he came back

today at lunch, a friend and i were walking outside since it was such a nice day. waiting on the corner waiting to cross the street, all of a sudden there was this massive police motorcade coming through, and blocked off this intersection for these black SUVs to go through.

who was so important to block off a busy toronto downtown intersection at lunch? i'm pretty sure it was arnold schwarzenegger. he's in town for some reason. and i'm pretty sure i saw his tanned forehead in the back of the SUV b/c the window was partially rolled down.

would they have done that if the governor of california wasn't a movie star as well? i doubt it.

oh arnie.

concert count

#29: Robin Thicke (27-May-07) - Kool Haus

i don't even remember the last (or first) time i went to an r&b show, so this show was a bit out of the ordinary for my regular concert going experiences. first of all, i knew people would be more dressed up at this show. my normal t-shirt and jeans won't cut it here. so i upgraded to a nicer top, but that's the extent of my definition of dressing up. i just can't wrap my head around dressing up for a concert. but some people certainly did, in dresses and heels.

the opening act was a local artist named roz bell. he was really good. not necessarily r&b, but just a dude with a guitar. i didn't really have interest in seeing the opening act, but we made it to see his whole set. i liked his music, so i'll probably buy his CD that comes out in the summer. guess this is one good reason of catching the opening act, i actually discovered new music.

then robin thicke came on. all the girls screamed for him, as they should b/c he's a musician. being a musician (and one who sings r&b songs, at that) definitely makes him more attractive, but what is with the old man moustache he has? it's so pervy looking, and would not fly in real life if he wasn't a musician.

he put on a good show though. i've only listened to one of his CDs, but i found out he has an older one that wasn't as successful. some songs are lame, but overall, it was an enjoyable show. he had a little area in the back sectioned off for his family. no, alan thicke was not there, but the rest of his small-town side of his family was.

#28: Fall Out Boy w/ +44 (27-May-07) - Molson Amphitheatre

ok, so kind of a teeny bopper concert, but whatever, i'm not ashamed of going. it was a really good show. +44 was one of the 3 opening acts, and i missed half the set, which is too bad b/c i like them too. but i've seen blink-182 live before, and it's half of the same band, so more or less, i've seen them live. they did play a blink song too. rock show.

then FOB came on. their set was as to be expected. upbeat, happy, fun, basically all the things a mainstream emo-pop band would be like. during one of the songs, pete wentz and the other guitarist somehow started playing in the middle of the audience behind us. that would have been cool for the people who sat around there.

FOB didn't play an encore. this is the 3rd show i've been to where there hasn't been an encore. i'm not totally sure how i feel about that. on one hand, encores have become totally expected now, and i hate waiting for them to come back when you know they haven't played their best song yet and will be back, regardless of how loud people clap or cheer. but on the other hand, when they don't play an encore, i feel like i'm losing out on something. all in all, a good show. it was like indulging in a guilty pleasure.

and i love the molson amphitheatre. best outdoor venue. can't wait for the alexisonfire/billy talent show there in july!

and this concludes my 4 shows in 9 days.

concert count

#27: Social Code (24-May-07) - Mod Club

i got free tickets to this show through the edge radio station's website. woo hoo, free is always good! and even though social code is from edmonton, i never had their CD or seen them live. so now that i'm in toronto, i have to support the edmonton bands even more.

i bought their new CD the day before and listened to it. the show was really good, i really like their music and i'm surprised it has taken me this long to get into this band. i bought their first CD at the merch table. i only knew their first single (beautiful) which is so catchy, and most of their songs actually are really catchy too.

it's kinda weird how social code came out before ten second epic, but TSE seem to have made it bigger and faster. but both bands are equally good.

tonight i'm going to see +44 and fall out boy, and tomorrow is robin thicke. after that, there's a bit of a lull in concerts. but it's the summer, so i'm sure there will be more coming up!

toronto summers

it's starting to get hot in toronto. and that means multiple warnings during the day. heat, humidity, or smog, or any combination of the three.

today there was a smog advisory. i was walking past yonge and dundas square and i looked at the screen that was playing the 24 hrs local news channel. it had this warning for the smog:

breathing may be hazardous to your health.

well that's something new. breathing will kill you, not breathing will kill you. you can't win here.

concert count

#26: Damien Rice (18-May-07) - Massey Hall

i almost didn't buy tickets to this show, but i'm glad i did. it was a little heavier and louder than i expected. when i think of damien rice, i think of a guy with his guitar or piano. but the show itself was really rock and loud, but with a cello on almost every song as well. that was an interesting juxtaposition, but it sounded really good.

i also wasn't sure if damien rice talks during his shows. he went through at least 3 or 4 songs before he talked to the audience, and then he proceeded to tell this long story about how the next song was written.

another thing he did was sing without a mike and without his guitar plugged in. the same thing chantal kreviazuk did at her show at massey hall in feb. but this time, i was in the 3rd row. either way, everyone would be able to hear, no matter where they were sitting.

one weird thing he did was the last song he did in the encore. someone dressed like a waiter came out on stage and poured him a glass of wine, and he sang while drinking it, and acting like he was drunk. stumbling around on stage with the glass of wine. i thought it was weird. it was like it all of a sudden turned into musical theatre or something.

he said he's coming back in sept. not sure if i'll go again, but i'm sure glad i went to this one. he puts on a good show. and his band is really good.

next up: fall out boy.

new place

i got the keys to my new place today! yay! it's official. i'm moving on saturday. it's totally doable, it doesn't feel like i have that much more packing to do. my place is pretty tiny, but it's fine for one person.

here's the living room...
i'm quite happy with the living room, it's a good size and a square shape, so it makes decorating a little easier b/c there aren't any weird angles or corners. it's a west facing suite, so in the afternoon, it's going to be mad hot, so i'll need to get good curtains. the door to the balcony is to the left of the windows. if you can kinda see, there's not much of a view, there's some construction a few blocks away, but if i look south, i can kinda see the lake.

here's the kitchen, which is to your immediate right hand side as you enter. since it's an open concept, it makes the suite look bigger.

i especially like the shelving unit on the ceiling. not quite sure what i'm going to put up there though. probably more decorative stuff b/c i can't really reach up there, so i shouldn't really put anything that i'll need to use often. or maybe wine glasses. if anyone has any creative ideas, i'm all ears.

and this is my bedroom, the room with the most issues for me.

as you can see, the door is for the closet, and there's another one on the other wall (not shown), creating a little nook in the room that theoretically would fit your bed (on the left side of the pic). i didn't have proper measuring tape, but i used my feet, and i think my bed frame is about half a foot too wide for the nook. which is fine, b/c then i'd just flip it and use the other wall, but now i'm scared my bed is too long and won't fit that way either! damn ikea and their bulky wooden bedframes! even if i fit my bed in, i might not be able to fit my dresser and/or bedside table. the bedroom definitely has some annoying angles with each corner taken up by something (2 closets, the heat/AC ducts, and the door). i really hope it'll somehow work out or else i don't know what i'll do.

so the room has two closets, they're not massive, but a decent size. i might have space issues still though. and the hall closet is tiny too b/c half of it is taken up by the washer/dryer. i think i might have too many hangers for the closet space i'm about to move into. i've already purged quite a bit of clothes while i was packing, but i think i need to do more. and shoes will have to go on the floor of these closets. i was hoping that if my dresser couldn't fit in the room, i might be able to fit it in the closet. but i don't think that can happen.

and this is the bathroom...

pretty standard. nothing special to report. except that i wish there was some kind of shelving unit on top of the toilet. maybe i'll find something at ikea and ask my landlord if i can put it up if it matches the cabinets, etc.

so yeah, that's my new place. the building is gorgeous, so i'm very excited to live there. even walking there today after work made me happy. there's so much going on around that area, especially in the summer when the jays are playing. i live right beside the skydome! if anyone has some smart storage or decorating tips, pass them along!

can't wait to move.

packing progress report

day two of packing. didn't feel like i got as much done as day one, but still making good progress.

i'm up to 8 boxes..... all stacked neatly in what used to be janine's room, aka the dining room.

i've also probably packed a little over half my clothes, and that is what is in this gigantic suitcase and duffle bags.

and this is what remains on my bookcase and CD towers. my desk used to sit in the corner too, but i sold it on craig's list.

packing

i hate it.

i've packed one big suitcase and 6 boxes, and it doesn't feel like i've made much of a dent in my stuff. but it is going along smoothly in that i feel like i'll get it done. i'm aiming to move by saturday. i've already booked the movers, just need to book the moving elevators for both my buildings.

i'm just taking a break, so thought i'd post something boring.

i'd post pictures of what a mess our apartment is right now, but that just takes so much effort right now.............

last week, i just realized i can actually see the lake from my apartment. i never looked past the buildings until someone mentioned it. i've been living here 2 years and never realized i had a lake view! foolish.