Rockin Around the Christmas Tree

Is it just me, or did Christmas come and go way too quickly?? We’d like to carry the holiday partying into the new year and want YOU to join us. We’ll be having a Holiday Wrap Up Show on Friday, January 7^th at Piranha Bar (680 St. Catherine St. West) at 9pm with Luther Higgs (http://www.myspace.com/lutherhiggs) and Brian Massimetti & the Chicago Mint Club (http://www.myspace.com/chicagomintclub). Look out for an invite via Facebook soon!  

Seeing as 2011 is now less than a week away, I decided to look back on the year and compile a list of band and music-related highlights (in no particular order):

Ø   Degrassi: October 22 - City Stars was featured in an episode of Degrassi called Love Lockdown 2. It was the first time our song was played in a television show, so this was a very exciting moment for us.

Ø   Album Launch Party: January 15 - We released our first full-length album, Maps & Directions, at our launch party at Clydes Pub in the West Island. This was a great night for us on so many levels. First, we were finally able to share an album that we had spent years writing, preparing and recording. Then to see all of our friends at the show to support us was a wonderful feeling J Thanks again to those who came and made it a memorable night for us!

Ø   Hearing Test: April - Kathy and I complain that we can’t hear properly anymore (which really, we can’t). So we both decided to have our hearing checked. Turns out, no hearing loss has been caused by our years of jamming and going to lots of live shows! With that said, if you are also in a band and/or like to go to shows, I would encourage the use of earplugs.

Ø   Osheaga: July 30 & August 1 –This was my second year going to the festival and it was amazing. Being outside in the sun for two entire days, having a chance to listen to upwards of 40 bands, and chilling with great friends (shout out to Kelly and Nastasia!) is what I would call a fantastic weekend. Some of my favourite shows that weekend were The Black Keys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQL6Hhplm5s), Metric, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0RQnGhxZzg), and The Cat Empire to name a few. Also, thank you Sabra tent for giving us tons of delicious hummus J

ØLa Ronde: August 10 - We played a show at La Ronde this summer that was a little out of the  ordinary. We played two sets on the terrace of a "saloon" in one of the food areas of the amusement park. THEN, we got to take full advantage of all the rides for the rest of the day. We thought it would be a smart idea to start with the ride that completely drenches you with water, since we figured we would dry off on the other rides. Yeah, we ended up being soaked for the entire afternoon, haha.  

Ø   Finally, my favourite moments of the year are definitely the fun times shared with friends all year round over dinners, coffees, drinks, shows and Luther Spectra game nights and jams!

So cheers everyone to a fantastic year, and an even better one ahead!

Vanessa   

At Least It Was Here

Bonjour!

Let me first start off by saying ONE WEEK 'TILL CHRISTMAS!!! I'm very excited! Also in a mere few hours from now my good friend "Aussie Chris" will be coming home for the holidays from down under to spend a month here and I'm stoked. It's another thing I look forward to every year around the holidays.

More importantly, though, right now I'm on my Christmas break from school and it rules! Last year I also finished my undergrad, but like a silly goose I am back in school.  This time however, I'm back in CEGEP...weird! I'm basically going to school to get the papers for a job that I've been doing since I was 17 which is being an early childhood educator.  Without those papers I'm not "legit" and frankly, I'm too legit to quit so I'm back at school.

The point is, I have 39 days off and it's great.  My life is also eerily similar to Jeff Winger from Community, which is probably one of the best shows I've ever seen, yeah I love it that much.  I'm this older person with a BA in a crows of youngins, I'm in a study group, there is a "Shirley" and an "Annie" in my classes and sometimes things that happen in my life end up on the show!  But it's okay because school is alright and I get 39 days off!!!!! I don't know what is going to happen when I finally finish school for real and have to work with only 2 weeks off.

...I'll probably go back to school.

HAPPY EARLY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE XOXOXOXO
KATHY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsyzP8pkaTI

It's in the photograph

SO, it's my last blog of 2010 and it's pretty last minute...To look back on the last year, I picked out some iphone photos that sum-up the last 12 months...I also realized that more than half of my photos are of cakes I made, but there was a whole other post just for that (HERE).

Sometime between finishing school last December and starting work in April, I took the time to re-decorate my room. The most exciting part was getting an upgrade from a twin bed with no frame to an adult-sized bed! BUT, my favorite piece is the 40-year-old dresser (from my Mom's teenage bedroom set) I decided to re-paint (with major help from my brother) instead of buying something new. I really love how it came out, and that its totally one of a kind!

 Then in May, I got my diploma to make things official. (I should probably get that framed soon...)

 Llamas!!

Cabane a sucre was awesome, especially because they had llamas.

Finally, Cosmo's a jerk and will even try to steal plastic food!  

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

See you in the new year!!

-Diana

Take Me To The Riot

We're very lucky to live in a city that is home to so many great bands, like the bands we saw last night. Despite the fact that the temperature outside was below zero and the thought of having to face the cold made us angry, we put on our winter coats and went downtown to see one of our favorite local bands: Stars. Another local band, Young Galaxy, opened the show. We’d never seen Young Galaxy perform, so we were especially excited to see what they would do live. Let me tell you, they are a band definitely worth checking out! Their songs are beautifully written, and their singer can SING. My favorite song they performed last night was called “Firestruck”. Have a listen:


After Young Galaxy’s set, Stars hit the stage, opening with “He Dreams He's Awake,” off their latest record, “The Five Ghosts”. This was the last show of their tour for this particular album, and was definitely the best I'd ever seen them perform. That was mainly due to the fact that they had a bubble machine! Stars had a lot of great moments on stage last night, but the acoustic performance of this song was probably my favorite:

Conclusion: go to shows and support local music! And invest in some gloves - it's getting cold outside.

Vanessa

Santa, Oh Wait!

So on Saturday there was a glorious snowfall in our beautiful city and we decided we wanted to go out and play in the snow.  While we were outside we noticed that there were a slew of decorations that had been left of the ground. We picked them up and decorated a nearby spruce.  We got into a snowball fight and ran away as if nothing had happened.  It's a good thing we had my tiny digital camera with us to capture all the fun.  We also noticed a little surprise left behind by a certain Jolly Fat Man who tours the world around this time of year.

Take a look at our adventures, and pay attention to the song in the background. It's new, so we hope you like it



If you like the song, take a listen over and over again on our myspace
www.myspace.com/linespectra

YAY HOLIDAY SPRIT!!

Learning is Fun Cause Knowledge is Power!

I just realized today that it's been almost a whole year since finishing my degree! Which makes me wonder how many points my IQ has probably dropped...
So, in the effort to learn something today and pass it on to you, here are some fun facts I learned from the internet:

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?

A. One thousand

Q. What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?

A. All invented by women.

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

In the US, a billion is 1,000 x million, or 1,000,000,000.
But in the UK, a billion has historically been 1 million x million, or 1,000,000,000,000.

A rat can last longer without water than a camel.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it will digest itself.

A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.

A 2 X 4 is really 1-1/2" by 3-1/2".

Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to s-l-o-w film down so you could see his moves.

The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."

The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.

Bats always turn left when exiting a cave!


Finally, here is a video about how blood works from my favorite nerd vlog:


Have a great week,
Diana

21st Century

It is with great pleasure to announce that Line Spectra is now officially living in the 21st century! We have FINALLY made our album "Maps & Directions" available for purchase online - so whether you're living in Montreal, Philadelphia, London, or wherever you live, you can own our album!

You can get your hands on our CD by being awesome and coming to one of our shows. BUT, if you can't make it to a show, you can get the album through CD Baby (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/linespectra), Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0025TLRRY/ref=dm_dp_adp?ie=UTF8&qid=1289780223&sr=8-1-catcorr) or Itunes (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/maps-directions/id403897357).

All this talk about album purchases reminds me of the first CD I ever bought. T'was "Creature" by Moist. This song was definitely my favorite off the record. Gotta love the 90s!:


Thanks for the support y'all! Hope you enjoy the album :)
Vanessa

Fuck You/Forget You!

So this seems to be THE song at the moment, and last night at our Clyde's show with THE KOALAS (which was freaking amazing by the way) they covered this song and it was excellent. But more importantly, the show was amazing, we want to thank everyone that came, THE KOALAS, I especially want to thank Chris for bringing his drum set and letting me use it :)

After the show we all had the great idea of going to Chenoys and eating food at 3am. I got smoked meat spaghetti and JUST remembered that there is some left over my fridge right now, that I have to eat before my brother does!!

Kathy

This Is Halloween

Happy Halloween !



Oh and here's the full 3 minute song...


Sorry for the lazy post...
Diana

P.S. We're playing next Saturday (Nov 6) at Clyde's in Pointe Claire

Love Lockdown

This week was particularly awesome: it was a bandmate's birthday, we got to see one of the funniest comedians around, and our song, "City Stars," was played on a tv show!

On Thursday, our drummer Kathy turned one year younger, and to celebrate, we went to Metropolis to see one of our favorite comedians: Louis CK! After waiting in line for about an hour and a half, we made our way to the front of the venue and snagged a great table two rows away from the stage. Soon after we sat down, the first comedian, Todd Glass, came on stage. He told jokes about waffle makers and Sham Wows that made my face hurt from laughing so much. I literally had to wipe tears from eyes after listening to him. Here's a clip that includes both of those jokes:

Then Mr. Louis CK hit the stage. What’s great about Louis CK is, well, everything. He can and will talk about anything and really doesn't care what anyone thinks. From his indigestion to things I can’t repeat on this blog, he really doesn’t have a boundary he won’t cross. He is outrageously funny and can probably read something as boring as the phonebook and have people rolling on the floor laughing. Here's a story he told at the show:

On Friday evening, our song "City Stars" was played on a tv show called Degrassi, which airs on Much Music. It was the first time our music was played on a tv show, so it was an exciting evening :) In case you missed the episode, you can check out full episodes here: http://www.muchmusic.com/tv/degrassi/. The episode is called Love Lockdown 2, episode #1028. Unfortunately, the full episode hasn't been posted on the site yet, so you'll have to check back again later.

Hope you all had a great weekend too!
Vanessa

3 AM

Okay, so it's not really 3 am but it is almost 2 am and I do have to be up in about 4 hours!!! eek!!

To avoid having to do some kind of consequence for not posting a blog I've decided to post about what I've done recently. On Friday night I went to see Jackass 3D and frankly it was AMAZING! I miss that show. It also reminded me that they started that show TEN years ago! It made me feel just a little bit old.

In honor of that here is a list of the most popular songs of 2000:

Smooth - Santana
Come on Over - Christina Aguilera
Music - Madonna
Say My Name - Destiny's Child
Try Again - Aaliyah
It's Gonna be Me - N*Sync
With Arms Wide Open - Creed

So those were the hits of 2000! Not the best decade music-wise but those songs do not feel like that's what was on the radio when we were in grade 7!

Goodnight my friends, have fun feeling old like I do right now!
p.s. It's my birthday on Thursday!

Kathy

TV Party Tonight! Degrassi Party Tonight!

Being born in the 80s and growing up in the 90s, the original Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High series were definitely key. I remember getting to watch episodes in class in grade 6 instead of learning silly things like math...Being a big fan of the orginal series, it was really exciting to find out on the new episode of Degrassi airing October 22nd, they'll be featuring City Stars by Line Spectra!!

So to celebrate, since I have nothing clever to say and I just found that PBS has entire episodes of Degrassi Junior High on youtube, here are some videos:
Spike finds out she's pregnant!



All this reminiscing has made me think of the other shows that were my favs those days and sometimes if we were lucky and our teachers needed a break, we got to watch in class...



Sorry for the lazy post with all the videos, but it's Thanksgiving tomorrow and I've got some stuff to prep,
--DIANA

Born to Run

I’m a pretty big fan of a Mr. Bruce Springsteen. You might know of him. So when I found out about this, I was pretty jealous: A few days ago, a newly-engaged couple was walking along the beach in New Jersey when they noticed someone sitting alone on a bench, just enjoying his down-time at the beach. Who was it? It was Bruce Springsteen! Conveniently, the couple had an acoustic guitar on them. I guess they were born to run into Bruce Springsteen. (Haha, get it? "born to run"? Sorry…). So they asked The Boss if he would sing for them. And he did! What a guy.

Sweet engagement present!

If you could have anyone serenade you on the beach, who would it be?? 

'Till next time,
Vanessa

T.V.

So it's my turn to blog and I can't even explain how much I just want to blog about baking! But I will resist, I will save that post for a time when I have nothing else to write about.

Last week was an EPIC week in TV premier-ness. The past few TV years have been amazing; less really bad reality shows, more awesome sitcom/drama shows. Here is a re-cap of what happened last week and what is coming up (which is equally epic)

Dancing With the Stars - (ABC, Mondays @8, Tuesdays @9) I've honestly never watched this show       before, but Margaret Cho is on so I'm giving it a chance

How I Met Your Mother - (CBS, Mondays @8) I'm pretty over this show, but I've dedicated so much time to it that I have to keep watching it. I don't care who the mother is, we'll never know but I love Marshall and Lilly forever, so I watch.

Castle - (ABC, Mondays @10) Season 2 started and it was amazing, Nathan Fillion is a beautiful man and the show still as witty as season 1

Glee - (Fox, Tuesdays @8) I love this show. I'm not even ashamed. Well a little bit but whatever.

Law & Order SVU - (NBC, Wednesdays @10) Easily one of my favourite shows. I love Benson and Stabler together, and the premier was amazing because Joan Cusack was on!! 

Law & Order LA - (NBC, Wednesdays @10) starts this week. Both Law & Orders are apparently Wednesdays at 10 on NBC, if LA trumps my SVU, Benson and Stabler will get a strongly worded letter from me.

Big Bang Theory - (CBS, Thursdays @8) This show is just adorable, Sheldon is great as always, Raj is adorable, Leonard's a little useless, Howard's a perv and Penny is amazing when paired with Sheldon.

The Office - (NBC, Thursdays @9) Admittedly I didn't watch the premier. I'm restarting the show because I missed so many episodes. Also I'm a little scared for this season since Michael is leaving :( 

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - (FX, Thursdays @10) - Brilliant, hilarious, offensive as per usual. I love this show

Saturday Night Live - (NBC, Saturdays @11:30) I don't even know what to say, even with Amy Poheler hosting and Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon making cameos this show is just not funny. Where are the women!? Kristen Wiig can only do so much! The cast is still great but the material is just not funny. Shame :( I was really disappointed. That, and they had Katy Perry performing...I'll leave it at that.

Boardwalk Empire - (HBO, Sundays @9) BEST NEW SHOW. I'm putting that out there. It was amazing. Produced by Marty Scorsese and he directed the first episode as well, how could I not love it? Staring the brilliant Steve Buscemi, it takes place in NJ during the 1920s prohibition era. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

That is what I watched this week ALONE! Obviously I'm not getting much homework done. Tonight

Desperate Housewives is back on ABC @9 but I don't watch that show ever since I discovered the epic-ness that is DEXTER which is FINALLY back after what feels like forever since the last season ended. It's on SHOWTIME @9. 

So that's what I've done with my week, if there is anything that I missed, I really shouldn't know about it since I clearly spend too much time watching TV anyway.  I leave you with a song:

Blink-182 TV


-Kathy

Sweetness

When we had the idea for the blog, we joked about how it would just end up as a food blog...so no surprise I'm picking up where Vanessa left off and decided to share some of my favorite cakes I've made.

Starting with the most recent:

This was a first try with homemade fondant, not as good as I would have liked but I was pretty happy for a first try.

Next, for my birthday this year I got a giant cupcake pan. I've already used it a bunch of times, but in this case, the first one was the best:

Last but not least, my absolute favorite is the bear cake pan I got from Vanessa. I've only made it once, but I was SO happy with how it turned out!!





Thanks!!
-Diana

This blog is too foodilicious for you...

For Labour Day weekend, my family and I took a little road trip down to the Big Apple. What I was looking forward to while visiting New York City was a chance to relax, explore fun areas like Soho and Greenwich Village, and of course, shop! But I won't lie - I was most excited about the food we were going to eat!

First stop: Red Lobster in New Jersey

Apparently Red Lobster is THE place to be on Saturday night - there was a one-hour wait for a table. But a one-hour wait could not stop me from eating those cheese biscuits. If you've been to Red Lobster, then you know what I'm talking about.

The best cheese biscuits in the world

Too much shrimp... 

Mesa Grill near Union Square

The next day, we were off to Mesa Grill in Manhattan to enjoy some of Chef Bobby Flay's Mexican food for brunch. Now, I've eaten my fair share of spicy foods before, but this was definitely the spiciest food I'd ever eaten. And it was fantastic!

Spicy chorizo sausage and crispy bacon and hash brown quesadillas

Magnolia Bakery near Rockefeller Center 

Feeling inspired by the SNL Digital Short, "Lazy Sunday," we stopped by Magnolia Bakery to pick up some of the cupcakes featured in the video. Hey, if Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell like those cupcakes enough to rap about them, they must be good!

Coconut, vanilla and chocolate cupcakes :)

More desserts!

So that was my mini food adventure in New York. Thanks for reading!

Vanessa

The Blog Stars Here

We just decided to try something new and start a weekly blog.

We'll be taking turns each week to write about whatever is on our minds; it can be about what Line Spectra has going on, other great music, arts and crafts, what we made for dinner...anything.

There are a few simple rules:

-To make sure we don't get lazy; there will be some sort of consequence, chosen by the other two, for whoever misses a blog when it's their turn.

-When it's your week, you can post any day, but the deadline is Sunday 11:59pm (EST).

- Of course anyone can make extra posts at any time.

-Every weekly post title has to be some kind of song reference (figure this one out?)

This post counts for this week's, Vanessa's going first next week!

 
We also have a twitter page (here) for whoever isn't getting enough Line Spectra in their lives.