Indie Music 7.

Welcome to my weekly roundup of inexpensive indie(ish) musical happenings in downtown Toronto. I try to list as many shows here as I know about, though with a preference for listing those happening at venues I especially like, or featuring performers I know something about. This list is thus not comprehensive. In addition, I rarely list shows that cost $10 or more. If I'm missing something or you have any comments, please do let me know.

This week the Hallowe'en themed events continue. And I can pretty much guarantee three great non-ghostly parties later on in the week (well, if you're me, you'll have a great time): Tom's birthday bash at the Boat on Thursday, and the shows at the Boat and Tiger Bar the next night. And if you're up for something on Hallowe'en night itself, Dee's is having a free all-"Ghost" show. I love it. Lots more options, of course.

MONDAY

RoflCopter, The Sweethearts of the Revolution, Billy the Kid @ Lee's Palace, $5

SHOELESS MONDAY featuring The Stereo Hoax @ 11:30, See Spot Run (Montreal) @ 10:30 & ‘Three Star Red’ @ 9:30. Horseshoe Tavern, no cover. See Spot Run!

TUESDAY

HALLOWEEN ROCK’N'BURLESQUE feat. (Burlesque) Rani Rhinestone, Nestle Chocolate, Ginger Marquee & (Rock) Fire Hydrant, The Atomic Ravens @ The Boat, $5.

Everything All The Time, Peter Project, plus Everything All The Time DJ set @ Supermarket. 9 pm, $5

David Picco & Jetset Motel, The Northwest Division (Charlottetown) @ The Dakota (249 Ossington at Dundas), No cover.

The Edge 102.1 DAVE BOOKMAN’S NU MUSIC NITE: NXNE Kick Off! On the lineup are popular Toronto band DD/MM/YY @ 12:00, Purr @ 11:10, Casey Baker @ 10:20 & Calgary's The Dudes @ 9:30, Horseshoe Tavern, no cover.

Nick Fraser/Drumheller at Tranzac, 10 pm, pwyc. This is kinda different from my usual listings... "jazz/experimental."

Michael Jackson/Jackson 5 Tribute w/ PANTS & TIE, EUROPE IN COLOUR, WE TAKE LOVERS, LITTLE PROUD, OBVIOUSLY 5 BELIEVERS, ACTION MOB, KEY WITNESS, more @ The Silver Dollar Room, $5.

Or, for something different, try Ambient Ping All Hallow's Eve-Eve with Ghost of a Flea and MiMo at the Drake Underground, 8 pm, pwyc.

WEDNESDAY

The Ghost is Dancing, w/ Proof of Ghosts, Ghostlight, Ghosthands, Ghost Television @ Sneaky Dee's, 9pm, free + cheap beer. How can this not be crazy-fun? Read an interview with the headliners here.

HALLOWEEN CRUISE @ The Boat, $5. (Not sure what this means . . . presumably a dance party.)

THURSDAY

Mean Red Spiders, The Phoenix Lights Band @ Smiling Buddha, $5

This week's No Shame show at Tiger Bar features The Miles: Ferdinand-esque, frantic post-punk well-mannered youths, fresh out of high school and into your ears... THANK YOU!; Rouge: Yet another Guelph find! She-rock electronic-ettes dance you to death without wasting a breath; and Oscar Brown: Electro-Dance wizard escapes the Foxfire Forest to get you movin’. Doors open at 9pm, and it will cost you $5. Wanna check it out but don't know how to get to the venue? Ask me. This one should be a good dance party!

MMIICCHHAAEELL Michael Herring, Michael Daley, Nico Dann play Bob Dylan's entire The Times They Are a Changin' album) with Alex Lukashevsky @ the Central. 9:30pm, pwyc.

Local Alternative at the Horseshoe Tavern: Parker @ 12:00, Basia Lyjak @ 11:10, Chillin Room (Fredericton) @ 10:20, and Jet Black Stereo @ 9:30. $5.

RONLEY TEPER & THE LIPLINERS, LIZ & MAGALI (Phonemes), THE WEDNESDAY SMITH SHOW (Simon Patrick Rogers) at Tranzac, 10 pm, pwyc.

** Tom's 13th birthday, feat. a whole bunch of bands, including some of my favourites, who will play quick sets. This gets going at 9pm at The Boat, and will set you back $5. Who, you ask, is Tom? He's half The Gravity Wave's ridiculous/amazing live show---when his mom lets him perform, which is usually. He's also a singer-songwriter himself, and a nice kid to boot. How can this not be a great party?!

FRIDAY

** Casual Sex Dance Party's 1st Anniversary show with Modernboys Moderngirls, Foxfire Forest, Beth in Battle Mode, and DJ Shit La Merde @ The Boat, $5. Yes!! This will be awesome, I have no doubt. I love Foxfire Forest and Shit la Merde, and last I heard MBMG they were good too.

** Easy Tiger 1 Year Anniversary with The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Wooden Sky, and more at Tiger Bar. Doors at 10pm, $5. Yes!! This will be even more awesome because I will (likely) be there.

Beekeepers Society (EP release party), Pelham 123 (farewell gig), Sara Kamin @ The Cameron House (408 Queen St. West, just past Spadina), 9 pm, $5.

* Jenny Owen Youngs @ Arbor Room, Hart House, 9 pm, free.

SATURDAY

The Speaking Tongues, Terror Lake, Mississippi Grover at Clinton's Tavern, 9pm, $5.

* U of T's The Varsity newspaper presents Off the Record! featuring Uncut, The Coast, Germans, Now Yr Taken, & DJ Shit la Merde. This one gets started at 9:30pm at The Boat, and is free with your T-Card (or $5 without)! All proceeds will be donated to Journalists for Human Rights. Sounds like fun! I've seen two of the performers before, and can attest to their good-ness.

** Republic of Safety, with The Bicycles, More Or Les, Ohbijou @ North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge St., 8pm. This one's free---FREE!---but you gotta get a ticket. (VERY limited tickets available at North York Central, Toronto Reference, Cedarbrae, Lillian H. Smith and York Woods libraries.) Read a little more about it here.

The Slipper Orchestra, Ashkon, Maria, Paper Bird Crew, uLTRaGaLaPaGouS @ The Concord Café, 8pm, $6.

Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy and Kat Burns at Tranzac, 9:30 pm, pwyc. This is more folky-country-indie stuff.

SUNDAY
Weird Weather and Hamilton Trading Co. at The Boat, $5.

Or if you're up for some indie jazz, check out Wavelength 387 featuring Feuermusik, God's Gift to Yoda, The Cog & Drone + DJ Music is My Radar. This one's happening (as usual) at Sneaky Dee's. Doors at 9pm, pwyc.

Want to spend more money? See more listings here. And curious about where I get my listings? See the links to the right. Plus I also check facebook event listings and occasional come across things on myspace. (I sometimes steal text directly, without footnotes!)

Uggghhhhhhhhh, and complaining about students.

I've been really feeling quite rotten the past couple days. I think I might be slightly better just now . . . so let's hope that when I get up tomorrow, I'll be well enough to go to school without it causing me too much trouble, health-wise.

Other than being sick and feeling weak and feverish, I have papers to grade. But I'm on a bit of a roll now, and have only 6 left to do. I am really unimpressed with the quality of most of them. Geez. A few students have honestly tried and, whatever their success rate, at least they tried. But so many others I feel just rushed the thing off and this annoys me. And, although I realize I should chill out, I can't help but take sloppiness personally. If a student sometimes spells it "Mao" (correct) and sometimes "Moa" (INCORRECT), I am annoyed. And etc. The biggest problem, though, is just that students don't know how to make good, evidence-based, reasonable arguments in written form. And it really boggles my mind. I know when I was an undergrad my writing wasn't as good as it is now. But I learned how to write an essay in high school. So even if I misplaced a comma and messed up possessives and plurals, I still---for the most part---understood the function of paragraphs and proper essay flow. Most of these students do not. Since this is a third-year course, I don't have abundant sympathy for them. They have to start taking responsibility for themselves.

Thanks!

I was feeling pretty rotten on Saturday, but by nightfall was well enough to head out with FN and EH to the Embassy, a hipster bar in Kensington Market. We went to celebrate my birthday, and a whole bunch of people showed up. It was a great time, and thanks to everyone who came out! Now I know who my true friends are, eh ;-).

People kept insisting that I drink shots, and when I absolutely could not refuse, I did so. By the end of the night I'd ingested 6 of them plus half a pint of Weiss beer. I drank a whole lot of water too, though, so wasn't particularly drunk or ill. And I was fine today . . . except that I am sicker than ever. I can't blame going out for being sick: it's just day 4 of this cold, which means my nose is stuffed up and it's disgusting. Needless to say, I won't be heading out to see Woodhands tonight. Which is sad, but such is the state of things.

In other news, I still have 25 essays left to grade. Best get myself something to eat and then get on those ASAP.

Complain.

I'm sick, I can't sleep, and I still haven't graded those damn papers. My whole body is aching and I don't like it. Boo. And all the drugs don't seem to be working, unless I'd be feeling worse without them.

So, Friday was mostly a bust. I got very little sleep Thursday night and then had to wake up early for a meeting of our student society. The meeting was good but the behaviour of a certain someone was rather shocking. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but who knew? However, I think some good things were said at the meeting, and we've now got a new blog. I hope it makes a positive difference in our community. Time will tell.

Oh, but there is some more good news: I am almost done putting together a semi-annual report for my dissertation committee. I decided to do this today, and it hasn't taken long, but I think it will be a useful document for my profs to have. I am telling them what I've been up to since April, giving them my chapter outline, discussing the chapter I'm working on now, and including a bibliography of secondary sources (to complement for bibliography of primary sources I sent them in April). Hopefully it will make them happy. If not, there's nothing I can do. Not until I've finished this chapter.

But now back to me and my woes. Ugh. Pain.

Happy bday to me!

I started really writing my dissertation during the small hours on Thursday. And . . . yay . . . but, also, now to need to get more books out of the library. D'oh! Such is to be expected.

I didn't do anything fancy to celebrate my birthday---I am now 28---but did go to a fabulous talk this afternoon in the department. The topic turned out to be really up my academic alley. Very interesting stuff. Afterwards, some of us adjourned to the house of a fellow grad student for wine and cheese and etc. I got to talk more about history and spend time with one of the nicest, sweetest dogs ever. EVER. So, that was excellent.

Later this evening, I met up with good friend JR, who is teaching at a liberal arts college in New York State. (He's in town for a conference.) It was great to see him. He bought me half a pint and a basket of fries at the Victory. Mmmm.

I still haven't marked those 30 papers yet. God damn. I really need to get on that. Soon.

Oh, and thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!

Work hard, party hard.

Today was a busy one for me, but I end it not feeling too tired, so it's all good.

The first meeting (for 2007-08) of the Graduate Education Council was this afternoon. I sit on this body as a graduate student rep for the humanities division. Not much happened, but I learned some good-to-know things about the university and graduate education matters.

After that I trotted off to lecture. I ended up only half paying attention to the prof, because---like last week---I found my mind wandering to my own dissertation while he was talking. Going to lecture is actually turning out to be really useful for me! I get bonus points with the prof and the students, I learn new things about the course I'm TAing, and I'm inspired to come up with good ideas about my own research. Good, good.

I made my way over to Robarts Library to pick up some needed books, running into a couple historians while there. (Outside the department, the library is the best place to find history grad students. Perhaps this is obvious.) I got what I came for, then had a quick---and enormous---dinner at Hart House. At which point it was time to dash off to Massey College for yet another lecture.

This time a fellow junior fellow was presenting her work on bubbles. (The ones in space that have stars inside them.) She did a great job explaining complicated things, and I think I managed to come away having learnt something about astrophysics.

When the lecture ended, and everything was put away, I found myself energetic enough to want to continue my day out. So I walked over to Sneaky Dee's for a show. LA's The Deadly Syndrome, playing their first show in Canada, was first, followed by new Toronto band Oh No Forest Fires---unfortunately named, perhaps, for playing a show with guys from LA right now, and the headliners, Oh No! Oh My! I enjoyed TDS's set. Good, creative musicianship and energy. I thought the drummer was especially fantastic, while the main singer has a great voice. (Or so it sounded to me, through my earplugs.) Oh No Forest Fires was fine. I was glad to see all the players rocking out this time, and as they play more shows they will only get better at connecting with the audience. Their music is interesting and complex, but I felt like it didn't always work. But then, what do I know? (Not a lot.) I will see them again for sure, and not only because I like the guys in the band. Seriously, they just started playing shows, and they perform like they've been together for ages. It's impressive.

I wasn't excited about Oh No! Oh My! Their recorded songs are fine, but there's nothing special about them, I don't find. I'd read in the blogosphere that they were some kind of next big thing in 2006, but my sense is that this didn't pan out. They have a second album out now, and as they are touring, I suppose it's doing ok. Once they started playing, though, it was soon clear to me that these guys are actually a good group. They completely drew me in, and I was moving along with everyone else in the by-now quite small crowd. (It was after midnight on a Tuesday, after all.) I thought they were just fantastic. Their music was a good mix of standard pop, indie rock, folky ballads, and the occasional edgier bits, performed enthusiastically but still with a "we're just regular guys" kind of vibe. Well done, guys.

Ok, now I'm really starting to feel like a poser since I really don't know anything about music. My point, finally, is this: the show was good, the last band surprised, and I came home with a charming bit of stage memorabilia (see photo below), and an Oh No! Oh My! t-shirt and CD. Not a cheap night, but still cheaper than Spoon, and I will remember this one much more fondly.

Of kings, puritans, and United Empire Loyalists.

My Dad is on a genealogy kick these days. (I think he is bored out in C'town.)

I don't suppose this is terribly unique, but it seems we can trace our family line back to Edward I, King of England. (I don't know if it's really possible to do this, but my dad is convinced it's all true.) By the 17th century, the family had moved to Massachusetts, so they were probably puritans. Later on, one son must have been a Loyalist: he moved himself to Nova Scotia, and the family stayed in the British colonies for several generations. My great great grandmother died in Cambridge, MA, and this is where my grandmother grew up. She and her husband (also an American) moved their young family to Ottawa after the Second World War. My dad was born soon after.

The other half of my dad's family (his father's) can trace its roots confidently back to the American colonies in the early eighteenth century. One relative was a general in the Civil War, while two others fought in the Revolutionary War under George Washington. Actually, there's a recent book about famous P's in American history. Kinda neat, if not particularly useful or telling.

My mother is French-Canadian. I don't know anything about her family, though they've probably been in the New World for quite some time.

But why am I thinking about this stuff?! Back to dissertation research . . . .

Indie Music 6.

Welcome to my weekly roundup of inexpensive indie(ish) musical happenings in downtown Toronto. I try to list as many shows here as I know about, though with a preference for listing those happening at venues I especially like, or featuring performers I know something about. This list is thus not comprehensive. In addition, I rarely list shows that cost $10 or more. If I'm missing something or you have any comments, please do let me know.

There's lots to do! Goodness me. My head is exploding. Seriously. I am stunned by the variety of amazing indie(ish) music to be had in town for cheap this week. Keep reading for details. And let me know if you want to go with me to anything. Or if you think I should be spending more time on my dissertation.

And remember to bring earplugs, just in case.

TUESDAY

Every Tuesday there's a free show at the Horseshoe Tavern, The Edge 102.1 Dave Bookman's Nu Music Nite. This week's lineup is pretty great: Songs From A Room @ 12:00, The Zoobombs @ 11:10, The Disraelis @ 10:20, and Bella (Vancouver) @ 9:30. Wow. One last chance to catch the Zoobombs before they leave the country . . . and for free! At least according to stillepost.ca.

Up on College St., at Sneaky Dee's, for $7, you can go see Oh No! Oh My! (Austin, TX) with Oh No Forest Fires and The Deadly Syndrome (Los Angeles, CA). Doors open at 9pm. Wow. I am torn. Should I go to this and be a good friend, or blow it off to check out the Zoobombs??

And for a more low-key, more women-heavy evening, there's this: Katie Stelemanie, Isla Craig, and Carmen Elle. It's happening at The Boat from 9pm. $5.

Or head over to Queen and Bathurst to Bovine Sex Club for this show: The Heatskores, Maximum RNR, and Hot Little Rocket. 9 pm, $5.

WEDNESDAY

Another night with two shows that I'm confident will be good (depending on your musical tastes), and two others that just might well be too. So many cheap options! The thing about Toronto, a scenester/actor/musician/bartender/etc. recently told me, is that some of the best shows happen on weeknights: musicians often work weekend nights at their "day jobs."

Three good bands: Llions, OPOPO, and Green GO @ The Boat, $5, 9pm. The Llions are lovely live. And I've heard good things about the others.

Another set of three good bands: Sneaky Dee's Free for All Wednesdays (i.e. no cover + cheap beer). Doors 9pm. Beth in Battle Mode, The I Spies, Ten Kens. Heck, it's free, and it should be a good time to boot!

Horseshoe Tavern offers up a night of "Local Alternative" music. This week it's Hoolie Snatch @12:00, Hawthorne @11:10, Shadows In Red @10:20, and The Wilderness @9:30. Cover is $4.00.

Or else you can take in Isla Craig and Muskox at Tranzac (Brunswick Ave., just south of Bloor), which will cost you whatever you care to pay.

THURSDAY

Les Parallelions are having a video release party at the Boat, starting at 9pm, $5. Joining them will be The Rails, Department of Justice, and The Woolves.

Local Alternative at the Horseshoe Tavern: Mondays Fiction @12:00, A Thousand Cures @11:10, A Fourth World @10:20, and Perkins @9:30. $6.00

If you feel like dancing this night, Supermarket in Kensington Market is offering up Super Secret Thursdays with DJ Task (This is London), DJ Orly (from Step Ball Hustle) plus special guest. Doors open at 9:30pm, $5 cover.

Tiger Bar's No Shame (regular Thursday night indie show, 9pm, $5) features:
- Tune-Yards (Vermont) Merrill Garbus of 'Sister Suvi' is an amazon; an enormous woman with enormous vocals. She dominates with her tenor uke and looping pedal, percussion, and plenty of guts.
- Pink Eye (Detroit) Dark Improv from south of the border, unpredictable and savage.
- Huckleberry Friends (Toronto) Ominous art rock ensemble play haunting songs, built on layers of unaffected vocals, the slow heartbeat of heavy toms, wheezing organ and chilling expanses of space, mature and creepily timeless.
- Another band, TBA.

Baby Eagle, Shotgun Jimmie, and Construction and Destruction are stopping by Sneaky Dee's as part of their fall tour tonight starting at 9pm. Cover is $5.

FRIDAY

Marienbad, The Gravity Wave, Foxes, and DJ Chili Palmer are bringing "electrodancefun" to the Boat. Doors 9pm, $5. The Gravity Wave is a phenomenon you should see.

The Diableros's CD release party (for "Aren't Ready for the Country") is happening at the Horseshoe, $8 cover. Set times are as follows: The Diableros @ 12:30, Young Rival @ 11:30, The People of Canada @ 10:30, and Church Of State @ 9:30.

I might have to head over to Sneaky Dee's if I feel like getting my groove on after taking in a serious lecture at Trinity College. DJ Shit la Merde, no cover before 11pm; $5 after. Dance!

Easy Tiger is a weekly dance party at Tiger Bar. It's good fun, and it costs $5. This ain't the entertainment district, and you might need to beware of hipsters. (But it's ok: they are harmless.) This week's band is Casper & The Cookies (Athens, GA). If you miss the band because you're running late, stay and dance until the wee hours to the Easy Tiger DJs.

SATURDAY

There's some stuff happening. Mostly to do with Hallowe'en and costumes and such. But if you're not doing those, then there are two options, so far as I can make out. (1) Check out The Mark Inside at Sneaky Dee's. Cover is pwyc doors at 9pm. The other bands on the bill are Action Makes and The Postage Stamps. (2) Come by The Embassy in Kensington Market for a drink with me---I'm celebrating turning 28! I'll be there from 9:30pm or so, and might head over to the Boat after midnight. Happening there is the 3rd annual Goin' Steady Monster Mash, "Toronto's hottest dance party old fashion beat music - 40s/50s/60s."

SUNDAY

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Woodhands, and One Heart Many Hands are playing a show at Whippersnapper Gallery starting at 8 pm. Tickets are $10 online or $12 at the door. This one's highly recommended by Carl Wilson, the guy who does the Zoilus Toronto Gig Guide. I may have to check this one out, since I have serious love for Woodhands, men and group. They are just great. (The other guys playing are probably ok too.)

Cheaper and closer to campus is Wavelength 386 at Sneaky Dee's, 9pm, pwyc. This week the popular Sunday night music showcase features rockers Ontario Power Generation, Sightings (Brooklyn, NY), and Marienbad (if you missed them on Friday, or liked them so much you want to see them again) + DJ Pistol Pete.

On OPG's myspace page you can check out two videos of the Star Trek-themed medley the band performed at Tranzac a while back. It was amazing live! Blew everyone away. These guys know how to rock out. (But I admit to never having heard them play their own, non-ST songs . . . yet.)

And, finally, there's this happening at the Boat for $5, from 9pm: Northamorica, Tim Gilbertson (Edmonton), and The Dukes Of The Archipelago (Montreal). My sources say it's gonne be "gentleindierockandelectroroll."

I see writing in my future.

I actually got a lot of work done today. I haven't managed to start writing my first chapter yet, but it's coming. In all seriousness, I think I can start really writing this week. And because I've got all these notes (on books and articles, not on my archival materials) in some kind of order, the writing should happen without too much difficulty. I don't mean quickly, but I do mean without difficulty. I'll let you know. At the moment, I'm happy. (And nocturnal.)

Oh, except that I've got 30 student papers to grade. Poop.

I'm sorry if my sassiness offends you.

Yes, I really am. Sometimes. Other times, I just think if you're offended you really should buck up. I don't intend to be mean---though I do intend to be sassy if I'm in the mood. However, I don't like that I hurt people's feelings on occasion. That sucks, and I feel badly about that. So I'm sorry. (Really, though, you should be able to take it. Unless I am actually being a jerk, in which case please tell me and I will properly apologize and try my best to act better in the future.)

Does all this make me sound like a loser? I think it might. Oh well.

A night of CD releases.

Last night I was to be found at the Horseshoe Tavern on Queen West for the Five Blank Pages's CD release party. And it was great fun! The music was awesome, and the crowd---for the most part---was good. I arrived solo and made small talk with some guy for a bit before heading up to the front of the stage to take in Infighter. I enjoyed the set, and was called out for my coolness for standing front and centre. Near the end of the set I spotted CG2 off to the side of the stage. After more than an hour at the place, finally someone I knew arrived. Once the set was done we ran into JF, EH, and MB just as they were arriving.

Next up was the FBP, celebrating the release of "Last Blush," their first full-length album. (Read a review of the new disc here.) For last night's show, the band played some of the songs from their new disc accompanied by friends on trumpet, cello, violin, and trombone. It was a nice touch. And everyone on stage and off---well, I could only see the people on either side of me in the front row---seemed happy.

The highlight of the night for friends EH and MB was the final act, Tin Bangs. These guys are great performers and put on an energetic show. (And, you know, it doesn't hurt that the singer is easy on the eyes.) EH for sure wants to see them again; they are playing at the Bovine next month. The band was also releasing a disc with a few songs on it, and had free EPs on hand to give out. I haven't had a listen yet, but I do like free stuff. Again, I was front and centre, and managed to avoid getting water spilled on me or being whacked by a guitar. ;-)

The night ended late---got home at quarter after three---but it was a fun evening out. I met some cool musician-type people, and got to hang out with a few others I'd met before. And I did my best to avoid drunkenness and embarrassment, and think I mostly succeeded.

Today FN and I are hosting a dinner party for a few friends. We've been cooking for hours already, so now it's time for a wee break. I think I need to eat more chocolate. I think in general I need to eat more chocolate. Yes.

Some complaints.

My life is feeling quite full as usual, and I'm still not getting much done. So, rather than bore you with the details of my days---though pub night last night was fun!---let me do something different (yet not different at all): complain.

1. A friend from out of town came and visited with her partner a while back. They stayed a night. I was happy to accommodate them, and provide them with clean sheets and towels. I like these people. But I would have liked for them to offer to pay for one of the following expenses I incurred while with them: dinner, breakfast, coffee. Maybe they do things differently in Europe. I feel every so slightly used by them, and this makes me grumpy when I remember it.

2. The Spoon concert was fine, and I had a good time. But I've had much better and more memorable times at $5 and pwyc shows at small venues where I didn't know the bands and knew very few people in the crowd. Maybe large-venue live shows just aren't my thing, but I am slightly disgruntled that I paid so much to see Spoon. It wasn't worth the expense. Not at all.

3. A friend of mine was mugged nearby the other day. And I was mugged a couple years ago nearby too. This makes me angry. What is wrong with people? I guess some of them are just assholes, as that guy on Torontoist likes to say.

4. My parents aren't having much luck selling their C'town house. And while it sits on the market, my dad and dog are out there, sans my mom, who is in Ottawa. I want the house to be sold soon so that the family will be reunited! My dad is fine, and Xena loves the beach, but still.

5. Why is there not enough time in my life to do things that everyone needs to do---grocery shop, prepare and eat food, sleep, do laundry---plus do school work, teach, do extra-curricular school stuff, and have a bit of a social life. I'm going to have to cut out social life if I can't get work done. Because seriously.

Ok, that's it for now.

Woozy.

I am still feeling a bit winded by the blood test I had this afternoon. It really did a number on me. Good thing I didn't have any meetings or other commitments afterwards. I had to lie down for nearly an hour afterwards before I was feeling ok enough to walk out of the clinic. On my way home I stopped at Massey for a cookie and orange juice to regain some strength. Even now, I barely have enough energy to type! But I must get over this because I really want to get a conference paper proposal done before I go to bed.

Yesterday during the lecture for the class for which I am a TA, I was struck with inspiration. The professor said something about food and ideological indoctrination---he was talking about the coca-cola wars in post-WWII France---and my mind went "bingo!" I'm not sure I can be as direct as that about the American Red Cross's milk distribution program in Petrograd in the winter of 1917-1918, but I need to think and read more about this.

I also learned some things about machine translation of language last night at a lecture at Massey. Interesting stuff. It's quite incredible how much better automatic translation programs have become in just a few years. What Google spits out is actually not half-bad.

The Five Blank Pages CD release show on Friday at the Horseshoe Tavern has been getting a lot of (at least online) press, and today I noticed lots of posters around town advertising for the show. It should be a good party!

Indie Music 5.

Welcome to my weekly roundup of inexpensive indie(ish) musical happenings in downtown Toronto. I try to list as many shows here as I know about, though with a preference for listing those happening at venues I especially like, or featuring performers I know something about. This list is thus not comprehensive. In addition, I rarely list shows that cost $10 or more. If I'm missing something or you have any comments, please do let me know.

There's lots of good, cheap stuff happening this week. I'm posting this a bit late for Tuesday night shows, but oh well. Busy day! Ack.

As for what I'm doing music-wise this week, I might go out Thursday. I will go out Friday. Let me know if you want to come with.

TUESDAY

The Micronite Filters w/ Jon McKiel (from Halifax) and Oh No Forest Fires. This is Pitter Patter Nights #297 $5 @ The Boat, 158 Augusta. "indierockandbluesyroll." Oh No Forest Fires is a new band. They debuted a few weeks ago at Tiger Bar, and this will be their second show. They are louder and more exciting live than they are in their myspace demos. One of the main band members is Rajiv, the bass player from Five Blank Pages (see Friday's listing for more on that).

Walk over to the Silver Dollar Room on Spadina just north of College for The Zoobombs with opening acts Blood Ceremony and The Mark Inside. It'll cost you $10 to get it and take it all in. The Zoobombs' style is described by NOW Magazine as "funky psych blast." My friend CS offered up this: "japanese hard rock hip hop punk rock indy rock---they've got it all." Sounds pretty amazing, don't it?

And two free shows. Listings from Musicologist:
Wintersleep CD release w/ A Northern Chorus @ the Horseshoe, free.
Sarah Melody @ Mod Club (featuring an appearance by SNOW!), free.

WEDNESDAY

I got nothing, but see the listings here. Or, ok, maybe you can check out Mohawk Lodge and Octoberman at the Boat. Actually, this looks like it will be a good show. I am pro-Pitter Patter Nights these days. This one is #298. 9pm, $5.

THURSDAY

Mantler w/ Ben Gunning and The Thurstons. Pitter Patter Nights #299 @ The Boat, described as "soulfulrock." (This might mean "kinda boring," but that's just me being mean.) Doors 9pm, $5.

Nathan Lawr and the Minotaurs CD release with Kate Maki and band plus Andy Swan @ Supermarket (268 Augusta, just south of College), Doors 9pm. I don't know what this one costs. I saw Nathan Lawr and the M's at Wavelength a couple Saturday's ago, and quite enjoyed the show. Low key but good. I will do this if I do anything Thursday night. See BlogTO's interview with Nathan here.

No Shame at Tiger Bar, 9pm, $5. Playing are Bells Clanging (Vancouver), Brigitte, and Tin Can Telephone Service Circus System Board. Doors at 9pm, $5.

Or go to the Arbour Room at Hart House for a free show by Spiral Beach.

FRIDAY

I'm heading to the Horseshoe Tavern for a CD release, but otherwise I'd be at Tiger Bar to see Foxfire Forest---they are fun. After the band, stick around for a "Dance Party Extroadinaire." I recommend it.

What I'm doing promises to be a good party too. Five Blank Pages are celebrating the release of their album, "Last Blush" @ The Horseshoe (the north east corner of Queen & Spadina, on the north side of the street). On the lineup are Tin Bangs @ 12:30am, Five Blank Pages @ 11:30pm, Infighter @ 10:30pm, Elephant @ 9:30pm. Tickets are $8 at the door. You can pick up the album plus "brand new t-shirts, buttons and more!" For more on the band and this special show, check out the Toronto Independent Music Podcast #83, hosted by the band's bass player. And you can read another interview here. And even more is here.

SATURDAY

I went to my first Pitter Patter Night show on Sunday, and it was great! Every night is different---sometimes quite different---but if you're interested in the music and are curious about this quirky venue, I'd definitely go check one of these out. I've never had a bad time at the Boat. Tonight is Pitter Patter's 3rd anniversary and show #300. Bands include Great Bloomers, The Rest, Camaromance. "epicatmosphericrock." As usual, I'm guessing doors at 9pm, $5.

Or head south and west and dance to DJs Shit la Merde (yes!) and Pammm at the Drake Underground. Doors at 11:30pm, $5 cover. I can't say anything about Pammm, but I am a fan of la Merde.

SUNDAY

Wavelength 285 at Sneaky Dee's, pwyc, 10pm sounds like it could be alright. See more details on their website.

Or drop $10 at the Horseshoe Tavern for a "Punk Rock Extravaganza." On the bill are Fucked Up (playing "Year of the Pig"), The Tranzmitors (Vancouver), DD/MM/YYYY, Statues (Sudbury), and Castlemusic. Doors at 8pm.

I think I'll probably stay in, unless you convince me to go with you to something. Which could happen.

This is why I prefer the front.

My last post title referred to the fact that I almost always stand at the front, right in front of the performers, at indie shows. I really like seeing the music, watching the interactions among the band members, and being able to readily recognize them all when I see them in the crowd after their set. But last night I went to see Spoon at the Kool Haus, and, with several hundred people there, I ended up in the middle of the crowd. For the first act---the Pony's---our group was behind a bunch of drunken youngsters who were making out and grinding and generally being quite inappropriate. It was distracting and made me kinda angry. They totally weren't paying much attention to what was happening up on stage. For the main attraction, we moved to the other side of the warehouse, but this time I got stuck behind people who were smoking up! They were less annoying, but it was still unfortunate. One guy kept threatening to knock me and JH over. Bad luck.

Otherwise, the concert was just fine. I did my best to get into it, but, honestly, I've had way more fun at $5 shows where I didn't know any of the bands and wasn't with a whole lot of awesome friends like last night. I think I'll stick to cheap (but great!) entertainment for the next little while.

I always stand at the front.

Last night SM and another Masseyite and I were to be found at The Boat, one of my favourite spots for live music. I'd never gone to a Pitter Patter night before, so I felt I really must. And it was great! I quite enjoyed all four performances, especially Barons and Lengthy. I will see them again. There's more to say, but I've got other things to think about. So, the weekend was good, and busy, and tiring. And now I must get back to life.

My life, continued.

Thursday was another long, busy, exhausting day. But I did manage some time to hang out with DR and MS at the Buttery. It's always nice to have a conversation with historians I don't see too often.

Yesterday, as promised (to myself), I worked on my dissertation. At some point this weekend I need to come up with an idea for a paper topic, a paper I hope to present at a conference this summer. I've thought about it a little, but at some point I will have to sit down and get it done.

Last night I subwayed out to Davisville for dinner with lovely JS and AT. Excellent food, drink, and company.

Today: more dissertation. Yay! Tonight: EH's party!

Meetings and busyness.

Another very full day for me. I had wall-to-wall meetings, but just enough time for a quick take-away lunch in the early afternoon. It was tiring, but good. And, I voted in the provincial election! So I'm feeling like a useful member of society, the university, and the department.

This afternoon I attended my first meeting of the, um . . . Committee on Program Matters, an advisory body within the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). I sit on it as an elected graduate student member of the SGS's Graduate Education Council. The committee is made up of SGS people, professors and administrators of various kinds, and graduate students. We make no decisions, but our role is to consider significant program changes that come through SGS and provide feedback. It was an interesting experience. True to form, I of course had some things to say. Meetings are fun! Plus, you know, good cookies.

Afterward I joined the other conference organizers in the departmental common room. A group of grad students in history are planning for our graduate history symposium, which is coming up in February. Organizing tasks are eating up more time than I anticipated, but the work is more short-term than long-, and it's really interesting to be involved in this. Also, it's fun! I think we're all becoming excited about how things are shaping up, though of course it's still early.

The last meeting of the day was the departmental meeting. Although this one was devoted to the undergraduate curriculum for next year, I still felt it important to be there. I like to keep on top of what's happening in the department, and it's useful to put in face time with professors. It means that when and if I come calling on them to participate in the conference or other events, they might be more inclined than otherwise to be accommodating.

I've spent the last several hours working on various things, none of which have anything to do with my dissertation. But I figure it's good to do these things when I'm tired. Times when I'm less tired should be the times when I devote my energies to dissertating.

The friends who are supposedly flying in from California haven't called yet. I'm thinking our dinner plans are cancelled . . . .

Indie Music 4.

Welcome to my weekly roundup of inexpensive indie(ish) musical happenings in downtown Toronto. I try to list as many shows here as I know about, though with a preference for listing those happening at venues I especially like, or featuring performers I know something about. This list is thus not comprehensive. In addition, I rarely list shows that cost $10 or more. If I'm missing something or you have any comments, please do let me know.

If you're not cheap (like me), then some good ideas for music this week can be found here. But most of this stuff if more than I'm willing to pay on a regular basis. So it's all out. Well, then, what can one do this week?

WEDNESDAY

Head over to the Boat in Kensington Market (158 Augusta, up the stairs) for Pitter Patter Nights #295. On are Vancouver's Better Friends than Lovers, Montreal's the Winks, Toronto's Numbers & Figures, and Silver Speakers. Wow, too bad I am meeting friends from out of town. Wait, I didn't mean it like that. You know what I mean.

See more here.

THURSDAY

No Shame at Tiger Bar. Doors at 9pm, $5 cover. Bathurst at Lippincott, enter through the College St. Diner. Once again I have other plans, but would otherwise go to this. As I've said before (and will no doubt say again), I like Tiger Bar. Go, make new friends, drink cheap tall beer, and take it all in. Playing this week are Tropics, the Hoa Hoa's, Ruby Coast, and Arrows.

FRIDAY

Head over to Teranga in Kensington Market (159 Augusta) at 10pm for We are Wolves, Put the Rifle Down, Huckleberry Friends, and DJ Daniel Vila. Seven bucks. This seems like it will be a good time. But I am not free.

At the Horseshoe Tavern on Queen West (just east of Spadina, on the north side of the street), you can, for $10, go see the Besnard Lakes and Young Galaxy. Both bands are from Montreal, so it's perhaps worth the extra expense ;-).

Bang the Party, a dance party at the Boat, is also happening today. DJs Gang of Two. Five dollars at the door. Go late or be brave and be among the first on the dance floor.

SATURDAY

If you're curious and in the area, stop by Criminal Records (493 Queen West) at 3pm to hear Sunparlour Players. It's free. These guys are bizzare. Maybe in a good way, maybe in a bad way. I'm undecided. You will want to stomp your feet.

More dancing at the Boat, this time it's 60s funk and soul shindigs at Doin' It to Death. Presumably also $5.

I will be at a house party.

SUNDAY

Wavelength at Sneaky Dee's is often a good bet. It's pay what you can, and drinks are not expensive. This week you can catch...
12am - Craft Economy - new Toronto new wave
11pm - Sleeping Kings of Iona - bleeping Buffalo electronics
10pm - Idle Tigers - vaudevilleian electronic Britonto pop
+ DJ BJ

Or else Pitter Patter Nights #296 at the Boat, $5. The Details (from Winnipeg), Barons and Lengthy, Wildlife, and Malcolm Bauld. UPDATE: For more on the Winnipegers, see this interview on BlogTO.

So, if you've read this far, you know that I won't be going out, except maybe on Sunday. But I recommend that you do, and let me know all about it!

Touring, teaching, talking.

I know I spend a lot of time here complaining about my inability to find time to dissertate. And, well, here I go again.

Sunday was nice because travelling back to Toronto wasn't difficult. I helped some German tourists figure things out on the TTC---it's so confusing if you don't live here and use the system regularly---then spent a few hours helping my parents (on the internet, one of my specialties ;-) and catching up with friends. Instead of celebrating Thanksgiving with my family, I met up with YT and CLM for a late sushi dinner.

On Monday I spent most of the day reading for class, and waited for out-of-town friends to arrive. They finally got here at 8pm, and we went to dinner straightaway.

My friends stayed the night and then it was up early and out of the house again for breakfast and a few hours of me doing the tour-guide thing. I showed them a bit of the Annex, past the ROM, through campus, and then down to Chinatown and Kensington Market. I had a good time (despite the dreary weather); I hope they did too! I had to leave them at Moonbean Café to go teach in the afternoon. Did that, went well. And then I spent an hour with historians in the department before heading off to lecture. (I go to the lecture for the class for which I TA.) Afterwards, I spent a bit more time with a couple historians talking about life and school work. Then it was time to hit up the grocery store to get some food for the week. Got home at 8:30pm. Long day for me.

So, although not all days are of course like this, when I say that it can be hard to find time to dissertate, I do not lie! And tomorrow it's more appointments and meetings, followed by dinner with other out-of-town friends. Thursday's super busy too. But Friday I will dissertate.

C'town adventures in pictures.

I am now safely back in Toronto. I had a nice time in Charlottetown with my dad and Xena, our dog. [To the left is a photo of my parents' house. Yes, it's bright yellow with dark blue trim. So cute.] Although I wasn't feeling the best, we still got up to some fun adventures. We walked all over the town, found foxes at my dad's golf course, picked apples in the country, strolled along a boardwalk and a windy beach, and spotted tourists just off an enormous cruise ship checking out "the birthplace of Confederation." Here are a whole bunch of photos, many of them featuring the best looking member of our family ;-).

Xena, barking at me to stop taking her photo and start petting her.The weather was gorgeous the first few days I was there. Here I am walking through a park on Thursday afternoon.We were entertained by this car, owned by www.peipestcontrol.com. Haha!

Government House, where the lieutenant governor for the island lives.We played in Victoria Park. Xena loves chasing after sticks.One of many lovely vantage points. The town is to the left.Later that day my dad and I drove over to his golf course to, um, look for foxes. And we found some. It's sad that a few of them are so tame that people can get up close to them. But I can't help being a little happy about it, because they are the cutest things ever. Ever. To wit:

On Friday we drove to the country to pick apples. But, more importantly, we met a nice dog at the orchard. His name is Wraith.And then to Brackley Beach. Xena went swimming. Her humans did not.On Saturday I wasn't feeling too well, but we did make it out to the University of Prince Edward Island---not much happening there---and then home to a yummy pre-Thanksgiving dinner. We ended the evening with "Ghostbusters." Such a good movie.

C'town.

I'm writing this from the Charlottetown public library. There's no internet at my home, so this is just a short post to let you know everything's a-OK. Having a good time so far. Dad and dog are lovely, and the weather is fantastic. I'll be back in the big city on Sunday.

This is a photo I snapped when the plane was coming into Charlottetown. If not for trees, you could see my parents' house.

Indie Music 3.

This week I don't have much for ya. I'm heading out of town for a few days, and a couple of my regular websites aren't up (yet?). You can check Eye Weekly and Now Toronto's show listings later in the week for more. Here's what I've managed to come up with. I really recommend heading down to the Boat (158 Augusta in Kensington Market) Wednesday night if you can. Should be a great show. And if any of you happen to be in Montreal this week, then go enjoy Pop Montreal!

WEDNESDAY

Pitter Patter Nights #293, $5, the Boat. Featuring Hamilton Trading Co. w/ The Schomberg Fair, and Ladyfingers. This should be a fantastic show! Too bad I'm not in town. I'd definitely be there if I was around. Keith Hamilton is a big deal in the indie scene; he does the bookings for Pitter Patter Nights, and is a member of several bands. I saw Ladyfingers on Sunday at Sneaky Dee's, and he was great! (I dropped $10 for his CD after his set.) See more about NY-based Ladyfingers here.

THURSDAY

No Shame at Tiger Bar (College at Lippincott, enter through the College St. Diner and go down the stairs to the basement), doors 9pm, $5. Bring ear plugs. Tonight's bands include Bells Clanging (from Vancouver), Brigitte, and Tin Can Telephone Service Circus System Board.

FRIDAY

If you want to go dancing, check out Goin' Down The Road, the "all can-con dance party" at the Boat, $5.

Or, for music, Torontoist recommends William the Conquerer's CD release party, 9:00 p.m at Club 279 (above the Hard Rock Cafe on Yonge). "Ten dollars gets you in and gives you a copy of the EP." More here. I haven't been to this venue before . . . sounds perhaps un-indie-ish.

Definitely more up my alley is this show: The Incidentals, a good local indie band, are playing tonight too. At Teranga, a restaurant/bar in Kensington, 159 Augusta. I like these guys. And they're playing in a Senegalese restaurant! Sounds like fun.

SATURDAY

Another dance part at the Boat, Back to the Future: Part 2. Or check out Shake A Tail at Stone's Place on Queen West, a 60s-70s themed dance party that is tons of fun, I hear. And I'm sure there's all kinds more happening, but it'll be easier to find this information out later in the week.

SUNDAY

Wavelength at Sneaky Dee's, 10pm, pay what you can. Their website's not up yet, but some internet trolling turned up this lineup: Spy Machine 16 (from Guelph), The Winks (from Montreal), The Doers (from Vancouver), + DJ Kelsey Grammer. Sounds like this will be a good show---I might go unless I'm exhausted from travelling back to Toronto. If you go, definitely bring ear plugs. It can get loud at Sneaky's.

Talked out.

I've had a busy day of sitting around, drinking and eating, and talking to people. None of this is related to my dissertation or anything, but it's all part of grad school. And I'm pretty tired out.

Wavelength 382.

Last night Masseyite SM and I checked out Wavelength 382 at Sneaky Dee's. Wavelength is a weekly, Sunday night indie music show at the College/Bathurst venue. I'd been once before---to see my friends we're scared and young Llions. This time I didn't know much about the featured bands.

After grabbing some pizza at Massimo's we showed up just in time for Ladyfingers, a one-man NY-based act. And, wow! Great stuff. The guy is quite the character. We went to talk to him after his set, and discovered that he's playing a few more shows in Toronto this week. I recommend seeing him at the Boat this Wednesday. His set alone is well worth the price of admission ($5). I even gave up $10 to buy his CD.

Next up was Elbow Beach Surf Club, a group from Guelph. They played more standard indie fare, and I enjoyed them. SM and I found my friend GK in the crowd after their set, so we chatted in the back until the next act came on. The night ended with Nathan Lawr and the Minotaurs, who were expectedly awesome. Their high energy folk rock with great instrumentation and a good on-stage vibe was a real treat to take in. After a couple shows some of the guys dancing alongside us in the front row grabbed their instruments (baritone sax, trumpet, trombone) and joined the band on stage. I will definitely plan on seeing this group again.

What a great evening!

Recovered from Nuit Blanche.

Last night all the big kids were out and about for Nuit Blanche, and we were no exception. There was a ton of people everywhere until about, say, 4am. And then there were still people about all over. We saw some cool stuff, and lots of less cool stuff. Saw a bunch of people I knew. The highlight for four of us was the vampire film we saw at Cinematheque. We caught episode 9 of "Les Vampires," a series of 1916 French silent films. A live piano score at the theatre was a great touch.

And that's all I think I want to say about that. It was a good time, but not stellar.

My Friday.

I had yet another session to go to on Friday at school. This time a group of professors who will help students on the (academic) job market held a meeting for PhD students. Although I won't be on the job market for at least a year (if not longer), I figured it was good to hear what they had to say. And it was. Some useful information was given out. The most interesting part of the two hours wasn't what the profs and the grad students were saying; rather, it was funny to see a young female professor who, frankly, in this setting is super hot, and a young male professor who came across as a complete wanker. Entertaining times as usual in the Department of History. (I shouldn't gossip, but seriously: the dude needs to behave himself better.)

After the session I walked over to the north east side of campus and found the Emmanuel College library. What a beautiful place! A handful of useful books for my first chapter were there, and although I had put off the trip---this is a part of campus I rarely venture to---it was totally worth it. Once I was done checking things out, I noticed that the Victoria College book sale was on right next door. I've never done any of the well-known fall book sales on campus, so decided to see what was what. There were a ton of good history books (and lots of other stuff, I'm sure, though I didn't pay any attention to it). Twelve dollars later I had few new (used) things to add to my collection. Awesome.

Not long after I got home FN and I went off to celebrate SA's 30th! Good times, lots of laughter, etc. And by 1am FN, MB, and I had arrived at Sneaky Dee's to hit up the dance floor. Unfortunately, this was terrible timing on our part: a dreadful DJ was doing his thing for nearly another hour, and we only had 20 or so minutes at the end to party the right way to tunes chosen by the DJ we came to see/hear. But we made the best of things and when we couldn't take it anymore we reposed to the back and people-watched. There were some interesting characters about that evening.

On the way home we went to see a garden SA told us about . . . the bushes/flowers are, erm, rather erotic. Bizarre.

So when will I write my dissertation? This is unclear at the moment. The popular answer amongst advanced PhD students seems to be, "in fifteen minutes a day!" Hahaha.

Fulltime non-dissertator (it seems)

I can't believe the week is nearly over. I've done a lot and yet very little of it is related to my dissertation! Wow. So many meetings and errands and extra-curricular commitments . . . and I haven't even hit up an indie show yet.

This morning started off inauspiciously. I woke up really early and did some work---good!---and then headed off to school for tutorial. I entered the classroom early and waited. And waited some more. No students came. At twenty minutes past the hour (ten minutes after the class is meant to start) I wrote a note on the board and went to check my e-mail. Figured it was possible I missed something. But no, there was nothing. So I went back and waited another ten minutes before giving up completely.

The next tutorial at noon was well attended and went really smoothly. The students had a very interesting debate, and I think I'll really like tutorials this year. Yay! Afterwards I went to Massey for lunch, and then crossed the street to the Munk Centre for an interesting talk. There really is great stuff there. It's just key not to go there too often, or else I'd never get ANY work done. In all my travels thus far I'd managed to run into all kinds of good people I know.

After the talk I ran some more errands, and chatted with one of my supervisors about where we both are with work. Unplanned meetings are good!

But then I checked my e-mail and found out that a bunch of students had been waiting for me at 11am . . . in another classroom! What the hell. A few e-mails later it turns out the room had been changed and the professor sent the students an e-mail telling them this, but I wasn't sent the message. Oh well. Not my fault for missing the class, but I feel badly for the students.

More errands and conversations, and then it was time for dinner at Massey (yes, again). I went so I could meet with the other lecture series coordinators, so it was a bit of a working dinner. The food was decent, if expectedly bland. I can't imagine eating there regularly after having lived with FN. It would be such a letdown for my tastebuds. I had to hang around after dinner to chair the lecture happening in the evening. Did that. And I was home by 10pm. LONG DAY.

So, the day wasn't chock full of stuff, but it was pretty tiring, as you can imagine. I didn't get a lot done; this was unavoidable because of the timing of everything. I did talk with a whole slew of good people, so I can't complain about that. But, seriously: if I'm ever going to get going on my dissertation, I need to stay home and force myself to do it. Monday. Yes, for sure.

Indie Music 2

There's again lots on this week---for cheap, I don't do expensive!---and then there's Nuit Blanche on Saturday night. If you are keen on checking anything out, let me know and we can meet up or look out for each other.

WEDNESDAY

I'm staying in, but if you're itching for something to do, I'd check out what's happening at Supermarket (Kensington Market). Ten dollars will get you in to hear Small Sins w/ The I Spies. Otherwise, if folk is more your things, you can go for Pitter Patter Nights #292, $5, at the Boat, just down the street. Playing are Bellevue w/ Sarah Gates, and Jordan Fine.

THURSDAY

I'm busy until 9:30pm or so, but I might hit up College St. after that. Two options. First is a show at Sneaky Dee's, $5, doors at 9pm: The Sourkeys' final Toronto show w/ DD/MM/YYYY, Video Hippos, and Numbers & Figures. The Second one is the No Shame show at Tiger Bar, another of my favourite venues. Same time and cover. From the facebook event description:

Europe in Colour: (CD Release)
Cure-esque synth pop, dark and danceable (featuring members of The Ghost is Dancing)

Green Go:
Guelph-ites play deep, punishing synth pulses and a pounding rhythm section that commands a bouncing dance floor.

Lil Pip:
Montreal Teeny Tiny Femme C spits out rhymes with scrappy intensity
(With beats by Tyler Rauman of Montreal's Telefauna)

Tiger Bar is in the basement of the College St. Diner (College at Lippincott). Thursday is also the first night of Ladyfest Toronto 2007, which runs Thursday through Sunday at various venues. More details here.

FRIDAY

*** I'm sure there are other things happening, but my pick is definitely DJ Shit la Merde's 3rd Anniversary Party at Sneaky Dee's. Doors 10pm, no cover before 11pm. I will almost certainly go, but probably not until after midnight. SLM is currently one of my favourite DJs.

SATURDAY

NUIT BLANCHE!!

SUNDAY

I am keen to check out Wavelength #382 at Sneaky Dee's. As always, this is pay what you can. Tonight's lineup includes Nathan Lawr w/ Elbow Beach Surf Club, and Ladyfingers. The show set to start at 10pm.

More ideas here and the usual spots.

Teaching is tiring.

As usual, my week so far hasn't proved to be very productive. But not a total waste, work-wise.

My tutorials went well today, I think. I mean, they weren't fabulous, but they went well enough for the first ones of the year. These tutorials should prove themselves to be relatively stress free, though of course I will have to keep up with class readings and get myself to lecture regularly.

JDS just gave me a talking to on the phone about my needing to write my first chapter. And she's right. I just need to do it, and I do actually feel comfortable starting that process now. (I absolutely was in no position to a few weeks ago; now I have a general sense of what my dissertation is about.)

I am hungry.

Partied out.

After pretty much sleeping and lazing about all day Saturday, we went out again, this time to the Boat in Kensington Market. We all love this venue, and wanted to check out the monthly French pop dance party, Zoi Zoi. And so we did. But first FN, JH, and I went to CB's lovely new apartment for a glass of wine, and then a quick bite at Massimo's to gear up for dancing. (The wine was excellent, and so was the pizza. Should do that again!)

Zoi Zoi is a cultural mainstay of Toronto's indie scene, and it mostly lived up to the hype. FN had a great time, and the rest of us had a good to great time ourselves. I found some of the DJing a bit off, which awkward pauses between songs in the beginning, and beats that didn't match up. This, combined with some undanceable music, made for a less-than-stellar dancing experience. Good thing the crowd was enthusiastic and dressed for the occasion---a veritable indie fashion show, with all kinds of interesting retro elements---and we were surrounded by port-hole mirrors and people were know and like a lot. I recommend checking it out if you're interested, but I wouldn't necessarily go again. I'm certainly glad I did go this one time, though.

On Sunday we had to get up and go for dim sum, which was great fun. Some of the same people came out, in addition to other friends of ours. The food was yummy and surprisingly cheap! We crammed 12 people at our table and most of us seemed to be having a blast. I must admit to bad behaviour on my part, though. I was invited to a birthday party at a friend's house this coming Friday, and of course I am looking forward to celebrating with all and sundry. But I also want to go dancing later that night, after midnight. First of all, I think it was uncool of me to make plans to go out later, even though the party gets started early. Second of all, I started talking about my dancing plans to the friend who's having the party, having completely forgotten about it at that point. So I feel like an ass, and I think I am one for what I've done. What's done it done. Sigh.

Our bellies full, a bunch of us went to Moonbean cafe after dim sum to drink and chat some more, and suddenly it was after 4pm! So FN and I ran off to buy groceries in the market before the stores closed.

After a late afternoon nap and a fabulous salmon and couscous dinner, I'm feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on the week. There was definitely too much partying this weekend, but I think without the all-nighter after Friday things would have been better. I'll try to avoid that in future.

Tomorrow I get to meet Ursula Franklin. And Tuesday I hold my first tutorial session in two and a half years. Eek!

Up all night.

I had a frustrating afternoon yesterday. Here's to hoping things like that won't happen again. Annoying.

But anyways, I danced away my frustration at the Silver Dollar Room last night. That venue is actually much less dive-y that I thought it would be. It's actually fairly decent inside. (Granted, I did not check out the washrooms.) A whole lot of people I knew were there, which was great! I went with FN, JH, YT, and MB in tow, and then saw CB, CG2, the Woodhands' men, a small handful of Masseyites, two people I went to high school with (!!), AG and her crew, CS's b/f, and a few other people. Crazy. Talk about worlds coming together! It was great. Pretty much everyone who wasn't already in love with the band, fell in love with it.

We skipped out during the second band's set---sorry, BoyBallz---to grab something to eat to ward off starvation. JH and I, despite our thinness, must eat to survive a night out. We picked New Ho King this time around, a much better choice than the place next door. Afterwards, we (FN, MB, and JH) stayed up all night gossiping and gawking in my apartment.

So I'm going to be busy now.

I've recently come to the conclusion that in order for me to be productive and get things done, I need to be busy and have lots of my plate. Although having a bunch of non-dissertation things to do means I have less time to spend on said dissertation, the reality is that when I am not under a time-crunch, I don't get much done. This week I had a bunch of meetings and such, and felt good about my productivity. Yesterday I didn't have any meetings during the day and spent too much time lazing about, checking the internet, etc. So last night, after a great history pub night at the Pour House, I went out for some indie music instead of coming home and doing work right away.

Yes, more indie music! (I hadn't been out to a show since last Friday, so it's not like I'm going crazy with it.) Last night was the No Shame show at Tiger Bar, one of my favourite venues. I went by myself and although I'd met a guy in one of the bands before, I didn't expect to see anyone else there I knew. And I didn't, but I made friends! The evening was great fun. It was nice to see Llions again---they are lovely, and I chatted with the twins after their set. And Oh No! Forest Fires was awesome! The bass player from Five Blank Pages, who looks a little out of place in that band, now has a band where the other members are rocking out nearly as hard as him! Very lively bunch. I'm glad I went, though my ears are still ringing . . . .

In a few hours I'm off to school for a meeting of our student society. There's a new president this year---as there always is in September---so we'll see what we'll see. I love meetings, and have high hopes for this one! ;-)

But the most exciting news of the day is the Woodhands/BoyBallz show tonight!

Indie Music 1

I am going to post weekly event listings---i.e. shows I may go see in the indie(ish) scene. Here's the first edition.

Toronto's indie music scene is my new hobby, so I'm just getting to know my way around. And I don't like paying more than $5 for a show. Here are my plans for the next few days. Call or e-mail me if you'd like to meet up.

WEDNESDAY

A few history profs will be in attendance at this show in Kensington Market: Bill Colgate, Cam MacInnes and Joe Gaitanis at Graffiti's (170 Baldwin), 7-9pm. Pay what you can. I may check it out.

Bill Colgate & The Urbane Guerillas is Bill Colgate, Cam MacInnes, Shiraz Tayyeb, and Joe Gaitanis.

THURSDAY

I have to spend some time at the Pour House with history people (fun!), but will likely head down to Tiger Bar later on for No Shame. This is the weekly Thursday $5-cover indie music night in the basement of the College Street Diner (College at Lippincott). This week's lineup includes LLions, Nich Worby, Oh No! Forest Fires, and The People of Canada. I've seen LLions
before. They are young and pleasant. And I'm curious about Oh No! Forest Fires, a new band with Rajiv, the entertaining bass player from Five Blank Pages. From the event description:

The People of Canada: tongue in cheek ukelele boogalooist

LLions: Toronto's young newcommers play New Pornographer's style harmony ladden pop... sweet as pie

Nich Worby: Dimple-cheeked Kingston songster writes melodies to make girls' swoon

Oh No! Forest Fires:
Members of The Primordials, Five Blank Pages INAUGURAL show! indie rock at it's finest and freshest

Doors open at 9pm, but the music will probably start later than that. (The last band's set time is 12:45am.) Did I mention that I love Tiger Bar? For more on this great venue, including instructions on how to find it, see this article.

Or, if you aren't a historian . . . head over to the Drake Underground for Foxfire Forest---fun, danceable, definitely recommended---with Europe In Colour and Great Bloomers. This is the Breast Bash benefit show. $5, 9pm.

FRIDAY

***Woodhands and BoyBallz at the Silver Dollar Room, which is on Spadina just north of College. I've been looking forward to this show since the last time I saw Woodhands perform . . . which was last Tuesday at the Drake Underground. This duo (plus vocalist Maylee Todd from the Adorables) is AMAZING live; you can get a sense of their sound by listening to a few of their tracks online. Come ready to dance! Everyone I've taken to see Woodhands has been blown away by them. BoyBallz is loud, wild, and crazy fun. AND, there's a history department connection to one of the band members. Cover is $6, doors open at 10pm, but the music probably won't start until 11pm or so.

If you want something less intense, go see Hunter Valentine at the Rivoli, $6. Better yet, go dancing at the Boat in Kensington Market (Step Ball Hustle, free before 11, presumably $5 after). This is what I'd be doing but for my love of Woodhands. I've had a blast dancing to one of the featured DJs on two separate occasions, and the Boat is a great venue. It's upstairs at 158 Augusta. In fact, maybe you'll see me there after the Silver Dollar show . . . .

SATURDAY

Tonight I'll probably head over to the Boat. $5 will get you in to Zoi Zoi, the monthly French dance party. I've never been. More here.

If dancing's not your thing (yet!) go to the Horseshoe Tavern (Queen at Spadina) to see These Electric Lives w/ Everything All the Time, Fighter/Lover, and Love Machine. $8, "Indie Brit Pop." See this interview for more on Everything All the Time.

Or, historian JRS suggests Basia Bulat's CD release at the Music Gallery. JRS says she is "folksy and great." More details, including ticket information, here. And also see this article.

SUNDAY

I'm staying in, but if you're into loud music and $5 covers, check out Laughstock at the Boat, or Wavelength at Sneaky Dee's (College at Bathurst), another great indie venue. See here and here for more details about these series and the bands performing.

WANT MORE INFO?

Musicologist -- and other music-related postings on Torontoist, a useful blog
blogTO -- has regular music postings
Now Weekly listings -- scroll down to "Live Music at the Clubs," and go back later in the week to see listings for the coming weekend

Am I missing something indie, fun, and cheap? Let me know!

Busy day.

Meetings and lectures and talking to people was mostly what I did today. I came home pretty tired after more than 8 hours away. Everything I did was important, but none of it was dissertation-related. So now, after a bit of a break, I'm back taking notes.

Today's work hard, play hard rating: Very good.

Cold with a cold.

It's been pretty chilly in the past few days here in TO. Monday wasn't so bad, but the couple days previously: brrr! The worst part is that the house is freezing because we don't get enough sunlight to warm the place during the day, and the heat isn't on yet. I've been wearing tons of layers and shivering. It's terrible. I also think that the cold is keeping me sick. I haven't been able to shake this cold yet, which is exceedingly annoying.

This morning I went to go deal with things and ran errands pretty much all afternoon. I got a blood test at the health clinic, and, oh my, I did not expect to be an invalid for hours after. My arm was sore, and it's still not completely better. Ouch!

My new plan of working hard and playing hard is getting off to a rocky start. Errands take up so much time! But I have been working away for the past few hours, so I'm feeling good about that.

Phlegm, go a-way! Ick.

P.S. I got over my feelings of being a loser Sunday night. Granted, I may still be a loser, but it's good that I no longer feel like one.

Feeling lame.

That pretty much sums it up. Not sure what's up with me, but I'm less than thrilled with my existence at the moment. Hopefully I'll be more cheerful tomorrow. Dissertating is hard. And it's very, very cold in my apartment. I'll have to leave it to warm up.

Revelations.

Today I discovered that my dissertation will be about policy. I'd never thought of it in this way before. Huh. But, yeah, organizational and personal policy. Which is cool. And this can tie in with my interest in motivations quite nicely, I should think. It will also leave room for some cultural discussion, though given my narrative tendencies and educational background, this won't predominate. All good things to know.

You might find it strange that I come up with such thoughts now, but there you have it. It comes out of the process of me writing up brief rationales for my chapters. Instead of me organizing them around individual relief and social workers like I imagined I would, I ended up writing about policies, what they were and how they changed over time and differed among the various locales of work. It really will be a work grounded in US-Russian relations. This makes me happy, but also makes it unfortunate that I am not at all trained or versed in US history.

Otherwise, life continues. And by life I mostly mean sickness and socializing. I spent much of the past several days at home. I did get a whole lot of things done, but only little things. There's a lot on my plate this year, which I think is good for me. It will hopefully give me structure to my time, which is certainly something I've lacked. It doesn't seem that I'm good about forcing structure upon myself. But the necessity to dissertate between meetings and social engagements and teaching and general living of life might work well. Let's hope, anyway!

Last Friday night I had fish and chips from a place on Harbord with AR in the Massey common room. Then we went off with JH and a couple Masseyites to the Rivoli, where we met up with CG2 (dancer extraordinaire), FN, MB, LT, and TF for a reggae-inspired show. We had a good time, but a better time once we arrived at Tiger Bar and danced the night away.

Tuesday night saw a bunch of us at the Drake Underground for a filmCAN party. One of my favourite bands, woodhands, was definitely the highlight of the night. My friends who hadn't seen them before were awed, and want to see them again. Yay! It was a super fun evening, and FN and I snagged rides both to and from the venue. (This is why it's good to have friends with cars, and then make new friends who have cars.)

Last night pretty much the whole crew was out once again, this time at Steamwhistle Brewery for Unsigned 3. The RAA was awesome, helped out by the best damn group of dancing supporters a band could ever want. Loads of fun. FN, MB, PB and I (among other people) ended things up by running through the streets of downtown Toronto toward Second City, where we took in some late-night karaoke (for free) before cabbing it home. Odd. I do need to spend less time out---clearly---but I'm glad for all the entertainment these people have brought into my life recently.

Next Friday I'm hoping to bring all my worlds together at the next woodhands show. Until then I will probably be found doing school-related activities.

Back on Blogger.

I haven't felt like blogging in a while. A lot's been going on . . . very little of it having to do with dissertating, unfortunately. I've been seeing more shows, meeting new people---at various orientation events---getting started on new projects and tasks, and generally filling my time with errands (important!) and hanging out (fun!) and being unproductive (it happens!). School is now back on, and soon I will know my TA schedule and will be able to plan my life better. For the past several days I've been ill (ugh! blech!), which has sapped any energy I had for working on anything difficult.

My next manoeuvre will definitely be to write myself a to-do list, and start getting on it. I think I'm mentally prepared to tackle my chapter outline and get it done and off to my committee. I'm eager to start organizing my first chapter!

Quick update.

Been busy with partying and orientation and work for the past several days. More later.

Ugh.

I don't have much motivation at the moment to do work. I'm feeling tired and lethargic and uninspired. But I'm also actively avoiding brain work by doing busy-work. Necessary busy-work, but still. I'm really not happy about the school term getting started. Sigh. A few things are up in the air at the moment, which is adding to my unease. I've been whining all day; can you tell? My day started a bit annoyingly, with a request that I don't feel was fair of the requester to request. It's just a bit off-putting, even if it's not a huge deal, and things should be sorted out without any real problem for anyone, I hope.

Went for tea yesterday---yummy, I must say---and then to the Cloak & Dagger for a magic show. My friend's performed better (who hasn't?) but I had a good time, and had a fun time chatting with the assorted crowd before and after the show.

Today was/is cloudy, chilly, and slightly ominous. Fall is certainly in the air.

At the moment I'm listening to assorted indie music and putting together a preliminary bibliography of non-archival sources for my dissertation.

After dinner I'm planning on dragging myself out of the house to meet up with Massey people at a nearby pub. I don't really want to go, but I think it's important to make an effort to show my face at orientation events. I don't want to be one of those people who is never around. They suck. Plus, I'm sure I'll have a good time once I'm there. Also, and somewhat related, I'm starting to realize why most people enjoy drinking on occasion. Huh. I never felt this way before. I guess I'm just in an ugh mood right now.

So long summer.

I skipped out on brunch today to stay home and get some work done. Woke up this morning thinking about my dissertation, so figured it was good to go with that theme. But of course although I have managed to get some things done, I've also spent a lot of time chatting with people (online), running school errands (on e-mail) and reading the internet. But this is just how it goes, so I should get over it. And, if I had gone out, I'd still have work and errands. [End self-justification of not going out and staying in to work but not working as hard as I might have now.]

Later today I am off to HD's for tea and then to a magic show. Very much looking forward to the show. It should be a blast!

I got a bit of work done Saturday and Sunday, but mostly lazed about. Last night I went downtown and met up with PB and CG2 for Sunday Night Live. I'd never been before, and figured I should go take in this particular part of the Toronto cultural scene. It was fun---moderately to pretty funny most of the time---and then we three and the gorgeous other half of PB's band we're scared went to Sneaky Dee's for beer and nachos. It was an early night, and though I made an attempt at work afterwards, I think I only managed to read 20 pages in an hour and a half. Either the Vietnam War is incredibly boring, or 1am is not the best time to read for school. I really need to get myself a routine that works, especially if I want to keep going out. Which I do. Because it's fun.

At the moment I am somewhat unimpressed with myself. But soon I won't have time to think about such things. School---Massey responsibilities, conference organizing, various regular meetings, TAing, and producing things for my dissertation committee---starts up this week.

Farewell summer 2007. It's been fun!

Historians go dancing.

What did I tell you last? I can't remember, and can't be bothered to check my last blog posting. Do you know that Thursday night MB and EH came over to watch "The Virgin Suicides" with FN and I? FN baked a cake (mmmm) and we had a fun evening. Plus, having a party at home meant I didn't have to get dressed up (read: put on jeans). Which is always a good thing.

Friday I slept in late, ran a bunch of errands in the afternoon, took a nap---I think I am now finally recovered from my research trip, sleep-wise---had a gourmet dinner with FN (baked salmon with avocado and mango salad), then went dancing! A handful of us gathered at Sneaky Dee's and had an awesome time. Very fun. It was exactly the kind of music and type of crowd that makes dancing fun. We all had a good time, and danced up a storm. When the music stopped at 2:30am, we realized we were hungry, so we walked over to Chinatown for some late-night eats. The food was good, but the service was slow, and we didn't make it home until 5am. Ouch. But it's ok.

No plans at the moment for tonight. But I don't particularly feel like working. Maybe I should do something school-related today, though.

Speaking of school-related things, I'd like to point out that it can sometimes be a good thing to get involved in things that one isn't involved with. Because sometimes things just aren't happening, as much as one would like to believe that other people have it under control. In conclusion, I like being the boss, or at least like knowing that someone else is the boss. And in this case there wasn't a boss, and the only way to find this out was to ask. So I did. And, good.

I think there should be much more dancing with historians.