TONIGHT! All Female Chef Line-Up at the 16th Annual Eat to the Beat Fundraiser

Sixty of Canada’s top female chefs, each donating their time and talent, will serve up edible treats at the annual culinary fundraiser, Eat to the Beat, Tuesday, October 18, at 7:00pm at Roy Thomson Hall (60 Simcoe Street).

Eat to the Beat is a cornucopia of sweet and savory foods, wines and premium beers for sampling, all “tastefully” presented around the hall’s outer lobby.

Among the chef line-up are Anne Yarymowich, Frank, Art Gallery of Ontario, and Donna Dooher, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen. This year’s focus is on locally grown, sustainable, seasonal foods and will include “The Country Chicks” with the best chefs, cheese makers, farmers and wine makers from Prince Edward County (Ontario).

Not to be missed at the event are the “class with a bit of sass” ladies, modeling food-inspired corsets; many created by Canadian designers some of who have been affected by breast cancer. The evening also includes live music, a silent auction featuring must-have items, and a raffle draw for a chance to win great prizes including a five-star, all-inclusive trip for two to the Dominican Republic, donated by Air Canada Vacations and The Gran Bahia Principe Esmeralda.

The event is organized by Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada, a not for profit organization that offers free peer support to women coping with breast cancer, their families and friends. Now in its 16th year Eat to the Beat has raised $3.1 million for Willow’s free programs and services.

Tickets that include all food and beverage sampling are still available for $150 each (with a tax receipt) by calling 416.778.6314, x 229 or are available at the door.

images from Eat to the Beat

The Thing - A Movie Review

Last night, Veronica had the opportunity to prescreen The Thing, the prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 The Thing. Not having remembering Carpenter’s version, this prequel was a surprise at some points and a disappointment at others. The treat was having starlet Kim Bubbs, who plays the French geologist and translator Juliette in the film, at the screening with us regular movie loving folks.

It’s always a treat when we get to see a film where the female lead is strong and can hold her own in the face of adversity. Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World”), a paleontologist is recruited by Dr. Sander Halversen (Ulrich Thomsen, "Season of the Witch") to recover an extraterrestrial life form trapped beneath the ice in Antarctica.

Things start going awry when the thing comes to life after being freed from its ice prison. Not knowing whom exactly to trust, Lloyd has to rely on her scientific background to quarantine everyone in an already isolated Antarctic station. The alien life form has the other worldly ability to mimic humans in order to move amongst them, isolate it’s next prey and kill them.

The dialogue was rather lame and director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr uses inevitability to build suspense but even that fell short and flat. For some reason, movies these days use loud noises to make the movie better, but it doesn’t(here's looking at you, Paranormal Activity 1-3). Honestly, there was only one part in which we were genuinely surprised. And that was more due to the loud banging than what played out on screen.

The Thing plays out exactly how you expect it to with very few intriguing points and even the ending seemed rushed and not well thought out. It seems they parsed everything together and forced a seamless ending of the prequel to the beginning of Carpenter’s film of the same name. Just make sure you stay for the credits though, or else you’ll miss it.

images courtesy of Google Images

Wild Flag @ Lee’s Palace – October 11, 2011

If Ashley had been born ten years earlier, she would have reached her prime during what she considers one of the best eras in music – grunge. While the lecture on the influence of grunge music will be saved for another time, it’s not hard to see that music and the fan base has changed drastically since flannel took over the scene... and unfortunately, not for the better.

We are in need of a musical revolution and we’re not the only ones who realize that. With bands like Soundgarden, Hole, Stone Temple Pilots and Alice in Chains reuniting and making new albums and the likes of grunge veterans Pearl Jam still selling out arenas, there’s obviously still a need for a rock alternative to the mainstream music scene. So it’s not surprising that last night Lee’s Palace was packed for another reunited and revamped altr-rock band, Wild Flag.

From Portland, Oregon, Wild Flag fuses together the extensive musical histories of Carrie Brownsein (Sleater-Kinney), Mary Timony (Helium), Rebecca Cole (The Minders) and Janet Weiss (Quasi, Sleater-Kinney) into an unstoppable punk-fuelled riot grrrrl revolution - something the music scene has been in dire need of for some time now. Or at least something Ashley has been in dire need of for some time now.

Their self-titled debut album was released mid September and packed the kind of punch that resuscitates everything music used to be and kick starts the kind of commitment and dedication that modern music seems to lack. The night and day differences between Brownsein’s rock ‘n’ roll anthems and Timony’s charming and quirky pieces are rounded out by mediators Cole and Weiss who hold the two together with a strong, dreamy foundation. With heavy guitars and fierce vocals, the entire album doesn’t miss a beat. They know what they are doing and they know how to do it right.

Music aside, just watching these women on stage owning their instruments is enough to inspire every aspiring rocker to revisit their rock and roll dreams. The sad stereotype that music is a man’s world is shot in the face with every beat Weiss viciously lays down, with every musical tangent Brownsein and Timony veer off on, with every eerie organ infusion Cole adds to the mix. They fit so perfectly together and produce the kind of nostalgic relapse that just may help launch another musical revolution.

images from google images.
images from last night's show here.