i might as well start off a new season of random photo posts with a bang - photos of a house on crawford just north of queen. is this supposed to be decorative? is it designed to drive down the property values of the street? is it a way of punishing old toys? if anyone has some insight (aside from the obvious “they’re crazy”), please let me know.

this kind of brought to mind another house i came across late last summer, but it’s really not a fair comparison. i still have to ask though - how many wind chimey lawn ornamenty things does one balcony need?

so, for those of you who have wondered what my brain could possibly look like, or who just wanted proof that i do in fact have one, this is for you:

even better is that i can manipulate the MRI file and do all sorts of fun things, like finding out what i would look like without hair. the answer: very similar to destro from GI joe. i’ll leave deciding which one is which as an exercise.

the show itself started out exceptionally strong - the first half was surprisingly fantastic. in fact, the first half of their set inspired me to write this blog entry, something i haven’t done after a show in over a year. i was prepared to rave about how amazing they were live, and how my mind has been changed after the last couple years of criticism. and then the second half came, and it was like another band took over - clearly they frontloaded their set list with new (read: “good”) songs, and once they had played such gems as weighty ghost, dead letter & the infinite yes and archaeologists, there was nowhere to go but down. the clear highlight of the second half, it must be said, was watching their frenetic drummer, especially during the set’s closing 20 minute jam (during which he was framed by spotlights while the remaining band members melted into the background). is it even possible to drum melodically? ’cause he sure came close to it during that jam. he’s now officially on my list of most amazing drummers to watch live, along with the drummer whose name i don’t even know from the high water marks and oranger, kurt dahle from new pornographers and limblifter, doug constantine, and lonnie james from the super friendz. without him, i probably would’ve left early.

i should also mention that the russian futurists opened, and were pretty much exactly how i remembered them from when i saw them in kingston - decidedly unengaging, but with good songs that seem to translate better on their recordings. they played their 3 best songs in a row early in the set, and again, like wintersleep, really had nowhere to go but down. there isn’t really too much you can do to liven up a show like that, when everyone’s just playing keyboards. there were a couple songs when one of the keyboardists picked up a guitar, but i have no proof that he was actually playing it. in summary, even the good songs weren’t enough to totally win me over.

for any youngsters reading this, 300-baud is only slightly faster than watching jean-dominique bauby composing a sentence in the diving bell and the butterfly.

and if you haven’t seen that film, please please do.

things are still a bit rough around the edges, so bear with me. oh, and you’ll have to update your feeds - apologies.

honourable mentions:
patrick watson - close to paradise
v/a - friends in bellwoods
feist - the reminder
the memories attack - the memories attack
of montreal - hissing fauna, are you the destroyer?
handsome furs - plague park
sondre lerche - phantom punch
los campesinos! - sticking fingers into sockets

honourable mentions:
weakerthans - civil twilight
okkervil river - a hand to take hold of the scene
julie doiron - no more
the superfantastics - the only one i c++ is u++
jens lekman - the opposite of hallelujah
the new pornographers - failsafe
handsome furs - dead + rural
camp radio - bleed the real estate girls
(edit: how did i forget pedal pusher by abdominal?)

honourable mentions:
american gangster
redacted
this film is not yet rated
let’s all hate toronto

granted, i DID see a blurb in the star yesterday stating that TTC track replacement would begin this morning at queen and bathurst, and to look at the TTC’s website for more information. i dutifully did so, and didn’t see anything obvious about this - no mention of the queen streetcar line at all. i figured that it couldn’t be affecting the queen line or else it would have SAID so, right? so i went back and looked this morning, and after scanning a few times, i found this entry located under the 509 harbourfront heading:
Starting Monday, October 15, reconstruction of the streetcar tracks will begin in the
intersection of Bathurst Street & Queen Street.

needless to say, it was a terrific start to my week.

a croquet player:

and his fancy bike chariot:

what’s especially funny is that he purchased parking tags for his bike…so i guess that makes it LEGAL.