew ship's mascot "Sad-Sad" the kitten and "Screech" the Newfoundland Dog. 1945

The strange, strange story of The Shaggs

Last night my friend Ally told me the strange story of The Shaggs. A girl-group in the 1960s, forced to make music by their overbearing father after his mother (a fortune teller) predicted that they would become the biggest pop group in the world. Their father pulled the girls out of school and forced them to practice constantly in the basement of their home. However, while being made to write music, the girls were not exposed to, or allowed to listen to music. The resulting album, titled Philosophy of the World is guaranteed one of the oddest most jarring things you've ever heard.

And here is an interesting interview with the sisters many years later:

http://www.shaggs.com/

Wooden Sky

Got my ticket to Wooden Sky @ the Opera House in Toronto. I am reallllly excited to see these guys live because Gavin Gardiner has a voice like warm caramel! If you like solid folk rock and delectable vocals, check these boys out.

Save our City

I was excited to see this week that the cover story of Now Magazine is

Disappearing Toronto

The real danger of undervaluing our historical architecture 

read the full feature here: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=185978

Beauty History

Beauty Contest, Toronto, 193-?

Have you ever wondered what ladies swim fashion in Toronto was in the 1930s? of course you have! Well, take inspiration from these local beauties. All of these images are from the City of Toronto Archives, which is an absolutely amazing source for vintage images of Toronto. You can access the archives online here: http://www.toronto.ca/archives/photographs/index.htm just hit scanned photographs only when you search. Another resource that is great for finding old photos is the Archives of Ontario http://ao.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/92/1/0?SEARCH&ERRMSG=[IMG_WEB]img_simNo.htm

More images after the jump!

well HOT DAMN!

Weber Brothers at the Dakota last Tuesday- pic from their Facebook page

I am not even exaggerating when I say that the Weber Brothers are one of the best live bands I have EVER seen. For real. A couple weeks ago Claire and I popped into the Dakota Tavern looking to have a beer or two or three, and hopefully hear some good tunes. Well, we were completely blown away by this rip-roaring rock 'n' roll band. We came back the next week with more friends. We hit the dance floor and we danced excessively. I had a calf cramp the next day.

It's no wonder these guys have such a tight live show though, because they trained with the infamous Ronnie Hawkins, the Grandfather of rock'n'roll. From their band bio- 

"2001: On a whim, Ryan emails rock-a-billy legend Ronnie Hawkins. Hawkins responds and they send him a demo tape. They are eventually invited to his home in Ontario to audition for his acclaimed band 'The Hawks'. After traveling on their own to Chicago, Nashville, and Amsterdam in the following months, they get the call from Hawkins to come back to Canada, saying he had jobs for them. Ryan and Sam leave everything behind the next morning and head north to Hawkins' farm to begin his infamous 90 Day Boot Camp. To earn their keep, they do farm work during the day, and, under Hawkins' watchful eye, play music in their free time. They go through the same process many ex-Hawks had gone through years before: farm hand, roadie, driver, merchandise handler, before eventually joining the band and becoming official members of 'The Hawks'. Touring begins."

If you don't know who Ronnie Hawkins is, what you need to know is that he he invented the moonwalk before Michael Jackson, he is responsible for putting together The Band (yes THE Band), and that he miraculously beat a fatal diagnoses of pancreatic cancer by drinking whiskey and smoking pot. This hilarious interview with George Strombo is a great example of why Ronnie is awesome.

The Weber Brother play at the Dakota this Tuesday, it's only $7 for three hours of epic awesomeness. Just look at that photo, have you ever seen a guitarist play a killer solo, standing on top of a double bass?? HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THAT??

This is just a little vid I took during their show last week, sadly I didn't catch the name of the guest stars, but they were great.

Varnish

Its been months since I've purchased any new nail polish (amazing, I know) but I was thrilled to pick up the new Zoya spring fleck collection.

for a great selection of swatches that show everything you can do with the fleck polishes, go to http://www.thepolishaholic.com/2012/01/zoya-spring-2012-fleck-effect.html

I am loving these!

Now I finally find Abstract Expressionism interesting...

no. 8, Jackson Pollock, 1949

I was rather perturbed to learn in my Art and Propaganda class last week, that the CIA spent more than 20 years secretly funding Abstract Expressionist artists. My ignorance on this little tidbit of Cold War art history is either a testament to how little the matter is discussed today, or how little I payed attention in my second year contemporary art course. At any rate, I've been to MoMA a couple times and I don't recall any mention of this in the Abstract Expressionist exhibit. Here's an interesting article from 1995 which outlines the CIA's funding scheme: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html

Curkyland

Several years ago, certain friends of mine nicknamed me "Curly." Yes, the name "Curly" was apt, and at the very least a term of endearment I was willing to tolerate. Then, after an intoxicated texting typo, I suddenly became "Curky."  My complaints that "Curky" sounded like a creepy clown/puppet/children's t.v. show host fell on deaf ears, and the name stuck.

But anyone who met me after 2007 might be shocked to know that I was not always curly. From the age of 12 when I got my first conair hair straightener (with optional crimping attachments of course), I furiously battled my natural curl. I blow dried, I ironed, I brushed, I cried, I ironed again. I literally pulled my hair out. Then, around the age of 18, I started to embrace my natural curl. AND IT WAS THE GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. My hair and I went from being mortal enemies, to BFF4EVA.

However, as with any relationship, my hair and I have had a couple rough patches in the last few years. Notably when I got a $30 haircut in Halifax. I left the salon horrified and ashamed, looking like I was going to my graduation portrait, Class of '86 (the 1980s were a hairstyling dark age).  Since this traumatic incident, I've accepted that curly hair (BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME) is more difficult to cut, and generally requires a more skilled and usually more expensive hairdresser.

Happily, in Toronto I have found the wonderful Curl Ambassadors. A hair salon that caters to follically curvy people like myself.

Reasons why I love the Curl Ambassadors:
1. Their name
2. Conveniently located at 159 Harbord Street
3. They play motown allllll the time
4. There are free jelly beans
5. I can pretend I am a housewife in the 50s when I'm sitting under the hairdryer
6. The first time you go they make you a Curl Map to teach you how to style your new haircut
7. The first time you go you get a gift certificate to use at your next visit
8. It is a hair salon just for curly haired people!!!!

I get my haircut with Keina, and it runs me about $90 with tip (eep!) but so worth it:

some of my Curlspirtation:

Barhopping

Last night Caroline and I went on a barhopping adventure at College & Bathurst. Here is a brief review of our exploration:

Destination 1:  
Bistro 422- 422 College Street
- dive bar
- $12 mixed drink pitchers (we had the long island iced tea)
- busy- students, early 20 somethings
- bathrooms = sketchy, really sketchy
- left after a bar patron threw up
- I'd go back for the cheap drinks

Destination 2:
Cloak and Dagger Pub- 394 College Street
- dive pub
- mixed drink $5.50, 24 taps, $12 pitchers
- DJ- playing retro and punk
- mildly busy with older punk rockers
- bathrooms= clean, and with a full length mirror
- left after man was staring at us for 15 minutes
- I'll probably go back on Tuesday for Bluegrass

Destination 3:
No One Writes to the Colonel- 460 College Street
- lounge
- huge Mojito $8
- DJ- played Robyn
- busy- mid 20s to early 30s (hipster-ish) crowd
- left when we had to catch the subway
- I'd go back for happy hour drinks

Mojito!

Dickens with a Twist

Last weekend Claire and I went to see David play violin with the Counterpoint Community Orchestra at St. Luke's United Church (353 Sherbourne Street). The concert was a tribute to Charles Dickens in honour of his 200th birthday. I won't pretend to know anything about classical music, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, the selections from the musical "Oliver!" were a delight! whe-e-r-re iissss looovvvee?

I was also excited to discover that St. Luke's is a Langley and Burke designed church. Sadly, the interior was in pretty bad shape. I'd love to go back in the daytime and get a better look at the exterior, from what I saw it looks like an interesting mix of both Gothic and Romanesque revival styles.

St. Luke's (photo from Wikipedia)

So you want to be broke? - Your guide to living the indie musician life

I decided to start a new series as part of this blog, giving advice on surviving life as an ultra indie musician, based on my experiences with The Miss Bennets and based on my 10ish years (OMG) of obsessively following and supporting independent Canadian musicians. I hope someone out there finds this useful or at least entertaining. Lets Begin!

Chapter one: Finding sweet musician digs

Our lovely 100 and something year old apartment in Halifax

Finding the perfect pad is hard enough for a regular person, but if you're a musician its even more of an uphill battle. First of all, you have no money. This makes it difficult to put down first and last months rent on an apartment and generally being poor limits how nice a place you're going to find in any city.

Man choir

I didn't watch the Grammy's. I definitely can not sit through the several hours of ego parading, self- congratulating, and god- thanking "musician" acceptance speeches. But I did watch clips afterwards, so YAY to Adele, in my opinion the one of the only true artists at that level of fame. Also yay to Bon Iver and haha to all the ignorant masses who didn't know who he is and called him "Bonny Bear," really?! There were actually some good performances, although wtf to Niki Minaj, that girl is terrifying, what was that shit show? How can you call something a song when there is no melody?

Seeing the Beach Boys perform was super endearing. Brian Wilson looked confused about being on stage again but also really excited. The overall lead up to their performance with Maroon 5 and Foster the People was pretty cool. Mike Foster definitely didn't do his best vocal performance ever, which is too bad because he has a great falsetto, but I think he was affected by stage- fright because he had somewhat of a terrified expression on his face.

The Beach Boys in their hay day were a magnificent group and Brian Wilson is one of the greatest songwriters in pop music ever. Their harmonies are unreal, and have influenced our music to a degree, particularly in our song "I'm too young to have your baby, baby." I love love love female pop harmonies, but I reallllllyyy love man- harmonies. It is my not so secret dream to one day have a all-man backing choir, bearded and dressed in PLAID. yessssss! So in that spirit I thought I'd share a selection of my favourite Man- choirs (for lack of a better term).

Bon Iver manages to consistently create new and wonderful ways of performing this beautiful song. This example is so simple yet wonderful. When we went to Claire's parents oceanside cottage and recorded "Ballads from the Boudoir," after a long day of hard work, we would relax in the evenings listening to "For Emma, forever ago" light the fire, and sit in the rocking chairs reading. Just thinking about it now makes me feel sooo relaxed and cozy, siiigghh.

Speaking of a cabin on the sea, I love this video of Stan Rogers. Stan Rogers is one of the greatest Canadian songwriters and his rich baritone is swoon-worthy. Stan tragically died in a plane crash in 1983 at the age of 33. I love this video, because these guys look like they're just getting drunk and having a time! Sea shanty's are the freaking best! This maritime tradition inspired our song "Sailor," which also has probably my most favourite fiddle part that Claire has ever written.

Ahh The Band, my greatest love of all time. Levon Helm is an incredible songwriter who is still going strong. His album "Ramble at the Ryman" just won at the grammy's. His voice is just delectable, and personally I think he was quite the babe in his day. Here is a clip of "The night they drove old dixie down" from the masterpiece film "The Last Waltz" directed by Martin Scorsese.

And for good measure, here are the Beach Boys in their prime. Just listen to all those vocal layers, bom bom bom, oooo, help me Rhonda etc.

Kick-ass Chicks

Yesterday I went to see my friend Erica aka Tess D'urb-Evil, play with her team Chicks Ahoy! in the Toronto Roller Derby season opener, against the Gore Gore Roller Girls. It was a killer game, fast paced, high scoring, lots of hits, spills, curse words, and penalties. The Chicks prevailed in the end, woo hoo!

The halftime show featured the Cowgirl Choir. Unfortunately, I missed their whole set waiting in the bathroom line and then the beer line.

If you've never seen a roller derby game you NEED to go. Tickets are only $12 if you purchase in advance at an outlet (I recommend this rather than buying online bc if you have a paper ticket you don't have to wait in the super long line) There's beer and pizza for sale at the games, and you can bring your own chair or get there early and grab a seat on the bleachers.

Pub Quiz

source: Clintons.ca

I'd been on the lookout for a good quiz night for sometime when we decided to check out the trivia at Clinton's Tavern in Korea Town back at the beginning of January. While we had a really good time, due to a rather publicly embarrassing incident we had to wait several weeks before returning to the bar, in the hopes that they would forget us.

It all began when Claire was at the ROM doing work for her internship. She was digitally cataloguing items from the Greek and Roman collection. On this particular day, she was handling male fertility amulets. This included various small metal items such as men with big shlongs that some ancient dude would have carried around with him in the hopes of fertilizing his ancient wife's eggy. Fun times! One of the amulets was actually just a set of bronze testicles you could hang as a pendant on a necklace.

Flash forward to Monday night trivia and we were all discussing the possibility of bringing back this ancient genitalia jewelry. (I mean really, the hipsters would jump ALL OVER this trend) We started brainstorming names for our new gonad jewelry line and eventually settled on "Scrotumulet" a combo of scrotum + amulet. A short while later we had to write down a name for our trivia team so we put down Scrotumulet, figuring there was no way we would win that night anyways so it didn't matter what our team name was. Little did we know that part of the Pub Quiz includes reading aloud all the team names (each team cheers when their name is called). We weren't sure how the host would pronounce Scrotumulet, but we thought it would just sound like a gibberish word so we'd be fine. Unfortunately, the host read Scrotumulet as "SCROTUM MULLET" to which he added, "Presumably a bad experience one of you ladies had..."   !!!! Not surprisingly we didn't cheer for our team name.

Pub quiz is every Monday night at 8pm (doors at 7) It fills up really fast (last week ppl were turned away at the door) so get there early! We are currently recruiting for our team, we need someone who knows sports and someone who was alive in the 80s.