Being TIFFerent

TIFF is in town. I have a love-hate relationship with it. Yesterday I compared it to New Year’s Eve: The obligation to get in on the excitement and have fun; high expectations; parties full of strangers  (if you do the Festival that way). But I detest crowds and the obligation to have fun. Parties full of strangers make me uncomfortable and anxious. Self-consciousness takes over. I’m an introvert, though friends don’t believe me when I say that. Nor do they believe me when I say that I’m shy. I often have to give myself a pep talk prior to talking to strangers. I have more social anxiety than people realize.

Also, while I understand that it feels good to be close to celebrities, celebrity watching isn’t really my thing. Even though that’s part of their job, voyeurism makes me uncomfortable. I have friends who love TIFF and I understand why.

I say this having volunteered with the festival for two or three years and having a great time and having spent 3 years living close to Yorkville where a lot of celebrities hang out and reside for the festival and where the festival was largely based for years. I couldn’t walk around without bumping into crowds of photographers, fans, stalkers, star-fuckers and the like. I always am a little curious though, and like a cat I emerge tentatively. I’m happy to have it in the city. I choose to mostly avoid it.

Last night I made plans with a friend for dinner and a movie tomorrow night. We both bought our tickets online. I was looking forward to tomorrow evening. Walking back to my office from the Convention Centre today I decided to stop by the TIFF box office to see how long the line up was to pick up tickets. Seeing the length of the line I decided to pick them up tomorrow and was about to leave when I looked at my confirmation email again on my iPhone. I’d looked at it last night but failed to notice something: I’d ordered a ticket for the wrong date for the movie that I wanted. It’s actually possible that my friend got the last ticket.

So, into line I went. About an hour in I text messaged my friend to update him and express my hope that the tickets weren’t sold out. 1 hour 15 minutes after I joined the line I got up to the front… and learned that tickets for tomorrow night’s screening are sold out.

I’m glad I caught this today rather than tomorrow evening when we’d go pick up our tickets.

Had I not been at a conference this morning I MAY have seen BlogTO’s ticket contest, and entered, and possibly (long shot) won tickets to a screening for tomorrow night. Then I’d have two tickets I could use and 2 ticket to sell. Instead I have a ticket I can’t use (Edwin Boyd, Monday at 3pm at the Ryerson) and need a ticket for tomorrow night’s screening, 9:15pm at Bell Lightbox. Selling my ticket is #1 priority, above getting another ticket. My friend and I could always find something else to do after dinner. Or he could go to the movie alone.

On Twitter this is where one would use the hashtag “#FML”, for “fuck my life”. I used it (first time use) but felt melodramatic. I lost $22 and my plans for tomorrow have to change. Sucks, but it’s pretty insignificant. “Fuck my life” feels more “my house just got robbed and I lost everything”. This isn’t anything worth “FML”.

I will have a great meal with great company. Hopefully I’ll get my $22 back first.

Kevin Smith rocks the Toronto Underground Cinema

I’ve been a fan of Kevin Smith since the last 90s. I sort of remember Clerks, which was released during my last year of high school. but didn’t see it in the theatre and only watch it years later. Mallrats might have been my first. I’ve seen most of his stuff (not Cop Out) and even liked Jersey Girl.  Jersey Girl tanked at the box office and Smith sometimes makes fun of it but it really was a beautiful father-daughter story. I own all of the View Askew films including Clerks 2 which, incidentally, I saw on TV a couple of years ago the same time that Rent was on. Double the Rosario Dawson.

I occasionally visited the View Askew message board, though the format hurt my eyes and I never joined the current version. I saw his first Roy Thompson Hall appearance, the one in which kids in the front shouted “Lay the podium down!” and he said that this sounded like a curling reference – except that he couldn’t remember the name of the sport of curling and the audience reminded him. I bought tickets to that show because, while on a tight budget, I didn’t know when/if he’d return. He’s been back every year, one year even doing three consecutive evenings at the Bloor Cinema. I didn’t go. Excuses included money, “too many people” and “finding people to go with”, which is basically what I say about every event that I consider going to be it theatre or concerts. The RTH event was a huge venue with too many people and too many university students who wouldn’t have remembered the first couple of movies. It was also the start of a series. He returned to that same venue for his second Evening with DVD,  An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder, and sub-titled the performance “Kevin Smith lays the podium down” (or something like that).

Along the way he started a blog that was mostly either boring or a deliberate commentary on the narcissist nature of blogging- I’m not sure which (“Woke up, took a shit, checked my email, drove the kid to school”) but was sprinkled with interesting insights into his like, then began podcasting, then created a podcasting network, and now an online radio network called SIR – Smodcast Internet Radio. For many years he’s done the tour circuit, discussing his life and his movies. At first he was screening films + doing Q & A. Then he realized that the Q & A was what people really wanted, so he did exclusive Q & A sessions, no film. He’s known for his long tangents, for really long answers to questions during Q & A sessions. He tries not to tell the same stories too often (e.g. on the second Evening With he began an answer by saying that he talked about it on the first) and somehow still has more to say. Talking has essentially been his second career, one that he’s transitioning into as his sole career as he has one movie left to shoot and then a TV talk show. He and his wife have a daily morning show on SIR. It’s funny, fun, informative, engaging, occasionally irritating but almost always enjoyable. They broadcast out of their home.

His introduction of people to his current movie Red State was done in part through a series of podcasts and press screenings that began in November. The description of podcast #001 of “Red State of the Union”: “Kev runs the first RED STATE teaser at SModcastle for an audience of 20 and hears their feedback/fields their questions.” This describes the series, plus question and answer periods and interviews with cast and crew over 13 weeks that ended in February.

Smith eventually decided to market and distribute the film himself by using Twitter, podcast and SIR as his platforms. He knows that the people who see Kevin Smith films are those who already see Kevin Smith films plus, word of mouth from those people to others.  He acknowledges that people prefer to watch movies at home, so he better give people a personalized experience that will bring them out of their homes. And so, he went back to the film Q & A format, this time with a new film. He took Red State on the road. Why not do a Q & A and show a movie all for around the same price as one of his regular Q & A events? His sessions has been regularly selling out for nearly a decade.

Indeed, he quickly made back his movie budget. Smith follows his instincts in order to brand himself. He knows that he might fail but isn’t afraid to try or fail. You can’t play it safe and you have to have faith. The man, though not necessarily immune to fear or doubt, has faith.

And so, on August 15, after months of waiting, Red State came to Toronto and I decided to splurge on the expensive tickets which guaranteed a DVD copy (to be released in October) and seating in the first 11 rows – though more like 5-11, because the first few were reserved. After all the years of not seeing his show, I was going to do it right. I bought my tickets the day after the show was announced and only waited rather buy immediately because I was at a friend’s house for an overnight when I saw the announcement and my credit cards were at home and work. (Not that kind of friend, it was the hottest day of the year and I don’t have air conditioning so I stayed with friends for 2 nights.) I feared they’d sell out without 24 hours. They did sell out.

(I cursed myself for not bringing my camera, thinking that I’d be close enough to get good shots on my iPhone)

When I arrived at the theatre I met up with an acquaintance in the ticket pick up line (shorter than the line for people with tickets, which had its first member at 11am). He told me that he’d been at the earlier press conference at which Smith took 1 hour to answer a question from 680 News and was eventually pulled away by his assistant so that he could go back to his hotel to freshen up before the night’s performance. Torontoist wasn’t too happy with the press conference (URL not safe for work). Smith likes to talk and has a lot to say.

Here’s what I posted in the comments to BlogTO’s review:

It really was a great night. I shelled out for the premium tickets (one row back from where the audience mic was, stage left) and enjoyed myself immensely. He gave hugs to two fans. I heard him share things that I hadn’t heard on his daily show or on podcasts, which I imagine would be a challenge for him in a room full of fans. Just how many stories does the man have? (Yes, I’ve heard about Jen’s near-death experience multiple times and I enjoyed hearing about Meghan Phelps again.)

Smith is engaging and inspiring. He follows is intuition/instinct. He takes risks and tries to get ahead of the game rather than playing it safe. The man is down to earth despite the notoriety and using Twitter as a platform for the occasional tantrum. When he says, “I’m Kevin Smith!” he doesn’t sound like a dick, but a guy acknowledging that he’s famous, has worked for it and has come into luck along the way.

Yes, he throws Twitter tantrums, yes he gets into bad moods and gets offended (oh, the horror!). After the screening he recognized one audience member who asked a question and even recalled the last time they saw each other before learning that he’d blocked the fan on Twitter because of criticism related to SIR. (Smith didn’t realize who it was when he blocked.) Smith sincerely apologized, they hugged it out. It was a touching moment. The other hug was a thank you to a girl who brought him cookies. (My bakery-owner friend had brought him cupcakes at the press conference.)

Obviously I won’t spoil the movie but there were some groan-worthy moments that reminded me of something that Joss Whedon writes into his projects. There was some fantastic dialogue, mostly by John Goodman, a great scene with Kevin Pollack, some great deaths. I actually would have liked to see more. The transition to the end of the movie didn’t feel quite right. I wanted a bit more before they moved to the “subsequently…” part of the movie. I’m not sure what else there was to say, but it’s possible that Smith had more he could have said but needed to keep the movie tight. Interestingly, one of the reels sent to Toronto was an old cut. Smith said later that he was freaking out when he heard lines that haven’t been in the movie since the Sundance Festival. When I see it on DVD it will be missing lines. One of the lines, he insisted, was “too easy”. I liked it and reaction on Twitter indicates that others did too.  I enjoyed his final story about working with a young child who knew she was acting but didn’t quite understand that she was acting during a particular scene and genuinely reacted in the scene thinking it was real.

If you haven’t seen the trailer I’m not sure that I recommend that you do. My one criticism: After I saw the movie I decided that too much of it was in the trailer and that the trailer was scarier than the actual film. I expected to want to shield my eyes. Because of the trailer I said some of the lines along with the film. Even watching the trailers after seeing the movie, I feel more anxious. Check out Red State’s YouTube channel.

Next up for for Smith is Hit Somebody, a hockey film that he describes as a “big fat love letter to Canada”.

See some good photos of the event here. (Photographer has disabled downloads.)

Related articles

• Would you pay $50 to see Kevin Smith’s latest film? (blogto.com)
• Kevin Smith and Red State worth the price of admission (blogto.com)
• Kevin Smith snubs Hollywood (cbc.ca) – 17 minute video with a misleading title. I enjoyed this a lot.

Long day part 2 of 2: Rob Ford’s Slumber Party

{Post started on Friday July 29.}

Tequila Sunrise is pretty close to City Hall. Since it was around 2am when I decided to leave (tired of having guys touch me as they walked past, feeling claustrophobic), I decided that I needed to go to City Hall for the overnight epic meeting. Over 300 citizens had registered to give 3 minute statements (that’s 900 minutes total) on what services matter to them and proposed budget cuts.

My tweets from the evening:

1:36am via Twitter for iPhone
Since I’m out way past my bedtime, might visit City Hall for this historical meeting & watch the process. Guess I’ll take a taxi home.

2:11am via foursquare
Wish I had snacks for #TOcouncil. (@ Toronto City Hall w/ 4 others) http://4sq.com/qudJXD

2:23am via Twitter for iPhone
If I stay at City Hall all night will one of my local councillors give me a ride home?

2:39am via Twitter for iPhone
It’s almost 3am but I’m so glad that I came to City Hall. I’m watching in the committee room with City Council. Phone nearly dead though.

2:41am via Twitter for iPhone
Mayor Ford is having someone escorted out by security. #TOpoli

3:03am via Twitter for iPhone
Beat me to it. I guessed he was tweeting. “@JoshMatlow: This deputation involves a puppet show. Really. Ps- Its 3am. http://t.co/u0VhSCa”

Ivor Tossell 3:01am via Twitter for iPhone
Desmond Cole sets up puppet box, hides behind it, pops up sock rabbit. “I can still see you,” says Doug Holyday.

Retweeted by andreat76

3:04am via Twitter for iPhone
Where at City Hall can I charge my phone? 10% left.

3:26am via Twitter for iPhone
Deputant 199. #TOpoli

3:48am via Twitter for iPhone
@torontoist You’ve outlasted the mayor. Must be the sweatpants.

[Context: The mayor went home for an hour. Hamutal from Torontoist was there from morning, all through the night. Someone brought her sweatpants at 11pm.]

4:00am via Twitter for iPhone
Current deputant is singing her statement.

5:20am via HootSuite
5:20am, just got home from City Hall. Awake for 21 hrs. Phone died so I started taking notes on paper. The singing deputant was interesting.

I almost tweeted this in the morning:

“Have you hugged a city councillor today?” Reflexively, I went in for a hug last night, then questioned appropriateness. Or maybe it was needed.

Sorry, Councillor.

The deputants were a diverse bunch. There was the singing deputant, the puppeteer and the poet. blue & pink haired 20-somethings, city employees, teachers, executive directors, students.  Issues raised by concerned citizens included parks and urban landscaping, breakfast programs and nutrition, libraries and literacy, transit. Shortly before I arrived Maureen O’Reilly, president of the Toronto Public Library Workers Union, presented the committee with 10 boxes of signed petitions. In her words in an email to all petition signers (emphasis is hers):

This morning, around 1:45 am, I appeared before the City of Toronto Executive Committee to tell them how much Torontonians support our public library.

To make our point, we brought 10 full boxes of messages that you and tens of thousands of others in the city have sent to City Hall in support of the Toronto Public Library.

The room, which was still packed to the rafters even in the middle of the night, erupted when we marched in with our boxes, cheering and clapping for a very long time. Nearly half of the presenters talked about our public library in their presentations, and many others devoted their entire presentations to defend the TPL.

A young woman was overcome by emotion as she testified about how terrible it would be if her library closed. It was very moving for me and for the members of the Executive Committee.

Our campaign is producing results. This week, two Councillors who are part of Mayor Ford’s inner circle declared that they will not support cuts to our public library, and the Globe and Mail published an excellent editorial in support of our public library. And today, we will surpass the 40,000 signature mark on our petition!

Debbie Fields from FoodShare also spoke before I arrived. Watch her deputation here. When I got to the end of the video, where Mayor Ford mentions his football team and the money he’s invested, I wanted to yell “Fuck you!”

A little after 4am I heard med student Martin Julien (deputant 235) complain that transit cuts, cuts to bus routes, would mean that he couldn’t get home after a night shift at a hospital. Acknowledging that he’s in a position of privilege he asked why he’d want to practice medicine in a city without that kind of infrastructure even though of all the cities he’s been to, Toronto is his favourite. Indeed there are people who need buses overnight.”You are creating a health care crisis.” he accused.

I found it shameful that the mayor left for an hour, between 3 and 4 am, and handed the Chairing duties over to his Deputy. Someone tweeted that he’d gone home to shower and change. REALLY?? Every time someone complained, the answer was “He’s been here since the beginning.” You know who else was there from the beginning? Hamutal Dotan from Torontoist. In fact, I called out (barely audibly), “So has Torontoist!” Unlike other media outlets that covered it shifts (though not sure how many did that), she was there for the entire 22 hour meeting. You’ll want to check out Torontoist’s coverage. She did a great job.

Mayor Ford returned as a deputant was beginning her statement by lambasting his absence and so he thew his arms up as if he thought he was a f’ing rock star. I interpret it as a “fuck you” gesture from the mayor.

Later, a fed up Joe Mihevic who sat on council with the mayor for years when they were both councillors corrected Mayor Ford’s pronunciation of his name and the mayor repeated it a few times, getting it wrong each time. Dude (mayor), really??

I got to bed shortly before 6, was woken up by jackhammers in my backyard at 8 and slept until my alarm awoke me at 10:30. I was at work a little after noon. Something like this was worth taking the morning off and I highly recommend that anyone do it if this sort of thing happens again. Some deputants spoke of taking vacation days to be there. I don’t think that they should have to sacrifice. It should be a right of civic duty.  Work can wait, but this is one of those experiences that demands attention.

Of course if could be argued that all of this was just a matter of going through the motions and I’m not sure how much attention can be paid in the middle of the night. Really, I suspect that some of the deputations delivered in a gimmicky manner were done because it was the middle of the night and they needed to wake up the people in the room by being different. At some point, perhaps, all the talking heads start sounding the same. The angry girl who lambasting the mayor was angry for her cause, of course, but I also wondered if some of the anger was the result of exhaustion. With all the coffee and Red Bull in the room, caffeine merely acts as a stimulant. It doesn’t make you less tired of more able to focus after you’ve had a small amount. I was amazed that any councillor was able to ask coherent questions let alone good ones. Councillors who weren’t on the Executive Committee weren’t even obliged to be there, but I think all (if not most) showed up and stayed through the night. Though it would have looked bad if they hadn’t, giving up in the middle of the night would have been understandable. Still, people pulled through. A tweet from Josh Matlow:

“Its 8:30am and I’m leaving city hall after an unprecedented 23 hour marathon meeting. So glad I stayed to listen to & learn from residents” [Sleep deprivation forgives the lacking apostrophe.]

His next tweet indicated that it was business as usual for the rest of the day (emphasis mine):

“Thanks to all who tweeted/Facebook messaged/emailed during the meeting! I’ve read each one & am grateful. Now off to a meeting in my ward!“

There may have been similar tweets from other councillors, but I only follow a few on Twitter.

The event was so moving. The energy, the community, the awe of having so many people come out to advocate for their beliefs and the city they love. It seemed to bring people together.

I wanted to be a part of the process, to watch this unprecedented civic event, especially because I work for the province. Last night was history in the making and this is why I felt that I needed to be there.

People care about this city and I feel like if you care, you need to show up in some way, even if not physically. Discuss it. Write letters. Sign petitions. Vote.

Other (but not all) media coverage:

• Mayor says marathon meeting one of his ‘proudest days’ at City Hall (City News)
• Public Has Say on Possible Cuts at City Hall (Newstalk 1010) (Justine interviewed me after she liked something I said in a casual exchange.)
• Slumber party at City Hall (National Post)
• I found this story interesting: Children’s author claims Ford insulted her. I was there. I heard her deputation. I did not hear Ford’s remarks, only Cllr Davis’s, and the quip that “B” starts for “budget”.

Related articles (via Zemanta plugin for blogs)

• What it was like to depute at the marathon executive committee meeting (blogto.com)
• One Day, and Night, at City Hall (torontoist.com)
• Toronto News: Doug Ford blasts Margaret Atwood over libraries, says ‘I don’t even know her’ – thestar.com (thestar.com)
• Torontonians at City Hall: Liveblogging the Executive Committee Budget Cut Meeting (torontoist.com)
• Raucous marathon was longest continuous council meeting ever (thestar.com)

Long day part 1 of 2: The music in me

[Originally drafted on Friday July 29]

Yesterday was a long one.

The only instrument a good musician needs is their voice

After work I went home for a bit of dinner (leftover frittata & a bagel) and headed back out to see Retrocity‘s kick-ass 2-set show at Lula Lounge. Retrocity is a group of seven performers who cover songs from the 80s and beyond, a cappella style. I was introduced to them in the mid aughts via another group that some of the members are in, Cadence (a professional association at the time, it was whole career ago for me and with Cadence I was basically “with the band”).

Last night Retrocity covered songs that I love including Gowan’s Strange Animal, Toto’s Africa – which was demanded but not play at their mini-gig earlier this month and Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer. They dedicated Message in a Bottle by the Police to Margaret Atwood and her fight to save Toronto’s public libraries. Art’s arrangement of George Michael’s* Father Figure, sung by Daniel was so creepy it made me feel like I needed a shower. The usual rap medley included Let Your Backbone Slide, Push it (real good), Pump Up the Jam and others that escape my tired mind. Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror was an encore. Awesome show. I strongly recommend you check them out when you can.

Goodbye, Tequila Sunrise

Next up… #loserkaraoke at Tequila Sunrise. I’ve started to dislike the term “#loserkaraoke” (I feel a little stabby feeling inside when I say the word) but that’s what they call it and it has a Twitter hashtag. The guys who started it aren’t around much anymore (one moved away) but it’s established. It’s been happening every Thursday for a couple of years with an additional karaoke night there on Tuesdays but Tequila Sunrise is closing soon. This was supposed to be the last week it was open for business and last night was to be its last big karaoke night. Due to paperwork the place is staying open two more weeks so Jason, our awesome karaoke host, will continue karaoke there for the next two Tuesdays but Thursdays are moving to Grindhouse Burger Bar. The food will be better there. Tequila Sunrise was fun for the people and the kitchy atmosphere but as I argued with someone last night, it’s not good enough to be a “good” bar and not dive-y enough to be a good dive bar. I’ve had some amazing evenings there and met some great people.

I’ve seen my friends happy and sad there. I’ve seen new couples, new breakups, crushes (others’ and my own). Sober, drunk (ditto). I’ve celebrated birthdays (other peoples’) and last New Year’s Eve. I’ve sang badly, I’ve danced. I’ve laughed, I’ve probably cried. I was excited and disappointed. I was flattered and insulted. Many hugs were exchanged. Although I mostly went in the summer (late Thursday nights are easier in the summer), this place was significant to me. I don’t think I realized how significant until just now when I was working on this reflection.

The tree outside the bar was a spot for smokers (not me) and those who needed air and/or quiet (me). Too loud inside the bar, it’s where the conversations, the pick ups (not me), the flirtations (yep me, did it indoors too), the business deals, the networking happened. Last night Dan Levy told me that the tree has its own Twitter account. Bye bye tree.

This year has been their best ever for business. The closure, I heard, was a personal decision made by the owners. I wish them luck and look forward to Jason Rolland’s karaoke nights at The Grindhouse, even if it is a little bit further for me to go.

I’ll end this part off with the lyrics to Tequila Sunrise by The Eagles. I wonder if anyone sang it last night.

It’s another tequila sunrise
Starin’ slowly ‘cross the sky, said goodbye
He was just a hired hand
Workin’ on the dreams he planned to try
The days go by

Ev’ry night when the sun goes down
Just another lonely boy in town
And she’s out runnin’ ’round

She wasn’t just another woman
And I couldn’t keep from comin’ on
It’s been so long
Oh, and it’s a hollow feelin’ when
It comes down to dealin’ friends
It never ends

Take another shot of courage
Wonder why the right words never come
You just get numb
It’s another tequila sunrise,this old world
still looks the same,
Another frame, mm…

Next: Rob Ford’s Slumber Party…

*Every time I think “George Michael” now I think of Arrested Development and George Michael Bluth.

Hello world!

Because I’m nerdy, the default “Hello World!” title is the one I’d have used anyway.

I’ve been trying to decide if I want to use the Tumblr account that I created ages ago but have never used, or my WordPress space that I never use as my second blog. I use self-hosted WordPress for my other blog and have a bunch of domain names registered, including andreawrites.ca and andreawrites.info.

Here’s the draft of my first Tumblr blog entry. I’ll publish to them both and see what I like better:

I’m finally using my Tumblr blog. Welcome to 2006. I’ve been toying with the idea of keeping a second blog for a long time. I’ve been blogging since before there was a name for it. In 1999/2000 my friends and I had online “diaries”, either coded with HTML or created in Netscape Navigator. One day the word “blog” took over and I scoffed, just like how “social networking” suddenly became a “thing” a few years ago but I’d been doing the same thing with newsgroups/usenet in the mid-90s and friends were doing the same thing with BBS even before me. Yes, I’m that ancient. (30-something.)

Over the years I blogged on a variety of topics. Personal, tech, fitness, health, food, politics, books, you name it. Then I had the idea that I needed a theme. I looked at what I wrote about most often and what I was most passionate about, and I created my food blog. I guess I’ve come full circle because I have more to share and want to share it. Or maybe this makes me narcissist. I do think that blogging is somewhat of a narcissist exercise.

This is a space for everything else. I will link to it from my food blog. I have some posts saved up but I think I’ll start with politics and civic engagement.

The photo above was taken by my friend David K. He’s taken some truly awful shots of me and some truly beautiful ones, as tends to happen with candid shots. I happen to love the lighting on that one. It’s been my Twitter avatar for a long time.

I look forward to our interactions.

Hello, world.