jolie Anjulie

Anjulie puts on an amazing show for a non-deserving crowd at Viva in Hamilton.

(photo homorazzi.com)

I've never been out in Hamilton to party before, and one night is not a lot to judge a small suburban town on, but I'm unlikely to go partying in Hamilton again. Although Hesse Village is quite quaint, and made me think 'why on earth did urban planners not build this type of High Street feel in Mississauga' the actual party scene, or at least Viva itself, was substandard. Well, maybe ideal for a 19 year old, of which there were many. But considering that Anjulie is a massive gig for a venue so far from Toronto, the club should have done much better with promotion. All of Hamilton should have been at Viva watching the pint sized singer belt out her hits and soon to be hits.

She's got some mad catchy tunes, and a wicked stage presence that boosts her warm yet husky vocals. Two fly girls flanked her with spirited moves while Anjulie nailed songs like 'fucking sexy' (have assumed the song name here:)), 'brand new bitch' and the recently released anthem 'stand behind the music'. Her strong vocals combined with tight rapping reminds me of a combination of Gwen Stefani - though thankfully Anjulie's lyrics have meaning and intelligence - and M.I.A. She is not comparable to most of today's pop starlettes because she actually writes her own music. Hooray for not pandering to the synthetically created 'gems' of today's pop world. She even writes other singer's music, notably this year, 'Don't call me baby' sung by Kreesha Turner.

If you haven't seen Anjulie, check her out. She's performing tomorrow night at Nathan Philips Square for Citytv's New Year's Eve bash, go down or watch it on tv.

I'm definitely looking forward to catching her again, this time in the 416.

Stand Behind the Music video

Ice house

I miss lots of things about London everyday, but today everything else pales in comparison to my longing for being able to control the heating in my apartment. As in turn on the heating when it's -5 outside and you can see your breath in your bedroom.

(photo torontoist.com)

Our heating is controlled by our lovely, friendly downstairs neighbours who are away for the Christmas break. Luckily, by some animalistic foresight, and suggestion from parents, we have a mini space heater that has helped us survive the night. However even with the heater and many blanket, ski clothing, etc I still can't feel 3 of my toes. Our landlord was supposed to be here between 11 and 1. It's now 345. He's not here. He is probably rightfully terrified of the cold and my wrath. A knowledgeable friend did tell me that it is legal for a dwelling that's only 2 separate apartments to share utilities. A law no doubt written by someone who's never been without heat on a -5 winter day.

Jingle Jingle - except in my pocket

My top 5 Christmas songs:

5. I wanna hippopotamus
4. Melekalikimaka
3. Oh Holy Night
2. Carol of the Bells
1. Teresa Brewer's Christmas album - the whole album

(photo popsike.com)

Ah the scents of Christmas are in the air. Fir trees, eggnog, black cake (West Indian xmas dessert delicacy filled with rum), money burning through my wallet and being replaced by small tokens of appreciation for loved ones. 

Christmas is quite different this year. For the last 10, I have raced home as early as I could from uni, hockey or work commitments to enjoy the holidays with my family and friends, and have raced off just as quickly to return to those commitments. It's very nice to be able to have quite a relaxed Christmas where I'm not filling my few days with fitting people in so I see everyone. I can enjoy all the splendour of Christmas, and I do love me a good Christmas, without paying way too much to fly home for far too little a time. I also get the added bonus of being able to say 'yes' when invited to parties and events after New Years. Hooray!  It also means more unusual parties I may not have gone to in the past because it would have been time spent away from a larger group of friends can now be attended, and new friends made. 

I also have close friends and family who are doing the flying in from abroad thing, so the excitement of 'this is Christmas, and it's a big deal because so-and-so came home for it' is definitely in the air, and I've already had a chance to partake. 

Ding dong ding dong! 

Songs of good cheer!

Christmas is here! 

top 5 part 3

My top 5 of Toronto today

1. being able to have a house party with more than ten people comfortably there
2. waking up to a fridge full of food because I have an amazing Aunt who knows her food and is very good at sharing
3. it's sunny today
4. I'm about to eat relatively cheap yet completely delicious sushi with old friends
5. sun chips, always tasty, also have 100% compostable bags.

amazon.ca

The question of the day is:

How, on earth, is it that amazon.co.uk and amazon.com both have everything you could imagine you would ever want and amazon.ca has none of those things? The few items that amazon.ca sells run at about twice the price of amazon.com (the exchange rate is almost 1 at the moment, so we can't blame that).

For example, the blank that I wanted to order my Blank for Christmas for $21 on amazon.com runs at $80 on amazon.ca - from only one seller. The other blank that I wanted to buy for the same Blank at $2.99 on amazon.com (from a zillion sellers) is $19.99 from one seller on amazon.ca. Let me tell you, that blank is a really common item that can be found quite easily everywhere, in the real and virtual world, apart from amazon.ca of course, because amazon.ca essentially sells nothing. A whole little of nothing for a whole lot of bucks.  It's like those stores that you walk into that sell so few items that you think 'this must be a drug front'. But a virtual drugfront? Is that possible?
That little amazon.ca logo is smiling because he has nothing to do today or any day, and also he is high on all his drugs. 

top 5 London part 2

things I miss about London today

1. having a job I loved going to everyday
2. being able to buy liquor at any corner store
3. that you can basically always get free delivery ordering on amazon
4. that it doesn't matter what bank you bank with, another bank's atm won't charge you $5 just to use it
5. that all prices include tax. if it says it costs a pound, it will cost a pound.

you know why Toronto's cool?

house parties.

House parties are the greatest form of nightlife. A whole bunch of people who sort of know each other, like one guy in that group knows one guy in the other group, etc, lots of booze that is not ridiculously expensive a la bar, you don't have to wear shoes, you are much less likely to have a complete fool following you around and not getting your f-off hints, and generally everyone is there for merriment so fights are more or less completely avoided (i'm writing about 28-year-old house parties, not 16-year-old-my-parents-are-out-of-town house parties), they are also often themed. Tonight i'm going to an apres-ski party. oh yes.

(photo blue-sunshine.com)

I will be dressed like the man in the red sweater, not the woman in the purple boots. god her costume is booring. 

La Neige

Today is the first snowfall in Toronto. It is beautiful. I have always thought that the seasons in Ontario make it one of the best places to live. You get the crisp, cool, colourful days of fall, then the sunny yet frightfully cold winters that leave you to appreciate the dawning of  bright spring and the hot hot heat of summer.
Yes, the winters aren't all fun and games making snow angels, tobogganing and skiing. There's also the freeze-your-eyelids-shut wait for the streetcar, the necessity for toques, mitts and gigantic coats. But still a subzero winter is something that's only experienced by a handful of countries residents.

Even in England, when it snows, which is an exceptionally rare occurrence, the parks are packed with people trying to toboggan. Which makes you wonder where all these Brits got their wooden sleighs (and how they store them in tiny London flats?) - but it turns out it used to snow lots more in London ten years ago. And, when I think about wearing a snowsuit under my Halloween costume as a little kid, I realize that is true in Toronto as well. The minus 20 everyday winters of the past have been reduced to much milder temperatures, with a few crazy storms thrown in for good measure.

Culprit? You guessed it, global warming. But no, I'm not all doom and gloom today. Right now the Durban climate talks need some people power to get leaders to think (I was going to continue that sentence but 'think' sums it up nicely). So, please go onto avaaz and sign the petition to get global leaders to use their brains. 

top 5 London

today, the top 5 things I miss about the London lifestyle are:

1. very chilled out pints at the friendly local
2. cobblestone streets
3. easy access to lots of large and easy-to-run-in parks
4. the range of British accents
5. Bam, of Bim and Bam

Montreal favourites

Old Montreal

English area building

typical Montreal fire escapes

typical Montreal style staircases (watch out for the winter ice Grannys)

some of the amazing street art across the city