First thing I'm going to say is that I'm angry with myself. Angry with myself for forgetting my camera at home on two separate occasions this weekend. I could have had lots of cool pics for this post, but no, I had to forget my camera. Boo-urns to me.
So last night, my pal Becca T and I braved the elements to catch David Usher playing at Nathan Phillips square for the kick-off of the Waterfront Marathon. We got there in time to see Emm Gryner (she's enjoyable) and to stand in a bit of drizzle while waiting for David Usher.
Becca T and I have quite a history with David Usher. Normally, we don't refer to him as David Usher: David "Attractive" Usher and "The Superior Usher" are our names for him. We also are constantly referring to the SNL skits of The Antonio Banderas show whenever we see David Usher. I hope everyone has seen them before because they are hilarious. Chris Kattan plays Antonio and keeps doing things like unbuttoning his shirt and his sidekick keeps saying "Too sexy! Too sexy!" and then Antonio says "but I must". They're hilarious skits. Anyway, whenever David Usher does something particularly attractive on stage, we always say "but he must" a la SNL. Corny, yes, but really funny in my humble opinion.
Anyhow, he put on a really good show last night. (Wish I'd remembered that darned camera to get pics!) I can honestly say that I haven't been listening to much of the Superior Usher in the past year (I never listen to the Inferior Usher, just so you know) and I forgot how good his music is. He also played some new stuff, which was really great. He's got a new CD coming out in 2007 and I'm feeling it's going to be a good album.
I can summarize last night's concert in three words: "but he must".
One last David Usher note: he's a great songwriter. There is one line from his song "Devil By My Side" that I think is especially poignant in current times when there seems to be a lot of religious intolerance:
"Believe your truth is not my truth.
Believe that God can exist with many faces at one time."
See, that Superior Usher is not just a pretty face.
Today I got up early (for me on a Saturday, that is) and had breakfast at Starbucks and met Becca T at her subway stop. We had tickets for a matinee performance of MacHomer at the Young Centre in Toronto's Distillery District.
Confession: I really don't take advantage of Toronto as much as I should. I live my life in a few neigbourhoods: my neighbourhood, my school's neighbourhood, the Yonge/Bloor area (just because I used to live around there and miss it), Queen St., and the Annex. I had never actually been to the Distillery District (nor had Becca T). The Distillery District consists of historic distillery buildings that have been converted into an uber-hip pedestrian mall.
I could have taken some neat-o photos of said District, but, alas, I forgot my camera again. I also had forgotten the map which I had printed the night before, but my sense of direction while in Toronto was good enough to get us there. Note: my sense of direction fails me anywhere outside of this city.
The play was freakin' hilarious! Oh my. I can honestly say I've probably never laughed so much in a 70 minute period. MacHomer is a one-man show where one man does Macbeth using over 50 characters from the Simpsons. He is pretty faithful to Shakespeare's script, but he throws in a lot of Simpsonian moments. My favourite was a scence between Burns (King Duncan) and Smithers (Duncan's son Malcolm) where they go out of character for a moment.
Burns: "Smithers, who was this infernal play written by?"
Smithers: "William Shakespeare, sir."
Burns: "Have this Shakespeare fired immediately Smithers."
Smithers: "Uhh.. sir, Shakespeare's been dead for about 400 years."
Burns: "Excellent."
If you live in Toronto (Scott), or are visiting (K), make sure you catch it. It runs until Sept. 30th. And for the rest of you, keep an eye out for if it makes its way near you.
After the play we wandered around the District, stopped at a funky cafe for coffee, and browsed around some stores that we couldn't afford. I did get a neat-o bracelet from an outdoors jewelry stand.
From there we headed to the Eaton Centre, where I'm proud to say that all I bought was some cheap jewelry at H&M. Hmmm... I deserve a present for being so frugal. Hahaha.
Tonight I'm buckling down and reading my book club book. I believe I've made it to page 20. I feel like I'm in university again: giving up a Saturday night to frantically read something. Yeesh.
Tomorrow I plan on heading down to the Word on the Street book festival at Queen's Park. Maybe I'll remember my camera. Last year I ran into Jack Layton with a thermos of coffee (or perhaps something stronger?) there...
Happy Sunday!
10 comments:
maybe this time you'll run into Mr Harper and you can "accidentally" bump his coffee all over him...wink wink
david usher is a musician who is...... how do you say.... ahhh yes... superb. he's got one of the best voices i've heard... it's quite distinct. i'm with you on his lyrics too... lyrically his songs are quite poetic.
wow... you gave up saturday nights in college so you could read? isn't that what sunday nights are for? ;]
it is very hot in here no? *rapid strumming of mariachi guitar*
busy busy!
I haven't listened much to David Usher since Moist, but I might have to give that song a try!
JO: Mr. Harper is the MP of where I work (Don't judge! I didn't vote for him). I might try to accidentally bump into him with cawfee.
RE: Camera - put it by your door the night before. That's how I remember to put a clean gaunch on everyday. remember, the door. your camera.
or just tie the camera to your neck.
but don't worry your blog looks so cool you really don't need that many pictures!
"but he must."
hahaha i loved that.
sounds like an amazing weekend!!
heheh the guy did that joke when I saw it too, lol I love the "Excellent".
I often wish the technology were there for me to have a surgically implanted camera, then it would never be forgotten.
I remember seeing Emm Gryner when she was on a band contest on John-o-vision. She won it, if I remember correctly. The next thing I heard of her was a single on the radio, lol.
MacHomer? This I gotta see!
Oh man, I didn't know it ended so soon. I have to find a way to squeeze that in! Glad that you had a great time on the weekend.
Scott
I like David Usher's music a lot too, I have enjoyed his solo albums, but have yet to see him live as a solo artist. He doesn't really come over to my neck of the woods very often, but I did see Moist about 3 times before they broke up, back in the good old days when he would still come to Toon Town. I like Emm Gryner as well, I saw her open for Tom Cochrane back in 1999 I believe, crap, that was a long time ago. It sounds like you had a great time. :)
i'd heard of machomer before as well, wish i could have gone! good literature combined with the simpsons, can't go wrong with that! ;)
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