The opening for Team Macho’s show at the Magic Pony was really, really fun.
Firstly, the 5 boys work is incredibly awesome.
They take pop-cultural references, in-jokes, found ephemera and fluro colours, whirl it around and create some of the funniest, brightest, eye-catchingest work around.
It even has a dark edge to it, just to keep all the cutsey-pie haters on their toes.
It’s the kinda stuff that I’d hang on my walls in a second (if I could afford it) but would be equally at home in a fancy, pretentious gallery.
In other words, it’s intensely marketable which - contrary to popular belief - is an amazing thing to accomplish as a an artist.
It’s right up there with dying young.
Secondly, the party was fun. I actually knew some people there.
And most importantly, I met a Food Jammer, specifically Chris, and he was super, super nice. As sincere and authentic as you could hope for in a TV personality. Which is the reason I like the show in the first place.
I like my cooking show’s to be honest and not contrived. I want to see the people make mistakes and be un-scripted.
So far, Food Jammers does that, so I’ll keep watching.
And so should you,
And you should also go see the Team Macho stuff if you’re in Toronto while it’s still showing.
We actually had a pretty solidly OK weekend, despite the prospect of being broke and bored out of our minds dangling over our heads.
We headed to the ROM on Friday night, as Friday nights are free, and we wanted to see the newfangled galleries they’ve been crowing about.
Although many galleries were closed due to the construction, I have to say that the new Asian and Native American exhibits are definitely worth a look-see.
Yet another little known fact about me is that (while I myself am not native) I was born on the Six Nations Reserve and lived there for the first few years of my life. So I especially enjoyed that there was a large chunk of the Native exhibit dedicated to the very place I grew up.
On Sunday a friend took us to see the Kickball game at Alexandra park. Despite a heavy downpour, a dedicated dozen or so indie rock kids showed up to prove that their sense of irony is stronger than their desire to avoid getting pneumonia.
But seriously, it actually looked like a ton of fun.
Even though I myself politically object to kickball (much like many object to the sport of dodge-ball) I am trying to encourage Liam to go play, and I am completely willing to watch and hang out in future.
So.
All this got me thinking about all the great free activities that there are in this city.
And about how poor we currently are.
And how there is no one place to go that catalogues the fun, free stuff, for us, and people like us.
So.
I have decided to compile a list of the best things to do when you’re young, bored, broke and Torontonian
And I’m calling it:
It will be an on-going and interactive project, so if you know anything I don’t, feel free to tell me and I’ll update the list.
Watch out!
There are forces conspiring to screw us out of the little that we have.
One should specifically watch out for Leah McLaren, and Debbie Travis.
According to the both of them, my generation is the following:
Over-educated,
Over-achieving,
Over-indulged,
Entitled,
Cocky,
Lazy,
Work Ethic-less,
Rude,
and
Horrible.
(more…)
Whenever I get depressed I watch Andrea Dorfman’s little film called: Love That Boy and it makes me happy pretty soon after.
It’s brightly coloured, quirky and satisfying eye candy that might even be called… dare I say it? Heart-warming. Yes, I think it just might be.
While filmed on the east coast somewhere, it always reminds me of cool Toronto kids. The characters knit, sew, bake, wear Fluevogs and Damzels in this Dress dresses and live in perfectly manicured, thrift/scavenged, retro environs (not to mention, have an awesome indie rock soundtrack - but that pretty much goes without saying at this point).
It is one of my favourite movies of all time.
Liam has just been turned down for yet more jobs, so yesterday afternoon I curled up in the bedroom with my laptop and a copy on DVD and emerged cheerful.
I then decided to look up Ms. Dorfman to see if she was up to anything new (Love That Boy was distributed a long 3 years ago). I found a biography somewhere that said she was working on a new script and, more importantly, owned a little shop called the Knit Cafe here in Toronto. A little shop that just so happens to serve coffee, tea, and yarn. A little shop I’ve passed by many times, because it happens to be only about two blocks away.
I think I’m going to have to investigate this.
And possibly learn how to knit.
And if there’s one thing I suck at, it’s knitting.
As an interesting addendum to yesterdays Sneaky Dee’s post, there’s an article in The Star today about the state of our Mexican food in Toronto.
The general consensus is that it’s not good.
I would agree with that.
It’s definitely one of the few cuisine that this town is sorely lacking in…
Although there are small, relatively authentic taco shops tucked into back corners of this town that aren’t bad (I know there’s a good place in Kensington Market somewhere).
Despite the fact that Liam has been pretty sick for the past few days we’ve managed to keep relatively busy. Mostly because I am being driven slowly crazy by a sick boy in the house (you all know what they’re like). We went back to Sneaky Dee’s, which is much more comfortable during the day, and indeed has pretty good - if not in any way authentic - Mexican food. They had an item on the menu called: “El Gringo.” It made me giggle, as the whole menu could have been called that.
Today we took a long walk in High Park. It cleared Liam’s head up a bit (and cleared up my stir crazy head too). It also worked off some of the dinner we had at my family’s for Easter (traditional ham and scalloped potatoes).
I was a little disappointed though - it may be technically spring on the calendar, it might even be nineteen degrees outside, but there is not much to show for it out there - the beginnings of buds, some barely green grass.
Be spring already! I think we need to physically move this whole town south by a few degrees. That would fix it.
But there were many ducks, geese, swans, loons, woodpeckers, red-winged black birds and other unidentifiable feathered creatures.
No baby birdies though.
And none of them would stay still enough for me to draw them.
Pout.
Their loss.
Recently I made these cookies.
They were pretty yummy.
Like light, crunchy, icing sugar covered brownies.
Little known fact about me:
I am addicted to the Food Network.
Most of the time, I watch to get simple ideas for dinner, and make fun of the atrociously stiff and square host chefs.
Then there is the rare show that I am completely devoted to: food, host, soul, mind and body.
In the past, that show has been Nigella’s - who I would like to be someday, complete with British accent, Architectural Digest-worthy London flat, photo-shoot-adorable children, columns in the Guardian and British Vogue and a bad case of sexy bed-head.
I also used to enjoy that Italian Dolce Vita show but it kinda jumped the shark in it’s second season (and was subsequently cancelled, it seems).
The Surreal Gourmet is ok, sometimes, and Alton Brown on Good Eats is adorable most of the time, but that Kevin Brauch kid has annoyed me ever since he used to host public television kiddie shows so I can’t quite handle Iron Chef.
And then, of course, there is Jamie Oliver, who I would willingly watch doing pretty much anything. His new Italian Vacation show is pretty entertaining too.
But the point of all this, is that there is a new kid (actually, three) on the block, and I might just have to marry all of them.
This new show is called Food Jammers and it stars three Toronto based artsy/crafty boys (including this guy)) who make elaborate food from common household implements (turned into appliances). It’s just about as trendy Toronto as it gets, complete with opening titles designed by Seth Scriver (who I have met before, because I am awesome).
It’s wacky, it’s fun, it’s artsy, it’s food, it’s got an indie-rock soundtrack… I think I’m in love.
My mom is busy cleaning out my grandpa’s house so we can sell it. She brought home her old case of Barbie dolls. Inside was a literal treasure trove of stuff, including quite a few pieces of vintage Skipper fashions (for those not in the know, vintage Skipper fits Blythe perfectly).
So now my doll has more gorgeous vintage clothes than I do! Which is not fair really.
Sofia is turning out to be quite the vintage girl too, which is a bit unexpected. I was planning on dressing her a little bit sixties Italian mod, and a little bit modern Japanese fruits.
But it turns out she looks best in sweet little vintage outfits from the fifties. These dolls really take on personalities all their own!
Maybe if I write down the things I would like to do this next couple of months, I will actually remember to go and do them.
- Make more recipes from the Juice For Life cookbook. I have finally won Liam over to the concept that healthy food=good stuff. Last night he made me very yummy veggie burgers. And now I’m sure he’s impressed I’m sharing this manly, macho information with the internet.
- Sign up for one of those delivered organic food boxes. I like this concept: A suprise box filled with yummy veggies, delivered right to my door. A steady supply of vegetation should also help out with the previously mentioned healthy eating thing as well.
- Go to the Toronto Comic Con. There is no TCAF this year. That gives me no choice but to go and do something significantly more nerdy. But I’ll have you know that I’m going mostly to secure myself a copy of the latest Scott Pilgrim.
- Go see Team Macho’s latest gallery show at the Magic Pony. Not only did my boyfriend go to high school with a member of the collective (yet another talented and trendy Thunder Bayian) but the same fellow is an illustration TA at OCAD, and so will probably be my teacher at some point. This is all besides the point though, because the real reason to go is that these guys are very talented and very silly. Kind of like a Toronto art collective version of Monty Python. Or Monty Python if they were all Canadian and Terry Gilliam.
- Visit the “invite only” information session for admitted students at OCAD. Should be interesting.
- Visit the spring Crafternoon Tea, since I missed the Christmas one.
- Go see more concerts, in general. There’s so much good musical stuff going on in this city, and we need to slowly immerse ourselves in it. It helps that at five bucks a pop (or even pay what you can sometimes) for many indie shows, this is something we can easily afford right now.