Top 10 Parties Of All Time

at Space, 2008

I present to you my favorite parties of the past 5 years (since that’s when I started dipping into the scene). The type of an event you talk about for weeks after, revel in the photos/videos and wish you could do it over & over again.

1. Carl Cox at Space, Ibiza, Spain, August 2008. Function 1 sound system, tons of happy people everywhere, amazing beats, all in the legendary Ibiza! I don’t need to describe too much.

2. Egyptrixx, Alias et al. at the Palms Out Sounds CMJ showcase, New York, 2008. Not only the quest of getting there with friends was a blast, but the non-stop heavy beat danceathon till 4am was a pleasant way to kill the October night. Oh yes, it ended with a breakfast at 5am.

3. Housemeister & Modeselektor at Igloofest, Montreal, January 2009. It was an amazing outdoor experience in January at -15C, complete with running into Vancouver acquiantances and dancing with a giant pink rabbit, as well as videotaping the fun, falling in love with techno for the n-th time and bartending comrades.

1. 

   Watergate, Berlin. 5am

4. Tresor and Watergate, Berlin, August 2008. Both of these parties are at par and happened few days apart. Tresor “never sleeps”, and is a scary former power plant – I clearly remember walking in the basement towards utter darkness, but towards the heavy sounds of techno, knowing I was certainly walking to a right place. Watergate was a blast with Krystel & Gerald with sunrise on the canal, and random guys from Chicago gifting us roses.

5. Richie Hawtin aka Plastikman, Vancouver, October 2005. I went by myself and met a million people, got a pass to get on stage and had Richie’s aunt (!) videotape me dancing. I also drank her champagne and ended up at the afterparty where Richie spun. Pretty random and advanced for Vancouver town.

6. My 20th birthday party, Vancouver, July 2006. It started with the longest Japanese Izakaya dinner with friends – first came the squares, then mid-funsters, then rockstars. We ended up at Shine night club and I told Paul Devro that it was my birthday and that I bought the dress I was wearing earlier that day at Dadabase, so he gave me a bunch of drink tickets. 6am bed times after whole lotta fun with close friends.

7. Ellen Allien, Mod Club, Toronto, September 2006. “Last night a DJ saved my life” is exactly how I felt about that night. I’ve been in love with Ellen for few years then, and seeing her few feet apart was unbelievable. Plus, I met an amazing dance team and made new friends in a city I just moved to!

8. Black Ghosts, Wrongbar, Toronto, July 2008. I was extremely tired that evening, but Egyptrixx and Alias dragged me out to an amazing show. I was impressed with live singing and mixing, old beats and crazy rave tunes. Even though I never been to a rave, I felt like I did that time. Great workout, too.

9.Bodyheat party, San Francisco, June 2007. My friend Logan threw a lot of Bodyheat parties back in 2007. We drove from Los Angeles that night. Arriving at 3am, we hopped in just in time for super drunk people to depart and diehards to kick it.

10. Running amok with Michael Leyton, San Francisco, December 2005. The first time we met, we went to a BYOB Mangosteen place, then went to Japantown and stole an American flag after some drinks, explored SF in a car, then I persuaded my way into some cheesy club (being underage), where we danced hardcore to 80’s rock music, screaming “We want techno!” It ended with Michael crashing his car.

Filed under: memories , 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, Berlin, dancing, Europe, fun time, ibiza, memories, self, Spain, travels, vancouver

New Slang

I just got my daily dose of awesome via TrendCentral, which in my opinion is the best trend-watching and relevant service out there. All you marketers better get on the end of it. I dream of going to their Trend Schools in New York or L.A. In the past, I have narrowly missed them, but not next year! Interestingly, I started practicing hatecation last fall by eliminating the words “hate”, “don’t like”, “can’t stand” and constructing my sentences differently.

RECESSION-INSPIRED SLANG
Povo (po-vo)
adj. Spawned from the increasing popularity of new HBO series Summer Heights High, the Aussie slang for poor has infiltrated the vocabulary of recessionistas everywhere
“Caroline, I can’t go out to dinner tonight: My pay cut has left me totally povo.”

RELATIONSHIP SLANG
Ex-hole
n. Your ex boyfriend/girlfriend who dumped you via Post-it/text/drop-off-the-face-of-the-earth-disappearing-act and who is now flouncing around town with a new love interest
“I bumped into my ex-hole this morning – she said she was so sorry that she cheated on me, blah blah blah. I wanted to puke.”

Hot Room
n. A social setting that involves a mix of people whose relationships to each other are, well, complicated
“I was sitting next to my current flame and then my ex-hole walked in with his current girlfriend, who I had a falling out with in high school – total hot room!”

DIGITAL SLANG

Geequals
n. Two people who are equal in depth of arcane knowledge
“I knew I had met my geequal when Frank showed me his Star Wars light saber iPhone app.”

Myselfish
adj. A term used to describe people’s need for recognition and self-fulfillment via the Internet. This is accomplished with incessant Facebook status updates and TMI-Twitter feeds, and serves the purpose of making one feel important and/or noticed
“My friends consider my need to Twitter detailed accounts of my trips to Trader Joe’s, the gas station, and my opinions on anything, really, to be annoyingly myselfish. I consider it shameless self-promotion!”

THIS YEAR’S REHAB
Retox (ree-tox)
v. To go back on your New Year’s resolutions and do the opposite of the goals you set for yourself
“Instead of following my resolution to get fit this year, I decided to retox and take up cooking classes instead. Oh well, no one follows New Year’s resolutions anyway, right?”

Smashed Potatoes
adj. Drunk, inebriated, similar to the term “hot mess”
“Sorry I bailed without saying good night, but I was smashed potatoes.”

STREET SLANG
Hate-cation
n. Taking a vacation from being a hater where you are committed to not saying anything bad about anyone or anything; synonymous with “moral cleanse”
“Whatever, I know you have an opinion but just can’t speak your mind because you are on a hate-cation.”

Obama/Not Obama
adj. London street reporters proclaim that our new President has become synonymous with “cool”
“Yeah, that is so Obama!”

Alt-worthy
adj. A term used to describe people or things considered to be cool or trendy
“The pop-up art gallery on Elizabeth Street is alt-worthy.”

Filed under: the world eh , fun, fun facts, funny words, marketing, trends, word

Mario Entertainment

I enjoy Mario video game, loved playing it back in the day, despite the fact that I never finished it! Never! Maybe it’s the Bowzer’s communist spirit that got to me. Who knows. But the Japanese recently did a live pupper/actor show. They were quite agile and animated, gotta love that:

And what about Mario inspired by a first person shooter?

Back to work, all!

Filed under: random facts , fun, games, memories, video

Macworld

Since last Monday’s death of my HP, I decided to marry the enemy. No, wait, it began in December when I actually started contemplating getting a Mac. “Once my PC dies, I will most likely get a Mac. It’s time to make the switch.” I jinxed myself. HP died sooner than I anticipated, right after the Christmas bills arrived…

Despite receiving the Rogers employee discount (the same week I quit the company, ending a 2.5 year relationship), it was still a pricey piece of machinery, which I intend to use for more than 2 years. The Apple store guy was a jerk, contrary to my naive belief that they’re all friendly and eager-beaverly want to enlist me in their Mac army. Despite all that, I love it. It’s smooth, sleek, light and empty of the past year and a half. It’s a beauty. I’m even not regretting the lack of a right click button, since the keyboard solves that issue. The opening video that Welcomes you to Macworld in all languages is absolutely bedazzling, a Christmas again.

The only minuses are lack of my music on the hard disk, nonacceptance of mini-DVDs, and no easy switch between languages (or maybe I just don’t know how to to set up the hot keys yet). I am also in the process of getting Mac programs on the computer – please share your recommendations.

Filed under: Great Products, moving up , apple, mac, macworld, marketing, product, recommendation

Toronto Transit Commission Should Feel Sorry

Before I started commuting, I gave the TTC a break – puny subway system, old school buses shuffling about at snail speeds, and old-fashioned streetcars. The subway, which has an attractive slogan of “Ride the Rocket”, is really a toy rocket prone to in-between-station stops and power outages. Besides having a poor fare system ($2.75 one way without any 90 minute windows, like in Berlin or Vancouver), the subway doesn’t cover major routes or hubs of activity, like the northwestern part of the GTA etc. But that’s my wishful thinking.

So here is my first rant. I started commuting. And while I was happy to be riding in the westward direction, thus missing the morning rush, I already managed to be part of two mishaps in two weeks. Last week, in my attempt to leave work early to make it to an event that we were organizing, our streetcar collided with a car! 30 minutes later, we resumed our ride. So much for leaving early This morning I decided to get to work early, but it was not meant to be. The driver got ont he wrong track when trying to leave the Humber loop, and couldn’t turn back, since the reverse wasn’t working on that streetcar. “Sorry folks, this car is out of service”. Come on! Don’t the mechanics check their fleet? I am starting to grow weary of streetcars, considering the two incidents in 2 weeks, and I haven’t even mentioned last Friday’s power outage.

Any stories you might want to share?

Filed under: the world eh , city life, toronto, transportation

On Learning

Originally uploaded by dreamtiger

When I was about 6 or 7 years younger when it was the time to choose some kind of a profession, I used to say: “If I could just learn for the rest of my life, and get paid for that, I’d do it.” And I suppose I can become an academic, but the second problem that occurred was the choice of the subject to become an expert on.
Eventually, I gave up that idea, but I still possess this hunger for learning. I’m lucky to have a job where my task is to actually seek out new knowledge and amazing content. Some of the greatest educational video blogs of priceless information are Fora TV and TED Talks. I recently found Change This, which is just full of amazing documents. And of course Wikipedia is there for up-to-date information.
But learning for me is not just about keeping up to date with the blogosphere and fads, it is also learning about music (that includes visits to the symphony orhestra), culture, language, film, scientific advances, fashion collections, dancing (see photo), literature of the past and present. The list can go on forever. I want to know everything there is to know about the world, and I want to learn as much as possible. Self-development ends on a deathbed.

Filed under: simple life , learning, memories, self

La Tomatina

for the win

Ever since I’ve opened a Spanish language textbook at the age of 16, and learned about la Tomatina – I always wanted to go; except the idea of going was constantly being pushed into the undetermined future. Until last year, when I and four of my friends set our vehicular sails for Buñol in the province of Valencia. We arrived on time to park on the outskirts of the pop=9,000 town. More than 30,000 fellow fighters walked to the center of the town with us, happily yelling at each other and laughing at the unsuspecting flip-flop wearers and camera-ready enthusiasts.

note that our shirts are white

First we got a bit of a squish session with the masses circa my Prague 2000 escape from Vaclavske Namesti along with 40,000 others. Then we moved to the front row (because we are lovable fighters), bewildered by the buildings covered in Tyvek or something similar, and watched 6 trucks slowly roll one after another, raining tomatoes on us little guys. It was on! Our goggles, €5 shoes with double laces and swimsuits didn’t help much, and the tomato juice still burnt the eyes and the skin, so we screamed Agua! Agua! to the gods above and it literally rained buckets from residential balconies. 

I got hit in the head so many times, and I scored some good shots myself. Our team fought some folks on the other side of the narrow street, tomato river kept getting deeper and deeper, people bathed in the tomato sauce, people screamed, shouted, took photos with their waterproof cameras, tried to fix their goggles only to get hit in the face. But more than anything, everyone had an absolutely unreal experience. You didn’t know that 120 tonnes of tomatoes can do this magic?

After a 90 minute battle that seemed to go on forever, we stumbled to the river and bathed, proud of ourselves, drained, feeling like the different people that we became and simply happy to be alive. We then drove to Valencia to swim in in the sea and feast on authentic paellas.

Filed under: the world eh , art, Europe, excitement, food, friends, fun time, Spain, tomatina, tomatoes, travels

New Obsessions

Excuse my non-presence in the blogosphere this past week – I’ve been on the reading, instead of the wring, side. Here are three products I discovered this past week that have been making me absolutely cuckoo with happiness.

1. Mimipong’s Hug Your Sorrow tear-shaped toys. Love them, love them, love them. Each toy is unique and comes with a tag with space for writing down your sorrow and then hug it out. Brilliant idea. There’s a related art installation in Singapore – photos of the toys’ uses, many written sorrows etc. If you’re in Singapore, please go and take photos!
2. Korres Lightweight Foundation. I’m a brand loyalist, so the marketer’s task of persuading me to switch is hard. It happens so that I’ve been using Maybelline’s foundation for  7 or 8 years for the lack of a better alternative. I can never find the right shade. Until yesterday’s stumbles at Sephora. I found the lightweight water-based foundation in almost exactly the same shade! This foundation is also enriched with vitamins C and E and ginger extract that tone and moisturize the skin. I’m thoroughly impressed, and am considering switching my cosmetics choices to this environmentally friendly Athens-based company.
3. Eggling products – Nyokki (pictured) and co. from Japan. These egg-shaped vessels  contain soil and seeds that grow grass, lavender and herbs such as basil, mint, rosemary… This household addition will not only decorate your window sill, but add something yummy to your meals. I ordered 6 various ones for myself and my family. Available at the World Wide Nature Company.

Filed under: Great Products , art, brand, joy, obsessions, product, surprise

Metroelectro

You probably already know that I am madly in love with Metromint, which I praised just last month. I absolutely love the product, the company, its community involvement, the certified green company status, and the obsession to put healthy things into one’s body.

I am completely smitten! Metroelectro, the second child of the Soma Beverage Company of San Francisco, debuted last summer. Branded as the micronutrient water, it is a no calorie, no sweetener, and no artificial ingredient beverage with zinc to boost one’s immune system, antioxidants to protect cells from damage and electrolytes to replenish essential minerals. It probably tastes like heaven, just like Metromint. Having a better access to Metromint and seeing it sold in a wide range of stores would definitely make a move to the US more appealing, but that’s about it.

Don’t forget to enter Soma Beverage Company weekly draws to win a sample pack and merchandise! Read the Metromint blog, yo.

Filed under: Great Products , metromint, obessions, product, water

2009 Goals

1. Make health and fitness my top priority
Tactics: personal trainer, planning my meals, scheduled food intake, not eating out, and running regularly.
2. Make fly career moves
Tactics: do my best during the internship that starts in a week, kick serious buttocks in the Industry Analysis class, read literature on Advertising, blogs, meet relevant people and pick their brains, keep up with the hype.
3. Go back to Europe (Czech Republic, Germany and Greece). I can’t wait to go to Greece – parents’ friends have a house in Athens. I can actually see Sparta, Crete and emerge, like Venus, out of the foam. Eat perfect souvlaki and keep Dionysus at bay.
Tactics: save, save save, flight alerts.
4. Start meditating
Tactics: thanks to M for a wonderful introductory lecture. Start slow, practice, dig deeper, take the trash out of my soul.
5. Get through that pile of Russian classics that’s been growing on my floor.
Tactics: read when commuting, read before bed (goes well with #3 goal)

Filed under: moving up , 2009, career, Europe, improvements, plans