Strachan Bridge

Toronto, Ontario - April 30, 2009 - For those of you who reside in the King West Area, if you haven't heard about the proposal for the Strachan Bridge, here's your chance to learn and vote AGAINST it.

The Strachan Bridge website is a site dedicated to opposing Metrolinx's disasterous plan to build a massive overpass right in the middle of the city. After MetroLinx consulting with community for quite some time, we had thought that we had arrived at a generally comprimising conclusion to this issue of solving the problem with the at-grade tracks at Strachan just south of King (Close to Liberty Village). Metrolinx needs to separate the tracks from the road as part of their service expansion and rail link to Pearson Airport.

The plan was recently rejected without any notice to the community who have worked so hard on a much more favourable plan than to create a massive overpass that brings a "mini-Gardiner" to one of the oldest areas in Toronto.

Here is the only drawing provided by Metrolinx for the projected overpass.

For more information, please visit http://www.strachanbridge.com/ and also send in a written comment to prevent this horrid project to happen.

Please understand, this doesn't only affect the Liberty Village residents, it will extend as far as residents in the King and Spadina area with routes having to be altered (which will affect the slaughter house's route...... even more stinky streets to come...)

This isn’t just some bad dream – this is MetroLinx’s
plan, and a multi-storey overpass *WILL* be built in the middle of our city unless we take action *NOW* to stop it.

31cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins!

Toronto, Ontario - April 29, 2009 - For those of you with a lot of patience and a sweet tooth, last night at Baskin Robbins was a night to participate in! For it's 3rd year in a row, Baskin Robbins hosts this event to help your neighbourhood raise money for YOUR local fire service organization during Baskin-Robbins 31 Cent Scoop Night. Baskin Robbins partnered with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and their National Junior Firefighter Program and will donate $100,000 to the cause.

As much as my patience is limited, I decided to partake in this fundraiser to fill the need of helping our local fire service organization. After waiting about a half hour, I finally stepped up to choose my two scoops of 31cent ice cream. (Strawberry Cheesecake & The Gold Medal Ribbon)

Green Living Show

Toronto, Ontario - April 25, 2009 - Being Earth week, I decided to attend the annual Green Living Show at the Direct Energy Centre tonight. With tons of new innovative green products and services (including delicious organic foods), the centre was packed with eco-friendly people wanting to participate more and more. Among all the booths I came across a few that i was very pleased with. The first was a very LARGE booth that featured smaller booths around it showing different ways to become more environmentally friendly (ei. using bicycles instead of cars, new water treatment systems, solar energy etc.) Secondly, I loved the Urban Forest Experience they had which was composed of these very cool domes filled with information on how important our natural resources are.

Living Green-ovations was a great display of what the world today is doing for our world tomorrow. With amazing innovative ideas to help preserve our beautiful planet.
This is where you discover not only what’s new in the environmental movement, but also where it’s heading. The Living Green-Ovations Showcase, located front and centre at the show, will awe inspire you by its display of unique prototypes, newly marketed products and ground breaking information.

Lastly, I must say, the food section was very impressive and I did end up picking up some goodies for me... and for LOLA. For Natural Food choices for dogs and cats, I came across Ami Dog & Cat which is Nutritionally complete Vegan Cat and Dog Food. (www.greenleafvegandist.com)Now normally, this wouldn't really attract my attention until the person at the booth started explaining to me that,

pound for pound, beef production generates greenhouse gases that contribute more than 13 times as much to global warming as do the gases emitted from producing chicken. Beef consumption is rising rapidly, both as population increases and as people (and dogs) eat more meat. Producing the annual beef diet of the average American emits as much greenhouse gas as a car driven more than 1,800 miles!

I never would have thought that. (Not saying I'm going to go Vegan, but I will think about this fact when I purchase or eat meat now).

As for the food I picked up, i got a great deal for some amazing Indian Spices from a company called Arvinda's (www.arvindas.com). They have recipes with their spices in them on the website, so check it out!

I also picked up Organic Whole Grain Mustard by a company called Organic Gold (www.organicgold.ca) which is distributed in a store called Culinarium that is located at Eglinton & Mount Pleasant. ( www.culinarium.ca) They feature Local Food Products, Cooking classes and wine & cheese tastings.

Lastly, after walking around so much, I got quite thirsty, so I stopped off at the Main Squeeze, where they make delicious organic lemonade. If you go to the show tomorrow, be sure to pick up one of these!

All in all, a great show to attend that will keep you busy for quite some time!
(http://www.greenlivingonline.com/torontoshow/)

iNSPIRATION FRIDAYS - FOXFIRE Forest & Hey OCEAN

Toronto, Ontario - April 24, 2009 - So a continuation of yesterday's inspiration Friday we ended up at the Horse Shoe Tavern that night to catch Hey Ocean!'s last performance with Spiral Beach. Amazingly enough, they had a band on before call FOXFIRE Forest which was unbelievably as well. Check out the video for the song California by Hey Ocean!

for more details on FOXFIRE Forest check out their myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/foxfireforest

iNSPIRATION FRIDAYS! - Art gallery walk

Toronto, Ontario - April 24, 2009 - Today for iNSPIRATION Friday we decided to travel over to the Show and Tell Gallery. On our journey there, we stumbled across a few other galleries that were a great addition to the day! Check out the full footage here:

In my Spare Time....

Toronto, Ontario - April 19, 2009 - So, when I have spare time, I like to try out new things, experiment with different medias. Last night, I got onto photoshop and started playing around with some very creative fashion photos and wildlife. This is the series I came up with last night... here's a sneak peak!

MADCON

Toronto, Ontario - April 18, 2009 - Great new song I came across thanks to Eroc! Check it out... kindof a K-os/Outkast type style... Very cool.

Look @ this Fuckin Hipster!

Toronto, Ontario - April 18, 2009 - I stumbled across this website, and I'm so thankful I did. I can't believe I didn't think of making a blog dedicated to this! Kudos to the one who thought of it, because this site just made my day! Check it!

http://lookatthisfuckinghipster.tumblr.com/page/1

A Future Vision of a Peddler

Toronto, Ontario - April 16, 2009 - I have recently been contemplating to purchase a bicycle. The only thing really stopping is pure fear to be honest. Toronto is slowly becoming more and more friendly, but I still am not convinced that the streets of Toronto are safe for peddlers. Although, with the convincing of many friends and then the follow up with this amazing piece created by my very good friend Anne. Check out her artistic abilities. *Notice my Pup, Lola in the basket.

Lindsay Lohan eHarmony profile

Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony Profile from Lindsay Lohan

Toronto, Ontario - April 14, 2009 -Some humour to brighten up your night. Came across this video and I gotta give LaLohan props for taking a bad situation and making fun (and money) out of it!

New Fiona Apple

Toronto, Ontario - April 10, 2009 - If you haven't heard of this artist yet this is a purely amazing intro to her. Fiona Apple, born in New York City broke into the music industry in 1994 when executive Andy Slater from Sony Music caught attention to her deep rooted Jazzy Alternative Rock poetic melodies that seemed to flow so effortlessly.

This song, "Why try to Change me now" is featured on the 2009 US album "Then was Then, and Now is Now" - A tribute to Cy Coleman. It's a 6 track compilation that features many other great artists like Patty Griffin & Missy Higgins.

Check out them Moves!

Toronto, Ontario - April 10, 2009 - I honestly don't have much to say about this, because words cannot explain this kid. Special thanks to Anne who showed me this vid.

Check it.

Alex Cuba

Toronto, Ontario - April 9, 2009 - A while back, my Dad introduced me to a great talent. Alex Cuba (Yes, born in Cuba, raised in Canada) holds an ultra cool vibe that he's been exposing to the world. Alex Cuba's trademark sugarcane-sweet melodies, pop-soul hooks and rock chords give us a look into what Cuban music is to him. Recently, Alex collaborated with canadian band Blue Rodeo on one of their classics, Bad Timing. Unfortunately, I have searched HIGH and LOW for a video of this song, because it is truly beautiful hearing the spanish interpretation of the song. The only way i found it is through iTUNES. I highly recommend you download it, trust me, you won't be dissapointed in this one.

You can also catch Alex Cuba performing live at the Mod Club Friday May 1st.

Check out his website for details: http://www.alexcuba.com/

99 ROOMS

Toronto, Ontario - April 8, 2009 - If you have some time on your hands and are looking for a challenge that is fairly simple and amusing check out 99ROOMS. This is a unique internet art project that meshes wall painting, photography, animation and sound together to make a beautiful new concept. After it's launch in June 2004, more than 4 MILLION people across the globe already visited this masterpiece.

99Rooms portrays mystical and almost eerie pictures created by Berlin Artist Kim Koster. Photos of these paintings were initially produced in digital form and then animated through a joint effort between Richard Schumann & Stephan Schulz. Lastly, Johannes Buenemann compiles the personal sound design.

The Final product of this year long effort of amazing artists collaborating is a world that invites us to observe a journey through these morbidly-beautiful rooms.

Visit the website now: http://www.99rooms.com/

Wanna Challenge?

"A Daily Challenge Gone BIG. Pay it Backward broke a world record with the help of Daily Challenge. Check out this video to be inspired to do good."

Toronto, Ontario - April 7, 2009 - In a time of economical struggles, this is the best time to take on a challenge. We are already working harder, faster for things that last year seemed a lot easier to achieve. But what if we did a small thing everyday to make our lives or someone else's better?

Daily Challenge has made a huge effort to get people involved by being a "Do Gooder". If you visit the website and sign up, you will see a list of today's challenges which range from "smile at a stranger" to something a like, "remind your parents you love them". These are all small acts of kindness, but if we can get a community to do this, these acts of kindness become more than a small thing. Combined we can rebuild what seems to be missing these days, especially in a time of economic crisis.

Take a look at the website and spread the word. - this is my daily challenge to YOU.
http://www.dailychallenge.org/

In the Life of Hunter S. Thomspon - GONZO

Toronto, Ontario - April 6, 2009 - An amazing writer, story teller and trouble maker, Hunter S. Thompson is one of the most interesting people of our time. Being excessive in anything he did makes Hunter a great focus for a very promising documentary. Gonzo portrays a true intellectual who embraced the vision of a new world not ruled by greed or war. The title of the documentary (Gonzo) is a form of journalism which was first used in 1970 by Hunter who progressively made it more and more popular as a style of writing that is subjectively written via a first person narrative.

Gonzo is a well spanned out view of Thompson's life and work that includes interviews with his two wives, his son, Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone, Sonny Barger from the Hell's Angels, Jimmy Buffet, George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Pat Buchanan, Tom Wolfe and more.

This documentary goes deep into Hunter's life starting from the very beginning up until him planning his funeral and watching his ashes explode out of the two thumbed fist on top of his hill in Aspen.

I recommend this film to anyone who is interested in this character of our generation, I'm sure you will find his demeanors at times truly unbelievable, and yet i have no respect for anyone who commits suicide (I think it's a selfish way to go) - somehow Hunter and the people around him in his life seem to have the ability to convince you that for him, this is how his life was to end.

to watch the movie:
http://www.vidics.com/media.php?id=2231


* On a side note, i recommend you check out his friend and following artist, Ralph Steadman:
http://www.ralphsteadman.com/

Books are for ART! not reading

Toronto, Ontario - April 5, 2009 - Artists have found a new way to demonstrate art that have many stories to tell. Check out the art installations constructed by hundreds, maybe thousands of books.

Polar Bear to raise awareness of Global Warming

Greenwich, London - April 5, 2009 - Standing 16ft tall, a polar bear and cub float stranded on an iceberg along the Thames to raise awareness of Climate Change. A team of 15 artists collaborated on this project in Greenwich for 2 months to create this sculpture that weighs a whopping 1.5 Tons. David Attenborough, who has a career as the respected face and voice of British natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years has said: “The melting of the polar bears’ sea ice habitat is one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our time."

iNSPIRATION FRIDAYS! - Review of the POOL -

Toronto, Ontario - April 4, 2009 - So our iNSPIRATION FRIDAYS took a little detour due to the heavy rain storm we had on Friday. We had originally thought about going to the Show & Tell Gallery but ended up in Yorkville at the Cumberland where we found ourselves wading in the American-made Hindi film called The Pool.

This film was originally based on a short story by author Randy Russell that was placed in Iowa. For the film, they moved the location to India. The film revolves around an 18 year-old, Venkatesh who is always late for his work at a no-star hotel where nothing promising seems to arise in his favour.

Venkatesh's life takes a turn when one day, while perched on top of a mango tree he spots a beautiful, serene pool that is emaculately still. The pool gives a symbolism of freedom, care-free lifestyle which makes him long to just have one experience in it.

With a sudden obessision with the Pool and then also the owner's daughter, he finds his way into the family by helping the owner, Nana Patekar take care of his beautiful garden.

I won't spoil anymore for you, but the film The Pool is worth a watch if you're looking for a calm, smooth storyline. There are no predominent conflicts or troubles that come along, just simply living the life in the eyes of an uneducated boy. It is filmed very un-biased towards the attention given to any of the characters meaning that close ups were left out which left the film to be shown in a very simple yet beautiful way.

if you have time, go to the Cumberland and check this one out.

Making a Difference - Artan Garden

Toronto, Ontario - April 1, 2009 - Last night I had the Pleasure of meeting a very inspirational and creative woman, Zel who happens to be from my hometown (North Bay). She is in the process of creating a phenomenon in Organic Gardens in the heart of the city along with education, creativity and forming a community that is able to share amoungst themselves. This is a place where local food can be grown and safe and healthy horticulture is taught. For more videos for more information, visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/wellwithzell

Thank you Mac for being YOU.

Toronto, Ontario - April 1, 2009 - 4 years ago, I made a bold decision to switch from PC to Mac. I have now joined the group of once you go MAC, you never go back. Unfortunately this April Fool's day a nasty virus is planning an attack on PC users around the world. There are many things this virus can do to your computer if you get infected. It could delete all of the files on the CPU, use zombie PCs which are controlled by a master which could overwhelm and shut down Web sites or monitor a person's keyboard stroked to collect private information like passwords or bank account information.

Thankfully these days hackers are more greedy when it comes to viruses rather than just making someone's life miserable. Most likely, the virus will try to get people to buy fake software or spend money on other fake products.

To make sure your PC is safe, see if you are receiving automatic updates from Windows (specifically in March). If you have gotten this update, most likely you're computer will be fine.

People who have not gotten the latest Windows update go to: http://safety.live.com/

As for Mac users, you can dis-regard all this info and enjoy April Fool's 2009.