Locals!

 Last weekend I had the chance to see all three of these artists play at POP Montreal during a Sunday workshop called "Sacred Sunday".  They played all gospel songs. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon and it was also nice to be introduced to some new local artists I wasn't well aquainted with yet.


The Barr Brothers





Lil' Andy (he is not so little...)






Patrick Watson

Thank you YouTube!

This past week, I was fortunate enough to see the Arcade Fire perform a free show, in the suburbs in a mall parking lot! They are the one band I had to see while living here. They put on an epic show and thanks to youtube, I am able to share a little bit with you.



THEY WERE SO EPIC! I almost cried... These are the reasons I love living in Montreal.

In this video, when the view changes from a close up to a farther shot, you can see a pink and white toque at the bottom center left.  I am 2 people behind that guy! We were so close and had an amazing view.



Also, within the last week I went to see a band I used to really enjoy, CocoRosie. Now, I am not their hugest fan, but it was still really neat to see an old favorite come to life.  They have amazing voices and although their music is pretty experimental the combination of the two sisters voices was quite lovely!

Sample/Inventory Sale!

Friday was a rainy and dreary day, so I headed down to the Old Port of Montreal to attend a fashion sale. It was Day 2 of "The Big Fashion Sale by Quebec Designers".  In search of some good deals on some local fashion I headed to this huge old building called Bonsecours:

The sale was pretty crazy. There was three levels to explore of clothing, accessories, jackets and shoes.  There was all different kinds of styles to look at! Super classy ladies wear to organic cotton hippy yoga wear.

Most of the vendors( if not all) were waaayyy out of my price range! Even at the sale prices of 50-80% off things were still pretty pricey.  It was still fun to look. I had heard about sample sales but had never been to one until now.  It is a rare chance to potentially buy one-of-a-kind designer items!!! This sale was pretty large in scale, so it included a lot of old inventory as well.

Some of the designers that stood out to me are:

Véronique Miljkovitch

I was kinda surprised that I liked her stuff.  I think it was mostly because it reminded me of my friend Alicja's design style

.

 Eve Gravel 

Super cute dressers. There was a really nice white (with tiny grey hearts) cotton shift dress, with super delicate pleating in the front that I loved by this designer.

Anne-Marie Chagnon

Her jewelry really reminds me of an old co-worker/friend in the Yukon who creates beautiful stained glass works and jewelry.

Soia & Kyo

 I have always loved this brand. Their jackets are AMAZING! 

That is about all I can remember... One thing that really stood out to me at the event was the range of quality/styles of product! There was a good mix of emerging designers and well established brands so it was neat to see them all in one place.  It was inspiring to see.

"You're just a riddle in the Sky"

Recently, this musician was brought to my attention: The Tallest Man On Earth




He just did a show here in Montreal, but unfortunately I found out about him a little bit too late.  It would have been a really awesome show to see live!

Since this song I decided to post is about birds, I feel I have to bring up my little escapade into "birding" today.  I saw this really beautiful bird in my back yard and I had to know what it was!!!  The only thing I have found to be similar is the "Red-winged Black Bird".

But I am not 100% convinced that it is the same one because the bird I saw today had much cooler looking markings on the wing...  and apparently these birds are really common to see... so I got all excited for nothing.  The tree in my current backyard must be a sanctuary of sorts for birds because I see so many birds all the time. OH and hear them "singing" all the time. 

"She has the voice of an angel"

That's bold. You can't just throw that out there about someone unless you really mean it.  Not that I really even know what the voice of an angel would sound like... but it sets some high expectations.

These expectations were met last night by the lovely and oh so mesmerizing Katie Moore.  What a babe too!

 Hands down, I have to say, that it was one of the best shows I have been too.  And yes, I realize that is a bold statement to make as well... Boldness seems to be every where in this post.  Maybe I should just write this whole post in BOLD.. I made a joke? haha Funny...?!

She played last night at the Casa De Popolo, which is a really nice intimate venue.  The bar is split into two with one side being a cafe/restaurant vibe and the other side being just for shows.   The place was packed and usually at such capacity there is bound to be someone who is talking obnoxiously or not playing attention, but not at this show! Every single person in the audience was captivated by Katie Moore and her back up band.  Even the bartenders were whispering. 



Isn't she awesome? She had a violinist that accompanied her as well and who played so hauntingly beautifully.  The violin, combined with Katies voice, was almost too much. It tugged at my heart strings.  I don't really know what else to say about her, other then I am so glad I got to see her perform and I will probably end up going to see her again soon. She is from Montreal after all...

Unintentional Brewery Battle

Last night a friend and I were walking downtown on Saint Catherine's Street in search of some where to have a pint of beer and/or cider.  We walked past all the pubs on Bishops and Crescent Streets, which are both well known to be where all the stereo-typically college scene bars are and kept walking until we saw "Les Trois Brasseurs".

Les Trois Brasseurs (or The Three Brewers in English) is a chain Brewery Pub/Restaurant. 

They have four establishments in Montreal and one in Toronto I believe. So, since we were kinda running out of options we went in.  It was huge! And busy! Even so, we didn't have to wait that long and got seats at the bar.  I wasn't really in the mood for beer so I asked if they had any cider on tap and the bartender in the rudest tone ever told me "No, this is brew pub. We brew beer".  I was really offended because I am not dumb, I knew where we were and I have been to "brew pubs" before that make cider or just have some other companies cider on tap... He then left and took his sweet time in coming back to us, so we decided to just leave.  Not worth our time or money. The place was way too commercial, the music was terrible and obviously the service wasn't too great either.

We made our way up to the Plateau in search of better service and were pleased to find it at "Dieu du Ciel".  I had been there before so I knew what the place would be like. It is fairly small and even on a Tuesday night it was packed! We easily found a table and our server was quick and friendly. She also didn't front on me when I asked for a pint of cider!!!  I was tempted to order a beer from their interesting looking menu. They had about 15 different varieties on the board for that day! One I want to go back to try (when I am in the beer drinking mood) is their Maple Scotch Ale:

Equinoxe du printemps (Spring equinox)
Maple scotch ale - 8%

A variant of the Cornemuse, the Équinoxe du Printemps offers a melody of caramel and maple. At the first draught, the mouth is overcome by woody, malty flavours, sustained by a discrete symphony of sweetness. The aftertaste brings about the warmth of alcohol and flavours of maple toffee. Very well balanced, this beer will surprise even the most experienced beer enthusiasts. The maple taste is sufficiently present to be appreciated, but never overwhelming the traditional flavours of a Scotch Ale.

Équinoxe du printemps is brewed only once a year, in January. It is aged for two months in order to attain a perfect balance in taste. Then it is sold starting March 21st, and is available only while stocks last!

The Spring equinox was born in our Montreal brewpub in February 1999

Sounds yummy!  On a bonus note, Dieu du Ciel is a quick walk away from where I will be living this summer.  Maybe I will become a bit more of a connoisseur....

In conclusion:
Les Trois Brasseurs-FAIL
Dieu du Ciel-WIN

Underground

Well, most posts (if not ALL posts) to date have been about Montreal on ground level, so just to mix it up how about one about below the city!

Last night I went to an event called "Envol Underground":

It was in an old abandoned tunnel that goes under the Lachine Canal.  It was quite spooky in there. 

First of all, we had to meet at a cafe nearby so we could get directions from the host. We waited in the drizzling rain for about 45 minutes before being lead into a dark tunnel illuminated by tiny little tea lights. It is a good thing that cell phones can work some what like a flash light...

Once inside there was music, video projections, live art/graffitti and fire dancers.  There even was a snack table. Twizzlers? Yes, please!

It was a pretty cool set up, but I was too cold and creeped out by the place to really enjoy it all. We left before midnight, but I am sure that things probably picked up as the night progressed further into the wee hours.

I came across this website about Urban Exploring in Montreal.  Seems like an exciting hobby to have but a bit too sketchy for me, so I think I will just stick to exploring their website.

Work when you need to - maybe

Old Man Luedecke... if you like banjo, you will like this man. 

This past Friday I got to see him play at the Green Room.  It was my second time seeing him play. Which is fortunate because we were pretty late getting to the show and only got to see the last half of his set! Nothing could ever compare to the first time I saw him at the Palace Grand though during Dawson City Music Festival. I think that place spoils any bands following performances for me.  It is just so magical there!

From what I saw of the show, it was really entertaining.  I got to do some good ole foot stomping for a few songs, so I think it is safe to say I was having a fun time!

Here is one of my favourite songs that he plays:

I want to ride my bicycle!!!

I want to ride my BIKE!!

Well, I guess first priority would be to purchase said bicycle... which hopefully will be remedied very soon. Thank you tax return! Woot!

Now that it is spring time the city has become more alive and bustling.  It seems like everyone has gotten their bike out of storage and are making use of the many bike paths that Montreal has to offer. And... I am jealous. I can not wait to get back pedaling.  The spin classes I have been going to at the YMCA are just not the same.

First up when I find a bike I want to take the Lachine Canal bike path.  It is a really nice bike path that is close to 30 km round trip and I think there are a bunch of other connecting paths you can connect to as well.  On a nice day it is so busy! I've been out jogging on the path a lot lately and some days you have to be aware of all the cyclists and rollerbladers. I thought Kelowna was bad for its roller bladers, but they are by far out numbered here (which for some reason I find surprising).

Right now I live close to the Atwater Market, which is right on the Canal.  It is pretty neat how there are bike paths that can take you all around the island!!! Yep, Montreal is an island didn't you know?  "The island is approximately 50 km long and 16 km wide at its widest point".  The geography of this city always makes me laugh for some reason. A mountain? On an Island?

Once I do get out for a ride, I will be sure to post an update! But until then, watch this:

Getting My Craft ON!

This past weekend, I got my craft (back) on.

I had signed up for a felting class a while back and I had kinda forgotten about it.  Thankfully Allison, my instructor for the afternoon and designer behind FiberAlley, called to let me know it was still on AND that I was the only one who signed up. I almost thought she was going to cancel the class, but she said it would be cool for me to still come by the studio and just go about things as planned!

Her studio was located in really cool space up in the Mile End called Red Bird Studios.  It was really interesting to see a shared artist studio set up and to see people have the space to do what they love!  It was a pretty laid back vibe with Allison and she was really into just doing whatever.  A couple of her friends showed up and they did their own thing too.


I have now decided that felting is pretty rad. I have always had mixed feelings on felted objects.  Sometimes I find them kinda tacky or overly "crafty" if that makes any sense.  But I think I have changed my mind. It was really neat to get a taste of how it all works annddd I think I like it more now.  I got to try out wet felting and needle felting. I have always enjoyed working with those premade felt pieces you can get at craft stores, so I guess it is a logical progression to try out some real felting!

I posted a picture of what I have made thus far. The circles with the yellow I made in the class and the other ones I made last night at home. Those circles are all slices from little balls of wet, rolled wool. The final results are so exciting because you keep adding more wool and rolling the ball in the palm of your hands and don't really know what it will look like when you cut it open!!! When my first one was revealed I was sooo excited. I think I was on a crafting high afterwards (just ask my friends who I met up with for dinner after... I was all full of pep!).

I have a few ideas what I will want to do with these little bits of felt. My first thought was to make a necklace with the first ones I made. I may attach them to leather and make some leather strands to combine with the chain... but I may make a little art piece in a frame because I don't know if I will actually wear the felted jewelery, so I maybe the art would get seen more?!

*****

ALSO, I just have to say thank you to Nanny.  I almost, almost canceled because I have been pretty broke lately... but fortunately Nanny had just sent me a birthday card with a very timely birthday cheque so I got to put that towards good use!!! It was such a treat to use her gift to do something creative. Thanks Nanny (I hope you read this post!!!).

 *****

Things I like about Concordia University:

Cinema Politica:

Tonight I saw two really interesting films about transgendered people.  I will post the links to the descriptions and trailers below:

• Boy I am
• Girl Inside

These films told some really thought provoking stories.  I didn't realize how political sex change from female-to-males is! And also, just the whole concept of gender is a total mind fuck! The more these people are getting into it the more it becomes less clear. People are just seeking their happiness and self love in the end but it gets pretty complicated, especially when gender is involved.

People's Potatoe:

Free lunch? Yes, please!! Here is what they are all about:

"The People’s Potato is a vegan soup kitchen run out of Concordia University. The project was initiated in 1999 in order to address student poverty. The student population at Concordia is typically in debt, and has little access to quality nourishing foods. Our soup kitchen emphasizes serving well cooked, wholesome foods.

At the onset, a group of dedicated students started cooking in a church basement and carried the food to the university. Since then, the project has expanded, and we now serve over five hundred students and community members daily from our kitchen at Concordia.

We are committed not only to serving food to hungry students, but to broader goals of social justice and environmental sustainability"

I have gone for lunch a few times since I have been here. It is a really good idea! I guess students pay into this service as part of their student fees. The food can be kinda hit or miss, but you can't really complain because it is free AND vegan.  I have heard it is pretty cliquish with the people who are involved, but that is pretty much with everything right... so i guess you just have to get into it. Hopefully once I become a student at Concordia (fingers crossed) I will become active with this some how.

Just looked at their website and they are having some cool workshops this week! Indoor gardening is tomorrow and fermentation the next day. I may just have to go pretend to be a student some more...

Bruce Penisula-Steamroller

(ha hahahaa hahahha..... just noticed the spelling error in the title. I think it is hilarious, so I am just going to leave it... lol)

Get Lost!

Yesterday was such a beautiful day outside!!! The sun was shining and there was energy in the air, so I decided to go exploring in an area I had never been to before.

I started my trek walking up Saint-Denis a little bit. Normally when I go up to the Plateau area I would for some reason always just bypass this street and head straight to St. Laurent which runs parallel to Saint-Denis but a few blocks over. St. Laurent is more geared towards anglophones/people from out-of-town apparently.

I came across a really interesting bookstore that carried French and English books on many interesting alternative health type topics. They had lots on sale, but my budget for the day was the $5 change I had in my pocket so I didn't buy anything...

After that, I went up to Saint Hubert which I had heard had a bunch of fabric stores.  Since I am in the market for a sewing machine I thought it would be good to go check out the scene and WOW! I was impressed... well, I wasn't impressed with the prices. The fabrics were pretty pricey in most places, but there were atleast 10 different stores within 3-4 blocks of another (just look at the map!!). My favorite store just had the most random notions, and cheesy old jewelry and BUTTONS! I should have taken a picture, but I was worried the old french store owner would be mad at me and I wouldn't be able to defend myself with the language barrier.

After that I proceeded to get a little bit lost. I thought Saint Hubert would cross over on to Saint Denis... but I forgot that they both run North-South. It was a easy fix (back track!) to get to where I wanted to go and I got to check out some really nice residential streets along the way.

Finally, I stumbled onto the Jean Talon Market which was my ultimate goal! It is amazing in there. Definitely cheaper then the Atwater Market near my house. They had lots of local produce, honey and eggs/meat etc. Anything you could want pretty much. I almost bought this big 5 pound bag of multi-coloured carrots for $4 but I didn't really feel like carrying it home.

I was going to just take the Metro home, but it was muuuch to nice out to descend down into the depths of the metro system.  So I decided to walk back along St. Laurent. I was happily surprised to come by "Petite Italie". I love Italian food, so I will be back in that neighhbourhood one day to get a taste.

All this food talk, I must have been hungry hey? I decided to get the good ole standbys of bagels! I went to a different bakery then before. I went to Fairmount as they have lots of variety and I got some cinnamon raison bagels to take home and a cumin bagel to give me some energy to make it home (all within my pocket change budget too mind you)!

The combination of exploring a new area of the city and the spring like weather made me super excited to be living here. A friend of mine told me that if I want a real Montreal experience, I shouldn't be living where I am right now and that I should be up in the Mile End/Plateau. More and more I am realizing that. There is so much more up there. More hustle and bustle (more cute boys on bikes) and much more culture! I am really looking forward to the summer when I am potentially going to be living up there!!!!

On a side note, I am definitely feeling a bit nervous about the prospect of biking in this city. It is intense on some streets!!! So many people are out on their bikes now.  Don't worry mom, I will totally be getting a helmet.  I think if you just stick to more calm routes, it will be okay. Also, the benefits of cycling in the city (and the pure joy of it) much out ways the potential downsides... one just must be defensive!!! Oh, I heard they have this really cool thing here called BIXI which is a public bike system where you just take a bike from one station and deposit it at your final destination. It seems pretty reasonable and a neat way to encourage alternative transportation in the city.

Highlights!!!

I am beginning to notice that it is hard to keep up with this blogging situation. I like doing it. I love talking to my parents on the phone and having my dad out of no where just say "you aren't old Moriah" and me taking a while to realize he is talking about a recent blog post.

I have fallen behind on things this week, so in attempts to catch up I am going to quickly put some highlights.

MONDAY:
-Dropped off my application to the Loyola Campus unceremoniously in the pile of other applications on the floor in front of the reception desk. I tried to send good vibes to my application so it stands out amongst the rest
-Went to Chinatown for some really yummy Vietnamese Pho. I loved the extra bean sprouts and fresh mint leaves on the side!!
-Checked out this thing called the "Silophone" in the Old Port

TUESDAY:
-Went to Spin Class at the YMCA with my favourite instructor. She has the best timing/music in her classes
-In attempt to find new (to me) pants & a bright coloured spring jacket I went to Value Village/Frixe Prix but had no luck. If I had a sewing machine I would have bought these pants that just needed to be taken in a bit and they would have been perfect

WEDNESDAY:
-Attended a "Self Assessment" workshop at the employment centre I am going to. We did a quick Myers Briggs personality test (I got INTP). Not really that helpful of a workshop, it was too vague and there was a really annoying guy in it. That morning I got a Yogi Tea bag tag that said "Live from your heart, you will be most effective" which I thought was really appropriate for the day
-Went to TWO movies back to back... felt pretty bad ass, but I figure if I am going to spend almost 20 bucks at the theatre, I should atleast get my money's worth! I saw "Vilane" (it was in French with English subtitles) and "The Last Station".

THURSDAY:
-Yiiee, I barely remember if I did anything exciting this day?! haha.
-Went to Grumpys (a bar downtown) for Bluegrass Night where they have a jam around one microphone for whoever feels like playing that night. So many mandolins playing! It was awesome!!

Okay, Phew... that's kinda it until Friday, but I think Friday deserves it's own posting.

It is an eerie world sometimes

This afternoon, I was listening to a playlist on Grooveshark that I had just made and a song came up by Sparklehorse.  I was first introduced to them four or five years ago and haven't really listened to them for a while. When their song, "Apple Bed" started playing I was curious to see what the band is up to now as I was excited about hearing them again!

So I googled them while the song was still playing and sadly it came up that the lead singer, Mark Linkous, just killed himself less then 24 hours ago...

Two Feet and A Heart Beat

It is a good thing I like to walk because, Friday... I walked up over the "mountain" all the way across town. It actually isn't even close to be across town, but it sure felt like it (especially when looking at the Metro Map! Don't be fooled by the Metro map by the way... that isn't at all how the city is distributed!!!!)

The day started out with a really nice lunch at Bonnys, a vegetarian restaurant that I had been meaning to try out for weeks since it is so close to my house. I wasn't disappointed. The atmostphere was really laid back, the server was friendly (and very anglo) and the food was delicious. I have to say it did take a while to get the food but once it arrived I didn't care anymore. I ordered the Boca Burger which is:

"Homemade chickpea flour and black bean burger served with an avalanche of fresh salsa, cheddar cheese, organic sour cream and sliced avocado (*vegan option available!)"

It was served open faced, so you had to cut it to eat it... not quite a burger... but it was so delicious. The salsa was warm and fresh, with the perfect amount of cilantro. The "burger" itself was yummy, although a bit dense, almost couldn't eat it all!  It gave me some much needed energy for what was to come.

So, we walked.

A lot!

It was a nice sunny day, so we thought it would be nice to go to the top of the "mountain". That huge, Mountain they have in the middle of the city.  At its highest peak it is 233 m above sea level. I love this quote from Wikipedia:

"At this height, it might be otherwise considered a hill, but it has always been called a mountain."

But okay, Montreal. You have a Mountain.

Anyways, we trekked up and OVER the mountain to the other side, which is something I hadn't done before so it was kinda neat to see that it was do-able.  So we arrived in the Plateau area and did some exploring there and just kept on walking up to the Jean Talon area where we were meeting people. It took about 4 hours to traverse what we did. Mind you we stopped in at a few shops along to way to look for vintage postcards, new outfits and cool art... but it was quite the long walk.

I am always impressed (and ever so happy) about where my little feet can take me.  I love being able to walk from A to B.  It is probably one of the things I enjoy most about city living. The pure convenience of using your own means-well and public transit- to get around!

After going home to rest for a bit (I took the Metro home in case you were wondering) and then I went out to see a band that I first knew about from Kelowna. They are originally from there, but moved down to Vancouver recently.  They put on a really good show in a really good venue.  The opened the night, so they played early at 9 pm. Which is really too bad because the venue hadn't filled up yet and in my opinion they were the best act of the night!  Those boys are going to do really well and have been getting a lot of well deserved hype lately.  I sincerely hope they become more successful, as they are all kind-hearted guys (and obviously excellent musicians!).

Nuit Blanche

 

Okay, so now for PART DEUX of Saturday night (yeah it's a little bit late but whateve's):

After the Wilco concert we needed to get into our Nuit Blanche mode. Even though it was midnight by the time we left the show, we still had plenty of time to do things. Nuit Blanche is an annual, all night arts festival where basically the city is the venue. Things are literally happening everywhere.  

We started in the Old Port which had light shows, a (closed) ice slide, cabanes a sucre,  and a huge dance party. It was pretty overwhelming with the mass amounts of people. The number one thing to do it seemed there was to buy a hot dog or marshamellow skewer and roast it over these bonfires they had going everywhere. It seemed a bit silly. 

We then thankfully met up with a group of friends who were all keen to find some random things to do. My goal for the night was to try and do things you wouldn't be able to do on any other given night in the city. Dance parties can happen any time. 

Soo... with that in mind we were off to "Karaoke Opera" in the Place des Arts Metro Station. I thought it was going to be kinda terrible and more humourous (like most other Karaoke I've been to) but no, it was like watching professionals. They all must have been trained Opera singers!! Some didn't even have to read the lyrics!!

After that, we ventured up to the SAT (Society for Arts and Technology). I hate to admit, but it was a dance party... BUT a redeeming quality was that it had some really neat video art installations happening. So we watched that for a bit and half of us carried on and we left two behind who just couldn't fight the urge to dance the night away.

Next, it was up to the Plateau to watch some bad TV:

"Total Crap presents the worst television and film ever made--so bad that it's good. International, national and regional TV--we have it all, enough wretched CinemaCrap and Tortured TV to damage the sanest mind!"

Unfortunately, we were too late.... or even potentially went to the wrong address (whoops).

The final thing (and highlight of the night) was going to McGills Redpath Museum.

Museum, at 4 am in the morning? Boring you say? What if I told you that all the lights were off and you got to explore the building with flashlights?!!

The museum is apparently the oldest in Canada, built in the 1800's. It has an Albertosaurus!!! AND mummies!  I didn't even learn that much about anything, it was just so cool to shine a light into a case and be surprised at what was in it. Since everyone else had flashlights, you could see some really cool shadows thrown across the ceilings/walls. We sat and just watched that for a while.

By this time it was now 5 a.m. and Nuit Blanche was winding down and it was home time.

Thanks to the Metro for being open all night and taking me and the hundreds of others home after an adventure filled night in the city!!!

Miss these gals....

... even though I think it is ridiculous they did this remake!!!

You were right about the stars

Phew...

Last night. Where to even begin? I am tired just thinking about it.

I may have to do this in two parts... (lame I know)

PART 1-Wilco Concert

The night had a rocking start. We went and saw Wilco perform at L'Olympia downtown. The venue was awesome. Just check out their pictures on their website! We got there early enough to see the opening act, The Bahamas.  I wasn't completely sold on them, but was glad we got there in time to get a good spot to view the real reason we were there.

WILCO!!!

I feel kinda silly saying this, but the show was a "real rock concert". There was lights, fog machines and just general rocking out by the band and audience. They played a really full set (and surprisingly long encore) with so much energy.  It was impressive! Especially since they aren't just young fellows anymore. One of the band members had a pretty bad ass grey beard!!!

The second song they played this gem: (this video doesn't do it justice, but you can get the point some what)



Another highlight was when they played Jesus, Etc. I love this song! It was the first Wilco song I had ever heard and was waiting for this moment ever since I bought my concert ticket a month ago.  They did it as an audience sing-a-long, and it was pretty amazing - one of those goosebump inducing moments.  The whole place seemed to know the words and sang practically the whole song with no help from the lead singer Jeff Tweedy!!  The space was filled with the love for the song and for that moment in time.




The rest of the show included various rock outs to songs I wasn't fully familiar with and a handful of other songs that I knew (sorry to admit that I am not that up to speed with my Wilco listening!).  That said it was definitely an enjoyable concert and one that I think I will appreciate going to for years to come.

The show ended at 11:30 pm, which was just in time for my Nuit Blanche Festivities to start.

To be continued when I can keep my eyelids from not drooping.

Bonne Nuit

A few things to watch:

This makes me want to learn french even more:




Hand clapping AND foot stomping, this is a band I want to see live:



This video is done by Julie Morstad. She has the same style as the print I bought at the craft fair here. It must be a popular style of art as I have a friend in Kelowna who made similar drawings/paintings.

Tonight on the Agenda...

I AM GOING TO THE OPERA!!!!!

lllaaaalaaa laaa laaa laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

UPDATE: I hate to say, but this didn't actually go down. My friend who was supposed to take me had to finish up a project for school. Another time perhaps...

Some things are better left alone

Last night I had a true Montreal food experience.

POUTINE!!! And not just your fries with regular gravy and cheese curds.

I went to this place called Banquise up in the Plateau that is known for it's large menu of poutine. I think they tout 17 different varieties. I ordered the "Poutine Mexicanne". It had hot peppers, tomatoes, black olives and the regular standbys of cheese and gravy. I was almost tempted to get the Hawaiian  Poutine, which had ham, pineapple and barbeque sauce.... but thankfully I came to the conclusion that those things are probably better left on pizza.

(Speaking of pizza. You can order pizza with poutine as a side dish here. Talk about gluttony.)

At any rate, next time I won't be fooled by the allure of silly things on your french fries. It is called "Poutine Classique" for a reason.

After feasting on poutine, we walked up to a swanky little bar, where I tried something that is probably going to make me sound a little bit like a hippocrate. I ordered a  rye and ginger made their way... and it was so good! A twist on a classic done right! It was rye, soda water and pickeled ginger (ya know that stuff you put on sushi).  It was yummy and cleansed the pallet, which was especially needed after the previously mentioned dining experience. I will for sure be back to give that drink another taste test.

Muffins=best distraction ever

 Well... cupcakes would be even better.

TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS

They were pretty yummy. I would love to beef them up some how. (please note: this is not my picture but the one from the website I found the recipe on)

Also, I now have a huge container of molasses in my possession. Any recipe ideas?

Since my parents read this...

I won't do a weekend update on what I did this weekend. Not that is was scandalous or anything, but I don't think it would be appropriate to talk about all the fun things I did after my Concordia application post...

Mom, Dad.
I have excellent time management skills.
Don't worry.

On a side note:

Ditto to you Devendra.....

Frick Frack!

Why OH WHY do I do this to myself?

I am in the midst of applying to Concordia Communications Department for the Fall term and have come across some various road blocks... that I won't get into... I'll spare the anonymous internet viewers the annoying details...

I had all the time in the world to finish my application this winter. So why did I leave it to the last month, three weeks, two weeks....

 

ONE WEEK UNTIL THE DEADLINE!!!!!!

Not to be an ageist but...

I always forget that the legal drinking age here in Montreal is 18. That is 7 years younger than I am... That is A LOT.

To put it into perspective, last night we went out dancing at this place called Corova. It was a pretty sweet bar and they were playing great old Motown tunes. Should have been a good time right?! Maybe if the bar wasn't full of little teeny-boppers!!!

It was the worst when I was standing in line waiting to use the washroom and this girl was chatting to me about studying at McGill and then she mentioned she was from the States. Then she said "It just feels so liberating to be here and being able to go out drinking". She was only 18!!! Ahhhh!

I felt so terribly old at that moment (even though in the grand scheme of things I am totally not), especially since the girls that we went out were making comments on how they felt old, and they are only 21! I am not used to hanging out with younger people. Most of my friends have always been older. 

I feel real nervous about going back to school as a "mature student".  It makes me wonder if different universities have different ranges in age? Or if some schools are known for having more mature students? It feels weird to have to think about something like age, but I can't help it. Being 18 and 25 are two completely different worlds.

Where'd it go?

So... last night I attended my first ever Drag Show and I have to say it was pretty amazing. It goes with out saying that the music, makeup and costumes were beyond over the top, but that is what made it so awesome. Everyone was having a good time and enjoying the performance.

The first song all the women came on stage to the song that goes "I'm coming out. I want the world to know, going to let it show". It was hilarious! They all looked so good! Most of them had pretty hot bods, very sculpted legs that I was envious of. (BTW I don't know if "women" is the correct term to call men in drag, but they looked like gorgeous women last night so I am calling them women).


There was probably about 10-15 different songs that they did acts too. Some were more risque then others... the most risque had to have been when the one woman flashed the audience all his/her bits... but the only thing was, there were no bits... Either they were really well tucked back or he didn't have any bits anymore? It was an interesting surprise nontheless.

I think I would definitely go back. The energy was super positive and it was really neat to see people doing what they want to do.  Everyone was just enjoying themselves and having fun. I didn't realize that Montreal had such a huge gay population either. Apparently 10% of Montreal's population says they are not heterosexual. It is second only to San Francisco in North America for the highest proportion of not straight people. Just some random fun facts for ya.

Heart 2 Heart Bazaar

 

On Saturday I stumbled upon a little craft show up in the Mile End. It was Valentines Day themed (sorta) and there was lots of neat little things and cupcakes.  I bought the print shown above. It made me laugh when I saw it so I knew I needed to have it. I love her get up.  I just need to find a frame for it! I feel badly, but I can't remember the name of the woman I bought it from! Sorry!!

There were also these really cute felted animal heads mounted on circles of wood. They had donkeys, moose, deers and cows. They were pretty amazing!!!  I wish in retrospect that I had bought one, but they were $40 and I wasn't 100% sure if I could justify that expense. The guy doesn't have a website, but I grabbed one of his cards for me to remember: "Felt Factory" Sabine Alpers, feltfactory@yahoo.com.

After the craft fair, we were craving a bagel so we walked a block down the street to:

It is one of the best/most famous places in town to get bagels. We walked in and both realized that we didn't have any cash, and so the guy behind the counter was super generous and gave us 4 fresh, sesame bagels for FREE!  He was totally hitting on us (too bad we both weren't interested) but it was worth it. They were so warm, perfectly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside... hmmm, nothing is better then a fresh bagels!!!!!  They had just come out of the big oven!

What a good day... craft fairs and free food?!! How can you go wrong?

Cinema Politica-Earth Keepers

Tonight I went to Concordia's Cinema Politica to watch Earth Keepers. You can view the trailer at the site at the Earth Keepers site on NFB.ca
 

It was a really good documentary. Instead of being a doom and gloom type film about how we are destroying the earth, they tried to show us that we should have hope. They packed a lot of cool interviews with people into 83 minutes. I learned a lot.


Most intriguingly that Sweden has cities that are called "Eco Villages". They showed an example of one place where the McDonalds had a "green" roof and some how the used the grease from the fryers to supply energy for the Ford garage next door! It was pretty neat. Also in Sweden, at one of their Universities, they have a Masters Program that is made specifically to teach people how to become leaders in Sustainability. In the class they showed in the film, there are students from 20 different countries. It was inspiring to see that young people, all around the world are interested in the same thing.

Another thing that was pretty interesting was the question of if overpopulation is the cause of all the problems we have right now. They showed a graph of fertility versus quality of life. When quality of life was low, fertility was the highest and when quality of life was high, fertility was low. Someone suggested that if the rich people/countries started to try and help improve the lives of those with a low quality of life they would be helping out drastically with the amount of children being born.


There was so much information that I have to digest...


The main point that I could take away from this film is that we have to work together. We have to join up with like minded people to make changes in our local environment for it to spill out into the world in general. Multiple people in the film stated that my generation will be the ones to make this happen and that the years 2010-2020 are going to be important years for this change. We have to find ways to move forward to make a sustainable future.


"We need to enlighten people to live by their own means"


"Change happens when there is a balance between despair and hope"

We gave away our hearts before we knew what they were

I just have to post about the Basia Bulat show I went and saw on Friday night. It was amazing. I love love love her voice! She played so many good songs from both her new and old albums. She closed the evening off with this really amazing old folk song where she stomps AND claps her hands. I had seen her perform this a few times at Dawson City Music Festival, but it never ceases to impress me. The whole place was dead silent, just completely captivated by her voice. Unfortunately we missed the opening act, Leif Vollebekk. Apparently he is a really good Montreal Artist who is just making it big. I guess I will just have to hope to see him another time.


The venue, L'Astral, was also a really beautiful place. It is right in the area where all the big theaters and museums are.

Young man, there's no need to feel down

Today I had a hard time getting out of bed.... and it is not even like I have a comfortable bed to stay in all day. Maybe it was from the over consumption of MSG last night?

I made it out of bed in time to have some coffee and toast before heading to the gym. I just started going to the YMCA downtown. It is apparently one of the first YMCA's in Canada. It is a pretty nice place. At first I was overwhelmed by it business, but I have gotten used to it now and really like going. Today I attended a noon hour toning class. Even though you just use light weights, it was hard work. Towards the end of the class my arms were shaking!!!

After the class, I walked to H&M to meet my room mate. I have to say that store is pretty terrible. Everything is such poor quality and unbelievable trendy. Sequins, shoulder pads and stripes seem to be HUGE right now. I didn't see anything I would like to buy. It doesn't help that I am consciously trying not to buy anything brand new and so far I have been pretty successful.

My new pre-loved winter ensemble is as follows: (PHOTO TO FOLLOW)

• Green Winter Parka ($7.50 from Frixe Prix)
• Blue Scarf ($2.50 from a different Frixe Prix)
• Winter Boots ($9.95 from Villages des Valeurs)
• Burgundy Satchel ($2.00 from this random 2nd hand furniture store nearby)

All that for under $25!!! I am pretty excited about this new goal of not buying anything new. My next attempt is to try and find a pair of second hand jeans.... I have never EVER waded into the pants section. I always just seem to pull out one hideous pair and give up hope.  But the mission is now officially on.

Your Smile is Your Greatest Asset (in bed)

Instead of celebrating Valentine's Day today, I celebrated Chinese New Year. I guess that is what one does when they have no one to share their love with on the overly commercialized Valentine's Day. Find another reason to go out... Since I hadn't been to the Chinatown in Montreal it seemed like I could kill two birds with one stone (in case you need a recap, the first bird was wading in self pity).

A friend of mine invited me out for dinner with her and a crew of nine people. We had a hard time finding a place to accommodate us since we didn't make a reservation.  When we did finally find a place, we had to wait a few minutes for them to "set our table".  The next thing we know, the host is rolling a huge circular table top down the stairs to make one of the tables bigger. I guess they quite literally meant they had to set our table!

We shared a decent meal and good conversation.  My favorite dish of the night was the fried pea leaves for sure. It probably was the only item we ordered that didn't include any meat. I have to mention that our server was a pro. He seriously cleaned up all our dishes in one go. I have no idea how he could balance all those dishes!! It was nerve racking to watch.  After we finished dinner we went to a Chinese bakery and ordered a whole cake to share. It was a nice finish, to a nice night.

Happy New Year... err, Happy Valentine's Day!!!