Let's Go To The Ex!

Aahh, The Ex. Nothing signifies the end of summer in Toronto like the Canadian National Exhibition. For the last two weeks of August, leading up to Labour Day every year, The Ex has been a Toronto tradition since 1879.

And has been my tradition since I was at least 6 years old (I don't believe I've missed a year since then!) My summer just does not feel complete without a visit, or a waffle ice cream.

Oh yes. The focus has definitely switched in recent years. 6-year-old me would have said that the best part of The Ex was the rides (heck, even 16-year-old or maybe 26-year old me would've said that too!) But ask me now, and the food is definitely top priority.

I went to The Ex with my aunt, Ester. It was about 6:30pm when we got there. First stop: the Food building. I already had brunch earlier in the day, but she hadn't eaten. So, we ended up picking up some perogies, and we sat out on the grass enjoying our dinner. Afterwards, she enjoyed some BBQ corn on the cob, while I looked at it longingly (I can't eat corn on the cob anymore, because of a wire I have behind my teeth as a result of my orthodontics... oh, and I had a root canal two days earlier and my teeth were still sore).

We walked around the various buildings and exhibits, in an attempt to have the food settle before hitting up the spinny rides. I really enjoyed the brand new Rock 'n Roll theme. They had lots of old, original posters, costumes and artifacts, dating from the 50s through the 90s. You weren't allowed to take photos in the exhibit, but I may have snuck one from outside the exhibit walls. Wink wink.

We also made a trip through the At Home building, where we came across a fantastic broom. It's called the sweepa and it looks to be the greatest thing since the bristled broom. We watched as the demonstrator easily transitioned between hardwood, linoleum, tile and carpet, picking up cereal, chip crumbs, pet hair and more, without any extra dust or particles being left behind.  Super impressive. So, the demonstration was awesome... and the brooms were 2 for 1.  It was pretty much a no-brainer.  Afterwards, when we were walking around with them, we had at least 10-15 people stop us to ask where we got them!

At that point, we were going to get out to the midway, but decided that since our brooms were so desireable, we didn't want to leave them on the ground where people could potentially swipe them... so we took a walk back to the car. On the way, we stopped by the Food building again, to parttake in some BeaverTails. BeaverTails are one of those Canadian traditions that I've always wanted to try, but could never find in Toronto (they are particularly popular among the crowds skating down the Rideau Canal in Ottawa). They had a booth in the Food building, and I was determined to buy one. Ester and I decided to split a chocolate hazelnut 'Tail, and it was everything I dreamed it would be, and more! Mmmm...

After we got back from the car, we got our tickets for the rides. We made the mistake of going on the Tilt-A-Whirl first, because it had the shortest line. I have since decided that I am much too old for the Tilt-A-Whirl, and I shouldn't even think about it next year. Oh man. That ride lasts forever, and you just keep spinning and spinning. Thankfully, I didn't lose my BeaverTail (I'm sure it wouldn't have tasted as good on the way up! Sorry for the mental image!), but my equilibrium was off for the rest of the day. We rounded out the rides with the Ferris Wheel, my favourite ride, the Polar Express, and the Swing Tower.

Oh, and while waiting around outside the Polar Express, I ran into my friend, George Stroumboulopoulos... which is becoming a CNE tradition in itself. I'm not sure how I always manage to run into him there! Great seeing him though. His revamped season 7 gets a new name, a new website, and premieres on September 20th. Be sure to check it out on CBC.

After the rides, there was only one more thing to do... waffle ice cream! As I said before, summer is just not complete without one. Picture if you will... a brick of vanilla ice cream, sandwiched between two piping hot waffles. So. Good. Because we were both still off balance from the rides, and somewhat full from the BeaverTail, Ester and I decided to split our waffle... and it was the perfect end to a perfect (short) trip to The Ex!

Photos, you say? Right this way.

How To: Digital Inspiration Boards

So, I don't know if I ever officially mentioned it on my blog or not, but I bought a condo a few months ago.   (!!! Still very excited!)  As soon as I saw it, I immediately had ideas of what it would look like once I got my decorative touch on it.  I had a pretty long closing (3 months), so I had a lot of time to think and browse for various decor ideas.  I put them all together in various inspiration boards for each room, which were a definite hit when I posted them on my facebook/flickr pages - so here's a tutorial on how to do it.  This does take a little bit of knowledge on using a photo manipulation program like Photoshop.

The first thing I did was create a folder on my computer called "Condo Decor Ideas" - and within the folder, I created subfolders for each room in the place.  I already knew that I wanted a black & white bathroom, a pink & black damask bedroom, and a turquoise/teal & neutral kitchen/living area (it's open concept) - so I began searching the web for different items that fit my vision.

While searching, I would save any items that I thought I would like into the subfolders.  If I came across any pages that didn't allow me to right click on the image, I would screencap it (ctrl + shift + 4 on a Mac) - I tried to capture the price on the image whenever possible, that way I could reference it later as well.  And when I saved the image, I would name it including the website where I found the image (ie "waterfall_curtain_urbanoutfitters.com")

Once I had all the items saved that I thought would make a room complete, I began to open them up in Photoshop.  I began with a blank canvas (about 1200x1200, and then scaled it down later).  I opened each individual item up, and deleted the background (either using the magic wand tool, or the eraser - very patiently - depending on what the background of the item was).

Once the backgrounds were deleted, I would drag the image over to the main canvas.  I'd add a text note of what the item was and what website I found it on.

I tried to scale items to what their approximate size would be in the room (IE, the bed is larger than the lamps/picture frames, etc), and I also tried to keep them in the relative location that they might be found in the room (ie, chandelier is on the "ceiling", bed is on the "floor")

When I was satisfied with the placement of everything on the design boards, I scaled them down to a size that wasn't too gigantic, but was still legible (the full size "Girlie Bedroom" board is actually 839x1032 pixels)... added a border and a name, and voila! All done!

I'm a very visual person, so even though I could picture this in my head, I found it a lot easier when shopping to remember exactly how these items worked together.  I even bought several of these exact items for my place, so I can't wait to see how it compares to my design boards once I get it all decorated!

I have a couple more design boards in my "Journey To Home Ownership" album on flickr, right here!
Feel free to post any questions in the comments, I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

Featured!

Just a quick post to mention a few places you can find some of my work around the web. StarFish Entertainment has added some of my shots from the Outlaws & Gunslingers show to the following pages:

http://www.myspace.com/ohsusannamusic

http://www.myspace.com/theskydiggers

http://www.myspace.com/jimcuddyband

And you can find a couple of my shots of the Twilight Saga: Eclipse premiere in Toronto at the Rue Morgue blog: http://rue-morgue.com/blog/archives/2010/06/29/red-carpet-massacre-at-the-twilight-saga-eclipse-premiere/

And, remember, you can always find updates on the Superflash Facebook fan page or Flickr page.

Thanks for the continued support! I'm currently in the process of my first big move, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update. Stay tuned! ;)

NXNE Day 2: Outlaws & Gunslingers - Part 2

So, continuing from where I left off..., the next set was delivered by Royal Wood, Andy Maize and Amelia Curran. To be honest, this was probably the weakest set in the bunch for me (though I wouldn't consider it to actually be WEAK by any stretch), it seemed less cohesive, like they were much more comfortable playing their own songs than gelling as a "trio" (of sorts) and playing each others'. It could also be that I didn't know two of the performers in this set at all (Andy & Amelia)... but I digress.

I found myself anxiously waiting for Royal Wood's (who has this super sexy Don Draper look going on... rowr!) turn to come around. His songs definitely grab me. I was thrilled to hear the set end with his new single, On Top Of Your Love (check out the video linked. It's beautiful).

Amelia Curran was okay. She admitted to being a little bit nervous, due to only having a few rehearsals with the boys, and I think it came across a little. Still, I did enjoy her songs, and I would like to go see her in a solo show of her own.

Andy Maize, I'm sure, is the most popular among the rest of the crowd, as he is the singer of The Skydiggers... but somehow, they were a band that kind of flew under the radar for me, and I never really got into them. I did enjoy him though - especially the song "Where's My Baby Tonight" (which, I apologize, I don't know if it's a solo song, or a Skydiggers song). Beautiful song.

The next set was probably the most anticipated set amongst the crowd - Jim Cuddy, Hawksley Workman and Colleen Brown. So anticipated, in fact, that I ended up smushed right up against the front of the stage, so I didn't really have the best angle for photos during this set. I had never really heard of Colleen Brown before, but she was great.

I used to be a big Hawksley fan, but I think I somehow fell out of touch with his music after the release of Lover/Fighter in 2003... but I really love everything that he played! Especially his most recent single - "Warhol's Portrait Of Gretzky" ... but I think I liked that the most, because I got to hear Jim Cuddy sing the words "Pretty F***ing Sexy" ... which was pretty sexy in itself! Jim Cuddy is probably one of my favourite musicians ever, and he's got such a squeaky clean image and such romantic lyrics... it definitely made me smile to hear him sing this song with Hawksley.

This set is probably tied with the Danny Michel set as my favourites of the evening.

The midnight set was brought to us by Dakota Tavern favourites, The Beauties. Always a highly entertaining band to see live, they brought it out in full form for NXNE yet again. Some hilarious mishaps with a broken bass drum petal brought some fun improvisational and sing-along moments with the crowd... but my absolute favourite part of this set was when the ONE person who I thought was missing from this lineup came out to join on a song.

Serena Ryder snuck out from the wings of the Lee's Palace stage to sing backup on my favourite song by The Beauties - Hearts Are Down. It totally made my night to see her up there, and she looked like she was having so much fun, too!

Finally, the end of the evening in the 1am timeslot, brought out my friend Joel Stewart and his band, The Future Hall Of Famers (who seemingly have no web presence whatsoever to link to...). I worked with Joel back on the CCMA's in 2007 - and at that time, I got to see him perform live at one of many parties we attended, and thought he was brilliant. Also, at that same time, he introduced me to what would soon become one of my favourite bands - The Hold Steady. So it was pretty awesome for me when he closed the set, joined by Andy Maize and Shawn Creamer of the Beauties, singing an AMAZING rendition of Almost Killed Me. It was the perfect end to an all around perfect night of music! A night that I won't forget for a very long time, for sure.

Lots more pictures are right this way... and if you're interested in hearing/reading more about this night, check out THIS blog entry by a newfound friend! It's pretty awesome!

NXNE Day 2: Outlaws & Gunslingers - Part 1

Thursday night brought the show that I was looking forward to most of all - Outlaws & Gunslingers at Lee's Palace. I swear, this show was as if some divine being had rummaged through my head and said, "Who are the bands that Katie would die to see all together on one night?" and then put them all on one bill for me.

I took so many photos that I'm going to end up having to split this review into two, or maybe even three, parts.

First up, Mr. Andy Kim.

Andy and his band are always super tight and put on a very entertaining show, and this was no exception. I never get tired of seeing him live, because he always delivers. Andy has a new cd out, and played a lot of new songs (many of which I'd heard at his previous shows). He also played old favourites - Be My Baby, Baby How'd We Ever Get This Way (Ron Sexsmith, who introduced the band, came out and joined Andy for this song, too!), and if memory serves me well, they closed the set with back-to-back Sugar Sugar and Rock Me Gently. Pretty awesome!!

Next up, the set containing my favourite musician ever - Mr. Danny Michel - along with Justin Rutledge and Oh Susanna. In my opinion, this was the best of the singer-songwriter triple acts of the night. Danny has a new cd out on July 1 (but, as he announced to the crowd, he had just picked them up from being pressed, and they were available for that night only, before the actual release date... so, naturally, I have my new cd in hand - thanks for lending me the $20, Chrisy!!) So, each act did three songs each, one at a time, and Danny's were all songs from the new album. He played Maybe You Can Find It In Your Heart, Wish Willy, and Who's Gonna Miss You? ... and I loved each song more than the next! Fantastic cd. I definitely recommend it.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite as familiar with Justin or Oh Susanna's music, though I have seen them live a few times before. I did recognize Justin's song "Be A Man", which was absolutely beautiful performed live.

The reason this set stuck out from the others for me was that it seemed like they really enjoyed playing each other's songs. It didn't seem like they had barely had any rehearsals, which I'm sure was the case! Also, their stellar back-up band included Bazil Donovan and Glenn Milchem from Blue Rodeo, so how could you go wrong with that!?

More photos HERE, and the rest of the review & photos from this show to follow!