Tim Horton's takes me back TO Canada

Made my annual pilgrimage to Vivocity and found Tim Horton's there. I knew they had opened, but hadn't planned on dropping in as I heard that the lines were crazy. New food places always are around these parts. As I got my shopping list completed, I noticed that the queue tended to pulsate. The next time the line was short, I jumped in. The last time I had any 'timbits' (a.k.a donut holes) must have been over 30 years ago when I was a student in TO. Good times.

Time has been good to Tim's. The outlet here looks more upmarket than I remember, and there is now a vibrant, exciting new vibe when it used to be chill and more laid-back as far as my memory goes. I like that there's no staff uniform, as such. Apart from a standard all black overall theme, the staff wore a variety of whatever brand of apparel they wanted, and a lanyard that prominently displayed the word 'STAFF'. A typically Canadian understatement. Otherwise, the place itself was busy and bustling with people standing around waiting for their orders, while the tables were full of customers enjoying their caffeine-and-donut fueled social activity. The scene was chaotic, but in a good way. Orders were being fulfilled, people were negotiating for a space to sit, or like me quickly buzzed away with our take-away boxes. The chaos of life.

The photos above do not do the timbits themselves much justice. $10 for a box of 10 pre-selected flavours: the classic glaze, the cinnamon, and the birthday cake (presumably decorated with sprinkles). I'd let my box lie fallow for a few hours as I was too full to consume them while they were still fresh. That was lunch. I opened the box after dinner for dessert, and yeah. They look much sadder than they were in the store. Taste-wise, they are nothing fancy, nothing pretentious. You get what you pay for: they're sweet, they're cinnamony, and they're sweet with a bit of sugar crunch. They're not meant to be savoured. They're meant to keep the mouth busy while you're having a good time with your friends. They're something to share between buddies in between sips of coffee. It's that community feeling that really sums up the charm of Tim Horton's. Glad to see it's still like that today.

Coincidentally, I'd decided to eat them while watching Netflix's 'Scott Pilgrim Takes Off' which is set in TO. Bits of memory flashed by with background shots of the CN Tower, the Skydome (now called Rogers Centre), and Julie's house reminds me of the one I stayed in on Bathurst Street when I first arrived in TO. Oddly enough, the storyline looks towards the future about 30 years, while today I'm looking back 30 years. I'm Old Xmac, and in many ways I can identify with what Scott is going through. It hit a little close to home.

Kingslayer: down with the King!

[Trigger warning: video includes harsh language]

We finally have an official video release of BMTH's 'Kingslayer' feat. BABYMETAL! Since the track released about three years ago, the two groups have never performed it together until a couple of months back 'live' in Tokyo. After all the fancam compilations (some of which have been quite good, given the source material), it's great to have a closeup view of what's happening onstage.

The buildup video sets the scene with the undermining of an 'EVE-L' authority, made to look ridiculous with the infiltration of a virus corrupting the system and reducing it to 'N64 level graphics' and getting worse. Meanwhile, interspersed are shots of particular audience members, including closeups of young women in the crowd, suggesting that metal is no longer the exclusive domain of the typical 'metalhead' stereotype. When the video announces 'Kingslayer', the crowd erupts and explodes as BABYMETAL make their entrance. MOMO and SU are focused, MOA, as usual, acknowledges the camera. As they take their places, they naturally hype up the crowd. Fully energised, Oli (lead vocalist of BMTH) leads the crowd to chant with the opening riff that has by now become iconic.

Oli plays two characters in this story. He starts as an oppressor taunting essentially himself, as the oppressed. The oppressor sings the melody, the oppressed is the screamer who interrupts with a growing recognition of who his oppressor really is: 'corrupted' and 'the monster'.

SU chimes in with her catchy, pop vocals to introduce the Kingslayer. This metal hero is a familiar figure, appearing as 'Meta Taro' and in 'Metallism', representing the internal fortitude to fight back against adversity. Here, Kingslayer 'destroys castles in the sky' which is an inversion of the idiom, 'building castles in the air', referring to dreams that have no hope of being fulfilled. So the Kingslayer is the hero within ourselves who rises up against any authority that rules over us with false promises, or hopes that they have no intention of fulfilling. Such authorities could be addictions, abusive parents, relationships, or even ourselves (as in the characters Oli is playing) -- anyone holding us back, keeping us down, or otherwise preventing us from living in 'another world', a better one.

The oppressor uses two main tactics to remain in control. The first is the idea that nothing can change: you depend on them, and you are nothing without them. They threaten that breaking free is cutting the strings of a puppet -- you couldn't even crawl back if you wanted. The second is the accusation of ingratitude: 'do you really want to twist the knife in the belly...' to which the oppressed screams 'of the monster!!!' This realisation is echoed in the screamed chorus in colourful language. Its a 'wake... up' call to reboot the system and start again, this time without the monkey on your back.

BABYMETAL are our metal cheerleaders, encouraging us to fight on to overthrow our usurper King, reminding us that we will 'never fight alone' in this battle. We get to see more of their choreo in this video. Yup, very aggressive cheerleading movements, along with wide-legged sumo stomps and monster claws, and always so coordinated. 

By the end of the instrumental bridge, the battle is over and the oppressed screams his victory, 'I can't feel yooooou!!!', to which the ladies reply with a celebratory SG-inspired 'Ooooooh Yeeeeeah!!!' The last lyrics seem to be the frustrated last words of the deposed ruler, a middle finger to the victor, which is an oddly satisfying climax while Oli and the ladies head... no, bodybang a tribal victory dance to close out this breathtaking journey.

'de ded ded ded ded de de de dedded ded ded de ded!' A riff to keep in our hearts when we need the energy to overcome.