The Burnout Store

Where else can you pick up an ice-cold case of summer?

oh messy life

How disgusting our city has become. Here's to resolving the garbage strike before Toronto's rats give birth. Yuck.

ending soon- 3D film fest

3D films are experiencing a rebirth with the success of Up and a wagonload of animated flicks following suit. Why not see classics the same way? Canada's oldest and greatest theatre, The Fox, began it's 3D Film Fest on the 17th with House of Wax and Friday the 13th. With a choice selection of movies, there's no reason not to check one out after a picnic in the Beaches.

If you haven't caught the first few days, here's the schedule. There's still hope!

I choose you, Micachu!

Brittany and I hit up the Micachu and the Shapes show last week at the El Mocambo. It was exactly what I'm used to hearing from Mica- pinging noises, gravely english-english and cutesy lyrics with a little hard guitar. Afterwards, the band told us they were headed to one of our top spots: Ronnie's patio.

I've been trying to persuade everyone to listen to her since the new year and now is the time. Peep this video of them playing "Lips"

take a hike

The Victoria Day long weekend is generally reserved for getting out of town, whether to the cottage or across the border. On shorter weekends, when there's no time for a whole day of driving, escape options are closer to Toronto than you think. Though a perfect day can be spent having a picnic in Trinity Bellwoods, birdwatching in High Park or cycling through Taylor Creek and down the Don Valley, consider something new.

One of my favorite spots as a kid was Rattlesnake Point. This conservation area on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment in Milton has it all: hiking, camping, rock climbing and caves! There is also gorgeous scenery, birding, and great picnic spots. Making the drive over takes less time than riding the TTC end to end. Enjoy!
photo by my dad

world graphic design day

How exciting! Today is World Graphic Design Day and I'm sure many of us are participating 100%. I've got a list of revisions to make to some of my files (lists rule) and have to bunt on one of the loveliest days of the year. When it comes time for a break, wouldn't you love to lay your head on one of these adorable handmade fleece Creative Suite pillows?

lake ontario at dawn

We all know that corny motivational saying: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"

Well, this is the first sunrise of my summer.

international record store [yester]day

Dear friends, as you know, yesterday was International Record Store Day. Hope you popped by Sonic Boom or Criminal Records for some rad, live and free Canadian acts.

Baltimore on Toronto

A funny thing about American tourists is they never make a point of saying what province or city they're coming to here. We're just Canada. When I'm visiting family down south, they'll tell me excitedly "I just met someone else from Canada... do you know them?" but will have no idea where. The stereotype still rings true.

I was seriously caught off-guard about two months back when I got an email from an art director at Baltimore Magazine asking for permission to use one of my photographs. She explained it was for a travel piece in the magazine on roadtripping to Toronto and I agreed. Well, the article is out now (without pics on the web) and they've name-dropped a few of our standbys: dim sum on Spadina, Udupi Palace, St. Lawrence Market, and the list goes on. Also, the subplot about hitting up Orioles games in each town is good fun and not unlike the pursuits of Stephanie and Diego. Now that's showing a city respect!

Wouldn't it be fun to recreate this trip and see what Baltimore, the charm city has to offer, in addition to baseball?

bad boy 4 life

Friday's jam was the best fun I've had in a while. Stephanie laid down some legit bangers and no one stopped dancing to the luscious Bad Boy catalogue. Here are a couple friends who came out.








As always, responsible drinking was encouraged, as was a trip to Hero Burger to cap the evening!

listen to: Fever Ray

Something new. Karin Dreijer Andersson, half of Swedish dance duo The Knife, has released her solo project Fever Ray. Retaining those dark electro and ambient beats that set The Knife apart, Dreijer Andersson has also introduced a bit of drone and some hollow tribal sounds. 

While spectral electronic melodies isn't what you thought would be spinning in one of the gloomiest springs yet, it's beauty is still uplifting. Give it a try. 

Summer Goth

Obviously hit up the Wavves show last night at Sneaky Dee's. I've been really into the only two tracks that Toronto duo The Bitters have on myspace, so it was cool to see what else they've got. They even said this was their first gig. Get The Bitters on your radar- they're a band to watch for. Next up was Vampire Hands. I think they had a pretty good sound but also a forcefield which kept the crowd a good five feet from the stage. There was literally no waiting around for Nathan of Wavves, who was adorable, polite and sounded great live. I scored a T, a poster and some snaps. Here are a couple:

Aerin Fogel and Ben Cook of The Bitters

Nathan Williams of Wavves

It was shaping up to be a good night and by the time Nathan played the track "wavves", everyone was jumping around. And that was it. It was all over at 11pm.

You are tearing me apart, Lisa!

My friend Evan recently got the chance to interview the great Tommy Wiseau, mastermind behind cult film The Room. I still haven't heard of screenings in the great city of Toronto and was wondering if anyone wanted to help put one together?

Here is the interview. It's a must-read, as Wiseau gives us insight into the psychology of The Room and explains his references to Tennessee Williams. Sheer brilliance. 

Kyoto cities

Last week, Nicolas Sarkozy collected proposals from top architectural firms responding to his vision of a greener Paris. Sarkozy's ambition to apply the Kyoto Protocol to the City of Lights, while integrating the troubled suburbs is an ambitious one. The project, called Le Grand Paris, would include a massive expansion of the métro to reach les banlieues and would add many green spaces. As would be expected, many people doubt this will ever come to terms and others feel huge modern development and changes in infrastructure would disfigure the charm of this medieval city.


The crucial part of these proposals is that someone is thinking in terms of sustainability and perhaps other major cities will take a hint. Toronto, we're waiting for you to step up to the plate.

TCAF 2009

Here's one for your ical. 

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is coming up and is gonna be grand. Hosted by the greatest institution in the city, the Toronto Reference Library and presented by The Beguiling, it should be the biggest one yet. TCAF's guest list this year is formidable and still growing. Honoured guests include: Seth, Adrian Tomine, Ivan Brunetti, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Anke Feuchtenberger, Emmanuel Guibert, Paul Pope, and Yoshihiro Tatsumi to name a few. Also, Magic Pony is hosting a show for Tara McPherson. May 9 & 10, 2009.
More details are here, but we'll keep you reminded!

giant Wavves hit Toronto!

Pull up some sand at the end of March.
Riding the Pipeline-esque lo-fi movement of 2009 is Nathan Williams, creator of Wavves. While every other one of his tracks are titled Beach-this or Goth-that, the undeniably fun sound has captured a following. We get our share on March 31, when Wavves roll into Sneaky Dees with The Bitters and Vampire Hands. It's only $11 and will be less weird than Ariel Pink's gig the night before.

Get a ticket before MTV and Now spill the beans!

Death Row pt. 2

Friday night marked our first Miss Elizabeth's Ghost event: a Death Row Tribute at 751. Brews were flowing and bodies got on the dance floor. As this was the first installment of a 3-part series, you gotta come out next time for the Bad Boy Entertainment tribute.
Check out some of the characters who showed up.

Recession Relief - Part One

Lets get serious people, a major economic recession is upon us. Times are cold and unsparing, people are out of work, oil prices are tumbling, export sales are drying up and real estate is sliding into doom!

Wait! Where are you going?! Okay, don't leave. Sorry to dump on you like that, it's not all bad... Spring is nigh, Made Me has a fresh new lookbook and have you tried the new Dempster's Body Wise Bagels? 140 calories. Yep, things are looking up.

Jillian and I are turning our lemons into lemonade and we want to help you too, by stretching that buck!
$$$ saving tips below...

Yard Sales!
Junk hunting is thrifty and fun. Additionally, you'll have to stay in on Saturday night to nab the premium goods in the morning, consequently, you've already saved. You'll find an abundance of bargain books, furniture, knick-knacks, dishes and toys to add kitchy flare to your apartment. You can practice getting up at 9 am on Sunday and hit all your local thrift stores in anticipation for the warm weather to arrive.

Reading.
Cancel your cable already, what a lame, unnecessary expense. Your friends and folks already have a bounty of classic literature kicking around the crib. Used books are cheap or free and they make you beautiful where it counts. We suggest re-visiting Arthur Miller's classic play Death Of A Salesman, flawless and momentarily appropriate.

Radio.
I copped this radio at an antique graveyard out in the sticks for $2 and she still works! Turn on CBC Radio One while you drink chamomile tea and flip through the new issue of Color, you'll feel so smart and adorable it'll make your wallpaper jealous and start belittling you to the coffee table.

Slayer 3.0

Yep. Another Slayer party last night at 751. You know the deal, hipsters, heshers, babes, bangers and brews with kick-ass tunes...
In my opinion, not nearly enough thrash metal, nevertheless I still got taste of some Venom, Anthrax, Deep Purple, Emperor, Whitesnake, Metal Church, Diamondhead, Girlschool, Kiss, Pantera and Ratt. Here's the flicks.

The money makers

Sora holdin down the door

Don't miss the next one suckas!

Pittsburgh Zombi

Filling lulls at parties, a common conversation device goes "If my life had a soundtrack...". This will be used by:

a) Keen conversation-makers. Usually the last thing you'll ever talk about.

b) Music nerds who can develop ridiculous affinities with tunes at the drop of a hat.

c) That one guy, wasted enough to think Dark Side of The Moon was created for him, more than 10 years before his conception.

Contrarily, if your soundtrack accompanies an action-packed life full of martial arts, genuine magic, and lengthy contemplative build-ups where you gallop across the Savannah like Simba on fire... it might be Zombi's new album Spirit Animal. "Epic" is the word. Already on heavy iPod rotation in 2009, you've gotta hear this one to believe it.