A Note About Oscar
27.2.07
Did anyone else think that Jerry Seinfeld's presentation of the Best Docu award was so polished, so confident and so damn funny that it is probably serving as an audition tape right this moment as they decide who will host the 2008 awards?
The Canadian Jazz Quartet at Quotes Bar and Grill
24.2.07
For the past few weeks I've noticed that King Street favourite Quotes Bar and Grill has been advertising jazz Friday nights from 5pm - 8pm. My day job at CSIS tends to keep me late, especially on Fridays, so when the opportunity arose for me to leave a wee bit early this past Friday I took myself directly to Quotes. This is an old school kind of place, with a welcoming ambience and an excellent casual dining menu. Apparently they boast quite the selection of scotch for the swanky-tank, hoity-toit business types that turn up as well. Me? I was thrilled with my pint of Stella. There is something about this place that reminds me of New York. It feels a lot like one of those midtown joints you'd go to for dinner before a show. No coincidence I suppose since it is in the heart of Toronto's theatre district.
When I took my seat in front of the band I was immediately filled with a sense of nostalgia. The dark wood and the fact that I was the youngest person in the room by a good decade or two (excepting of course the waitstaff - I'm way older than any of them) took me back to Meyer's Deli in Yorkville and George's Spaghetti House. Ah, sweet memories of my youth, drinking diet coke, surrounded by blue hairs.
Of course the real reason for going is the music. Each week the Canadian Jazz Quartet serves as a sort of house band (and what a house band!) alongside a special guest. This week the special guest was trombonist Russ Little who non-jazz fans will know from the band "Lighthouse" and TV fans will know as the man responsible for the theme to SCTV. Little is a virtuoso on his horn, a soloist who really succeeds in making it all look very easy. He's got a lovely way with a ballad too. It was a pleasure to listen to him. I could have done so all night.
I have to admit though, his patter between tunes kind of got to me. He was very, for lack of a better word, slick when he was on the mic. All "this is a little thing called..." and "Yeah!". I absolutely despise when musicians say "a little thing called..." it sounds so dismissive. A "little thing"? Do you think Cole Porter or George Gershwin were sitting down to write a "little thing". Little? Thing? Yuck. Save it for the cruise ships, guys. Save it.
Of course, I should really take it easy on him for that, because he was simply treating the audience like we mattered. The fact that he came off "loungey" to me shouldn't matter, because the crowd was eating it up.
What I can't get past is the way he talked to the band between tunes. In an environment like that you are close enough to hear them try to figure out which tune to play next. Here's the thing. If you're going to play the kind of set where you are a slickster on the mic then plan you set out in advance. If you're just gonna call tunes, call tunes. Don't turn around and ask FRANK WRIGHT if he knows a little thing called ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE!!!!! DON'T DO IT RUSS! And when Frank Wright, one of the finest vibe players this country has produced (top 3 I'd say) looks at you in disbelief, don't then say "not you, Frank, I know you know...." OK, so Frank's good enough to know a standard like that but you have questions about Bob McLaren, Rob McBride (Duncan Hopkins and Don Vickery were not playing that night) and Gary Freakin' Benson. Come on.
They did play Jerome Kern's "All the Things you Are" and they played it beautifully. Benson and Wright's solos in particular were mesmerizing.
When I took my seat in front of the band I was immediately filled with a sense of nostalgia. The dark wood and the fact that I was the youngest person in the room by a good decade or two (excepting of course the waitstaff - I'm way older than any of them) took me back to Meyer's Deli in Yorkville and George's Spaghetti House. Ah, sweet memories of my youth, drinking diet coke, surrounded by blue hairs.
Of course the real reason for going is the music. Each week the Canadian Jazz Quartet serves as a sort of house band (and what a house band!) alongside a special guest. This week the special guest was trombonist Russ Little who non-jazz fans will know from the band "Lighthouse" and TV fans will know as the man responsible for the theme to SCTV. Little is a virtuoso on his horn, a soloist who really succeeds in making it all look very easy. He's got a lovely way with a ballad too. It was a pleasure to listen to him. I could have done so all night.
I have to admit though, his patter between tunes kind of got to me. He was very, for lack of a better word, slick when he was on the mic. All "this is a little thing called..." and "Yeah!". I absolutely despise when musicians say "a little thing called..." it sounds so dismissive. A "little thing"? Do you think Cole Porter or George Gershwin were sitting down to write a "little thing". Little? Thing? Yuck. Save it for the cruise ships, guys. Save it.
Of course, I should really take it easy on him for that, because he was simply treating the audience like we mattered. The fact that he came off "loungey" to me shouldn't matter, because the crowd was eating it up.
What I can't get past is the way he talked to the band between tunes. In an environment like that you are close enough to hear them try to figure out which tune to play next. Here's the thing. If you're going to play the kind of set where you are a slickster on the mic then plan you set out in advance. If you're just gonna call tunes, call tunes. Don't turn around and ask FRANK WRIGHT if he knows a little thing called ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE!!!!! DON'T DO IT RUSS! And when Frank Wright, one of the finest vibe players this country has produced (top 3 I'd say) looks at you in disbelief, don't then say "not you, Frank, I know you know...." OK, so Frank's good enough to know a standard like that but you have questions about Bob McLaren, Rob McBride (Duncan Hopkins and Don Vickery were not playing that night) and Gary Freakin' Benson. Come on.
They did play Jerome Kern's "All the Things you Are" and they played it beautifully. Benson and Wright's solos in particular were mesmerizing.
Group Think, Valentines and Stuff.
20.2.07
Allow me to set the stage for you. Sunday morning. Three girls get together to enjoy a quick coffee and yes, a less quick mimosa before going to a fourth girl's baby shower. This shower has been a couple of months in the making, and our three girls, they were in on the planning of the event with the fourth girl's sister. That's just how tight these girls are, you see? The best of friends for more years than I, as one of the aforementioned three girls, care to mention. So off we trundle to points West, our Pottery Barn Kids wrapping paper gleaming in the mid-morning sun. Our heels clicking on the pavement. Why, Zee Noixy even wore a skirt. Bunz was wearing her snazzy overcoat, the one she wears when her bebe isn't around. I used the diffuser to dry my hair that morning, Bloggy McBloggerson. The diffuser! We went all out. We were all in and ready to toast Rachel and her "bundle". Everything was perfect, except for one small detail. Through some sort of horrible, group think malfunction we showed up a full 24 HOURS LATE!
Gulp.
We are so on the ball! Let's go to a baby shower!
Wait a minute...we're LOSERS!!!!
...thank goodness Rachel is so forgiving. I personally think that having to deal with such flaky girlfriends is giving her a head start on the whole motherhood thing. After us? A baby will be a walk in the park.
-------------------------
And now, because my darling CeCe asked, a quick recap of Valentine's Day at Chez Nolan/Robeau. I spent the evening alone because the Robeau, bless his hard working self, had a gig. I hung with the cats and drank vino. We're not too good with Valentine's Day or our Anniversary, the Robeau and I. New Year's used to be a big issue, but we're getting better at that as of late. We're good 363 days a year, but when we're supposed to be good, it just doesn't happen. And this isn't some sort of rant against "Hallmark" holidays. It's not. We just don't have it down yet. We get awkward. Something to do with expectations, I guess. I'm giving it another five years and then we'll see where we're at before I give up on the idea of observing these days all together. That said, he came home from his gig with some roses for me, and I made him this card, with my own hands and cold sense of logic. I think he liked it.
Gulp.
We are so on the ball! Let's go to a baby shower!
Wait a minute...we're LOSERS!!!!
...thank goodness Rachel is so forgiving. I personally think that having to deal with such flaky girlfriends is giving her a head start on the whole motherhood thing. After us? A baby will be a walk in the park.
-------------------------
And now, because my darling CeCe asked, a quick recap of Valentine's Day at Chez Nolan/Robeau. I spent the evening alone because the Robeau, bless his hard working self, had a gig. I hung with the cats and drank vino. We're not too good with Valentine's Day or our Anniversary, the Robeau and I. New Year's used to be a big issue, but we're getting better at that as of late. We're good 363 days a year, but when we're supposed to be good, it just doesn't happen. And this isn't some sort of rant against "Hallmark" holidays. It's not. We just don't have it down yet. We get awkward. Something to do with expectations, I guess. I'm giving it another five years and then we'll see where we're at before I give up on the idea of observing these days all together. That said, he came home from his gig with some roses for me, and I made him this card, with my own hands and cold sense of logic. I think he liked it.
Because I just don't have time to write...
19.2.07
...and I feel guilty about it. I give you the cutest kitty in the world, for your viewing pleasure:
Monday Morning
18.2.07
Hey Bloggy McBloggerson, lots of updates to come on Monday (with pictures)! Just a very quick note to tell you to listen to Jazz FM online in the 9 AM hour on Monday, February 19th to hear Andy Scott with Ralph Benmergui. Listen up, Bloggy, listen up!
I want to be a Mind-sticker!
12.2.07
I don't have much time to write here Bloggy McBloggerson. It's only two days until Valentine's Day. And I have a LOT of Tab to drink before then. Confused? This will explain everything.
I'm STILL Miss Chatelaine.
9.2.07
I enjoy a good periodical. I try to read every issue of the New Yorker. The Sunday New York Times Magazine makes me really, really happy. I quite often read Vanity Fair (maybe half the issues put out in a year). Over the last year or so I've started picking up Downbeat, Jazz Times and Coda on a regular basis as well. Toronto Life comes to the office and I at least skim every issue. The change of season usually inspires me to pick up a home decor mag for ideas and fantasy. I used to read Premeire Magazine a lot, but I hardly make it out to the movies anymore, so really, what's the point?
Once, I made the Robeau buy me a copy of Playboy, because there was an interview with Derek Jeter in it. And you know what everyone says about how great the interviews are in Playaboy! I didn't want to buy it myself because I didn't want the nice Korean man at the corner store to think I was a pervert.
I never buy "woman's magazines". You know what I'm talking about. "Ladies Home Journal", stuff like that. Magazines that talk a lot about how to feed a family of six on a budget. Recipes for casseroles. And things involving marshmallows. Or even casseroles with marshmallows. I know you know what I'm talking about.
I was in the bookstore the other day and I picked up a copy Chatelaine. I was pulled in by a beautiful picture of Nigella Lawson holding a plate of cupcakes. Then there were the headlines about "knowing if it's time to break up with your RRSP" and "learning how to run". I want to change up my RRSP, I want to think about learning how to run again before I do that (down hill) 10 K I've committed to doing in May (ugh). I should buy this magazine! Besides, if the Robeau was nice enough to buy me a copy of Playboy I can certainly return the favour with a picture of Nigella Lawson, holding cupcakes, no less.
So I bought it. The minute I left the store, with my copy of Chatelaine in tow I felt about 100 years old. And that was unfair of me, I know. The first and last time I bought this magazine I enjoyed it. I really have to get over this bizarre problem I have with "women's magazines".
That night, curled up on the couch with a glass of red, I started to flip through Chatelaine. The Robeau was in the kitchen making his Mother's recipe for Beef Stroganoff. Can you say delicious? Can you also say recipe probably culled from the pages of Chatelaine magazine some 30-odd years ago?
When I was flipping through the magazine, I came across an ad for Starbucks. I lingered on it a moment, because it felt familiar somehow. It was then I realized that this was a photo of the Starbucks at 185 King Street East, right here in Toronto!
Click on this picture to make it bigger. I'll wait for you.
You see "Ethan" and "Cara" who are on their first date since the birth of baby "Alec" (are "Ethan" and "Cara" fans of "30 Rock"?) OK. You see "Cara's" head? Good. Do you see the two pictures hanging on the wall behind "Cara's" head? Do you? Those are MY pictures! You'd never know it. Not in a million years. But these, are them:
They must have shot this add when I was having my exhibit in support of Hurricane Recovery last Fall. And I find this endlessly amusing. I'm quite tickled. Do you think every time I buy Chatelaine I'll be "featured" in its pages?
Once, I made the Robeau buy me a copy of Playboy, because there was an interview with Derek Jeter in it. And you know what everyone says about how great the interviews are in Playaboy! I didn't want to buy it myself because I didn't want the nice Korean man at the corner store to think I was a pervert.
I never buy "woman's magazines". You know what I'm talking about. "Ladies Home Journal", stuff like that. Magazines that talk a lot about how to feed a family of six on a budget. Recipes for casseroles. And things involving marshmallows. Or even casseroles with marshmallows. I know you know what I'm talking about.
I was in the bookstore the other day and I picked up a copy Chatelaine. I was pulled in by a beautiful picture of Nigella Lawson holding a plate of cupcakes. Then there were the headlines about "knowing if it's time to break up with your RRSP" and "learning how to run". I want to change up my RRSP, I want to think about learning how to run again before I do that (down hill) 10 K I've committed to doing in May (ugh). I should buy this magazine! Besides, if the Robeau was nice enough to buy me a copy of Playboy I can certainly return the favour with a picture of Nigella Lawson, holding cupcakes, no less.
So I bought it. The minute I left the store, with my copy of Chatelaine in tow I felt about 100 years old. And that was unfair of me, I know. The first and last time I bought this magazine I enjoyed it. I really have to get over this bizarre problem I have with "women's magazines".
That night, curled up on the couch with a glass of red, I started to flip through Chatelaine. The Robeau was in the kitchen making his Mother's recipe for Beef Stroganoff. Can you say delicious? Can you also say recipe probably culled from the pages of Chatelaine magazine some 30-odd years ago?
When I was flipping through the magazine, I came across an ad for Starbucks. I lingered on it a moment, because it felt familiar somehow. It was then I realized that this was a photo of the Starbucks at 185 King Street East, right here in Toronto!
Click on this picture to make it bigger. I'll wait for you.
You see "Ethan" and "Cara" who are on their first date since the birth of baby "Alec" (are "Ethan" and "Cara" fans of "30 Rock"?) OK. You see "Cara's" head? Good. Do you see the two pictures hanging on the wall behind "Cara's" head? Do you? Those are MY pictures! You'd never know it. Not in a million years. But these, are them:
They must have shot this add when I was having my exhibit in support of Hurricane Recovery last Fall. And I find this endlessly amusing. I'm quite tickled. Do you think every time I buy Chatelaine I'll be "featured" in its pages?
Moaning about my 'mones.
6.2.07
The mind crushing, soul sucking, sleep inducing PMS has claimed another victim. Gaaaaah....Blaaaaah...Eeeerrrrg. I've bolded all the symptoms that apply to moi, because when I feel like crap, I like to shout it from the roof tops - especially when the symptoms prevent me from acting like a normal human being for days on end. "It's not my fault I keep dropping things. Don't look at me like that! I gots me a case of the 'mones."
Oh, and can someone tell me this? Is it fair that some of these symptoms last ALL month?
Headache
Swelling of ankles, feet, and hands
Backache
Abdominal cramps or heaviness
Abdominal pain
Abdominal fullness, feeling gaseous
Muscle spasms
Breast tenderness
Weight gain
Recurrent cold sores
Acne flare-ups
Nausea
Bloating
Constipation or diarrhea
Decreased coordination
Food cravings
Less tolerance for noises and lights
Anxiety or panic
Confusion
Difficulty concentrating
Forgetfulness
Poor judgment
Depression
Irritability, hostility, or aggressive behavior
Increased guilt feelings
Fatigue
Slow, sluggish, lethargic movement
Decreased self-image
Sex drive changes, loss of sex drive
Paranoia or increased fears
Low self-esteem
And last but not least...
Bitching on your blog and providing far too much "medical" talk for the nice people that stop by to read your ramblings. You should really stop that. Oh, and stop talking to the enormous zit on your cheek like it's a person. That's creepy.
20 lashes with wet noodle.
5.2.07
That's my penance for being such a neglagent little blogger lately. I'm sorry Bloggy McBloggerson, but hey, check out some of the cool stuff I've scouted for you while I've been busy not writing:
I don't like to talk about my day job at CSIS, because I like my job a lot and if I did talk about it I would live in fear of stepping in it and being dooced. I will make this one, rare exception to direct you all to the website for the Canadian Premiere of We Will Rock You and the photos I got to take at a press event last week. The show opens next month and promises to be a fun, rockin' romp! And who couldn't use some of that these days?
Since I am now a Rock Chick Supremo I want to give a shout out to my favourite Rock Chick, my friend, surrogate little sister and Toronto's own Basia Lyjak. She rocked it old school at the ElMocombo on Friday night (where Zee Noixy and I worked the door) and her brand new EP "Writings on the Wall" has just been released. I know what you're thinking, you're thinking, "but Nolan, a ROCK recommendation? We trust you to show us how to snap on two and four, but please, keep your ROCK advice to yourself." And I understand your skepticism. I really do. But go on, and have a listen. She is fabulous. She rocks.
This week in egg news, I had a wonderful mid-afternoon brunch yesterday with the lovely Hutch. She introduced me to a great breakfast joint called BOOM. The Martini Boys Review says it all pretty nicely. As did the contented look on my face after delicious eggs benny with perfect hollandaise, crispy, seasoned taters and fresh fruit. A plate full of good, sunny eggs are the perfect antidote to the February blaaahs.
On another note, damn it's cold. I miss global warming.
I don't like to talk about my day job at CSIS, because I like my job a lot and if I did talk about it I would live in fear of stepping in it and being dooced. I will make this one, rare exception to direct you all to the website for the Canadian Premiere of We Will Rock You and the photos I got to take at a press event last week. The show opens next month and promises to be a fun, rockin' romp! And who couldn't use some of that these days?
Since I am now a Rock Chick Supremo I want to give a shout out to my favourite Rock Chick, my friend, surrogate little sister and Toronto's own Basia Lyjak. She rocked it old school at the ElMocombo on Friday night (where Zee Noixy and I worked the door) and her brand new EP "Writings on the Wall" has just been released. I know what you're thinking, you're thinking, "but Nolan, a ROCK recommendation? We trust you to show us how to snap on two and four, but please, keep your ROCK advice to yourself." And I understand your skepticism. I really do. But go on, and have a listen. She is fabulous. She rocks.
This week in egg news, I had a wonderful mid-afternoon brunch yesterday with the lovely Hutch. She introduced me to a great breakfast joint called BOOM. The Martini Boys Review says it all pretty nicely. As did the contented look on my face after delicious eggs benny with perfect hollandaise, crispy, seasoned taters and fresh fruit. A plate full of good, sunny eggs are the perfect antidote to the February blaaahs.
On another note, damn it's cold. I miss global warming.
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