My Horoscope...

My horoscope on Sunday night called for mussels in a white wine sauce...

I headed to the Libra Room on Commercial Drive with some friends quite by accident. We were actually looking for the Reef, but apparently we parked in the wrong spot. Unwilling to lose the money we'd put in the parking meter, we walked until we heard music coming from one of the local eateries.

That's how we ended up at the Libra Room, where I enjoyed mussels & fries and a couple of glasses of a lovely red wine (unfortunately, I can't remember which red wine it was now!!).

They had a live jazz band, which worried me a little when we arrived because I'm not a big jazz fan. But this band was mellow and unobtrusive, and conversation carried on throughout the restaurant during their performance.

I finished off the night with a piece of cheesecake, which had pomegranate and some other berries on it, and it was absolutely delicious.

Star rating for the Libra Room?
5 outta 5 for food
5 outta 5 for service
5 outta 5 for the live jazz (from someone who doesn't really like jazz!)

Nice work!

You had me at "Complimentary Cover with any canned food donation!"

Dance away the night to Top 40, Hip Hop and holiday dance hits!! It has always been my dream to go to a club and dance to Christmas music. I don't know anyone who loves Christmas music as much as I do, but maybe I could find my soul-mate at Caprice's Winter Wonderland party next Tuesday, December 22nd.

http://www.capricenightclub.com/event3.htm

Packed Weekend!

This weekend is packed!  There's not even room to breathe in this city!  Well, actually, everything that this weekend is packed with is relaxing, so you'll definitely have room to breathe and relax.  And shop, and go out, and...  you get the point.

Tomorrow, Friday the 17th, will see a variety of activities going on in Yaletown.  I guess everyone there got together and decided to get their name around.  First of all, it's Hot Friday, which means there will be a DJ, performances and retail promos (from noon to 7pm).  Second, and perhaps more importantly, there's a Shopathon!  Discounts, specials, prizes, cocktails and free swag!  Can you turn that down?  Me neither!

Want to do something more cultural?  It's also the Vancouver Folk Music Festival down at Jericho Beach!  Go see Fire and Wine, the Weakerthans, Dan Mangan and a variety of others (those are just the bands I know from the radio!).

This weekend also sees the arrival of the BC Renaissance Festival, if that's more your speed.  You can make the trek to Langley (!) to go to the Renaissance marketplace, see their performances, and wear your chain mail (because, seriously, how often do you pull that one out of the closet?).

And if you don't want to go all the way to Langley, you can go see the Comedy of Errors in Queens Park!  This one is even free!  Shakespeare?  Outdoors?  Free?  Count me in!

Still haven't found what you want?  No Doubt will be in town Saturday night, GM Place, packed with screaming fans while Gwen and her buddies put on a phenomenal show (just guessin').

For more info about any of these items, check out my calendar at the bottom of my blog.

Have a great weekend!!

Shopathon!

Shopathon? Really? I didn't even know that was a word!

Well, it may not be in the dictionary, but this Friday there will be a Shopathon in Yaletown from 3-9pm! Over 40 stores will have great discounts and specials, prizes, cocktails and even FREE SWAG! The first 250 shoppers will get a free swag bag, but you MUST RSVP (at http://shopyaletown.wordpress.com/rsvp/).

While you're in Yaletown, enjoy Hot Friday, this Friday July 17th from noon to 7pm. Hot Friday includes live music, DJ Wyatt, retail promotions and other performances.

Why not celebrate the end of the work week with a fun day in Yaletown?

More info: www.yaletowninfo.com

Happy August, Everybody!

This is now going to be the best summer ever:

I've got my new radio station, 100.5 the Peak, to keep me going at work. And they've just announced that the Sam Roberts Band, along with Mother Mother, will be playing at Deer Lake Park on August 3!

I've heard that Deer Lake Park is an amazing venue for concerts, even though I have never been to one there. What could be more delightful or picturesque? I can hardly wait.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, presumably at 10am (because that's when tix go on sale) and also presumably at ticketmaster, the seller of all tickets ever.

See you at Deer Lake Park on August 3!!

Awesome Tunage for the Summer

I don't know how behind I am, but apparently we have a new radio station here in Vancouver!

100.5 The Peak plays aaaawesome rock - Sam Roberts, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Metric, and all sorts of fun and indie rock. I pretty much have this station on all the time at home, and all the time at work - which I can do because you can listen online!

The music you listen to in the summer is so important. It's the soundtrack, right? So if you're listening to crap music all summer, your summer probably won't be so good. I urge you to go turn this station on right now. I would like to guarantee that it will make your summer better, but... I don't have that kind of power.

You can find The Peak online at www.thepeak.fm. And no, they have no affiliation with The Peak, SFU's student newspaper.

More Junos Stuff

Just because I'm not super-enthusiastic about the Junos doesn't mean other people aren't (and it doesn't mean that I shouldn't be!), so I thought I'd just add the link for anybody wanting to find out more about the myriad of events and shows taking over our fair city in the next week.
www.junofest.ca has all the info about the shows: "Over 100 bands at 19 venues" over the weekend.
www.junofanfare.ca has all the info about the street party next weekend on Granville.
Enjoy!

Apparently the Juno Awards are coming...

I've known that the Juno Awards are coming to Vancouver for quite a while now, and I guess I haven't mentioned it because I don't usually watch the Junos. I probably should... and even if I'm not going to watch them, they are bringing tons of fun entertainment to the city so I should at least check some of that out!
Next Saturday there is going to be a Juno Fan Fare Gravnille Street Party, 11am to 4pm (on Granville Street - do I need to mention that? It doesn't say where, but presumably in the Strip with all the clubs...)
This show is going to feature City and Colour, Deborah Cox, Divine Brown, Sam Roberts Band (yesss!!!!), Kreesha Turner and others.
This event is free and doors (? to a street?) open at 9am - and it looks like they think this will be packed. www.junofanfare.ca for infos.

Radio Station Guide

I know, I know: it's a little boring. But sometimes you just have to listen to something different!

Most of the time, I like to listen to The Beat 94.5 (www.thebeat.com). They pretty much play top 40 (pop!) music. I like to listen to this when I get up in the morning or when I'm cleaning my apartment because it's pretty energetic!

On the weekends, I like to listen to 99.3 The Fox (www.cfox.com), because on the weekends they have the 90's Brunch, where they play rock from the 90's. This is good for mellower days - when I want to listen to Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the Odds. The rest of the time, they play new rock music, which I do like to listen to sometimes.

Sometimes I switch over to Virgin Radio 95.3 (www.virginradio.ca), which plays a variety of popular music from the last ten or so years (and occasionally earlier!).

Recently, I've become addicted to FM 104.9 The Greatest Hits of All Time (www.1049greatesthits.com). If you love cheesy love ballads from the 70's as much as I do, this station is for you. And local icon Red Robinson still has a show on this station! I was shocked to find that out this past weekend. Red must be about 100 by now - I remember seeing him in commercials when I was a kid. He always said, "I'm Red Robinson... join me, won't you?" and invited you to come what whatever movie he was sponsoring. Anyways, this is the only station in the city that plays Burton Cummings at least once a day. I think it's just for me...

I will also mention 96.9 Jack FM (www.jackfm.com). Their motto is playing what we want - and they really do! You'll find a wide variety of anything and everything on this station. I like to scan past it when I'm driving for a little variety.

And one that I don't listen to, but I'll mention it for you, is Rock 101 (101.1 FM, www.rock101.com). This is the classic rock station if you like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, etc. Which I don't, so I'm only mentioning it for you!

There you go! Next time you're in Vancouver, you'll know what radio stations to listen to. Happy weekend, everybody!

Celebration of Light

If you’re like me, you still call it the Symphony of Fire, and still associate it with Benson & Hedges. The name may be different, it may now be sponsored by HSBC, but the Celebration of Light is still a fun thing to see.

Head to English Bay to watch the fireworks displays set to music. Have a look at www.celebration-of-light.com for the schedule. Canada is on tonight, Saturday will be the USA, then July 30 is China’s turn. My personal favourite is finale night, which will be on August 2^nd.

Fireworks start around 10:00pm and last approximately 20 minutes, but be sure to allow yourself plenty of travel time. If you want a spot on the beach, arrive several hours early. I, personally, have never actually gotten a spot on the beach, so I’m not really sure how early you would have to go.

As well, it’s going to take you ages to get home, especially if you take public transit, so allow plenty of time for that as well. If you’re taking kids, you’ll probably have to carry/drag them half way back to the nearest Skytrain station. Then the Skytrain will be full. Then your child will have to pee… it’s a vicious cycle really. The best solution is to leave the kiddies at home. Find a sitter who abhors crowds, that way they won’t have wanted to go to the fireworks anyways.

A Tribute to Canadian Music

I was inspired this morning, while I cleaned my apartment and blasted the Broken Social Scene and then the Arcade Fire (sorry, neighbours: I hope you’re fans!). I was thinking how strange it is that I am always drawn to Canadian Music. I’m a CanCon fan.

It’s not on purpose, I swear. I honestly hear the music first, fall in love with it, and then discover that it is yet another Canadian band.

It all started when I was in high school, I suppose, and Matthew Good was the local hero. Along with Moist, I Mother Earth, Econoline Crush, The Killjoys and others, this was the soundtrack in my formative years.

I moved on to others at later times: Broken Social Scene for mellow days, Metric when I had a little more energy. I moved on to the Arcade Fire at some point… they were a natural step after Broken Social Scene.

The Arcade Fire played in Deer Lake Park last summer, but I heard about it much too late and missed out. Then I tried to block their concert out of my mind and pretend it wasn’t going on. Until I read the review in the Georgia Straight. It brought tears to my eyes, apparently the concert had been amazing.

In the fall, I had the good fortune of attending a Hot Hot Heat concert at the Commodore: dream venue, dream band. For me, that was a dream: a night of high-energy, poppity rock in a great venue, with a gin & tonic in my hand.

I’m a little sad this evening, because I have to report that I will most likely be standing, teary eyed or not, at any amazing venues watching any of my favourite bands this summer. Apparently Ontario is the place to be, and although I have always dreamed of going to Toronto, it’s not going to happen in the next two months.

Matthew Good will be playing in Ontario in July and August, but not in Vancouver (http://www.matthewgood.org/shows/).

Sam Roberts band’s only date in BC is at the Pemberton Festival. You couldn’t pay me to go camp in a smelly field and go to this concert. Hmm… Actually, you could. Please e-mail me (ms.michelle.mara@gmail.com) if you would like to pay me to go to this concert). Sam Roberts band’s tour dates are at http://samrobertsband.com/tour/.

Broken Social Scene is not playing in Vancouver this summer, either. The closest they get is the Whistler Music Festival (http://www.arts-crafts.ca/bss/).

According to the Arcade Fire website, “There are currently no future shows planned.” Damn (http://www.arcadefire.net/tour/).

Metric will also be playing at the Pemberton Festival. Sigh… (http://www.myspace.com/metricband).

So, to sum it up: I will at this point NOT be seeing any music shows this summer because apparently nobody good is coming to Vancouver. I’ll be at home, with a spotless apartment, blasting my neighbours out of their places. I hope they’re fans!