Queen of Sheba

Had dinner this evening at the always wonderful Queen of Sheba (on Bloor St. just East of Dufferin). I knew the food was damn good, but today I discovered their incredible drink prices: import beers $3.50. Sweet. We also sat beside a nice family who was encouraging their son to do the downward dog on the carpet, but he was too shy. I offered to do it first, but he didn't seem into it. On second thought, maybe its not the best idea to do the downward dog after a meal! Great food, cheap beer (and food), friendly (if infrequent) service and family friendly. I believe they were also the first Ethiopian resto in Toronto.

Magical Brew

With some photo post-processing this sure looks like a magical stew made of light, no? Actually its just pasta!

Boards of Canada and Black Turtleneck

Picked up the latest Boards of Canada EP, Trans Canada Highway and the debut release Musical Chairs from Black Turtleneck from the always excellent record shop Soundscapes on the weekend.

Trans Canada Highway is the usual Boards of Canada fabulousness - they somehow manage to consistently make the ultimate chill out music (no matter who you are or what you listen to) without sounding canned and generic (I won't mention any names - cough- Thievery Corporation). The first track is also on their latest full length release, Campfire Headphase, but the rest of the tracks are new and sweet. Sit back with your intoxicant of choice on a sultry summer night and lose yourself in the groove.

Do you like Depeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb, Adult. and so on? This is for you: Black Turtleneck makes an impressive first release, although one of the members is the talented Solvent, and the experience shows. Crunchy angular electro-synth-pop that may not be incredibly original, but good listening. The opening track Discontinued Parts is a beauty, more tracks like this please! Music for when the party is just getting off the ground, cleaning, or wandering around the more industrial parts of the city. I think I remember hearing an interview with them on CBC Radio3 where they said that the name of the band typifies the anticipated wardrope staple of their anticipated musical audience.

Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market

Ah, Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market.....where cars are a no-no and street life is allowed to flourish. If only it were like this all the time! Check here for more dates and goings-on for Pedestrian Sundays. Above is an installation on Augusta Ave. that is set up to be played like a chess game. Great family activity!
I always see the guy above on Queen St., guess he's relocated temporarily to Kensington Ave. for this event. Beautiful, incredibly detailed work as always.
Also caught some amazing slam poetry on Baldwin St. This guy was amazing, and hot! Check out the next poetry slam at the Drake on July 22nd, always a good time.

Dyke Pride

I skipped the Dyke March itself, but did head down to the gay village for some post-march frolicking. As you can see above, there was a ridiculously high police presence. But instead of being evenly distributed throughout the area, they were concentrated in certain areas, as above. It looked completely ridiculous. Mind you, the best part was when my friend was talking loudly about how high he was, and where you can get good pot seeds etc. while standing right in front of this cop phlanx. Nice.

As above, the usual suspect were out, like Enza, the B-Girlz, and this one who I see around fairly often.

My friend pointed out to me this little noticed, but very clever pride decoration. Considering that the Steamworks in one of Toronto's classiest bathouses, this pearl necklace deco was all too appropriate.

And of course, the usual food/drink vendors were there. Every year I never miss getting a great, mixed before your eyes fruit shake from these Jamaicans. This year it was pineapple mango (mmm.....pineapple mango).

It seems that every year there are more and more men on Saturday, what is supposed to be the "womens' day" of pride. In fact, not only was I there with two gay men, but I ran into a guy I knew from high school. He wasn't out then, but I sure had no doubt that he was out when I saw him on Saturday. Gay as fuck. I've been a hag in training for a long time, is all I can say.

I also caught some great performances, but couldn't really get close enough to take good photos. the Greek/Arabic sounds of Masa Meze, the Indian/jazz sounds of Autorickshaw, the queer-positive pop of the Wet Spots (their "do you take it in the ass" song will remain in your head for days after you hear it..from the last link, go to their music page and hit "do you take it") and the Skin Tight Outta Sight Burlesque troop (hosted by my friend, the lovely Miss Kitty Galore) were all fantastic.

OCAP Rummage Sale

On Saturday, a beautiful summer day in Toronto, my partner and I went to the OCAP (Ontario Coalition Against Poverty) rummage sale in lovely Dufferin Grove Park. The pic above is of a lovely garden that we saw along the way. I have total garden jeaously.

The pic above is of a lonely child's sandal that I saw in someone's front yard. I couldn't help feeling a bit sad at the sight of this discarded, but beautiful, sandal.

Above is a pic of an interestingly modified stop sign.....hear hear!

The pic above is in the park itself. They have this great mushroom shaped tent structure set up, and this pic was taken while lying inside it and shooting upward. Nice.

The pic above is the same structure...I'm taking the pic from inside while my partner Chris poses outside.

Back Again

Sorry for the absence, family illnesses will do that to a person.

Finally saw Capote tonight (surely you've all seen it? I don't need to provide you savvy internet users with the link, right?). Phillip Seymour Hoffman is a very gifted actor. See Love Liza if you're not sure about this, even after seeing Capote.

Best (approximate) quote by Capote from the film, in reference to one of guys accused of murdering four people: "I feel like we grew up in the same house, except that he went out the back door and I went out the front door." I feel this way (with respect to myself) about so many people, I can't even tell you.....

Temporary Disruption

Due to some illness in the family, I won't be posting for a while. Check back in about a week or so. Thanks.

Nuts to Drivers Licenses!

Today I read an article in Spacing (by Liz Worth) which discusses the allure of getting (and keeping) driver's license. It goes over the fact that when you turn 16 there is this imperative to get a driver's license because it represents freedom and independence, even if parking and getting around in downtown Toronto in a car is more difficult than taking the TTC. The author mentions that many people eventually come to the conclusion that the latter issues are too problematic, and start taking the TTC or biking again. The paragraph that got my attention:

"Now, driver's licenses sit expired in friends' wallets, and come out only for comic relief when they feel like showing off some bad pictures."

I was so happy to see this. I sometimes feel like a second class citizen because my license has been expired for many years now, so I can't really use it for identification. Because my passport is also expired at the moment, and I still have one of the old health cards (without the photo), I sometimes find myself unable to prove that I am who I say (and know) I am. Having an expired license also means the odd lecture from my parents about how I should "really take care of that", etc. Kudos to Spacing for legitimizing us folk who have deliberately let their licenses expire, and instead, can enjoy the streetscape on a much different (and, I would argue, more enjoyable) level than drivers.