SHIRK MAGAZINE

PLAYLIST: DARTS & DOLL HOUSES

2012-02-15T20:48:00.001-05:00

1. Stutter - Elastica
2. Black Tongue - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3. You Da One - Rihanna
4. Hey Little Rich Girl (The Specials cover) - Amy Winehouse
5. Money Grabber - Fitz & The Tantrums
6. Yoo Hoo - Imperial Teen
7. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - The Beatles
8. Dammit Janet - The Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack
9. Miserable - Lit
10. Inbetween Days - The Cure
11. Train - Goldfrapp
12. What You Know - Two Door Cinema Club

2012-02-15T18:25:00.000-05:00

i've talked about it before, and i'll talk about it again; i'm obsessed with ardene flats! they're cheap, simple and cute. i've been waiting for months now for the spring shoes to pop back into stores, and last week i happened to be in the mall and my eyes caught a rainbow coloured wall full of flats! 2/$20 later and i'm in shoe heaven.

2012-02-15T01:21:00.000-05:00

2012-02-15T01:13:00.002-05:00

2012-02-13T14:15:00.002-05:00

2012-02-11T18:09:00.001-05:00

THINGS I LOVE FRIDAYS: GENERAL TAO

2012-02-10T19:11:00.001-05:00

yesterday while running some errands along bloor st. west, i stopped in my tracks when my eyes caught a store front window full of adorable things. i had not seen this store before; my area is pretty desolate when it comes to interesting cute shoppes. without being able to find a store name or sign, i waltzed inside to find a huge store full of, what else, more adorable things! talking to a very sweet employee there, she told me that GENERAL TAO had only opened a few weeks ago. i spent a good twenty minutes in there, and in that time learned that they not only carry a shit load of cool housewares/gifts/stationary/gadgets, and a lot of kirkland stuff (one of my favorite companies), but the prices were cheeeap. cute stuff for cheap. who can go wrong. next time you're in the bloor west christie - ossington area, stop into general tao; i know i will be back there in a matter of days for sure.

store front!

i bought this little "pocket change" plate for $7.99! i also bought my girlfriend a little something for her birthday, but i obviously can't post thaaat!

GENERAL TAO
853A BLOOR ST. WEST
TORONTO
416.516.4404

MY LIFE

2012-02-09T00:50:00.002-05:00

SONG OF THE DAY

2012-02-08T16:21:00.000-05:00

2012-02-08T00:39:00.003-05:00

CATHERINE O'HARA in BEETLEJUICE

2012-02-05T21:55:00.000-05:00

beetlejuice is my favorite movie, hands down. sure, i'm a lydia fan, but catherin o'hara's character delia deetz who's a total spaz/new york sculpture artist to this day hold's down some serious style. and i've also come to realize that i will probably end up looking like delia deetz one day. and then my sculptures will come to life and tie me up.

2012-02-02T21:51:00.000-05:00

Just another day at Shirk Magazine headquarters!

D.I.Y.: SPACE SHOES!

2012-02-01T23:11:00.003-05:00

Are these shoes not incredible? Click HERE to be sent to the tutorial of how to make these babies; I'm making me a pair for the summer!

2012-02-01T18:58:00.002-05:00

Lately, Izzy's been a really good cat. He, no lie, actually said the word "mama" to me last week and so far have been able to get him to to say it a few other times with the help of some fresh raspberries.

Jesse and I have been cooking some incredible meals lately together; this is a photo of a dinner we had last week. Fresh chicken breast stuffed with thick cut bacon, both from the butcher, and stuffed with goat cheese, bread crummed and then served with a delicious balsamic salad, a banquette and red wine. Hell yeah.

Jesse and I had a Free Times visit and got ourselves some cheap afternoon pints. It's a nice thing to do here and there.

Went to visit my grandma Margie and she showed me these two photos that she found after years and years of thinking they had disappeared. The photo (above) shows her at age 15/16 with her medal/trophy collection from her diving years. My grandmother was such a skilled diver that she was training to compete in that year's Olympics; she would've made it if the London-based ceremony had't of been cancelled that year due to the war. She's still a gold-medalist to me.

Look at her insane form! Look at this insane dive! Nuts!

Oh, and she's gonna just love this; here's my grandma Margie last week from me showing her how to use the Photobooth ap on her new iPad. Lovely.

The Marvelous Darlings re-formed and played an insane show last Thursday at Sneaky Dee's with Troubadour and The Get Nuns. I was right at the front of the pit for the first half of the set but had to get out of there because I was literally about to have the crap kicked out of me. Look, there's Jesse!

Here's the crowd just before things got insane on Saturday at Shake, Rattle & Roll! Now that we're DJ'ing on the Clinton's stage, I get to look at all your pretty faces all night!

Self-portrait, by yours truly.

2012-01-30T18:57:00.000-05:00

SEE YOU THERE!

2012-01-30T18:53:00.000-05:00

2012-01-28T16:47:00.002-05:00

HELLO LADIES

2012-01-28T14:49:00.002-05:00

2012-01-27T22:16:00.001-05:00

SHIRK MAGAZINE'S FOOD ADVENTURES

2012-01-24T19:45:00.002-05:00

in this crazy new featurette, i am bringing you stories, reviews (including photographic evidence) and my over-all two cents about food in the city of toronto! and today we're going to start with a teeny photo-essay of some of my most recent food adventures; some good, some bad. gettin' hungry.

here's a photo of jesse enjoying a lovely home-made lemonade from southern accent (595 markham st., just by honest ed's!), one of jesse and i's favorite restaurant's in the city. they serve incredible cajun/creole/soul food, including what we ate that night; pre-fix including yam soup/blackened chicken/garlic mash/collard greens/the best fucking pecan pie in the city. i was going to take a photo of my dinner, but i forgot as i was lost in flavor/pleasure town while eating it.

this, my friends, is a wedding cake belonging to my recently married friends, robin and erica black. and yes, those are the ninja turtles. need i say more.

as erica and robin black's wedding drew to a close, a delicious buffet of homestyle chili (with an insane selection of toppings including sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, green onions etc.) and fresh bread rolls was served. most of my friends, pictured here, went back for seconds and even thirds. yum.

considering the wedding was in niagara falls, i couldn't help but not visit the iHop the morning after. with one killer hang-over, i was soon feeling on top of the world and full of lard after my strawberry pancakes/eggs/home fries/uncooked bacon/$4 water coffee/sunny d for what's supposed to be orange juice. i nearly spent as much on this breakfast as i did for my damn hotel the previous night. jesus christ.

then last night, my lovely and talented cook of a boyfriend made one of the most killer steak fajita dishes i've ever had! the boy can cook, what can i say!

2012-01-20T20:17:00.001-05:00

2012-01-20T00:10:00.000-05:00

never. gets. old.

2012-01-19T16:41:00.004-05:00

we're currently undergoing some much needed re-vamps and blog construction! just you hold your horses!

2012-01-19T00:08:00.001-05:00

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

2012-01-18T22:37:00.001-05:00

it was a slow and steady slope, but i finally got over the hurdle that was accepting a new year. fuck, cut me some slack; i live in a basement apartment, consistently fight vitamin-D deficiency, the four hours of sunlight i get while working a night job as a dj/following the trails of my working musician boyfriend and the shitty toronto winter can reeeeeeeally get you down. but i've decided long ago that i'm kicking 2012's ass, and so what that i got a bit of a late start.

things at shirk are getting juicy! we've got a whole slew of exciting new features, fun stuff and interesting things to see and learn coming soon to shirk magazine! our creativity is our life's blood, and it's flowin' angry like when an elderly person reads the newspaper!

just you wait and keep your bloglovin'/bookmarks set STRAIGHT: set them to SHIRK!

2012-01-13T12:18:00.001-05:00

will be post-poned until early next week. just you wait! i'll give you this for the time being:

OH YES, YOU'RE GONNA WANNA GO TO THIS.

2012-01-11T16:06:00.002-05:00

2012-01-10T23:10:00.000-05:00

2012-01-08T12:05:00.000-05:00

2012-01-06T13:38:00.001-05:00

2012

so far, 2012 has been pretty sweet. i've been busy as hell, the creative juices are flowing, i've got some kick-ass friends who are riding this wave with me and i'm always looking forward to the future. like anyone else, i have no idea the kind of year we all have in store, but i'm looking at it all through rose tinted glasses and hoping to sculpt this year into the best one in brittney townson history. who's down!?

my new foam-top mattress

what a god-send, thank you ikea. the other day i catapulted (literally) myself to ikea to get some much-needed items for around the house. one item being my lovely new foam-top mattress. $150 later, my bed has completely transformed and i'm sleeping like a baby drunk on breast milk. gross, but a good analogy, right? i finally got my red shag carpet back, too! we had some minor flood problems last year (our house is over 100 years old, so understandably...) but everything's fixed now and izzy the cat is loving the shag.

jesse in a suit
here he is on new years eve. well slap my face and call me bruce, what a babe.

our mild canadian winter (so far)

there was a day, i think it was last tuesday, where the temperature dropped to over 15 degrees below zero, and that was the high for the afternoon! it was a terrible day, and i was praying that the rest of the winter wouldn't be as harsh. but then the cold subsided, and today feels like a lovely spring day in toronto! sunshine, a some-what warm breeze... i can deal with this.

just shoveling a pathway to the end of the drive way! typical!

the christie pitts light tiger!

every year, right in front of christie pitts park on bloor st., koreatown sets up this symbolic torontonian winter display; the light tiger! i've been looking forward to when they set it up for years and years now, and i always smile with delight that first day i see it; then i know winter has definitely arrived!

this song

COME TO SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL!

2012-01-05T12:46:00.004-05:00

2012-01-02T23:31:00.002-05:00

huzzah, it has arrived! now that it's only a few days into the new year, i've finally rid of my 2-day hang over, and i'm ready to take on the world! i vowed myself these things for what's sure to be the best year of my life. with that kind of attitude, it's sure to work out, right? ... right?

1. Grow Hair Longer (Too Many Chicks Are Hitting On You)

for years, people would always tell me how cute they thought i was with short hair. to tell you the truth, the longest my hair has been since i was 12 was just a tad over my shoulders. this time, i want to grow it long and grow it RIGHT. i would always give into the easiness of short hair (and an instant cure for my bordem). well, no longer i say because i'm going to make jesse the luckiest man in the world, because soon his girlfriend will look as incredible as this! admit it, you're jealous:

2. One's Body Can Be A Little Too Bootylicious

as i get older, i realize the ol' badonk-e-donk is gettin' a little... lively. jesse and i have decided we're gonna start taking care of ourselves a little better; it's been on hold for a long time coming, and now it's time to do it right! just don't hate on me when i have a 6-pack; just sayin'!

see, you can tell it's me; just look at the ass!

3. Get The Hell Out

i feel it in my bones; this is my year to travel. i want to get out of the country a bit; use my money and put it towards something incredible. i've been planning on doing the ol' new york city/montreal pit stops, then perhaps an all-inclusive warm spot with a beach and then i need to visit my most anticipated vacation yet: paris. je t'aime.

4. Bangs & Blush Do... The World

2011 was an incredible for bangs & blush; and we're hoping for at least double the awesomeness in the new year! our plans exactly? to make you dance. dance until you die! DIE. here's a photo of us at new years in our very retina-burning coloured dresses:

2012-01-02T01:44:00.002-05:00

2012-01-02T01:20:00.001-05:00

2011-12-31T14:25:00.002-05:00

2011-12-21T19:20:00.003-05:00

SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF KIDS

2011-12-21T01:10:00.000-05:00

2011-12-16T16:53:00.000-05:00

Southern Accent

jesse and i ended up finding ourselves at souther accent the other night (located south of bloor on markham st., just by honest eds!) and it's gotta be one of the most memorable night's out for a meal i've had in years. the food was incredible, the atmosphere was awesome and the service was wonderful. romantic, too! i definitely intend on going back; even if it's just for a slice of that fucking pecan pie; i DIED.

Terrible Christmas Songs

what can i say, i'm a sucker for christmas. i haven't gotten into christmas-sweater-wearing territory yet, but i'm sure that'll come around my late forties. any who, who can resist a good ridiculous christmas song? it's the only time of year they'll allow that crap on the radio, and i love it. might as well enjoy it! here's a few of shirk magazine's favorite terrible christmas songs:

My Incredible Friends/Family

i've had a hell of a year. i know i talk about this a lot, but never have i had a year that i can think of with so many high's and low's; the high's being insanely great, and the the low's being god awful. but, such is life! and i wouldn't take back any of it. and i wouldn't have had my high's without my incredible friends and family. thank you.

New Years Dresses

time is running out, and i need a new years dress, PRONTO. new years dresses are always so much fun, so sparkly, so feminin yet skanky, what a great combination! now, all i have to decide is what colour i'm going to go with...

and i need to look real good, because this new years eve is sure to be the most insane. the most! and you know why? because bangs & blush are taking over clinton's with SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL: BOW TIES & PARTY DRESSES! i absolutely cannot fucking wait!

The Paper Place

i've been in this store time and time again, mostly when i was in design school and needed to get myself interesting paper, stamps, stickers and other gagets and cute things. i took myself here yesterday for some christmas shopping inspiration and ended up cutting a few people off my list with just one visit! if you're a creative type like me, get your butt over there; i guarantee you'll spend at least 20 minutes looking at every little thing in the whole damn place. 887 queen st. west!

Top Ten Lists

this, my friends, is always my favorite time of year; this is when everyone releases their best and worst lists for everything - music, film, world events... you name it. and i love it!

My Dinky-Ass Christmas Tree!

i've since put some nice gold ribbon around this bitch since getting this photo developed, but it's still a dinky-ass tree! and my cat constantly attacks it/breaks the decorations! and my boyfriend hates it! but it exists, so everyone GET OVER IT.

2011-12-15T17:11:00.000-05:00

to all of my little shirksters:

sorry i haven't been updating that often lately! pretty shitty of me. life's been busy, you know? that, and i'm sort of just waiting for 2012 to come and slap me across my bitch face with some inspiration and excitement. because once that happens, watch out! you'll be so addicted to this blog that you'll stop sleeping, stop going to work, destroy all of your close relationships, resulting in you losing your house/car/job and then having to live under a bridge! yeah, that good!

enjoy your holiday season, and i'll try my best to give you some good shit to cap this bitch of a year off.

love,
shirk magazine
(a.k.a. brittney townson)

2011-12-04T17:25:00.001-05:00

2011-12-01T14:54:00.001-05:00

2011-12-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again, bitches! Nothing can beat that warm feeling and nerdy glow that grows inside me during the holiday season. For me, it has nothing to do with the gift giving and receiving; it's the snow, the hot chocolate, the christmas songs by Wham!... who could possibly resist? But just for the fun of making a "wish list", and having clearly stolen the idea from Oprah, here are some things you may find on our Christmas list! Mom and Dad, READ CAREFULLY.

MAC Make It Perfect Brush Set

Having good quality make-up is one thing, but having an outstanding set of brushes can often make the world of a difference. I'm a lover of all MAC products, but their brushes are specifically super sexy; the brush set they offer with multiple brushes such as a blush brush, a basic eye/cheek brush, a brow brush and etc., all come in this lovely case and often go for under $30. Miss Shirk herself couldn't wait until Christmas so she ran out and bought herself this just the other day. So much for patience. But what a great gift idea!

Typewriter Initial Watch from Urban Outfitters

Us here at Shirk are NOT watch wearers, but this one in particular tickles our fancy. The watch, that comes in a variety of "models" of all the letters of the alphabet, makes for a gift that's not only quirky, different and practical, but personalized! I need to get me one, because I think it's about damn time I grew up and wore a damn watch.

Cute New Tights

A girl has got to have fun, playful tights in her wardrobe; it's the easiest way to jazz up a dull or plain outfit that needs a bit of a kick. These tights are available at MODCLOTH, and are some what pricey; but you can find others just like this all over the place, like Sears, The Bay, and boutiques that specialize in stockings/socks/etc. I need me some tights!

Moxi Lolly Roller Skates

When I was a wee lass, I used to roller blade every day, all the time. I never really used to roller skate ever; it seems like it's becoming a dying art. Well, not any more! At Urban Outfitters, you can find these adorable roller skates, in a variety of colours, on their website for purchase right now. And YOU KNOW I'm seriously considering gettin' me summa these.

A New Tattoo

My mother would slap me across the face if I asked for this for Christmas, so I'm just going to go right ahead and ask Mr. Shirk for this gift instead. Nothing says I love you like paying for a piece of art work that will be on your body forever; the gift that keeps on giving! I've been craving an Izzy (my cat) portrait for a while, so we'll just see if a certain someone wakes up with an "I.O.U.: One Tattoo" in her stocking.

A Top Shop Gift Certificate

Love TOP SHOP and ya'll know it! It's a bit pricey, but this UK clothing line that just touched down in Toronto earlier this summer seems to be designed by people who are secretly watching me and know what I like to wear. I waaaant!

A Record Player

It's about that time for a new record player! My old one has served me quite well, but it's time for an upgrade, especially considering I have some very old, valuable vinyl that I want to listen to, but don't want to scratch up with just any record player. The Pro-Ject Debut III Turntable is pricey (about $400), but you gotta pay the big bucks for amazing quality!

That concludes Shirk Magazine's Favorite Things list, just in time for Christmas; it's already December 1st for crying out loud! Never mind making a wish list, have you started your Christmas shopping yet? We haven't started, so pray for us. Pray hard. Happy Holidays!

2011-11-30T13:02:00.001-05:00

Got yourself some New Years Eve plans yet? Well, you do now! Bangs & Blush are so very very excited to announce a very special edition of Shake, Rattle & Roll on New Years Eve; it's our Bow-ties & Party Dresses party where we're inviting you to ring in the new year with us, in style, and dancing to the best of 60's soul/pop/rock'n'roll until they kick us out!

Get your ticket today in a very special PRE-SALE at Clinton's Tavern; they're only $15 each, and you can save yourself the scurry of trying to figure out what to do on New Years Eve; this is going to be THE ultimate NYE dance party, and we recommend you get your ticket now!

We can't wait to say good-bye to a wonderful year, and ring in an even better one with all of our favorite swingers and shakers, we look forward to seeing you then!

Clinton's

693 Bloor St. W

416.535.9541

2011-11-24T17:41:00.001-05:00

after opening just before october of this year, the county general (queen st. and shaw) has been a mad-house full of torontonians looking for incredible food, delicious cocktails with a warm yet chic vibe of a dining experience because they know that they can find all of the above at the big c.g. i've eaten there three times now; firstly, because i heard the food was inane, but secondly because jesse and i's chum aja sax manages and designs all of the featured cocktails... heck, she was even featured in the grid's bar section this week! but it's now become a journey of tasting everything the county general has to offer on their menu's; so far, i've tried the pork belly & steamed buns ($12), which are basically pork sliders... incredible. made with a milk bun, each had different toppings; one being home-made bbq sauce and green apple slaw, one had avacado chutney and cilantro and the third had kim chi oozing off the bun. absolutely delicious. then, the other day my pal adamo and i went for a late lunch where i tried the 6 oz burger (which you can see jesse ordered with peameal bacon and cheddar on it, $12), which was too good to form words to describe it. then today, i tried their fried chicken thigh sandwhich ($12) which is served on a milk bun with avacado chutney, cilantro and green onion. jesse ordered the fries, which are hand cut and served with home made ketchup, and i ordered the side salad which has red onion, sliced radish and a dressing that will make you drool.

if you're in for a delicious cocktail instead, you're in fucking luck. they have multiple menus of drinks, cocktails, hot and cold bevy's of all types; it's quite a specialty of theirs. i tried the hot apple cider ($5) and i'm still all warm and gooey inside from it. but the food, THE FOOD! the kitchen is open until 3 am as well, so don't give me any crap about grabbing a drunken slice of pizza or shwarma after your concert, treat your stomach with love. where ever you are, run to the county general now. now!

936 queen st. west toronto

http://www.thecountygeneral.ca/

2011-11-23T16:17:00.001-05:00

i seriously love my job.

all photos by becca lemire, taken at shake rattle & roll; the ultimate saturday night 60's rock & roll and soul dance party brought to you by bangs & blush! only at clintons!

http://www.shedoesthecity.com/fashion/stylescout,

http://bangsandblush.blogspot.com

http://www.clintons.ca/

2011-11-22T23:46:00.001-05:00

coming soon...

2011-11-22T11:29:00.001-05:00

THIS EXISTS.

2011-11-14T01:54:00.001-05:00

see more epicfails

2011-11-13T17:28:00.001-05:00

this is what i look, and feel, like.

THINGS I LOVE FRIDAY: REMEMBRANCE DAY EDITION

2011-11-11T17:20:00.001-05:00

my grandpa bud, on the right.

i'd like to say quickly that today, i'm thinking of the young men like my grandfather who at ripe ages of 17/18/19 had to live through some of the worst situations, sights and sounds that have ever been witnessed in history. all in the name of their country. i have mad respect for my grandfather, and anyone else who has been involved in any war; but i hope that we can take all that we as humans have learned about war, and strive to fight for peace instead. thank you, bud.

2011-11-09T01:14:00.002-05:00

2011-11-07T16:39:00.003-05:00

OBSESSED WITH: MARY QUANT

2011-11-06T21:26:00.001-05:00

STARE AT THIS FOR A WHILE.

2011-11-06T02:30:00.002-05:00

WATCH THIS FILM NOW: TWIST

2011-11-05T21:28:00.001-04:00

2011-11-04T16:12:00.000-04:00

this photo
guh... thanks mom and dad. here's my younger brother patrick and i; he was probably 3, i was 5. standing in the fucking worst possible place to take a photo. we look like assholes. we're just struggling to open our damn eyes. anyways, this is me and my little brother. notice the pearls?

my new bed sheets
sometimes buying new linens can be as joyous as finding a new dress. this is what i've become.

constantly drinking teas of all types
i've just recently conqured this horrible cold that had jesse and i completely bed-ridden for over two weeks. since then, my constant tea drinking has spilled over into my new health kick and jesse and i cannot get enough.

this happens at my house.

90's janet jackson
don't get me wrong, i absolutely love old 80's janet jackson songs; nasty, what have you done for me lately etc., but i loved when the 90's came around how janet was going through this "trying to find myself" shit but her albums started getting really fucking good. not only that, but um, she had some pretty incredible 90's style. here are some of my favorite janet hits from the 90's.

jesse's police radio iphone app
so jesse just downloaded this app where you can listen onto any north american police radio. it's fucking insane. we've spent hours already listening to chicago, new york, detroit and baltimore... insane stuff! if you have an iphone i strongly suggest downloading this ap; not only is it FREE but it's incredibly entertaining.

im sorry, i had to.

buffy the vampire slayer on netflix
finally, something i actually want to fucking watch on netflix.

oh hai, dream kitchen.

2011-11-02T19:03:00.003-04:00

http://thepizzamermaid.tumblr.com/

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2011-10-31T11:29:00.001-04:00

2011-10-28T22:07:00.001-04:00

just like a lot of white kids my age who grew up in the suburbs, hearing michael jackson's thriller meant one thing and one thing only; it's fucking halloween. i remember going trick or treating and every bloody house on the block would be blasting this from their kitchen windows and ghetto blasters. as a matter of fact, the video used to terrify me as a child. still give me the creeps to watch it, too. the vincent price part? comon! so as i sit here in my living room, listening to thriller on the radio, i now know it's finally arrived; halloween is mother fucking here.

2011-10-28T16:26:00.003-04:00

erin simkin

earlier this month, my dj partner lindsay and i had a killer day shooting with our wildly talented photographer gal pal erin simkin for some new bangs & blush promo shots! not only is this girl insanely genius when it comes to her over-all visual concepts, but she's a super rad chick on top of that. we're incredibly happy with our final images, and you will be seeing more of them very soon! but here's your first little taste, and you can see more at the Bangs & Blush Blog!

halloween crap from dollarama
i think i wrote last week about how much i love dollarama for halloween stuff; the amount of stuff i got to decorate with for $50 is insane. and i'm excited because i finally get to use it all tomorrow night at shake rattle & roll! you have no idea how many different types of halloween streamers are manufactured; is there a goddamn factory for halloween streamers? "halloween streamers and co."? shut the front door.

pumpkin carving
last time i carved a pumpkin, it looked like this.

civil twilight by the weakerthans
every time i hear this song it takes me back to when i was about 16, 17. those were some solid years. brings back memories and over-all makes me feel warm inside. love the weakerthans!

phil darling's skunk costume
thank you for this, lindsay darling.

2011-10-21T13:30:00.004-04:00

ten days until halloween!

the british are coming! the british are com-...eugh, um, halloween is coming... speaking of coming, i'm still coming down from all the neocitran. anyways, i can't believe halloween is only ten days away! this has been the weirdest halloween for me ever so far because jesse and i don't have cable; because of this, i haven't been able to enjoy all of the traditional tv show episodes/tv movies that are in constant circulation during this time of the year. i miss my tree house of horror episodes! all of the halloween/freddy/scream movies! the turner classic movie showings of all the original frankenstein's, dracula's and other creature features! and mostly; beetlejuice cartoon re-runs. but that's okay, i've already spent over $50 at dollarama on halloween crap; do you have any idea how much fifty bones gets you at dollarama? my costume is almost done as well, but still needs work. none the less, my pumpkins will be carved soon and my big bangs & blush halloween party is next saturday! i can't wait!

joe fresh sweaters

finally hit up the new joe fresh on queen west last week and got myself some amazing sweaters. they always fit so comfortably, made with quality thickness and stitching and i mix and match them with everything in my wardrobe. i've been wearing them nearly every day for a week now. please don't repeat that.

go go go joe!

neocitran

jesse and i have spent the last 5 days, since saturday to be exact, in bed pretty much nearly all day. coughs, runny noses, hot/cold sweats, body aches, you name it, we had it! but that motherfuckin' neocitran takes you to a drugged out far off land of painlessness and body warmth. makes you sleep like a tranquilized bear, too.

way too much of this.

finally getting an iphone

it happened! it's awesome!

jesse (again)

good lovey bear hugs for me.

turkey subs

i fucking love turkey subs. personally, there's nothing better than a home made turkey sandwhich/sub, but on the go it's my favorite fast food snack. and there's something about my strange habit with sub toppings; this what i usually get on my sub: lettuce, tomato, onion, black and green olives (and lots of them), and barbecue sauce. seriously, have you ever had olives on a sub before? it'll change your life; try it.

"i'll have that as a combo. thanks."

the new slew of poster designs by yours truly

2011-10-21T01:01:00.003-04:00

2011-10-20T18:28:00.001-04:00

http://theclothes.blogspot.com/

2011-10-20T14:32:00.000-04:00

BANGS & BLUSH: YA HEARD?

2011-10-20T01:17:00.000-04:00

I WANT YOU

2011-10-18T03:48:00.003-04:00

2011-10-16T22:51:00.002-04:00

i've been sitting here laughing at this for quite some time, now.

TONIGHT, THERE'S A LOT OF IT:

2011-10-16T22:15:00.000-04:00

down with the sickness.

2011-10-16T13:07:00.002-04:00

OBSESSED WITH: NIAGARA FALLS

2011-10-13T02:02:00.000-04:00

2011-10-12T18:47:00.004-04:00

2011-10-12T02:10:00.002-04:00

OBSESSED WITH: MICHELLE WILLIAMS

2011-10-10T13:16:00.002-04:00

2011-10-08T17:40:00.000-04:00

(Clockwise, starting with Izzy) An old Women's Journal magazine from 1954 that my grandmother kept, my "Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll" photo album (which includes a lot of old, precious family photos), my Marc Jacob sunglasses, two original pressing Beatles 45's Jesse found me, a California snow globe, vintage sandals from the early 70's, Jamacia and New Orleans snow-globes, an old camera that belonged to my grandfather, a cigarette holder my girlfriend Jen brought me back from Paris, my iPod and a Tiffany bracelet I got from my aunt for a graduation gift.

All the same, only without the annoying cat. Though, of course, I'd grab him too.

this man lived my dream.

2011-10-08T01:00:00.001-04:00

my dream.

2011-10-07T22:46:00.001-04:00

sleep

never has sleep ever meant so much to me. now that i'm getting older, and my back is starting to ache, and i get a horrible hang over after a 3-beer night, i appreciate my personal temple, aka my bed, more than anything else pretty much. and did i mention that i'm starting to nap? i take naps now. what happened? all i can say is you have it pretty good when you wake up from a nap and there's a blanket that's been put on you; that's love.

what's so fucking important that you needed to wake me?

the toronto sun
if you didn't hear (or didn't care, which most didn't.... myself included), there was an election yesterday. the liberals won. this was the cover of the toronto sun today. awesome!

this

this song

ferrero rocher

just thinking about this little chocolatey/hazel nutty delicious treat makes me feel all warm inside. growing up, whenever someone had ferrero rocher at their house, whether at a get together or christmas or something like that, it made you look really fucking cool. it's like the equivalent of when you used to go trick-or-treating when you were a kid and there was that one house who would hand out full-sized chocolate bars. num num, need to get me some.

friday night's in

2011-10-05T19:05:00.002-04:00

SATURDAY

2011-10-04T13:13:00.003-04:00

2011-09-28T15:39:00.000-04:00

it's no secret that i, brittney townson, am addicted to zara. it's a strange thing because i hadn't really shopped at zara until a few years back and now it's become my immediate go-to for a killer outfit. at the same time, i am a woman on a budget and i'm trying hard ever since my very first clothing challenge earlier this summer to spend a lot less on clothing and recycle as much as possible. how do i do this? i now buy quality, classic clothing that's still affordable; zara in a nutshell. hey, zara; wanna hire me as your spokes girl? eh? if so, here are the things i want. thanks!

ALBUM REVIEW: MELISSA CAMERON

2011-09-26T21:20:00.000-04:00

Melissa Cameron

Back To Me

The first time I saw Melissa Cameron sing was earlier this year when Bangs & Blush and one of Melissa's projects Brooklyn Price were both performing at the very first Heartstrings TV showcase at The Supermarket in Toronto; I remember watching her set blown away by her voice, confidence and over-all stage presence. Dating a musician who plays in multiple bands and who hangs out with mostly musicians has made me see that local musicians really pay attention to what their friends are doing and tend to support each other as much as possible, and because of this I've met multiple people who have either worked with Melissa or are friends of hers who swore by the girl's voice. As I grew more acquainted with her, I attended a few more events where she was involved and most of the time singing her own material. She told me "Back To Me" means that she wanted to get back to focussing on her own songs and her own individual project, making this her very first solo record. When I heard the record she's been working on within the last year (or even longer) was soon to be released, I couldn't wait to hear it; she hooked me up with a copy.

I took the cd out of the plastic and instantly my eyes were studying the beautiful cover (designed by Juliana Neufeld) for a pretty solid chunk of time; over time I've gathered that Melissa is a woman of grace, style and femininity, so the quirky, graphic yet delicate artwork seems like it suits her perfectly. But when it comes to musical style, I can't quite get her pegged. In most cases, you'd think this could be taken the wrong way, but with Melissa she embarks on many different musical routes from the beginning to end of Back To Me - and it works like gangbusters.

Instead of going the usual review-writing route I usually take, which involves me listening to the album and giving an over-all hum of what I think about the album as a whole, I decided to review each song individually, because Melissa only teased us with six songs on this record. Mind the point-form'esque blabbering about each tune, but I wrote all of them while at the time in the moment of listening to the song.

1. This Way

I hear Amy Winehouse-eqsue drums, extremely delicate vocals and harmonies blanketed by synth strings; this is a very good combo. Mid-way through the song, darker, ambient synths make an appearance, instantly giving it a bit of a different, harder edge. This is a strong way to open the album that effectively gives instant excitement for what's to come from the remainder of the album.

2. Invincible

Sounds like an immediate power-house break-up song. Slow, but punchy drumming and an organ gives this song a spooky vibe. I immediately recall this song from seeing Melissa perform it live, and always remembered it as one of my favorites. It has one of my favorite song endings on the album as well.

3. Back To Me

This is the only tune on the album with a ska flare, and I love it; sound works well with Melissa's soulful voice but still maintains the signature ambient, ghostly technique with a touch of some awesome choices of synth sounds. Also one of the more catchy chorus lines.

4. Adore

Back To Me's fourth track has a very electronic, Sigur Ros/Bjork like production which proves yet again that Cameron's solid power-house voice can work it's way into singing along to songs of all styles. Again, I love the synth sounds on this track.

5. In The Cold

This song has a lot of punch and a lot of emotion; definitely the heaviest song on the album.

6. The Heartbreak

'Heartbreak finishes off the album with a forceful blow; this song is catchy as hell and puts Cameron up there to the likes of Adele both melodically and vocally and leaves a 60's-esque taste in your mouth, which I obviously love. Seeing Melissa perform this song, she has the whole room chanting "HEY HEY" back at her, and it seems she's found the perfect recipe for a hit song.

To put it simply, Melissa's team of musical partners including producers and musicians Adam King, Nate Kreiswirth, Ben Nudds, Dennis Passley and Eon Sinclair, and Cameron herself (being the ring leader of a project) came together to create a record well done. I believe there's something for everyone on this album, and that this is definitely just the beginning for Melissa. And how many artists can say first time's a charm?

2011-09-23T11:46:00.002-04:00

getting out of the city for the weekend, so today's things i love friday will be postponed. have a good one!

brittney

2011-09-23T09:58:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SOPHIA.

2011-09-20T14:34:00.000-04:00

NEW FEATURETTE!

2011-09-19T23:29:00.000-04:00

welcome to the ridiculous new shirk magazine featurette:

facehunter.blogspot.com

2011-09-19T18:27:00.001-04:00

it all used to be so simple. and now, he's destroying my kitchen chairs.

2011-09-16T18:09:00.001-04:00

2011-09-16T13:55:00.002-04:00

clothing swaps

clothing swaps are the way to go, ladies (and gents!). stop rushing out to the stores and wasting your money on clothes you may end up just putting back on your rack with the tags still on; get some of your friends together and do a clothing swap! my dj partner lindsay and i have been swapping clothes for a few months now, and it's really the best way to give your wardrobe a kick-start! lindsay's on her way over to my house momentarily with apparently four garbage bags of stuff. i'm slightly salivating.

old family photographs

since my grandma betty passed away last week, the family has been digging up some amazing old photographs of hers from way before she even met my grandfather... here's one of her in 1944 (she would've been 14) and she's just too cute to boot. there were tons of other photographs of her and her friends camping, at the beach, playing in the snow, sitting on boats in the lake... she was quite the little socialite, and absolutely gorgeous and a very snappy dresser as well. very proud to call someone so amazing my grandmother.

burger priest

finally tried burger priest with jesse and his bud jordan. we went mid week, in the middle of the afternoon, so there wasn't a single person in line (which is awesome, considering there can be line up's for up to an hour for these burgers). after reading many articles about burger priest, which is far east toronto at 1636 Queen Street East, i had figured out that i was going to order one of their special, not on the menu burger options; the high priest. the high priest is basically burger priest's take on a big mac... holy shit. i'm going to put out there that this was, by far, the best burger i had ever eaten. absolutely so friggen fresh, the meat and the bun are just unreal, and the rest of their toppings were pure flavour country. i didn't get the fries, because i heard they're not so good, but the burger alone was the perfect amount of food and left me licking my lips for a few hours afterwards. get your ass to burger priest.

49 days until halloween!

this is the time of the year when i start getting super excited for halloween. aside from racking my brain of what the hell to dress up as, when the stores fill with fun costume stuff and they start showing scary movies on tv... it's truly my favorite time of the year. but fuck, i still can't fucking figure out what to be. any good ideas, please forward them through my email... or else i may be stuck having to go as this:

drinking at bistro

here's a photo of me, taken by jen stewart, during our get together earlier this week to celebrate (a little belated, mind you) jen's 26th birthday! it was crappy weather out and it was all so last minute that we decided to go to the good ol' bistro (right across the street from sneaky dee's) for some cheap drinks. you can get a pitcher of mostly any mixed drink for $11, and that my friends, is dangerous. you can tell by looking at my stupid face in this photograph:

this

2011-09-14T16:52:00.000-04:00

OBSESSED WITH: BAKERBOTS

2011-09-13T21:47:00.000-04:00

right outside of the deleware ave. ossington station exit is a little bakery/cafe called bakerbots; this place just opened earlier this year, and it has strange hours of oppression, but the ice cream sandwiches from this place are already city renowned. jesse and i had been in the house all day working away, and just finished a lovely home cooked meal for the first time in over a week, and decided to give it a shot. a mere 10 minute walk later, in the cool autumn evening weather, we landed on the bakerbots front step, leaving shortly with one of the most delicious little treats i've ever had. try their "everything cookie with burnt marshmallow ice cream"; you'll fucking die.

2011-09-11T16:06:00.000-04:00

this is what a real commercial airline crash in a field looks like.

this is a photo taken shortly after the "plane crash" in shankville, pennsylvania on september 11th, 2001.

2011-09-10T19:02:00.000-04:00

apologies from us here at shirk magazine for the lack of things i love friday yesterday; things have come to somewhat of a halt since thursday morning when i was notified that my beloved grandmother betty passed away. tears, heartbreak and all of that fun stuff aside, i'd like to give you a very special

things i love saturdays

the betty daniel edition

betty was my grandmother, my mother's mother and one hell of a woman. not only was she beautiful and had incredible taste in everything, but she was sharp as a tack and had one of the most killer, dry senses of humor i have ever known in anyone; if there's any reason at all you know me personally and think i'm funny, it's single handedly because of betty. the daniel's raised a family of complete goofballs; my aunts and cousins and my uncles who married into the family all soon realized that we were a gang of hilarious nutters who had the best of the best times while we were together, and it was because betty and my grandfather bill set the bar high. they met as two of the most good looking young adults i have pretty much ever seen, traveled the world, enjoyed the finer things i life such as good music, good food, good friends, good parties... and then had three beautiful girls, my aunt lesley, my mom lisa and my aunt wendy.

getting to know betty was one of the highlights of me living twenty-five years on this earth so far; i saw a lot of myself in her and always will be incredibly intrigued with anything to do with her and her life story. even at her worst, she would always find somewhere to sneak in a joke. and although it's very hard right now to be able to take some of life's worst blows with a grain of salt, my family and i know that she lived her life, and she lived the hell out of it. and that's the best way to live.

2011-09-06T13:05:00.002-04:00

hello fello shirk-sters. how are ya? i'm wearing a sweater... on top of a collared shirt! isn't that awesome? meh; i can't decide. i love autumn but heading outside with a cup of tea this morning and getting the first chill i've had in months really hit me hard. but hey, i've got a star wars poster framed on my wall so it's all gooooooood.

2011-09-05T19:36:00.000-04:00

OBSESSED WITH: THE WEDDING SINGER

2011-09-05T19:35:00.000-04:00

2011-09-03T03:06:00.002-04:00

jesse

how many times now have i mentioned my boyfriend, seriously. i guess it clearly shows that i'm obsessed with him. obsessed in a way not meant to be taken in a "i'm not sitting next to that bitch on the subway" fashion. i mean that i'm pretty fucking aware of how lucky i am to have the boyfriend that i do. he has got to be, not only the kindest person to me that i have ever met, but pretty much everything about him i think is the fucking bomb tits. he's the kind of boyfriend that every girl secretly dreams of having but sadly a lot never find. he's the sweetest, most sensitive, aware and loving person i've ever met; at the same time he's hard as fuck, never takes bullshit, gives you the hard truth and will probably kill anyone who hurts the people he loves the most. that, my ladies, i think is the best kind of man i've ever known of. and i, one lucky bitch, get to have him. for whatever reason he seems to think i'm pretty cool; so i'll be counting my blessings every day and so fourth. if you ever happen to find a man like jesse... hold on, and hold on tight.

the blues brothers

i was one of the lucky ones where my parents had "the blues brothers" on vhs around the house since i can remember. at a young age, i'm going to guess 5 or 6, i was in that phase where when i found a movie i liked, i obsessed over it and watched it nearly every day until my parents pleaded with me to for the love of god stop watching it. this was one of those movies. i think the reason i found my entire musical obsession and desire with soul music is single handedly because of this film (though adventures in babysitting is pretty up there). jake and elwood with forever be two of the most important pop culture icons for me, and fact that these men went to jail for their love of soul and blues makes feel that i'm not alone in that exact plausible sacrifice. we're on a mission for god FOREVER.

bocconcini

i will eat a lot of this whenever you offer it to me, period.

autumn

i have to say, i'm a big autumn fan. if you've been a shirk reader for 2+ years now, you'd know of my countless entries regarding my obsession with autumn. leaves changing, sweaters, pumpkins, pies, halloween, ghost stories... what the hell is any fucking better? i agree, summer is awesome. so awesome. but for some reason, my heart belongs to autumn.

this video

2011-09-01T00:27:00.000-04:00

YES, PLEASE

2011-08-30T19:13:00.002-04:00

2011-08-30T14:02:00.000-04:00

so, all of you by now must know that we here at shirk magazine are obsessive the simpsons fans. i can vouch for that by saying that my sense of humor (what is was, has become and will grow to be), is because of the simpsons. i was a lucky kid; my parents let me watch the simpsons from pretty much as early as i can remember, where i knew of a lot of other kids who weren't allowed to for years. so, not only have i kept the same excitement when i happen to stumble on an episode of the simpsons on tv since i was a five year old, but i never ever tire of it. it still makes me laugh just as hard. the writers for the simpsons were serious fucking geniuses, like ahem, conan o'brien? incredible, because conan was also a huge influence on me in terms of my delevoping sense of humor... he was also a writer for saturday night live before he landed his own talk show. maybe i should be writing this article about how conan o'brien, NOT the simpsons, shaped me into the weirdo i am today. that's another article for another day, because today's subject is too important to pass up; ladies and gentlemen, here's shirk magazine's list of:

Baby On Board - The Be Sharps
how could this not be on the list, for it's obviously a direct beatles let it be doc/last rooftop performance ever ode, but the whole scene is hilarious and memorable. and the george harrison cameo kills me.

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly
this is one of the funniest moments in simpson history, as bart changes all of the lyric books to the sunday church hymn with sheet music for iron butterfly's very epic psychedelic "in-a-gadda-da-vida". shit gets funny.

The Stonecutters Theme (We Do)

this whole episode is just ridiculous.

Dr. Zaius

"i can SIIIIIIIIIIIIING!"

See My Vest - Mr. Burns
this has got to be my most favorite song pretty much ever featured on the simpsons. kills me every time!

Canyonero Jingle
the singer, the narrator, the whipping noises, krusty... everything about this is incredible.

Monorail
inspired by one of the best musicals ever, the music man, this song just may be the best.

Who Needs The Kwik-E Mart - Apu
this was a song sung a lot in my house growing up.

The Garbage Man Can
nice cameo, U2.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MJ!

2011-08-29T12:14:00.000-04:00

2011-08-28T23:59:00.001-04:00