Are Remakes Any Good?

Thursday was sunshine for most of the day. I took advantage and went to Dufferin Mall to finish Christmas shopping. My nieces were into Bubble Tea (to their parents' chagrin) and an Asian store might have some Boba-themed merchandise. That one has closed but there was a new one called Miniso. I bought some puzzles and Japanese snacks ($54.23) as gifts since they went to Japan earlier this year. I stopped at OMG Tapas on Dovercourt for lunch. I have been meaning to visit for 2 reasons: I saw on social media that they had vegetarian versions of Brazilian and Portuguese dishes which are typically meat-heavy cuisines. Two, I wanted the neighbourhood to keep its roots even if new establishments have to be trendier.

Unfortunately, there were barely any non-meat items on the menu and trendiness meant higher prices. When I saw $16 for codfish patties (to be fair there were 6), I flashed back to getting them for a $1.50 at Nova Era. They might still be cheap at Tavora. The rest of the dishes were between $20-30 so I opted for the Oh Bla ($18) brunch item. From the description, I thought it would be a breakfast spread (bacon, eggs) with some Pão de queijo (tapioca flour cheese rolls) instead of regular toast. What I got was a small tapioca waffle sandwich with a bit of bacon, eggs, avocado, and arugula. It was tasty enough but finished in only few bites. With tax and tip, I wondered if I could get over the sticker shock (and the $10 threshold) by pretending I was converting from Euros since €10 would be a cheap meal overseas. In any case, I needed a beef patty ($4.50) from Caribbean Queen.

Last week, on my way to Acute Pizza, I noticed that Khaose was no more. In its place, Teany Thai touted a small selection of dishes. So I went there for dinner and commiserated with the owner, a young man who lamented the paucity of orders. I chose the pineapple fried rice with shrimp ($18.95) and, as if I was an food influencer, took some videos to hype up the spot. Unfortunately, the rice was oily and lacked wok hei. I didn't mind that he mixed up chicken for the shrimp, but the heavily gristled pieces wouldn't go over well with many customers. I did not post those short clips.

In the evening, I went to The Burdock to see Dickson Bonfield and Screenagers. It was yet another show of older musicians filled with mostly family and neighbours. Tonight, that also meant a gaggle of teens perhaps at their first "bar show". I don't think there's any pay-to-play shadiness, but pre-pandemic bookings were different at this venue. The twangy blues/rock of Bonfield, both their covers and original tunes, felt a bit dated with the ubiquitous guitar solos. Screenagers whose oeuvre was TV and movie songs was more fun. These were not straight covers but a starting point to riff on whether theme songs (Sesame Street, Inspector Gadget, Night Court) or soundtrack (She's a Maniac, Neutron Dance). The first set ended with a high-energy Movin' On Up. More funkified nostalgia was promised for the 2nd set but it was past my bedtime. Screenagers was good but not stay-up-late good.

Death Be Not Loud

After decompressing at my rental after my trip, I headed to Parkdale for dinner and a show.  Every now and then I have come to the area for a concert, Caribbean food, or momos and other Tibetan fare. But the visits were few and sporadic so I don't really consider the neighbourhood to be part of my Toronto foot-print. Its most significant impact on my life was that a decade ago, I accepted a job offer at my company over some beer.

Parkdale wasn't too busy on a Wednesday night. Despite gentrification, there were still a good number of local stores. Dinner was a slice of vegetarian pizza ($5.31) and a root beer ($1.63) from Cici's Pizza & Wings. I saw on social media that this take-out was profiled by the local newspaper because a young lady took over her parent's business to preserve a neighbourhood institution. I was hoping that since they were Vietnamese it was Toronto-style pizza (invented by Vietnamese folks) such as at Fresca. But it was your average soft-crust pie found at other old-timer places like Bitondo.

Next door was a small bar called Three Dollar Bill. There was a trio of performers for a PWYC Queer Folk Night. First up was Eli Howey although his set wasn't really folk. He mostly adapted songs from his punk band Little Window for the night. There were some sad lyrics but things really got depressing when Jordaan Mason came on. Shocked by the sudden death of an ex (of a decade ago), they poured all their ruminations and feelings into what were barely songs. I simply mean that lyrics were closer to a torrent of free verse and the chords were there to provide just the outline of some structure.

Tireless Foliage was the trio of Jiaqing Wilson-Yang, Germaine Liu, and Karen Ng. Wilson-Yang has written songs to process the death of her friend Richard Laviolette. The lyrics were more straightforward but each number evoked striking images. Perhaps the most potent was the closer "Chorus of Mothers". The idea that Laviolette was not only beloved by his friends but also by their parents such that they'd sing him to his final rest got a few eyes teary. Restricted by the tiny stage, Liu somehow generated a wide variety of percussion sounds with just a tom, a snare, and a cymbal sitting precariously either on top of the tom or in her hand. Ng provided expressive sax runs that interweaved with Wilson-Yang's delicate guitar picking. This was wonderful, cathartic music and I'm glad Wilson-Yang was in the process of recording these songs.

I Choo Choose You, I Choo Choose You Not

On Wednesday, I was heading back to Toronto though I was also there last week. The new parent company offered 3 days of paid travel for remote employees to go to the closest office Holiday party. Similar to my trip in May, I took advantage of the reimbursement but this time I took the train from Ottawa.

It has been almost 3 years since I rode the tracks and more than 15 years since I stayed in Business class. Via Rail had recently revamped their cars. I don't know what it's like in economy but up here it meant large, leather seats, (faux?) blonde wood panels, and multiple electric outlets. Best of all was the leg room and the modern toilet. The downside was the chatty business folks who preferred to be productive instead of just chilling out. Morning perks included pretzel nut mix and booze. For the all-inclusive lunch, along with white wine, I chose the salmon from a list that also had vegetarian chow mein and tandoori chicken curry. The salmon was reasonably tasty, sitting on a bed of pilaf rice and saute brussel sprouts which were good but not on quite the level of Lynn Crawford. It also came with a peach and cranberry coleslaw and a lemon square dessert. Post-meal had more alcohol (I opted for orange juice) and chocolate truffle. Business class might be 7 times more than my bus ride ($218 vs $29) but an economy ticket on the train wasn't cheap. So I don't know why company nickel-and-dime on these low-cost perks. Given how much people love free stuff, similar offerings for the "hoi polloi" instead of an over-priced snack menu would build much loyalty.

But the main reason I picked the rail was to avoid traffic on the highway. The last few times I was delayed for an hour arriving back in Ottawa. Unfortunately, the train came into Union station 40 minutes late. It was stuck behind another passenger train and then 2 freight trains. This trip made me realized I should also stick to planned itineraries. For the commute to the Ottawa station and the one from Union to my rental, I had mapped out the route with known timetables. On a whim, I deviated from both at the last minute and neither worked out. In the first case, I would have been late if I had not found an idling taxi nearby (a rarity in Ottawa). In the second, an emergency in the subway caused us to sit idling for a long while.

Live and Let Fly

The last time I went to Toronto specifically for a concert was a hit-and-miss U.S. Girls show. On Friday, I was at another, though I did combine other activities like a dental visit and Christmas shopping. Well, the $20 concert at the Baby G was absolutely terrific.

Except for old-timers like me, every 5 years or so I notice a new, young crowd at small venues. But they all seem to always like being fashionably late. So Baby G was still empty at 9 and around half-full at 9:45. There was a smattering of older folks who were here because they had read about the circumstances surrounding the headliner's latest album. The opener was poet Aisha Sasha John who started with new poems (some written only in the last few weeks) about dementia and meditation but eventually concentrated on her recently published collection called Total. At these events, you usually hear the typical cadence of word poetry. But Aisha's free-form verses lent themselves to natural speech. Still, I wasn't sure if the up-speak rhythm was deliberate or an affectation.

Carly Bezic was fun as the duo Ice Cream but she really hit her stride being the art-pop solo act Jane Inc. She was also terrific on bass/vocals of the female incarnation of the U.S. Girls tour band for 2020. It was on a 2023 tour with U.S. Girls as the opener that was a catalyst for the new album A Rupture A Canyon A Birth. Bezic's van was rear-ended by a semi. Then followed operations for cancer on her vocal cords, diagnosis of Crohn's disease, and the break-up of 10-year relationship.

The album, which was Jane Inc.'s entire set, wasn't a sombre reflection on the fleeting randomness of life, though there were pensive lyrics. It was a celebration of second chances. Bezic shedded all high-concept aesthetic for danceable bangers starting with reborn (On The Dancefloor) followed by tracks like elastic, freefall and i'm alive!!! When she picked up her guitar half-way through, some art-pop vibes did appear. If the modern musical scene wasn't fragmented, Bezic's closer "what if" with its thumping piano and repeating refrain "I! want! more!" deserve to be a radio hit. When a capacity crowd in Toronto actually danced through your set, you got some great songs.

Jane Inc's new music would go so hard with a full band. Yet I appreciated that it was mostly pre-recorded tracks and live synth from Bezic's co-producer (and new partner) Edwin de Goeij and backing vocals from Felicity Williams and Dorothea Paas. With no amps on stage to muddy the sound, this was one of the clearest-sounding show I've been too. For such a great evening, I shelled out $60 for the new vinyl and a t-shirt.