Showing you how my feet work, work, work, work

Sometimes, some songs take over playtime on my ipod. I'm sharing my current picks with you. These are worth your time, promise. And don't forget the ones from this post. They're included too.

Air France - Never Content (Friend's Tropic Thunder edit) - These guys are like The Avalanches, oh sampling!

Tiga - Mind Dimension (Mansion remix) - The song is great for the repeated use of the words "mind dimension" and if you're good with imitations like I am, repeating mind dimension over and over again gets a lot of people laughing. And in case you were wondering, Tiga's not gay, he's just metro ladies.

Junior Boys - What it's for - Caucasian Tabloid (bless you) released the album over two months before it's official release date (March 24) and I have enjoyed every track on it so far but "What it's for" is worth more than one listen

Sonic Youth - Kool Thing - Just like I think that emoticon with the smiley face wearing sunglasses was made for me, I think this song was written about me. Haha. Narcissistic slip.

Metronomy - A thing for me (Breakbot remix) - These guys are probably hot because they make good music

Hot Chip - Sexual Healing - Who else would be worthy to cover Marvin?
The Juan Maclean (Surkin Remix) - One Day - Thank you to Vaneska and Matt for posting this addictive track.

Max Tundra - Which Song - He opened for Junior Boys and did a wonderful job impressing me. Please see this guy live. Unbelievable.

Everything but the Girl - Before Today (Chicane remix) - This band is more than just about the song "Missing".

Anoraak - Nightdrive with you (sayCet remix) - The original's good and more upbeat, this is well, more dreamy.

Gonzalez - Let's Ride (megamix) - Laisse, laisse, laisse tombez ton pantalon

Lily Allen - The Fear (Duke Dumont Remix) - I only like one Lily Allen song and it's "nan you're a window shopper" but this remix is pretty damn good.

Diamond Cut - Teardrops (Treasure Fingers Filter Disco edit) - You can count on Treasure Fingers to a) make you cross the dancefloor by doing b) the electric slide and c) breaking into the marshmallow

I'll be back with more eventually. But if you can't wait to get your fix, I posted a list on my other blog back in December filled with a list of 80 songs.

image source: http://gormsey.files.wordpress.com/ http://www.paulaltobelli.com/http://www.singingfool.com

Hip-Hop's finest

In tribute to the strange cold weather we've been having, I've been prompted to listen to a song that talks about how cold it is in a certain city. Every since this video changed my life in September '08 when an old client showed it to me as she danced to its beats, I've been wondering if it's considered "viral" since its been shared all over the internet and many people know about it. Please include its "amateur, borderline professional vibe*" and you're totally VIRAL. I'm sure I have something to do with its popularity since I've passed it onto every single human being I know. What can I say, T-Baby is one of my favourite rappers of all time (put your hands up for Detroit). How the fuck we supposed to keep peace? I don't know girl, but I know that it's so cold in the T right now.

My favourite part is how the Mercedes is not moving, it's parked in the parking lot. And the girl in the back dancing like this shit is HAWT. What's your favourite part?
*Like I said before, YouTube is where the ethics and standards of amateur video go to die.

Keywords, searches and people

Since the creation of this website on January 19, 2009, 2, 334 people have visited the site, 1,437 are returning visitors while 897 are new, accumulating 4,217 page views respectively. For a Canadian blog that has been live just over two months, that’s pretty good and I’m pretty happy. Thank you. Only one problem, this blog only has three followers. C’mon guys, this yuppie has game! Step it up, bad blogs have more followers than this!

Anyway, I decided that an interesting post can come out of scanning my Google analytics stats. I checked out the keywords people used on their searches to find this site and although none of them compare to the hilarious shit I came across at my other blog, some of it is pretty funny.
So here are my answers to the keyword searches for all those that searched something in particular and ended up here.

1. Yuppie activist/The Yuppie Activist: You’re probably my friend and heard about this blog through me or from someone else. You’ve come to the right site
2. The yuppy activist: Check the spelling of “yuppie”
3. Yuppieactivist: Are you looking for my twitter?
4. “I live music” lyrics noon and all night: I mentioned these lyrics in the Bianca Jagger post. However, like you, I don’t know where they are from.
5. Renata Kaveh: I met this talented woman and blogged about her here.
6. #lgfw: you’re using twitter aren’t ya? I’ve used this hash tag various times last week
7. "honey i live music! morning, noon and all night, everything else is just icing on the cake, ya dig?": see #4
8. www.yuppieactivist.blogspot.com: why didn’t you just type it in?
9. yuppie activisit: See #2
10. Yuppieblog renata: Didn’t Renata link you here?
11. Yuppy activist blog: See #2 and #9
12. Amanda Blank: ? I'm drawing a blank here.
13. Facebook album names: Yes the infamous post here
14. Honey I live music: Popular search, please see #4 and #7
15. I have no time, no serious time, for anything else. I laugh it up.: Really, are that many people looking for this?
16. Lucian Matis: I’ve mentioned him in my “dance on the runway” post.
17. Observations of drunk people: This is the title of a book I’ll be writing soon, I mentioned this title here
18. +newempire+: my music playing boys from Montreal, dedicated a post to them here.
19. Activist illustrators: I mentioned living vicariously through illustrators here. Being a non practicing one myself, it makes sense you ended up on this site.
20. Always check your child’s homework joke: Ah yes this joke.
21. And im like no ima keep my shirt off: You ended up finding this post. Soft core porn. Hope it didn’t happen at work.
22. Benefits of smoking: Solving the Middle-Eastern conflict one ciggie at a time.
23. Boy’s empire: I don’t think you were searching for +newempire+, I really don’t know what you were looking for but good luck.
24. Christian Bale licking blood: You are looking for clips of American Psycho, keep searching and, p.s. that's gross.
25. Crystal Castles: Brief mention here
26. Fashion model write blog: Tatiana the Anonymous model? Jenna the kiwi? Coco Rocha?
27. Girlfriend bores me: Submissive ones bore me. Good luck finding a solution on google for this.
28. Golden filter: Solid gold.
29. How we exit lyrics gentleman reg: It was on repeat for a day or two
30. Illy coffee Toronto: The ultimate coffee experience
31. John Cassavetes music from the sound track: Faces Faces Faces
32. Katie submissive Toronto: So, this is weird dude, but you were lead to this.
33. Keith Sweat: Are you looking for an invite to my old school RnB jams party?
34. Koodo, new koods ads 2009 and Koodo ads are annoying: Three different searches, same result
35. Leather gloves mom’s: My mom didn’t buy me these, she contributed to them by buying me lilac
36. Lungta de Fancy fashion week: My dress is nice isn’t it?
37. Marykatew: MK’s twitter? You want lolaberryclementine.blogspot.com
38. Melting in your vice jeans: Replaces jeans with dreams
39. Met models: I meet them too. Matter of fact, I know them.
40. Montreal yuppie blog: Not sure how you came here except for this post, however, you can find a Montreal related “unhip” people blog here
41. OC transpo: Arty shared his disappointment with the strike here
42. Pepper Ann, much too cool for seventh grade: Feeling nostalgic?
43. Sarah Sophie Flicker: No idea. And you misspelled "flickr"
44. She too cool for 7th grade: Is this the ghetto take on Pepper Ann?
45. Shopcarteblanche.ca: Just type it in
46. Submissive girls: Are you looking for them? Many of them want you at CRAIGSLIST.
47. Things that you’ve learned in year 2008: I learned a lot of things and forgot many more.
48. Ula Zukowaska lg eashion week: Eashion means fashion
49. Vieux perfume: Vieux parfum is what you mean my Anglo friend
50. Washroom art: Looking for your latest inspiration for art school?
51. Where do yuppies live in Toronto: Many places but they are found predominantly in gentrified areas such as Liberty Village, King West, Yorkville, all those new condos downtown near the skydome and now, moving into Leslieville, Parkdale and Ossington to gentrify it.
52. WomenxWomen: www.womenxwomen.com is the site you're looking for.
53. Yuppie clothes Montreal: Suits are what most yuppies wear right? And Montreal doesn't have that many yuppies dude.
54. Yuppie fashion designer: Pink Tartan?
55. Yuppie activist twitter: @theyuppie

A bunny, an armadillo and a fox walk into a gallery...

It seems every time I step out of my home, I make a new friend. A few weeks ago, while hopping around the Ossington strip with some people who will remain unnamed except for one: this guy, I ended up at Show & Tell Gallery. While there, I ran into a friend from high school whose mom is famous in politics and who currently lives in Montreal (yeah, the world is small we know that). I asked her what she was doing here and she said "supporting my friend Daniela Roessler, she's showing here." My friend wasn't the only one supporting Daniela, her sister, who lives in, if I remember correctly, somewhere in BC's country side, came to support her. This is where I got jealous. For Christ sakes my sister doesn't even read my blog, you think she'd come support my work? Not likely. Anywhoms, Daniela, surprise surprise, happens to be from my hometown. Show & Tell featured various talented people that night, but I got to chat with her a little and appreciate her work the most. If I wasn't in the newly created category nouveau pauvre, I would feature her mixed media pieces in my room and talk about them whenever a new visitor would enter my minimalist home and compliment my fantastic looking (and feeling) bed sheets. "Thank you. 600 thread count Egyptian cotton from Kings & Queens on Queen West. Have you seen these lovely art pieces by Daniela Roessler?" is how I would slyly slip it into the conversation.

Daniela's official website is still under construction, but for now you can get to read up on her here and appreciate her talent by the works I am featuring below.

How did she know I liked bunnies?

Cool armadillos?

And foxes?

NOTE: A lot of talented people come from Ottawa, a city flooded with museums, art galleries and some of the best art high schools in Canada. However said talent don't stay in town for obvious reasons . Next time you're out, ask whoever you meet where they are from and 95% of the time, they end up having some attachment to Ottawa, haha.

Dance on the runway

I'm very good with music and I am very attentive to it during fashion shows. Music is such an integral part of the entire show and although models aren't supposed to walk to its beat, it is supposed to be cohesive to a designer's collection and vision. I had the luxury of checking out various shows during LG Fashion Week, here are some songs from the runway shows I watched, that I remember hearing, maybe wrote down, etc:

Ula Zukowska: like the line, trop Euro, meaning way too much trance and memories of Just Cavalli enthusiasts dancing at nightclubs. I’m surprised the models, alongside their inability to walk properly this season, didn’t submit to the beat and take out some illicit drugs. Suggestion: more wearable fantasy like music, Blonde Redhead, Bjork, Portishead maybe? Stir away from Mauro Piccoto.

Travis Taddeo: Canada’s Brian Lichtenberg used appropriate music for his show. Finding the opening song was one of the biggest challenges ever. I thought it sounded like Crystal Castles without Alice screaming, but it wasn’t. I asked various DJs and friends who are music experts, nada. Then I contacted Anna Von from Pink Mafia, who contacted Travis Taddeo, who gave her the name and email of the DJ, then Anna passed that info onto me and I then emailed the DJ who then responded with the name of the song and an attachment. His name is DJ Duvall by the way, he’s from Montreal and he’s helped me a lot. The song is called "Engine" by LA Priest, on Erol Alkan's Phantasy imprint. A huge thank you to the following people: Anna Von from Pink Mafia, Travis Taddeo and DJ Duvall.

Zoran Dobric: I remember him using a good opening song to his show; however, I can’t remember the name because one thing was on my mind: ORANGE MODELS. The agency, not that the girls and guys were orange (that was Ed Hardy), they were just terrible. I thought Cheri Milaney was the one who used non models in her show? Anyway, Zoran used two French tunes, including the one that goes "J'aime le noir, j'aime la musique noir" but I do not know who sings it. I do remember that he closed the show with “Solid Gold” by The Golden Filter. Good choice. Suggestions: Another modeling agency, and fabric.

Carlie Wong: I will forgive her for using models that had severe issues with walking in one line and the fact that there was not one ethnic model on the runway because she had a great collection and some of the best runway tunes of the entire week. Carlie’s Bianca Jagger (studio 54-1970s) meets 1930s influenced line (although she says 1970s meets Arabian) blended terribly well with the disco music. I especially love the fact that she opened with James Murphy & Pat Mahoney’s “Love Has Come Around” and that she paid homage (sort of) to the Jagger name by playing "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones. Her only mistake was including the Justin Timberlake and Ciara collabo, um no. Definitely not. Replace that with "Jo" by Mr. Oizo, some Boney M, or maybe "Time Warp" by Eddy Grant.

Evan Biddell: Biddell likes to hype stuff up. He has great craftsmanship but the line wasn’t as strong as he was hyping it up to be, especially when the first part of the show was much weaker than the finish but the finish still didn't wow me. And drum and bass? It felt like I was sitting in on an action movie trailer from 2001 because it was the Rave-O-Lution CD all over again. The yellow didn’t help either, if I recall clearly, the Rave-O-Lution cover was yellow. Suggestion: Although a bit dated, maybe some "Dudun Dun" by Para One (MSTRKRFT remix)? Or you know what, Boyz Noize would fit. And lay off the zippers.

Pink Tartan: When I was 11, I saw A View to a Kill and I had nightmares for weeks, courtesy of Grace Jones. She was just so...androgynous and scary. Now I can appreciate how sexy she is, but that doesn't mean I don't wake up sweating and scared after a Grace dream once in awhile. Off to the music! According to a very reliable source, Barletta wanted to get this mix just right so he reviewed it about four times prior to show time. The version we heard was fantastic. I don’t remember hearing “Williams Blood” or “Pull up to the bumper” in there however, but opening the show with “Love is the drug” was AWESOME and featuring “Feel Up” midway also got me nuts. This was also due to the fact that Ramata opened the show. Those things happen when your friends from childhood are making it in their careers. Barletta did a good job by solely using Grace Jones tracks in the mix, and Kimberley Newport-Mimran could've learned how to do Grace Jones right by using a little more than two black models.

Joe Fresh: I watched this in the media room with SNP because the crowd was massive and all I remember hearing was “I’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you” by Black Kids (The Twelves remix) which was also used by Bustle, except the Joe version had rap over it, which I don't think blended well with freshness. This song was big last year, why is everyone using it now? It does get a crowd going though. The rest of the soundtrack was hype. Too bad I’m missing The Twelves tonight. No I don’t want to talk about it.

Joeffer Caoc: He used Misstress Barbara's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Dance me to the end of love", and it made me think of being in a lounge while Chill Out Mix is blasting in the background, which is fine.

Comrags: This show was packed. I came in late so I barely got to see anything (thanks also to the entire staff of volunteers who insist on having excessively large hair). All I remember is sometimes hearing some alternative (fingers crossed for Sonic Youth, didn't happen) and bits and pieces of Chill Out Mix 2001 (see Joeffer), mixed by a terrible DJ. Nice use of “Showdown” by Electric Light Orchestra however. Good blend, but next time, ladies, pay the extra $$$ and get a better DJ.

Lucian Matis: Lucian surprisingly, is not from Montreal. I think I had that idea because his soundtrack reminded me of the Buddha bar mix cds, which they also sometimes played at Buddha Bar in Montreal (which is now closed, oh the good times). The soundtrack blended quite well with the collection, however, it was a bit too Miami and since it was so forest like, something darker would've suited. Suggestion: lots of violins, like Final Fantasy, or even this awesome remix by Final Fantasy.

Ed Hardy: This show was hell to watch mainly because it seemed the entire entertainment district was in attendance, alongside the cast of the Growing up Gotti, and people were cheering as if they were a) at a club fashion show or b) at the high school fashion show where all their friends are the models. Also, Skeletor was on the runway, in the form of a too thin model who I decided to rename “Paper”. The music was expected, such as opening the show with “Bamboo Banga” and closing the show with "Day and Night" by Kid Cudi (Crookers remix) which are just now hitting mainstream airwaves. Suggestion: CiRca and Levack Bloque both called, they want their in-house dj mixes back. Play something more surf and snow since it’s bathing suits and winter gear.

Lundstrom: She used "With You Forever" by PNAU, and Empire of the Sun's "Walking on a Dream", very fall-winter, very dream like, very acceptable for the collection.

Andy ThéAhn: He used MIA solely because his line was futuristic and colourful (so is MIA if you know her). If you’re bringing the 80s back, should I suggest some Calvin Harris? Or Hot Chip and Hercules and Love Affair, those are pretty good for runway.

Carlton Brown: I know you want to represent your roots and stuff but it doesn’t make it runway appropriate because it does not blend well with tailored mens suits. Use music that highlights the collection and its influence, not dirty rhydms that make people want to shake shake shake. Better save those jams for the after party. Suggestion: Up beat Junior Boys, Hot Chip, Cut Copy remixes, or even Ratatat. Sean Da Paul, no no no no.

Did I remember most of these titles after one sit in of the shows? You betcha!

all images from: blogto

So hot, I'm burnin' up

Stunning, absolutely stunning.

Lakshimi Menon, photographed by Josh Olins and styled by Nicola Formichetti for Dazed & Confused's April 2009 issue. Lakshimi is proof ethnic models should grace more covers of fashion magazines. Have you seen her April 2008 cover-editorial in Vogue India? Phenomenal.

image source: swide.com and fashionising.com

Ashley Zaba

When I worked in fashion marketing back home as a publicist/marketer/graphic designer/model agent/creative director/photographer/comedian and oh so much more for the measly price of $0.89 per hour (yeah versatile job isn’t it?) I met a talented young lady from Barrie, Ontario by the name of Ashley Zaba. Ashley participated in various shows across the city and gained the respect of my sister and I and many of the attendees of these shows. Having designers as friends is very beneficial because when I moved to Toronto, I realized I was in desperate need of a bathing suit to go along with my fantasticly glowing pale skin. Having a top size that is larger than my bottom; it’s often difficult to find a well fitted bathing suit in colours and fabrics you like. This is where Ashley came in. For $150+ (depending on fabric), she’ll make you a custom bathing suit. And she doesn’t only have an already made set to choose from, she’ll go fabric shopping for you, measure you, and then fit you again to make sure you’ll be a thief of hearts in that suit just like I aspire to be.

Ashley also makes other great pieces, like jackets, shorts, blouses and much more. Designers like Ashley are often overshadowed by larger Canadian designers and do not necessarily have the opportunity to show in their own cities and cannot afford the big bucks needed to participate in fashion weeks. As someone who believes she has true talent, I think it’s necessary to provide her with the proper exposure, such as writing this post and wearing her clothing at various events and hoping to stimulate conversation. I mean who knows who might be reading this or who you run into that day. Below is some of her work. Visit her site for more info: www.ashleyzaba.com

Shelley, I used to rep her.

Bunnies

Erin Fetherston Hosts Enchanted Dinner Party for House of Style Relaunch Segment

Do you think Erin Fetherston has a bunny? MTV featured Erin hosting an intimate dinner party for 8 at her Tribeca apartment in celebration of her Fall 2009 Collection for her friends and muses who helped inspire the collection. Guests included Chanel Iman, photographer Ellen von Unwerth, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Kate Schelter and model Ingrid Sophie Schram.

The ‘Dinner By Design’ segment will be replayed on MTV throughout the week – check it out for decorating tips and entertaining ideas (pop-up placemats!) and a sneak peek at the new Fall collection. It's MTV USA though.

Hey Erin, make sure you send me an invite next time. +1. Thanks.

Love love,

The Yuppie who is also an activist.

Renata Kaveh

Fashion Week is over and although it'll be back, I still have to wait around for it. It'll be six months until all the writers and attendees relieve their "champagne and hazelnut Kit Kat" diet (thank you FDCC), six months until models (who seem to have serious trouble walking this season) are prevalent on the streets of Toronto, six months until I see some old clients, make some new friends, and six months until I can bitch about how Anglos can learn from underrated fashion weeks like MFW. Yes ladies and gentleman, fashion week taught me that Anglos can sometimes be just as disorganized as us Francos. Believe it.

I would like to introduce you to my new friend from Fashion Week. She was part of the WomenXWomen exhibit, which puts emphasis on established and emergining female fashion photographers. Here's how we met: on Saturday, I decided to visit the exhibit at the Fashion House and ended up falling in love with this Tim Walker inspired photo:

I wanted it in my home so I looked for the photographer. I found her. We spoke, we laughed, and we exchanged contact information. Turns out the beautiful Renata Kaveh not only takes amazing photographs but she's also a warm and kind person. Also turns out she's from my hometown and has the same major as me. Now that I'm in love with her work, I want to share it with you. I also want Renata to know that when she is asked to shoot for the likes of Vogue (all editions but American) and Vanity Fair, I would like to be kept in mind as the #1 candidate to be her head management/publicist.

Thank you fashion week, for helping us make new friends one season at a time.





all photos courtesy of Renata Kaveh

Don't talk just judge

Dating dating you're so bad, who is the worst date I've ever had? Was it the dude who stayed silent, claimed to be not much of a "people" person, walked ahead of me by at least a minute, and contacted me THREE times afterwards when I was clearly not interested? Or was it the guy who claimed showering was not a necessity and tried to ask me out again by using MY TYPE of charm in his correspondence? Or was it the really nice guy who was sort of interesting but got a bit too close on a first date, clearly oblivious to the fact that I'm the type of girl you can only kiss on like the third date? You be the judge.

This week I discovered that people with shitty blogs think highly of themselves. I was the judge.

Ramata booked Greta Constantine, but she also opened and closed Pink Tartan. Okay she was the second last one, but still, the only girl who remotely resembled Kim's influence=Grace Jones. You had no idea how excited I was. I ran backstage after the show, asked a model about Ramata, which was the dumbest idea ever because the girl did not comprehend a word I was saying (and I speak model). The crowd judged.

LG Fashion Week has been good to me so far, except for the fact that my body is almost in exhaustion mode and I may pass out. Must survive for two more days. Can I measure up? Iman's the judge.

Wishing old, pseudo hot female client would get Twitter. Her status updates would rule. Overshare? Don't you judge me!

School's easy down under (it's true, ever notice how your dumb friends always make it to law school or teacher's college in Australia?), being a rad designer, even easier. LA Street Style judges.

If SNP doesn't use it like I requested, I'll coin it: "The French would rather starve than not look good." That's why all the good designers at LG Fashion Week are from Montreal. The reviews have spoken.

photography: James Kachan

Benefits of smoking, sort of

In the old country, this is perfectly acceptable:

***I DO NOT ENCOURAGE UNDERAGE SMOKING***

***I DO NOT ENCOURAGE UNDERAGE SMOKING***

My brother in law claims to have quit smoking at seven, when his grandmother caught on that his constant visits were only because he was stealing cigarettes from her pack.

People always say smoking unites people, so maybe if the Palestinians and Israelis got together to smoke cigarettes they can resolve the Middle Eastern conflict. Or at least provide a step towards a one state solution. Even if it's a health hazard, think of the long term benefits!

image source: Macleans.ca and Flickr

When bad ads happen to good agencies

Everyone can agree that Koodo's last ad campaign was annoying and a concept that has been done before. When I found out that Taxi 2 was using a new Koodo language theme for the next campaign, I had higher hopes, also because Taxi is an amazing agency that produces some of Canada's best work. That was until Marketing Mag released this:

Now is it just me or it looks like Koodo hired Betty Suárez as the celebrity endorsing the new koodoisms campaign? Bad pastiche anyone? Could this campaign lack anymore originality?

Guest Yuppie Hippie Post

Today, I decided it would be a great idea to feature a guest post written by my good friend from home Mel. I was a tad nervous to ask her to write it, but she was happy to write a piece that represented her. Mel is most def one of the coolest people I know. Not only is she incredibly gifted, she's also a half-Asian who is easily mistaken for a Hawaiian, has bad ass birthday parties in her backyard, loves the Simpsons just as much as I do, has the funniest dad, a sister who dances for Cirque du Soleil, and her basement could easily be mistaken for a cool antique shop. So dear readers, I'm glad to have this opportunity to share with you Mel's article regarding her take on the perceptions of second hand stores.

Second hand stores VS. Second hand perceptions
I love second hand stores, but only because I feel like I grew up in a Salvation Army. I know it is a running joke that Asians love to document every single moment – most notably those in landmark parks and in front of monuments – but I think it is a more romantic habit than anything. My dad documented everything, never missing a moment, keeping everything and rarely throwing away old things. I am thankful he put so much effort in preserving the history of his family. However, in the past two decades this habit came to be a collection of pop cultural history in our basement, collecting everything from clothing, action figures, coke machine dispensers, radios and even a large collection of salt and pepper shakers. He’s a modern day scavenger because of his weekly devotion to garage sales, Salvation Armys and church basements. Sometimes we end up going together to shop. Here are a few things I found last week at a second hand store in a church basement on Elgin St:

Jacket and shirt 5$ (Mel is French, forgive her for the dollar sign being on the other side, hehe)

Colorful sandals 4$

Vancouver has this really useful website, ’Secondhand Savvy’, that posts all events in second hand shopping in the city as well as a really good directory by category. I think it’s becoming more and more important to reuse the things that we have already produced, and release the stigma attached to second hand shopping in all categories (electronics, house wares, clothing, furniture). I say this for those who feel they have to buy entire sets of new goods once they have established themselves financially. I am not implying to purchase every single thing in your closet and in your life from second hand stores, but rather to try and embellish your house and personal style with these unique items. Second hand shopping should no long be considered as ‘cheap’ or ‘gross’ but rather as smart and rewarding. My dad has found so many cool and unique ukuleles and other decorating jewels that I didn’t even have to leave his house to shop for my new apartment. Shopping is a lot about convenience and I understand why shopping malls are so much easier to please. But like everything in life, effort pays off in the long run.







Events most related to this article: Great Glebe Garage sale. If you are from Toronto or Montreal and have this weekend off, you might want to come trek in this posh neighborhood in downtown Ottawa for some of these resident's unwanted goods. It's all day Saturday May 23rd, get there early cause the good stuff gets sold very fast! http://www.glebeca.ca/events/garage_sale.html
The Simpsons episode most related to this article: 8x15 Homer’s Phobia

News, part II

I found out Zoe's Bakery and Cafe near my place sells Illy coffee (love love love) and is now part of my Saturday morning coffee run. This Saturday however, a friend and I decided to try out their brunch. If you're looking for a place to go for Saturday brunch, this is it. So good. And I mean SO GOOD.

Countless music blogs fill my RSS feeds, I'm glad to add this one to the list: AsianDan.

DressLab is a great site, they linked me to this fashion and lifestyle Euro mag called Metal.

Last week I watched an episode of Family Guy and I realized that they recycled a Simpsons joke, you know the Kim Basinger one when Homer crashes into their home and can't seem to pronounce Basinger right? This basically reassures me again why Simpsons is so much better. A fat guy with a hot wife some weird kids getting into mischief, hmm, I wonder where I saw this one before.

Fashion week officially starts tomorrow, this means my sister's coming to visit me!

Ramata not only got picked up by Sutherland models but she also booked Pink Tartan!

Matt blogged about his "pump mix for SS09". I definitely agree that this has the ability to "pump you up". Check out Breakbot's amazing mix.

If you're catty and you know it go PR.

My friend Arty got me the Prince/Randee St. Nicholas' 21 Nights coffee table book for my birthday. He also included a special edition of Annie Hall. This is another way of me saying thanks for a wonderful gift, kid!

Stories from the balcony

I always suspected odd activities took place at the building across from my condo. My flatmate is convinced there was crack deals going on every day and every night, which is not to be ruled out. Just because we're in a very gentrified area (nouveau riche maybe?) doesn't mean we don't live beside drug dealers. Matter of fact, while she was on vacation, I saw a drug deal go down at 6pm. It was really not suave but nevertheless, fun to watch. While looking out my window today, I saw something extremely hilarious: a girl, dressed to the nines (well in her standards not mine) taking self pictures from her balcony. Oh the poses, it was a laugh riot! I assume she was putting together outfits for fashion week? Who knows and frankly, I'm just happy I got to take a picture with my phone and have something to laugh about for the next 48 hours. And I've taken the liberty of renaming her balcony to "Studio:Balcon". Now if only I can get a rate card for my next shoot...

Faire l'affaire

"What's Paris blues?"
"You better get dressed."
"Do you like music?"
"Honey I live music! Morning, noon and all night, everything else is just icing on the cake, ya dig?"
"I dig."
"I have no time, no serious time for anything else, I laugh it up."
"You don't have to explain."

image source: http://www.smh.com.au, answers.com, dailymail.co.uk

Matt & Dominic

Two boys I represented at an agency I used to work for got snapped up by another modeling agency. I hope their new agent places them in great markets and these boys make it in the industry. I always had big dreams for Matt, whom I nicknamed Jil Sander boy. I remember coaching him through his first photo shoot, putting together his comp card, and maybe, possibly, yelling at him a few times (all with love of course!). I'm really happy he's pursuing this further, because I'm sure you'll agree, he has great bone structure. Although I didn't get to work with Dominic too much, I found out he landed the lead role in a play back home so I'm excited the acting is working out for him. Good luck boys, maybe I'll see you on the LG Fashion Week runway soon, or better yet, walking at the fashion big leagues!

Matt

Dominic
Photo credit (Matt): Denis Murphy ©Badget-studios.com