Shirin Delsooz

My Life Adventures and Thoughts

The Good Side of TPL

I think I was a little bit too harsh in my open letter to the TPL. Now that I think about it, I feel like one of those do-nothing ungrateful citizens that always expects miracles from some tax dollars.

In all fairness, I think we could all use a bit of critiquing, but we should not oversee the good. So here it goes…

Thank you TPL, for still being my number one informational resource!

I make extensive use of your music library collection that’s always updated with the latest in pop, and Canadian independent music in both CD and music score format. I am always delighted to find what I was looking for in the large music score readily available as if no one knew about it before– like it was my own secret. I’ll never forget how shocked I was to see so much Jann Arden!

Also, the reels and reels of newspapers dating from hundreds of years ago are neatly organized and beats any trip to a historical museum. I could sit for hours reading and looking at the pictures of the city I lived in a hundred years ago today, and it’s made possible because of the donations and taxes that go into the library.

There are also a lot of neat features about the library that not a lot of people don’t know or take advantage of. Did you know they lend out pedometers for free? And museum passes too?

That’s not to mention the countless workshops and activities to engage the community.  There’s everything ranging from movie night to just learning Microsoft word.

They even renovated their Dufferin location to simulate the Starbuck’s experience. This library with its sleek modern interior allows its visitors to eat INSIDE while using their laptops with music played in the background. You don’t have to pay $6 for a grande, this joint is for free!

I probably didn’t even list a fraction of all that the Toronto Public Library has to offer but anyone in Toronto can tell you it’s great. And I get angry at those who ruin it for others with their book hoarding and accruing unpaid big fines! Not cool.

Anyway, the place is great, that I really hope I can get more involved with the library community… maybe as a workshop leader on blogging?

My open letter to the Toronto Public Library head honchos

Today I was disappointed to discover the music practice rooms in the Toronto Reference Library were complete duds.

What you call a practice room appears to me as a make shift room hastily put together by wooden boards and some glue. If this was an attempt to barricade sound, could the three walls at least meet the ceiling?

I suppose the ‘music’ in the TRL’s practice room denotes the two Casio keyboards awkwardly put together quite literally side by side. Surely no one will hear a peep with the headphones permanently attached. But could the TRL at least acknowledge how awkward it was for me to play away Fur Elise when a complete stranger was allowed to barge in and play the keyboard next to me? Surely anyone with any musical inclination can agree practice in its most blandest of forms requires privacy and space- the library’s traditional stacked study desk arrangement does not apply.

Being able to only play the provided keyboards in a room officially dubbed ‘piano/practice room’ completely disregards other musicians. Why can’t guitars, violins and other acoustic instruments be played inside without being in violation of having to be heard by the entire library? Why does the library give preference in accommodating keyboard players?

As it stands now there are no other public spaces for musicians to play in privacy other than the North York Central Library where a fee is charged by the hour. If the library is a resource for learning, I think it is imperative to dedicate at least a room as small as 7 square feet in at least one of the downtown branches to better provide for its music community.

I hope you will agree! And I think I should also let you know I will be posting this letter on my blog so my musician readers will also become aware of this issue.

Thank you,

Van Delsooz

“If you don’t like it, get a car!” – TTC driver

I must have had another heart attack yesterday when I learned that the TTC may consider fare increases to $3 and bus passes to $126. There must be something extremely inefficient in a partly subsidized transit system that’s services costs are becoming closer and closer to cab fare. And I’m further perturbed upon learning that New York’s metro pass is $70, and Montreal is $64! That’s half price!

The argument I hear back is that Toronto is a bigger city. Yes, true, but there are more people in that city, and more people mean more taxes and more ridership. It makes me really interested to hear a forensic accountants take on the TTC after reading their balance sheets. Something is definitely wrong here.

What’s also wrong is the attitude of a bus driver on the 68 warden today who was yelling at these women to pay the full bus fare. They paid the student fare but didn’t have a student card. “STUDENT CARD OR ADULT FARE!” She shouted. I didn’t think there was a need to embarrass these women with their wal-mart shopping bags. They paid the full fare at once, but the driver still was shouting at them with an almost psychotic tone. Maintaining their dignity, they yelled back at her, bitch this and shut up that. “Pff, the bus fare is already too much,” one of the women retorted.

“If you don’t like it, get a car!” She yelled so condescendingly as if that was an option people aspire to, as if being in poverty was a filthy and lowly crime.

Is this the option we are forced to consider from what was supposed to be the public’s transit, the proletariats chariot?

Hasn’t anyone understood by now that it makes no logistical sense for everyone to be driving a car? Do we need our streets to be clogged with anymore grid lock, or more lanes paved to add to our unaesthetic landscape? Do we need more smog clouding our air and into our lungs?

I’ve been to other cities, and I feel like Toronto is the only place where people take the bus only if they couldn’t afford a car. Countless times I’ve seen guys browsing through the listings of auto magazines in the bus. I hear of people foolishly slaving off for minimum wage to get their wagon. Many times I’ve received pity from people when I told them I don’t have a car. This childish materialistic attitude has got to change. I keep on trying to show people they have been misled in the empty promises and dreams of car culture!

The goal is to get from place to place fast. The only efficient way for people to be transported in a city is undoubtedly properly managed public transit.

Why can’t decision makers put the politics aside and realize this?

We need to increase service! We need to decrease the fare!

I always believed a two way fare of public transit should be less than half of an hourly minimum wage… that’s around $9, and the proposed 2 way bus fare is at $6, that’s 2/3rds of the way. It’s not fair. The system is bound to collapse!

If the driver had to ask me, I’d say, No, I don’t like it- but I won’t get a car- but I will ride my bike. The fight for cheaper bus far and the push for increased services seems like a losing battle.  I think my energy is best put towards the push for indoor bike lanes for winter. Once that’s built, we’ll have full mobility around the city and there won’t be a need to pay someone 80K+ a year for each lane.

Getting my leather boots tailored at a Good Price in Toronto!

I found the right boots at the mall last week, and like all boots, the calves area was just too large. I had to get it tailored by the right guy, but not for an arm and a leg! Some charge up to $100 for this!

Mr. Sako at Van Horne Plaza in Toronto does it for $50! And he does a good job! I thought I should take some time to praise good work as it is rare to come by these days.

He paid extra attention to every detail, measuring and repeatedly asking me if I was comfortable. He made me walk, bend down and walk some more just to make sure. It was ready in a week, and when I came to try it on it was a perfect fit! No hassle, no fuss, no muss.

I am a new proud owner of nice sleek boots. Some people argue that $50 is even too much… but I’m someone who puts emphasis in having nice things to wear. I’d rather have one pair of nice boots than 10 crummy ones! If I could, I would tailor all my clothes too!

If you live in the Toronto area and need someone to trust your expensive leather items to tailor, check out:

Mr. Sako Shoe Repair

2824 Victoria Park (Vanhorne Plaza)

(416) 491-2351

The difficulty of being a lady musician

I’m concerned about the lack of women in the local music scene!

The only women I see are the bartenders and if there are any ‘musicians’ that do come, they are ‘singers’ or at best three chord ‘singer songwriters’!  Where are the female drummers, bassists, and guitarists?  Once in a blue moon there are female musicians and I grasp onto them and beg them to stay so much! But they don’t come back!

I’ve tried to think of the many reasons as to why this could be. Maybe female musicians are not too keen to linger around bars with all the dudes. Maybe female musicians do not feel accepted? Maybe they do not have the confidence? These were some of the repercussions I had when I started out.

There are many unspoken troubles a female musician has to face.  For instance, it is so hard to find people to jam with. The dynamic tends to be a close one and guys tend to abuse it. How can a female be comfortable jamming in a room alone with a guy if she has this understandable fear sitting in the back of her mind?

Then there is also the problem of not having enough role models out there.  It’s barricaded by a front line in the music industry- sound engineers, technicians and dj’s who are all men!  Even at the record store and instrument stores most of the sales people are men.  I had a friend who once told me not to go to Steve’s music store because they are not too fond of women and beginners. The music industry is surrounded by men!

To break into this circle to the actual production side of music is quite a feat!  How often have you heard of a record selling female producer?  I can’t even think of one.  Once in a while we hear of a bassist in some band, or a keyboardist, or a violinist, but its not ever equal or remotely close to the number of men!

Ya that blows. But I won’t let it deter me, nor will I use it as an excuse and be lazy with practice. It’s just a mere observation and hopefully things will change, and it slowly has…