Andrew profile picture

Andrew

I'm rarely on MySpace anymore...

About Me

This section is apparently where I should talk about myself, so here goes:
- I play sexy red Fender Contempo organ and synth in Beth In Battle Mode . We're like a sloppy cross between The Who, The Cars and Daft Punk, if you can believe that.
- I DJ Saddle Up! , a country & western dance party at a Legion Hall, and an occasional power-pop night called Yellow Pills .
- I can't recognise people when they have sunglasses on.
- My cat is smart so I named him Edison . He has extra toes.
- I believe that smoked oysters are an appropriate pizza topping.
- I once impersonated Forrest Gump for a living and became a minor celebrity in Amherst, Nova Scotia as a result.
- Nobody knows more New Brunswick trivia than I.
- I really don't like using the telephone.
- Toronto Classic Table Hockey Champion 2000 and 2001. And no, it wasn't just me and my buddies playing in a basement: I beat Greg "I wrote the book on table hockey" Peden on national TV.
- Proper spelling is a must.
- For five glorious minutes, I was a member of Martha & The Muffins.
- I am lucky enough to write for a living.
- If the rest of my life sounded like "Ain't That Enough" by Teenage Fanclub, it would be a very good life indeed.

My Interests

Getting back to basics, getting back to nature, getting back those CDs I loaned to Corey Hernden about five years ago.

I'd like to meet:

I'm never on MySpace anymore, so...might as well use it for profit! Ha ha. My band Beth In Battle Mode's album "Technical Know-How" is now available on iTunes worldwide. It's fun! It's good! And it's cheap!

Music:

Teenage Fanclub, Crowded House, The Zombies, Eels, Wilco, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, The Tyde, Big Star, The Frontier Index, Gordon Lightfoot, Matthew Sweet, Elvis Costello, The Isley Brothers, The Beach Boys, INXS, The Raspberries, Beck, The Jayhawks, Todd Rundgren, The Left Banke, Split Enz, Nick Lowe, Bill Withers, The Faces, Stan Rogers, Ike and Tina Turner, Jorge Ben, The Blue Van, Donovan, John "Cougar" Mellencamp, The Hollies, Nina Simone, Paul Simon, AC/DC, The Pernice Brothers, Billy Joel, Justin Rutledge, Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, World Party, Etta James, Santo and Johnny, Elliott Smith, Sloan, Judee Sill, Tahiti 80, Nick Drake, Serge Gainsbourg, Carole King, Emitt Rhodes, The Band, Tom Waits, Loretta Lynn, Iron and Wine, Michel Polnareff, Bob Dylan, Fountains Of Wayne, Bill Withers, The Go! Team, T. Rex, The Beatles and "Moon River"

Movies:

The Big Lebowski, Royal Tenenbaums, Office Space, The Last Waltz, Serpico, Metropolis, Wisconsin Death Trip, Bottle Rocket, Black Christmas, Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, Groundhog Day, The List of Adrian Messenger, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Ghostbusters, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, The Shawshank Redemption, The Usual Suspects, Blazing Saddles, Stand By Me, In The Name Of The Father, Hard Core Logo, and the following dumb-yet-entertaining comedies: Strange Brew, Half Baked, PCU, Old School, Happy Gilmore, and Mallrats.

Television:

The Simpsons, The Daily Show, Mr. Show, Kids In The Hall, Monty Python, For King & Empire, Battlefield Britain and other historical documentaries, hockey, and the first two seasons of Creepy Canada--but not the new ones, which have totally sold out by using a) people who can actually act and b) including stories from the U.S! How is something that happened in Kentucky an example of Creepy CANADA?

Oh, and Yacht Rock, of course.

Books:

Hi, my name is Andrew and I like to undercut more legitimate booksellers by buying tons of stuff at BMV at rock-bottom prices.

Heroes:

Terry Fox, Tom Petty, The Acadians.

My Blog

Getting historical, and compiling a list...

I've been here in Toronto since September, 1995, and in that time, I feel I've gotten to know this city pretty well.  Better than a fair number of people who were born here, probably.  Until...
Posted by Andrew on Wed, 21 Mar 2007 02:03:00 PST

nap dreams

Today, I took a nap and had some semi-relevant dreams.  The first part of mine involved me inventing some kind of harmonica/accordian hybrid that seemed to be made of a vaccuum cleaner.  My ...
Posted by Andrew on Sun, 11 Feb 2007 10:59:00 PST

Poor Edison

So as many of you know, I recently got a handsome cat named Edison.  He's just turned four years old and is a polydactyl, which means he has extra toes.  It's been nearly two decades since I...
Posted by Andrew on Mon, 08 Jan 2007 11:13:00 PST

The pressure's on

It's always a bit unnerving to see the counter on this blog go up, even long after I've written something.  I'm not sure who's reading these blogs: stalkers?  The FBI?  A publisher with...
Posted by Andrew on Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:11:00 PST

The best MSN typo in the world...ever!!!

Edward says: that was a kinda bizarre night! Andrew says: yeah, but fun Edward says: that was the day i quit my job so i was on clown 9 Andrew says: heh, "clown 9"??? Edward says: hah hah wicked...
Posted by Andrew on Wed, 04 Oct 2006 07:51:00 PST

So long, stressful summer

"As a comedian you have to start a show strong and end the show strong. Those are the two key elements. You can't be like pancakes, all exciting at first but at the end, you're fucking sick of 'em."&n...
Posted by Andrew on Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:01:00 PST

Tom F$%^ing Petty & The Heart-f$%!-ingbreakers!

Wow.  Wow.  Wow. Okay--I knew that Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were gonna be good.  I mean, how could they not be?  One of the last bands trained the hard way--through endles...
Posted by Andrew on Wed, 16 Aug 2006 09:55:00 PST

Hillside 2006: sunshine, space badminton and the shark

Ah, Hillside: the tiny perfect festival.  With its limited ticket base, ability to book bands just before they get big, and newfound-yet-slightly-uneasy folkie/indie rock alliance, it's a gem of ...
Posted by Andrew on Tue, 01 Aug 2006 08:16:00 PST

Oh, MySpace.

Well, lo and behold, it appears as though MySpace is once again fully functional on my work computer.  I can actually read messages, blogs, etc...and they've got the whole "relationship status" t...
Posted by Andrew on Fri, 21 Jul 2006 12:55:00 PST

Brooklyn or bust!

It's been a day and a half since I got back from my wild weekend in Brooklyn, and I'm still kinda tired.  So rather than try to think of a clever way to present it in this blog (perhaps through ...
Posted by Andrew on Fri, 07 Jul 2006 09:10:00 PST