Requiem

On Saturday night I went to hear the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's performance of Mozart's Requiem at the Roy Thomson Hall. It would have been Mozart's 251st birthday, but we listened to his funeral music. It was really something. The large choir's bellowing of the Latin prayers gave me shivers, and the orchestra sounded quite impressive in the grand venue. The Requiem was preceded by Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, which was a great lead-in, with its playful yet subtly dark melodies.

Hot Yoga

So I was finally convinced by my significant other to swallow my pride and put aside my misguided machismo and finally accompany her to a hot yoga class at the Moksha Yoga studio at Richmond and Strachan.


Sure, I was one of only two guys in the room of almost 30, but I must say I rather enjoyed the experience. The room was extremely hot, and I was sweating more than I ever had before. Sweat was literally pouring from my head, which I found very enjoyable in that "boy I am really pushing the envelope here" sort of way. I could only do about half the poses, because the pace that the class was keeping was too much for me, so I required frequent breathers, lest I pass out and embarass myself and my girlfriend.

So the whole thing went quite well. Afterwards, I had that glowing post-exercise feeling of accomplishment. The only discomfort stemmed from the fact that I hadn't brought a change of underwear, which were completely soaked in sweat.

After the class, we stopped by One of a Kind Pasta & Grill for some dinner. I had the shrimp curry which was quite good. Overall, a great place to eat and spend some time, just a great all-around vibe. Wearing soaking wet briefs detracts somewhat from the enjoyment, but I used my imagination.

iPod Hi-Fi

So I treated myself to an iPod Hi-Fi speaker, as a way of solving my living room's sound problem. Since I don't own a good stereo, the ultimate solution would involve investing in some nice speakers and a good amp and finding room in my tiny place to lay all that stuff out in a way conducive to good vibrations. These days I have neither the time nor the will to educate myself in this department, so after much hesitation, I decided to just do the practical thing.




Sure, it's not a high-end stereo, and my audiophile friends will make fun of me, but this thing is exactly what I needed: it's practical (just one wire, not very big, easily moved around by its handles), looks good (classic Apple minimalism) and sounds great (for my needs, and the music I listen to). It's been a non-stop dance party here since I brought this baby in.

It's a bit pricier than comparable competing products (like Bose's SoundDock and others) but I think it's worth it, since this one looks and sounds better than any of them. Picked it up at FutureShop for $375+tax which I find reasonable for what you get.

Bottom line: this thing is fun!

Movie night

So I saw The Illusionist last night. While the movie was visually and aurally appealing, I have to say I found the storyline a bit predictable. I'm not going to go into it too much as that would require spoiling the plot, but suffice it to say that I thought the main twist could be anticipated about an hour before it happened because the movie would otherwise not make any sense. The long anticipation meant that most of the actual movie-watching was done with a sense of frustration. I don't want to bash it more than it deserves: all in all, it was not a bad movie, with good acting, good visuals and good music. I was just hoping for something more.

Completely unrelated to movies, earlier in the day I enjoyed a croissant and americano at a cafe I think I'd like to visit more often, Le Gourmand on Spadina. Both were great.

Fresh and Wild?

Judging by the signs on the just-about-finished Hudson building at King and Spadina, the main client moving into the street-level retail space will be Fresh and Wild, a gourmet grocery store. "Eat fresh, live wild". After doing some poking around on the net, it appears Fresh and Wild is a brand of Whole Foods.

I can't decide whether to be excited or concerned about my soon-to-double grocery bills.

Papa's got a brand new (Finnish) bag

I picked up a great new shoulder bag (Marimekko Olkalaukku) at one of my favourite stores, Swipe on Richmond street just west of Spadina. It's a small bookstore specializing in books and magazines on design, marketing and architecture, but they also stock a small number of other items - generally, design classics like minimalistic utensils, really nice pens and Moleskine notebooks. I have a weakness for good bags, and this one really fills a need, being larger than my man-purse yet small enough to lug around town without a second thought. At least, that's how I justify it to myself.

Welcome!

Welcome, people!

I am Gilbert and I will (try to) be your guide to new stuff going on in Toronto.

As those of you who live there have probably noticed, the last few years in this dynamic city have really seen it rising to the next level in almost every sense. Economically, culturally and politically, Toronto is really starting to come into its own and, while I have no illusions about being able to cover all these aspects (or one) of its development, I do hope that small bits of my experience in the city might help illustrate trends and larger-scale happenings.

I am interested in architecture and construction projects in general; in style, design and the retail and restaurant scene, and in culture and entertainment.

Since I live in the King-Spadina area, I expect that a lot of the material will be thusly spatially biased.

In the words taken from the banner above the door of a pub at Yonge-St.Clair: Don't expect much!