How to predict a tornado

One of our favourite comedians is Toronto's Kathleen Phillips, best known for her stand-up routine and for the hilarious short films she posts online. Recently, Kathleen created this educational video about a weather predicting dog:

I first met Kathleen in 2005 when Stephanie Markowitz and I were casting for the first run of our musical The Rat King. A natural beauty, petite Kathleen reminded me of Badlands era Sissy Spacek- until she stood up on a chair and howled like a ghost with indigestion. We enjoyed the audition, though I knew she had the part before we asked her to howl. Kathleen played the role of Carson Cannon in all three stagings of our musical.

Apart from the role of Carson, towards which I am naturally biased, my favourite Kathleen piece is probably Aqua Landlord. Imagine coming home to your apartment, only to find your landlord in the tub. Naked. Actually, you don't have to imagine it, Kathleen has done that for you already.

For more Kathleen, visit her youtube channel, her blog, or show her a little love on facebook. Be careful though- some of her videos will make you laugh quite loud, so if you are hiding in a cubicle pretending to work, cover your mouth with your hands, or maybe bite down on a bundle of socks so you won't get caught amusing yourself.

We put a tune up on myspace

For a little preview of the EP we've been working on with James Bunton, visit our newly revamped myspace page and have a little listen. The tune is called "New Job."

Happy Saturday, my friends.
xoxo
MM

When you hear the alarm bell ringing you better come runnin'

A big thank you to everyone who came to the show at The Beaver last night. We had a great time and it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces in the room.

Toronto has such an amazing art & music community, and Will made The Beaver a place where this community could convene, as well as a place where strangers to the scene wouldn't feel so strange walking in to enjoy an evening out, or even just an afternoon coffee. Now that Will has left this world, it feels extra special to play a show at the space he built, with that massive piece of art by General Idea hanging in the background (you can see it behind Light Fires in the above photo.)

Backstage at the Beaver, Sheila Sampath and I had quite a time trying to get into our elaborate fireman & engineer costumes, so we ended up not wearing them, but I thought I would include this shot so you could have a peek at the elaborate show-stopping looks we tried to rock for the evening.

Free show tonight at The Beaver

Tonight we will be playing a free show at the Beaver with the new band Light Fires. Who is/are Light Fires? Gentleman Reg and James Bunton. You might know James as the drummer from Ohbijou, or as producer/engineer to any number of your friends' recordings (if you live in Toronto, West of Bathurst Street, the odds are pretty high that someone you know is working with him right now.) We have been working on an EP with James as well, and he's pretty great. As for Gentleman Reg, he is a familiar face to readers of this blog. Light Fires is a departure from Reggie's usual material- more Hot Nuts* than Horseshoe Tavern- and it will be their last show for the summer, since James is touring with Ohbijou until the temperature drops and the leaves turn yellow.

Reggie will also be performing his special song "The Man in The Middle" with Betty Burke- and he's not the only special guest. We are proud to present, on vocals, for a soulful number from another (imaginary) era- Mr. Lief Mossbaugh (pictured above). Lief plays with The Hidden Cameras, and can often be heard singing falsetto harmonies on their tunes. He's also an esteemed Oboist, joining Regina's orchestra for the 2010-2011 season, after a successful run with the Saskatoon symphony. Lief will be singing a tune called "You Can't Stay Young." He may even bring along another special guest, but we'll keep that under wraps for now...

The show starts at 11 pm and it is 100% FREE. The Beaver serves dinner until 11, in case you want to come early to see our muscley arms pull the amps in. I'm sure a few of us will be tankin.'

Hope to see you tonight.
xoxo
MM


*Hot Nuts is a monthly drag party at the Beaver.
*Tankin' - wearing a tank top. Not me, but probably Reggie.