Foxymoron

Rock out with your sock out

I admit I've been following Rockstar Supernova. It's not something I'm proud of but hell, I prefer rock over pop and I prefer the songs of Rockstar over those of American Idol. Actually, I loved American Idol too, but Rockstar inspires me to crank up the volumn, grab a hairbrush and blast some foot-stomping rock.  I like to believe that in the privacy of their own space everyone plays an air instrument and poorly screams out lyrics to sometimes questionable songs. It's just one of those things we don't talk about but we do it and we love it because it feels good. Uh huh.

These are some of my "pretend I'm a rock star" songs

Weezer - The Good Life
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Date with the Night
Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer

Photo: Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene at Lee's Palace in early 2005. I haven't taken many concert photos since.

"Why are you so far away?" she said

Everytime I say or hear the word "Toronto" I giggle (at least on the inside) and my stomach flutters in anticipation. Yes friends, I have a BIG crush am in love with that city and cannot wait to be reunited with it even if it's just for a couple of weeks. I leave in exactly two weeks but have been mentally compiling a list of things to do for months. My gang of losers and I will:

• see the Andy Warhol exhibit at the AGO
• ride a paddle boat at Ontario place
• have a picnic at one of the Islands (and then ride a bike around the Islands)
• sit in the cheapseats at a Jays game and eat hot dogs, drink beer
• do a [murmur] walking tour through the Annex
• take a day roadtrip through small towns in Ontario in search of crafts and fruit stands
• attend a good ole rock show (so far only the Go! Team and Sonic Youth show looks promising and possible)
• go to Dance Cave, Fake Prom, Santa Cruz, Savour and wherever else the kids go to boogie woogie
• eat and drink at: The Press Club (imported beer, absinthe and the beef+lamb burger), Jet Fuel (for the iced latte and Owen Pallett), C'est What (for the yam frites, apricot wheat beer and safe sex), the ghetto Bistro on College (the $10 mini pitchers of booze and disservice), Amato's Pizza (thin crust pizza, obviously), Boom Breakfast Co. (Benny Boom), Tim Hortons (medium coffee+mocha mix) and of course, Swiss Chalet (quarter chicken dinner and Chalet sauce)

The Cure - Just Like Heaven
The Maynards - Break Out the Make Out

Photo: From the Toronto Street Festival in 2004, back in the day.

Am I making something worthwhile out of this place?

Next month, I'll celebrate my one-year anniversary as a Hong Kong dweller. And because of that I've been thinking and reading about traveling lately. I'm in the middle of Alain De Botton's The Art of Travel and just started Anthony Bourdain's The Nasty Bits. It's Bourdain who perfectly describes the overwhelming feeling of being away from home and experiencing new places:

My pal A. A. Gill once suggested that the older he gets, and the more he travels, the less he knows. And I know what he means now. Seeing the planet as I’m seeing it, you are constantly reminded of what you don’t know—how much more there is to see and learn, how damn big and mysterious this world is.

Azure Ray - Displaced
Janet Jackson - Runaway

Photo: the view from a friend's flat in Discovery Bay. I like how the Kowloon and Hong Kong skyline blends into one.

We live in a beautiful world

Coldplay put on an excellent show at the Asia-World Expo tonight. After the disappointing X&Y, I didn't think I would enjoy the band as much as I did back in the day. But the members of Coldplay were gracious hosts, especially when compared to Oasis's half-hateful performance in February. I was reminded that Chris Martin is a quality showman whom probably is exactly the sincere nice guy he seems to be — and one with a remarkable live voice as well. The band's song selection was unsurprisingly full of music from X&Y and my favourite Coldplay songs ("Everything's Not Lost," "Sparks") were left out of the set list but the band's energy combined with the multimedia show made tonight's performance my favourite show of the year, so far.*

Advice for Asia-World Expo: make sure your staff know the floor plan. When we asked the usher how we could get to our seats, he said, "I don't know. I have to ask my boss." Even after consultation, we wasted half the concert in Bowl B, instead of the much closer Bowl A.

* I'm in Hong Kong and I've only attended five or six concerts in 2006, one of which was the hateful Oasis show. I hope to catch some shows during my trip home next month. The Go! Team anyone?

Coldplay - See You Soon
Coldplay - For You

We've Got the Same Heart

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been busy with Grey's Anatomy marathons (and the writers's blog) and I've become a weepy mess. I love drama. In life, in television and in music.

The new music from The Dears gets my approval. Lovely textured and dramatic music. I'm looking forward to the album's release next month at which point, I'll be reunited with my gang of losers. In the meantime, for you and your own gang, or just you:

The Dears - You and I Are a Gang of Losers
The Dears - There Goes My Outfit

Photo: There's nothing dramatic about these buckets of seafood.

I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours

It's a time of change for Foxymoron. I will play around with the layout and update links soon. BUT I need your help. Please point me in the direction of your favourite blogs. I'm looking for the hidden treasures of the blogosphere. I'm open-minded in terms of content. I like blogs that have personality, humour, and it helps if it has a sexy design but the most important thing is that it is a well-written blog.

My current favourites:
On My Desk - simply put: the workspace of creative people.
Reading Toronto - ideas about space and living in Toronto.
Rich Girls are Weeping - I don't always know what she's talking about but she has good taste in music.
Creative Generalist - talking about ideas without pretense.
Teri's Things - I shouldn't pick favourites among real life friends but Teri's blog constantly inspires me (to write, to eat, to travel). She even inspires me to eat eggs and I don't really like them.

Of course there are many others, but  you can see those on the left...

Who are you reading?

Photo: Taken of Tai O, a small fishing village on Lantau island earlier this year. If you look closely, you'll see that the houses on the side of the river are actually over the water held up by stilts.

Oh Canada

Last year, I spent Canada Day at Toronto's Harbourfront under a clear sky, pressed up against the stage, elbow-to-elbow with friends gazing up at the wonderful Feist as she performed a fun and long set of her very best. There were fireworks as she closed. It was the perfect way to spend Canada Day.

Although not Canada, Hong Kong celebrated its own Canada D'Eh last night in Lan Kwai Fong. Although I generally hate that part of the city (too loud, too obnoxious, too expensive), I went to support my countrymen (LKF is mostly Canadian owned) and to feel a little red and white pride. There were cowboy hats and fake tattoos and best (worst?) of all discounted bottles of Molson Canadian at $34 HKD (about $5 CAD).

Mike and I sat at Marlin, under my alma mater's (University of Western Ontario) flag and people-watched for the evening. Apparently at midnight, folks gathered to sing "Oh Canada" outside Stormy Weather's but we couldn't hear anything over the World Cup cheering and the Sugababes over the stereo. We did, however, get Marlin's special version of poutine (which the kind waitress called "poutini") and yeah, I won't be craving that for a while.

All Canadian music! Happy long weekending!

Sam Roberts - The Canadian Dream
Broken Social Scene - New Country (Live at KVRX) I love Feist!
Broken Social Scene - Windsurfing Nation
The Weakerthans - Aside
Tegan and Sara - Take Me Anywhere

July 1st is also an important date for Hong Kong. Today is the 9th anniversary of the British handover and this one's for democracy here in the SAR:

Leonard Cohen - Democracy