I'm Lost Again, I'm Lost Again..

I know I haven't update this for a very long time and a lot of things have happened. There's a Chinese saying "Woman is made of tears", is absolutely right, I don't understand where all that tears are coming from but i can't seem to stop it. There are really no words to describe how I feel or what I'm going through. I feel like I have a permanent black cloud that follows me around, and every time that I have a glimspe of happiness, it will then pisses on me. Everyday passes by and it means nothing to me, but just more and more issue arises which I haven't the patience nor the time to deal with. Grieving has became a daily ritual, first my mum, now my grandmother.. it seems neverending. I felt really bad for missing ei's birthday festivities, but I'm not in a celebrating mood, I just don't want to ruin it for her and everyone. I'm in no shape of seeing anyone right now. Some friends are being insensitive when I needed them the most.. all I wanted it's just a little more attention and a little more hugs.. apparently it is too much to ask for...

NHS + 3AM Swim Thefting + Daiquiris

Ninja High School // Tradition // The Lava Witch (James Anderson?) // Veru Venuto
04.30.06.05 @ Riot House 285 1/2

We're Going Home in a Fucking Ambulance
It was sooo hott! Amy and I arrived at the Riot House at almost midnight after chilling at her ACed apartment watching Almost Famous all evening. We missed all the bands because we were mostly chilled out on the patio until Ninja High School. This is what i love about NHS.. they're absolutely fun and great to see live, always end up a fun dance party and shout-abouts with topless indie boys! haha! This night was no exception, the living room was PACKED when we got downstairs, everyone was sweating and started to take their shirts off after a few songs. Everyone's sweat was everyone's. it was gross. There was a dance-off and i joined but didn't know who won. Amy quickly parted after the show as we went back up to the roof but i wanted a NHS tee so i went downstairs. Greg Collins asked me if i were going swimming. I said no because i wasn't dressed for it, he said "Who cares, it would be fun!" I told him I'll go but i have to go upstairs to get my bag.. also grabbed along Thomas and Steve to join us for swimming.

Swim Thefting
Greg Collins, Brendan, Amy (Heart On), Trevor, Steve, Thomas, Emily, Micha and Chris, all went to Alexandra Park Pool (Dundas & Bathurst). Ryan also joined us. I sucked. For the love of me, i couldn't climb over the fence, so Micha, Steve and Chris helped carried me over the fence. If we get busted, i'll be the only one who gets arrested since i couldn't climb over the fence! haha! I striped down to my undies and went into the pool. It was so refreshing! I did felt a bit awkward being half-naked in front of these people i didn't really know. haha we dipped around a bit then most of the people were starting to get cold, so we got dressed (thank god for the extra NHS tee i bought) and we all headed to Emily's.

Strawberry Daiquiris
As we were leaving the pool, Amy got a phone call from her roommate who informed her the Christie pool got busted. On route we bumped into Leanda, Chris and Wolfgang, they lot joined us to go to Emily's. I had the chance to finally ask Wolfgang about if he was the Wolfgang at Badly Drawn Boy years ago when he first played Lee's Palace. Oh what a small world! Damon sang the name song to us, we were thinking all these years it couldn't possible to have someone actual real name as Wolfgang! Emily made us stawberry daiquiris and offered us donuts and Pringles. Pix from the nite are here. Steve and i left at 4:45am and i got home at 7am. Ooer!!!

Gig 50: Olympic Island

Modest Mouse // Broken Social Scene // Metric // Do Make Say Think // The Most Serene Republic // Triumph of Lethargy // Keren Ann
07.26.06.05 @ Olympic Island

10:34am: Eileen and i arrived at the Ferry Docks, and who did we saw? Our Stalkee, Theresa! We took the ferry over and greeted by Amy H., and she pointed to the direction where we were going. We checked in with Leslie but there wasn't much we could do at the moment so we went over to help Theresa at the merch booth.

12:30pm: So much folding! I went back to help out carrying some drinks out to the tent. Then i went back to the merch booth until Leslie called Theresa and to informed us that Amy H was on-site so we need to go back to backstage.

2:30pm: We muck around the back, there wasn't much to do. We introduced ourselves to the catering staff then we had lunch: sausage/burgers, mixed greens with balsamic vinegarette and potato salad. Keren Ann was kinda boring for a mid-afternoon act. Triumph of Lethagy seemed to be openning for all the Modest Mouse dates since April, was the second act of the day. They were alright, bit instrumental, bit of screaming.

3:30pm: We were bored, so we went over to the catering girls and helped them to husk corn during The Most Serene Republic's set. The singer goes "Oh, that was better than sex." All the girls started laughing and made fun out of the whole thing. Then after we finished we went around to the front and checked out to see what their hype was about. They were good, but not sure if they were up to their hype.

5pm: Do Make Say Think was awesome! I've heard lots of good things about them but didn't realized they were that great. They were another experimental, improvising instrumental band from around the Toronto area. I definitely want to see them again!

6pm: Dinner is served! What we have tonight is BBQ Ribs, Jerk Chicken, Rice and Beans, cob of corn, various of summer salads, fruits and cookies for dessert. Enjoy! It was soooo awesome! TAKE THAT VIP AREA! We have better food and it's all FREE! We were all having dinner as Metric came onstage. They were okay, i definitely prefer Dragonette.

Okay, i'm tired of writinig. I'm sure i've left out lots of details and the bit about the cotton angel but please look at the pixblog. Broken Social Scene was great and as many people as usual. Feist did made a special appearance for Almost Crime and a few others. Eileen and i were pretty much done after dinner, so we went to muck around Centreville.. and we met this cute 2-yr old pug named Romeo. We took advantage with our All Access wristband and went to the VIP Area where i bumped into Karen Kim again! We met up with the rest of the gang after BSS, we stayed a few songs for Modest Mouse until they played Float On then we left the island. The rest of the gang were going to Wavelength, i felt so grossed out by the sweat and sunscreen so i went home. I was very disappointed, after spending the entire day in the sun there was no tan!! Luckily no burns neither.

Gig 49: Final Fantasy has a Good Mother

Final Fantasy with St. Kitt's String Quartet // Torngat
06.25.06.05 @ Music Gallery (197 John St - 416.204.1080)

I can't believe how huge Final Fantasy has became all of a sudden. At the beginning of the year when i saw him at Rancho Relaxo, it was almost empty. But i guess a good secret can't kept for long, i'm glad about his success and he deserves it. We arrived to the venue around 6pm after we got separated from the film earlier. There were a bit of a line up already. Kate showed up not too long after us, so we chatted a bit in line. At about 6:30pm, they started to sell tix at the doors. Zach and his friend Julie, cut in line just in time, as they were the last two people would could get tickets which later on caused a huge fuss on the board. Torngat from Montreal opened. They were an instrumental experimental band, they were good. I quite enjoyed them. I spotted Jeff Harris!!! He actually asked if the seat was taken before the show.. but i managed to snapped a pix of him haha! Owen Pallett dressed in a pink shirt and all white ensemble played a few solos before he brought in the St. Kitt's String Quartet who half were dressed in all white, half all black. He mostly played new songs, only 3 were from the album: The CD Tower Belongs to the Dead, This is The Dream of Win & Regine and Please, Please, Please. Not much quirky chatter between songs perhaps he was nervous about the string quartet or the CBC Live recording. He did a cover of "Good Mother" by Jann Arden. He commented "if i have one of those long jackets, i would be a better singer." So awesome!! After the show, instead of going to Xiu Xiu like everyone else, Nina, Heather, Amy, Eileen, Thomas and I all went to Chinatown for some pho.

Film: Batman Begins

****1/2 USA. 141 min. Colour 2005. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Bob Kane, David S. Goyer & Christopher Nolan. Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Mogan Freeman & Cillian Murphy.

05.25.05.05 @ 3:50 pm Paramount Theatre 9.

I love this film. I know, there are always be cheesy lines for this type of comic made sequelles films. The casting was excellent, just look. I <3 Cillian Murphy!!!!!!!!!! The set was beautifully made, especially the skytrain system. This film explained how everything started and i like it how the film ended with the beginning of the first Batman film with Joker. Christian Bale almost has this uncarny resemblance/mannerism to Tom Cruise which was ironic since Katie Holmes was in the film. Seat edging thrilling, a definite must see!

Miss Popular: Jonny Dovercourt's Housewarming Party + Henri Faberge & The Adorables + Ben & Serge Birthday Party

7:30pm: OMG it's so hott!! I went to LCBO and picked up some booze after work and arrived at Heather's house by 7:30ish, we hung out, bought fireworks for Ben's pressie and ate dinner from Ali Baba's (2202 Dundas St W - 416.538.7001).

10pm: We were the first ones to arrived at Jonny Dovercourt's Housewarming party. We had a tour of the space, and we made Mojito's. We sat on his deck and hung out until it was time to me to go to Clinton's (693 Bloor St W - 416.535.9541) and take photos of Henri Faberge & The Adorables' set, i have became their official photographer y'see!


Henri Faberge & The Adorables
05.24.06.05 @ Clinton's Tavern (693 Bloor St W - 416.535.9541)

11pm: Oh god i was so late! They were already on their second last song when i arrived. But i did manage to snap a few good photos as you can see them here. Niall was standing in for Brendan, he was recording or something couldn't make it.

11:45pm: I made it back to Jonny's party to pick up Heather. A few more people showed up but we had to leave and head on to the Riot House for Ben & Serge's party.



12:06am: We finally made it to the Riot House. It was very hott pretty much else so i went upstairs to Brie's room (where the fan was) and hide out for the most of the night. I saw my friend Karen again!!! Zach and I went outside as Bush League was playing, it was way loud and we were just so tired out. Ben kept feeding me scotch "Elsie, do it, you have to have it for my birthday!" Bleeeehh birthday boy!!! Oh god, i couldn't even stand straight anymore, i stumpled my way upstairs and sat down on the couch.. til about 3:38am and i went home.

Hearts Don't Think, Heads Don't Love + Quantum Leap Marathon

Spitfires & Mayflowers // Nick Flanegan // The Decoy Mile // The Barmitzvah Brothers // DJ Jay Ferguson + D. Rex
04.23.06.05 @ Sneaky Dee's (431 College St - 416.603.3090)

6:30pm: Eileen and I went to Lakeview Lunch (1132 Dundas W - 416.535.2828) after work for a malt-shake. Afterwards, we went back to the apartment and had our mini Quantum Leap marathon. Haha the series is so dated now! We watched a few from the Season 2: The Americanization of Machiko a.k.a. Machiko McKenzie, What Price Gloria? and Blind Faith. Whilst we were watching "What Price Gloria?", Gloria cries and commented about being unwanted at the age of 27. Eileen and i looked at each other...

11:20pm: When we arrived to the venue, it was really really packed out. The Barmitzvah Brothers already taken stage. I spotted Zach near the front, so we went to join him. After their set, i went to purchase the new Spitfires & Mayflowers CD - Triumph - it had the most cutest packaging ever of a library book complete with the borrowing card! There was also free cupcakes with the purchase of the CD, so i splitted mine with Eileen. I bumped into my friend Karen Kim from Vancouver!! The show was great, everyone was dancing and we all did the sing-alongs during "Hearts Don't Think, Heads Don't Love". We didn't stay too long, as i were leaving, i saw Heather, Ben, Steve and Thomas across the street. I wished Ben Happy Birthday, they asked me to stay but i was too tired so i went home.

Evil Elmo Again!

Dragonette // Hunter Valentine
06.18.06.05 @ El Mocambo (464 Spadina Ave - 416.777.1777)

So we're back to the evil El Mocambo again.. God! Just look at the picture above! Seeing all these 20hz posters almost make me want to vomit! But tonight, we're helping out Eileen's co-worker to work cashiers/doors for this gig. Hunter Valentine landed on this week's cover of NOW and with the hype of Dragonette whom to be Duran Duran's openner for the upcoming tour, we were expecting lots of people. Hunter Valentine hit the stage at 10:30pm, it was good from what we've heard, we couldn't see anything from where we were working. Singer, Kiyomi had a strong voice. Dragonette sounded awesome! Think Metric but better, more dancy, more catchy that make you just want to get up and dance! Kiersten, the promoter only broke even for the evening as that night has too many things happening in the city.

Gig 48: Youth Group

Youth Group
05.17.06.05 @ The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen St W - 416.531.5042)

Hailed from Austrailia, Youth Group has been under the stealth radar for quite some time. Bassist, Patrick Matthews, is also plays in a more popular band -- The Vines. The band's first Canadian debut at the beautiful Underground but it was not packed at all, not only it was an early show (Doors at 5pm) and i guess not too many people had heard of them before. Below was their setlist:

Skeleton Jar
Frank Stone
Someone Else's Dream
Underpass
Lillian Lies
See-Saw
Drowned
Baby Body
Shadowland
Piece of Wood

I enjoyed the set. Eileen said she wanted to punch out the leadsinger. haha! I thought he was alright, though i can see the potential of his voice being annoying, he had that Jesus & Mary Chain kinda look to him. I totally didn't realized it was Patrick from The Vines until someone pointed out to me later. It was funny that Amy and I were wearing the same Fred Perry zip-up (only difference in colour) and we were both carrying a canvas Dean & Deluca bag. After the gig, we all went to Lakeview Lunch (1132 Dundas W - 416.535.2828) for a malt-shake until Ren and Eileen headed off to see Oasis at the Molson Amphitheatre (909 Lakeshore Blvd. W - 416.260.5600).

New Trend: Rock n Roll + Baked Goods

Henri Faberge + The Adorables // The Ghost is Dancing // The Guest Bedroom
04.16.06.05 @ Sneaky Dee's (431 College St - 416.603.3090)

It was definitely the funnest Henri Faberge + The Adorables show i've been to so far. Their first time playing a completely plugged gig. Don't know if it was because of the sugar from all the delicious baked goods (there was a band Bake-off, pies, strawberry shortcakes, banaoffee, and other cookies and sweets - Henri Faberge & The Adorables won the Bake-off with the Banaoffee), the gig had an energetic vibe, everyone was dancing and clapping it was amazing! The newly BC returned frontman, Henri was dressed in shorts and black socks wearing his BC moustache.. it was funny, during the part where he sat down on the keyboards, he goes "I shouldn't be sitting down wearing shorts" then Maylee shouted "Henri, your balls are showing!" HAHA! of course, not true. Henri got off stage and sang to the crowd, Dancing Pete also started dancing on the dancefloor then fighting with Henri but Henri won the fight, leaving Dancing Pete lying on the floor with exhaustion. (See pixblog)

NXNE Finale: Brunch + I Scream, You Scream + Staff Party + Wedding?

Aunties and Uncles (74 Lippincott Street - 416.324.1375)

2:45pm: Lazy Afternoon Late Brunch
Eileen and I went to Aunties and Uncles (74 Lippincott Street - 416.324.1375) for brunch. Too bad their famous Belgium Waffles were already sold out. So we splitted a normal egg and bacon breakfast and a cinnamon French Toast with fruit and maple syrup. It was yummy! I'm convinced that Breakfast/Brunch is my most favourite meal of the day!

4:30pm: Kensington Market
After brunch we browsed around Kensington Market, we went to Global Cheese (76 Kensington Ave - 416.593.9251) because i wanted some creamy Havarti since my last purchase of it was eaten by my dogs. As we were about the leave the store, Eileen noticed that St. Andre was on sale! Half price! Normally it's like $12 a pound but it's only like $6. So we each bought some. We passed by Kensington Market Organic Ice Cream (66 Kensington Ave - 416.835.7781) but Eileen forgot her lactac pills. So we're going to detour back to the apartment then come back to the shoppe later on before we head to our NXNE staff party.


Kensington Market Organic Ice Cream (66 Kensington Ave - 416.835.7781)

6pm: We returned to Kensington Market Organic Ice Cream (66 Kensington Ave - 416.835.7781) This tiny shoppe has about a dozen flavours including: La Palette (sorta like a camarmel apple and white chocolate), Rose Vanilla (rose jam & vanilla), Tempo (green tea with white chocolate and raspberry ripples), Emotional Rescue (LOVE THE NAME, LOVE THIS FLAVOUR!!! It's cardamon and vanilla). The owner serves nothing but waffle cones in them or in little Chinese take-out containers. There was also apple-cider slurpee for those who are lactose intolerant. Yummmm!

6:30pm: Eileen and I returned to the evil El Mocambo for our NXNE Staff party. I got a sucky grab bag, so i returned and got a better one, everyone got an Avril Lavinge shirts! HAHA! No Shawn Desmond fridge magnets this year. I also got a NOW frisbee, some CD. Then another management girl came over and wanted to trade bags because she wanted to give me more stuff for my extra work. i insisted that i want to keep this bag, so she gave me a book - Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre, a NOW t-shirt and a few other things. The food was the same from last year's party, catering from Shanghai Cowgirl (538 Queen St W - 416.203.6623): Grilled cheese, wraps, mashed potatoes served in little Chinese take-out cups. It was sooo hott and humid there, we didn't stay that long and we went back to the apartment.

9pm: There were absolutely nothing on the telly. We started to watch Sugar, it was wedding special. So we watched how a wedding cake was made, after that it was Wedding Cake Challenge. Eileen was telling me how she's craving the Dufflet cake that her sister ordered for her wedding. But the cake is $80, only available for special orders. Then we came up with the idea of having a "Singles shower" party so that we can have the cake and celebrate being single. Teehee, really it was just an excuse to have that cake!!

NXNE Day 3: Daytrip Around TO + POP Montreal

The Adam Brown // The Hot Springs // Malajube // The Hermit // 5th Projekt // Marnie Mains
06.11.06.05 @ Cameron House (408 Queen St W - 416.703.0811)

3:23pm: Duff's Famous Wings
Eileen and I finally arrived Bayview & Eglinton after our 'hood scenic route to Midtown. As we walked south on Bayview, we noticed that Rahier Patisserie was gone! Duff's Famous Wings (1604 Bayview Ave - 416.544.0100) was relatively empty at this hour, we sat ourselves inside with the AC (waay too humid for patios today). Oooo.. They have loganberry juice.. yummm!

5:02pm: Hollywood Gelato We Go!
Personally i prefer Hollywood Gelato (1640 Bayview Ave - 416.544.9829) over La Casa Gelato. I had the Peanut Butter & Chocolate (YES THIS IS MY FAVOURITE OKAY?) and this Caramel one sooo good! As we were heading back downtown we noticed there was this young couple with HEAPS of bread from Rahier Patisserie! Apparently they've moved further down the road. *Phew* Thought it was a goner!

6:30pm: NXNE DAY 3 - NXNE Headquarters
So i'm floating today because Lee's didn't require a cashier. When Kenn said they needed a person at Cameron House (408 Queen St W - 416.703.0811) tonite, i couldn't raise my hand fast enough because i was intended to go to that show anyway for the Pop Montreal Showcase anyway. Once i arrived to the venue i was greeted by the stage manager Kristin and stagehand Nadeen, and both at a separate occassion warned me about the doorgirl, Michelle who was apparently boy-crazy. heh. There are 6 Bands tonite!! WHOAAA!!

8pm: Marnie Mains + 5th Projekt + The Hermit
Don't be fooled by her tattooed Tank-Girl-esque getup, Marnie Mains's music style is more like her West Coast peer, Holly McNarland. Marnie Mains has a strong, crisp vocals and she ended the evening with a song she wrote about being a bartender called Tequilla. 5th Projekt made me feel like i was listening to the soundtrack of a darker version of Lord of the Rings. Toronto based self-claimed "Neo-Classical Romanticism"... bleh.. NEXT!!! Now for something quite the opposite with butterflies, nature and sunshine is The Hermit, another band hailed from the West Coast by electronic explorer Hamish Thomson who plays every instruments on the album with guest female vocalist. They even had video projection in the background, pretty high-tech for the lil ole' Cameron House.

11pm: Malajube + The Hot Springs + The Adam Brown
By 11:30pm, we were at full capacity (not that i'm complaining since i can watch the show). Apparently we had line up to the door! Everyone was here to see the POP Montreal Showcase, first band was Malajube. I love love love love them!! Catchy fast tunes, very dancable, but.. are all these songs in French?!? They didn't play too long it was ironic that they spent more time setting up than playing their actual set because they had another show to play the same night. Post-punk quartet The Hot Springs (see above pic) started the band just for fun, but they put on a very energetic and crazy show. I anticipated for The Adam Brown set the whole night, because my friends are in the band. They took a while to set up, as soon as they were about to go onstage, someone from NXNE came to collect me!! ARGH!! At least i got to talk to them.. booo..

NXNE DAY 2: Emcee Murdah + Bedlam Society Showcase

i glanced across the room and saw this dude
he's not like any other, he's got no at-ti-tude
he's mister emcee murdah, and he aint no play-a
when he has a microphone he's going to getcha
just give him a beat and his words will flow
this is elsie and emcee chillin at the show

She asked "you gonna rap about livin in da hood?"
I said "i dunno, it all depends on my mood"
I'm a real emcee like no any other
she's karaoke massacre, i'm emcee murdah
we make a good team and in b-ball too
this is emcee and elsie chillin in da hood

10:12am: Emcee Murdah vs. Karaoke Massacre @ Givins + Queen Street West
OH MY GOD!! My second encounter with k-Os, okay, so i didn't go up to him this time and said "I love you, man!" (This is My Truth: he was the first man i said those three words to, haha). He was walking towards my direction (westbound), wore a red t-shirt with a red bandana around his neck (it's rather hott today innit?!) and camouflage shorts (due to overwhelming glee, i forgot to checkout his footwear!). He was eating either a fruit or pastry of kind. We mades eye contact so i smiled at him.. i think he *knew* i knew who he was.. heh heh heh..


The Fullblast // The Junction // City and Colour // Bedouin Soundclash
05.10.06.05 @ Lee's Palace (529 Bloor St W - 416.532.1598)

8:02pm: Greeting the Society
Sooo tired! i got into work relatively early today but was totally busy. I was late meeting at the hotel. After i got dropped off, i went across to the newly opened Chippy's (490 Bloor St W - 416.516.7776) for some chips. Later, I met Trish and Joel (founder) from the Bedlam Society. Bedlam Society is a concept created as a venue for culture that was neglected at one time and to share the love of music. It first started with a website, then venues and CD release parties and concerts within the Niagara, okay, southern Ontario. They talked to me about guestlist and gave me a bunch of stickers and a CD named: Bedlam Society - Mixed Tape Vol. 2 featuring The Junction, City and Colour, The Fever, Trail of Dead, Bedouin Soundclash, Polyphonic Spree... etc.

9pm: Nevermind The Fullblast
It's sooooo busy here! The night has just started! I didn't pay much attention to The Fullblast, a punk band from Oakville that toured with Rise Against and Alexisonfire.. guess you can tell what they sound like... NEXT!

10pm: I <3 The Junction!
Continuing to be busy whilst running out of change, NXNE staff came in at the wrong time (during band changes) and got yelled at by Amy. Oops! This Brampton band had my head turned, too bad i couldn't see much, but i totally loved what i've heard. The Junction also have the cutest merchandise! Their t-shirt has images of ice-cream, sunset and bunnies! I couldn't resist, before the end of the night, i bought the grey sunset shirt and the And With This Comes Tomorrow EP. Can't wait to listen to it!

11pm: What the fuss? It's only Dallas Green!
At the beginning of the night, i was wondering why there were so many emo kids with Alexisonfire shirts. Now i know why, City and Colour is the solo project of Alexisonfire's singer Dallas Green, except there is no shouting and he plays on an acoustic guitar. Sorta like Dennis Lyxzén's solo project Lost Patrol only not as indiepop, was okay, but nothing to die for.

12am: Bedouin Soundclash
At about 11:26pm, Amy gave me the cue for no more cash sales, so i began to count out. We were at full capacity, prolly over. After i packed up, i met Sabrina whom manages the bar. The door person, Shannon, was free to go so i was kinda took over her position. It was soooo packed, I didn't get to see much of this band since i was eager to go. Mary and Greg picked me up at 12:20am, we went over to Clinton's (693 Bloor St W - 416.535.9541) as there was a problem. As we were driving back to the hotel, we were waiting at the light at Bathurst and Dundas, all of a sudden -- ziiipppp the whole intersection turned black including the hospital. Ironically, we were right behind a hydro truck. Thank god i gotta sleep in tomorrow!!

NXNE DAY 1: I Mama Earth + Oops, I Did It Again + Quiet First Nite + Sony PSP

Stirling // The Mahones // Hugh Cornwell // The Novaks // Brian Bryne
04.09.06.05 @ Lee's Palace (529 Bloor St W - 416.532.1598)

6:52pm: Lee's Palace Back Again
Amanda dropped me off at the venue, i was carrying so much stuff including my overnight luggage, banners, ballot box, SOCAN guides, my purse and cash bag. I informed Josee (stage manager) upon my arrival and met Alanna, Drew & Chris (stagehands) and requested assistant for putting up the banners later on. i set up the ballot area as the Red Bull street team came in, so i tried one for the first time. (Okay, lie. I had one yesterday at the Chart Party with Jagermeister)

8pm: Brian, not David, Bryne
Okay that's who it was! I thought the name sounded familiar and he looked familiar but i couldn't figure out where he was from! So i met him when he was asking me question about guestlisting.. ho ho ho! His set was okay, at least he didn't play any i mama earth songs. However, he did covered a Police song! heh!

10pm: Newfie Rock - The Novaks
Ewan Exall came by and sat down for a chat, it was kinda odd, it made me a bit nervous actually since i was working at cash and he was managing the show. I swear he still doesn't know my name. We talked about shows he was planning to see during the festival, Red Bull, Vancouver and (International) Noise Conspiracy. Lori came by so i introduced her to Ewan, she was there for The Novaks, a straight up rock band from St. John's, Newfoundland. Guess it made a Newfie double-act eh! I didn't pay much attention, but they sounded alright. There seemed to be a number of people there for them..

11pm: Oops, I did it Again! I Pulled Another Andy Rourke - My meeting with Hugh Cornwell
I had the honour to meet Andy Rourke during his tour with Badly Drawn Boy. He told me he liked my Fred Perry zip-up, i told him i liked his too then he introduced himself to me as Andy. I was like "oh, hi.." i haven't any clue until later that he was THE Andy Rourke!! So tonight, I thought Hugh Cornwell sounded familiar and his face looked familiar as well (again!) we even chatted a bit before the show, i had no idea who he was until much later. No wonder he's sooo good! He is the original guitarist, singer and main songwriter for The Stranglers!! But i was strangely surprised, the show didn't sold out. Oops! Now i wish i took back all the stupid things i've said (it's Red Bull! it's the Red Bull!!) or shoulda asked better questions! Hopefully he doesn't remember me! teeheee!

Midnight: Breaking the Curse - The Mahones
Okay, i feel real ignorant for not knowing all these bands showcasing at my venue. Apparently The Mahones are quite popular Celtic Punk band from Kingston, Ontario. They've trailled bad luck since May 1999 when bassist passed away of food allergy then a month later, another former member died from a camping accident. They were alright, lots of people seemed to enjoy their set.

1AM: Stirling - Toronto's "Britpop" Darling
It was more quiet than my other times working at Lee's Palace during the festival. I don't think this band live up to their hype, Eileen and I saw them couple months ago, they were good but just not "wow". I didn't get to see much of this set then Mary & Greg came pick me up.

1:40AM: Cashing Out
It seemed straight forward but i wasn't sure what i was doing, forgive me, it was my first time doing the "Cash-Out"... Why doesn't any of these sheets balanced?!??! HELP??

2:25AM: PSP Time!
After Eileen and I cabbed back to the apartment, we played Sony PSP for a while and we watched part of Spiderman II on the PSP, it's amazing how great the quality of that little screen is, it makes our telly looks like crap! Not only it can play games, it can also plays movies, mp3s, store games and photos! I want one of these!!

NXNE Kickoff + Chart Schmuck Party

Was another busy day at work today, my client Eric still drove me up the wall! ARGH! It's that time of the year again, it was NXNE's final cashier meeting today at 6pm, it's the same thing again, yadda yadda.. but this year i got to use the Ticketmonster beeper! wheee! I'm working at Lee's Palace again this year. I don't think i'll work the Saturday show, so hopefully i can go bar hopping, i really want to go to Xpace and see ddmmyyyy These are the bands:

04.09.06.05 - Chart Magazine Presents

Stirling	1 AM
The Mahones	12 AM
Hugh Cornwell	11 PM
The Novaks	10 PM
Brian Byrne	9 PM

05.10.06.05 - Bedlam Society Presents

Bedouin Soundclash	12 AM
City And Colour	11 PM
The Junction	10 PM
The Fullblast	9 PM

8:20PM: Chart Schmucks-Ahoy Party at Berkeley Church
After the meeting Eileen and i killed sometime before we headed to Berkeley Church (315 Queen St E - 416.361.9666). We checked in with guestlist and drink tickets and we went into the venue. It's the cutest little place, well it is a church, much look like Palais Royale (1601 Lake Shore Blvd W - 416.533.3553) only with a balcony and an alter. It has the cutest bathroom, French sage green with Victorian mirrors. It was pretty packed and there were lots of "industry" people. When we first enter, we spotted Jesse from Death From Above taking photos at the Chart booth. They were giving out samples of Jagermeister shots with Red Bull, the most disgusting combination ever -- cough syrup! The food was not bad: somosas, pitas, wraps, mini shrimp dumplings, pot-stickers, steamed buns, pineapple, watermelon, puff-pastry mini things, phyllo triangles with cheese and spinach (ours were MUCH BETTER). The so-called "cool" and "fashionable" chicks are the big joke of the night, first off, they're not very young, second, they're still going for that 80s Electrotrash look, c'mon, soooo last year! Even if the outfit was "decent" they ruined it by wearing ugly uncomfortable platform shoes (so 90s!) and what's up with all these girls with grossly long painted toenails?! That's the most disgusting thing EVER! Bahhh.. we spoke to a few people, had a beer, took the swag bags (it's not even that great this year, 3 old issues of Chart (not even the new one, you have to grab that from their booth), a full size of STIFF hair puddy (not bad), Charles Worthington Shine Spray (that i like), Gillette razor, Caesar sticker and BenQ flashlight.. bahh!) and we quietly left the party. Schmuck smoozing is not for us!

Gig 45: There's a Coral on the Lakeshore + BBQ + Hott in Herre

6:50PM: Hott in Herre!!!!
What a busy day at work! Eric was driving me absolutely nuts about the national advert this week! I wanted to kill him! During break I went to vent off and so I went over to Black Market (319 Queen St W - 416.591.7945) and bought some stuff. It has been soo hott in Toronto! Silly me had the idea of walking to A&E after work, it wasn't by all means far but man.. SOO HOTT!! On route, i bumped into Jay who were on his way home from Rotate, i passed by the busy Bellwoods Park and took the above picture, then i saw Kate and Tyler on the patio at Fresh, i said hi quickly and head to A&E...


7:23PM: A&E BBQ
Finally arrived! Romi and Deddy were already there, we chatted a bit and picture above is what we've had. it was yummy!! Romi and Deddy are leaving for Isreal on Thursday but they might stay since Deddy was offered a job at Interscope but it's not confirmed. I hope they'll stay. Toronto is lovely to be living in (though i am tired of it at the moment, but it'll always be my home!)

9:23PM: We better go! Romi actually left her window open and her keys inside the unlocked car! We drove to the venue and she has the sudden craving for ice cream, we didn't like the first place we stopped at, we decided to hop over to The Big Chill (367 Manning Ave + College - 416.540.9040) but the line up was massive so we went back to the venue.. On the way, we bumped into Nick and his British "mates".. one of them said to Nick "Do you know these birds?" ... Death stare, hello? Would he talk to us if he doesn't know us or vice versa? "No, we just flew from the sky!" I answered... DUH!


The Coral // The Meligrove Band
02.07.06.05 @ The Mod Club (722 College St - 416.588.4663)
Eileen + Elsie + Deddy + Romi

9:54PM: There's a Coral on the Lakeshore
The last time I saw The Coral was in March 2003 with Supergrass at The Koolhaus, so it's been a while. I was surprised to see the crowd turned out, more people than i expected. I spotted MasiaOne was working at merchandise, so i went over and chatted with her, caught up on things and told her i bumped into Karen in Vancouver. The band was great, though they didn't look as "ned" this time around though the singer James and drummer were both wearing Adidas trackpants! haha! James' singer was incredible, although he has slight problem with the feedback. The band played a 65 minutes of old and new mix, many of the olds in fact. The percussion was amazing: bongo & drums! What a great show!

11:40PM: Romi and Deddy gave me a lift to the subway station, we detoured to The Big Chill to get a couple scoops! Yay! Romi's mission finally accomplished! I got a scoop of Dulce de Leche, she got a double scoop of espresso and funky chunky chocolate! Yummmm.. Gah it's 2am i gotta sleep, tomorrow NXNE meeting then Chat Magazine party!

This Week 30 May - 05 June: Birthdays + Dinners + Eating Greens + Being Bad

01.30.05.05: Amy's Birthday
11:50pm: After Kaiser Cheifs, I had this cunning idea of going to Dominion and get mini vanilla cupcakes to surprise Amy for her birthday. She was glad and wished for something silly. hehe The mini cupcakes were very cute!

6:57pm: I *finally* made it to EAST (240 Queen St W - 416.351.EAST) to meet up with the girls for Amy's birthday dinner. It was basically same as the other Spring Rolls, only EAST has a bit more dim-sum like items. I had tofu green curry with rice, Eileen ordered a sea bass dish, Amy had mango chicken with rice and Nina ordered the General Tao chicken with rice. We all shared the mango creme brulee, Amy was surprised again to see our waitress presented the dessert with a lite candle. She got a second wish, hope she wisely wish for something else this time.. hehehe.

10pm: We went to Communist's Daughter (1149 Dundas St W - 647.435.0103) for a drink after dinner. The cozy little bar was located around the corner of where Amy and Eileen live now. It has an excellent jukebox! We spinned like 20 songs on the jukebox, i played some Rolling Stones, Gary Numan, Neutral Milk Hotel, Feist and TV on the Radio. The bartender, Michael, was very friendly.. There was a Run Chico Run sticker on the wall behind our table, i freaked. We played Hott Dice and i rolled 1-2-3-4-5! We left shortly after midnight.

02.31.05.05: Another Sushi Adventure with Mike
7pm: I've been looking forward to this! I haven't been to Sushi on Bloor (515 Bloor St W - 416.516.3456) for a while, so i'm very excited about this! And it didn't rain tonight.. hehe. We shared a spicy sushi pizza, a tempura appetizer, dynamic roll and crunchy roll. They looked so little but there was so much food! We had a good chat as usual, it was almost surreal that we were in Vancouver last week and there we are in Toronto. I kinda felt bad because there were heaps of people waiting outside and we were there for 2 hours. Even it was for a short time, it was great seeing him again.


Henri Faberge + The Adorables @ The Embassy

03.01.06.05: Niall's Fucking Birthdaaaay + Henri Faberge & The Adorables @ The Embassy
8pm - Pre-drinks & Dinner at A&E: Somehow i still haven't grasped the concept of havinig "Pre-Drinks" at A&E because Amy doesn't even drink and all of a sudden they have an entire bar of alcohol selection! haha! I arrived at A&E, Amy was making us some brown rice bowl with raw veggies on top and some vegan tahini dressing. Eileen was like "screw this, i'm having ramen!" hehe I thought it was tasty!

10 something pm: We arrived at The Embassy (223 Augusta Ave - 416.591.1132) at around 10-10:30pm, Bredan was by the door so I stopped and said hello, most of the seats were filled already. Ben, Emily and Renata were at the back, so we cut through whilst Thick Hawk was still playing and sat by the bar. The "stage" area was decorated with streamers and yellow balloons it was cute. The Township Expansion sounded much better this time, even though i'm sure Niall was very drunk, he kept saying "It's my fucking birthdaaaayyyy!!!" or changed part of the lyrics to that. haha so funny. Then Henri presented him a chocolate cake, we all sang "Happy Birthday", then they got into a cake fight! Henri Faberge + The Adorables were awesome as usual! Pete was dancing all night (and doing jumping jacks), with 2 additional waredrobe changes! They covered Donovan's Happy Together and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Map. Oh the fun times!!! The fun times repeat next month..

04.02.06.05: Oh Janet!
I bumped into Janet a few days ago on the bus, it was odd, i was napping and someone tabbed on my shoulder hahaha I haven't seen her for a long time, since she was busy with getting into school and I was on all these mini roadtrips. We made plans to have dinner tonight. We met at Yonge & Eglington, our only time hanging out in that area. We went and checked out Accessorize (2614 Yonge St - 416.483.4992) which apparently was an UK chainstore, i was just at one of their Vancouver location on Robson last week! We went to dinner at Pickle Barrel, since i've missed her birthday celebration, i treated her for dinner. Then we wandered to the 24hr Shoppers Drug Mart for some old time makeup/product talk fun.. hehe aww i miss hanging out with Janet!



06.04.06.03: NXNE + Wedding Dress Hunt + Ate My Greens
2:30PM: Blah Blah Blah.. It's that time of the year again,
NXNE is next week! It was kinda awkward stepping into El Mocombo post-20hz.ca incident. There were 20hz.ca posters plastered all over, when i was on route getting there, i was thinking that maybe i should get one of those Dylan headbands that says "stillepost.ca".. haha! It's the same every year at these volunteer meetings, i know it all too well, this will be my third year as cashier for the festival. But this year i've been nominated by "upper level" to do the "Count-Out" at the end of the night. I was kinda furious at first since i didn't want to stay behind and deal with all these money counting business.. but i guess it's an honoured to be nominated as well. we'll seee...

4PM: Eileen and I met up with Nina and Amy after our meeting at Pho Hung (St Andrews + Spadina), we had some Pho and spring rolls, as the other girls went to grocery shopping in Kensington Market. We met up with them after. I went to Courage My Love (14 Kensington Ave - 416.979.1992), one of my favourite store, and i unintentially found this very cute mint-sage vintage dress for $14, it would be PERFECT to wear for my cousin's summer wedding! (HAHA fooled ya! I guess the heading was misleading, Dress for a Wedding not Wedding Dress, certainly not MY wedding! My cousin Bonnie went to Xinjiang, China to teach English and met a guy from England a year ago, now they're getting married!! She's only 24!). Ironically, Amy was looking for a dress for her cousin's wedding as well, she intended to spend $20 but ended up spending $120 on it.. haha! We shopped around for a bit, we went for a sundae, then we went to Sunshine Deli (895 Dundas St W - 416.364.8832), where i bought a cute red vintage skirt with multi coloured butterflies for $22. Then we went to Clandestino (249 Crawford St - 647.436.4761) to check out some shoes.

8PM & 12:20AM: We dropped off our shopping, Amy made us this pesto pasta with shrimp.. then we headed off to Neutral (349 A College at Augusta in Kensington)for Eat Your Greens (Trevor and Duncan's new night after their years at Blow Up). The space was in a basement, but it's a cute space, it's nice. But it got really hott in there, so we spend most of our night outside by the steps. It was good music though, we danced and danced and danced the night away..

07.05.06.05: The Good Daughter but Feeling Bad
Finally i get to spend the day with my mother. I haven't been home for the past 3 weekends.. My sister is also back for now from Montreal. We chatted a bit this morning, she told me some stuff about Paris and how she might be moving to England next year. *Sigh* Mom and I went to Town Centre (our ritual every Sunday minus the DimSum this week). I felt kinda bleh today and i felt like being bad and spending... I bought couple tank tops and a pleasant skirt. I was going to buy more lingerie, but i've already spend $60 on lingerie on Friday.. which is kinda ridiculous really because i'm the one who sees myself in them! HA! I made veggie rice roll tonite.. it was yummy!!

Gig 44: I Predict a Riot, I Predict a Riot!!

Kaiser Chiefs // OK GO!
07.29.05.05 @ The Mod Club (722 College St - 416.588.4663)
Eileen + Elsie

A bigger venue this time, couple months ago Eileen and I saw them at El Mocombo with The Golden Dogs, Uncut and The High Dials. OKGO! was alright as usual we've seen that a few times before. The highlight of the night was when after their show they came back out and did a choreographed dance!! Brilliant! Kaiser Chiefs hailed the stage at around 11pm. They put on a high energetic show apparently it was also recorded by CBC Radio 3. Apparently our crowd was better than previous night (they played a free show the night before as Edge's Next Big Thing at same venue) and Montreal's. They were good, but being the indie snobs like we are, they're on their way out on our list.. too bad!

Film: Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of The Sith

*** 1/4 USA. 140 min. Colour 2005. Written & Directed by George Lucas. Cast: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee.

07.29.05.05 @ 3 pm Rainbow Cinema on Front St E with Eileen.

Eileen scored a pair of free movie passes for any films at Rainbow Cinema, we were meaning to go see Constantine but our schedule never worked out. We had to use them by the end of the month, since i'm staying at her place this weekend, and we have time to muck around before Kaiser Chiefs tonight.. so we've decided to see Star Wars.

This episode unfolds of how Anakin became Darth Vader. I almost forgot where the last film left off but it was an easy pick up. Of course the special effect for the film is excellent! Especially the CGI animation of Yoda. Apparently Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen had two months training in fencing and fitness in preperation for their fight sequences for the film. I was slightly disappointed at the fight sequence choreography, I recall it was lot more exciting for the other films. This instalment of the series was better than the previous two. Natalie Portman was horrible in this film, she was good in Closer but this one she was just reading the lines, she wasn't feeling it at all.

All these parties..

05.27.05.05: Toby's Bday Party at Disaster House
I went to Vidal Sassoon today and got a quicky fringe trim by Nhi then Zach and i met up and went to the Puma Sample Sale. We were disappointed as we both couldn't find anything. We then went to A&E to help prepare some food for Saturday's party. Amy had a terrible experience by Lorainne so she didn't come with us to Toby's party. Zach and I arrived at 12:36am.. we stayed til about 3:20am then we got chips at a convenient store closeby. By the time Steve and I got onto our Finch E Bus, it was almost daylight.. oo-er!!


06.28.05.05: A&E Housewarming Party at last!!
So much food! we made so much food but they were all soo good! We have a fruit platter with a few chocolate dipped items and arranged by moi! We made phyllo triangles with veggie curry and another variety with cheese and spinach. There's also these amazing veggie rice rolls with orange chilli dipping sauce. Amy had these smoked turkey with roasted red pepper jelly on crackers. Plus veggie platter with various dips. We had the screening of Amy's documentary when she worked on during her stay in Montreal, Chairman George, which debut on CTV the same evening. Guests arrived much later.. it was fun, glad everyone showed up and the party dismissed around midnight as most of us were heading to another party..


06.28.05.05: Ursula's Bday Party above The Bagel
I don't even know where to begin.. I'm too lazy to write and i think i'm going to take a break from these parties for a while.. Yes, i'm snubbing again! You can just go look at the pix from this party... here!

Ciao Vice Party

Goodbye Queen St, Hello Parkdale!
The stylish "hipster" store is moving on west, west to Lansdowne on Queen W. They held their last party tonite at the store. All the Vice boys all dressed up in suits with frilly shirts. I'm going to miss my break chatters and mingling with all the staff there, the store will be greatly missed at that location, and picking up free Vice Magazine and CD/DVD each month will not be as convenience. I'll also miss my discount, all the free booze at all the Vice parties...

Film: Crash

*** USA/Germany. 113 min. Colour 2004. Written & Directed by Paul Haggis. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser, William Fichtner, Ludacris, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe.

07.22.05.05 @ 1:30 pm Cineplex Odeon on Granville with Mike.

With a plot surrounds car accidents, Paul Haggis chains a series of coincidental events with multiple characters through the streets of Los Angeles. I thought it was good, i didn't love it. I felt the racism theme was too heavy in the film, one "black" or other stereotype, racism joke/comment one after the other, i felt it was over melodramatic and unnecessary. I like how Haggis uses the first half of the film developing the hate and conflicts of each character then each one came to an epithany. The acting in the film was great, Matt Dillon was great. The best was the Tony Danza unexpected appearance: "You're not black enough!!" I was very surprised they used Stereophonics' Maybe Tomorrow to end the film but it was sort of appropriate.

Go West !!!! Also, Gig 43!

03.18.05.05: Leaving on a WestJet Plane
I went over to Heather's at 2:30am and hung out until 5am, then i bussed to the airport, i was kind of intimidated of travelling alone at first but the Airport Rocket was actually quite convenient. The flight was fine, i had window seat all by myself, i didn't get to sleep much because i was too excited to look outside the window (see pix on pixblog).. i saw Regina, i missed Alberta - was totally sleeping, i saw the Rockies. Throughout the entire flight was sunny, as soon we hit Vancougar area, it's been all cloudy, period of sun and mostly rainy.


04.19.05.05: Vancougar Day I
The plane landed at 9:30, took the bus and went to Stan's posh apartment by the water at 10:30, i settled in and then we went for sushi lunch, so good! then i went shopping on Robson, and Kimmy called say she's in town.. so i waited for her and then we went to the Vancouver Art Gallery ($5 after 5pm on Thursdays), and we saw a photography exhibit (Real Pictures: Photographs from the Collection of Claudia Beck & Andrew Gruft - "Cocks & Flowers" photo montage was the best!!!) and some permanent collection of Emily Carr.. how cultured! Then we got rained in so went to have dinner at the Howard Johnson's Restaurant called Wildfire Bar & Grill (1162 Granville St - 604.682.3474), we shared a calamari, Kimmy had steamed mussels and i had a tuna and mango wrap. It was good! After dinner we were soo sleepy, along with shitey weather, we went back and hang out at Stan's watching Seinfied, but totally missed Jason's call..


05.20.05.05: Vancouver Day II
Kimmy accompanied I and did all the tourist stuff, went to Gastown and some vintage shopping at Deluxe Junk ( 310 Cordova Street - 604.685.4871). We saw the steamed clock, as it was 3pm, it hooted the famous Westminster Chimes ("Big Ben" theme).. soooo cheeseball!! Kimmy and i were dying laughing as all the German tourists were all in awe. On the way back to the apartment, we went by Scratch Records (726 Richards Street - 604.687.6355), and we passed by the Comtemporary Art Gallery (555 Nelson St - 604.681.2700) where there was this wall outside with lots of expression buttons, Kimmy and I joined in the pins picking wave. It was awesome, everyone was helping everyone getting the pins at the top with their umbrellas. We quickly dropped off our shopping, changed and went to the venue. We didn't really see anyone other than Alan, David, Brad and Donny, it was starting to spit a bit so we waited by the venue and chatted with strangers and Inge until it was time to meet Mike.


7:30pm: What make these boats go around and around?
After Mike arrived, we walked to Robson and went to this restaurant called Tsunami Sushi (238-1025 Robson St - 604.687.8744) which was a rotating sushi bar. We had loads of fun.. it was good too.. yummm!!


... And You'll Know Us By The Trail of Dead // The (International) Noise Conspiracy // We are Wolves
05.20.05.05 @ The Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville Street)
Kimmy + Elsie + Mike

Gig 43: Trail of Dead // The (International) Noise Conspiracy // We are Wolves
Guestlist problem, Mike wasn't on (gahh! Donny!!). As we went in, We Are Wolves were just coming on stage.. i've seen them before openning for Death from Above, i remembered i didn't like them too much, Kimmy was up front, Mike and I were further back. 2nd half of their set got better. The (International) Noise Conspiracy was AMAZING!! HOTT SWEDISH BOYS IN MATCHING OUTFITS! sooooo awesome! it got a bit rough, i moved further back for this set. Then after the set, i found Mike.. so we went further back and we chatted, Trail of Dead was really realy good, the crowd was rough but we were safe. There was a stage invasion!!!! But i didn't participate in this one.. i was too further back.. but it was so awesome to witness.

Backstage: Eilis (Conrad's Mother - coolest mom EVER!!!! She has more friends than Conrad on myspace!! And she ocassionally spread rumours about Conrad hahaha) could only get 2 passes.. So we waited around for Lee and asked if it's okay to bring mike in as well.. of course we could! so easy! So the band all hugged me when they saw me.. Danny curled up on the couch, he was about to pass out. The only one i didn't get to talk to was Kevin. Eilis asked if Mike was my boyfriend, i said "erhm, no" then she bluntly said "Well, he should be!" haha it was quite embarassing... Oh Eilis!! I drank half a beer then Jason announced there's an after party at this club called Shine down by Gastown. so Kimmy, Mike, Jason and i cabbed there..


The After Party: Shine
Jason did some "talks" and got all of us in for free.. Mike and I lost track of Kimmy and Jason as the party was at the back room of the club.. front of club were all top 40 hip hop.. the music was good at the backroom, we all drank and danced the night away, i bumpd into my friend Karen!!!! How ridiculous was that? Even in Vanoucver, I bumped into peeps!!! All of Trail of Dead (except for Kevin of course) were all there, danced with Alan, David, Alanna, Conrad, Jason and Donny.. Danny was being a bum, he just sat and drank water all night. Lugwig, new keyboardist and Denis from T(I)NC were there. We had so much fun dancing, i broke and lost part of my great-grandmother's bracelet watch, Mike was so sweet, he helped me look for the missing parts and we found them all!! Phew!! I nearly cried!! As the party ended, 3am, we were all outside making plans, Mike wanted to see the steamed clock.. so we took off to see the clock, we took some photos and went back to find out there was another after party after the after party.

The After-After Party: Was it an abandoned bar or was it someone's apartment?
The host Patrick turned down a few people going in, but Lee pointed at Mike and I and said we're okay. So we went in, it's good to know the right peeps.. hehe! C'mon, what's a vacation without partying with some locals?! The place was quite run down, Mike and i were mostly by the couch chatting as others were smoking up.. then i left for a bit and saw Jason by the "bar", so i joined in their conversation about an art documentary called "How to draw a bunny" about this artist named Ray Johnson.. I met Dani from the Cadeaux!! It was almost dawn, we decided to leave.. Lee agreed to give Kimmy and I a lift to Seattle if we could meet them at their hotel lobby by 10am.. Mike, Kimmy and I left the party at 5:30am, but we couldn't find a cab.. so we decided to walk in the direction of where we were going.. and ended up walking home instead..


06.21.05.05: THE AFTER MATH
Having just 3 hours of sleep, I woke up with a massive pounding headache, didn't felt too hott. I asked if Kimmy mind if i ditch out Seattle.. after she left, i took a couple of Advils but i couldn't went back to sleep.. so i decided to go about town. I stopped off in Yaletown and had lunch at a little French Cafe called Boulangerie la Parisienne (1000 Mainland St - 604.684.2499) then i went down to the Waterfront and saw Canada Place. Then i took the Skytrain to Commercial Drive - which was a disappointment, it was so not "hipster" at all, it was more like hippies with lots of organic, doobie and vegan shoppes. I did manage to buy a cute vintage skirt at Virgin Mary (1035 Commercial Drive - 604.844.7848). I rang up Mike and told him i didn't go to Seattle and see if he wanted to hang out later in the evening. I went back to the apartment to chill, wrote some emails and postcards, watched Saved and Fubar. It basically rained all day and night, Mike and I met up at a 24-hr cafe called Blenz for some hot cocoa. We both tried their dark belgium hot chocolate, it was delicious! It was no Au Festin de Badette (4085 rue St-Denis - 514.849.0214), but better than the Starbucks' Chantico. Apparently there was someone wanking in the bathroom.. heh heh.. We talked for 1.45 hours.. i thought we have lots in common. It was odd, found out that we used to hang out at the same places but we have never met. It was around midnite, we made plans to get together the next day as he walked me home.


La Crêpe Bretonne (795 Jervis St + Robson - 604.608.1266)

07.22.05.05: Rain, Rain Go Away!
As planned, i met up with Mike at his hotel lobby at 11am. The weather was not cooperating at all, it rained the entire time. We walked around to find a place for brunch, initial plan was brunch then a walk at Stanley Park if weather permitted. We walked for a while but couldn't find anything, it was also a Sunday i suppose.. We finally found a cute little French crêpe place called La Crêpe Bretonne (795 Jervis St + Robson - 604.608.1266), it was packed but we didn't have to wait long to be seated. The crêpe was quite authentic (even the staff has a French accent!!), it was just like the ones in Montréal. Très délicieux! Of course whilst we were inside the restaurant, it was sunny outside, as soon as we left the restaurant, it was pouring again. We decided to go to see a film instead. We went to Konbiniya (1238 Robson St - 604.682.3634) a Japanese convenience store and bought snacks then went film hunting. We first went to the Paramount theatre but nothing interesting was playing.. then we ventured to the Cineplex Odeon on Granville and we saw Crash. At around 3pm, i walked him back to his hotel as he had to head out to the airport heading back to the UK, we said our byes then i went to Chintz & Company (950 Homer St - 604.689.2022) and bought Stan a gift, then walked back to the apartment.


4pm: Drive every mountain then to the sea
Stan did a quick clean up, we had to leave the apartment because his landlord was bringing someone to see the place. So we went for a drive then Kimmy called so we went to pick her up at the Holiday Inn on Howe. Then Stan took us for a ride up the mountains to this place called Porteau Cove, Kimmy and i took some crazy pictures and we touched the ocean! Wheeeeee! Afterwards, Stan took us to Stanley Park and we took more crazy pictures by the Totem Poles, and few other sites.



7:30pm: "Can I make a reservation for you and I?"
We all were quite hungry so we went to Subeez Cafe (891 Homer Street - 604.687.6107) for dinner. Stan and Kimmy both had the teriyake Salmon sandwich, i had the broiled tuna sandwich. Sooo good! Kimmy and i kept giggling at this hott hostess who was not serving us, of course: "What time do you get off work? 9pm? Okay, can I make a reservation for you and I?" Stan could just sit there and shook his head hahahhaa.. AWESOME! We were all so tired so we didn't go out, we just chilled out back at the posh apartment watching Six Feet Under and X-Files..


01.23.05.05: The Vancougar Finale
Damnit, i kept waking up at 6am because i was on Toronto time! I packed my bags and left the apt around 11am, Kimmy and I visited a couple places i wanted to go back to takes pics for my stylish travelling guide (okay you don't have to get too excited YET, just you wait people!). Then we took the 22 Bus to go to La Casa Gelato (1033 Venables St - 604.251.3211), on route there, we passed through Chinatown. The shoppe was in the middle of nowhere, but there were 208 gelato flavours. We tried some weird ones: garlic, spicy mango, sour sop, saffron & pistachio, apple green death.. Kimmy got the frangelico & chocolate flake and Toblerone scoops and i ended up getting the chocolate & peanut butter and fig with chocolate shaving scoops.. it was fun! The handmade waffle cone was the bomb! Then we bus back it was 2pm, i wrote a few more postcards and then Stan dropped Kimmy off at the bus station (she's off to Victoria) and dropped me off at the airport.


3:20pm: I'm coming home...
I sat around the airport to finish up all the postcards, i posted them and then i checked in for my flight. Gah! I got the non-window "window" seat! It was a safe, short flight, I couldn't napped on the plane. My plane landed at 11:20pm, i felt kinda sad when i didn't see anyone i knew was waiting for me at the arrival.. boo! I didn't have the patient to wait for the Airport Rocket bus, i took the 58 Malton instead to Lawerence W Station. What a mistake, i took the long way, i got home at 1:30am.. zzzzzz..

I've had such an amazing weekend, even though it rained most of the trip, i enjoyed the most walking around the city in the rain, soaking it all in. I didn't make it to Seattle nor Victoria but i did met some amazing people, i wouldn't change my trip any other way! I need to go more places. From now on, I'm going to try to go travel somewhere at least once a year.. the experiences you gained from travelling are something that you can never learn from books. EVERYONE, DO IT!!

Gig 42: Athlete

Athlete
02.17.05.05 @ 275 (275 Yonge Street) // "Invite Only" (part of Edge 102.1 Next Big Thing Pretentious Blah Blah Blah Series)
Eileen + Elsie + Ren

The radio station was literally giving away these tickets like candies, but ironic thing was that it was so hard to win... anyway, we scammed a few of these tickets and because of "snob factor" we went. It was about half-full, people there looked very "Edge listeners" but there were a few real fans up at the front. Lots of waiting around and the band finally hit the stage around 8:40pm.. I've only stayed for a couple songs since i needed to go home and do laundry. They were alright for a debut, i got to hear the "Avril Lavigne" song aka "El Salvador" also the only song that i knew and i left shortly after that. Ren came after and Eileen said Snow Patrol were all there. Ah well.. gotta pack!!

Gig 39 - 41: Here it comes, here comes our days with Doves..

Toronto (04.12.05.05 @ 5:45pm):
Gah! So much work to do in the office, unfortunately i held everyone up i couldn't leave the office until 5:45pm.. i *finally* called eileen:

me: hey, where are ya?
eileen: We're on a side street..
me: where?
eileen: walk south on Spadina you'll see it.
me: erhm, okay.
eileen: we're in a PT Cruiser.
me: you're in a WHAT???
eileen: A PT CRUISER. A PURPLE PT CRUISER.
me: YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!

Windsor (10:30pm):
We finally arrived Windsor but it was too late to meet up with Marla since she had to work early the next morning. We drove to Hurricanes Roadhouse Restaurant (3217 Sandwich St - 519.255.1833) for their Oreo cheesecake, but they've changed the recipe.. :( we found a Travelodge and we stayed there for the night.


Windsor (05.13.05.05 - 11am):
We're on the road after we've checked out from the hotel in Windsor. Passinig the border was a breeze.. passed the infamous big arse tire in Detroit!! We arrived in Chicago with traffic, we're staying at Double Tree Hotel in the suburbs.. but it's a nice place and they give you amazing oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Across from our hotel is a shopping mall (it's more like a village coz all the stores are outdoor but looks like a mall from exterior, weird), it has a location of Cheesecake Factory *gasp*!


Doves // Mercury Rev
05.13.05.05 @ The Vic Theatre (3145 North Sheffield, Chicago IL) // Sold Out
Eileen + Elsie + Renuka

Chicago (5:45pm):
On this trip, every time Ren gets behind the wheel, we tend to get lost.. after some lost and found, we finally arrived at the venue at 5:46pm. We've been circling around the place trying to find parking until i spotted the Twins and Martin crossing the street. They dropped me off so i can talk to them to ensure we're on the guestlist but they went into a Thai restaurant. doh! I walked around the venue and Alex Grant saw me, he gave me a hug and said "I didn't know you're coming, you shoulda emailed me." so we talked for a bit, then Jimi Goodwin came by gave me a hug, did some small talk.. etc. After we situated our car at the hospital nearby, we walked around for a bit trying to look for food and we did some shopping, actually Eileen did, not me. *shock shock shock* I saw Coatsey as i was waiting for the girls in front of a pharmacy, he took care the guestlist for us. Then we went to the same Thai restaurant that the Twins & Martin went. I had a tofu green curry with rice, it was yummy.


7pm:
The guestlist is not out yet, and heaps of people went inside already. We spotted Angela (the chubbier one - one of the Detroit biatch from Idlewild) but her other Angela partner in crime wasn't there, figured she was there to see Alex. Anyway, we finally got into the venue. The venue is interesting, it is general admission but it has levels, side balconies and upper balconies are seated. Eileen didn't want to settle for 2nd row, so her and i retreived to the upper balcony.

Mercury Rev was the opening band for this tour. We've seen them before couple years ago with Oasis which we thought they were kinda boring. Their performance was good, interesting visuals, but i'm not sure about the singer's voice and his "moves" trying to illustrate the lyrics about being a white horse and tides to the moon.


Doves' set was amazing, they started off with Pounding, Words (one of my favourites) and Black & White Town (which totally made me want to dance but i couldn't because i was first row on the balcony). They played lots of the new material from "Some Cities" but it was also a good mix of old favourites. The crowd was good, as you can see from the pix, it was packed. Encore they did Here it Comes, Satelites and ended the evening with There Goes The Fear. The band said they were real rusty that night, they were fighting jetlag and it was the first show of the tour since the cancellation. We watched a bit of the crew trying to figure out the "puzzle" then we headed off to our suburbia hotel.. and of course, we got lost and went down near Chinatown. Ren saw a police car and stopped and asked for direction, she was talking to them for a long time and laughing.. she informed us that they were arguing which was the best way and then decided to escort us to the highway.. we stopped at a red light, the cops told us to go ahead there's no traffic, we hesitated but i guess it was okay to break the law when the cops told us to.. so we did. We were all like "CHICAGO POLICE RAWKS!!!!!"


Doves // Mercury Rev
06.14.05.05 @ The Majestic Theatre (4120 Woodward Ave, Detroit MI) // Sold Out
Eileen + Elsie + Renuka

Detroit (06.14.05.05):
We drove back to Detroit, on route we stopped at Denny's because we couldn't find and missed the IHOP. We were the only "ethnic" people at Denny's.. and we were grossed out by the amount of food we got. On this entire roadtrip, we were listening to Embrace, Arcade Fire (repeatedly), Kasabian, lots of Doves of course, some Charlatans & Kaiser Chiefs, and of course our "Blow Up" mix CD. We got in suburb of Detroit around 5:30pm, since we were going to go to Karen's place first. We managed to get a side spot in the front for this show. It was the same setlist. There was a technical difficulty during Here It Comes, boo.. it was funny becuase, they played it til where Jimi comes in and then stopped.. but Martin played the piano bit at the end to finish the song up haha.. they went ahead and finish the others.. In general, we thought the band sounded better last nite but we definitely had more fun at this show because we were up close and be abled to dance and sing to every song! It started to rain, we didn't stay long and we didn't want to be too late since we're staying over at Karen's. So we only talked to Alex and left. The Idlewild biatch were at the show, she was on guestlist too.


Doves // Mercury Rev
01.16.05.05 @ The Koolhaus (132 Queens Quay East, Toronto)
Eileen + Elsie + Renuka

Toronto (01.16.05.05):
Our last gig of this tour, well for Eileen and I anyway. Eileen arrived at the venue by 4:30pm, she spoke pretty much to everyone.. she called me around 6pm to see if i'm leaving yet and told me that we're good on the guestlist and even for 2 shows in New York. haha but we weren't planning of going to NYC! We got used to Mercury Rev, their drummer is awesome but we still can't get used to the singer's "moves".. we still crack up every time he does the flying horse move. Doves were awesome, it was the same set again but they sounded really good considering it was Koolhaus, the crowd was surprisingly good. I swore, they were going to play Spaceface as a second encore but they didn't and i guess Koolhaus is always tight about curfew as well. We stuck around for a bit just to say bye to everyone, but we only talked to Jimi. We got to meet Paul finally!!! Too bad Baz wasn't on this tour, haven't spoken to him for a while too. I hope Baz and wee Issac are doing fine.. It was great to see everyone again, until September..