Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
India Arie vs. Badly Drawn Boy
We saw two gigs back to back this week - India Arie on Monday and BDB on Tuesday. Both gigs started around 10.30pm and finished between 12.30am and 1am, and after getting up early for Cypress on Sunday morning we are both knackered already and its only Wednesday. Need to get some sleep before Whistler this weekend...
But I digress. On with the battle. Who will win? Let's find out.
In the red corner:
The support act was LeRoy Bell And His Only Friends. These guys were pretty good. Some good songs, some not so good. LeRoy himself had a strong, smooth voice that was a pleasure to listen to.
The audience of this gig was crazy! They were totally up for it, and were dancing vigorously through the support act, and even while the DJ filled before India came on stage. They were even singing along to the DJ's records. It was a great atmosphere, and felt very friendly.
India Arie came in with huge hair, sunglasses, and a posh frock. She looked like a soul diva. But within a minute she dumped all that stuff (the original hair was a wig :) ) and was getting on with it. The show was kind of theatrical in places and somehow very BIG - more performance than I expected. She stopped frequently to talk to the audience, about all kinds of crazy stuff like how she met Nelson Mandela, and how she had been late to the gig because of an upset stomach :) And the music was awesome. She has a fantastic voice of course, but the song arrangements were funked up a bit and the rhythms were infectious. Everyone in the Commodore seemed to be having a lot of fun - on and off the stage - which was great. She even finished with Ready For Love which is my favourite. What can I say. Top! I was relieved too that Steph really enjoyed it, as I kind of talked her into going...
...and in the blue corner:
Badly Drawn Boy actually had two support acts: Lizzie and Adem (sorry no link for Lizzie - I can't find anything on the internet). Lizzie was a solo singer/songwriter from the US who had some really catchy tunes and a knockout voice - kind of Jenny Lewis crossed with a bit of K.T. Tunstall. I enjoyed her set a lot. Adem also had talent, but his songs were often slow and kind of morose, and generally seemed to bring down the atmosphere a bit. He was at his best when he upped the tempo a little. He also kept telling everyone to be quiet so he could be heard - what planet are you from, mate? The jury is out on this guy.
The main event was interesting. I felt it started off pretty workmanlike, with Damon and his band scooting from one song into the next with barely a pause or a hello. Then he started making a mistake or two, and I guess he felt he needed to explain things, and pretty soon he was telling us how this was the last night of the tour and that he was exhausted and missed his family, and all sorts of stuff. He also seemed to be in a melancholy mood and mentioned some friends and family who had recently died. Anyway, it felt like the audience got much more into the whole thing after he started to talk to them so honestly, and he seemed to enjoy it more too. The performance just got better and better from there, and there were some superb tracks amongst the many he played (it was around 2.5 hours in all!). I have to say I am not the biggest fan of Badly Drawn Boy, but nevertheless I was thoroughly entertained.
And the winner is....
India Arie. For me personally, anyway. She surprised me by giving a lavish and heartfelt stage performance, and the whole atmosphere of the gig (due in large part to the crowd) was second to none. Respect due. But Badly Drawn Boy was a pretty close second - call it a points decision.
But I digress. On with the battle. Who will win? Let's find out.
In the red corner:
The support act was LeRoy Bell And His Only Friends. These guys were pretty good. Some good songs, some not so good. LeRoy himself had a strong, smooth voice that was a pleasure to listen to.
The audience of this gig was crazy! They were totally up for it, and were dancing vigorously through the support act, and even while the DJ filled before India came on stage. They were even singing along to the DJ's records. It was a great atmosphere, and felt very friendly.
India Arie came in with huge hair, sunglasses, and a posh frock. She looked like a soul diva. But within a minute she dumped all that stuff (the original hair was a wig :) ) and was getting on with it. The show was kind of theatrical in places and somehow very BIG - more performance than I expected. She stopped frequently to talk to the audience, about all kinds of crazy stuff like how she met Nelson Mandela, and how she had been late to the gig because of an upset stomach :) And the music was awesome. She has a fantastic voice of course, but the song arrangements were funked up a bit and the rhythms were infectious. Everyone in the Commodore seemed to be having a lot of fun - on and off the stage - which was great. She even finished with Ready For Love which is my favourite. What can I say. Top! I was relieved too that Steph really enjoyed it, as I kind of talked her into going...
...and in the blue corner:
Badly Drawn Boy actually had two support acts: Lizzie and Adem (sorry no link for Lizzie - I can't find anything on the internet). Lizzie was a solo singer/songwriter from the US who had some really catchy tunes and a knockout voice - kind of Jenny Lewis crossed with a bit of K.T. Tunstall. I enjoyed her set a lot. Adem also had talent, but his songs were often slow and kind of morose, and generally seemed to bring down the atmosphere a bit. He was at his best when he upped the tempo a little. He also kept telling everyone to be quiet so he could be heard - what planet are you from, mate? The jury is out on this guy.
The main event was interesting. I felt it started off pretty workmanlike, with Damon and his band scooting from one song into the next with barely a pause or a hello. Then he started making a mistake or two, and I guess he felt he needed to explain things, and pretty soon he was telling us how this was the last night of the tour and that he was exhausted and missed his family, and all sorts of stuff. He also seemed to be in a melancholy mood and mentioned some friends and family who had recently died. Anyway, it felt like the audience got much more into the whole thing after he started to talk to them so honestly, and he seemed to enjoy it more too. The performance just got better and better from there, and there were some superb tracks amongst the many he played (it was around 2.5 hours in all!). I have to say I am not the biggest fan of Badly Drawn Boy, but nevertheless I was thoroughly entertained.
And the winner is....
India Arie. For me personally, anyway. She surprised me by giving a lavish and heartfelt stage performance, and the whole atmosphere of the gig (due in large part to the crowd) was second to none. Respect due. But Badly Drawn Boy was a pretty close second - call it a points decision.
Monday, March 26, 2007
More diets
So we didn't go to Cypress the next day after all, because we were too knackered to get up early. Which turned out to be very good fortune, because the mountain closed that day due to high winds. Rah.
Our trip to Cypress got postponed until yesterday and this time we lucked out because the weather was quite nice. That statement probably sounds unremarkable until you consider that for the last two weeks it has rained here in Vancouver almost non-stop. You wouldn't believe it unless you lived here, but boy is it wet in the winter. So a "quite nice day" was very lucky, actually. The snow conditions weren't fantastic - kind of crunchy with a soft underside, and unpredictable. Steph was skiing and I did some snowshoeing and we both enjoyed ourselves and got thoroughly tired, and then came home and ordered organic pizza and scoffed it double quick. Lovely.
Not too much else has been happening for us since my last post. I went to the doctor about my stomach problems and got some blood tests, some of which were checking my liver and kidney function and some were allergy tests on certain foods. They all turned out fine. Last week I had a good week for stomach trouble, and thought it might be connected to my no-wheat diet I was on, but then at the weekend I had lots of problems so I gave up that idea. I'll keep trying to cut out different things and see what happens.
This week is going to be busy. Tonight, we are off to see India Arie at the Commodore Ballroom. I kind of talked Steph into going so I hope she doesn't hate it. Then tomorrow (!) we see Badly Drawn Boy at Richards - not ideal having the two gigs back to back but there you go. As if that wasn't enough, on Friday evening we are off to Whistler for the weekend and the last snow-based activity of the season.
Bye for now!
Our trip to Cypress got postponed until yesterday and this time we lucked out because the weather was quite nice. That statement probably sounds unremarkable until you consider that for the last two weeks it has rained here in Vancouver almost non-stop. You wouldn't believe it unless you lived here, but boy is it wet in the winter. So a "quite nice day" was very lucky, actually. The snow conditions weren't fantastic - kind of crunchy with a soft underside, and unpredictable. Steph was skiing and I did some snowshoeing and we both enjoyed ourselves and got thoroughly tired, and then came home and ordered organic pizza and scoffed it double quick. Lovely.
Not too much else has been happening for us since my last post. I went to the doctor about my stomach problems and got some blood tests, some of which were checking my liver and kidney function and some were allergy tests on certain foods. They all turned out fine. Last week I had a good week for stomach trouble, and thought it might be connected to my no-wheat diet I was on, but then at the weekend I had lots of problems so I gave up that idea. I'll keep trying to cut out different things and see what happens.
This week is going to be busy. Tonight, we are off to see India Arie at the Commodore Ballroom. I kind of talked Steph into going so I hope she doesn't hate it. Then tomorrow (!) we see Badly Drawn Boy at Richards - not ideal having the two gigs back to back but there you go. As if that wasn't enough, on Friday evening we are off to Whistler for the weekend and the last snow-based activity of the season.
Bye for now!
Mini Film Review: 300
Imagine 300 blokes with six-packs and jockstraps beating the crap out of the cast of Lawrence of Arabia, in sloooow motion. There, I just saved you the price of a ticket to see this movie.
I was expecting this film to be crap, but it wasn't. It looks gorgeous which I did expect, but there is also some decent acting in places, and a few times it made me feel the odd emotion or two. That was a pleasant surprise. The fight sequences overall are superb, mainly because they look so sumptuous although the choreography is good too. It's a pretty violent movine, but the blood on display is computer-generated and didn't really bother me - it doesn't seem particularly real. In fact the whole film has the air of a video game about it, but with better graphics. It even has a few boss fights.
It probably dawned on the makers of this film at some point that they were making a bloke movie featuring hundreds of hunky guys wearing next to nothing. I suspect that is the reason why they threw in a few scenes of gratuitous naked female flesh, because I couldn't see any other point to them. But make no mistake, this is a bloke's movie and as such it provided above average entertainment for this bloke for almost 2 hours. And Steph liked it too, but YGOMV (Your Girlfriend's Opinion May Vary).
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Visitors, diets, and conferences
About time I updated this blog I think! There's been lots happening in the past few weeks.
Steph's parents visited us for two weeks. The weather was not so good as last year - more typical of February really - lots of rain. We all managed to catch colds too, which wasn't so great. So not as active as perhaps they were hoping, and no ski trip to Whistler, but overall I think they enjoyed themselves. Oh yeah, and here are the photos we took while they were around (mostly the Chinese New Year Parade).
I went to get my gums checked out with a specialist as my dentist was concerned about how far they are receding. The specialist told me I need a gum graft to save my lower front teeth from eventually falling out. I have that booked for March 23rd now, and its going to cost me $1800 - ouch. I am hoping that the health insurance might cover some of it.
Steph and I had a week on a detox diet. It was kind of an experiment to see how it affected us. We were allowed fruit and veg, nuts and some kinds of rice but that was about it. It was tough thinking of things to eat sometimes, and preparing lunch for work in the mornings was a real drag (too much vegetable chopping!) but generally it wasn't too bad. I discovered I have a problem with chickpeas! This last week, Steph has been reintroducing foods to see if they have any adverse effects.
I however, did not slowly reintroduce my foods. I went to GDC instead! I flew to San Francisco on Tuesday, and got back late last night. It was very enjoyable - some really good talks, some not so good, but educational overall. Bumped into a few old friends along the way which was nice. Had a few nice meals too; I even went to an Italian restaurant called Kuleto's (just off Union Square) that I remembered from my American road trip holiday years ago, and it was still very good. I've been regretting those meals out since though - I think the jump from a super-healthy diet to lots of rich foods was too much for my digestive system, so next week might be a trip to the doctor :( About time, really.
Today is going to be laid back I hope - surprise surprise, it's raining (a lot). I might have to do some tax return stuff - I think I owe them a good chunk of money. Boo! This evening we are going to the theatre with some friends, and tomorrow it's off to Cypress for skiing etc. (snowshoeing for me).
That's all for now folks.
Steph's parents visited us for two weeks. The weather was not so good as last year - more typical of February really - lots of rain. We all managed to catch colds too, which wasn't so great. So not as active as perhaps they were hoping, and no ski trip to Whistler, but overall I think they enjoyed themselves. Oh yeah, and here are the photos we took while they were around (mostly the Chinese New Year Parade).
I went to get my gums checked out with a specialist as my dentist was concerned about how far they are receding. The specialist told me I need a gum graft to save my lower front teeth from eventually falling out. I have that booked for March 23rd now, and its going to cost me $1800 - ouch. I am hoping that the health insurance might cover some of it.
Steph and I had a week on a detox diet. It was kind of an experiment to see how it affected us. We were allowed fruit and veg, nuts and some kinds of rice but that was about it. It was tough thinking of things to eat sometimes, and preparing lunch for work in the mornings was a real drag (too much vegetable chopping!) but generally it wasn't too bad. I discovered I have a problem with chickpeas! This last week, Steph has been reintroducing foods to see if they have any adverse effects.
I however, did not slowly reintroduce my foods. I went to GDC instead! I flew to San Francisco on Tuesday, and got back late last night. It was very enjoyable - some really good talks, some not so good, but educational overall. Bumped into a few old friends along the way which was nice. Had a few nice meals too; I even went to an Italian restaurant called Kuleto's (just off Union Square) that I remembered from my American road trip holiday years ago, and it was still very good. I've been regretting those meals out since though - I think the jump from a super-healthy diet to lots of rich foods was too much for my digestive system, so next week might be a trip to the doctor :( About time, really.
Today is going to be laid back I hope - surprise surprise, it's raining (a lot). I might have to do some tax return stuff - I think I owe them a good chunk of money. Boo! This evening we are going to the theatre with some friends, and tomorrow it's off to Cypress for skiing etc. (snowshoeing for me).
That's all for now folks.
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