Posts Tagged ‘toronto’

Dancing on my own… in a new place

Written by Bev. Posted in Musings

Living on my own for the last few months has been what I can only describe as a self-growth experience; one that began with, admittedly, some shaking and crying. Though to be fair, I was left in a condo without any furniture and all I had was a chair,  my TV and all my moving boxes so it was a traumatic awakening to say the least.

Now I have adjusted and I do enjoy it.

There’s no one to judge my impromptu dance parties

Sometimes, I will blast Robyn’s Dancing On My Own and pretend I’m on Girls, pulling out the ridiculous dance moves that had anyone seen me doing would probably die of laughter. But who cares? No one can see me! I actually started doing this because my upstairs neighbour is apparently an elephant who does Irish jigs and I’m not sure if they are stomping or just have an incredibly heavy tread, but I discovered that the only way to drown out their sounds is to have dance parties. Their stomping even supersedes the sound coming from the TV.

I recommend you dance like an idiot to your favourite song, even if you do live with people. Dancing should be a judgement free zone anyway.

Salt-n-Pepa is still awesome!

Written by Bev. Posted in music, Reviews

I saw Salt-n-Pepa perform at Toronto’s Festival of Beer a.k.a. Beerfest on July 27th, 2012. Years later, and frankly after seeing their episode on Oprah, I didn’t even know or think they were still touring and performing. Even though they are in their mid-late 40s, you really wouldn’t know it – they looked and sounded great, still as talented as ever!

DJ Spinderella wasn’t there though, it was just Cheryl ‘Salt’ James and Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton from the original group.

Here are some photos and videos from their performance.

Review and Pictures: Samantha Bee’s I Know I Am, But What Are You?

Written by Bev. Posted in books, Reviews

The Daily Show’s Samantha Bee has a new book out, a kind memoir of her childhood memories of growing up in Toronto. I’ll be updating this post as soon as I’ve finished reading the book and have coherently written out my thoughts of it (so far, it’s been an entertaining read with many literal “laugh out loud” moments) but for now, I’ll post my meet and greet story as well as some pictures taken from her book signing in Toronto on June 10th.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire at TIFF ’09

Written by Bev. Posted in movies, Reviews

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire had its gala screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and in attendance was director Lee Daniels, actors Paula Patton, Sherri Shepherd, Mariah Carey and newcomer Gabby Sidibe, and of course, executive producers Tyler Perry and Oprah. Mary J. Blige, who wrote the song “I Can See In Color” on the movie’s soundtrack, and Sapphire, author of Push, were also in attendance for the screening. Lucky for me, I had the opportunity to not only see them on stage to introduce the film, but also watch this incredibly powerful movie before it was released into theatres nationwide. Now the winner of TIFF’s People’s Choice Award!

No Doubt in Concert in Toronto – June 16, 2009

Written by Bev. Posted in music, Reviews

It’s hard to believe how fast time flies by. I can still remember the days of being a scrawny 7th grader, belting out the lyrics to “Don’t Speak” in the school’s corridor during recess with my friends. It was pretty much the only thing we could do to keep ourselves from freezing in the cold and entertained, as we had no playground and the schoolyard was bare. More than a decade later, I find myself, perhaps just as scrawny and off-tune as back then, singing loudly and happily along to “Don’t Speak” in unison with the rest of the crowd at the Air Canada Centre. And for those few moments, it was like I was 13 years old again.

Coopers’ Camera (2008)

Written by Bev. Posted in movies, Reviews

Coopers’ Camera, which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, is a film brimming with Canadian talent. It’s written by The Daily Show‘s Jason Jones and Billable Hours‘ Mike Beaver and directed by Warren P. Sonoda. It was also filmed in Canada. But don’t let all the “Canadian-ness” scare you, it’s not a film with obscure references about Canadian culture (nor do Mounties make an appearance). Coopers’ Camera happens to tell the comedic story of family dysfunctional in a universal way.

Meeting David Sedaris

Written by Bev. Posted in books, Reviews

Well, what’s better to do on a Friday night than line up for hours outside a bookstore to meet your favourite author? And that is exactly what I, the big ol’ nerd that I am, did to meet David Sedaris.

I thought there would be a reading as well, and a David Sedaris reading is something not to be missed if you’ve ever listened to his audiobooks, but it turned out to just be a book signing. No matter, I thought, it was just exciting to finally meet someone whose work I admire so much and who inspires me to be a writer too. I had heard from a David Sedaris group on Facebook that meeting him, you should expect quirkiness and a conversation that can be out of left-field. It’s nothing like the autograph signings I’ve been to, which were by and large for musicians and such, where a typical conversation runs something like this:

Me: I am such a huge fan of yours! (Maybe insert some remark about something specific about their work that I like so much)
Them: Thanks so much!
*signs whatever it is I’ve just handed to them*
Me: Thanks for signing this. It was great meeting you.
Them: You’re welcome. Thanks for coming.

And that’s basically it. That isn’t the case when you meet David Sedaris, no sireee.

Excuse me while I squeal in excitement: SPICE GIRLS REUNION, BABY!

Written by Bev. Posted in Musings

June 28, 2007. Let us remember this day, for it was this day that the Spice Girls announced the much anticipated and rumoured reunion world tour. Let’s just say that I have been waiting for this for awhile, since hearing about reunion rumours for Live8. It is said that this tour will be the very last chance to see all five girls together on stage, singing their 90’s hits, proclaiming “girl power”, while invoking nostalgia for all in attendance. Unfortunately, though, the 12 dates announced so far are lacking Canadian dates, something I hope will be rectified in the near future. [ Addendum: At the end of July and early August, two new Canadian dates were added! The tour now starts out in Vancouver and “The Spice City”, Toronto, will have its dated added later on. Huzzah! ]

PostSecret in Toronto – May 31, 2007

Written by Bev. Posted in books, miscellaneous, Reviews

I attended the PostSecret event in Toronto last week, so far the lone Canadian date. Frank Warren, the website’s creator and “The Most Trusted Stranger in America”, gave a lengthy but engrossing talk on the origins of the project, the behind-the-scenes look into how it works, amongst other things, and showed a multimedia presentation. After everything, he signed books for people (yours truly included!). It was quite a turn out!

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