Sisyphus's Suicidal Streek

"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide [...] All the rest -- Whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories -- comes afterwards." (Camus 495.)

By now, most music manic's in Toronto are aware that on Monday July 6th Martin Streek was found dead. CNFY mourned the loss of their recently "released" colleague with the same polite euphemisms present in funeral homes and hospitals. Martin Streek died, Martin Streek passed on, Martin Streek is no longer with us. What wasn't stated would lead to controversy; Martin Streek committed suicide. That sounds cold, doesn't it? Is this because the general consensus around suicide usually revolves around a reason? With Streek, the allegations are already flying. You may feel that Corus radio was at fault, that they pushed his hand when they fired him. If this is how you feel, you can join a facebook group and pledge your support for boycotting the would be "culprits".
It would be nice to pin our responsibilities onto others in this fashion. Than it would never be the child's fault for shooting up his school, but rather the music that the child listens to. Forget about blaming the parent who doesn't spend enough time with their child, or the child for choosing their own actions. The fault lays in the responsible hands of he who possess the most power. In Streek's case, this is Corus, and I might be willing to agree that they were the cause; however, since we are not living in the feudal times of Japan, and the great warlord Corus did not sentence Streek to committee Seppuku, I have a hard time swallowing this pill.
Streek was a Sisyphus. He dug his heels in and climbed the long haul with CFNY, carrying his share of their burden for over 20 years before being fired earlier this spring.
I could just image waking up every Saturday morning, groggy and tired from a long night at the Kingdom/Sound Academy. Pulling sleep from my eyes to revel in the prospect of having a day to myself. A day where I didn't have to perform the same mundane task over and over again, smiling oh too brightly for the country gals, wrapped too tight for comfort in their hot pink tube top and rough cut jeans. The infinite and incessant High fives to the spiny haired guys from Woodbridge, who were all "total pro's".
I could just image waking up every Saturday morning and realizing that I had to do it the same again every day. But would this still call on suicide? Obviously not for Sisyphus, or Streek.
Like the hero of our story, Sisyphus was charged a mundane task--he had to roll a boulder to the top of a high mountain, at which point it would begin to roll back down so that he could go back and repeat the same task again. But like Streek, it wasn't a task of the mundane.
"The Gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreaful punishment than futile and hopeless labour." (Camus .589)
Was it the work, or the lack of work that forced his hand?
That is a ridiculous question to ask, the solution will not change the events outcome.

Tonight is #margaritamonday!

Online Event Registration - Powered by www.eventbrite.com

Pitcher in for #MargaritaMonday!

Newly created monthly event where the only 'hash' you'll find is in the tag!

Toronto, Ontario, Canada - With gusto and a little pride, #MargaritaMonday kicks off on Monday, June 22nd on Zelda's Bar and Restaurant patio (542 Church Street) at 6pm. This open event is directed to patio loving, margarita drinking individuals seeking an informal 'tweetup' for post work libations on a Monday evening.

"Mondays are hard enough to deal with without liquor," says event creator Marie "Mings" Nicola (aka @karmacakedotca), "This event brings a chill way for me - uh, I mean, folks - to unwind, chat and drink in a socially acceptable forum."

Zelda's Bar and Restaurant is known as one of the most homorific locations in Toronto's village. With Pride underway, the patio and the neighborhood will be bumpin'. The inaugral #MargaritaMonday is expected to have a minimum attendance of two, with a maximum attendence of however many we possibly can get. Whatever the numbers, the event will be hosted with a lot of 'Pride'.

No prizes will be given, but fame and glory are certain for attendees who wish to "pitcher in" and buy at least one pitcher to share with the table. Bloggers are welcome to review the experience and Tweeters are encouraged to Twitterberry their hearts out.

"I would post photos to my Twitpic account. But, I think Twitpic hates me or hates my blackberry," laments Mings, " Either way, one of us did something to piss it off because the friggin' thing won't accept the photos. As if posting in 140 characters wasn't hard enough!"


Those posting to Twitpic may be harrassed to show Mings how to do it.

When referring to #MargaritaMonday it's encouraged to utulize the Twitter convention of the '#' in order to facilitate searching.

Ciao!

Let's make Monday fun!

For more information @karmacakedotca or info@karmacake.ca

Karmacake EXCLUSIVE! The Complete Info on Luminato's 1000 Tastes Toronto

Luminato... oh Luminato. Everyone's favorite annual artsy fartsy event goes on amidst big corporate dollars and rumours of a "nutso" CEO. Hey, I might be driven crazy if I was heading one of the fastest growing international festival of arts in Toronto... Besides, the event has some serious gems, like the President's Choice "1000 Tastes of Toronto".

One of the most talked about programs is the President's Choice "1000 Tastes of Toronto" a culinary adventure that will see the city's top chefs prepare their version of street food for hungry patrons on June 13th and 14th, beginning at noon.

The South lane of Queen's Quay (in between Lower Simcoe and Lower Spadina) will be shut for the event and Cirque du Soleil is getting back to their street performing roots with an unforgettable experience that will make 1000 Tastes a must attend event.

Hey I like food AND I like Cirque du Soleil AND I LIKE FREE! Which the event is - free to attend if you want to eat it's $5 a serving and food vouchers can be purchased at the event. But, when else do you get gourmet street food? Forget Toronto a la Carte for a moment because TALC does NOT have Susur Lee.

Yes. Susur Lee will be there. And who else? Well, here's the complete list of restaurants and the chefs who will be cooking at 1000 Tastes of Toronto. You WILL NOT find this information anywhere else.

THIS IS A KARMACAKE EXCLUSIVE!

Why? Because I love all my readers and I have eyes and ears all over the city! That's why my friends rule.

The list is complete in terms of the restaurants and caterers on site, but the chef list is incomplete. Seeing as some of the celeb chefs may decide not to go last minute, be satisfied you'll get to eat their vittles instead.

nom. nom. nom.

Restaurant	Chef
360 Restaurant CN TowerAmuse Bistro	Chef Peter George- Foodie
Amuse Bouche	Chefs Jason Inniss & Bertrand Alepee
Arrabiata Trattoria
Auberge Du Pommier	Chef Jason Bangerter
Big Papa
Café Nervosa	Chef Andrea Nicholson
Crepe Delicious
Daniel et Daniel
Dhaba	Chef P.K. Ahluwalie
Dos Amigos
Edo
Fare Bistro	Chef Brad Clark
Forte Bistro and Lounge	Chef Greg Argent
Four Restaurant
Globe Bistro
Grace Restaurant	Chef Dustin Gallagher
Hot House Café
Indian and Malabari Cuisine
Indus Junction
Intercontinental Toronto Yorkville Hotel
Jaipur Grille
Jayne's Gourmet Catering	Jayne Dunsmore
Kaiseki	Chef Daisuke Izutsu
Kakayo Chocolate Company	Chocolatier Colleen Wong-Sala
La Bruschetta	Chef Silvia Piantoni
La Fiesta Catering
Lai Wah Heen, Senses Restaurant, Lai Toh Heen, Hemisphere's Restaurant + Bistro (Metropolitian Hotel)
Local Kitchen and Wine Bar
Local 4	Chef Nancy Gilmor
Loic Gourmet
Madeline's/Lee	Chef Susur Lee- Foodie
Magic Oven
Mariposa Cruises
Mis Amigos	Chef Josie Yumbla
Morton's The Steakhouse
On The Move	Chef Lino Di Cecca
Presidents Choice	Chef Tom Filippou
Prena
Prohibition GastroPub & Oyster Bar
Rodney's Oyster House
Sabrosito	Chef Carlos Fuenmayor
Santaguida Fine Foods	Marco Santaguida
Seven Numbers	Chef Tony Marinuzzi
Simple Bistro
Sodexo
Southern Accent
Sunshine Shakes	Joanne Anderson
The Sultans Tent & Café Moroc
The Surly Chef	Chef James John Bennett
Ultra Supper Club	Chef Chris Zielinski
Vertical Restaurant
Vesta Lunch
Westin Harbour Castle Hotel	Exec Chef Duff Lampard
Wolf and Firkin

Waiting for sales is so 2008

I love innovative thinkers and Lauren Wise, the creator of Shop the Block, definitely gets a thumbs up from me. Anyone who is quick to react to the effects of the economic downturn by taking in a concern for both business owners and consumers, is tops in my books.

So here's the deal, a group of Toronto area shops have thrown down a serious move to make recessionistas happy. Think Student Price Card for grown ups who don't care about a free pop with their sub at subway.

Anyone who isn't from Toronto probably doesn't know that the city is notorious for loving high-end niche boutiques but the vast majority are rotten for supporting local. We're not talking foodies, fooders or food trends here, we're talking mom and pop boutiques. Even then, Torontonians are in denial - no doubt, I'll get some evil words thrown at me but whatever.

Like many similar services, Shop the Block requires a $65 annual membership which seems a little steep to access a smattering of 50 shops and services across Toronto - the majority of which I have no need for. I've owned lots of these cards and to this day, I've never broke even on one of them. But, that's not to say it's not for you.

If you're not cheap like me and you have $65 to invest in a savings program that could cut up to 20% or more on your expenses at your favorite shops - then you should do it. The exclusive membership program will offer you discounts at independent boutiques and restaurants as well as towards services and classes in areas across the city.

Shop the Block has plans to expand even further across the city and I'm pumped to watch it grow. When there are few more in my neighborhood, I'll probably take the plunge.

Here's a random selection of shops featured in the program; more on the website:

Boom Breakfast Co.
Bella
Groove School of Dance
Le Pain Quotidien
Living2
Look Hair Studios
Organic Abundance
The Paper Boutique
The Southside Restaurant and Bar
Toytown
Tutto Pronto
Vision by Strolf
What a Bagel
Li'l Niblets & Baby Sprouts

Shop the Block - http://www.shoptheblock.ca

Never too Dark to be Noir: A Review... In Pieces

It's chocolate that was sent to me, courtesy of Miss Ginger Corsair of Ginger Won't Snap, one cool Toronto Spring day. Two boxes of Nestlé Noir Mousse Delicate with a charming note asking me to post within two weeks. Without any sense of time, I'm posting a little past the deadline - with the greatest of apologies.

Anyway, let's keep this short and go with some FAQ's on the chocolate.

What is it?
According to the website these chocolates are orgasmically described as:

Deliciously light dark chocolate mousse enrobed in a shell of decadent chocolate.

What is it REALLY?
A Jell-O Pudding type chocolate mousse filling covered in an elevated version of Easter chocolate.

What does it taste like?
See above.

What surprised you about the chocolate?
How it melts immediately in your hands, making a mess that's not so bad to lick off. But, I'm into that sort of thing. Licking the build up of cheese residue from a bag of Humpty Dumpty Cheesies is still one of my favorite parts of eating cheesies.

I also like the ones that look like Slimey the Worm from Sesame Street.

I also couldn't eat more than 2 of the dark or the milk chocolate ones without getting a headache. Which is kind of odd, considering I believe I was put on this Earth to communicate the merits of junk food.

How can I justify eating it?
Just defer to the Nutritional information! One square is about 50 calories and has Calcium, Magnesium and Iron in it.

"Fuck off! I'm anemic! Now give me my Nestlé Noir!"

What do people say when they ate it?
Usually I got, "Oh! I don't mind if I do!" followed by a "Mmmm! These are sooooo good! Can I have another?"

Which one do you like? Dark or Milk Chocolate?
I like the dark one, but I was surprised it had more calories. I would assume that those who prefer dark chocolate are kind of like the people who like dark coffees. Even though, I was looking for something more like bittersweet chocolate, I still felt like I was eating something real with the Nestlé Dark version.

What's your final impression of the chocolate?
I think that Nestlé Noir Mousse Delicate is a more refined version of an Aero. The bubbly interior is a mousse-esque filling that makes it kind of fun to eat. If you know what real high end chocolates taste like, this will be more akin to Pizza Hut to real Neapolitan Pizza, you know? Not unpleasant, just dirty good.

Will you buy it again?
Probably not. If I'm going to spent money on some "high end chocolates" I'll splurge on few of the Godiva versions before this. Kind of bitchy, but it's true.

But, if you're looking for some "fancy chocolates" you can enjoy with your picky 5 year old - grab a box. They aren't bad, but there's nothing about them that's special.

Think Heidi Montag as a pop singer turned into a chocolate.

Here are some picture!

Soooeeeeee! Come get your slop, FattyCakes!

I was too lazy to lighten up the picture so you can actually see the mousse. Turn up your monitor light.

Awesome! Nutritional Information. Way to wreck a guilty pleasure Government of Canada

15% of your daily recommended intake of Magnesium is right here, Baby.

The little nugs are lined up two by two. People who are high on the 'juan don't care about presentation.
I've noticed.

Globe & Mail said I'm a top tweeter

I'm not sure how it happened, but I was honoured by being named as one of Toronto's Top Tweeters in the Globe & Mail.

I guess I have value to my followers and I love that they believed enough in me to make the mention.

I'm a little speechless right now, I don't know what to think. I called my parents to let them know and they asked how that will effect my bankroll.

Oh ha ha ha. So kooky those parents of mine!

Only thing that makes me a little sad is that the woman who nominated me has gotten several thumbs down for her suggestions, which included @Gremolata (a fantastic food blog) and FreshBook's very own @rlangdon (one of the most loveliest of tweeters) but me being me, I can't help but wonder if it's because of me.

This is on the heels of a meeting with Nat aka @atubanos aka http://anastasiatubanos.com/ to talk about a really exciting new webseries for urban gyals. We all need a little glam in our lives - for sure.

Tonight, I meet with Reado and Matt to talk about another potential streaming series and eat deep fried tofu and pad thai at Red Room.

I'm going to dash off my reviews so I can edit them up pretty tomorrow and get them posted for June Here's The Dish.

Busy Day.
Now I need a Photo.

Writing songs for your cat is what happens when u are over worked

My last cat was suicidal. I blame Spencer.

The frankenstein is virtually completed. I just need to put it in a word document, with referencing links and send it off to my develish devo team. They are so awesome.

Yo. He-Man I don't need no power of greyscull. I have E-Men and the power of Interweb on my side.

ugh.

Interweb. Another annoying 2.0 word. I think Web 2.0 will soon be the Hipsters of the internet. Fun to play around with, but more fun to make fun of in hindsight.

Wish you were relevent now dontcha u lamesters?

BTW, I'm jazzed my term Hill Jillies caught on to describe the female following for The Hills.

Sometimes, I think I'm so cool... Then I make up a song for my cat.

This is that song:

"I have kitten power. meow meow meowmeowmeow!
I have kitten power. meow meow meowmeowmeow!
I like to cuddle!
I like to purr!
I like to play fetch.
Now pet my fur!"

Deal with it.
That's how Ming's the Shixa rolls.
Yeah.
You know what that means.

Meow, bitches!

It's Frankenstein's Fault - Seriously

NOO! Karmacake Frankenstein I am your mother! Do not foresake me! Bad Karma! BAD KARMA!!!!!

I want to get my "Frankenstein" done before I blog... it's a self imposed punishment to ensure I get my main karmacake work done.

What is a Frankenstein you ask?

It is a thoroughly thought out examination of current Word Press templates, trends and applications. Followed by an equally intense cut and paste project that sees me assemble my favorite bits into an image of the layout I want.

Then I send it to my developers.

They make it happen.

And come July 1st long weekend, Karmacake is launched with much fan fair and excitement!!

So if I'm good, and I get my Frankenstein done then tomorrow we will have many more new posts!

YAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Now I have to get back to work.

xo
m

Stacey P De-Bunks the Playah - Part Dos

You wanna know the who's who of player-dom? Kick it with our girl, comedienne Stacey Prieur, to check out which ones may sound familiar.

If you've hooked up with one or two, got a photo? Post it with your story on Sorry Mom.

THE INACCESSIBLE- Usually some sort of business or professional type, and is too involved with work and friends to make you a priority... You've probably met at a "function" hit it off and had a great 2 week courtship, then somehow you fell off the map...

Why we like him? He's got priorities, he's got his shit in order, and he looks great on paper, someone Mom/Dad would approve of.

Why it didn't work out: breaking his routine for something he's unsure of messes up his mind and ruins everything else - like a trickle effect... plus, he obviously only had 2 weeks "vacation" planned...

How to get him, you'd probably have to become his personal assistant.

THE EMOTIONALLY Unavailable/ Wounded - The artist, The Musician, probably The Middle Child... this guy is the guy we want to scoop up and cuddle with and make everything bad go away...

Why we like him? He embodies our own insecurities and as women, we can relate, and we love his sensitive nature...

Why it didn't work out: we couldn't change him, and even if we did we'd still want that insecure side to shine through b/c maybe we have our own unresolved issues...

How you get him? You'd probably have to sacrifice you own life's ambitions and be ok with a toxic relationship, you'll become rapped up in a tumultuous affair that would end up with one of you cheating, b/c you're trying to fullfill emotional needs that should have been addressed with a shrink b/c no matter who you hop to, other people won't make it better for you, you have to do that for yourself!

THE MADE-OVER - The skinny guy, the nerd, the guy with the really bad acne, or the fat guy has suddenly become a stud muffin and gets shitloads of attention, and is lapping it up like a kitten with a dish of milk.

Why we like them: they have killer personalities, probably b/c they had to make up for their outter appearance, and they are an all around great guy! Sweet, sensitive, fun, and smart!

Why it didn't work out: 2 reasons, a- they probably think that in their ugly state you probably wouldn't have given them the time of day and they find you superficial, and b - they are makin' up for lost time and it has nothing to do with you at all....

How to get them: Loyalty, you have to stick around and be the friend, so they know that you're true, and they can trust you, this will take some time...

THE ODEPUS REX -US - the hot guy, the leader, the ultimate momma's boy, probably the oldest in the family - The George Clooney of Playa's - These guys scream danger, but you still wanna play, because you can't help it, they get in your head and suddenly your legs are spread and you have no idea what happened in between.?

Why we get wrecked - these guys are extremely in tune with their feminine side, and they are extremely masculine as well, they proabably are close to their dads, moms and sisters and KNOW what to say to get to you! They have a plethora of friends b/c everyone loves them and they always give the illusion that they are going the extra mile but really that's just their game, they are bold, ballsy, relentless in their pursuits and great in bed... Amen!

Why it didn't work out: You probably fell for the same shit that everyone else does. The Odepus looks for a woman to mirror their Mom and their own ambitions, she's gotta be up to par! If you're not smokin' hot, smart, motivated AND easy going... then you're S.O.L. sister!

How to get him: (really I don't know I'm trying still) But my guess is you'd have to penetrate this dudes Friends and Family before you get to his heart... he's well protected and for good reason.... he'd be the ultimate catch, if ever caught, but you can't be overly aggressive either, or else you'll be duped the "Psycho" and we all know how much we love that term.

True there are nice guys out there, but Alpha girls don't go for nice guys b/c there's no big payoff in scoring something that was a given to begin with... it's not fun. We love the nice guys for advice, dinner dates, and to make us feel better about ourselves when we are smoothered by the BULL, but that's about it...

o next time you're sitting across from a new dude, ask yourself if you're going for Bull or a Big Teddy Bear? Because if you want to cuddle up to someone long term... the Bull will Buck you outta bed faster then you can Moooo-ve.

These thoughts are just my common sense collections and results of years of G.D.D. (Guy Defficiancy Disease) Hope it makes you think next time you question yourself...

True as it is, you can't hate the playa you gotta hate the game.

Libra Lounge Had a Party

So Libra Lounge... this adorably petite lounge skirts on the hem of King West. With naked ladies on the walls lit by the cascading light from trendy chandeliers, Libra Lounge is a pretty good antithesis to MEC located across the street. Well last night was a little party held in its honour, complete with custom made tote bags and an ice sculpture/martini fountain.

Yes, I know, why do they always insist on making the ice scupture a martini fountain? I have yet to see one in use besides at that wedding I went to not long ago. I guess ice sculpters figure that the bougie couldn't possibly cool down their beverages with a straw and some ice.

Kicking it old skool is completely verboten.

Martini fountain functioning or no, the IceCulture Inc ice sculpture was great. You can see it in the photo - it looked like glass. I'm also totally crushing on those flowers - colour and everything.

The martinis were nice, but they weren't my favorites in the city. The Supermodel was more Adriana Lima than Daria Werbowy with sunny tropical citrus amidst something pink and laced with the soundtracked scent of coconut tanning lotion rum. The Ouiskey Business was the second from the bottom on the Martini menu, was tricky to pronounce and it kind of just tasted like Red Bull - although many people liked it, as it was recommended to me several times.

Perhaps the "Ouiskey Business" had something to do with copyright infringement?

For the entire time I was more interested in talking and not moving in such a way that would encourage my leggings to sag down a little bit more than they already had. Men have no clue how distracting that can be!

Kendra Court of Gathering Event Planning & Fundraising was the spirited event planner that brought it all together. I intended to introduce myself, but as I made a move she got caught in a stream of partigoers with only enough time to say, "Remember, 15 minutes before the complementary bar shuts and the cash bar comes up!" before she wass swept up again.

Thank you, Kendra and cheers to all the event planners who don't own restaurants!

Screw the budget!

I heart you.

So Libra Lounge... you were pretty rad. This would be a cute spot to rock out for a friend's bday. I can see how it works; I'm down for it. It's apparently a restaurant in the day time - although, I haven't been.

As my friends and I prepared to leave, a woman in black offered us simple black and white tote bags. After careful consideration, I had my heart set on the white canvas with silver strap, "What a cute shopping bag" I thought to myself as I was handed a black reflective bag with a Navajo print on the handle.

"Excuse me, may I have the white bag?"
"No, we aren't allowed to let people pick."
"Oh, but I'll use the white one..." she walked away.

Shame. Must be nice to have the best job in the world.

Over to my left were the remaining bags. Hmmm...

Black bag down.
White bag up - much better! The other one would've just gone to goodwill! I'm sure the designer would rather their bag get used than tossed. Right?

While we were there, I ran into a bunch of folks from Dine.TO and Deb Lewis of CityEvents as well as some rad folks from National PR.

I would probably go back, if I were to use it for an event - for sure. But, when we left the party we then realized there was a man make up studio on site doing man make up. Reado wasn't down for it, although I think most guys could benefit from some lip balm and tinted moisterizer.

There's a photo of my friends, the purses on the right, the fountain on the left and an unfinished Ouiskie Business infront.

Libra Lounge was fun. Until the next event!!

Some Stats on Libra Lounge:

391 King St W, Toronto, ON (Across from Mountain Equipment Coop)
416-599-7000
One Level + Front Facing Patio
Bathrooms on Lower Level
Street Parking + 2 Parking Lots Across the Street.
Capacity is 120 people
Outside Caterers are totally cool
Full kitchen

Stacey P De-Bunks the Playah

When cows mate, they all go for the same Bull, and that Bull has to work that pen like no ones business, and its known that once a Bull hits it with a lady Cow he never goes back, hence he is the ultimate of animal playas... ladies in the city, I don't know about you, but I think Toronto is turning into that "pen".

Are we drawn to "The Bull" because we have no other choices? Or is it age? As young women do we tend to want the Alpha b/c we know he's the "man" or is it a just personality defect?

As Alpha women, we achieve what we want, when we want, and how we want!We don't settle for less, and of course we want the very best of everything!! Ladies if we're working that hard for "something" then there's gotta be a payoff right?

It's like Beyonce says... "the shoes on my feet, I bought em!"
F*ck Ya!

What's wrong is that you're probably used to getting everything you want? With hard work and determination the sky's the limit, and the world's an oyster... but when it comes to love and relationships, they just have to happen...

You can't force a person to love you and you can't plan your next boyfriend...like an appointment for a pedicure. B/c although you MAY think you're dating different types of men, the common thread might just be that "BULL FACTOR". The inaccessible, the emotionally unavailable/wounded, the madeover, and the Odepus Rex-us Playa's. Boooya!

Ready for Part Deux? Because next time, I'm getting into this deep - we're going to debunk the playah!

May is Facial Month! Part Two

Yes, I'm pumped to get beautified. I mean, I've been at this writing game now "full time" for about 2 years so to be on the verge of releasing Karmacake is a dream come true.

Ladies, think about it. When was the last time you went for a mani/pedi? A facial? A haircut? A waxing? A Buffing? Or even just a polish?

Well, count the numbers from then up until today add that to two times 365 and that number, my friends, is the last time this cake got frosted.

My last real edgy haircut was an imitation of Kelis' do in her Bossy video. After that it was just me, a pair of scissors a hope and a prayer.

And, No. First Choice Haircutters WAS NOT an option... have you seen their most recent ad?

Take careful note of the slogan, "Client Calls... Foul Balls"

I am clearly outside of their demographic. I don't want to be anywhere near some haircutters schwetty "Foul Balls".

It's like reliving a third date upset, sitting in that chair - at ball level...

Anyway, I promised that when I came across this information I would share with all of you! Dermalogica is doing a Skin Care 101 class tomorrow night. $10 admission, snack, lesson, face mapping AND a gift bag filled with fantastico Dermalogica swag.

If you want to attend:

Guinness Draught Master 2009!!!!

Guinness enthusiasts and pub lovers joined together on Thursday May 7th, to watch Prime Pub bartenders go head to head for the coveted title of "Guinness Draught Master 2009".

For me, this event was extra special because Guinness is one of my favorite drinks. I couldn't help for smile and nod excitedly when a waitress in a kilt would approach me, say "Guinness?" and pass me a cold dark glass.

Yes please :)

The event, which took place at Fionn MacCools, 70 The Esplanade, consisted of 15 contestants who are the best of the best from Prime Pubs ( Fionn MacCool's, D'Arcy McGee's, Tir Nan Og and Paddy Flahertys) across Canada.

On the judging panel sat Jamie Pulfer of 680 News, Gord Stellick, co-host of The Morning

Show and FAN 590, Associated Brand Manager from Guinness, Nicolletta Biscoukis and Senior VP of Prime Pubs division, Grant Cobb.

The judges had their work cut out for them. Not only did they have to decide who was the best out of the 15 contestants, but had to do so while consuming glass after glass of Guinness.

Visuals for the competition began with the bartenders heading up in 2's to answer trivia questions about the man behind the beer, Arthur Guinness as well as dropping knowledge about Ireland and the science that goes into pouring the perfect pint.

Next, each bartender stood up to the taps to pour the judges a pint while delivering a hilarious Irish CRAIC, which is an Irish term for a joke or a wise crack. While some CRAIC's were sweet and simple and other's were down right filthy, it was the warm, witty and theatrical delivery of Ryanne Chisholm's CRAIC that won the over the judges.

As her prize, Ryanne was awarded an educational trip to Ireland, to work along side professionals at The St. James Gate Brewery.

In the end, the contest made for an excellent afternoon of fun people, dirty jokes and of course delicious beer.

Interesting fact: Ryanne played Lunette The Clown on The Big Comfy Couch! And no, we did not do the 10 second tidy.

Getting a Facial!

Ladies n' Gents! Ground breaking news, I, Mings, am declaring May the month of facials!

Toronto's smoggy air has fucked up my skin for too long! This is war is on and I'm taking the battle to the blessed folks at Dermalogica and Vida Skin Studio - two different philosophies on skin care. Beginning on Thursday with Vida Skin Studio, I will recount the details as to the life changing methods that will come together on the silken canvas of olive toned skin that is my face.

Vida has a unique process that engages the skin to heal itself and fight anti-aging.

Sounds good, right? I'm ready for my skin to take care of itself for a little while now!

Dermalogica is apart of an international training facility that looks closely at the science of skin care, drawing on the secrets of asia. I currently love Dermalogica products and go to their monthly skin care sessions.

I will be embarrassing as usual. I'm going to attempt to maneuver Madd's (formerly Pfaffer) old DSLR in an attempt to take photos to add to the new Karmacake Flickr Pool and illustrate my experience.

I'm down for skin care that is simple, pure and effective. After years of snake oil salesmen selling lofty claims, I'm ready to closely examine pure and natural techniques for skin that just looks healthy.

Don't worry guys, I'm looking out for you as well. I'm sure there are backdoors you can enter under the cover of night so people can't see you get a facial.

I bet Brad Pitt gets facials. He's not a puss; he's married to Angelina Jolie and rumoured to be banging the nanny. Is this related to the facials?

Maybe.

UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A, START

Probably the most well known cheat code in Nintendo, the Konami code, has now made its way onto the internet.

For those of you who have never spent countless hours trying to get past the first 3 levels of Contra without this code, the Konami code was the mother of all cheat codes by allowing you to start your game with 30 lives instead of the normal 3.

Konami, the company who produced these games adapted this code in a lot of other games including Jackal, Life Force, Gradius, etc. Konami was a huge game producer in the early days of Nintendo and Super Nintendo and their games were fantastic but F*CKING hard...and believe me, I loved that stupid nintendo to the point where I was pretty sure I was going to be a Nintendo Game Counselor when I grew up.

Anyway, for those of you that don't know, the Konami code is as follows:



Its not surprising now that some of the most popular websites (especially ones catering to nerdy guys who love Nintendo) have been writing javascript code that detects a user's keyboard and will do some kind of easter egg when the code is entered. The rewards for entering these codes range from being redirected to a "secret image" to seeing cool visuals on the screen when you click a link or move your mouse.

Some of the big ones that have gone up recently include Facebook, Uncrate, Mint and JQuery... ESPN got hacked in late April and when the code was entered on ESPN.com, images of unicorns and rainbows would fill the screen... haha, take that jocks!! (well, jocks that randomly enter the konami code on sports related websites!)

But low and behold a new website has just been created to list all of the sites that you can do the Konami code on, http://konamicodesites.com/,

Check it out, play around with this retro relic still being used today and ya, if anyone's down for some Contra, give me a shout! On two player mode we can kill it in like less than a half hour! pew pew!

reado

Let's Talk Tamil

This is a moving protest.

Toronto.

7,000 Tamil Protesters.

Blocking the Gardiner over night.

Are we listening? We drove them there. Maybe it's about time we started learning more about what's going on in Sri Lanka?

2,000 civilians have been killed in the past 24hrs?

What is going on!

The only way we will make the world a better place is if we all started listening a little bit more.

There are a lot of sirens going tonight... unrelated incidents I'm sure. Just ironic.

Word up WordCamp!

Over the weekend, bloggers, photographers and other online personalities meet up to discuss the latest and greatest from WordPress at the Word Camp Toronto 2009 conference.

Karmacake and I both attended presentations on all three days and as expected, felt great about the knowledge we learned from some presentations while others had us asking, "Why did I pay money for this"?

Some of the presentations that I really got a lot out of included:
David Peralty of www.brandingdavid.com
David did a great presentation about a great website called www.picapp.com that allows bloggers to use high quality stock photography for free instead of having to grab unlicensed images from google images or some other unlicensed site. The fact that PicApp also has a WordPress plugin that will soon include built in lightbox functionality makes this really worth paying attention to. So yeah, free stock photography with a built in WordPress plugin to have it display nicley? Yeah, i'm down with that.


Ilya Grigorick of www.igvita.com
Ilya did a great presentation on leveraging social media to drive users to your site. He did a great break down explaining the differences between the different content sharing sites like digg, stumbleupon, delicious, etc.

Ilya was also showing a great website / WordPress plugin created for keeping track of your social media interactions called www.postrank.com. I really like the look of this plugin and will definitely be installing it.

But like most things in life, the good came with the not-so-good. I'm not really the type of guy to rag on someone who's just trying to do their own hustle but I was a bit annoyed with the presentation of self proclaimed "WordPress and Blog Evangelist" Lorelle Van Fossen about speed blogging and getting the most out of your blog. I have nothing against Lorelle but her presentation was just too "jacked up" for my liking. Just her methods of delivery caused me to focus more on the execution of the message rather then the content itself. She started with a film that was intended to inspire, impress and sell the WordPress platform by showing us users who have embraced WordPress but it ended up making me a bit bored and stir-crazy. I mean, this is a conference with probably 95% of the audience already using and/or developing for WordPress, we're already sold. The remainder of the presentation included watching 6 slides of elk pictures that outline what she gave up to join us to her showcasing a text editor application that while freeware, only the paid version has the features to only make it usable...again, this at an event run by the open source community which has created hundreds of free and powerful text editors.

One of the discussions that killed me was Lorelle's use of ~125 Firefox tabs and how if she opened up Firefox it would kill the conferences bandwidth. Now I understand that everyone is entitled to their own browsing experience but the thought of 125 tabs makes me nauseous =)... But again, that's just my personal opinion, and in my browser I have a max of about 5 tabs before I start feeling crowded.

Overall though, I met a lot of cool people and learned a lot of cool stuff. This was my first real conference regarding web development that I've attended and I think it went pretty well...

Be sure to check out @brandingdavid, @irgrigorik, @picard102, and @photojunkie to get some really cool information on blogging, social media, design and photography.

Good work #WCT09!!!

reado

PR Tactics for Internet Celebrity 101

Every Geeker wants to know, "How can I get more hits to my website?" or "How can I increase the profile of my site?" Well the answer is easier than you think. So I decided that this might be a good topic for a series on KCBS. While, I may be a writer, an editor, former fundraiser and marketer, few people know that I also am a relatively successful web marketer.

Believe it. It's true.

Enter, TwentySomethingTV. In 2008, I began working on a series called Twenty Something. On camera, I came on as a guest co-host who quickly became a regular. Off camera, I was the show's PR Rep, working exclusively through the internet, we managed to clock 1 million viewers, got a Wikipedia listing, were featured in several newspapers (online and off), were negotiating deals from China to Lavalife, were attending all the city's hottest events and even had co-hosts from Playboy models to VP's at Scotia Bank - oh and Todd Shapiro from Edge102.1FM was our regular male co-host.

Sounds pretty good, huh? Yeah, I'm a rockstar. I won't lie.

But, you need to understand one basic concept with PR and publicity:

Publicity, by definition, is the mention in the news media or by word of mouth or other means of communication.

The internet, most notably social media, is a vast network of free resources that only exist through the act of communication.

The internet is essentially free, easy to maneuver and free. However, you will not get results without a certain level of commitment.

Are you still with me? I promise you, this is useful information.

But, this all hinges on three main sections:

1. Have content. Your content online has shelf life. So you need to post often and post relavent.
The numbers here vary, but, you ought to be posting at least once a day. Full stop.

If you want to argue this, feel free, I won't listen. Because if you do any research you'll see this is true and you are wrong.

2. Rely on your Friends. Your posts are only as successful as your network of friends. So ask your friends to visit your blog, participate, comment, share the link with their networks and maybe even post!

3. Tag for optimal SEO opimization.

So how are we doing this for Karmacake? Well, I'm doing it all the time! I will reveal more details as I go forward, but I'm not giving up all the good stuff right away.

If you want to observe, participate and actively see how I do it (and have some fun along the way) you might want to start by following me on Twitter @karmacakedotca and maybe subscribing to my RSS Feed.

Feel free to post questions, I will answer. I like connecting with other people. :)

Because I'm a sucker like that.
I also like praise.
Gifts.
Candy.
Beer.
Buffets.
AYCE Sushi.
BBQ
Kittens - but not to eat.
Rockstars.

Later Cassie; Rihanna's got nudy pics too

Jay-Z is going to have to change his line in Umbrella to, "Little Miss Sunshina, Rihanna, showed her snatch."

Like how I made it past tense? Now that line is good for eternity.

If you haven't heard, about 40 minutes ago, it dropped that the sugar-snap R&B star now is yet another celeb who has nudie shots of her up on the web. While my nick name may be "Ri", "Reedles" and - shocking, yes - even "RiRi", I have to be honest, it's not me.

But, I have a feeling I didn't need to write that.

Cassie's photos might be NC-17 but RiRi's are HARDCORE!

Boys you are some of the luckiest people right now. Honestly.

So the photos... okay...
Obvs. the first photo is one of Rihanna, then these photos are of a dude with Rihanna's knickers on his head.

Is this really something that's appealing to guys?

You see what happens to you if you try to put your dirty gitch on my head? I promise you, I would NOT be posing for photos.

Chris Brown, obvs does not feel the same way.

The next one is sexy sexy! Rihanna posing in the washroom of some hotel room, taking photos of herself with "I love you I miss you" written on the mirror.

Holy, CSI, screw off, Mingers got some mad detective skills! hahaha!

I'm awesome.

Anyway, this one isn't so racy and I promise you this isn't even close to the bad stuff.

I'm sorry, Santa Rihanna. Hits come when you post hot scandelous content... Forgive me for...

Posting photos of your ... & your ...

This is hard hitting journalism right now.

Well, Rihanna, you're beautiful, regardless. I'm sorry you had such a bittersweet year, but, at least you realized if you're music doesn't work out you could have a lucritive career as a porn photographer.

I apparently have an eye for these things.

Whatever, everyone's naked under their clothes... it's just that Rihanna's not wearing any.

Too Large, Wont Fit?

Being a York student, I am often asked “Madd how has life been post strike?” The simple answer to this question would be: tight. Very, very, tight.

I will go on the record for this one time, this will likely turn a few of my friends into foes, by stating that the militant excuses of capitalists in commie clothing have created a confining situation for nearly 50 000 students—I say nearly because the amount of students who disserted their posts during the three month stint.
The words confining really do not do justice for the exact, prison rape would likely be more preferable to this—I say likely because I luckily have not been put into this situation… yet.
Actually, another analogy comes to mind, please disregard any cultural stereotypes if you find them offensive, or slanderous in any way, actually, if you are too caught up with in the offensiveness of the cultural stereotypes, it would seem that my analogy has not had the desired effect.
Picture a sparsely decorated hotel room. The sparseness of the room is only accentuated by the overall disheveled state that it perpetually exists within; we are talking the sort of scene normally associated with low budget porno films.
Against the peeling teal wallpapered walls is the rusted remains of a headboard and the bed frame that resembles a torturous cast away from the Spanish Inquisition, a lumpy mattress rests comfortably, in defiance to the sort of possibility. Lights glare down from robotic constructions that remain still and silent. Two video cameras are already rolling, taking in the actions of a single, female, her stature is that of a midget, or politically referred to as “a little person”. Her stubby legs are wrapped in fish net stockings that are barely concealed by a miniskirt that would fit a five year old, a hot pink halter-top contains her unusually large mammary glands.
She waits patiently for her partner to arrive, and when he does, the horror of what is about to occur can only begin to dawn upon any onlooker.
He stands at seven foot ten, and is the porno-perfect union of 1/3 African, 1/3 Polish, and 1/3 Native American. To say his reputation exceeds him would be to deny the enormous hard-on that is more than 13 inches away from his belly. He whispers words of comfort as he greases himself up, assuring the little lady that everything will be fine, and that he will be as gentle as possible.
But as the act accelerates in momentum it becomes apparent that the well being of this poor individual is nowhere in mind.
Her screams for mercy fall upon deaf ears.
“This is too large, it wont fit.”

This is the sentiment that most York Students seem to be resounding right now as the administration of the university attempts to save the year by compacting four months into roughly three.
We were promised compassion and understanding, but these greasy sentiments appear to have dried up and become rough memories for us to forget about. Like those empty words that most hockey players share with their potential puck bunny turned pillow bunny, there is no love here.

But, I cannot bitch, too much at least, because I myself am just as responsible for these actions as those capitalists in commie clothing. “Thus there are no accidents in a life; a community event which suddenly bursts forth and involves me in it does not come from the outside. If I am mobilized in a war, this war is my war; it is in my image and I deserve it. I deserve it first because I could always get out of it by suicide or by desertion; these ultimate possibles are those which must always be present for us when there is a question of envisaging a situation. For a lack of getting out of it, I have chosen it.” (Sartre 195).
It seems that my googely-eyed hero has set me straight again. I did not desert my post, nor did I do myself in; therefore, I now must prepare to with stand the battle that is these last two weeks of this extended school year.
We all are in the places that we are in because of the choices that have been made. These places may not feel comfortable at the present time; however, we were and still are free to make many others. To stand on one side and point fingers at the other may entice an experiential feeling of elation, but it is important to remember that the other side will be pointing back, and it was a choice to become involved in this game of finger pointing that will eventually cause it to exceed ad nauseum.
For myself, I am through complaining about this situation. The more I do it, the less time I spend trying to get past it, for the complaining isn’t exactly solving any issues, the getting down to business is.

Carpe Stuff

-Hattere

Work Cited
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Jean-Paul Sartre: Basic Writings. Ed. Priest, Stephen. New York: N.Y. Routledge, 2001.

Bombay Sapphire

I essentially invited myself to the event - perks of working at Dine.TO. It was all very last minute, I was working at my computer finishing the review for Willow Springs Winery out in Whitchurch-Stouffville, when Jen McNeely of She Does the City sent out the information for that evenings event.

The part of the hustle we're in right now is to get out there, to see people, make acquaintances and make friends. You can't launch something without people who like you and believe in what you do. So, I emailed their PR rep, got the okay to attend and Reado and I were on our way to sample some gin cocktails at the Ted Rogers Snr. House in Rosedale.

We walk in and see all my favorite people, Raymi the Minx, Sass from Zucket.com, Ryan Jennings co-author of Cooking with Booze, Jaimie Woo from Torontoist, Anita from iwantigot, Ginger from Ginger Won't Snap, Julian Brass from Notable.tv, Spotlightcity's Suresh Doss - holy, am I missing anyone?

Shinan Govani was there as well, in fact, he was standing next to me for the better part of the presentation. He rarely retweets me and he didn't care to speak to me - so whatevs. Here's a shot of folks going for the food.

Eat up!

What's missing from the photo is me elbowing my way to the tray. At this point I was moments away from Swatow and an order of cold tea.

So the event? Bombay Sapphire hosted a "Gin In" to get folks ready for some simple summer entertaining. BSapphire's Global Brand Ambassador & Master Mixologist, Merlin Griffiths, was shaking cocktails and reacquainting us with the wonderful world of gin! Sapphire Collins were the hit of the ball; lemon, simple syrup and gin came together in a regally bitter lemonade-all-growed-up. While the Sapphire Ginger Mint was a cooling concoction of gin, gingerale and mint, like a mojito sophisticato.

Clearly, if you were there, you would've though the house was on a boat what with everyone swaying back and forth like they were on the high seas.

I don't think information retention was at an all time high.

Sadly, not one Gin and Tonic.

Not that any of us needed it.

It was a solid event. A bit crowded when it came to the cooking demo with celebrity party planner and entertaining expert, Sebastien Center, of Eatertainment Special Events. Dishes were simple and straightforward, wildrice and citrus salmon was delightfully rich, but lacking complexity, it would have been too much to serve as a main course.

If you have several mini Bodum tea caraffs, extra wine glasses to spare or time to do some napkin folding, you can finally have a cool dinner party.

Overall, chilling with Reado and catching up with Ryan was fantastic. I love his Cooking with Booze & Entertaining with Booze books (coincidentally they are on display in the window of the Cookbook Store on Yorkville).

By the time we left, Reado and I were two gift boxes richer and we were both ready to put to use the fantab Bombay Sapphire branded lemon juicer. Coincidentally, these will also be available as a gift with purchase this summer - so bottoms up!

Cheers everyone!

Cannabis Culture is Full of Stoners

Holy.
Ahhh, Hell no! Does your momma know you smoke? Look at those clouds!

So today was that stoner fest we all know as the "Freedom March" and while I have some definite opinions on the event, I'll save them for the real Karmacake... not the blog, which I lovingly refer to as, "Karmacake BS"... BS being for Blogspot.

Anyway, here's a photo of being anonymous at the event. I guess it's not very anonymous since everyone knows my "Rabbit Hoodie" is a personal signature, as is that scarf my mum bought for me before I went to NYC to win the KMS California modeling contest.

Hey, Mom! Love the scarf. I use it all the time :)

*sigh*

SOOO We went to the Freedom Fest at Queen's Park today. It was packed! I mean it was well attended by head shops, medicinal cannabis, compassionate care centers and the Funnel Cakes booth was doing gangbusters. Massive line up, I wasn't too bummed. Roasted corn is a personal fav.

At one point, the dude that was heading up this band, surfed the crowd, literally, on a surfboard. I missed the opportunity to take the photo. But, I did get a few crowd shots. I missed my girl Nneka's performance, she's apparently a brilliant singer - I've never roll into the Freedom Fest early enough to catch her performance.

Overall, it was decent, however, I can't help but feel this "protest" is a premature celebration. What are we partying for? Can someone let me know? We've created a celebration for legions of folks to feel comfortable to wear marijuana leaf lays & smoke from novelty bongs.

Cool... I guess.

But, what about the cannabis sub-culture?

mmmm... the air smells of a future Karmacake story - I can't wait to get started.

Then ask Mark Emery why he looked like such a douche on the National Geographic piece on pot. How is anyone ever going to consider pot prohibition, if the representatives can't go five minutes without raving about Vancouver pot, calling himself the "Prince of Pot" (a nick name is only cool when you don't have to introduce yourself as it), then smoking from a killer floor bong.

I'm embarrassed just watching that.

Anyway, I have to get dressed. Mama Leners, owner and designer of Feenie Beadie, is taking Reado and I to College St. Bar to check out this hot hot DJ. I've been grooving to his Myspace tracks and I'm down. I'm hoping she'll cover Medley for KC. Apparently, his GF is spinning too... this is going to be great.

Generation Swine?

Being a child of the eighties I lived and dreamed fear. It began at the tail end of the cold war. With the stench of fear still wafting strong through society, I remember fondly, my mother telling me at the young age of seven about the expected aftereffects of a nuclear winter.


"Now Madd, remember, your hair will fall out, your skin will go limp and lifeless, and at the end of it all you will probably resemble something found on the Queen West sidewalk." I nodded at the appropriate places as she continued, "and this is why, if the missiles do launch, I will take care of you and Chris with a lovely little pill." Later I discovered that she was referring to cyanide tablets, but I refused to take my Flintstones vitamins just in case
Feeling guilty, as any good Protestant should, I used to cap off all my evening prayers to the big guy in the sky with, "and please do not let the family become a rabble of horribly disfigured mutants as a result of nuclear winter." But as all things do, the chilling fire of a possible nuclear winter fizzled out shortly after the cold war was called off.

Sleep suddenly came too easily after this.

My prayers ended with less concern.

I noticed a large gap in the existence of my ten year old life.
Fear was missing, until our family began watching Unsolved Mysteries, cloaked in the perpetual possibility of kidnappers, serial killers, and other "evil doers" lurking near my bedside window, my prayers could once again be properly scripted. The looming possibility of my gruesome demise made my life feel slightly more real and tangible.
Unfortunately, after Oliver Stone glorified murder with his cult classic Natural Born Killers even a bloody demise at the hands of a social path lost its edge.
For my high school career I grasped at possible solutions to fill this void of fear in my life, getting poor grades and becoming a homeless bum was easily forgotten about after I discovered drinking. There was a brief battle with the fear of dying at the hands of marijuana addiction; however, everyone laughed at me when I expressed it. My life begun spiraling out of control as I attempted to fulfill my bizarre addiction to fear, paranoia took over my purposes and thoughts as I stumbled around searching for new fear.
It wasn't until shortly after high school, when I was employed by my first marketing firm, that I was educated on why and how the media manipulates society with the potential of fear. The companies used to cart us into these huge hotel conference rooms and pump us full of caffeine and sugar, then begin a series of propaganda techniques that we were to in turn pass onto you, the general public. After Iams pet food was bought by the corporate monster Proctor and Gamble, they brought us together, filled our heads with beneficial knowledge on their products and sent us out to "re-educate" the public.

This was when they taught me that the most two driving emotions to control someone's life was love and fear, "you want someone to do exactly as you wish? Ask them if they love their (insert who the product is necessary for here). When they respond with yes, as every self concerning human should, tell them that their loved one may die if they don't buy what you are selling." Double wammey, sell love and fear in the same sentence and you can get people to fork out any limits of cash.
Precisely at this point that empty void in my life, that was originally filled by fear, became clearly defined by this statement of manipulation. Society became a construction of puppet strings, perpetually pulled for the purposes of economy and complacency. What's more, I became aware of my would be captors and their use of manipulation to cage my desires and my actions, and once this illusion was illuminated, I realized that the bars of my own creation were never there in the first place.

Fear is a ravenous and gluttonous beast, one that must be fed personally in order to sustain its growth. All the idle talk concerning swine flu will create a collection of cages to bind and blind anyone willing to descend into the desires of drama. This is not to say that the swine flu may not be potentially dangerous, nor is it to suggest that ignoring it will be the vaccine that Tamiflu cannot aspire towards; bullets and cars will still kill even if ignored.

Fear and love both must be accepted with the same level of awareness if the illusion is to be seen and the cages are to disappear. To transcend that which cannot be accepted, one must cast a light of truth to dispel an illusion. The fear will still be tangible, but it's illusionary nature will never be forgotten.

As an attempt to cast some light onto pig's blowing hot air at a fragile construction of hay, I leave you with this: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/29/Swine-Flu.aspx

Carpe Stuff.

-Hattere