A moment for Cecilia Zhang and her family, who's 10th birthday would have been today.

...Celebrate we will,

Because life is short but sweet for certain.

We'll climb in two by two,

Just to be sure these days continue;

Things we cannot change. -dm

-RE

As you all know, it was St. Patrick's Day on Wednesday. The co-workers of Irish descent were quite chipper and wearing green, keen on going out to enjoy a drink with fellow friends and family after work. The downtown core was buzzing with party-goers, most of whom were NOT irish but falling into the "kiss me i'm irish" commercialization of the event in North America. It reminds me of university, when drinking started at 9 a.m., keggers on the streets, and lineups to the campus bar going all the way outside. It's funny b/c as i'm talking to more irish ppl, they say they it's easy to find the real irish peopl because they're the ones who actually just go out to the bar and have some drinks... NOT deliberately yelling, screaming "irish" chants, drinking green beer and decked out from head to toe looking like the lucky charms guy!

This year I went to a place completely different. It was a magazine launch, down at a Hotel near Queen and Dufferin. It was a very nice space indeed. It's always great to be walking outside with little activity about, and once you enter you are surrounded by a huge crowd of urban 20 and 30-somethings enjoying a few drinks and each other's company. I have heard that the actual hotel rooms are incredible; at $200 a night they better be!

Back to the magazine launch. It was in the lower level (which took me 15 mins to figure out I was in the wrong area!), which explains why it was called the "underground". This magazine launch was different, because it was a quarterly magazine which is performed live (perhaps one day it will be published). The Underground was set out in 2 areas - the upper bar and 3 steps down to the lower seating area. It was here where you could sit and listen to these authors read their submission outloud. To you left was an abstract painter, painting on plastic-covered walls --inspired by the readings. To your right there was a film playing (in silent). You had lots of things to keep you engaged, i can tell you that! The crowd was definitely quite arsy, with a large queer audience as well.

The theme for this quarter of the magazine was "Adolescence". Even though it's a quarterly magazine, they are planning on performing once a month, and the theme changing per quarter. So the 1st subtheme of Adolescence was "Crush" (2 more subthemes to go). Each performance was somewhat related this theme, but at times it did stretch that relation quite far!

One of the funny ones was the "ask ann landers" part of the magazine. Since it was being performed, the relationship columnist read the submissions and her answers. She walked up with a Crush soda and put up a poster entitled "Sarah, what the fuck?" :) Each submission would go something like this:

"Sarah, when my boyfriend and I are having sex, I think about the list for groceries. What the fuck?"

Heh. She would answer the question in a very funny way, and move to the next question. Some of the questions were more elaborate then others, some to do with sex, some to do why the fuck are there ____chemical ingredient in Crush Soda.!

One of the other writers was bold and read some of her old diary entries from 1982 and 1983! She was about 14-15 at the time (i think), and man, it was hilarious! Especially since this writer has been published in such places as Eye Weekly, The New York Times, Vibe, National Post, Toronto Star, and the Globe. She read old entires about her "true loves" and exposing her childhood vanity, and then gave updates of what happened years later. It was quite amazing to hear how she was in the early 80s and yet so much similar to my younger at present day! She was laughing at herself the entire time too, which was great.

Anyway, I could go on. Once I get typing, it just keeps flowing out! But It was quite a different St. Paddy's that than i'm used to, but just as memorable. Good times indeed!

Take care,

RE

"eat drink and be merry"

Recording.. Atttempt #241
This weekend I went up north to Keswick, taking the 404 until it ends, then going north on a 2-lane road for another 30 mins! It was quite the trek, but worth it.

My drummer lives up there and has his studio all setup in his house. It's a nice studio, mind you dirty, but given the amount of equipment and #of musicians that perform there, it's not a suprise. I really like how it feels like a home studio; the "garage band" vibe :). I was also thrilled to see a wicked drum setup, with a rack mount and at least 8 cymbals around him. There was also a PA system and PA speakers, allowing for his band to really rock out and being able to hear the music and not just noise.

The drummer and I layed down 3 bed tracks that night. By bed tracks, I just mean the very basic rhythm guitar and drum tracks. The most critical part of the process is laying down the drum / rhythm, since everything will be based on top of that. We tried to record other songs, however it wasn't working w/o the rest of the band there. Many of the songs needed everyone else b/c the ending of many songs is dependant on the feel --- we couldn't just arbitrarily say "ok, we'll do a 12 bar outro" with our music.

I'm also super excited b/c my brother and I have been working on the band website. I think he'll do a wicked job, and he's using the tree that a bandmate and I created as the inspiration, as well as the original web template that was created. He'll be adding in more artistic flare to it. I was never totally happy w/it, however I couldn't complain since

a) He did it for free for me, and
b) I don't enough web html skills to freely edit it.

I'm also working on the mailing list and other promo things, along with a new song is ready enough to present to the band. I don't know what it will sound like after the band inputs their parts in the piece, but i'm excited to see what happens. I'm envisioning a cool lead guitar counter melody, which should go well with the rhythm guitar part that i'm playing. We'll see, since i'm actually singing this song so i won't be able to play the lead and sing at the same time. And who knows what the bass/drums and keys will add!

A Buzz at Work
Things at work have been quite hectic, because my manager and I were part of a pitch to a client for a promotion in fall. The team had 1 week to brainstorm, develop concepts, research the best concepts, mock it up, and create a deck / concept boards for today. Crazy eh? I helped out out on one of the concepts, and my one made it to the final 3 to be presented! woo hoo! :) It was a bit nerve racking speaking to the Marketing director of a potential partner, telling them what we want to do w/o telling them the client's name or info like that. But after the tough intro, thankfully she warmed up and I got her really excited about our idea w/partnering with them for the promotion! She dropped her afternoon to work on what I had said (i had no idea until later!), and called me back about her findings.

Thinking about it, this makes sense. Since this promotion could bring them over $100K, why not put a little effort into it? (it's not me trying to get money from them, like cold calling high schools in my last job!) In a sense, I was their client, so they'd first be happy that I approached them on my own, and second be excited about this unanticipated potential incremental income for her. I saw the concept boards from the studio and they look wicked! We had 3 art directors on it, so each concept gave a totally different artist flavour. We are presenting the concepts today, so we'll see how they take to them!

Buffalo Bound
Since it's march break, my sister and mother is off. What does that mean? Road trip to Buffalo! My family is going on a 2 day road trip shopping in the U.S., specifically buffalo. I'm not sure where else they're going, but i'm sure it will be a good time! The march break has so far been GREAT for me, b/c it's so much more quieter in my area. Since i live in a very residental area, much of our traffic in the morning / aft rushes are from the neighbouring schools. I live 15-20 minutes from work, driving in the area of at least 8 schools! So this morning it was desolate -- like chrismas day! No minivans and SUVs to battle. I also shaved off 25% of time on the drive to work today (I hope this summer it will be the same!).

So tonight I have the house to myself. I don't remember the last time I had the entire house to myself. May be 5 years ago? Who knows! It will be nice a quiet... well, except for a visit for dinner from my superboyfriend! It looks to be an eat, drink and being merry night!

Take care,

RE

"eat drink and be merry"

Right now i'm at working taking a bit of a break. A nice 10 minute destress sounds good right about now! Some crazy things have popped up here at work, and my manager has to focus on these new projects. It's a good thing, since it's new business coming in that we get to work on, but the timelines are very tight so it's all about scrambling to meet the required deliverables.

I just realized that i'm writing in work mode still. ARUGH. OK. i stop now. :)

So now my manager is focusing on this, and she's really relying on me to pull the weight of the other programs that are running. It's a great opportunity for me to take this on full tilt and really expose me to everything very fast... as long as I can keep up!

Today I attended a team lunch, celebrating the success of a project that I had no part of :). Free ride baby! :). It was located at Parliament and Carlton. It was a very nice place, and the food was great! I wish i knew how they seasoned their shrimp.. MAN!

While driving down the road was blocked for 2 blocks north on Parliament, starting from Carlton. It was for a filming of a Liberty Street parade.. For those of you how don't know/remember, Liberty Street is totally NOT a street in Toronto (at least to my knowledge), but is in fact the equivelant Church Street to a television show...

...Yep, taht's right, QAF was filming!

It was funny listening to all the "I wonder what's that?," "Is this some gay festival? At this time of the year?" and "I wonder what movie their filming.. So many rainbow gay flags!". It just reminded me that QAF is coming back.. a few more months to go.

I know the now isn't very good anymore, but some pure gay content is fun to watch. :) There's nothing wrong with getting a little Brian Kinney or Mikey in your system eh? It's fun to watch w/friends, and I wonder if i'll be able to make it a social night time around. 'Course, that meant passing out on the subway ride home, but at least it gives you something to look forward to on a Monday!

Take care,

RE

"eat drink and be merry"

On Saturday night I went to a friend's bday party at downtown @Cobalt. It's a bar/lounge cocktail bar, located near Bathurst and College. It's a very chic place, and i was a bit underdressed for the atmosphere. I just came from band practice, and i was wearing a long sleeve beige shirt with a black Clockwork orange Tee above it..

This was more of a trendy collar shirt venue, but not in a "business casual" sort of way. Think striped short-sleeve shirts or zippered fitted sweater tops. The women in the place were very stylish, ranging from arsty prep-punk to Club Monaco sleek monochromatics to Aritzia/Queen St. urban mod (accents like a chic hat like a friend wore to the Phoenix a few weeks ago* or a scarf). The music was unfortunately a disappointment, because the Dj was playing quite dated and radio abused music, reminiscent of a friend bringing over a CaseLogic 100 CD holder and appointing himself as the " house DJ" for the night. So we heard stuff like The Vines ("Get Free") and White Stripes ("7 Nation Army"). There were some "newer" music playing, but to my chagrin it was shit like "The Darkness". Arugh. I remember the music being much better that last time I was there, so perhaps it was the pop alt-rock night or something..

Anyway, I arrived quite last because of the band practice (as well as a going out for dessert with a friend who just hooked up with a great guy! woo hoo!). It was quite tired, and debated whether I should go. Once I did arrive, I was SO glad that I came. I met some very cool people, as well as got to see the birthday boy himself! One of the guys is in an old school hip hop rock band, and he plays piano and the cello. I hope to check out his band sometime, because it sounds very cool and they've won many battle of the bands competitions in Toronto.

There was a story recounting events from last weekend, where 2 of the guys were possessedby the upper Pool gods. They were just playing a game of pool at a pub, and this busload of high school students came in like they owned the bar. A few of the macho adolescent males challenged them to a friendly game of pool, of which my friends whipped their asses in under 2 or 3 turns. They OWNED the table for 2.5 hours (over 10 games), totally possessed. It was funny b/c they were saying as they got drunker, they kept on sharp on the ball before the shot. It was hard to walk over to the pool table and put the cue in hand, but once it came down to the shot, again it was a bulleye--they were even placing the ball for the next shot, which is incredible. When they finally lost (i bet the drink finally took it's toll--they accidently scratched on the 8-ball), the entire bar cheered!! Crazy!! I wish I was there to experience that.

What was also funny was a conversation they had with some of the girls. They were apparenly hot, but had nothing upstairs:

"So, where are you from?"

"London"

"Oh yeah whereabouts?"

"I don't know..."

"What? How do you not know?? OK.. well are you from the North or South?"

"uhh.. I don't know about those sort of things.. "

Sad sad sad. You don't even know if you're from the NORTH or SOUTH? We joked about asking "OK, what mall are you near", which i'm sure she could have easily answered something like "Oh, like, it depends on what direction dad's driving." Ah well. They have some years to grow up, right? Let us pray they wake up and smell the scent of reality rather than the Ralph Lauren parfume they're soaked under.

3 More Months...
One topic I had to discuss was the new Toronto bi-law that will take in effect May 2004. I can't believe it's been 5 years since I first heard this in 1999. Way back then they said they were transitioning the stubborn city through multiple phases, taking out smoking in any indoor public space. Remember when they said that phase 1 was banning smoking in any restaurants, and watching all these owners being forced to be either an all ages restaurant or a 19+ bar? The days of going to a local pub for lunch for under-agers were no more.

Anyway, i remember hearing that distant year of 2004 saying when bars/clubs/bingo halls/casinos were going to be added to the list. Well, gosh darnit, it's actually 2004 and come May the next phase will come into effect. The birthday boy is one of those Denis Leary "SMOKING IS A HUMAN RIGHT AND WILL EXCERCISE MY RIGHT TO SMOKE WHENEVER I WANT" guys who'll be kicking and screaming all the way to the hospital when he gets lung cancer at 32. I can't wait until this come into effect, and i won't have to wreak of smoke when I get home and cough my way through the haze of bars/lounges/clubs/pubs anymore. He says he'll bring his own ashtray if he has to.

Pathetic. It's like a tireless old man yelling and screaming about "the good old days" and "how 'the man' has taken our rights away. Watch my single tear fall from my face for you. It's funny how such a small group of ppl can be so freaking loud and cranky. No one is listening, don't you get it? the louder you get, the better ear plugs we have to get. That's about it. While they're enjoying their cigarettes in home bathroom close to the toilet fan, cross legged listening to Leonard Cohen and muttering about their freedom, I will be out downtown and enjoying my right to breathe inside again. :)

All in all, I had a great time there and I was glad I came by. I wish my superboyfriend was with me, but i know he had to get up v. early the next day.. I was actually in his area when I was dropping the bday boy off (ah yes, Taxi Man was rearing his fine head again -- na, it was a special occasion being it was his bday though!) which was by Pape and Gerrard, but I don't think he'd appreciate a 3:30 a.m. wake up!! :P. Afterwards I went back and had a few hits on my pipe with one of my best buddies also came out that night, and watched about 45 mins of "Old School" (see image left) .. Pretty funny movie! i'll have to watch the rest some other time.


Anyway, It was good times had by all, and I hope this is will be a good 24th for him!

Take care,

RE

*see January 9/04 entry

The Weekend
These past few days have been up and down. The weekend had such great weather! I spent time downtown walking around, shopping for CDs and taking in the warm weather. I love this weather! These next few months will be my favourite temperature of the year. By late June it will get so muggy and I'll get all flustered and saucy because of the heat.

While I was at HMV i found that all the CDs i wanted were only white-stickered. This meant an average price of $23.95 per CD, and most of them were around the $25 range. What an outrage! I realized that I need to go to the smaller indie or used stores so i can at least afford all the CDs i want. I got my first paycheck wired to my account last Friday, so I thought i needed to reward myself with a few CDs. Luckily i did find what i wanted at a used CD store, and found the others at HMV/Amazon online, at only $17.99 a pop. Much better eh? So even though I am waiting for some of the CDs in, i technically puchased 5 CDs:

1. Damien Rice - O
2. Broken Social Scene - You forgot it in the people
3. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
4. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
5. Postal Service - Give Up

Finally I can feel a bit better since i've had so many tracks off these albums in my digital library for so long! :). I can't wait to put these on and listen to them seamlessly on some headphones... it will be well worth the wait!

I also had another band practice over the weekend, but this time it was a little scaled down. There was a quick change of plans and we had to move the time of the practice to the next day, and unfortunately our drummer couldn't make it. It was still very productive, b/c our bassist had only played with us for one practice. We could centre in on the problems he was having, and given the fact that we're performing this Wednesday, we should make sure we hammer out any of the major problems! I'm pretty excited to perform since it has been awhile, and it can help get us out there more too. I was hoping we'd have some CDs to sell, but the recording devil is still upon our shoulders... I am really hoping with the new band members we can now focus on recording, as well as now having more members who can potentially offer a bit of support with the "backend" stuff-- it's been a little hard these past few weeks b/c i have just started a new job an am trying to find a balance there, let alone band too.

Work
Speaking of work, on Monday I had a very long day. It was "just one of those days". I was totally loaded with so many things to do. I was also a bit sick and groggy, so I was moving a bit slower that day as well. You know how that is, when you WANT to move faster, but just can't process and analyze things at the same rate. It's so frustrating, since it's like you've had a few tokes but

A) you're throat is killing you and you can't hear much
B) you AREN'T high and at least enjoying the buzz.

Today was much better, and I think it was also it was b/c it was a start of a new business week, and everyone is going full tilt. Hopefully by Thursday everyone will be winding down again :). I went to Staples to look for a weekly Calendar again. I couldn't find the one that I had chosen over the weekend (i was planning on ordering it at work via the company catalogue), so I went back to a Staples to pick it up myself. Of course, my indecision came back to haunt me. After over HALF AN HOUR of looking at the different models, I ended up with NOTHING! How sad is that? I had second thoughts over not getting one with hours written into it, and I started to warm up to the column-based weekly calendars (see left). They gave a great perspective on the week by aligning the entire week up with the days on the top and small columns. But the thing is, they were either way to big or way to expensive. Some of they were the right size but didn't have hours in them (I didn't want them before, but realized w/this job i really should), and some were just plain UGLY. Could I justify paying $20 for a daybook that was quite cheaply made and I could forsee a per unit cost of no more than $4? And where are the sales?? I won't be using 16.7% (2 of 12 months) of the actual product!! Ah well. I'm not going to settle for one this fast, since i'll be stuck using it everyday for the next 300 days or so!! I hope to find one soon.. the search continues!

Tomorrow is the gig, so I should get back to practicing. I am excited b/c there will be some important people coming who have yet to see me perform on stage in Toronto. Hopefully they'll have a good time and it won't be the last! One of them also just got a new car, so i definitely want to congratulate him on that!! I also have an early press approval off-site, so I have to be prompt to be picked up at my house for 8:30 a.m.!

Take care,

RE

"eat drink and be merry"