UNION SUMMER PICNIC!! ( no need for alarm; they’re carpenters! :) )
Posted on
August 17th, 2009by Patrick – 4 great comments. Room for one more!
Here’s the online thesaurus:
baking, blazing, blistering, boiling, broiling,burning, calescent, close, decalescent, febrile, fevered, feverish, feverous, fiery, flaming, heated, humid, igneous, incandescent, like an oven, on fire, ovenlike, parching, piping, recalescent, red, roasting, scalding, scorching, etc.
I believe they’re all applicable. Except maybe calescent (and its cousins), because it’s supposed to mean “growing warm” and it’s way too obscure besides.
Oh, sorry, I’m talking about this past weekend. And today. Probably tomorrow too. And for a few more days beyond that.
It’s hat. That’s hot said with a mouth that’s too hot and tired to form a proper “o” sound. If you start off hissing like a cat, you’ve got it bang on.
The right uppercut is the heat, the repeated left jab is the humidity. I was down for the count since Saturday morning, hardly able to peel myself off the sofa where my new window fan is paying dividends! I actually fantasized about having this fan last summer, kind of like a heat-induced delirium. So I got one this year. But she struggles. I have a neat little neo-vintage desk fan too, but that one’s been dropped a few times and now makes all sorts of interesting, potentially explosive noises. I keep it on at night. That way, when it happens, I die in my sleep. Groovy.
So, what would cause me to grab the fifth shower of the day and begin contemplating venturing out? Have a listen for yourself:
(If you don’t see anything, you might need Flash installed [my bread and butter; 100% legit, I promise], so click here to install it. Then just reload. )
If you invested in a good set of computer speakers or, failing that, headphones, you should be good. And turn it down a couple of notches; it’s supposed to be ambient :)
What you’re hearing …
What? You didn’t start it playing? Just hit the little triangle! Jeez, what’re you saving your bytes for a rainy day or something?
…good. Thank you.
What you’re hearing is an unpublicized event that took place in Allan Gardens park, obviously not too far from my place. Judging by the signage, the show was put on by the Carpenters’ Union. They had a couple of politicians show up, and I have no idea what it was for. My best guess would be that it was just a union summer picnic with a talent show tacked on. If you read casually, as I do, you’re probably hearing the results of that talent show now. (You did start the audio, didn’t you?)
The first chunk was a bit of bad (in the Michael Jackson sense) bidness that was the deal breaker for me. Had to go check it out. Looped riddims and live vocals:
Yup. Hurt my pelvis a couple of times. Good stuff.
And then there were some rather fierce Punjabis. Or Pakistanis? I must confess my ignorance here and if anyone can correct me, I’d be much obliged. In any event, they beat up on the stage pretty good:
My elbow still hurts from resting it on that red strip. Thanks, guys!
I was going to leave after that; the following act were some young ladies showing off their choreographed Beyonce moves and, I must say, I didn’t approve. Terrible. No photo for you!
But then, about thirty minutes in (you can fast-forward in the audio player), comes the saving grace. A local Toronto busker named Smokie. Smoky? Yup; he’s that local:
I’m gonna go with Smoky. Again, corrections welcome.
Anyway, he really ripped up the stage; while I was busting a sweat pressing the trigger. Even more impressive, Smoky’s daughters and sons barely broke a sweat either:
Truth be told, aside from the drummer and Smoky, the act was a lot more demure. Well, except for the way those girls slapped those guitars; they should be ashamed of themselves!
So at this point, if you hadn’t pressed play on the audio player, you’ll be missing out on the performance that Smoky and his family put on. It’s a bit quiet, but you’ll get the gist of it. It was … awesome.
Okay, I know he probably sang the same tunes every week busking at Yonge and Dundas. But c’mon, with that much practice, he’s got it down!
Hands-down winner. I’ll see if I can crack a web address out of him next time.
Right. And that’s it. Too hot to do anything else. Back to the flat, plunk down on the sofa, and grow roots.
Now if you’ll excuse me …
... with pictures
... with sounds
... with videos
... with opinions
... that's shorter
... that's longer
August 18th, 2009 6:10 am
Nice blog do you have, I drop Ec and care to exchange link?
August 18th, 2009 6:08 pm
Humor, we already did! Every comment here automatically gets a follow link. Kinda like an automatic blog roll. Now it's your turn!
August 18th, 2009 11:55 am
well, despite the heat, it sounds like a great time!
August 18th, 2009 6:12 pm
Heat's still hanging around, Stacie. But it's easier to move through with a good tune. Sorry, choon. Definitely a good time :)