Month: September 2012

life with more cowbell

From 7 p.m. till sunrise, Toronto celebrated arts, culture and entertainment all night long.

Here are some images and impressions from the evening. Janis and I missed Dr. Draw at the Rivoli, as he was running late and we had friends to meet, but we did see a group of dancers and a pair of musicians out on the front patio stage.

After the Rivoli, we met up with Lizzie and Leah at Shanghai Cowgirl for a late dinner before heading out into the downtown core, where we saw several art installations, including some work at City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square.

We made our way north, through the UofT campus and stopped by the Bata Shoe Museum, where we saw this neat sound wave drawing that wrapped around the entire room.

From there, we took the subway and streetcar up to Artscape Wychwood Barns – Barn #2, where we saw…

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Nuit Blanche is less than one week away! So is Lizzie Violet’s all horror set!

Nuit Blanche is less than one week away and you know what that means!  An all horror spoken word set read by ME at 3:30 am for Theatre Local.  Our venue is this amazing theatre space located at the Wychwood Barns.  I have posted the details below!  We are trying to raise funds for the event and one of things we are doing is selling buttons of the performers!  AND they are only $2 per button (I sold out the last batch so grab the new batch while they last).  I will have some on me for sale, but they will sell out fast.  Not to worry!  You can still buy them on the Esty site!

Theatre Local invites you to “Small Audiences” at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, a 12 hour season of performance, film, short words and sound art.Lizzie Violet will be performing an all horror themed set at Canada’s Smallest Theatre (sponsored by Theatre Local).  Lizzie Violet‘s set will be at 3:30 am. There will be lots of other Nuit Blanche events at Wychwood Barns and in the St. Clair West area, so make sure you set aside a bit of time to check everything out.

Theatre Local is a conceptual artwork and producing project which serves the city of Toronto and wider performing arts networks. “Small Audiences” is the second Scotiabank Nuit Blanche social sculpture presented at Canada’s Smallest Theatre and proffers traditional performer/spectator experiences within the intimacy of a small group setting.Mark us down. Of course we want to see you there in our annual Scotiabank Nuit Blanche festivities. Canada’s Smallest Theatre, Artscape Wychwood Barns 601 Christie St (look for the signs in Barn 2) IMPORTANT: BOX OFFICE is located in Barn 2, because it is Small Audience, arrive early to get your tickets, they will be gone fast!FOR MORE INFO:
info@theatrelocal.org
416-879-3416
http://theatrelocal.org/
FREE
For all the show times please check out www.theatrelocal.org

TOpoet

nice hat
nice hat

The September edition of The Beautiful and The Damned filled the house once again. Great features, great open stagers, DM Moore was a sublime host with great trivia questions, what more could one ask for? I was happy to take up my spot as beverage handler to greet people as they came panting (not pantless) up into the Glad Day third floor space

The first feature was the 2008 Governor General’s Award winner Jacob Sheier. he read from his book, some from his next book & some new pieces. Much of his work has a warm family rambling story telling sensibility, much like Allen Ginsberg. Amusing, tender and insightful. ‘… you just can’t want to die/ you have to live it …’ ‘… the way age comes on like autumn/overnight …’ His occupy wall street pieces were sharp and comic – ‘I took cover under a Starbucks…

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life with more cowbell

I have to say, I’ve really been diggin’ all the poetry/spoken word events I’ve attended over the past year – thanks to my good friend Lizzie Violet. There is so much talent in this city – and you can see and experience so much for little to no $.

Coming up this week: The Beautiful and the Damned music and poetry cabaret at Glad Day Bookshop (598A Yonge St., Toronto) on Thurs, Sept 13 from  7 – 10 p.m., hosted by DM Moore. This month’s hounoured dead celeb is Gore Vidal, and the featured line-up includes David Bateman, Jacob Scheier and Jessica Speziale. There are open mic slots available too – get there early to sign up.

Kirk DeMatas (who read at Smash Words at The Press Club last month) will be launching his collection of poems Conversations with Skeletons at Glad Day on Sat, Sept 15 from 6-8 p.m.

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A new Lizzie Violet Feature and Raising Funds for Theatre Local for Nuit Blanche

Hey all!  As mentioned in previous posts I will be featuring at Nuit Blanche.  I am doing an all horror themed set at 3:30 am for Theatre Local.  Our venue is this amazing theatre space located at the Wychwood Barns.  I have posted the details below!  We are trying to raise funds for the event and one of things we are doing is selling buttons of the performers!  AND they are only $2 per button.  I will have some on me for sale, but they will sell out fast.  Not to worry!  You can still buy them on the Esty site!

Theatre Local invites you to “Small Audiences” at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, a 12 hour season of performance, film, short words and sound art.Lizzie Violet will be performing an all horror themed set at Canada’s Smallest Theatre (sponsored by Theatre Local).  Lizzie Violet‘s set will be at 3:30 am. There will be lots of other Nuit Blanche events at Wychwood Barns and in the St. Clair West area, so make sure you set aside a bit of time to check everything out.

Theatre Local is a conceptual artwork and producing project which serves the city of Toronto and wider performing arts networks. “Small Audiences” is the second Scotiabank Nuit Blanche social sculpture presented at Canada’s Smallest Theatreand proffers traditional performer/spectator experiences within the intimacy of a small group setting.Mark us down. Of course we want to see you there in our annual Scotiabank Nuit Blanche festivities.

Canada’s Smallest Theatre, Artscape Wychwood Barns 601 Christie St (look for the signs in Barn 2)

IMPORTANT: BOX OFFICE is located in Barn 2, because it is Small Audience, arrive early to get your tickets, they will be gone fast!

FOR MORE INFO:
info@theatrelocal.org
416-879-3416
http://theatrelocal.org/
FREE

For all the show times please check out www.theatrelocal.org

life with more cowbell

Hanging at the Free Times Café is always an enjoyable experience. The atmosphere is laid back, the beer is cold and the food is amazing. I highly recommend the latkes. And it was an even greater pleasure hanging out there last night to see the Best of Open Stage, with Free Times owner Judy Perly hosting an evening featuring three performers, each delighting the audience in his/her own way. Victoria Carr was unable to perform due to a medical issue – and we were told she’s doing well – and was substituted by blues singer Joshua Lopez.

Joshua Lopez served up some classic blues, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, voice and strings wailin’ with the hurt – from NOLA blues song “St. James Infirmary Blues” to a couple of his own, less hurtin’ and more devotional songs. You can find Josh here: http://www.facebook.com/jlattelopez  and give him a listen on…

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life with more cowbell

As I start to think about changing gears from a lovely long weekend to the upcoming week, I’m thinkin: Busy fun times coming up kids, with a whole lotta music, spoken word/poetry, comedy and art happening this week. Please check the respective websites for location and other info:

Best of Open Stage @ Free Times Café– Tues, Sept 4 @ 8 p.m. $6 cover. Featuring Victoria Carr, Amar Ghelani & Lizzie Violet http://www.freetimescafe.com/

Blair Sharpe: Recent Paintings @ Fran Hill Gallery (285 Rushton Rd, Toronto) – opens Thurs, Sept 6 @ 6 p.m. (until Sept 30) http://www.blairsharpe.com/Blair_Sharpe/Home.html

Little Creatures for Little Creatures (fundraiser for PAWS) @ El Mocambo – Sat, Sept 8 @ 9 p.m.sharp $10 cover. Featuring Tom Wilson, Noah’s Arkweld, Angela Saini, Sarahbelle & Little Creatures. http://littlecreatures.deezproduction.com/

Come out and support indie artists and PAWS.

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend, all!

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