Song of the Summer

R does it again in a big way.

Matt James Live

Last night I wasn't feeling too hot, but I promised an old friend of mine that I would come by his show at Bread and Circus in Toronto. 

Matt James is from the north-end of Toronto, born and raised - and I've known him since I was about 16 or so. He was in a band with my best friend Dave, and he played some mean guitar.

Fast forward to the present day. It'd been a while since I had last seen Matt, but he reached out to me with an invitation to his shin dig. I recorded some of his tracks and did a little interview with him after the show. Hope you enjoy.

Fritcedric Affair

Big night on the town last night, lots of parties and interesting things to do. I started out my evening at a little house party on King St W near niagara where my good friend Selector Dominique and our buddy Toni were throwing down the 7s.

It was an interesting party, attended mostly by international ESL students. I heard a lot of spanish, some Germanic tongue, and maybe some other dialects I couldn't quite place. Either way, it was a pretty tight place to start off the night. 

After we kicked it for a bit with Coach and some friends, we decided it was time to leave to check out two of my favorite people in the city right now. Fritz and Cedric are gifts to us all and it's important to let them know that once in a while. 
Cedric did his solo thing, and it was wonderful. Then Fritz joined him for a special encore presentation. I was, of course, in the front row. 



Don't they look wonderful together? Yes, they certainly do. This party was pretty tight because it wasn't too full, there was wicked dance music, and people were having a great time. There was no wait for the bar, the service was nice, and there was this awesome patio on the fifth floor that provided a nice place to chill out. 

After that we did a little bit of limbo and called it a pretty tight night. 

Northern Yonge: Torontopeg Edition Alt Title: Takin Care of Bizness

Torontopeg: Def. "The intermingling of young people from toronto and winnipeg, resulting in wild house parties attended by members of each group."
Did a little northern yonge performance at the torontopeg party, which actually celebrated the departure of young biz, off to london, then nyc. bye bye bizzie biz, see you soon.
after the show, displaying torontopeg tshirt. sorry if any girls got hurt in the giant brawl over the last two shirts.
me and mama liza, slash liza property, slash partner in crime. she rocked the house.
these photos courtesy of sarah nicole. thanks a bunch!

Adam Crunkshank

Went to a house party at queen and portland hosted by our friend hanna k. thanks for a great party hannah, and thanks for inviting:
Matty K - don't see him often enough but when i do it's onnnnn.
adam crunk shank doing his thing at a loft of some sort.

ah young schumacher, always sporting the best t's.

My Garden Continued

An Te Liu: Style and Epoch.

Got up at 9 today because last night I went to bed really early. So I thought to myself, let's bang out some blog posts before I completely forget the wheres, whens and whos that go along with this Canada Day long weekend. Below we see me and An Te Liu, where he opened his show Style and Epoch at the MKG gallery on grand old Ossington Ave. I don't go to art shows without my trusted companion Paul. Not only does Paul's demeaner and style command respect and admiration from those who surround him, he's in the art business, and his advice over the years has proven to be priceless.
And of course, my eccentric sister, (and recently-arrived roomate - sorry about waking you up the other night btw - you know how it is when Dave's in town...) chit-chatting with some of her Berlin friends who were in town. Notice Sputnik handbag. Well done Clara, well done.
The artist himself, deeply immersed in conversation with another Berliner.
Art is fun.

Bicycle Art Show at Studio Gallery

This past Thursday I had the pleasure of attending an art show put on by two of my old friends Avery and Vanessa of Studio Gallery and Agency.

As part of the Bicycle Film Festival, the show celebrated our favorite way to get around the city. The piece above is done by an extremely interesting guy named Ben Schumacher, who posts his work on his awsome blog.
Here's Nick Fox and me in front of the piece he did for the show. Nick helped me out with a lot of the Northern Yonge branding, and we ate tons of vietnamese food while he worked with Studio Agency on some web design projects.
One of my favorite favorite people in the world, Mathieu, AKA Ndeur, and me in front of the piece he did for the show. Mathieu is establishing himself as one of the most accomplished young designers/artists around. His customized pumps and vintage heels are driving the buzz but just you wait until this guy can unleash his full creative energy: this guy paints, draws, designs websites, makes furniture, clothing, anything and everything.

Here we are, Mr. Ben Schumacher and me standing in front of one of his photographs which was shown at Studio Gallery. Nuff said.

West End Sunshine

Leonard Cohen Live in Toronto: Alternate Title: Leonard taught me how to love.

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of attending one of Leonard Cohen's last performances at the center formerly known as hummingbird.The tickets were pretty expensive, but he played for three hours, which ain't bad for a guy who's last concert was 15 years ago (when he was 60).

At the end of his second set (before the encore), we threw him red roses. He was nice enough to pick them up and sing a song with them.

He might be old, he might be frail, but he's still amazing.

There's no need for me to say that last night was pretty tight.

And here's a special treat.

believe it or not, toronto actually IS a city

I know it doesn't always feel this way, but sometimes toronto actually feels like a bigger city. by sometimes, i mean only when you're on the 24th floor of a downtown hotel. we just stopped in at a visiting friend's hotel room after we finished upat the symphony. I love sound check. you can take a girl out there (if you can find a decent one in this city), pay six bucks for the tickets, maybe spend a little more for some intermission flutes of champagne, but all in all, it's cheap, it's culture, and it just makes you feel good.
I'm one of those really lucky guys that actually has a wicked sibling. I feel that sometimes people have siblings that aren't fun to hang out with, and there's not much one can do about that. I'm just lucky. I'm not even lying either, check out clara's blog if you don't believe how cool she is.
Paul is one of my closest friends. He is moving back to new york in august. we're all going to miss him. te voy a extranar amigo.
And so i can say, with confidence, that this past weekend was pretty tight.