Off By 1

An estimated 18000 people (including myself) came out Friday night for the free Aretha Franklin concert at Pecaut Square. This event was part of the Toronto Jazz Festival. Unfortunately, only a tiny fraction could fit into the tent where the concert was actually taking place. The majority were sitting outside, facing the larger outdoor stage, and fenced off from the tent. Until the concert started, most of them were unaware that Ms. Franklin would not be singing from there. A second set of fencing blocked off even more people. This seemed to me to be against the communal spirit of a free event, especially considering that special VIP passes got queue jumpers inside. The NxNE and Luminato free concerts were better managed.

Having missed the Deli Meat show-down at Wychwood Barn last week, I decided to get a smoked meat sandwich for lunch at Caplansky's, one of the contestants of the competition. If it matters, Goldin's won this year and is available at Free Times Cafe just down the street. I haven't been to Caplansky's since it moved out of the Monarch Tavern into its own space. The meat was delicious but the bread was surprisingly bland white bread, even after a liberal topping of house mustard. The service was excellent and attentive. Too bad as a single diner I was seated next to the waitresses' station, which was a very high traffic area. This reminded me of a restaurant in Dijon that seated me next to the entrance behind a giant wine vat.

At 5:30 pm, I went to Khao San Road for dinner. By 6, the place was packed. The garlic shrimp (Goong Taud Samoon Prai) appetizer was lightly fried and crispy. Instead of the whole shrimp approach from the pre-opening dinner, the shrimp is sliced open into a disc. The Gaeng Massaman curry was not quite as good, sweeter than expected for a tamarind curry. Though I asked for spicy, it lacked any heat. I asked the waitress about this, and discovered there were 2 other (hidden) ratings: "Thai spicy" and "Extreme Thai spicy". That maybe so, but I think my order was simply screwed up.

There were no free outdoor screens for the International Indian Film Award (IIFA) at the Rogers Centre, as promised. There were lots of security though: Rogers Centre security, IIFA security, miscellaneous security, and cops. There were also lots of fencing, sometimes 3 or 4 levels of it. They didn't seem to serve any actual security purposes, as most ended or are reduced to a single barrier a little ways off. But where the "action" occurred such as the green carpet where the Bollywood stars got out of their limo, they did separate the VIP ticket holders from the rest of the rabble. This seemed odd PR-wise (as well as for the celebs' ego), as you would think a 4-5 deep row of screaming fans would show better on TV than a single row of well-wishers.