sketches of the mind

Here’s how I became an accidental SingStar…

Last night on my way to a friend’s place (where I’m staying at the moment) from my parents’ place I decided to swing by another mate’s place to see if he was home. As fate would have it he was, and I caught him and his girlfriend on their way out to a barbecue. Funny thing was the barbecue was down the street! So I tagged along.

The barbecue was interesting - complete with drunken guys playing poker (with real cash), my friend talking to his cousin for the entire duration that we were there about fishing (not exactly one of my passions so I tuned out after a while and focused on the poker), a spit roast (tempting but no I resisted, and I’d already had dinner anyway), and lots of alcohol (again I resisted).

About an hour later we left the barbecue and headed back up the street.

It was then when the Sony Playstation 3 came out. It was actually the first time ever that I’d seen or used the console. I’m not much of a gamer these days. We played some game with cute characters which reminded me of Donkey Kong Country from back in the day before the real fun begun.

That’s right, it was Singstar time!

Ive been hankering from some karaoke for ages but none of my friends, well except for Jose-Jose, in Toronto are really into the whole singing in public thing. I enjoy it for laughs more than anything else. Nothing like making a fool of yourself from time to time

So Singstar is basically Karaoke with points, and it’s an absolute blast!

Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera on me (silly me left it in the car) but I had a great time rocking it out with my friends until 2am or so. I’m tempted to get my own PS3 now just for that one game.

So seeing as there’s no video of us, here’s some random stranger who’s actually very good at the game:

My voice is now in recovery mode, and it was totally worth it

Nuit Blanche (literal French to English translation “White Night”) is an annual arts festival in Toronto. This year it ran from 6:52pm Saturday evening to sunrise on Sunday morning. A group of my friends and I met up inside a mall and proceeded to apply our makeup and finalise our costumes. I was wearing an old suit that a CS/veggie/biking friend of mine (Dave) had given to me that I’d cut/torn up as per this video tutorial an hour or so before we left home.

When our makeup was done the group of us participated in Zombies in Condoland - a performance for Nuit Blanche Toronto by Jillian Mcdonald, a Canadian artist living in Brooklyn. It was like being on set for a film shoot. There were cameras, makeup and costume tents, actor training sessions, and a director screaming orders down a megaphone.

I spent most of my time at Zombies in Condoland with my Zombie crew and by the time we got to walking around (in complete zombie gear) the queues were massive and we were stopped frequently by people who wanted to takes pics with us. So I didn’t really see much, and of the installations that we did see nothing really stood out as amazing.

Notable sights were a music and laser show eminating from a street corner bin (one of the ones you see all the time here where you can dispose of garbage, paper or plastic) and pong being played on city hall. Those were cool.

There was a recycled plastic waterfall thing and an installation inside the Eaton Centre which were just weird.

I had hoped to sidewalk salsa outside the Royal Ontario Museum between 8:30 - 10:30pm but there was just no time.

So the highlight for me was definitely dressing up zombie and walking around with the crew freaking people out. We even scared a waitress inside a restaurant when we stared through the window at diners! lol.

Here are the rest of my pics:

Thanks goes to Jose-Jose for taking over my camera for the night and being our zombie manager. Major respect to Lena, Sandy, Marie-France & Richard who came from Montreal to join in the weekend festivities! Special mention to Andres who drove them all (and back today) too.

For those in Toronto who are interested in participating in more zombie wackiness be sure to check out the Zombie Walk on Sunday Oct 19th at 3pm!

You know, there’s just not enough random fun and silliness in the world today. That’s just me generalising of course but that’s how I feel sometimes. So I’m thankful that groups such as Improv Everywhere and Newmindspace continue to come up with some crazily creative concepts like today’s MP3 Experiment.

The mission was simple enough:

1. Download the Mp3.
2. Load the track onto your mp3 player (iPod, etc) or burn to a CD for use with a “Discman.”
3. Do not listen to the track.
4. On Sunday, wear a t-shirt that is one of the following colors: Red, Blue, Yellow, or Green. (Long sleeves / sweaters are OK too.)
5. Bring an umbrella and an uninflated balloon. (Any kind of umbrella. Any kind of balloon that can be blown up.)
6. Bring a watch with a second hand (or use your cell phone if it displays seconds.) Before you leave, sync it up to this atomic clock.
7. As 2:00 approaches, take a seat anywhere on the field. Spread out and don’t sit too close to others who look like they might be a part of it.
8. At exactly 2:00 PM, press play.

The meeting point was the Southern end of Riverdale Park, and when I arrived there by bike I was surprised to see all the people there dressed in reds, blues, yellows and greens. The sight was just great!

At 2pm the fun began. Soon everybody was following the instructions on the MP3 and that made for some hilarious moments. I thumb-wrestled, hugged, played twister, and balloon battled with total strangers and there were a few familiar faces in the crowd too (glad to know I’m not the only crazy person amongst my circle of friends!).

I was far too busy participating to take any real decent photos, and I didn’t even have my DSLR anyway. To view some awesome captures from the event refer here.

Other people who attended the event thought it was a success too. Can’t wait to see what IE & NMS come up with next!

Speaking of MP3s if you’re not a fan of iTunes (like me) then check out Floola. It’s a small and cool self-executable application that a CS friend of mine (Bernard) put me onto. Works really well with any Apple Ipod product. Doesn’t work at all with my Samsung MP3 player unfortunately.

The summer sun was radiating high above (I’m glad that I applied my sunscreen before I left home) and not a single rain cloud was to be seen despite the totally incorrect weather predictions of only a few days ago (not that I’m complaining!). Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market was filled with people, musicians (live salsa band on one side, and a cd player blasting electronic music on the other), food and item stalls, and the roads blocked off because it was Pedestrian Sunday (otherwise known as PS Kensington). The conditions were just right for an impromptu session of Free Hugs day.

So an entourage of twelve, yes twelve, Couchsurfing free huggers hit the streets of Kensington Market to share the free hugging spirit. Only myself and Nicole were veterans from the Winter Free Hugs day outside the Eaton Centre, so it was a great way to get acquainted with some new people.

We lasted about two hours - more than enough time to share some hugs. We were filmed by two different sets of camera crews (interviewed by one of them), photographed by the chief editor of SNAP Downtown Toronto (a free local newspaper - our photo will be in next month’s edition!), not to mention captured by many randoms who had their own cameras, mobile phones and recording devices. So it’s safe to say that we made an impact.

It was fantastic!

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Get your bike, helmet, and lights ready!

Critical Mass… hundreds of people on bicycles, and not just bicycles, hit the street of Toronto on the last Friday of every month to stop traffic and promote a greener, healthier mode of transport. It’s not just about that though. It’s also a community, a social event, and a fun time.

So yesterday, after months of wanting to join the ride but not being able to because something always came up (actually I went but missed it by 15 minutes last month), I finally made it to Critical Mass and it was awesome!

At first the pace was a little slow for me but I quickly understood why. That many people travelling down busy streets at fast pace? BAD IDEA. Besides, it was all about enjoying the wonderful city and getting to know other riders.

Big thanks to Stef for the great chat and saving my butt when I had to get my back tire replaced in Kensington market 20 mins before the start! (thankfully I caught up!)

I’ll have to get a front light now because when the cops were starting to pull people over for not having the lights and booking them that was a bit scary! haha

I loved the dude playing his trumpet with one hand whilst riding his bike. So awesome!

Despite the looming rain clouds the whole time we managed to survive without a single drop of rain.

What a great first CM ride for me, and seeing other Couch Surfers there made it that much more special… woohoo!