Without a Yard

I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.
I will never see a concert at the Docks ever again.

Kudos to Chromewaves scribe, Frank, for this succint statement that sums up the experience for all the 19+ music enthusiasts in attendence (= 35% of the audience):
“…that bill was pretty much the only thing that could have gotten me to go venture down to that venue again, let alone in the dead of winter.”

Bury Me Not concurs: “Just a quick post to mark my first & last visit to the concert hangar at the Docks.”

Of course, I didn’t bring my camera, we left in a flurry of finishing editing projects & getting de-scrubbed & planning our transit raid on a St. Lawrence Market dinner date…Not that it matters, my only pics would’ve been the tops of peeps heads throughout the New Pornographers set, some ugly dwarf-tween-hybrid giving my bud Rachel RedBull&Vodka-fueled sass, 905er & Windsor refugees complaining about parking & the beyond-obnoxious twit of a girl that was pretty much dry humping my leg for the first 20 minutes of the Belle & Sebastian set (which might work with the indie dudes, tho I can imagine the ones that smoshing at the front were more preoccupied with the music than this sloppy lass). ugh. Tho, I’ve ranted on this poophouse too long, like after the Calexico/Iron&Wine gig…

But I saw Stewart dance & they played my favs, & despite the chimps, there were some delicious treats (both oldies & upbeat recent EP tracks) from an admittedly decent sightline (4 peeps in, stage right-right-right)…

too wiped to describe in more detail…& with those links, there’s no need…
peace
meegs

Finally, the weekend has come. Though it’ll require a long-ish urban trek & comfy shoes endure…the Belle & Sebastian & New Pornographers gig has finally arrived. Why don’t they make advent calendars for this kind of epic spectacle? Beyond my adoration of Neko & admiration of things Behar, there’s a special place in my heart for Carl Newman. It’s a given that….well, a close third behind my Dad & Archie …he’s my fav redhead dude & he certainly held it together at the New Pornos show we saw this summer at the finish-your-drink’n'leave-before-the-booty-music Phoenix….{I was lucky to catch a solo gig just before I moved to TX in a passing-of-the-torch briefing with the recently returned Canuck staffer of AMF….}.

Now, instead of the Phoenix Nazi/Russia security & early evening apathy, it’s at the finish-yer-goddamned-encore-before-the-Island-residents-get-cranky Docks. I remember at the Iron&Wine/Calexico [what's up with the Docks & booking the heavy-hitter double-billers? Can't some other downtownier venue usurp this concrete nightmare? Wrote about the I&W/C concert in December here somewhere] These guys can’t get a venue break…Unless you count the schmoozeriffic Horseshoe gig that they’re playing for Edge listeners. Yeah, I love the NPs, but not enough to listen to that broadcast bile.

Should be an inneresting crew coming out to the show, I know a ton of the Beau’s friends are exploring the twee merriment of Stuart Murdoch & Co. for the first time. I’ll be nice to get their thoughts on the massive Glasgow pop cannon (Can they ‘make a new cult everyday’??). I foolishly turned down Belle & Sebby tix when I was nose-to-the-grindstone’in at UofT….young & devout to my studies….I’ve kicked myself ever since, especially after I heard that that gig was the beginning of the end of Isobel’s participation…. Bygones, bygones. I gotta haul it to a meeting this a.m. & stop procrastinating an exit from my scrubs. Hopefully I’ll have some decent pics to share from the show & if you are free this eve & into some more music nerdery, join us at the Bloor Cinema to celebrate an amazing Texan - a prolific songwriter - a thoughtful & intuitive lyricist….Townes Van Zandt…9:30. I’ll be there with Nibs on.

So the first day went off without a hitch. Put new coversheets on a couple of TPS reports, you know how we do. I’m getting used to the different environment, more modern architecture (like, um, 70s), more staffers, more meetings & generally more layers of approval & bureaucracy. Smells like Ottawa. The actual procedues/infrastructure seem a bit excessive & Fort Knox-ish in Ministries considering that the level of security in the acutal Legislature building is less search-intensive than that of a shift-ending UrbanOutfitters employee.

The weekend was pretty much a total bust. I had a raging eye infection that plagued me for a couple of days & left me in out-of-date glasses land. Brutal squinting & bitching (well, the bitching was quite enjoyable). Got to catch up with Dorothy & enjoyed good Mex food on Queen W. Did venture out to a couple of record shops & have been enjoying some new tunes. Brian Borchedt’s Holy F*c% album doesn’t quite capture the energy and insane rush of his act’s live shows, but it’s pretty F*c%ing close, the new Belle & Sebastian have been accused of being ‘too perfect’ - bleh, critics & Jenny Lewis’ take on nostalgic covers
whittled away the squintin’ days & nights. Another LP that had less than stellar reviews, but with beautiful voices & melodies that I can’t resist supporting….& I said that I got this for my pa, but I really deep down wanted to see Rick Rubin’s mojo working on the all-time fav Jewish Christmas music crooner, the real glittery deal, Neil Diamond. Check out Sasha Frere-Jones’ take on all things Rubinesque & Neil.

Hopefully Ozzy will return from Brockville soon so we have an excuse for more TX-inspired dining out evenings - the other Ladies Euclid (Sisters?) want to toast to his B-day with another BBQ-day.

Might head out tomorrow night for fear of batch’ing it again - the Beau scored some sweet hot TO tickets & there’s no ‘and one’ for the ‘and one’ers. Tit for tat, we are going on a night of revelry, politicin’ & basketball when the work crew returns from Nashville & Montgomery, so I cain’t complain…

Since I can’t complain, I’m out of material.

Peace
meegs

Chivalry’s not dead. It was just sleeping. Dreaded V-day passed with far less than a whimper. My faith in beautiful, surprising acts of kindness is restored & I have no choice but to throw my hands up in despair looking for another reason for my cynical belief system.

So I won’t even try to fumble my way through talking about real-relationships or good ones at that. I’ll just say that anyone & anything preventing the creeping onset of boredom & misery is good times (Editor’s Note: This motto CAN get you into a bit of trouble depending on state legislation & ages of consent, etc, etc…). This usually requires hooking up with a rare breed that has 120+ IQ points to rub together, taste, patience, wit & perspective.

Ex.

(Heads up for another amazing artist-artist now blogging - a dude who - like Gondry - did Bjork justice, John Kriscfalusi, & he had a little cartoon gig that you might’ve heard of….While on the tangent, check out Amanda & Michelle’s work, too…please….& Lou, too)

Living la vida scrubby ain’t all it’s cracked up to be (Tho that Elvis samittch went down pretty good). Finished shopping & cooking & looking forward to a more sociable evening tomorrow when my colleagues & I re-hash the TSN Turning Points of our first terms ‘in office.’

Hopefully we won’t debauch ourselves or let slip any covert opps before movin’oan’over.

In more exciting news {besides seeing my first muzzled pit bull & its ‘gangsta’ human companion, who BTW could’ve used a face-piece himself….Dear hip-hop idolizing Portuguese Youth of my ‘hood: If you’re gonna harass me while I walk home in high heels with my groceries, at least offer to carry’em, you lazy baggy-pant’d pig!} tomorrow @ The Boat is the loooong-listed & eagerly anticipated Sloan.Tribute.Night…..

So imma take good care of my po’boys & posse out - Join us, it’s only $5 you cheap such’n’such!
Featuring: The Bicycles, Laura Barrett, Penny Whistleton (striptease), Dollarama, The Chris Murphies (w. some Adorables, Township Expansion, & Another Blue Door members), Disgrimination (members of No Dynamics, Broken Treefort, Rosazia), Cry Cry Papsmear (”demented circus sideshow featuring the Coconut Boys”), The Odyssey (”a capella noise jams featuring members of Ninja High School“), Mack Lawrenz (”casio guitar breakdowns”), DJs Dan Vila, Maria Funk…….

So when someone says something that makes you feel like being punched in the
stomach – what’s the remedy? Rows come & rows go, but hurtful stuff lingers too long for my liking. As I’ve blogged at length – I’m not a big ‘let’s talk things out’ kind of girl, I’m more of a blow-up & act like nothing happened fight-fighter….very WASPy.
Fighting is a cumulative hurt, I try hard to separate things that’re unloaded on me as outbursts unrelated to my actions & actual legit grievances…Anyway, I’ve been through my life’s share of unloading by a variety of people (or maybe I’m so narcissistic that I can’t admit that it’s all been merited…)…The worst – in every case, every time – is that you’re left not knowing where you stand. Essentially, who has “hand”? Joking. I went through this intensely & drainingly with family after NYE & now son-of-confrontation has arrived in the GTA…can’t be a coincidence, I really am Art Vandelay. Dunno if the party’s on for tonite, then kids…might just lay low…ahh boo

Peace
Meegs

“Yes, this is a business office, but I’m not a businessman per se. I’m here working for the people. I’m causing dissent, stirring the pot, getting people to question the whole rotten system.”