On Saturday, I went down to the city to pick up my race kit for the SportingLife 10k. I will have to remember not to go on a Saturday next time, because it was so incredibly busy! Luckily, I found a parking spot on the street right across from the store. Many were not so lucky-- I saw a couple of SUVs drive by the store a few times, circling the block looking for somewhere to park!
I then continued downtown to meet up with my friend Beth for dinner. I was way to early, so I took a stroll down Yonge St to Yonge/Dundas Square, where there was an unusual amount of evangelical activity going on. Within a radius of only 15 metres, I encountered four separate religious groups! First, I squeezed through the crowd at the corner, where an elderly gentlemen shouted about Jesus and the reality of Hell while handing out small pieces of white paper. Next, I saw a group of Catholics handing out brochures about praying the Rosary every day. A friendly Mexican man said 'bless you, sister', after handing me a tract asking me if I am born again. Finally, a group of young men had set up a large, graffiti-style poster and chatted to lookers on. It made me smile. I have had a sort of block when it comes to my faith lately-- I really miss my community of Christian friends I had in England and I have been having a hard time seeing God in my daily life. Although I'm not really sure how effective these evangelists were on Saturday, they stirred me up a bit. I was encouraged to see others who believe in their God so much that they can't help but go out and share Him with others.
I met Beth at Elephant and Castle, where we had a nice, long catch up. I carbo-loaded for dinner, with a delicious roast beef-stuffed Yorkshire pudding and potatoes. It was delicious. We split some key-lime pie for dessert, while observing our fellow diners. Beth commented on how she had been trying to pinpoint which of the Saturday shoppers would be headed for the UFC fight at the SkyDome (yes, I refuse to call it by it's new name). She determined that the buff men wearing tight t-shirts adorned with metallic filigree and black-letter, with shaved heads and earrings were probably UFC fans. I agreed.
After dinner, we made our way over to the Phoenix concert theatre. Sure enough, the young men seemed to be dressed less 'UFC' and more 'hipster' the closer we got to the venue. I scored us some tickets to see 'The Naked and Famous', 'Freelance Whales' and 'Foals'. Unfortunately, due to my early race start on Sunday, we had to leave halfway through the 'Freelance Whales' set. I was fine with that, though, since I really bought the tickets to see 'The Naked and Famous'. They were great! But… I think I enjoy them a little bit better at home, when I control the volume. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but dance along. They remind me of Robyn's latest album, actually.
If you haven't already, you should listen to this track, 'Punching in a Dream', which is my favourite track off of their debut album 'Passive Me, Aggressive You'.
To be honest, I had never heard of 'Freelance Whales' before Saturday, but OMG they are great! First of all, they are all just so cute! Plus, they have a female bass player who is neither skinny and skanky or butch! She reminds me of Joanie from Mad Men. I loved their use of such a wide range of instruments. They had acoustic and electric guitars, a banjo, a xylophone, bass, drums, tambourines, shakers, keyboards and this weird box thing. Please visit their MySpace page!
Anyways, as I said, we left early (like 10:15) so I could get enough sleep for my race!
I then continued downtown to meet up with my friend Beth for dinner. I was way to early, so I took a stroll down Yonge St to Yonge/Dundas Square, where there was an unusual amount of evangelical activity going on. Within a radius of only 15 metres, I encountered four separate religious groups! First, I squeezed through the crowd at the corner, where an elderly gentlemen shouted about Jesus and the reality of Hell while handing out small pieces of white paper. Next, I saw a group of Catholics handing out brochures about praying the Rosary every day. A friendly Mexican man said 'bless you, sister', after handing me a tract asking me if I am born again. Finally, a group of young men had set up a large, graffiti-style poster and chatted to lookers on. It made me smile. I have had a sort of block when it comes to my faith lately-- I really miss my community of Christian friends I had in England and I have been having a hard time seeing God in my daily life. Although I'm not really sure how effective these evangelists were on Saturday, they stirred me up a bit. I was encouraged to see others who believe in their God so much that they can't help but go out and share Him with others.
I met Beth at Elephant and Castle, where we had a nice, long catch up. I carbo-loaded for dinner, with a delicious roast beef-stuffed Yorkshire pudding and potatoes. It was delicious. We split some key-lime pie for dessert, while observing our fellow diners. Beth commented on how she had been trying to pinpoint which of the Saturday shoppers would be headed for the UFC fight at the SkyDome (yes, I refuse to call it by it's new name). She determined that the buff men wearing tight t-shirts adorned with metallic filigree and black-letter, with shaved heads and earrings were probably UFC fans. I agreed.
After dinner, we made our way over to the Phoenix concert theatre. Sure enough, the young men seemed to be dressed less 'UFC' and more 'hipster' the closer we got to the venue. I scored us some tickets to see 'The Naked and Famous', 'Freelance Whales' and 'Foals'. Unfortunately, due to my early race start on Sunday, we had to leave halfway through the 'Freelance Whales' set. I was fine with that, though, since I really bought the tickets to see 'The Naked and Famous'. They were great! But… I think I enjoy them a little bit better at home, when I control the volume. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but dance along. They remind me of Robyn's latest album, actually.
If you haven't already, you should listen to this track, 'Punching in a Dream', which is my favourite track off of their debut album 'Passive Me, Aggressive You'.
To be honest, I had never heard of 'Freelance Whales' before Saturday, but OMG they are great! First of all, they are all just so cute! Plus, they have a female bass player who is neither skinny and skanky or butch! She reminds me of Joanie from Mad Men. I loved their use of such a wide range of instruments. They had acoustic and electric guitars, a banjo, a xylophone, bass, drums, tambourines, shakers, keyboards and this weird box thing. Please visit their MySpace page!
Anyways, as I said, we left early (like 10:15) so I could get enough sleep for my race!
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