Kooper yawn

Kooper yawn - #326/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

We're still struggling a little trying to control our 18 month old Australian Shepherd. One of his favourite spots is sitting on top of the back of the old (luckily) leather armchair by our front window. It provides a very comfortable view of the street so when I was flaked out on the couch and saw him up there, I let him be for a few minutes and grabbed a few shots. Kooper is a tri-colour (black, white and brown) Aussie so I often shoot him in black & white to accentuate his lovely high contrast coat. I guess he was a little sleepy like me late in the afternoon and I liked this capture of his wide yawn.

Raj

Raj - stranger #73 and daily photo #325/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

On the way home I noticed a new neighbourhood dollar store and its window display with Halloween costume displays. I thought the costumes may work for my daily shot, so I was considering my angles, when I noticed a man standing by having a cigarette. He was obviously a little curious about what I was doing. He owned the store and asked if I was interested in anything. I explained my interest from a photography point-of-view and I introduced myself. His name is Raj, he lives in Milton and recently opened this dollar store with his wife. This is the second dollar store Raj has opened, but he actually has a degree in civil engineering from Western. He was doing contract work in material engineering for US customers, until the economy worked against him. I liked the bright colours of his sign as a background and I used the pop-up flash to light his face better than the ambient light was providing. I took quite a few shots and paused on occasion as I tried to put him at ease, thanks for being patient with me Raj - good luck with your new store.

Along with my photo of the day, Raj is also #73 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com.

Old glass door knob

Old glass door knob - #324/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

This is a very close macro shot of an old glass door knob in my house. As you can see, there is some deterioration of some kind, but actually it adds a little colour to the shot.

I took over 35 shots over about 15 minutes. My Speedlight external flash (+1.0 EV, 24mm manual zoom) was positioned about 4" above the knob point directly down. The pop-up was set at -1.3EV and the lens was about 1" from the knob using the a 10x close-up filter. Other settings: Flash WB;and custom optimization (+1 sharpness, +1 tone, Auto saturation and IIIa colour). This filter does produce very soft edges, but I think it creates a more abstract shot in this case.

Snake, up close at the zoo

Snake, up close at the zoo - #323/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

It was a bit of a toss up deciding on today's shot from The Toronto Zoo, but I chose this one over the jelly fish because you can always grab a shot of them, but the snakes are not active that often. I took a chance with a very high ISO (2000) and I'm pretty pleased with the clarity of the shot, especially the details of his scales zoomed in 200mm.

Old Georgetown reflections

Old Georgetown reflections - #322/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

While visiting Washington, my mom and I took a walk over to Georgetown and it's old canal. The still water and bright sunshine produced some nice reflections of the old buildings, bridges and the runner in red.

Workshop ceremony on TV ?

Workshop ceremony on TV ? - #321/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I shot this through an opening in my brother's photo booth project in his workshop. MY brother was telling us all about this very impressive, new CNC machine.

As the inside frame of the booth got overexposed it works well with a blended white page background (like in Flickr). The overall faded, somewhat nostalgic feel and the serious poses away from the camera looks like some TV shot of a weird workshop religious ceremony.

Barefoot on her opening night

Barefoot on her opening night - #320/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

My sister-in-law had her opening night for her "Portcards To My Parents" (www.postcardstomyparents.com) exhibition at Washington DC's Fathom Gallery and it turned out to be a wonderful evening with lots of family and friends. This shot was taken later in the evening when the crowd was thinning and Carolyn was relaxing with her friends. I didn't get the best exposure with my control on the flash, but I really like the composition and her playful pose.  One inconsequential cheat on this is that I think the shot was taken after midnight.  I took lots of other shots early in the morning, but I like this one the most.

September blushing sky

September blushing sky - #319/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

One of those days when I didn't find a lot of time to take many shots, then just after dinner my wife yells out about the beautiful sky. I grab the camera and start shooting right outside my house as the colours quickly change. I used a vivid setting to get the most of the gorgeous colours and used a centre weighted exposure setting to make sure the sky was correct and accepted the tree silhouettes.

I love to...

I love to... - #318/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Another rainy day in Toronto. I turned my camera up to vivid to accentuate the metal framing and reflections.

Jumping Boxer

Jumping Boxer - #317/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

The Boxer Rebellion lead man, Nathan Nicholson catching a little pogo air at The Horseshoe Tavern. I always like taking shots at The Horseshoe because you can usually get close to the stage and they have no problem with you shooting with a DSLR (although you often need earplugs). As usual, I used my nifty 50 and decided to use in-camera B&W for a few shots. With fixed 50mm and being at the front of the stage was a little limiting, but gave me this unusual shot trying to capture his Nathan's frequent pogo jumps.

Next Mexx

Next Mexx - #316/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Mexx are opening a new uptown mega store and I thought the architectural lines and muted tones were interesting and I used a lamppost to steady by nighttime shot.

Bobby

Bobby - #315/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Bobby organized our team for the North American Grand Masters (40+ years old) Ultimate Championships in Montreal. Bobby is 62 years old and played tirelessly on day one of play, and on many occasions played many consecutive points without substituting off. Over beers I learnt that Bobby is a very accomplished harmonica player and played on stage with the likes of Jackson Browne and on one occasion accompanied Janice Joplin ! I didn't get a lot of action shots (as I was exhausted during my sideline rests), but the thing I like about this one is that although the disc is long gone, the focus in Bobby's eyes is pure sportsman.

I wondering whether to include Bobby or any of my new teammates in my stranger project, but thought they'd fit into some kind of new set like "new found friends".

Red rocket man

Red rocket man - #314/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Although it's obviously not a very clear shot, I quite like the composition, converging lines, colour patterns and the ceiling reflection. On the way home, I used manual setting and adjusted at each station until I had a decent balance of exposure and motion blur.

Harold

Harold - stranger #72 and daily photo #313/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I've seen this man selling t-shirts at the corner of Yonge and Dundas for many, many years, but I never knew his name. I think I bought a Zidane head butt t-shirt from him 4 years ago as a gift for my brother. He always shows up at the corner later in the afternoon and I finally got to meet him. I knew he'd make a great stranger with his grey rasta looks.

His name his Harold and he came to Canada from Trinidad in 1968 when he was 17. He learnt from his father how important a honest living is, so when he arrived on a Friday, Harold started his first job in Canada on the Monday, and he's had a job ever since, including working as a welder. Harold is a true entrepreneur and has lots of projects on the go. His latest project is trying to motorize his t-shirt cart. Harold even builds guitars and compares the curves of the guitar body to a women's figure. He said that when I take pictures of women and should include their whole body, not just their head and shoulders !

I took a few shots of Harold and trimmed a couple with a tighter crop which I'm starting to do a lot with my portrait shots. But with his white locks and beard, the shots look quite odd so I kept these more traditional head shots.

Along with being my daily photo entry, Harold is also #72 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com.

Mont Royal view of Montreal towers

Mont Royal view of Montreal towers - #312/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I was in Montreal for business and visited Mont Royal which overlooks the city. There was a lot of trees blocking wider landscape shots views from the edge of this observation area. As I moved around I found this angle where I could isolate a few of the taller building and by zooming in from quite a way back I could condense the depth of field.

Tip toes Old Montreal photographer

Tip toes Old Montreal photographer - #311/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

When I'm in Montreal I always like to walk around Old Montreal. The old architecture, narrow streets and cafes are beautiful and produce a very European feel. I spotted this lady as she stopped her bike and took a photograph. She looks like she could a local, which would be nice as locals so often don't recognize the beauty of their own city.

Dave

Dave - stranger #71 and daily photo #310/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I've seen Dave painting and chalk drawing at the corner of Yonge and Dundas ofr many years. I got downtown early this morning and Dave had already started a new piece. It was quiet so I introduced myself and we had a good chat about his work. This morning he was doing a corporate piece called Double Dutch. Dave's worked hard over the years to capture the South West corner as his patch for street art and is now getting more corporate gigs that pay quite well. Dave uses the money to buy new art materials to practice and improve his drawing skills. He has a lot of people ask him advice about making money in art - but really it comes down to simply working hard, building up your experience and making a name for yourself. Like many other jobs, there's no short cuts. He says people give him hats all the times with different chalk-themed aliases.

Along with being a daily shot, Dave is also #71 in my 100 strangers project.

Shadow half bowls

Shadow half bowls - #309/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

This is a neighbourhood lawn bowling club. I liked the crisp lines of the shadows and the asymmetrical pattern contrasted wit the other symmetrical elements.

Jim - ultimate veteran, valued friend

Jim - ultimate veteran, valued friend - #308/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I've known Jim for a very long time and have seen him a few times recently at ultimate [frisbee] events. I've always admired his playing skills, but more importantly Jim is a true gentleman, one of the nicest guys I've ever met. When I was out of work, I remember Jim being very sympathetic to my situation and offering his help if I needed it.

High school

High school - #207/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

My son started high school a few weeks ago. I tried to capture a shot that shows the classic architecture of his school and also create a sense of grandeur and intimidation. Luckily my son is far from intimidated by high school, but the thought of high school for many "minor niners" or for perhaps some of us as we reflect upon our entry into high school creates a distinctive image.

I got my D80 back from Nikon today. Although the $300 repair bill for the aperture control unit and cleaning was a little hard to swallow, I'm happy it only took 7 business days.

The plot

The plot - #306/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Another in-camera feature you find on point-and-shoot cameras and now with some DSLRs is the aspect ratio setting. I'm not sure if it's by design, but I find shots in 16x9 often look like a frame from a movie. I positioned the men in the centre of the frame and thought it looked like they were characters in a movie, perhaps casually plotting a political takeover.

New concert listings

The Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers will be performing at Sound Academy on December 4th.

Tickets go on sale this morning for the Live Nation presale and Friday for the general sale.

Dane Cook is coming to Air Canada Centre. So if you like comedy, tickets go on sale Friday September 24th.

Sepia cable curves

Sepia cable curves - #305/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I like some of the in-camera effect in point-and-shoot camera, and our old Canon has a sepia setting and in combination with a little grain from a close up zoomed in shot I like the soft sepia mood and thought the flow of the cables was pretty. It was shot on my desk with the city skyline in the background and a little glossy reflection in the foreground.

September summer shadows

September summer shadows - #304/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I only had our old Canon point-and-shoot today and I was struggling trying to correct an under-exposure warning with non-auto settings, so in auto I did't have a lot a control on the technical elements of the shot. But I thought the subject was fun having the converging long shadows and well defined silhouettes of my daughter and I.

Piggy and Raccoon lookalikes

Piggy and Raccoon lookalikes - #303/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I quickly snapped a few backyard shots before the mosquito feast. I got lucky with how the flashlights fell on their faces highlighting my son's noise and masking the daughters eyes.

Woody and his cast

Woody and his cast - #302/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I'm a Woody Allen fan, so when my wife suggested we see go and see the premiere of this latest film, You Will Meet a Talk Dark Stranger at The Toronto International Film Festival I was pretty excited. Woody introduced the majority of his ensemble cast before the screening (before he flew back to NYC), from left to right, Gemma Jones, newcomer Lucy Punch, Freida Pinto, Josh Brolin and Sir Anthony Hopkins. I loved it - classic woodism spot on casting and tragic comedy.

I thought our Fuji point-and-shoot did well to capture this shot from the upper balcony. However, it's in-camera trimming quality was a little poor, so I did crop this one in Photoshop. I chose to leave the front row photographers in the frame to help with the context of the shot. I love how Brolin is joking with Hopkins, Punch's attention to her director, Pinto's shyness and Jones' class and of course a classic gesture from Woody.

Pink in the city; kids' street signatures

Pink in the city; kids' street signatures - #301/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

There was a number of charity events in my neighbourhood yesterday for the battle against Women's cancer. While on a run with my dog I saw that a load of kids had written their names and greetings all over the road. Later in the afternoon I jumped on the skateboard and went back to grab this shot.

Although there isn't a lot of contrast, I maximized the resolution to pull out the detail and looked for an angle and made sure the chalk work filled the whole frame.

Where I find new music: Part 5 - NOW Magazine

Ever since I've lived in Toronto, I've read NOW for its music, film, arts and theatre listings.  Along with staying up iwht concerts coming to town, you can sometimes cross reference a band with a new CD review or a tip on next week's hot tickets.  Today as I was browsing the concert listings over lunch I band called Mystery Jets caught my attention as my brother used to play in a band called the Mystery Dates.  A few pages further, their latest album was reviewed and got a strong 4 stars.  A few clicks later and I was sampling their stuff on MySpace and YouTube.  Great stuff, thanks NOW.

Mystery Jets are playing The Horseshoe Tavern on Monday night.

Previous posts in the series:

1. The Personal Recommendation
2. Blip.fm
3. iTunes Genius
4. Streaming Radio

Where I find new music: Part 4: Streaming radio

When I'm at the office and got my head down doing email or working on some tech config, I occasionally open iTunes and pick a saved streaming radio station.  I have a few saved that provide just the right mix of smooth and mellow music, either with electronica or jazz DNA.

Here are a few of my favourites:

• Groove Salad and Sonic Universe on soma fm
• SmoothLounge.com
• Deluxe Radio from Germany (but has some talking between tracks sometimes)

The trick is that when you're listening and hear something that you really like, then need to make a note of the current track because it may not be easy to review past tracks.

The track I found today was a something new from a Norwegian electrofolk band called Flunk called Sit Down.

Previous posts in the series:

1. The Personal Recommendation
2. Blip.fm
3. iTunes Genius

Charlie Mime

Charlie Mime - #300/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I'm not certain if this is a new mime to the Yonge and Dundas neighbourhood, but I'd never seen a Charlie Chaplin before, but what better timing than the Toronto International Film Festival ! I've taken lots of other shots at this corner and it's quite difficult to get an uncluttered background, so I crouched down and used the beige building as a more neutral background. As I've been using my Fuji point-and-shoot a daily basis as my DSLR is being repaired, I'm getting used to some of the more advanced settings, in this case I forced the flash and added 0.3 EV.

New Concert Listings

Just a quick note to say that Mt. Desolation is coming to The Drake Hotel on October 28th. This is the supergroup formed by Keane members Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin. See my supergroups post for more details. Tickets go on today Friday September 10th. The album comes out October 18th. You can here a couple of songs on their website here. I have to say that I am liking Departure on first listen and State of Our Affairs has grown on me, so I am quite excited about seeing them.

KT Tunstall is coming back to Toronto. I have seen her twice and she is really great live. If you haven't seen her, you can catch her at The Phoenix Concert Theatre November 23rd. Tickets go on sale today.

Macy Gray is playing Mod Club October 2nd. Tickets on sale today.

Other interesting upcoming events:

Boxer Rebellion Sept 27 at The Horseshoe Tavern (we're going)
The xx September 29th at Massey Hall (just won Mercury Prize)
K'naan (with opening act Shad) Oct. 1 at Kool Haus (saw them both last year)
Temper Trap October 5th at The Phoenix (saw them twice last year)
Hot Hot Heat October 8th at Mod Club (I'm going)
Belle & Sebastian October 12th Massey Hall
Sufjan Stevens October 13th Massey Hall
The Dears October 13th, 14th and 15th at The Garrison
Gorillaz October 14 at ACC (PJ going)
OK Go October 14 at The Phoenix
Band of Horses October 21 at Kool Haus
Stars October 23rd at Massey Hall
Greg Laswell October 30th at El Mocambo
Florence and the Machine Nov 3rd at Sound Academy (saw them last spring)
Sara Bareilles November 8th at The Phoenix
Kate Nash November 13th at The Phoenix
Mumford & Sons November 14th at Sound Academy (sold out)

Church of The Holy Trinity

Church of The Holy Trinity - #299/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I work very close to the Church of The Holy Trinity and had gone to its cafe before but it was the first time I'd been inside the church. The church functions today like a church should, opening its doors to people in need and excepting modern day diversity. The Church staff were quite busy serving coffee and soup, helping a young man find a place to sleep and spending time with a disabled person. The staff allowed a man to sleep against one of the walls and quite a few street people freely coming and going. I spent some time reading about the interesting history of the church which was built in 1847 with funds from an anonymous donor. You can read more about the history and its current day services here.

I took a few traditional wide angle shots showing stained glass windows, but I wanted a shot that showed the lovely iron work, the unusual pews and the wonderful ceiling.

Green glow parking garage

Green glow parking garage - #298/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

It was so quiet when I went to my car after work today. There are some good angles, lines and symmetry in parking lots and the added bonus here was the creepy green glow and organic-like ceiling. I played with a few WB setting (fluorescent) and bumped up Fuji's dynamic range setting.

Carcassonne

I played a few games of Carcassonne with the family on the weekend.  I was in the Apple store at lunch today and picked up the new iPhone4.  I paged over a few pages and accidentally touched an app without noticing what app icon my finger was on and Carcassonne opened up. What a surprise, I didn't even know there was a Carcassonne Apple app.  Of course, I had to play for a few minutes.  Love the game and now available as an app for you iPhone and iTouch, with iPad to come (which we'll be really nice with the larger screen).

Coloured construction corner

Coloured construction corner - #297/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

There's a lot of construction going on in the Eaton Centre these days. Along with the interesting angles created by all the scaffolding (already taken one of those), there are these colourful temporary boards surrounding the construction areas. I took this corner shot with my Blackberry and included some of the complimentary floor work markings.

Err

Err - #296/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

...(ctd from yesterday), when I got home from the long weekend, I tried a few other diagnostics to see if I could snap my D80 out of its "Err" state. No luck. I set up my Fuji FinePix on a mini tripod and got in close for this shot.  (Since this shot was taken, I took the camera into Nikon and they've now told me the aperture control unit needs replacing.  Total bill will be around $300).

Tour di Via Italia

Tour di Via Italia - #295/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Our family visit to Windsor coincided with the annual Tour di Via Italia cycling races on Windsor's Erie Street in Lit'l Italy. Although many pro photographers took up their position just a little past the apex of the corner I found that the most dramatic shots were from a low angle right on the corner. It was a rather dangerous position with no barriers and bikes passing by within inches at about 30mph so I fired a lot of continuous bursts as the pack raced by. I was using my Zeikos battery grip and had a second (Zeikos) battery loaded as I'd read somewhere that it can speed up the frame rate. I also only shot in jpeg to get the best buffer rate.

But, this was apparently too much for my D80 and after about 5 lengthy bursts, I got the dreaded "Err" message displayed on the top LCD and the camera stopped functioning. I tried a number of different remedies, but nothing fixed the problem (to be continued).

Windsor morning ceiling

Windsor morning ceiling - #294/265, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I was the first one up at my parents home. I thought a blurred shot of the ceiling fan would be interesting but on its own it was kind of dull. So I zoomed out and brought the curves and lines from the front window into the shot to provide some context and contrast.

Classy Windsor ride-by

Classy Windsor ride-by = #293/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

My sister-in-law with her coordinated outfit for her retro bike was too perfect to pass up. I used a slow flash sync to give her some highlights which also automatically set a relatively slow 1/60 sec so when I panned I got a nice blurred background and wheels.

Betty Davis Eyes

My wife and I went to see Brandon Flowers (of The Killers) play a solo gig last week and one of the tracks he played was the classic Kim Carnes' hit Betty Davis Eyes.  I hadn't herd that great song in a very long time, and then I heard it again on the car radio this morning.  I just went out to run another errand and heard the same original version being played at St. Louis Wings on their outdoor patio speakers.  I ran my errand, and as I'm returning back to my car, the same restaurant is now paying The Killers' big it Sombody Told me.

Jacks building

Jacks building - #292/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I liked the unusual decorative jacks on this new glass tower and the fluffy clouds broke up the blue sky nicely. Rather than a completely symmetrical composition I chose to include the angular side which seems create a better sense of space.

Heat wave windows

Heat wave windows - #291/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

It's been a hot summer in Toronto and this last week of August saw another heat wave. These apartments are close to my house and thought the open windows summed it up nicely. A took a while to find a decent angle that captured a lot of windows in the frame and opted to go with a smaller aperture to keep them in focus.

Keeping memories alive

Keeping memories alive - #290/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Just as much as my wife enjoys photo scrapbooking, she loves spending time looking at old photos and scrapbooks. That is the big reason most people take photographs, but so many of us file the photos and memorabilia away and never spend the time enjoying them again. One of the factors is the sheer number of photos we now take with the ease-of-use of digital photography. I'm probably guilty of this and although I save a vast majority of photos I take, I only publish the very best. For me, photos like this one, helps me tell a story.

Kids' driveway tennis photo break

Kids' driveway tennis photo break - #288/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Although my kids partake a lots of organized sports, simple make-do games around the house can keep them entertained for hours. Who needs centre court at Wimbledon when you have a small, sloped driveway in the front of your house, some chalk and two enthusiastic kids. I lay down on my back and had the kids stand over me for a more unusual point-of-view.

High stepping at Wasaga Beach

High stepping at Wasaga Beach - #289/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I love running into the water, trying not to fall down too quickly and end with a refreshing shallow dive and splash ! I'm happy to say my kids are in agreement - simple games in the water are lots of fun, not to mention it's a great workout.

Kim Churchill, Buskerfest

Kim Churchill, Buskerfest - #287/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

It was the first year I made the time to go to Buskerfest on Front Street. Although the crowds and heat were tiring, I had a great time with my family and was really impressed by the quality of the entertainment. Kim is from Australia and had rigged his guitar with extra pickups and learnt to get drum sounds out of the guitar body...mix in some down home lyrics and you've gone one fantastic one man band.

This shot was a little tricky as it was such a bright day and he was in the shade under a tent. I used center weighted metering and added .3 EV to bring up the exposure.

Supergroups, Reunions and Solo Projects

Imported from My Life Is Like A Song (you can view post comments here)

I started this post months ago. When I first heard that Guy Berryman of Coldplay and Tim Rice-Oxley of Keane were joining separate supergroups.

Apparatjik is a group that consists of bassist Guy Berryman from Coldplay, guitarist/keyboardist Magne Furuholmen from a-ha and singer/guitarist Jonas Bjerre of Mew.

Mt. Desolation is a alt country group formed by Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin from Keane that consists of

Andrew Lowe - Bass

Fimbo - Drums

John Roderick - BVs, Guitar (from Long Winters)

Pete Roe - Keys, BVs

Tom Fiddle Hobden - Fiddle (from Noah and the Whale)
Jessica Staveley-Taylor - BVs
John-William Scott - Bass, Guitar
Phil Renna - Fiddle, Keys

and also feat:
Ronnie Vannucci - Perc, good vibes (from The Killers)
Country Winston Marshall - Banjo (from Mumford & Sons)
Charity Quin - BVs
Jayne Rice-Oxley - BVs
Francois Deville - Pedal Steel

I was quite excited that some musicians that I love would be coming out with more music (without breaking up their original bands), but my enthusiasm waned when I heard the first few songs they released. Just because I love Keane and Coldplay, it turns out that I don't necessarily love the music of Mt. Desolation and Apparatjik.

At that point, I let this post go...but I kept hearing of new collaborations or new solo projects. It frustrates me sometimes that I hear about an album release months before it's actually released. Sometimes, I forget about it when it actually does gets released.

So to help me remember about these new releases, I decided to finish this post.

Tired Pony is a group that features Gary Lightbody (of Snow Patrol), Richard Colburn (of Belle & Sebastian), Iain Archer, Jacknife Lee, Peter Buck (of REM), Scott McCaughey and Troy Stewart. It turns out that this is also a country inspired group. I remember reading that country music was becoming popular in Great Britain. I am NOT a country music fan, so this does not excite me...but I will give it a chance.

Before hearing Mt. Desolation, I did say that if anyone could get me to like country music, it would be Keane. I haven't loved the first few songs I have heard, but will keep giving it a try.

The best "supergroup" of the year has to be Broken Bells composed of artist-producer Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) and James Mercer from The Shins. High Road is one of the best songs of 2010 in my opinion.

Freebass consists of Peter Hook (New Order and Joy Division), Gary (Mani) Mounfield (The Stone Roses and currently in Primal Scream) and singer Gary Briggs (Haven). Andy Rourke (The Smiths) was originally involved, but may not involved with them at the moment. Years after first announcing the project, they have released an album and toured a few dates. In Canada, an EP Two Worlds Collide was just released a couple of weeks ago.

Beady Eye isn't really a supergroup...but I didn't know where else to include them. They consist of Oasis members minus Noel and are set to release a single in the fall followed by an album in early 2011.

Noel Gallagher is said to have been in the studio recording drums for an unnamed musician last week. Is this the beginning of another supergroup? Or will he go solo to continue the gigs he has been playing this year? Time will tell.

If some groups are mixing it up, other groups are having reunions.

Gavin Rossdale is rejoining Bush and releasing a new album in October.
Robbie Williams and Take That are getting back together.
Soundgarden have reunited and performed together.
Roxy Music will be touring next year.

And finally some singers are going on their own.

Brandon Flowers of The Killers will be releasing a solo album in September and playing concerts....but uggg, I should have completed this blog earlier. I just found out that he's performing at the Mod Club in Toronto on Wednesday. There was a contest to win tickets, but it's closed now. Oh well, if he comes back, I'll hopefully buy tickets. I can't complain. I saw The Killers from quite close last year and I won tickets to see Coldplay's buzz gig in 2005. I can't win them all. I quite like his first single so am looking forward to the album.

Fran Healy of Travis also has been touring on his own. After touring with Travis last year (which I saw at Sound Academy), he and Andy Dunlop toured for a while as a twosome (which I missed when they played The Mod Club) and now, Fran didn't want to stop. I saw him last month at Molson Amphitheatre in a mini festival. He's so great live and he followed the festival tour with a headlining tour including dates in Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver. He has a solo album coming out this fall and from the sounds of it at the concert, it will be great!

Not necessarily a band member going solo, but I read that Hugh Laurie recorded a blues album. If you're interested, you can do the research on this one ;-)

I read that Peter Hook will be taking Joy Division's classic album 'Unknown Pleasures' on a tour of the US. I'm not an expert on Joy Division but from my understanding he may have already been doing that in the UK. Again, if you're interested, check it out.

I am so relieved to finally finish this post. I'm sure that there are many other supergroups, reunions or solo projects so don't be surprised to see a part 2...but for now, I am happy to finally get all this written down and out of my head!

It's about time...

We were talking last night and said we should use this blog to simply keep our friends informed on concert listings they may have missed or tips on bands that may be new to many people, but who we think you'll like.  We agreed for this blog, content is king and prose can wait for another day.  So we'll try and keep the content coming, especially as we head into cooler weather and perhaps a rush of end of year releases.


Concerts

• Gorillaz at Air Canada Centre, Oct 14th.  Really looking forward to this one - I'm going with my son and have lower bowl seats.  I have a DVD of their Demon Days concert and the performance is wonderful.  With all the guest musicians and singers and orchestral elements I have no idea what this Toronto show is going to be like, but it's a must-see for me.
• The Boxer Rebellion at Horseshoe, Sept 27th.  Getting some well deserved attention because of their inclusion on the Going the Distance soundtrack.  Pop melodies that could be compared to Coldplay.  We have tickets to this one.
• Katie Mulua at The Mod Club, Sept 8th.  I've always liked her soft tunes and songwriting.  Not for everyone, a little Kate Bush mixed with Carole King perhaps.  She hasn't played hear ever/for a long time and has a new album coming out.  Perfect venue choice.
• K'Naan and Shad at Koolhaus, Oct 1st.  By now, I hope you know you K'Naan is or at least have heard his massive hit Wavin' Flag.  We saw both K'Naan and Shad this year and they are now performing on the same bill in a few cities across Canada over the next few months. Highly recommended if you're into some local hip hop, strong songwriting and storytelling by some fantastic entertainers.  Unfortunately I'm out of town for this one.
• The Charlatans at Lee's Palace, Sept 17th.  Old time Manchest'or survivors have a new album coming out.  Should be a lot of fun at one the hottest (literally) small venues in town.

A quick mention to some others with upcoming concerts in Toronto that caught my eye - lots of great tracks from everyone: Hot Hot Heat, MIA, OK GO, City and Colour with Tegan and Sara, Kele (of Bloc Party), Vampire Weekend, Tom Tom Club, Simian Mobile Disco, The XX, The Scissor Sisters and The Foals.


I'm still a little disappointed I missed Buckwheat Zydeco last week.  It made one NOW Magazine's shows of the week, but it coincided with my Wed night ultimate game.  Priorities got a little tangled.  If Buckwheat is coming to your town, make sure you see him !

Toronto Concert Venues

While I've been adding some interesting concert dates, I thought I'd also take this (early Saturday morning) opportunity to rank the most popular venues in Toronto as the venue often dictates whether I'm willing to pay good money for a concert or not.

1. The Mod Club - perfect size, high stage, great sound, always a great atmosphere.  Lots of pre and post options in the Lil' Italy neighbourhood.
2. The Horseshoe Tavern.  Old, dirty, low ceilings, hot and often too loud.  But you can't beat the energy of the old place and they let me in with my DSLR camera.
3. Koolhaus - large, unseated, warehouse-like venue.   Large enough for some big name acts and decent light shows.
4. Lee's Palace - fun old joint, good size, good viewing angles and decent sound.  Seems to attract a lot of once great bands coming back for an encore.
5. Phoenix Concert Theatre - gets pretty jammed, pretty quickly, but hosts some great artists.  Sound is usually good, but security is very strict and lineups are often a problem.
6. Molson Amphitheatre - large outdoor venue.  Sound is pretty poor from the lawn, but can be very good in the closer seats and in the general admission area.
7. Air Canada Centre - large arena, ok sound if you're in the lower bowl or up front.
8. Sound Academy - this place gets a lot of good artists, but the layout is all just wrong and the sound is suspect.  Above all, difficult to get to if you're not driving and if you are driving, a nightmare parking lot.

2 minutes for tree tripping

2 minutes for tree tripping - #286/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I was taking a variety of angles of these trees in my back yard while the evening lighting was just right. I took a shot of an old hockey stick close to the tree and thought it would spin the shot into something with some humour as the tree trunks looked like legs when I spun the camera around. I tried a few different compositions as the light was fading and grabbed this one and just had to invert the image to create this unusual back yard shot.

Walk home towers

Walk home towers - #285/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

A quick shot of a few office towers walking home from the subway station. As with many architectural shots, it's often important to make sure vertical or horizontal lines are aligned nicely, so I was pretty happy here that I got it spot one without any post-editing. As summer winds down, I'm trying to take advantage of those "golden hours" after work.

Brandon Flowers @ the Mod Club

Brandon Flowers @ the Mod Club - #284/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

My wife wons tickets to Brandon Flowers' buzz gig at the Mod Club and she got us nice a close to see the Killers' lead sing his new solo material. As usual, DSLRs were not allowed so I had to take my chances with the Fuji point-and-shoot. This shot turned out quite nicely with the brighter spot light and Brandon show much he was enjoying his own gig in a small venue.

Heading home in white

Heading home in white - #283/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I took quite a lot of shots today, but they were straight up shots capturing events of the day, without a lot of artistry. My wife and I went out for a late bite to eat and grabbed this shot on the way home. Luckily she was wearing a white top that worked perfectly on the dark street. I used my "nifty fifty" and a very high 1600 ISO setting.

Fire escape contrast

Fire escape contrast - #282/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Out and about at lunch close to my office, Massey Hall is a regular stop. I really like Massey Hall's black fire escapes, but the lines and details get lost against the dark brick hall. So this time, I got close to the hall and underneath one of the fire escapes and shot upwards to get some contrast against the building across the street and found some organic contrast and composition additive too with the street side tree.

Don Yeomans' "Where Cultures Meet" with iPod

Don Yeomans' "Where Cultures Meet" with iPod - #281/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

My wife is a big fan of the Group of Seven and she got us a family membership to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg this year. I visited the gallery and had a wonderful afternoon soaking in Group of Seven art along with an exhibition of Dorothy Knowles and landscape photography from Jim and Sue Waddington that match work from the Group of Seven.

Although photography in the gallery is restricted, there are some interesting pieces on the grounds and in the entrance hall. This piece from Don Yeomans I found interesting as it intersected traditional totem art with a modern materialism.

Italian flag ingredients

Italian flag ingredients - #280/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I cook Italian food quite often at home. The family enjoys pasta dishes and enjoy cooking with simple fresh ingredients. I set the shot up using Nikon's built multi-flash Commander mode. I hand held my Speedlight flash above and to the left of the subject and I lowered the power of the pop-up flash.

After choosing my favourite shot which was this tighter composition I noticed the distinct colours and was pleased that the composition coincidently matched the colours of the Italian flag.

Simpson's reflection of Old City Hall

Simpson's reflection of Old City Hall - #279/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I'm finding it challenging these days trying to find new subjects and angles in the vicinity of my office building. I glimpsed this reflection of Old City Hall in the bronze windows of The Simpson Tower on Queen Street. I like how the mirror's grid lines appear to mimic a viewfinder's grid.

Don Mills boy ghost

Don Mills boy ghost - #278/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

It was the first time I rode the Sheppard subway line today and took a few shots of Don Mills station. The colours were rather subdued but the lighting was quite sharp and I liked the pixelated patterns.

I slowed the shutter speed down to 1/15 sec to capture some motion and got lucky as I snapped the fast little boy in the frame.

Tree foot

Tree foot - #277/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I see many old trees like this one when I'm walking my dog around our neighbourhood. I tried a few different angles, but I wasn't that pleased with the results. This shot was a rather simple straight on shot from across the road, but the way it turned out I think it kind of looks like a big tree foot. I used a medium f-stop to make sure detail of the whole tree was sharp and the front of the yard was in focus.