Tuesday, May 31, 2005

"I'm The Guy They Called Deep Throat"

Miss UniverseThe big news of the day and what the media whores have been going gaga over is Vanity Fair's article revealing the identity of Deep Throat. It sorta saddens me that one of the greatest mysteries of my generation is over.

What really got me going today though was Bush's response to Amnesty International's report that compared Guantanamo to a Soviet-era gulag. Bush says the allegations were made by "people who hate America." Shit! It could have been written by anybody then!

I love James Wolcott's analysis of these two events.

YYZ to PER

I did it! Yesterday I booked my flight to Perth, WA. I will be spending one month in Perth with side trips to Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand.

I Can't @#$%^ wait!!!

Gonna go here and here and here and here!! WOO HOO!!

Finally!

This is looking like the first full week of Spring/Summer weather. Walking down Bloor St. at lunch time the sidewalks were packed with people. Everyone just soaking it up while it lasts! I love living here!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Is he serious?

This has got to be the funniest thing I've read in a long time:

Vice President Dick Cheney says he is offended by Amnesty International's condemnation of the United States for what it called "serious human rights violations" at Guantanamo Bay. "For Amnesty International to suggest that somehow the United States is a violator of human rights, I frankly just don't take them seriously," Cheney said. The vice president also said he believes the insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes."

Monday, May 30, 2005

Canadians are hott!

Miss UniverseMiss Canada Natalie Glebova was named Miss Universe tonight. She's a 23 year old model originally from Russia. The Globe & Mail has all the details. Shes hott!

Happy Memorial Day America

War President

Bill Doskoch sums it up nicely.

The Kaiser Chiefs are a blur.

The Kaiser Chiefs
Well not really but it was a hell of a weekend! Saturday night Kaiser Chiefs played the first of two nights. Man do these Leeds boys know how to put on a show! They put on a blistering set with tracks from their excellent debut 'Employment' album.

What was certainly a surprise to everyone in the audience was the appearance of Damon Albarn (blur) and producer/dj extraordinaire Danger Mouse who together make up 2/5ths of Gorillaz. They stood off to the wings for most of the show but Ricky Wilson invited Damon out on stage for 'I Predict a Riot'. Needless to say the kids love it, well except for those who were caught under his Heineken shower.

After the show but before we kicked off The Mod Club I took the boys (Damon, Danger and Ricky) to Bruyea Brothers for a little din-din. It's always interesting when we take rock stars to Bruyea as it was when Mike Skinner of the streets had his first taste of elk. We all ate well, drank even better and had some lively conversation. Mark got into a spirited conversation with Damon about music et al. It was fun to watch!

The rest of the evening was a typical Saturday night; drinking, dancing, rockin 'n' rollin (ha ha!).

Sunday night was The Kaiser Chiefs finale. Opening the show were the very worthy OK Go out of New York. They put on a great show and ended it with one of THE best choreographed dance routines I've ever seen. They would put any boy band to shame. The crowd of 550 or so went mad! Even the hipsters loved it. You can read all about it on their blog.

The crowd was now well ready for The Kaiser Chiefs who seemed to feed of the energy from the crowd. This band knows what is meant by 'stage presence'. It's difficult to keep Ricky's feet on the crowd. He's got some of the best rockstar moves. He's James Brown that is if James Brown was a 27 yr. old white guy from Leeds. From opener 'Na Na Na Na Naa' to the brilliant 'Everyday I Love You Less and Less' and the smashing 'I Predict a Riot' and 'Oh My God' they delivered big time! The kids love it.

I've met a lot of bands and I can honestly say Whitey, Simon, Nick, Peanut and Ricky are the kind of guys you wish were your best mates. Theres no attitude, cockiness or egos that one usually associates with English rockstars. Peanut gave the show a mention in his diary. I hope we get them back soon but by then they'll be huge famous rockstars with attitude, cockiness and egos to match!!

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Wine Bag

O.k., so now that I have sobered up I can follow up on my post from yesterday. The evening started with me attending The Toronto Wine Meetup Group at Crush Wine Bar. I met 3 very interesting wine enthusiasts. Warren Porter, the organizer of the group is the president of Iron Gate Cellarage and The Vin de Garde Club. Warren is also the founder of the Bag-a-Cork Recycling Program in support of Girl Guides of Ontario. If that's not enough, he is Vice-President, Sales for Sesame Networks. Charles is a wine maker with facilities in the city. I'm looking forward to tasting some of his stuff. Ryan is an entrepeneur and has just started-up a bio-tech company. Lets just hope I don't need whatever he's developing.

After the wine meet was dinner and more wine at my favourite restaurant Bruyea Brothers. They will be once again participating in this years Summerlicious event.

Finally, it was off to Ultra Supper Club with Mark and Nick of Bruyea for the Vip Sip with Kim Crawford presented by Vincor. There we got to taste a wonderful selection of Kim Crawford wines; Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Rose. The kicker was meeting and chatting with the man himself. Kim Crawford is a tall, broad man with long hair, a strong Kiwi accent and a wicked sense of humour. We chatted with him for an hour or so before the event ended but not before he gave me his email address and offered to show me around Aukland when I'm there in December. I can't wait!!!

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Kim Crawford

Kim CrawfordI just got home from meeting and chatting with one of the greatest wine makers in the world, Kim Crawford from New Zealand.

I'm too drunk right now so I'll post more about him later.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Rest In Peace

Six feet Under

After five stunning seasons, Six Feet Under is laid to rest (ugh!) starting June 6th on The Movie Network. It'll go done as on of the greatest TV dramas ever. Last seasons finale left me on my couch stunned and numb. I'm re-watching season 4 all over again. Poor radiodan, he's just finished season 3.

A Bentely, a Burger and The End of Hunger

Spicy Paris

As previously posted, Paris Hilton's steamy commercial for Carls Jr. is so hott that they launched SpicyParis.com which was sent crashing four hours later. Do I have to say it?...That's hott!

Paris is also the spokesperson (well...sorta) for End Hunger Network at Paris Hilton Films.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Wino weekend

Pinot Noir Reserve 2001Last weekend was pretty much spent in the red...red wine that is. Saturday, I ventured out with Alex to Santé: The Bloor-Yorkville Wine Festival for the annual Sip, Savour & Shop event. We tasted everything from B.C.'s Mission Hill to France's Taittinger Champagne to Madetia's Casa dos Vinhos da Madeira and quite a few others. We, of course ran into radiodan (he's more of a Scotch drinker but his lovely wife is a bonafide wine snob. God bless her!). That took care of the Sip & Savour part. As for the shopping part, Alex couldn't reist buying a lovely white summer dress which of course meant shoes and accessories to match. I managed to buy a black (Alex bought one in white) $45 t-shirt (it is Yorkville afterall!) from Kal Boutique that read 'i eat vegan(s)'. It's brilliant and I heart it.

Sunday was spend in Niagara-on-the-lake wine region. One of my favourite places in the world. We hit several wineries including Peninsula Ridge, Vineland Estates, Peller Estates and Jackson-Triggs. I tasted a whole lot of wines including almost every ice wine offered by the wineries mentioned. Let me tell you though, As I was the driver I was forced to spit out every drop. Man, that was hard to do! I came home with a bottle of Vineland Pinot Noir Reserve 2001 which is drinking well right now.

On the way home, we stopped in at Picard Peanuts. What a bizarre event that turned out to be. As we walked in, so dod a tour bus full of Asian tourists. We were pushed, bumped and knocked as they attacked the peanut bins. It was surreal...very.

Not a bad weekend to say the least.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Someone once said...

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.

- Henny Youngman

I NEED a hamburger!!!

I've been a vegetarian for 16 years but if ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING was going to make me eat a Carl's Jr. (I never heard of them either) $6.00 US Spicy BBQ hamburger...Dear God! THIS would be it!!

Eau du Paris

My girl rock snob is reporting that Paris Hilton is launching a mens fragrance (she promises to buy me one) and make-up line. This just after I thumbed through my local Shoppers Drug Mart flyer and noticed that they are carrying Paris Hilton eau du parfum spary 50ml for $55.00. The bottle is of course pink and the box features a picture of her looking fabulous. That's hott!

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Red Blooded Woman

KylieKylieKylie Minogue has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She released a statement:

Whilst at home in Melbourne with her family this week prior to her Australian Showgirl Tour, Kylie was diagnosed with early breast cancer. She will undergo immediate treatment and consequently her Showgirl tour will not be able to proceed as planned.

Kylie said: "I was so looking forward to bringing the Showgirl tour to Australian audiences, and am sorry to have to disappoint my fans. Nevertheless hopefully all will work out fine and Ill be back with you all again soon."

I can only hope that its been detected early enough and that she makes a full recovery so that she is able to eventually finish her Showgirl tour of Australia.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Someone once said...

Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable.

- Samuel Johnson

Monday, May 09, 2005

The Huffington Post

The media have had their tongues wagging over the last couple of weeks with the news that Arianna Huffington was going to be launching a blog. Well, The Huffington Post launched today and with writers like, Larry David, John Cusack, Walter Cronkite, Ellen DeGeneres, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mike Nichols, David Mamet, Tina Brown, David Geffen, Bill Maher, Barry Diller and Harry Shearer. The literati, media whores, all of Washington, D.C. and Hollywood is going to be poking their noses in here. The blogsphere has gone mainstream big time!

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Someone once said...

Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.

- Miriam Beard

Oh I so wish this would happen!!!

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On this day...

Today is 05.05.05. That is May 5th, 2005. This will happen only once every 100 years. Enjoy it!

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

fAd

fAdThe City of Toronto is celebrating the Festival of Architecture & Design during the month of May. Highlights include the Architecture & Urban Design Awards 2005, May: You Design exhibits at the Design Exchange and culminates with the fantastic Doors Open Toronto where the city, government, businesses and private buildings through there doors open to the people of Toronto. This years event includes the winner of the Pugly Awards; the stunning 51 Division Police Station.

Paris, Toronto

Paris
So the cast of House of Wax stopped by MuchMusic "environment" but judging by the crowd and the media coverage you would have thought it was the House of Paris. The headlines said nothing of the cast: Fans brave weather to see Paris (Hilton) in the spring,Hilton checks into Toronto, Paris Hilton promotes movie in Toronto,Crowd jams street to see Paris Hilton at MuchMusic in Toronto.
Well I saw her!...from afar that is. John Street was closed off and rammed with people. A large stage was set-up in the middle of the street. Lights, cameras, security, fan signs everywhere and damn it was cold! I hung out with Natalie for the first 1/2 hour of the show. I just wanted to get a glimpse of my girl and I did. That was hot!

If you want to see Paris 'in the raw' (no! Not that video.) go here.

This week in God

Stephen Colbert is getting his own show, The Colbert Report. Excellent!

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Let's Celebrate PH Day!

I am officialy declaring today, May 7th, 2005 Paris Hilton Day.

My adventure begins in an hour or so. It maybe something or it maybe nothing but we'll just have to wait an see!!

Monday, May 02, 2005

my FINAL FANTASY is of a WOLF PARADE around an ARCADE FIRE

So I still haven't written anything about last weeks Arcade Fire show. Mainly because I'm still reliving it in my head. I mean, what does one say about Final Fantasy would stunned everyone in the room and even made them laugh. Or the Wolf Parade who got all the jaded kids out of there seats. What does one say of the near religious experience one experiences when in the presence of just what may be the greatest band on the planet?

If you want to know what others have said of that magical night, here's a short list:

chromewaves, radiodan, canoe (tues. show), the star (also tues. show), the globe & mail (tues. show), chart attack (thurs. show). Was there no media at wed. show?

Oh! And how can I forget about the girl behind Deanna and I who was projectile vomiting behind us as her boyfriend who was impressed that I recognized his 'music + science = sexy' was from questionable content comforted her.

Amazing night!