Getting more Northern and North Eastern

Alright, so I was out of commission for the kickoff jam, spending my time sitting face first in front of a toilet instead of being up close and personal with surprise headliners Broken Social Scene and Feist. Plus, I also was too weak to go to any of the film, or conference events. Double bogey.

But after I managed to crawl out of my sickbed, NXNE was still a pretty awesome time. I was limited to only my venue since it was an extended call event (the bar served until 4am all weekend; both an awesome and terrible thing). Despite that, some really amazing, talented (and super friendly) musicians did make their way through The Painted Lady.

Highlights:

Midwest Dilemma

From Omaha, Nebraska, lead singer Justin Lamoureux channels a lot of his good friend Conor Oberst in his voice, right down to letting out quivering emotional screams. There's a lot of soul in the music, which is a mix of lilting orchestral ballads and foot stomping acoustic romps. It doesn't stray particularly far (aptly) from that familiar midwestern indie sound, but if you're into stuff like Bright Eyes, Tilly and the Wall, Sufjan Stevens or Jenny Lewis' solo ventures, you'd probably enjoy Midwest Dilemma.

What really came out live was how ridiculously talented they were. It's not every night you rock out a bar with a clarinet solo, but these guys had the folks (literally) dancing on the bar, clapping, singing along and the set ended with chants for an encore. Sadly, we had to say no due to the tight festival schedule, but I certainly wouldn't have minded more from these super friendly folks. On top of being warm, talented and endearing, the band said they were driving from the bar directly to a park north of the city (this was at 2am) to go camping for the weekend afterwards. In the words of Maggie the clarinetist, "It's cheaper and I've never been camping before! I'm stoked!"

You can't argue with any of that.

Michou

From Windsor, these guys were actually a replacement band after we found out one of our acts had cancelled and we scrambled to find someone to take her spot. Michou had just played a set at the Rivoli, and drove directly over and played the Painted Lady last minute. Definitely a different sound (our venue was mainly singer-songwriter type stuff the rest of the night) but some melodic power pop and folksy rock was a welcome change of pace, and the crowd appreciated the energy and volume from the five piece. Kind of a mix of Wintersleep, City and Colour, Cuff the Duke with some Death Cab thrown in (the lead singer even has a Ben Gibbard-ish voice thing going for him). Lots of great harmonies, clapping and xylophone. Great stuff, and they ride in a Starcraft van. Classy dudes.

The Painted Lady

The best part of the weekend though was probably the venue itself. I'd heard about the Lady from various magazines and newspapers, but this was my first time there. I must say, I fully intend to be back, and often. There are really only four staff who run the bar, and they live the kind of life you hear about or see on tv but don't imagine real folks live. The owners were born in South Africa, have lived in New Orleans, opened their bar here in Toronto (they live above it) and did all the decorating themselves. I was incredibly impressed by how cosy and intimate it was. They definitely spent there they needed to and not where they didn't, and as a result the place looks and feels very New York. It's got personality shining through everywhere.

On top of that, the staff are some of the nicest folks you'll meet this side of Kansas. They're hip, accommodating, hard working and easy going. All of them make the place one of the most popular bars on the Ossington strip with the place still filled to capacity with music blasting as I sat sipping my pint at 5am Sunday morning.

On top of that, it's pretty much directly across the street from Pizza Libretto. They're constantly adding live acts, hoping to get up to 3-4 music gigs a week. I told them I'd be back, and I hope to soon. Definitely a go-to place to hang and a great find -- the new bar, and new friends.

This is what we call irony

Watch Food Inc.

Eat a steak.

Get food poisoning.

I felt pretty queasy while eating the strip actually, it was incredibly raw. I mean, I asked for rare but it was definitely blue.

And now, the toilet paper count is at 5 rolls. Vomit count at 8. Can't sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. I feel uncomfortable would be a gross understatement.

I've redefined liquid poop, I think.

#iranelection

Twitter has arrived.

The VT incident was a glimpse, but right now in Iran, students and tech savvy reformists alike are using Twitter as the tool of choice for instant and first-person communique coming out of Tehran and the tumultuous protests going on right now.

I can't think of another situation where one was able, in real time, to access the thoughts, sights and messages of so many people concerning one event.

Can you imagine if this was possible during 9/11? People would be tweeting their location in buildings. Rescue services would be checking it for information. Pictures would instantly have been sent to the outside world.

This marks a pretty powerful point for social media, with the U.S. State Dept. even admitting it pressed Twitter to hold off on a scheduled maintenance to allow Iranians to continue using the site as a point of reference on source of information.

Ingenuity has allowed many Iranians to continue using the site through proxy servers, getting around the general bans the government has levied against cell phones, text messages, email, facebook, blogs and even twitter itself.

Yes, 90% of the comments I receive in twitter are asinine. But when something like this happens, the potential of not just the internet, by social networking is plain to see.

If McLuhan's global village was a tribalized network of communities that redefined individualism, social media has perhaps ushered in a evolved state of the village -- one that modifies what we deem individual but more importantly, what we consider to be our tribe.

I am fascinated by what's going on in Tehran. The political repercussions of the reformist backlash cannot be understated -- the potential for change is most definitely in the air.

But perversely, I am even more fascinated by what's going on on Twitter.

As important as the tool has become, I truly believe at the end of this, the true winner will be the mainstream media. It may not look like it now, because compared to Tweets, the 6pm news is painfully outdated and slow to react to breaking events. But the vetting process of true journalism cannot be undervalued.

It's great to get breaking news from the mob. But the wall of noise eventually gives way to deeper questions -- who can you trust? what information is accurate?

Unlike a lot of others, who believe social networking is "the new journalism," I think that's simply not true. Journalism will always be sharing of stories in an accurate, timely fashion.

Twitter is but another tool. But perhaps one of the biggest we've seen in a generation.

Things I don't understand: Poetry

O yonge fresshe folkes, he or she,
In which that love up groweth with your age,
Repeyreth hoom from worldly vanitee,
And of your herte up-casteth the visage
To thilke god that after his image
Yow made, and thinketh al nis but a fayre
This world, that passeth sone as floures fayre.

And loveth him, the which that right for love
Upon a cros, our soules for to beye,
First starf, and roos, and sit in hevene a-bove;
For he nil falsen no wight, dar I seye,
That wol his herte al hoolly on him leye.
And sin he best to love is, and most meke,
What nedeth feyned loves for to seke?

The Love Unfeigned
Geoffrey Chaucer

You know how people often say they could fill a book with the things they don't know? Well, I'm going to try and do exactly just that. Start blogging about things that I don't understand.

To start things off, I've selected poetry. I know cool people like it. Jewel likes it. Billy Corgan writes them. They're supposed to be deep, and beautiful.

To me, they are mostly gibberish. Why is poetry popular? What differentiates good poetry from bad poetry? How do you make money as a poet? What is a poets creative process like? Is a creative process even productive for poems?

All questions I frankly could care less about, but would probably listen to answers to if the person telling me was hot.

Lessons in netiquette

When you're having a conversation (and I use that term incredibly loosely) on Facebook, at what point does one just stop replying? In my mind, wall-posts are essentially online versions of small talk. Which is why the internet is great. You can stop the small talk without saying anything, and not have to deal with awkward silences or making an excuse to go talk to somebody else.

But the other side of the coin is when you're talking to actual friends, and frankly, I don't particularly like replying to any messages at all. I barely post on other people's walls, and if I do I almost never expect a reply. So to have to then REPLY TO THAT REPLY is just way more effort than I normally would like to invest in Facebook.

Moreover, how much is too much use of these programs? Is there a hard cap on how many Tweets per hour one should submit before it simply becomes asinine? How often you should post on people's Facebook walls? How many photos in an album you should have witty comments for? (Clearly you can't comment on all of them, or that's just sad).

I'm not sure, but I think I just might be virtually-socially awkward. I just don't know the common protocol for these newfangled internet things.

Then again, it could be argued I'm just socially awkward. Period.

But then I'd say you're wrong.

And.... yea. That's it.

It was only a matter of time...

The funniest thing about this is that I actually had a conversation with a friend who suggested I make a men's makeup tutorial video. Sadly, I was beaten to the punch. At least I was right in thinking there isn't much to say about the topic though. Concealer and lip balm. Check.

In completely unrelated but completely awesome news, most people (and by most, I mean 4 of the 5 people who will read this) know I have a celebrity crush on Reese Witherspoon. If Natalie Portman were to ever reject me, I would totally settle for Reese. I'd be a great stepfather, I know it.

Anyways, as if she wasn't cute, stylish and endearing enough, she is currently practicing with the UCLA Women's softball team to train for a movie role where she is a softball player.

I repeat, REESE WITHERSPOON PLAYING SOFTBALL.

Be still my beating heart.

This post is banned in China

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I stood slack jawed, standing in the hallway of the Richard Ivey School of Business having just left my first ever university english class.

CNN was on several TV's overhanging the dimly lit linoleum hall. Hushed voices and wide eyes mingled reacting to the stuttering commentary coming from the television as dozens of us stared in awe at the unbelievable sight of an airplane smashing into an iconic New York landmark -- then horror as that landmark came crumbling down to the earth. It was hundreds of miles away, but we could feel the dust flying at us through the screen. The fear at least, was most certainly palpable.

Before 9/11 however, there was 6/4.

As much as one act of terror defined a generation (and many to come), on June 4, 1989 an act of courage inspired the world.

More iconic than the tallest building in the world, selected as symbols of capitalism, one Chinese student stopping a battalion of tanks by himself idealized notions of freedom, democracy, humanity and self-determination to a world in the grips of political conflict.

Blood was shed that day. On a pivotal moment that to this day defines the Chinese government and to a certain extent, it's people, freedom lost the battle in Tiananmen -- but it won the war.

Five months later, the Berlin wall would come crashing down. Two years later, the Soviet Union would be no more.

We speak often of tipping points, and in this age of over-saturated, over-analyzed, over-blown media coverage, hyperbole is part and parcel of information dissemination.

I was seven years old on June 4, 1989. At the time, the events were lost on me, the symbolism and gravitas of the situation blissfully irrelevant compared to the opportunity to stay up late into the night to watch TV, even if I didn't know what we were watching.

Little did I realize the world I woke up to the next day would never be the same. Even 20 years later.

I love China. Most would probably not suspect this, but I am proud of my heritage, proud of our tradition, proud of my family's roots and lineage. It is for this reason that we privileged enough to live here in Canada shouldn't ever, ever forget 6/4, and what it means as a moment in humanity shared not just by our home country, but inspirational to people all over the world.

Most importantly however, is that there is still much work to be done. Those who would purposely choose to ignore history seem to be ignorant of the fact that they are setting themselves up to repeat it.

Hopefully next time, the pendulum will swing the other way, and yet another date will go down in the annals of humanity not for tragedy, but for victory.

Pondering parenthood.

Perusing the new Globe&Mail today (side note: love the site, hate the long loading times. Lots of potential but the back-end clearly has some loose ends to tie up), and stumbled upon this story out of the Vancouver desk about Marriage stability and children. Here's a quote:

Today's parents seem prepared to set aside all kinds of pleasures to nurture a child – from their sex lives to careers, not to mention happy-hour beers – but there's one thing even the most kinder-friendly couple is loath to give up: their marriage.

And when one child rocks the marital boat, a growing number of couples are sticking with just one to keep their union strong.

That doesn't make them wimps, though. In fact, research suggests that children are more taxing on marriages than they used to be.

Essentially the article discusses how many modern couples are stopping at one child because having children is so stressful, and after struggling in their marriage to raise one, many don't want to go through it all over again and again. It actually goes so far as to posit that happiness is inversely proportional to how many kids you have, citing a 2005 study that determined mothers with one child were happier than those with multiple children.

There's nothing wrong with this story. It's well written, and although it's based on some entirely anecdotal quotes backed by "evidence" of studies that are as dependable as a GM stock option, these are more symptomatic of a leaky premise than they are of shoddy writing.

I guess upon reading this, more than anything one has to reflect on the cultural context from which this story was made possible. Clearly, nobody would have written this article in 1940, even if they had the concrete backing of a Danish sociology professor circa 2005.

Attitudes surrounding the entire concept of marriage and family, and the many interrelationships that compose those two entities, seem infinitely more complex these days than they once did. And for the most part, those complications stem from a forward march to break down what were once the most concrete of human connections; your spouse and kids were once inescapable, really, but we have moved into an era were if something doesn't quite work for you, it's completely possible to move on.

I am not casting judgement. I simply find these paradigm shifts fascinating. The implications of familial relationships, if you think about it, really has a hand in almost all the cultural and social evolutions of the last 10-15 years, both in the liberal movement and the aggressive partisanship rift that ensued.

How have social values changed? What is important to us now, asides (and likely after) ourselves? How much of every decision we make every day is painted by these broad cultural engravings and, looking back, how did today's seemingly quaint ideological cliches dictate the ebb and flow of generations past?

When it boils down to it, I guess after reading that article, I really was left wondering only one thing:

Why are these parents having kids in the first place?

I have a feeling if they can answer that question honestly, then deciding whether or not to have another one shouldn't be a very difficult question at all.

*****

In other news; awesomeness.