Results tagged “bobwiseman”

Walking into Actionable, one of the first things you’ll notice is the Warner Brothers logo projected onto a screen…only the letters are reversed, spelling out the initials of performer Bob Wiseman. The backward order also represents the backward, frustrating ways of the music industry that Wiseman has experienced over the course of his career. Over the course of the stories and songs that make up Actionable, you’ll learn that lawyers from the major labels aren’t amused when you jokingly decide to pick up a name that a star is not using at the moment, claim relation to an industry executive, and drop the name of a major soft drink manufacturer when singing about 1970s Chilean politics. No wonder a former Rolling Stones manager once called the business “the industry of human happiness.” While often amusing, a melancholy tone underlies much of the material, especially during one song about personal identity.

WORDS: Urban Planning lecturer Carolyn Whitzman has written about the hundred and twenty-five years of poor planning in her former neighbourhood of Parkdale. Suburb, Slum, Urban Village: Transformations in Toronto’s Parkdale Neighbourhood, 1875–2002 tells a story of development and city planning gone wrong, and underlines the need to recognize an area’s demographics as standard practice in urban development. The book launches tonight in Roncesvalles Village with a reading from the author and an introduction by poverty activist Michael Shapcott. Another Story Bookshop (315 Roncesvalles Avenue), 5–7 p.m., FREE.

For years, SummerWorks has been kid sister to the Fringe. Smaller, shier, not quite as well-known (if often more reliable thanks to its policy of juried play selection as opposed to Fringe's random lottery). But there comes a summer in every kid sister's life when she starts going through some "special changes" and suddenly all her older sibling's friends turn their heads when she walks by the pool in her tankini. We already started to discuss the direction in which new Artistic Producer Michael Rubenfeld has started to take the festival, which has now been re-branded as "Toronto's Indie Theatre and Arts Festival."

WORDS: Dr. Steven B. Shubert is an Egyptologist. At U of T tonight, he will be giving a lecture called "The Greeks Rule! How the Greeks Shaped Our Perception of Ancient Egypt." The lecture is presented by The Society For the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, and explores the study of ancient Egypt as provided by Greek sources such as Herotodus, Diodorus, and Manetho. 323-4 Bancroft Avenue, 7:00 p.m., FREE for members of the SSEA, $5 requested from non-members.

Sarah Lazarovic—curator of the garage-based Montrose Portrait Gallery of Canada—is painting a portrait of a Torontonian every day. Each Monday, we'll feature one of those portraits here.

Kincardine-born, Mississauga-bred, Toronto-based, and Berlin-bound, Joel Gibb is the musical and managerial head of The Hidden Cameras, the fantastic and always well-populated music collective whose members have included Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), Reg Vermue (Gentlemen Reg), Laura Barrett, Maggie MacDonald (Republic of Safety), Dave Meslin (founder of the Toronto Public Space Committee), Bob Wiseman, Steve Kado (founder of Blocks Recording Club, member of Barcelona Pavilion and Ninja High School), Ohad Benchetrit (Do Make Say Think), Don Kerr (The Rheostatics), and many, many others.

On occasion, Daniel Johnston has shed his cult status and entered the public spotlight: it happened when Kurt Cobain promoted him and again with the release of The Devil and Daniel Johnston. And as a recent compilation confirmed, his influence can be felt throughout modern music, including Tom Waits, Beck, and The Flaming Lips.

It's been over a year since local über-activist Dave Meslin took his grass roots political activism to the next level by co-ordinating the City Idol competition.

Every Sunday at The Rivoli, Laugh Sabbath presents a show featuring comedians from the city's alternative comedy scene. This week's show, "Comedy and The Last Christmas Ever," features Levi MacDougall, Knock Knock. (Who's There?) Comedy!, Bob Wiseman, and Scott Thompson (returning to the same stage where The Kids in the Hall performed 20+ years ago).

We realize that we probably talk about Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy, way too much. So we're not going to talk about his free show on Saturday night at North York Central Library, also featuring The Creeping Nobodies, Hank, Ninja High School, and Bob Wiseman. Nope, not a word.

Earlier this week in the concert listings, we briefly told you of the upcoming free shows that the Toronto Public Library were holding. Now that the full details have been released, here's the low-down.

Maggie MacDonald is a busy woman. As one of the most visible members of the Hidden Cameras, MacDonald is often seen on Toronto's stages bopping along to Joel Gibb's catchy anthems to enemas, fear of commitment and golden showers. MacDonald also plays in a number of other bands in the city including the Dating Service and Republic of Safety. So it's not like she needs another project on her plate.

A brief overview of Toronto music happenings finds some exciting and some not-so-exciting news. Aw yeah.