Smooth Groove

I was in Ottawa for a few days from Saturday onward. With its freezing rain and fresh snow, it was still a winter wonderland. But that came at the cost of the LRT out of commission again so it was a trek getting home via bus. I was happy to stay inside to continue with the fire-fighting at work.

Back in Toronto on Thursday, I decided to attend a show at the Wavelength festival. It was going to be noisy at St. Anne's Parish so I selected Lula Lounge, an odd location for the indie organization. The evening turned out to be on the more easy listening end of the scene.

Lula occasionally turns into a proper concert venue, but it was usually a supper club, and that was the case for this show. The good: a big venue with good sound and lighting. The bad: nobody was up near the stage, you were either sitting down at the tables or standing awkwardly at the back. I usually avoid these venues (The Rex, etc.) because you have to pay extra (in the form of food) for a table. But if I had known that for this show you could buy a ticket or just get a table, I would have put the $34.75 toward a meal and gotten a free concert.

P.S. Lucas came from Portugal (Wavelength's attempt this year to go non-local) and his playing was an updated version of a traditional style. But I don't know much Portuguese music other than fado so his shimmering picking reminded me of Spanish guitar like flamenco. He sang in English and Portuguese (though unlikely many in the audience were locals in what was once Little Portugal). The lyrics were poetic and sometimes took inspiration from Portuguese idioms. The song In Between was inspired by entre a espada e a parede (between the sword and the wall). I enjoyed the short set with his skillful guitar playing.

In fact, a nice surprise tonight were both shorter sets and quicker set-ups. I was worried that, with 4 bands on the bill, the evening was going to drag out. Daniel Colussi (Fortunato Durutti Marinetti) played the most appropriate music for the venue. It was catchy but very Copa Cabana. Still, his David Byrne style and interesting songs (Coke vs. Pepsi, The Bulldozer) was Blimp Rock redux and the romantic Hold On To The Dawn had the earnestness of Luka.

Dan English was an Iowan by way of Brooklyn. His set was a less languid Lana del Rey full of yearning. As it was his first show in Canada, Caitlin Woelfle-O'brien hooked him up with 2 local musicians. The trio played a nice set of contemplative art-rock. It was also English's first time in a supper club, but some joined in on his cover of Perfect Day (Lou Reed). Two fans even came up to chit-chat afterwards.

Tara Kannagara was ostensibly the head-liner. But by this time, the venue was mostly empty with the departure of the dinner crowd. Like all the performers tonight, she was mostly showcasing new material. So Kannagara was just happy to play live music with her band. The new songs seemed like a departure from her current output of indie with a splash of "prog jazz". They were Laufey-esque balladry meet R'n'B influenced synth-pop: head-bopping beats, wobbly synth, and pure vocals soaring over it all. There were some outstanding gems in the new stuff.

Wuthering Heights

Having met our deadline, our boss gave the go-ahead to take advantage of our new company's policy and take the 2nd Friday of each month off. Since I was going on a short trip back to Ottawa, I did my laundry in the early morning instead of waiting until Sunday. The forecast called for a final winter blast and it arrived around 11 am. As I returned from Progress Bakery with cod patties for lunch, I ran into my neighbour diligently clearing out the wet snow. A quick conversation revealed that he lived in the Yonge and Finch area. No one was living in his units yet because the building was in bad-shape when he bought it 3 years ago.

In the evening, I went to 241 pizza not for my usual slice but to order a 3-topping panzerotti. The price has increased to $11.99 from about $7 a while back. The panzerotti was a corporate branding because they didn't deep-fry it like the real one; this was closer to a calzone. Nevertheless, I've enjoyed it over the years and tonight's combination of baked dough, gooey cheese, olives, hot pepper, and pineapple still hit the spot.

Looking for an activity to do, I came across a concert at Lee's Palace. I recalled from a few days ago that on non-quite-yet gentrified Geary, the light-poles were plastered with posters; something that has disappeared from Little Italy and Queen St. West. This concert was among those street ads. Online, the $25 price has morphed into $27.50 with a $10 fee. I thought I might avoid the price-gouging by buying at the door. No such luck as they simply fired up their tablet and charged me the same $37.40.

It felt more like a concert than the last few shows: people lining up early for merch, and an actual music sub-culture scene. Early on, whether goth or emo, there were numerous kids in elaborate black clothes with heavily-drawn white make-up. But the bulk turned out to be regular folks (although still mostly wearing black) and a surprisingly number of people over 40. Have these bands been around a long time?

The first opener, and my favourite for the night, was Modele. A four-piece that reminded me of Depeche Mode with their combination of synth, tight drumming, and punctuated by catchy riffs. The singer, who towered over his bandmates, sang dramatic lyrics (You Are My Sin, Pleasure For The Holy) in a deep register while his guitarist harmonized in a higher voice. They got my $55 for a tee and the album. Automelodie has been around for over 20 years under various monikers. I liked that the Euro synthpop was controlled with several samplers and pads instead of just a bunch of tracks on a MacBook. But there were two downsides: the French lyrics were lost on the Toronto crowd, and though he was quite energetic, Xavier Paradis seemed a bit awkward on-stage. During the set, I thought that a performer like Regina Gently could sell this music better.

Traitrs formed around 2015, yet as a testament to the diversity of Toronto's scenes, I have never encountered them until Friday. When the duo stepped on stage and the singer/guitarist lamented in the upper register, I immediately thought of The Cure. Over the course of several songs, they did stayed in that melancholic, thumpy vibe. I left about half-way through the set since I had an early bus to catch but also because they weren't as inventive (musically and in terms of stage-presence) as the openers.

Hen & Teeth

Things were looking better for work on Friday, but I still had to eat lunch at home due to an overly long meeting. In the afternoon, I headed over to see my dentist. Over the years, I have seen assistants but they never seemed to be there for more than a few months. Either he doesn't pay adequately or they were interns or on co-op/training. This one turned out to be a hygienist and after a quick glance at my mouth asked me how many times I brush and floss daily. I haven't gotten a cleaning from one since before the pandemic at my old dentist's office. On the one hand, they actually spent the full 45 minutes for the 3 scaling units instead of billing the same amount for 10 minutes. On the other hand, while they worked, I thought: I wasn't doing a good enough job at home; my dentist was more efficient from experience; or my dentist was less diligent than he should. Probably some combination of all three. Having been asked similar questions before, maybe I should snark that I only brush weekly since (apparently from the state of my teeth) they don't believe that I visit the dentist 4 times a year and brush/floss 4 times a day.

Usually after these visits, I drop by Pam's Roti. So despite the lunch kerfuffle 7 weeks ago, I went there for a chicken roti ($16.95). The roti was still good with an excellent chew and fragrance. There seemed to be less chicken though. The server with vision problems (but better since their operation) wasn't around. I thought of them because during the pub hang on Tuesday, I found out that several old and new co-workers also had issues that require eye surgery.

With more winter in the forecast, and a biting wind during my outings, I spent the evening looking for sublets once again but on craigslist instead of kijiji. I found an ad from the landlord/tenant of my first sublet but it was for the apartment downstair. Either they had changed apartment or the other long-time renters has moved out. But $2150 was more than my limit and with a move-in date of March 8 (or ASAP), it didn't align with my current sublet which lasts until the end of March.

Work/Life

The craziness at work continued on Monday though there was some (obstructed) light at the end of the tunnel. I wasn't happy that the hour I had set aside on Saturday to answer pleas from a coworker went to waste. After my reply, they had dashed off an untested solution full of errors. I heard they relied on AI but whether natural or digital, laziness ruled the day. So we were not ahead for the Tuesday deadline.

In the early evening, I caught a few last rays of sunshine and headed to my friend's restaurant. They were entertaining a guest so I exchanged some pleasantries and sat by myself with a veggie platter ($18). They asked about my family and I related that during my usual weekly talk with my mom, she had forgotten that it was Sunday. Getting a day mixed up was alright but not if it happened twice in an hour; my grandma didn't suffer this until her 90s. On their side, they were postponing their painkiller injection for physical therapy. Six sessions in, perhaps there was some improvement, but I saw that they were still limping when serving customers. On my way out, I replayed our brief chat and puzzled over some statement regarding the photos we took at our sushi lunch. I sure hope they weren't hinting at playing matchmaker, because with one foot already in the grave, I don't need any personal drama.

I was in the office on Tuesday because we had HR visitors from our new American owner. After months of research, they presented us with plans for merging our respective packages: primarily benefits and other perks. We were switching over to "unlimited" PTO, though unlike the U.S., there were minimum amounts required by law. Since this guaranteed less days than my old contract, I'm skeptical I will take even the same number of days as before, let alone see an increase. The health benefits and insurance were better than our plans and included reimbursement for gym memberships and internet services. The biggest add-on was RSP matching up to a combined 9%. Since I already had a financial advisor, I didn't love that I would have to contribute to funds managed by another company. But it is free money on the table.

Breakfast (bagels, croissants) and lunch (salad, deli sandwiches, wraps) were provided though there were lots of leftover. At 4:30, we went to a nearby pub, where we co-workers often had lunch outings before the pandemic. Over beer and bar food, we did a bit of social bonding. Some had visited Quebec for mountain biking and whale watching. Others were in Canada or Toronto for the first time. It was a nice enough get-together though we would likely never see each other again since there were few reasons for HR to visit an office of mostly remote workers.