Personal Metal

I did indeed go to a movie on Saturday afternoon, to the excellent documentary Global Metal. I don't know if it's showing widely, but if you get the chance to see it, you should go. I loved it. It totally rekindled a long-dormant affection I have for headbangers and heavy metal music. When I came out of the cinema (the Forum) I wandered into Future Shop and flipped nostalgically through the Metallica CDs; I couldn't choose between "Kill 'Em All," "Ride the Lightning," and "Master of Puppets," so I just wandered out again. Probably for the best.

I listened to heavy metal in high school, and I have this soft spot for certain late-'80s albums that, in my memory, are connected to certain boys. Because metal was definitely boys' music, and in high school, boys said what was good and what wasn't. In my group of friends, it was the boys who picked the music. Us girls made mixed tapes for our cars with girl songs by Salt 'n' Pepa and Pet Shop Boys, but in mixed company, boy music ruled. It was in the boys' basements that we would sit and listen to Kiss LPs and watch "Cliff 'Em All" over and over. It was because the boys said so that we knew Iron Maiden were amazing and brilliant and that Slayer was a kick-ass deadly band. It was at the boys' urging that a bunch of us travelled to Seattle to see Metallica during their Damaged Justice tour in the summer of 1989 (although us girls went to Calgary to see the show again, without the boys).* At our high school graduation ceremony, "Orion" was piped into the arena while we all marched out in our caps and gowns.

None of this seemed gender-oppressive at the time. These boys were so passionate about music that it made me love music, too. And us girls had a blast at those Metallica shows; we held our own in the mosh pits and banged our heads so hard that we couldn't move our necks all the way home. We bought the T-shirts and had crushes on the musicians (for me, it was Jason Newstead), but we really did like the music, too. From the boys I learned how to really listen to music and how to talk about music and take it seriously. They made me mixed tapes and really wanted to know what I thought of the songs. And when I came across Jane's Addiction and the Pixies in Grade 12 I knew that I'd started to find my music. (And when I went by myself to see both bands play at the PNE Forum in 1990, with Primus, all the boys were jealous.)

Over the last 20 years, I've been introduced to lots of different music by boys, but increasingly by other ladies, too. I've met women who are musicians and critics and serious fans. And I haven't listened to metal in a very long time. (Probably my last close encounter was at an all-day concert in the summer of 2004 on Fulong Beach outside of Taipei where Andrew W.K. played. I don't know if he's technically considered metal, but he's certainly freaking loud.) But I suspect I'll always have a mushy fondness for metal and the boys who love it. Global Metal is about both of those things, and I left the theatre on Saturday feeling exhilarated in that way that can only come from spending an hour and a half in the presence of really, really noisy music. (Seriously, watch the trailer.)

Link: interview with the filmmakers on CBC-TV's The Hour

Link: "I'm a huge metal fan" T-shirt

* My mind is blown a little bit right now. I vaguely remember cameras swooping around during the Metallica show in Seattle, and now there are all kinds of videos on YouTube of that show. I was there! I was right at the front, actually, so if you see a sweaty girl among all those sweaty boys, it might be me. :)

No Sissies

Bill's mittens are done, and have you ever seen a manlier pair of mitts in your life? (It's tricky to joke in text-only communication, I know, but I do think gendered mittens are funny, and now I have Hawksley Workman in my head: "No sissies get your hands, no slackers get your hands, no weaklings for yooour hands...")

Pattern: Manly Mitts by Elizabeth Morrison
Size: M
Yarn: Georga 100% Wool (less than one 100g ball each, black and grey)
Needles: four 3.25mm DPNs


Bill loves them, they look great, they're thick and warm, and they didn't take long to knit. I'd recommend the pattern, especially for a first stranded project, since it uses a simple two-round repeat. I always like to see the inside of stranded things, don't you? Here's an extreme closeup:


I think I'll move on to a couple of plain gift mittens next, and then probably the Bird in Hand mittens for myself. I'm actually relieved that the new Knitty contains, for me, no absolutely must-knit items, since my queue is already filled to bursting. I have been looking around for a gift-sock pattern, though, and I despite having just said I don't like toe-up socks, I think I may knit the Azure Socks. Maybe.

Stuff

1. I've been back in Montreal for a few days -- woke up to snow this morning! Yikes!

2. I'm very glad I broke down and paid the $42 (!!) to see Me, Mom & Morgentaler play on Sunday night -- it was really fun. (Anyone else out there know/remember this band? I don't know if they ever played outside Quebec.)

3. I really, really love Cosmicpluto Laura's new Rayne Wrap Cardigan.

4. I'm still working away on my scrap-X quilt, having bought more fabric scraps from Robyn at lilybug. Planning to make it queen-sized. Why not?

5. The November holiday-themed market at Poppytalk Handmade is making me all wanty (so click at your own risk).

6. Kate asked for a picture of Mooky, so here he is, loving his crocheted blankie.


7. I need more coffee now. Bye!

Fantasy, indeed

We went out last night to see Final Fantasy play. I've been a fan for ages, but it was the first time I've seen him play live (other than as a part of Arcade Fire), and it was just as good as I'd expected. Accompanying the music was an enchanting and mesmerizing display of images, done on an overhead projector by artist Stephanie Comilang. And the encore was a cover of Mariah Carey's "Fantasy," which was pretty great. Of course you should seek out and listen to Final Fantasy's original music, but do take a few minutes to check out his version of "Fantasy" -- especially on video (found here). Actually, you should revisit the original (here) first, for the full glory of the cover. (If these links don't make your day, you should probably take your pulse, or have your sense of humour checked, or something. Trust me.)

So we got to the venue at about nine o'clock last night, which seemed ridiculously early, since I don't think I've ever seen a band take the stage before 9:30 in this town, but Ohbijou had already finished. So disappointing -- I'd been looking forward to seeing them. But we did see Basia Bulat's set, and she was completely charming. I'd heard a few of her songs before, mostly because it seems like every time I turn on CBC Radio someone is talking about her. (Go here and listen to "I Was a Daughter.")

The show was part of Pop Montreal. I'm not planning to go to any other shows, but I'm definitely thinking of checking out the Puces Pop fair this weekend. (Impressive vendor list here.) Other than that, I'll be knitting away on my Woodland Shawl so I can wear it to Rhinebeck, which is in two weeks! I'm giddy at the very thought of it.

Massive night

We went to see The Hold Steady play last night (at Sala Rossa), and it was fan-tastic. Other than the handful of overenthusiastic superfans who seem to have travelled from Toronto just to stand right at the front and scream every single lyric back into Craig Finn's face, it was just a great, great show. Well worth today's temporary deafness.

Links:
1. new video for "Stuck Between Stations"
2. mp3 of "Your Little Hoodrat Friend"
3. "A Citizen’s Guide to The Hold Steady & their newest recording"
4. one of Cari's posts about the band from way back when (I owe my Hold Steady fandom all to Cari)

Sock pattern PDFs

I've bookmarked 18 gazillion knitting patterns over the last couple of years, and saved copies of 3 jillion PDF patterns. In sorting through them this morning, I thought I'd gather some of those links here. There are loads of great free patterns online for socks, as I'm sure you know. Here are a few of the ones I've bookmarked (and have yet to knit) -- all are PDF files (because that's how I like 'em best):

- Cable Twist Socks by Adrian (Hello Yarn)

- Campfire Socks by Cider Moon (yes, I'm linking to these two days in a row -- what?)

- Clementine's Baltic Socks by Di (clementine's shoes)

- Elfine's Socks by Anna (My Fashionable Life)

- the new Leyburn Socks and the older Zokni Socks by Mintyfresh (pepperknit)

- Poseidon Socks by Elinor (exercise before knitting)

- worsted Traveler Socks by Diana (d-made)

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Totally unrelated link: One of my very best friends in the whole world is in a band, and their new record is coming out next month! Watch for it, buy the record, go to a live show -- you won't regret it. (Unless you have no sense of humour or hate electronic dance music, in which case you very well might regret it.)

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And that's not all... It's two degrees above zero today! I'm wearing a skirt! Woot!

I bought new long johns last Friday, so I'm feeling very pleased with myself. What's it like where you are?

I guess some people actually watched the game, but did you catch the Superbowl half-time show yesterday? OhmigoditwasPRINCE! The Purple One was divine, as always. (I saw him play live once, at the Coliseum in Vancouver, on the Lovesexy tour in 1988. [Gulp! Nineteen years ago?] One of the best live shows ever.) I thought he was an interesting choice for the Superbowl -- talk about displaying different modes of masculinity! Performance 1: dozens of beefy, "manly" men running into one another. Performance 2: one small and fabulous man with a turquoise suit, immaculately set hair, and a high-pitched voice. A small but nice interruption of gender norms there. Nice work, Superbowl people.

Ready to be heartbroken

Last night I had plans with my friend B to go see Camera Obscura play. We had a class together until 5:30 and figured we'd go out for a bite to eat afterwards, so we started walking to our destination with J, who is also in our Feminist Media Studies class. J ended up having dinner with us, and it turned out she was also planning to go to the show. What's more, over our bowls of vegetarian chili, it was determined that J had written her master's thesis on 1980s British twee/indie pop. This was turning into a theme night.

After bracing ourselves with allongés for the blistering cold outside, we headed out for the five-block walk to the venue. I couldn't believe I hadn't worn long johns. My thighs were like ice after two blocks. J decided to go home and drop off her school bag, and B and I carried on, to have a drink across the street before heading into the show. We never saw J again. The show was packed. It was kind of a funny crowd, but in ways that totally made sense: Everyone was adorable and clean-cut! There were more affectionate straight couples than at a high-school dance!

Anyway, Camera Obscura sounded great and were also adorable as all get-out. Towards the end of "Let's Get Out of this Country," singer Traceyanne Campbell broke into a few rounds of "If you'll be my bodyguard, I can be your long-lost pal," which may well be the cutest thing I've ever heard. (I always liked that song, partly because in high school, when it came out, everyone already did call me Al.) You should see them if they happen to come to your town on this tour. In the meantime, there always seem to be lots of dowloadable mp3s of their songs floating around out there, and fans of classic musicals, fabric prints, and general sweetness alike will want to watch the video for "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken."

Have an adorable day! Wear long johns if it's below -15!

Lucky me

I went out last night to see a show by a little local band you may have heard of, called the Arcade Fire. They played a "secret" show in a church basement, for friends (and, in my case, friends of friends). You can read an account of the show here (or, if you prefer, in French here). They played mostly new stuff; just three songs from Funeral, including "Rebellion (Lies)." (Watch the charming video for that song here.) It was lots of fun. The new album, Neon Bible, will be released March 6, and from the sounds of things last night, it'll be a good one.

Other than that, a pretty quiet weekend. Lots of reading, Indian food with a visiting friend, and a little knitting. I'm adapting Teva Durham's Lace Leaf Pullover to a different gauge. It's a little experimental. (No, I haven't finished Bill's vest or the Trellis sweater. It seems I lose interest in projects when they are 90 percent finished...)