Spins and Needles

Attention all thrift store junkies and craftionistas (ya I'm pretty sure I made that one up!) On Friday night I went to an Ottawa event called Spins and Needles and absolutely had a blast because it combines two things I love--- shopping for clothes and altering clothes!

Basically the event is a huge clothing swap, where everyone brings at least one bag full of clothes and gets to go through huge piles in search of a new item that they will wear! I went with a co-worker and a few of her friends. We spent the first 45mins or so going through the huge piles, trying stuff on and socializing with other people. It was a little overwhelming because there were tons of people all trying to get at the same things at the same time--- luckily there were no fights (I really thought there would be)! I tended to shy away from the big crowds. If you think of lions eating a carcass, I was more like the bird that comes and takes a few bites and runs away. It was a little intimidating, I felt bad since no matter where you are, you are always in someones way! I spent quite a bit of the time telling people what I thought of the outfits they had created, or whether or not the shirt they had found fit-- basically it was like working but not getting paid. Those who know me know that I love my job so obviously I loved every second of it! I found an amazing Beaver vest (and by Beaver think little boy scouts rather than actual Beaver fur). The problem was that it was for a 10 year old boy and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it to work on me. I tried to convince a smaller girl how cool it was but she didn't seem quite convinced! During the whole night there was a live DJ, hence the 'spins' part of the title, so it created a fun atmosphere!

This picture does not do the crowd justice because this is much later in the night when it had died down considerably.

After the swapping had died down a bit (I say a bit because people continued to arrive throughout the night so there were always piles of clothes and people going through them), tables were laid out with sewing machines, beads, fabric, stenciling supplies- you name it!- for people to use to alter their clothing. I spent the next two hours sewing on sequins and fake pearls to the shoulder of a purple turtleneck that I had scored from the pile. Seriously I have a new found respect for any type of beading or sequins on clothing because it was so tedious and time consuming. I had originally planned on sewing both shoulders but given how long it takes, I settled for an asymmetrical look instead.
Throughout the night I met lots of new really nice and cool people. Everyone was extremely open to meeting new people and I even had a few people recognize me from HUSH. The girls I went with all stenciled awesome designs onto shirts they had found. By the end I think people were going through the clothing pile just looking for anything that they could tear apart and alter!
Clive Doucet, who is running for mayor, even made an appearance which impressed me, even though he didnt seem too interested in going through the mens pile and sewing a couple buttons.

This is the girls (Rachel, Emma and Ruby) getting their stencils ready! Ruby even made me a shirt with a bright pink bulldozer on it!
All in all I really had a great time and am looking forward to the next night, scheduled for the end of November!! Let me know if anyone wants to join!
-B

OK here it GOes again!

Friday Night. Capital Music Hall. OK GO.

Ok Go is a band known for their ridiculous costumes/outfits worn to awards ceremonies-- does anyone remember the wallpaper/carpet suits they wore to the 2008 Grammy awards?


--they're also well known for their music videos. My two personal favourites are the video for their song 'A Million Ways', where they choreographed a whole dance routine in someones back yard, it has a homemade going back to youtubes roots vibe to it. Plus I'm not going to lie Angela (my old roommate) and I spent hours practicing that dance, we are just that cool- it was a blast! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbdbVhBGETQ
My other favourite has become a cult classic on youtube because even if they hadnt performed the song 'Here it goes again' in the background, the video itself stands alone as really impressive. In fact it won a Grammy in 2007 for Best Short-Form Music Video! The guys choreographed a dance on treadmills!! Enough said, go watch it!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA

Two bands opened up for Ok Go. Erica and I got seats on the upper floor of the club so we were excited that we'd be able to see really well. The first was a Californian band called Summer Darling. Maybe it was because just prior to the start of the set a girl jumped in front of me and stole my awesome spot so I couldn't see that well, but I wasn't overly impressed with Summer Darling. They had a good sound, but their songs felt like they were hours long and the lead singer jumped around erratically with his mouth open, even when he wasn't singing! Anyways it just wasn't anything I was really surprised and excited about.

The second band is from Chicago and is called Company of Thieves. They have a female lead singer with an amazing voice! She really got into the music -- she was kind of insane-- and was extremely entertaining to watch. I was very impressed with their songs and loved listening. I sometimes write notes on my phone as if I was really a reporter so I dont forget details, this is what I came up with that night-- "Ok Go ahead and call me cheesy but Company of Thieves stole the show. They put the others out of business." get it cause its a company!.. of thieves! .... I realize I'm the only one that thinks I'm clever! :)



I originally went to the concert with all of the Ok Go pop culture symbols in my head, hoping the bands music would live up to that status. Seriously, they didn't fail to entertain. Not only do they have a great sound, catchy music, an amazing lead singer (did I mention gorgeous lead singer?!) but they also made the show their own. True to form, they added lots of details to make the show as Ok Go worthy as possible! They put cameras on their microphones so that the backdrop could show up close shots of each of them throughout the concert, they recorded the entire concert so that people could by it on a usb afterwards, they put up a phone number for people to text to get a free music download, the lead singer, Damian, jumped into the middle of the crowd to play a song and they even played one song entirely with hand bells!

This was so unexpected at a concert-- soo well done!

Possibly the coolest thing about the show was the 3D!! At the beginning of the concert each person was given free 3D glasses as they were going into the hall. Halfway through the concert the band announces that they recently made one of their music videos 3D and that we would be the first people in the world to get to see it!!! So everyone threw on their glasses and watched the video on a giant screen! The video itself was dancing mixed with choreographed dogs doing tricks-- the dogs were pretty impressive!

They played the video just after Damian had sung in the middle of the crowd. This is him announcing the 3D video!
Erica and I decked out in our 3D shades!

For their encore, the band ran back out on stage with jackets on that could show words on the back of them -- I really dont know how to explain that better.. think of those huge belts that have words running across them like a sign -- a moving sign? Anyways I hope that makes sense! Throughout the song different things showed up on their jackets as well as lazer beams coming out of their guitars into the audience!! It was pretty wicked!
These are the back of the jackets, you can kinda see their legs out the bottom!


Lazer beams coming off of guitars.. What What!


I know I say this every time I go to a concert, in fact I'm starting to think its the only thing I want from a concert, but I'm sure Damian and I had a moment! Mind you he jumped into the crowd so he quite literally had a moment with every other person in the audience, but where he stood in the crowd was right in front of Erica and I! He looked up to talk to all of us on the top floor and sang to us! If you watch the first couple seconds of this video, you can take part in that special second in time that we shared!! ;)


"Here it goes again"-- the Real Deal!


-B

"I knew I should've stayed home today!"

Today I experienced for the first time the joys of the Greyhound Bus. Now before you start judging my upbringing, I have traveled by bus before. Just because I'm from a tiny town doesn't mean we took field trips in those stuffy boiling hot school buses. Well lets be honest, we usually took trips in those buses, but sometimes for longer trips we would take coach buses. Today, however, was the first time I ever did it with strangers-- a.k.a I had no one to talk to for five hours and there was a high potential of getting stuck with someone awkward, disgusting or rude. I seem to have no luck with the people I get stuck with while traveling. My history speaks for itself. There was the drunk man who hit on me from Fredericton to Toronto (when I was maybe 16 at the time), the anti-Mormon who yelled at/chastised me from Denver Colorado to Salt Lake City Utah (although honestly he was pretty entertaining and I made sure to wave to him the next day when I saw him protesting downtown). Finally, don't forget the man who licked his hands obsessively from France to Toronto. The worst part was when he shoved those same hands into my candy bag because I was too nice to tell him how much he disgusted me! Bleh! Just thinking about that plane trip makes me feel a bit sick!
Luckily today I managed to come away from the trip unscathed by any horrible incidents with other passengers. In fact, it was completely the opposite. Surprisingly, instead of having an interesting story about the crazy on my bus, I found that no one talked to one another at all. There were no words from the bus driver about stops or arrival times, no hellos from the girl sitting next to me. The only interaction I had all morning was when I asked the girl sitting next to the washroom if she knew if the door shut, she coldly answered that she didn't know and returned to her ipod. I couldn't get the door to shut and no one offered to help me. I found the whole experience very impersonal. At the end of the trip the bus stopped in downtown Toronto, and when I asked the bus driver when we would be going to Yorkdale Mall, he informed me that he had been told he didn't need to go, so he went directly downtown!.. What kind of a business doesn't inform the clients about an important change like deciding to miss a stop!? If the #4 OC Transpo bus decided one day that it could probably skip going through Carleton Campus because no one on the bus looked like a student, people would have a fit!! Anyways, that is my Greyhound rant for the day. It actually didn't make me angry today, it mostly just made me upset because I was stuck downtown with heavy luggage with no idea where to go! Luckily I managed to get to the subway and get to Yorkdale okay, and all is well!
I have to admit, getting to the destination is actually one of my favourite parts about vacations. I've always found that I meet some of the most interesting people while traveling. After a while, being so lonely makes you a little crazy and you start finding yourself talking to strangers when you normally wouldn't. I've always liked traveling alone because it forces me to go out of my comfort zone and I'm always surprised how bold I get with strangers. I guess what I've learned is that the world is a pretty big place filled with lots of different kinds of people, but after awhile of being alone, it forces you to look for similarities between you and other travelers. You start to make connections with just about everyone and suddenly the world is a lot smaller, a lot less scary and much more manageable.
Traveling alone also gives you far to much time to think!
As I was waiting in line for the bus today, I could see people taking seats at the front of the bus. My first thought was that that must mean that the rest of the bus was filling up and I'd have to find an aisle seat next to someone. I got on the bus and realized that there were many seats that were empty and that the people I had originally been looking at, had purposely chosen to sit at the front.
It got me thinking: Does where you sit on the bus say something about who you are?
From the time we were little the back of the bus was always the cool place to be. It was a status symbol. Somehow the back meant that you were cool or it was a reward because you were finally old enough to inherit a seat in the hallowed back seats. They are furthest away from the driver, and during school trips, furthest from teachers and parents. Since it was furthest from authority, we would come early for trips just so we could score it, and it became the place to play truth or dare and other types of secretive games. It occurred to me today that maybe the idea of the back of the bus as 'cool' still continues with some people as they grow up.
Do the rebellious or those 'cool' status seekers naturally flock to the back?
Do the conservative, fuddy duddy (a.k.a people who dress like their parents) people prefer the front? Are they aware of this concept and openly rejecting it by sitting at the front because they have grown and matured?
Lastly, what does this say about me for sitting almost perfectly in the middle of the bus? Does this show that I have trouble choosing between my conservative side and my edgier fun side? Do I have an identity issue? Is this proof of my indecisiveness?
Perhaps this allows for the best possible bus experience all around, because you will likely end up sitting next to someone similar to you. You could even take it a step further! Are you a pretty conservative person who's looking to walk on the wild side of life? No need to go to a club or start sky diving lessons, just sit at the back of the bus and not only experience things in a new way, but you will be presenting yourself to the world in that new way. Don't worry, no one will question the seating, the seating speaks for itself!
I'm not sure if there is room in this bus theory for the crazies. They've never been known to follow societal conventions so its likely that no matter where you sit, or how you decide to portray yourself to the world based on where you sit, you'll always be just like everyone else! How you may ask? You'll have the same chance as every other person of having a crazy man who licks his hands sit next to you! Luckily I've already had that, and there's gotta be a rule somewhere in the universe that says that I can not be subjected to that twice in one lifetime! Looks like I have a lifetime of boring seat companions ahead of me!
-B