My Alexisonfire Interview

So, Aux TV let me go out to the set of Alexisonfire's shoot for their new video called 'Born and Raised'. I got to chat with Dallas Green and George Pettit about Twitter, Facebook and their experience this year at Vans Warped Tour. The guys were super nice and had tons of great stuff to talk about.

Real Music Television in 31 Days

This is the Official sizzle reel for the AUX Television launch happening on October 1, 2009. AUX is real music television, coming to Rogers October 1- always at http://AUX.TV
City Sonic, Camera Music, Cypher, Volume, Master Tracks, Explore Music, Outbreak Music Videos and more.
Join the Facebook Fan page for a chance to win a $50 iTunes Gift Certificate.
VERY EXCITING NEWS!

District 9 Buzz

The Surfs international correspondent interviews District 9 director Neill Blomkamp and star Sharlto Copley (all South African). Watch as he cuts right to the chase with some hard hitting questions about the ill-fated Halo film.
I work with Scott at Bite TV and this is one of the funniest interviews I've seen. Yay Rob! You're on your way to becoming a superstar!

Sex and Art

There is no doubt that Christian Louboutin creates 'sexy' shoes. So this month when I picked up Wallpaper* magazine, I wasn't surprised to see their 'Sex and Art' issue represented by a pair of black, thigh-high Louboutin boots on the cover. The magazine's spread looks at the sexual drive behind art, design, fashion, food and beauty. Its centrepiece is a 28-page section by renowned art director Peter Saville and photographer Nick Knight, which conjures up the ultimate adult play pen where fashion, furniture and fetishism collide.

The rest of the issue takes in everything from aphrodisiac cocktails and cool condom packaging to erotic publishing and a look at the efforts to clean up the seedy sides of great cities. Wallpaper* also looks at the haute hard core of S&M's master craftsmen, uncovers the last taboo, and previews a startling and intimate series of videos shot for Wallpaper.com by US artist Robbie Cooper. Cooper's short films are a powerful new take on pornography and how we use it.

But those boots - are those sexy? I'm not so sure. I've tried on thigh-high boots before only to be disappointed because they fall off my leg, take forever to put on and just in general look quite trashy.

Leave me a comment, tell me if you think they're sexy. If not, tell me what is (in fashion).

Congratulations

The Glassbox offices are buzzing this morning as the announcement was released to the press: this fall, the uber-kitschy site http://aux.tv will launch their channel to Rogers Cable.

AUX is Canada's music discovery destination. AUX brings it's audience music-themed journalism, current affairs, news, charts, videos, films and documentaries focused on the best rising artists and renowned musical ground breakers from Canada and around the world.

Right now you can check out great shows like ExploreMusic with Alan Cross, Volume, MasterTracks on the site and on the sister station BiteTV Mondays at 9PMET.

Follow @BITETV and @AUX for updates and cool stuff going on!

Facebook Joins in the Vanity

The buzz was still stirring over the keynote presentation at the Worldwide Developer's Conference yesterday afternoon, but it didn't cast a shadow on a huge announcement made by Facebook. Beginning on Friday June 12 at 9:01pm Facebook users will be able to choose a vanity URL. I personally believe vanity URL's are extremely useful (from MySpace and Twitter experience) I wonder why Facebook has waited this long to implement this change. Now, its expected that there will be plenty of complaints and disappointed users since the fight for the same URL will be diabolical.

All I have to say is if your name is Crystal Gibson - watch out on Friday night because I will claim my preferential username...or else.

Partio Time

Par-ti-o. noun; the congregation of like minded individuals to party and celebrate in debauchery on a patio.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that the term 'partio' (created by @clickflickca) is ubiquitous.  In the next coming weeks @clickflickca, @da187suspect, @aldrichsilva and myself (@crystalgibson) will be working diligently to organize a partio event.  There aren't too many details yet, but I promise it will be a tweetup not to be missed.  

Next time you're tweeting definitely spread the word by using the hashtag #partio and feel free to message any one of us with idea or questions.

Stay tuned! 

When Fashion (Designers) Fade, Style is Eternal

Yves Saint Laurent must have been anticipating a global recession when he said, "Fashion fades, style is eternal" because that's exactly what's happening now.

My real-life Becky Bloomwood friend Stephanie was out this week perusing through the racks at the high-end stores in Yorkville, picking up a Pucci scarf on her way.  She came to a vacant shop and wondered what could have closed down there.  With a horrified look on her face she realized that this exact spot, this desolate area once belonged to Hazel Luxury for Women.  She immediately sent me a BBM detailing her nauseating discovery and frankly, I was not so surprised to hear about the store's demise.   A rep from the store declares that Hazel had succumbed to "the vagaries of the economic climate which engulfed her."  Boasting fashions from designers including Giambattista Valli and celebrity clients including Kim Cattrall, this little fashion house seemed to be here to stay.  So what is to be said about the state of the fashion industry during this grim time? 

This week saw the collapse of French designer Christian Lacroix which makes me wonder what's in store for the rest of the European fashion brigade.  "I skipped the last buying trip to Paris altogether," says Erin Crandall, head buyer of designer collections for online retail site ShopBop.com. "The cost of the trip would have outweighed the money we'd have made on the lines."  ShopBob chose to replace French and Italian designers with collections from American brands such as Derek Lam, Chris Benz, Rachel Roy, and Tory Burch.  The hottest thing coming from Europe right now is none other than the affordable-chic superstore H&M.  Among the H&M imports, there are smuggled (I mean guest designer) pieces from sell-out designers such as Viktor & Rolf, Roberto Cavalli and this season Matthew Williamson.  

A Fashion-Forward Nursery Rhyme

This little piggy went to Prada,

This little piggy went to Cannes.

This little piggy dined at Nobu,

and this little piggy, Hakkasan.

And this little piggy went "wee wee wee wee!"

all the way home because she had a fat bottom!

I'm My Own Personal Trainer - Thankyouverymuch

In my renewed vow to get fit, I decided to join one of those super flashy, super glamorous fitness clubs.  Upon joining I was offered a complimentary assessment and I obliged.  I sat for an hour with the trainer who seemed completely interested in my health and well-being; I was wrong.  It was clearly a ploy to lure me into taking up personal training sessions with him.  Now, personal training definitely has its benefits and I don't know anyone who has a personal trainer who looks less than fabulous.  However, I am a J-school grad searching for a job and I just cannot afford the extra $55/week.  He continued to badger me about the sessions exclaiming that the only way I would be able to attain my goal was to have him by my side.  That day I left the gym feeling less confident and petrified of the condescending weight area.

I read this article in The Huffington Post about how personal trainers aren't always as qualified and knowledgeable as they seem.  Some even try and use the same program on every client - yikes!

So, as a last resort, I turned to Women's Health Magazine.  Inside I found pages upon pages of workout tips - and guess what - no trainer necessary!  Good health and a good body are all I need as motivation.  Thanks, but no thanks Mr. Trainer.

Kate Gosselin - Wifezilla

I promise that this will be the first and last post about Kate Gosselin.  I just want to point out that their marriage could not have always been this hindered.  The picture above was taken during the first season of the show and you don't have to be a body language analyst to see that they were super in love.  However, a few seasons and plenty of blonde hi-lites later, Kate seems super oblivious to her once humble appearance.  I mean, really, does she actually need a bodyguard following her around?  

Twetiquette 101

Twet-i-quette; noun - the customary code of polite behaviour in Twitter society.

There is a certain tolerance level that people have when it comes to social networking sites.  I personally don't like it when my friends bombard my Facebook wall with nonsense nor do I take kindly to dirty old men flooding my MySpace inbox with impious messages.  While I find Twitter to have the least amount of spam, there are some gripes I do have.  This is my Twetiquette 101 lesson for all the new Tweeps or for those who are still wondering why you frequently lose followers.  

Do: Get Engaged.  Unless you're Oprah, chances are people are not going to flock to your Twitter page.  You must keep your updates interesting and relevant.  Check out the trending topics and add your unique and fabulous input.

Do: Use hashtags (sparingly).  For example, when the Toronto Blue Jays are playing a game, fans use the popular hashtag #gojaysgo to clump all the Jays tweets together.  This is a great way to find people with common interests and vice versa.  However, there are some Tweeps who go way overboard and use hashtags (#) in every word in their tweets - that's super annoying.

Do: Read @replies.  After the whole @reply controversy with Twitter this week, you are unable to see @replies from people you are not following unless you are using Tweetdeck or other Twitter platforms.  However, this does not stop you from seeing @replies from people you follow, so if you see a tweet directed at you, kindly reply.  It all goes back to the engage aspect; it's called social networking for a reason.

Do: Post an avatar.  The little brown smiley face avatar is rather mundane.  I'd much prefer to see a picture of you - so post one, please.

Do: Make sure you speak to your boss or place of employment about what you can and cannot disclose on Twitter.  WSJ issued an exhaustive code of conduct for social networks this week and I wouldn't want anyone's job hindered for misconduct.  

Do: Keep your tweets short.  I know what you're saying, '140 characters is short enough'.  Hear me out; sometimes you read a phenomenal tweet, then try and re-tweet but can't because that would be going over the 140 character limit.  Use abbreviations and contractions whenever you can.  People re-tweeting is another great way to attract followers.

I'm no Twitter police but here are a few tweet don'ts:

Don't: Use @replies as a means of having a back-and-forth conversation with someone else (that's what instant messaging is for).

Don't: Beg for followers.  People should follow you because they like what you say, not because you offer prizes to the 100th follower (I've seen in done).

Don't: Forget to treat Twitter as a micro-blog.  Filter your tweets by asking yourself, 'Will my followers care about this?'  

When used properly, Twitter can be a phenomenal site for networking and staying in-the-know about pertinent topics.  If you haven't already joined Twitter, you can do so here.  

Craigslist Curse

Yikes!  From ongoing scam listings, to the alleged 'Craigslist Killer' last month, the classifieds giant has been facing plenty of bad publicity lately.  Craigslist posted a blog today issuing the discontinuation of the 'Erotic Services' section, substituting it with a new section, 'Adult Services'.  Any postings submitted to 'Erotic Services' will be null in void and in 7 days the entire category will be removed.   To avoid any dispute about future violent crimes, the site plans to manually review each posting before it appears on the site.  This is to ensure compliance with craigslist posting guidelines and terms of use. New postings will cost $10, but once approved, will be eligible for reposting at $5.

Check out the complete Craigslist blog here

Victoria Gotti - The New Face of Recessionista

Hi-lights, extensions, furs and fake tans will have to be severely cut down for the mobster princess Victoria Gotti as she faces foreclosure on her Long Island mansion.  Gotti allegedly owes JP Morgan Chase $650,000 and has failed to make any payments in over 2 years.  Not surprisingly, Gotti has someone to blame for this disaster; none other than her ex-husband Carmine Agnello.  

Looks as though Victoria and her three orange toned, porcupine-looking spawns will be living life a lot differently from what we saw on their repugnant reality series 'Growing Up Gotti'.  On second thought, this may be a genius idea for a spin-off series featuring life in the ghetto.  They're mobsters, right?  I'm sure they'll survive.  

Rain, Rain - Go Away

It's a super gloomy Saturday in Toronto.  The rain is falling, the thunder is booming and the lighting is not helping my headache.  Weekends are short as it is and inclement weather often hinders our chances to enjoy Saturdays and Sundays.  So, I've thought of some things I enjoy doing on rainy days and wanted to share:

1 - Tweet Tweet Tweet.  This is your perfect opportunity to really browse the Twitter world.  Check out links tweeted by people you follow (a lot of the time there are fantastic articles and websites that are recommended).  It's also a great chance to scope out new people to follow; check out trending topics and you'll likely find people with the same interests as you.

2 - Watch movies.  So you can't make it to the big screen to catch the latest flick but you can certainly put on your coziest pj's, shut all the curtains, find some ice cream and spend the day watching movies at home.  With thousands of titles, great prices and convenience the iTunes store is the most ideal place to buy or rent your movies.

3 - De-clutter.  Spring cleaning happens in the spring because there are so many rainy days.  No one wants to waste the first warm sunny days of the year cleaning so the best time to get rid of junk is on a rainy day!  Take out the summer shoes and pack away the cashmere turtlenecks - I promise, the weather will get better soon.

4 - Read a book.  I get overwhelmed when I go to Chapters because there are so many titles that sound intriguing.  Check out Blipper to read review and recommendations made by your friends.  Try reading in an eco-friendly way with Amazon's Kindle DX - I totally want one!

5 - Jump in puddles.  I'm not kidding.  Buy yourself a pair of rain boots, Hunter boots are my favorite, and jump around.  As juvenile and ridiculous as it sounds, I guarantee you will feel less stressed and bummed that it's raining after puddle jumping.  You may want to avoid the sport if there is lightning. 

Enjoy your Saturday xo 

Phew! Thank Goodness for Unlimited SMS

I thought that my commitment to Twitterberry was long-term until I woke up this morning to see that Rogers and Fido had restored their Twitter via SMS service.  Starting today, Tweeps will be able to use the short code 21212 to tweet, re-tweet, direct message, follow friends at no additional charge (unless you do not have an additional text plan).  You can also subscribe to friend updates (via text) from specific people you follow - but if you follow someone like @nytimes, you'll be getting an abundance of texts.  

A (Model's) Night at the Museum

The rain in New York did not stop the models and celebrities from strutting their stuff at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala last night.  The opening of the exhibit, 'The Model as Muse' has been one of the most anticipated and glamorous fashion events of the year with dinner seats costing $7,500 to start; no recession here.  The exhibit is a refreshing twist because not only does it pay homage to the designer, but it showcases models and their critical contribution to the fashion industry,  Models have faced plenty of criticism this past decade with their questionable stick-thin figures and the lack of colored models on the runways.  An important acknowledgment in the chronological history of fashion showcases Beverly Johnson, the first black Vogue cover girl, in 1974.  

Marc Jacobs, however, insisted that model scrutiny and the 'celebrity status' that some models endured has taken away from what fashion is all about; the clothes.  “It was hard to sort of overcome the bigness of some of those personalities, or to bring those personalities sort of down, you know?” Mr. Jacobs said. “Now fashion is about looking at the clothes and not the girls.”  Funny, wasn't Marc Jacobs the designer who brought the Queen of headlines Kate Moss to the gala as his date?  Oh those designers!

The above photos are my favorite pieces of the evening: Rihanna in Dolce and Gabbana, Kate Beckinsale in Marchesa, Anne Hathaway in Marc Jacobs and Mary-Kate Olsen in Christian Lacroix Couture.  

Frankenstory

I promise you'll be rolling on the floor laughing after playing this writing game.  All you need is an e-mail address, a friend with an e-mail address and a short story idea.  

You write the beginning of the story in 40 words (not characters) then send it to your friend who only sees the last few words of the story.  They have to continue the story in 40 words, then send it back to you.  

The story allows for you and your friend to contribute twice, after that you'll both receive e-mails revealing the entire story.  

Here's one that I wrote today - http://frankenstory.com/stories/f97146f2

Speaker's Corner 2.0

 I remember traveling all the way from the suburbs just to go into that little booth, give my opinion then anxiously watch the episode of Speaker's Corner to see if my comment made it to air.  I also remember being intoxicated and cramming way too many of my friends into the booth and ranting belligerently.  When I found out that Speaker's Corner was going off the air, I was devastated.

In my social network joining frenzy, I found a site where you can record 12 second videos, post them and share with your followers.  A Twitter and Speaker's Corner collaboration; it might as well be called 'Crystal's dream site dot com'.  I immediately joined http://12seconds.tv eager to stream my 12 second videos.  The great thing about the site is that you can record videos straight from the homepage, saving you the task of uploading from imovie (or whatever program you use) however, you need to have Adobe Flash Player installed.  Check out the video that I made with the help of my puppy, Chico.  You can also record videos from your mobile phone and upload straight to the site.    

The Jack Dorsey's of the world are trying to eliminate information overload by restricting the way we communicate to 140 characters at a time.  The guys that created 12 Seconds TV restricted video time because they claim, '12 seconds is an ideal time to keep things interesting'.  I'm not sure where these geniuses were when I spent sleepless nights writing 14-20 page essays for my undergrad classes but I am ecstatic that they are here now.  Don't forget to follow me on 12 Seconds - http://12seconds.tv/channel/crystalgibson 

Are You a Twitter Quitter?

An article published in yesterday's Globe and Mail revealed that a disappointing 60% of Twitter users deactivate their accounts within the first month of signing up.  Now I won't gloat about my net savvy ways because frankly, I'm fairly new to social networking sites myself.  However, I've found Twitter to be incredibly useful and often insightful.  I've been able to follow journalists and other affiliates of the media and I've sent many of them direct messages asking them for their advice about succeeding in broadcasting.  Global TV's Leslie Roberts was remarkably helpful and responded really quickly (check out Leslie on News Hour Final at 11, he does a segment where he reads tweets and I manage to make cameo appearances a few times a week).  

I understand where people are coming from when they Twitter-bash; the site does seem like the verbatim of narcissists.  Globe reader, Mojo Nixon, posted his comment in response to the article, "The continuous status updates on twitter (and those on Facebook as well) appear to be for those addicted to empty boasting about how great things are, and how exciting their life is. How adolescent. No one cares; please grow up."

  Frivolous banter is exchanged between one another (face-to-face), at least that's what my conversations entail when I am not discussing precautionary measures taken to ensure H1N1, formally Swine, influenza is not spread and other 'important' non-boasting topics.  It's evident that Mojo Nixon is obviously not following the right people; I don't think I follow one person who mindlessly tweets about themself all day.  Matt Singley is one of my favourite people to follow (@mattsingley); he is a social media analyst offering comprehensive information about, well, social media.  He recently posted a blog entry titled, '5 Ways to Follow Good People on Twitter' which was super helpful and a must for anyone new to Twitter.

Here my 5 ways to know if your Twitmance will work:

1 - Can answer the question 'What are you doing?' in 140 characters?

2 - Are you keen on being in-the-know about news, music, technology, food etc?

3 - Is networking a asset in your job field?

4 - Do you like reading opinions and giving yours?

5 - Do you know what @replies, RT's, DM@, #followfriday's, #musicmonday's are?

If you answered yes to all of the above then its in the stars for you and Twitter.

Don't forget to follow me - www.twitter.com/CrystalGibson

In the Case of Rogers vs Crystal

If Rogers Wireless didn't have such a fantastic partnership with Research in Motion, I would have switched service providers a long time ago.

Sure, I spend way too much time on my Blackberry; texting, BBMing, Facebooking, MySpacing, Tweeting, Flickring, Googling, app browsing, weather checking and occasionally talking but I do what I must to keep in the know.  To avoid ever being overcharged, I make sure I have a wireless plan that incorporates all my needs for the lowest price.  Consequently, when I received my bill this month I was horrified to see that I was being charged $203.65.  I frantically fumbled through the pages of my bill in search of these alleged overcharges and where I found them was a shock.  According to Rogers, I had exceeded my 350 daytime minutes therefore increasing my voice charges by $63 dollars.  Talk time, really?  C'mon Rogers, if you're going to try and overcharge me for a service, let it be a service I use frequently.  Naturally I picked up my Blackberry and dialed *611 (connects you to Rogers for free from your mobile device).  After miscommunication with the high-energy and rather annoying automated Rogers guy, I was finally put through to billing.  Together we spent the next 28 minutes (I timed it) discussing where these mystery charges came from.  Eventually the representative caved in; and granted me a credit of not $63, but $85 dollars.  Feeling content and liberated I thanked her for her help, hung up and immediately Tweeted, BBMed, MySpaced and sent texts updating my friends on what had happened.

So here's some advice on how you can get your way with Rogers Wireless:

1 - Do make sure you have a legitimate and solid argument (confidence is key)

2 - Do have a  good standing with Rogers (they'll be helpful if you're a good client)

3 - Do thank the rep for their help

4 - Do not yell at the rep no matter how ridiculous they are

5 - Do not play the 'I will end my contract if you don't give me what I want' card.  You know you won't

Make sure to thoroughly check your bill to ensure you are not being overcharged.  Inquire if you feel like something is not right.  If you do not have detailed billing, get it.  It's important to see what activity is going on with your account and is a good reference if you do need to call Rogers. 

Who Says a Recession Can't Be Fun?

Last month Nick Goddard, an unemployed New Yorker, set out to alleviate fellow job seekers' stress by organizing the first ever 'Unemployment Olympics'.  The venue, Tompkins Square Park' was quite fitting, it was the spot where many labour riots were held in the 1980's.  Some events included 'Pin the Blame on the boss' and 'Fax Machine Toss'.  Goddard claims that he wanted to peel people away from the classifieds to have a refreshing break.  

Here in Toronto, I found out how our unemployed ease their stress.  

Check it out

Tamil Tiger Tirade

I was walking past University Avenue yesterday and couldn't help but stop and check out the protesters outside the US consulate.  Amidst the many frustrated people, I was surprised to see an abundant amount of young children.  While I understand that the genocide in Sri Lanka is devastating, should kids be taken out of school to participate in the rally?  

I was stopped by a high school girl who encouraged me to sign a petition that she plans on sending to President Barack Obama in hopes that he will come to the aid of her people.  The Tamils demand that they be allowed unimpeded delivery of food and medicines, immediately end the Sri Lankan military occupation of the Tamil homeland and the recognition of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) as the defenders of the Tamil nation.

Check out the video coverage at the scene of the protest  

As of this morning, protesters have been forced off the streets by Toronto Police allowing traffic to pass through University Avenue once again.

Help! I've Run Out of Disc Space

There it is; the reason I have no more room on my hard drive and the reason why an external hard drive has become my new best friend.  Notice the colourful squares and rectangles in the picture on the left; those are treemaps.  The two blue prominent treemaps are my worst enemy.  They represent the space that my Mp3's fill on my hard drive.  So now what do I do?  I've cleaned up my hard drive quite a bit, discarding any files I no longer needed but I am reluctant about cleaning my music files.  I love my music.  I take pride in my overwhelming collection of various genres of music.  

I was really glad to find this fabulous tool for my Mac.  If you are using OS X 10.3 or later and you want to find where all your memory has gone, you should definitely check out Disc Inventory X.  

Non-iPhone for Verizon

AT&T won't be able to use their exclusivity contract card for this one.  

There is speculation that America's leader in wireless networks Verizon and Apple are in talks to release 2 new devices onto the market as early as June 2009.  Making sure not to confuse the new mobile device with the iPhone, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs is set to introduce the 'non-iPhone'.  Its been said that the new cell phone is a smaller and less-expensive version of the highly coveted iPhone.  The second gadget is the Apple Media Pad (shown left) which would support watching high definition videos as well as browse the Internet and use Skype over Wifi.  

  CEO Rick Lindner credits the 1.6 million growth last quarter to the iPhone, so they hope to extend their exclusivity contract until 2011.  While it sounds like a great way to keep their customers, Verizon Wireless may have some super fabulous devices up their sleeve.

Wanna Get Fitlicious?

  

When the founder of E11even Productions invited me to sit-in on one of her fantastic shoots I jumped at the opportunity.  Theresa Laurico is quickly taking the production world by storm with her genius ideas and vivacious personality.  

I got to meet Melissa Tucker founder of 'Fitlicious Club' and boy is she FIT!  She gave a presentation to a room full of executives and practically tore apart their lunches explaining how unhealthy they were.  She offered amazing alternatives for the employees to snack on and provided the recipes which were simple enough.  I thought I was safe from her ruthless rant but as soon as the cameras stopped rolling she marched over to where I was sitting and demanded to know what kind of beverage was in my tall Starbucks cup.  I muttered a sheepish response making sure to emphasize that I ordered sugar-free syrup and non-fat milk.  Well, Melissa thought that was a riot, "You think because you got all that fancy no-fat garbage your drink is healthy?"  "Relatively."  I responded.  She proceeded to explain how much sugar and fat there was no matter how 'skinny' I try and make it.  She then handed me a drink she made with some chocolate powder and though it was delicious it contained NO caffeine.  A drink with no caffeine?  The nerve!  

I tried all of her amazing homemade snacks and admired her fit physique some more.  They wrapped the shoot and I asked all sorts of fitness and health questions including what I should drink instead of my beloved caramel macchiato.  The powder-water drink didn't seem as appetizing despite her skill of persuasion.  I obviously commented on her fabulous clothing line advertising 'Fitlicious' - at which point Melissa graciously gave me a cool tee-shirt and great baseball cap.

Canada will be seeing a lot more of Melissa Tucker, she has a mission to make everyone fitlicious and she'll do it through workshops, guest segments on Flow 93.5FM and plenty other events.  Check out her full site here 

*As soon as I was out of Melissa's sight, I darted to the closest Starbucks and ordered a tall, sugar-free vanilla, non-fat caramel macchiato.  It sounds less fattening, that's good enough for me.

Wanted: Better Earth Day Promo

When Starbucks released their Earth Day promotion it was seemingly attractive.  What better way to encourage penny-saving recessionitistas to visit than offer coffee on the house.  Better yet, why not incorporate Earth Day 2009 by offering complimentary coffee to patrons who bring a 'to-go' cup with them.  It's a win-win!  Conserve by not using paper cups and reinforce the declining caffeine addiction by reinforcing the decadent beverages.

The java giant hoped consumers would opt to bring their travel cups everyday following Earth Day.  After all, it wasn't too hard to dig up that travel mug for the free stuff.  I decided to check out some Starbucks locations in the GTA to see if I could spot anyone being environmentally friendly even after the incentive was gone.  

The Audacity of Tech

Reporter Mike Edgell aka my Global TV crush recently covered a segment of 16x9 exposing the severe lifestyle difference between those who obsess over technology and those who still think a 'tweet' is merely a sound a bird makes.  

The tech savvy candidate was the epitome of a yuppie while the nonconformist was a middle-aged hippie.  While I love the drastic and humorous comparison, I would have preferred to see Mike showcase two people of the same age group.  It would have been more interesting to see how each participant interacts technologically and not.  

It is a perfect time to segment a story like this since Twitter has just recently gone uber mainstream.  It also begs the question: Have we become too self-involved as a result of social networking sites or is this the new and improved way for society to get to know each other?  Will we be labeled as outcasts if we don't participate in new technology? 

Check out the full segment of 16x9 here

Cinderella Missed Out

I compare the purchase of my first pair of Christian Louboutin pumps to what emotion I think a man would have buying his first Ferrari F50; exhilarating.  

I walk proudly to the shoe department of Holt Renfrew, ignoring the haughty sales associates (who would rather help the Chanel-clad regulars).  There is no need for me to scour the department, I've obsessed over them for long enough.  "I'll try these in a size 9", I say cooly.  Little does she know I've already tried them at David's dozens of times.  As she disappears to fetch my magnificent shoes I reminisce about the many hours I worked, the money I saved just to have them accompany me to parties, to complete my shoe closet - better yet - complete my entire wardrobe.  She emerges from the back in what seems like hours and I quickly try them (adhering to my blase charade).  "Fine, I'll take them."  At the register she reads me the total monotonously (as if $760.00 is a normal price for a pair of shoes).  I surrender my debit card and just like that the shoes are mine.  Walking out of Holt's with my magenta bag I am euphoric.  On my way home a girlfriend calls to tell me the plans for that night.  An opportunity to wear my regal red-soled shoes?  An opportunity to be admired by all the men and envied by all the women?  I'm in!  Wait - I just spent my last penny on these shoes.  Guess i'll have to re-open my account at the Bank of Mom - at least for a little while.

Now these glitter, peep-toe stunners are likely worth every penny (if you're an LA girl hitting movie premieres or awards shows).  Unfortunately, I'm just suburban girl who sometimes joins the King West crowd - so not worthy of glitter Louboutin's.  While Cinderella wasn't an LA girl, she did go to a fabulous ball, not to mention marry royalty.  So,what was her fairy Godmother thinking sending her out in those glass slippers and where was Rachel Zoe when she was really needed?

Check out the latest Christian Louboutin collection here.

My Fight with vLingo

Cambridge-based Vlingo is trying to make voice enabling applications easier, by using their own speech-to-text J2ME/Brew application API (Windows/Symbian). Using the API, developers are be able translate a user’s voice to text, and use it in their application as if typed directly into the program. One of their first examples was for local search and shopping. Vlingo voice-enabled a text box on the program you could fill out by holding down the talk button and saying a phrase, like “Yoga in San Toronto”. The system then fills in the form with what you said, letting you modify the text normally if it gets it wrong.  I do not want to modify the text if it's wrong - I may as well spend my time texting...I'm a quick texter!!

I was super excited when I downloaded the App, especially since I won't be able to use my cell anymore while driving.  After a few test trials I realized that it was an absolute waste of my time.  Check out my video demonstration and you'll see what I mean.

Thinking of Calling in Sick?

Playing hooky used to be easy.  Call in, stay home and if anyone from work called make sure to sound weak and congested.  Those days are gone; with Facebook, Twitter and MySpace its practically impossible to hide from anyone.  

I just read this article  about a woman who lost her job because a co-worker found her updating her Facebook page while claiming to be ill.  It seems a bit harsh to me since it really does not take much for anyone to surf the net.  

We know the economy is tight, but really, using Facebook as a reason for dismissal sounds a bit trivial to me.

 

Trend of the Day

I'm a rookie TrendHunter at www.trendhunter.com so please check out my trend reports.

My latest entry showcases ParkLife(http://www.vancouver2010.com) and fashion house Aritzia (www.aritzia.com) teaming up and launching an exclusive line for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

See the full article here:

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/park-life-for-aritzia-olympic-fever-heats-up-the-retail-store

WELCOME!

Here's the deal; I'm a recent journalism grad and I hate to be redundant but there are absolutely NO JOBS in Toronto.  

I've just recently (yeah, I'm slow) become mesmerized by the power of the internet.  The internet will not tell me I do not have adequate experience, the internet will not give me a deadline and best of all: the internet will NOT reject me.

I have not yet solidified a premise for my blog - it could end up being super arbitrary or even mundane but i'll figure it out.

Thanks for visiting my page.

I suppose this is where I shamelessly advertise where else you can find me online...

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