Rannie posted his Mesh Portraits.
Brilliant stuff. Thanks, R!
Off to what will be a lethal bball game. Gender regs have determined that I must be playing all shifts the entire game…punking out karma finally bit me in the air force ones…
Peace
meegs
If bad things happen in threes, then I’m pretty sure that good things happen in twos.
(Unabashed Cop-Out #1: I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I can’t do the two-day mesh conference justice by back blogging the sessions I attended…but will direct you to a presentation that was my highlight, Michael Geist’s keynote on e-advocacy…)
(U C-O #2: I’ve also been too lazy to describe the amazing Los Campesinos gig on Friday, but last August I gushed/plugged enough to cover both shows, right?)
Two upcoming blog launches from the pretty, witty & wise: one famous, the Moz & one infamous, Danielle’s relaunching her e-writing as a travel/Canuck-in-Manchester site.
Two duets to eagerly anticipate: One finally live in Toronto (& they were AMAZING at sxsw - a must see) & one recorded with a living legend (hey, why not link to this for the umpteenth time?) & his heir apparent. & sidenote - Byrne’s description of the Dirty Projectors sound proves how hard it is to articulate what makes them so fabulous: “Their music has familiar elements, yet often sounds like pop music by someone who has read about the form, but never heard it, and then handed the essential building blocks to make some songs.”
Due to Pam-nanigans, had no choice but to pick up two *more* pairs of tickets for the ever growing list of unmissable summer shows (ATX’s finest Black Angels & Thee Silver Mt. Zion)…& confirmed friends’ hookups for two more (Radiohead & a certain *blush* reunion show happening on my bday…)
The list could go on & on (the new iPod/harddrive dynamic duo, two job opps for friends on the horizon…) but I”ll mercifully end it with two amazing Lykke Li remixes:
Via Resonator Magazine - Fred Falkes’ Remix of I’m Good I’m Gone
Via RCRDLBL - Everybody But Me - the Disk Jokke Remix
Okay G’night
meegs
mesh08 was brilliant. too busy to blog about it. too many tweets to decipher. & special thanks to arieh for this pic & to rannie for the portrait opp…
although the conference has wrapped (missing the after party, sadly)…this week is still nuts! basketball, los campesinos, 3-person-combo-going-away-party, sharon’s bday, marlies game, pedestrian sunday, justin townes earle (we going or what?), etc…
peace
meegs
How to blog about this succinctly. Hm. It all started…well, um, with Ted’s: 
(Thanks to TorontoGirl)
And what a fine establishment Ted’s is. Despite the fact that there is no longer a music venue upstairs (where we saw BSS, Eleni Mandell, Torq ranting w/ Stars, Feist, etc.), and despite the fact that now traffic in/around that joint fromabout Wednesday (Kids! Wednesday is the new Thursday!) to Sunday (Kids! Sunday is the new Wednesday!) is a cauchemar, despite the booty-bass-rattling-low-riding-cars drowning out the always-primo playlist, the frightful sight of stilleto’ed girls teetering and tottering in glittery fugnatiousness….it reigns. Still.
ANYWAY. We made the mistake of venturing out of the warm safe cocoon of normalcy and checking out the Midtown. I’d been there before *cough*5 years ago*cough* & remembered it being chill (”& they gotta pool table, too!”). Yeah. No more. Why it took moving to a bleak characterless ‘do-zone to recognize the massive change to my old ‘hood…dunno…but damn.
So, I’m fussy, if you haven’t noticed. But walking 20 paces from Ted’s to the bizarro world of the ‘new’ Midtown had me reeling (& remembering this spot-on article from last month’s TO Life mag on Little Italy’s timeline from heyday to hoeday). Classic snooty Canuck navel-gazing? This ‘frugal’ dude from the Times thinks Queen West is still badass (& does shout out Ministry of the Interior, Tranzac & other non QW spots to his credit…).
Are we just ragging on & incapable of accepting changing hoods like every other city? & aren’t I just a massive hypocrite for sniffing around Leslieville
& Roncy?
Yeah. Let the bonjour brioche vs. easy breakfast cage match begin.
Off to see dosh at the El Mo. Will take the evil possessed camera - no promises.
peace
meegs
p.s. I have 
for you. You have $ for me. HINT
p.p.s. Nowhere near succinct, huh?
Phew! Prepping for a couple of long-treks (read: playdates) today. Off to Queen West via Roncy brunchables & then Queen East for a photography tutorial…I can honestly say from the safety of Sunday that I am glad this week is over! Thankfully I can retrace my steps with the power of Twitter to remember that despite the harried frenetic pace, it was overall good times.
Tuesday night’s “Well, Well” event with Malcolm Gladwell & Mark Kingwell stands out as a long-overdue synapse massage. Returning to Convocation Hall was a bit weird, but well worth the deja vu residue to hear these two duke it out on the subject of awareness, advocacy and social change. I left a bit puzzled as to whether they were fighting the same war of words - Kingwell asserted that weighing self-interest in matters of greater good was a false assumption since s-i is a construct….& yeah - I’m no philosophy major - gimme Gladwell’s snare-drum-tight analogies and case studies any day.
Keep forgetting to plug a bud’s blog that I have been enjoying more as the posts increase in frequency. Smart format & interesting observations & hometown proud (to have escaped?!), no less. I’d like to submit one for her pondering - that is, if you’ll take requests, Jen…. Which came first my overuse of this word or its omnipresence in my life?
Rebuiling my harddrive & acclimatizing myself to a new OS in between errands, appointments & meetups. Loading up a new iPod makes me realize that I have a very strict set of ’staples.’ Tweeted about the ‘S’es - Spoon, Shins, Sebadoh, Secret Machines, Shonen knife, Sleater-Kinney, St Vincent, Stooges, etc - but truth be told the full Rolling Stones catalogue & & Bjork & Pavement had first dibs on this virgin territory. Who’s going to see the Malk in July? Spent a princely sum on a TM(*fee-filled*)binge, but always room/logic for one more….
Top 5 unerasable tracks since Spring 2006 (will be posted…eventually) - lessons learned from the fried nano & neveragainables with this veritable portable harddrive. insane:
1. Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield (Dusty in Memphis)
2. Jealous Guy - Elliott Smith (Live)
3. Passin’ Me By - The Pharcyde (Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde)
4. Cannonball - The Breeders (Last Splash)
5. Flute Loop - Beastie Boys (Ill Communication)
See you on the patio tonight…stay optimistic…
Peace
Meegs
This weekend’s a write-off. Runnin’ around. Out the door in a matter of seconds for another fam day - adding a 3rd generation into the mix today. Markham visits = Long overdue nan time + QT @ the mind-blowing Pacific Mall…who knows what high tech newwave crap will fill the ‘do by tonight???
Anywhoo, too lazy to blog & (as you will see below) somewhat bitter about not recording Friday’s Gonzales show at the tiny Jane Mallett Theatre in the St Lawrence Centre…need to marinate in those memories (& reflect on the non skeevy Hernando’s we hit after the show…bizarre) & newly downloaded vintage G-Mp3s before writing it up…so instead of the Sunday mix - here’s a hyperlinked Saturday Gchat (more of a meegs-monologue-upon review…) mashup w/ relevant Mp3s shoved in there:
11:14 AM Robert: nothing like reading a good ol disaster story about climbing mt everest for my saturday morning
11:24 AM me: Beats cleaning furiously in fear of the notorious m.o.m. Arriving for m-day w/e!!!!
11:25 AM Robert: ahhh, ! awesome 
that’ll be fun…i’m listening to that one urge overkill cd this morning now….that cd is so freakin badass. i remember listening to that shit in the early 90s, brings back some awesome memories
11:29 AM me: Love that band - chicago!
11:30 AM Remind me (after I’ve finished sterilizing my condo) to tell you a funny (not ha ha but terrifyingly weird) story about BBs + messed up universe + self control…beyond kramer’s help sphere. Need to break out that Rykodisc voodoo doll or something. Ugh
Double remind me to get my hands on a bootleg of the newest Gonzales tour show b/c last night’s show wouldve blown your mind
11:31 AM Robert: o yea? good stuff?
me: You know when Kweller does ‘BK Baby’? Or when Folds covers NWA? That’s OLD gonzales stuff - but originals
His last record was piano solos - beautiful - will send that soon
Robert: ahh — coolio —
me: + his newest record is like happy (not polyphonic spree happy, but ‘bright’)
Show tunes or pure pop music w/ an ensemble
Robert: ahhh, interesting, wonder how that translates
me: Mocky is the drummer + his solo record came out in 05 or 06 + he’s done some of the best feist remixes, IMHO. Have to go clean!!! Clock’s tickin’. Talk soon + want to hear about Toshi + need to get your skeptical perspective on some weird coincidences
Robert: ahh, cool…have fun cleaning all righty, give me a shout anytime
peace out
meegs
Mp3 - Ben Kweller - BK Baby
Mp3 - Feist - Mushaboom (Mocky Remix)
Mp3 - Gonzales - Working Together (Boyz Noize Vox Mix)
Love seeing Toronto, Ontario & Canada through the eyes of a newcomer. (Especially when we agree about transit strikes & pigeons!)
Love reading reviews that share (echo? Phil - Did I not GUSH on the way out about how it was an out-of-body-take-me-to-the-river-experience? Maybe it was a universal observation…) my religious fervor for good, smart, catchy, solid pop music.
& Kudos to Joe Fuda for this amazing sums-it-up-shot
Love looking forward to a night in! Reading! What a concept…peeling through this book after an inspiring talk yesterday & some fun post-speech banter with the lady herself…
No need to blog Robyn as Phil summed it up perfectly…& I will probably punk out of describing the right raw The Kills show, as amazing as it was, for fear of not living up to the high bar set by Frank. Thanks again for getting us in!
Back to the book.
G’night
meegs
Celebrates in order. Robs got a brilliant well-deserved promotion yesterday. So proud of the Fey to my Poehler, the Betty to my Veronica, etc, etc. Special Shoutout via A Successful Politicin’ 705-B!t#es Mix:
Get ‘em High (Ratatat Remix) - Kanye West feat. Common & Talib Kwali
Bama Gettin Money (Diplo Remix) - PRGz
Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems - Notorious B.I.G.
Freaky Pumps - Fat Lip
The Hungry Years - Shirley Bassey
Will back blog last night's amazing Robyn concert (got to hang out
with openers Elysiane - very cool MTL band -
Portishead/BillieHoliday/Bjork voice on the frontwoman), tonight's
inspiring Dee Dee Myers' talk + The Kills show….soon. Brutal photos
of badass Robyn can be found on Flickr….brutak photos of my Finnish
legacy air guitar-moves can be found all over Facebook. Thumbs up!!!
Peace
Meegs
–
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Top 10 Reasons Why Today Reigned Supreme
1. Thought I wouldn’t get the Times because of construction, road closures, marathons…& BAM! It’s waiting for me here after the Jays game
2. Thought I couldn’t get The Kills tix…& BLAMMO! I’m on the list+1 thanks to Saint Frank
3. Figured that this whole baseball fad was a garbage filled waste of time…& SHAZAM we had killer seats & a brilliant time & funny photos & banter
4. Every last digital millisecond purchased during Saturday’s iTunesStore questionable decision-making-witching-hour is…HUZZAH!…good stuff
5. I look phenomenal in a baseball hat. My midget ears get all crinkly and my greasy hair achieves this matted je ne sais quoi. I will be taking casual Fridays to new lows in this old-school topper fo’sho
6. Napoleon Dynamite was on at the gym. And no one else was there so I fully enjoyed its quirkiness to the max
7. Finally zang a snarky comment at a supermarket skeeve *with a witness* - cashier totally thinks I’m badass now. I sense coupon collusion in my future. (Remind me to remove that @$$#ole magnet from my canvas shopping bag, seems to sneak back in there everytime I go grocery shopping)
8. It’s officially Rob’s Bday.
9. Did I mention the cap?
10. Spent all that awesomeified time practicing for 2 pitches tomorrow…ahh…riiiight…yeah, gotta go.
peace
meegs
p.s. - Honourable Mentions - Hugh in/on ATX = Fab. I’m a groupie, officially. & of course, weekly dose of hilarious K-man
Bore you with a bio under About. Blahg reincarnated & rising griffin-like from
ashes of blogspot. eAdvocacy bent ensues. Email with comments
-meghan@withoutayard.com
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