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I finally made it to the Army & Navy shoe sale today. Remembering last year’s insanity, I opted to forgo Day 1 of the sale but maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.
Supposedly they’re replenishing the stock all day long every day of the sale, but all the stuff I saw those poor A&N employees pulling out of boxes was more of the same, which is to say, more boringness.
I went in high hopes of finding some shoes of the purple persuasion but came up with nilch… except for this pair of cute flats for $24.99. Good for schlepping to and from the office (I keep my heels under my desk to eliminate stinky-feet-smell away from my precious bag) but not exactly the most exciting pair of shoes you’ve ever seen.
And, come to think of it, the madness wasn’t quite as ‘mad’ as I remember it being last year.
All in all, it was pretty meh. Kind of like expecting chocolate chip kalua flavored ice cream with crazy sprinkles and whipped cream and cherries… and getting vanilla. And not even cool Madagascar Vanilla Bean vanilla, just plain ole’ 4 litre tub vanilla.
Oh well. Now I know.
The annual insane shoe sale at Army & Navy begins tomorrow here in Vancouver and also in Calgary.
After my adventures last year – make that misadventures (why did I suddenly think my feet magically shrank a size to accommodate those darling size 6 shoes??) – I can’t decide if my anxiety is more excitement or nervousness.
I mean, I just got rid of at least ten pair of shoes at the yard sale that Lisa, Tim and I did last Saturday on their front lawn (first one of the season! It was so exciting!) so I finally feel uncluttered in the shoe department, and almost… zen-like. It feels so good, I don’t want to ruin it.
But I still need a pair of shoes for my wedding and I’m realizing that lilac-colored shoes are surprisingly hard to come by. T’cha, I know! I mean, who DOESN’T want lilac-colored shoes?! Not to mention three bridesmaids that need shoes.
Sigh. I might have to just pop my head in. Just for a minute. Just to look around…
If you don’t make it to Army & Navy tomorrow, not to worry – the sale runs until April 27th.
I don’t quite remember how I first heard about Cat Power. I think it might have been while searching for artists like Feist on Last.fm. Ever since I moved away from Montreal and my pal with the golden ear, Marty P, I’ve had to resort to other ways to find new music. In fact, he’s the one who turned me onto Feist four years ago – way before Apple ever heard of her.
While some might say I don’t have amazing taste in music – my excitement over the reunion of NKOTB as a case in point – I prefer to think I’m simply selective. When I find an artist I like, it’s not usually just a passing fancy; more like a life-long love affair. So when I discovered Cat Power’s (a.k.a. Chan Marshall) album The Greatest, full of sometimes sultry, usually poetic, occasionally upbeat and totally boho-but-not-too-boho songs, I settled in for the long haul.
Just after Christmas, I heard she was coming to Vancouver so I snapped up two tickets right away and stuck them on my fridge. I like doing that – it gives me something to look forward to (and also helps to remind me… how much would it suck to buy concert tickets and then forget to go?).
It felt like forever, but April 10th finally came. At last! I’d be able to take this relationship beyond my mp3 player.
And that’s how I set myself up for an extraordinarily large disappointment.
I almost didn’t end up seeing her at all, which I almost wish were the case so I could maintain the illusion a little longer.
The concert was supposed to start at 8 pm and ok fine, they never start on time; I was expecting her to come on at maybe 8:30 then. But 8:30 came and went… and so did 9:00… at 9:30 Jesse and I looked at each other in dismay and decided if she didn’t come on by 10 we’d up and leave.And then she FINALLY came on the stage… at 9:51 pm! Who does that?!? I mean, what a way to disrespect your fans. Maybe there was some catastrophe backstage but I doubt it since at no point was there any announcement at made. There wasn’t even a warm-up band to fill up this time. And sure, the majority of the audience was made up of 18 year old fashion plates for Urban Outfitters but that’s still no excuse to be rude.
Sheesh, I thought, this better be good.
Sigh.
You know, if I would have been able to actually hear her lovely voice and quirky, sensitive lyrics over the twang of the guitars and thump of the overly loud drums, I might have been able to overlook her totally dorky skinny-black-pant-and-ginormous-white-shoes combo and possibly have been able to ignore her supremely irritating side-shuffle-dance-twitch thing. But I wasn’t and so I didn’t. Each song was a big fat muffled mess.
I don’t know if it was the venue (Vogue) or what, but whole Cat Power concert experience was terrible. We left after 30 minutes.
It was heart-breaking, really. That relationship had so much potential.
I think I’ll have to let myself heal for awhile before I can even listen to her CD again. Which I will, because it is great. She’s just not the greatest in concert.
Feist cleaned up at the Juno Awards last night in Calgary and it’s about time. I was so peeved when she got shut out of the Grammys. I even joined a Facebook group called Feist Was Robbed at the Grammys (me and 29 other pissed off people). Ah, but what do those Americans know, anyway.
Sidenote: Did you know Feist was from Calgary? Just another name to add to the growing list of amazing women produced by that city. (Now ask me where I’m from, I dare ya.)
My friend Duane Storey was in Cowtown shooting photos at the event and partying it up with the famous folk (’cause that’s how he rolls). That’s his photo of Feist on the right – pretty great, right? Check out his other photos of the Junos and the play-by-play over on his blog.
So here’s a newsflash for all you Vancouverites: Feist is coming to Vancouver AGAIN, August 5 at Deer Lake Park! I don’t know where the heck Deer Lake Park is and I don’t care, I’ll be there. The last concert blew my socks off (what a funny saying, how exactly would one go about blowing off one’s socks?) so I can’t imagine what she’ll come up with next. I could just die from the fabulosity of it.
And you know tickets will disappear faster than you can say Ben Mulroney is da bomb, so here’s a SCOOP… Feist tickets go on PRE-SALE Tuesday at 12 noon until 10 p.m. Thursday. Go to Tickemaster Feist Pre-sale and enter the password: reminder.
Speaking of Benny, I caught some of the red carpet chaos last night on CTV where he and his eTalk co-host Tanya Kim were interviewing the nominees and winners as they sashayed their way into the show. I gotta say, just watching them gave me a mild panic attack. Yeah they get to talk to some pretty cool people but MY GOD THE STRESS!? I mean, does someone prompt them as to who’s who and what talking points they should use or what? I don’t know about you but I had no clue as to who any of those people were. Well, except Michael Buble (sigh..). That must be one of the toughest jobs out there. Can you imagine having to be on the ball like that for so long, under so much pressure and with so many idiots screaming in the background so you can’t even hear yourself think, let alone have a riveting conversation with someone? And I mean, like, Anne Murray, what do you say to Anne Murray? Apparently she’s a Canadian icon (quick, name one Anne Murray song… yeah, that’s what I thought) and so you sort of have to be respectful (even Russell Peters wimped out) but oh the things you must want to say.
Kudos to them.
Just in case you thought I was kidding about New Kids on the Block reuniting, here they are from their stint on the Today Show today – Joey, Jordan, Donnie, Danny and Jon – in all their post-adolescent, mid-life-crisis glory.
Still no word on whether the New Kids are coming to Vancouver… but I’m holding my breath.
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