McSweeney’s List (16 August, 2023)
Accessible Audio for McSweeney’s List will be available soon!
This week’s Mc(Play)List is songs about food. Or drink. Food and/or drink.
This makes me giggle, and it also makes me think. Yes, first I think about pickles: I can buy whichever ones I want, whenever I want. I can spring for the expensive ones. I have pickled green beans, and I'm adding pickled asparagus to the grocery list as I write this. But, I've come a long way, Baby, from a childhood home that ran on margarine and concentrated juices. A far cry from off-brands, or expired products (one year there was Christmas Cap'N'Crunch in summer). This was less about poverty, and more about priorities, though. I come from people who never considered reading an ingredients label.
When I moved out, I went buck wild. Soda was like water (brand name soda, thank you very much), and 2-for-1 pizza had me wondering why we'd ever settled for one damn pizza. My first visits to giant grocery stores, all the decision making and purchasing power in my pocket, were experimental. Lobster was overrated, muscles were delicious, dragon fruit beautiful (and can be white or red!). Sausages that squirt cheese are better than generic hot dogs that crunch suspiciously. For the first time, nothing was off limits, no foodstuffs too confusing (hello, celery root) nor price point too daunting (I'm looking at you, tuna steaks). One of the first things I did was abandon iceberg lettuce, bland overused tip of the uh, lettuce um…pyramid that it is. Hello, Arugula you weird delicious darling.
Photo Courtesy of Sony Pictures
As might be expected, there was pizza for breakfast and too much ice cream. But the ice cream was great quality. My family didn't buy Tupperware: between the 4L ice cream containers and margarine tubs there was no need. My ice cream comes in pints now, and did you know sorbet is always available? (Editor’s Note: It’s fucking juice, just buy a popsicle.) It goes without saying that I live in a butter household now. (Editor’s Note: I’ve seen it. It is genuinely made of butter.) Believe it or not, I'm not writing this hungry, and no, I haven't lost the thread.
We do so much visualizing as children. We imagine what we'll look like and who we'll become, where we'll live, our jobs, our spouses, our children, and pets. All of this before we grasp the opposing forces that real life provides. Just about every parent thinks their kid is gifted, talented, ready to conquer the world, and hearing that as children feels like binding prediction. We age into the awareness that hope doesn't dictate outcome, and that infinite theoretical opportunities do not change the real odds at hand. I do not wake up and take a dip in my inground pool before making breakfast in my sun filled kitchen. And I do not have a closet of designer labels to choose from as I whisk off in "a car" (you know, like when someone says "I'll send a car" in a movie. I never knew where those cars came from, but one of those). Frankly, I'm beginning to come to terms with the fact that these things won't ever happen (yes, I'm only catching on now. Bottle my optimism, Bitches).
In today's reality, I pay more in rent than my parents paid in mortgage. That's the kind of thing that can really pop my balloons if I think about it too long. If I change focus and straighten out the frame, I can see how cool it is that I get to live where I want to, free to switch up on short notice. I'd rather pay arguably too much for obviously too little than hear my echo in a suburban house. It's get to vs have to. It's recognizing that paying what I do to live where I want is a luxury. While we all wish we had more, I checked out the World Inequality Database for perspective and learned that I'm in the top 39 percentile of global income. Yo, I'm rich!
So I'm trading in some of my previous expectations for current gratitudes. Still, I find oodles of joy in satisfying the vows of my younger (Editor’s Note: hungry) self where possible. For instance, I'm a night owl; partly because it's my natural inclination, and a lot because my child self thought midnight was magic and to see the sunrise before sleep was basically starring in your own indie flick. While choosing my own adventure has been a weird and crooked path, I get to choose my priorities daily. If I want to eat a can of olives, I damn well do. (Editor’s Note: Seriously, she wasn’t hungry while writing this. She promised me.)
We all dream about having fuck-you-money, but focusing on the fact that we don't (and probably never will) can only rain on our parade. Likewise, thinking about how you hate your job on the way to work will not improve your day. We have to harness the bright spots, focus on the small wins. And while I won't ever get the super cute freckles my young self wanted, sometimes you can find me eating a pickle, doing a little happy dance for the wishes that do come true.
One Show, Loads Of Talent
Discovering new bands takes time, but if you fall for a record label, you can save the stress. Check out the Baby Horse Records' showcase this weekend and catch seven acts in one night!
Bluebird is songwriter Dan Beasy's main project. A mix of country, folk, and an alternative vibe, their first full length album dropped in March.
Erik Fines is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He's inspired by a wide range of music from country to electronica. We spoke to him this spring, so click here for that. Plus I personally saw him play live and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Frisco Lee's latest album is a thematic journey of lost time, love, mourning and growth. It was created while we were trapped inside. Per the artist: "It felt like a very beautiful strange dream that happened so long ago, but I'm very excited to show you my latest development as a songwriter and instrumentalist."
Matt Damron is Montreal born, Raleigh raised, and now calling MTL home again. This singer songwriter has some hype behind him, and was named as one of Exclaim! mag's "artists you need to hear" in March of this year. So go hear him!
Vanwho is a new member to the Baby Horse family, but she's been making music for a good while. A bilingual singer songwriter, she serves up soaring pop tunes with folk rock influences.
Malte Zumbansen is also new to the fold. After years of playing the songs of others, he released The TinEater, his first collection of original music.
Special guests and friends of the label The Gardeners are bringing their acoustic vibes and sweet vocals. I checked some vids, and they sound great. Bet they're even better live.
Gather your peeps and snatch up those tickets. They're going fast.
WHAT: An Evening with Baby Horse Records (Vol. II)
WHERE: L'Escogriffe, 4461 Saint Denis St., Montreal, H2J 2L2
WHEN: Saturday, August 19, Doors @ 7 PM, Show @ 8 PM
METRO: Mont Royal (Orange)
TICKETS: Eventbrite
Fringe Is Really 365
While the Grand Dame of Fringes is strutting its stuff in Edinburgh, the work for FringeMTL 2024 has already begun. While applications will be accepted through the fall, Early Bird applications open tomorrow! They will automatically accept the first nine companies in both local and Quebec categories, and the first four in the Canadian and international groups. If you're not among the first picked your application will automatically carry over to the lottery selection process, and you can check that off your To Do List early. Note that if you are selected in the Early Bird, your application fee is due within 24-hours to secure your entry.
Check out our comprehensive FringeMTL 2023 coverage!
WHAT: FringeMTL A-Z 2024
WHERE: Montreal Fringe
WHEN: Early Bird Application: Thursday, August 17, 6 PM
Application Deadline: Friday, November 24, 6 PM
DETAILS: Facebook
You Can Find 5 Bucks In Your Couch
Y'all, we are in a PINCH right now. We were about to register as a non-profit when Meta vs CRTC left us in a lurch. Social media is where we get our hits, and now instead of registering, we're trying to figure out how to find new advertising so we can keep doing what the community wants us to do: cover local Art. We need your help. Hit the button, buy us a proverbial coffee (or 10!). We're surfing the situation in real time while tryna keep it quite classy, but we need you. Now. Thanks.
McSweeney’s List drops every Wednesday with the best events to catch each week in Montreal!
