Sunday, September 13, 2009

A moment of bliss

On my way home from the Food Fair today I took the usual stroll along the lake at Queen's Quay...the sun was setting with whispery thin clouds and a pink horizon. I stopped briefly to enjoy the end of a gorgeous weekend and parked myself on one of the new benches on the wave platform at the base of Spadina.
No this is not it...I just liked the photo...artistic license.
How tranquil to watch the ducks come in and circle, ever hopeful of free food, they made gentle vee wakes and paddled away with their orange feet. I find ducks and any bird really, described as drab, to be anything but...they have subtle gradations in the brown, intricate markings and even a hint of blue at the tip of their wings. Further out the Canada geese were patrolling and a huge flock of starlings kept landing and circling - a dense chirping crowd - settling briefly on the masts of a modern day sailing ship replica.
At the Fair, I ate too much, of course - so many food vendors and snacks - dangerous. I had a slice of vegan spinach pizza from Magic Oven - my favourite pizza place...a great (and spicy) combo place from Uddupi Palace, a cookie from Sweets from the Earth...to add to the cookie from Terry Lynn Romero's cooking demo - she is a lot of fun...can't wait for her new cookbook on cookies coming out in November.
As promised I made my way to Sage West last night to hear Ailsa and Peter...lovely..I especially liked her "Born to be Blue" and "September in the Rain"...but really it's all great! I'll let you know when and where she performs next. Fellow vocalists Ilana Waldston, Julie McGregor and Whitney Barris Ross were on hand for support and encouragement.
I would like to mention Julie has a gig at Annex Live on Thursday with Norm Amadio - beautiful venue and good food and the lovely Julie.
http://www.juliemcgregor.com/ . Julie is also an artist so enjoy the artwork while you're there....
Ilana says she's planning another Dave Frishberg tribute in November - this time without the tornado warning and loss of electricity. I will let you know about that....and it will be all powerful, full wattage, cooking with gas....
Another shameless plug:
Jazz organizer extraordinaire Keita Hopkins has an event coming up at the Reservoir....with a blues orientation...check it out here...

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