Alright, well not this bus... but one that looks mighty similar.
Montreal Band, The Dears, had their Tour Bus stolen from outside of their hotel last night, (Yes people, someone stole a giant tour bus) and their asking everyone to be on the lookout for it. Here's a notice their label has sent out in hopes of some citizen detective work.
Hey friends,
We at MapleMusic Recordings have a favour to ask of you. We were hoping you might be able to let us know if someone tries to sell you a giant tour bus, possibly with a smashed window. Or if you spot such a vehicle flying down the highway. Because this morning, when The Dears went outside expecting to get on their bus and head to Toronto for their show at the Mod Club (followed by a long string of North American dates), they discovered that the bus was gone. The trailer had been unhitched, and luckily their gear wasn't in it anyway, but it's still a huge downer. The band was renting the bus from the lovely people at HalJoe, so it's a kick in the shins for them as well.
We'd be very grateful if you could help spread the word, or let us know if you hear anything. In the meantime, the show at the Mod Club will go on tonight in Toronto!
We won't be updating Slice Blog regularly (once or twice a week) because we're currently booking a face-lift and we've heard that you've got to give the body a rest before going under the knife for major surgery.
We'll be changing up the site completely... as well as a name change! So when we return we'll be virtually unrecognizable, but I'm sure you'll all still love us.
K-OS is hitting the Canadian Highway on a 10 city stop tour, and get this... It's "pay what you can".
OH NO....Okay... so I just scoured the internet to find the link for tickets to the show and of course, it's 100% Sold out. I'm so upset, I wish i had found out about the concert earlier ... sigh.
Here are the cities he'll be visiting. April 30 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom May 1 Vancouver, BC @ Croatian Cultural Centre May 3 Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Centre May 4 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall at University Of Calgary May 6 Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre May 9 Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus May 10 London, ON @ Centennial Hall May 13 Ottawa, ON @ Lansdowne Coliseum May 14 Montreal, QC @ L'Olympia De Montreal May 16 Halifax, NS @ Cunard Centre
Okay, so it's 3 in the morning and I'm catching up on the posts of favourite blogs (Montreal's Drunken Stepfather (crass but oh, so hilarious), Dlisted, of course you all know Daydream Lily etc) and I came across an amazing video from Coachella that I had to share with you guys.
I found it over at Dlisted, so I'm sure you avid blog readers out there have probably already seen it. It starts out as a hilarious video of a naked wizard with the worlds smallest peen at Coachella not wanting to get dressed... and turns into some crazy "police brutality" type affair of the poor nudist getting taserd and kneed in the sac while a large crowd looks on. I don't even know what to file this under.... it's going under culture. (Ladies never talk trash about your guys willy ever again). The monstrosity of this entire situation is totally eclipsed by the fact that this guy has the tiniest penis... poor thing.
Sauble Beach is located off the warm shores of Lake Huron and is said to be the second longest fresh water beach in the world (after Wasaga Beach, also in Ontario - We have many lake beaches in Canada). Due to the shallow sandbar waters along Lake Huron, Sauble beach benefits from exceedingly warm water perfect for bathing and a myriad of water sports. During the summer months the beach town becomes a hot resort favourite among families in Ontario, who head to the Bruce Peninsula in hoards. The towns population can swell from it's original 2000 residents to over 100,000 seasonal residents in the span on a weekend. Many Photographers take advantage of this Western facing beach which bears witness to spectacular sunsets year round.
Just a stone throw away from Sauble Beach are the Sauble River Falls located within the Sauble Falls Provincial Park. Up the Sauble River, families regularly fish, canoe, boat,raft, swim or take a cool dip in the shallow areas of the falls. The provincial park also offers great hiking trails and camping grounds.
Main Street at Sauble Beach offers a variety of boardwalk-type stores and restaurants from bikini and surf shops to ice cream parlours or patio style diners.
Sauble beach is a great weekend getaway and definitely deserves a visit if you haven't been before. Rent a cottage and drive up with friends... you're guaranteed to have a fantastic time.
While in Sauble Beach: Find Vintage Clothing store, "The Patch" - They have got the cutest summer dresses there. Take a look at Jack n Jills Webcam to find out what's happening on Sauble Beach. (if you push the control cam button and select lake, you can control the camera to get a better view of the lakefront)
This is a re-post from our lovers blog, Daydream Lily:
Monster Children Magazine is looking for people to be part of their Photography Issue. "We want you to take a photo at exactly 3pm this coming Saturday the 25th April. It can be of anything, anywhere around the world. Wherever you are at that time. Then email the photo (as a jpeg, under 4mb) to here with the following info: Name, Location, 50 words or less explaining the photo and your own website. *Not every image is guaranteed to be published. More info here." - The deadline to have images emailed in is no later than Monday 11th May. This Sounds like a really cool project you guys. We'll definitely be participating and will post our photo up on the blog.
Remember a while back when we mentioned The Balance? Well, TONIGHT they are celebrating the release of their second album, Tomorrow's Yesterday, with a kick-butt show at The Hard Rock Cafe (279 Yonge St, Toronto). Doors open at 8PM and tickets are $15 at the door. This is a 19+ event so don't forget those IDs...real or fake.
So if you like upbeat, catchy music that will get you dancing, fist pumping, and woohoo-ing, check out the guys from The Balance!
The Balance will also be joined by Cool Man Cool, Dylan Murray, Papa's Delicate Condition, Rosedale, and Sadanhos.
Okay you music fiends, SLICE has put together an official Summer Music Festival Guide for anyone wondering where they should spend their hard earned cash this summer. We've given you the 411 on the festival headliners, the cost, the booze and drug policy and whether it's worth the trip. Check out the biggest summer festivals in North America and decide where you'll be heading this summer. (I'm opting for Lollapalooza and Caribana this year... I'm just sayin'). If you have any questions about any of the festivals leave a comment and we'll do our best to answer them.
NB: We realize there are a few typos, but it took forever to put these together as images and they can't be changed. Sorry y'all.
Also, any people from the Toronto area heading to Lolla let us know, we can try and put together a group heading down to chi-town
PembertonSasquatchWarped TourV-festBonnaroo
NXNE Film, Music and Conference RothburyPitchforkAll Points West OshegaCaribana Street CarnivalWakestockLollapaloozaShambhalaAustin City Limits
So today is Earth Day. What that means exactly... I don't know. All I know is that I am supposed to be making a concerted effort to conserve energy. So I'm sitting in my apartment in the dark, with dishes piled up along the side of the sink (so as not to waste water). I haven't had a shower yet (again, so as not to waste water), and I'm using the battery on my laptop rather than plugging in the computer (the outlet is SO FAR AWAY). I'm listening to my battery powered Ipod and plan on smoking some garden variety herbs tonight.
I guess I live a pretty green life seeing as not much has changed for me today. What will you be doing to help the earth today?
With Coachella already under the belt (not ours unfortunately), it appears that festival season is officially underway. So we've decided to create a festival guide to help you choose which festival is right for you. We'll be categorizing them by line-up, price, location, reputation, drug policy, green effort, accommodation (camping?) etc to help you decided where you'll be spending your precious dollars this summer. BUT... this post is just a teaser. We'll be bringing you the full post very shortly (later on today). Right now we just wanted to post the incredible jizz in your pants line-up that is Lollapalooza. Compare it to the Line-up we posted last month. We did well.
The neo-hippies are out in full force today and they're toking over Toronto!
Today is 420, (Happy 420) an important date on all stoner's calendars. Why? Read this. The annual prohibition protest will be taking place at 420 Yonge Street in Toronto. For more details read this Facebook invitation. So pack up your favourite pipe, hit up your favourite dealer and subway down to your favourite part of Toronto... Yongersterdam, for a great time and lots-o-fun. For a video of last years protest click here.
Also, Toronto's Freedom Festival will be held at Queens Park on May 2nd as part of the annual Global Marijuana March (More than 20,000 people are expected).
Hey guys. So we at SLICE have really been slacking in terms of updating the blog with consistent and new content. We promise to get things rolling once again, as soon as May peeks through from behind the clouds. Right now we're all bogged down with exams, portfolios, interviews, jobs, traveling and of course... hanging out.
Summer is right around the corner and we've got loads of awesomeness up our sleeves for all of you. In fact, Val and I have been discussing putting together a fun video of our summer in Toronto and surrounding Ontario/Quebec areas, for all the readers and viewers, which I think is a stellar idea because summer in Ontario is a heck of an incredible time. So be sure to subscribe to our Youtube Channel because we'll be updating it with videos regularly.
We'll be hitting some lakeside beaches, campsites, concerts, festivals, restaurants, protests, country farms, city galleries and probably some cities south of the boarder too (NY, hopefully Lollapalooza in Chicago and I think Sullywood is heading to Bonnaroo in Tennessee, so hopefully we'll get a low down of what's going on down there too) and we'll be bringing you all with us so stay tuned.
Okay, so today on twitter some person from T.O. started following us, so we followed them back. On their update wall we noticed a post that said "Hilarious website, no doubt there are people from #Toronto on it. http://twurl.nl/2plda0". So we clicked on it. The blog is entitled "Look at this Fucking Hipster" and immediately we thought...Jackpot!
The blog is essentially driven by user-content. People submit pictures and videos of themselves or of others depicting hipster fashion, life or culture. We came across the following video on the blog with this quote attached "Some people say hip-hop is dead. We just do this to make sure".
This crazy art installation by Argentine artist Leandro Erlich, completely trips you out - you think these people are standing underwater, and you start wondering, weights on their feet? Do they have breathing tubes? WTF? Then you realize it's a brilliantly crafted illusion.
The installation is currently at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York. Here's a snippet from Artabase.net about it: "Erlich has constructed a full-size pool, complete with all its trappings, including a deck and a ladder. When approached from the first floor, visitors are confronted with a surreal scene: people, fully clothed, can be seen standing, walking, and breathing beneath the surface of the water. It is only when visitors enter the Duplex gallery from the basement that they recognize that the pool is empty, its construction a visual trick fashioned by the artist. A large, continuous piece of acrylic spans the pool and suspends water above it, creating the illusion of a standard swimming pool that is both disorienting and humorous."
We're continuing the Cookin' n Canada segment with traditional Canadian sugar pastry originating in Northern Ontario, known as the Butter Tart.
One of the oldest recipes for these tarts supposedly first appeared back in 1915 in Northern Ontario. Due to the Butter Tart's filling of sugar, butter and eggs being similar to that of many other pastries such as the American Pecan Pie, the French-Canadian Sugar Pie or the Scottish Ecclefechan Butter Tarts the exact origin of the Butter Tart is unknown. However, Canadian's consider the Butter Tart to be an undisputed national favourite, despite the texture of the pastry's filling being constantly debated (should it have a runny filling or a firm filling? Read more on the debate here)
Everything you've ever wanted to know about the "True, North, Strong and Free!" This documentary produced by The National Film Board of Canada and directed by Albert Nerenberg, discusses Canada's open (semi-socialist) views on Marijuana, Homosexuality, War and our general Rights and Freedoms.
This is an 8 part film, 80mins in Length. Comment and give your take on Canada.
Part 1 - Is Canada Boring?...or a Utopia of Freedom?
Part 2 - The Decriminalization of Marijuana
Part 3 - Vansterdam + Same-Sex Marriage
Part 4 - Reefer Refugees and Americans
Part 5 - So... Is it legal...or illegal?
Part 6 - War Resistors welcome here...A.W.O.L.
Part 7 - Legalize it... and tax the hell out of it. The Raids.
Part 8 - Bush's policies and the future of Canada.
To this Day Canada's marijuana laws are still loosely defined and up in the air. It is not uncommon to find people smoking in pubic spaces (whether that be in designated coffee shops, park benches or at the annual Marijuana March). Despite Stephen Harper's Conservative party gaining a minority government in 2006, Same-sex marriages are still legal in Canada. Marc Emery is currently working on a plea bargain with the U.S. government. A plea to serve 5 years in both U.S. and Canadian prisons as well as having the charges against his two fellow associates dropped has been entered by Emery. The plea has apparently dissolved due to negotiations between Canada and the US. The US would like Emery and associates to serve a minimum of 10 years in prison, while Canada believes that 1 month in jail and probation is an adequate enough sentence. The debate continues. It's likely that with Obama having taken office, and his interest in decriminalizing small amount of marijuana, Canadian leaders (with appropriate pressure) will get the ball rolling once again. Read this recent article on the legalization debate from the Globe and Mail.
Okay, so we were tipped off about this band by a fellow blogger over at Vision Philms.
SLICE is bringing you down south with us to tropical Curitiba, Brazil to take a listen to Bonde do Rolê, a band who has been burning up the festival circuit recently. They have played California's Coachella fest, participated in the Camden Crawl, graced the cover of Fader magazine, they were even named one of Rolling Stone's top 10 bands to watch back in 2006.
Their music has been described as Funk Carioca (or Rio Funk) and has gained the attention of many industry heavy hitters such as well-known producer, Diplo (M.I.A), who discovered them on Myspace back in 2006 and had pushed them on his Mad Decent Recording Label, before they signed to Domino. They currently have two albums out , Baterias do Poder, which was self released in 2006 and With Lasers, released on Domino Records in 2007 (Both can be found on Itunes). They have officially been added to my ipod rotation because they freakin' rock.
Here's a video produced by Handy Jam Video Footage along side Atlanta-based photographer, Carlton D. Mackey. The video is entitled AUTO-JUNK-A-LITE. (Basically this is all levels of art). This track is off of their second album, With Lasers, and is entitled "Geremia". The video is totally worth watching... esp. for the dude at 1:14 (apparently he was dancing at the New Years Junkanoo parade in Bahama's).
In an Interview that has got the city of Toronto... Canada... and even The Huffington Post and Perez talking, Billy Bob Thornton and his band, The Boxmasters sat down with CBC radio's Jian Ghomeshi on his arts, culture and entertainment program "Q", and boy was it an awkward and incredibly hostile interview. He eventually walks out on the interview, not even staying to watch his band perform (he didn't bring his drums to the studio).
When I first began listening to it, I thought that he was 'drugged' up or something, because he was acting very aversive and not answering questions directly. It was later revealed that Thornton was 'angry' that Ghomeshi had mentioned that he is an actor (which Ghomeshi says, was only mentioned in the context of Thornton's musical career).
Ghomeshi is a seasoned CBC journalist who has interviewed literally everyone that has come through Toronto (whether they are indie bands or politicians). His interviews are always interesting, enlightening and on point and his listeners have come to expect nothing but quality programing. (And by quality, I mean substance. His interviews are well researched and he never relies on cheap sensational tactics). I applaud him for the way he conducted the interview as he was well within his rights (as many have suggested) to simply kick him out of the studio.
This being the case, I was shocked, appalled, and slightly offended by Billy Bob Thornton's treatment of Jian during their interview. He seemed unnecessarily sensitive and defensive and well, for lack of a better word... pretty damn hostile. He even went so far as to insult Canada! WHO INSULTS CANADA! This great Nation? Thornton says "'Canada is like mashed potatoes without gravy ..." I honestly, used to like this man, but after this interview, I have lost ALL respect for him.
Listen to the uncut podcast here or watch the interview unfold below. Read Jian Ghomeshi's response to the interview in the National Post here.
Be sure to comment as I am really curious to see what all of you have to say.
Love as always, SLICE update: Thornton has canceled the remaining dates of his Canadian tour after being heckled at the Toronto show that evening. His publicist has sited that the guitarist has come down with the flu. (yeah... okay) - National Post
Hey guys, we're taking another quick departure from our Hipster "Weak" segment: Tragically Hipster, to talk a little bit about the Canadian folk rock artist, Megan Hamilton.
Megan Hamilton's new album, See your midnight breath in the shipyard, hit's record shelves today (You can read a review of the album here) and SLICE is giving away all 3 of her released albums to 3 lucky readers. (contest details below)
Hamilton has toured extensively throughout much of eastern Canada as well as southern United States. She has shared the stage with seasoned and accomplished artists like My Morning Jacket (love 'em), Rock Plaza Central, Nathan Wiley and many others. She has performed during CMW and will be playing NXNE festival this coming June. She's currently touring ON and QC.
Contest: Be the first 3 to reply to this post with your name, location and contact e-mail.
*BONUS PRIZE: 2 tickets are up for grabs to her April 9th CD release party in Toronto. Comment on this post if you're interested in attending. (April 9th @ Rivoli, Toronto; CD Release Party w/ Kathleen Phillips, Olenka & The Autumn Lovers.
Okay, this post was originally going to be me ranting about DISAPPEARING TWEETS! (See below) but now, I've had to add to my list of vexes against Twitter, to include; unscheduled and scheduled maintenance, over capacity notices, background images disappearing, the inability to edit a post and being told to MOSEY ALONG!! WTF?
Disappearing Tweets: I'm gonna vent for a second. Recently my twitter posts have been disappearing into Twitter oblivion and it's REALLY pissing me off. Then I'd Tweet about how frustrating it is to have my Tweets pulling Houdini's on me, then THOSE tweets disappear TOO! GAHHH. I'm SOOO annoyed. I've complained to Crystal (the Twitter guru/techy) and still nada thing has changed. They claimed to have tweaked things and solved the problem, but it's STILL happening and it's SO irritating. It happens on our @SliceMag account (follow us y'all), as well as my personal account (i've lost like 43% of my tweets there) and I'm losing my mind. (GASP... I just had a revelation...I think I'm addicted to twitter... I BLAME YOU SULLYWOOD!!!).
Now that that's out of the way... to the post.
Well, if you haven't noticed yet, twitter is pretty much the most popular (IMO) social networking site online right now... and it's TOTALLY being run by hipsters ... and CNN. Pretty much all the blogs worth following are on Twitter (ahem... Follow @SliceMag) as well as all of the cooler than cool self-indulgent celebs that are allowing fans a sometimes overly intimate look into their daily lives (i.e. Ashton: @plusk and his wifey Demi: @mrskutcher... who SAVED A LIFE ON TWITTER).
Twitter becomes more addicting and obsessive the more you Tweet and build your Twitter community. When you first start out, it's definitely bizarre and somewhat confusing (getting used to @replies and #followfriday type terminology. You can follow pretty much anyone on Twitter, (unless they have privacy settings, at which time they must approve you) but don't expect everyone you follow to follow you back (especially the cooler than cool celebs... they're far more interested in Tweeting their friends rather than responding to obsessive fans... not that I know from experience or anything).
Think of Twitter as a public text messaging service/2 sentence diary, where all of your texts create a long and continuous narcissistic thread that you can go back and reflect on when you have nothing better to do.
It's awesome and we encourage you all to get out there are check it out... and we promise...we'll always reply to your @replies, ('cause our heads aren't shoved too far up our own asses)
On a totally RANDOM note... I'm watching ER and RORY from Gilmore Girls is on it! She still has that baby voice... Weeeeired (she's playing a DR).
Also... I wonder if you can be charged with harassment on Twitter? 'Cause we've been kinda harassing @petewentz... (we save those Tweets in our Favourites)
Update: So we recently had one of the most profound Twitter experiences. We put up the following quote by Torontonian, Ivor Tossel:
"Facebook is about people you used to know; Twitter is about people you’d like to know better”.
And suddenly we had people RT (Re-Tweet) it on their own twitter pages. (Like LOADS of people) It was a really bizarre experience. The Quote will be up in our Words to the Wise section on the side bar. Share and Enjoy! .
So we've covered the Controversial Slanties taking the place of shutter shades.
Now we're introducing you to the 70's styled Round Shades that are currently taking the place of the 80's Wayfarer Shades (see below... those suckers are so 2007) Slanties you might see here and there. Round shades will definitely be everywhere.Katy Pe... I mean Zooey Deschanel
We are taking a temporary departure from our Hipster "Weak" segment: Tragically Hipster, to bring you this video (btw, we start our week on Wednesday's guys).
Our Canadian Lover, Ryan Gosling's band Dead Man's Bones, have a new song and video out. It's Called "Name in Stone".
I'm not gonna lie.. I had NO idea he even sang or played in a band, and I don't feel like doing any research on them at the moment, so I'll leave you with their new Video and their myspace page link.
Comical Hip Hop Duo LMFAO and their hit, "I'm in Miami Bitch". These guys straddle the alt/hip-hop hipster line. The song is great though, don't you think?
Hipsters and Retro Kidz have many commonalities. One of them is their affinity for Dope Azz Kicks. Hipsters are mass consumers with a social conscience that only stretches so far (kind of like American Apparel). Sure, some like to stick to the classic hipster look, wearing only Chucks or Vans (see above) , but with the introduction of Fly Azz Kidz like Pharrell and more recently Kanye (marketing to and profiting heavily from the hipster scene), runners/sneakers/trainers that are poppin' fresh, have become just as important as which bowler hat one should where out of the house that day.
----> This pic is a re-post from Hildis Funky Fresh Blog. Apparently these are self-made reconstructions.
Pitchfork reviews new music (mostly indie bands) and hosts an annual music hipster festival in Chicago.
On a side note, because we at SLICE follow Pitchfork on Twitter (ha), we were just informed that our Montreal lovers Arcade Fire are showing their new documentary filmArcade Fire: Miroir Noiron Pitchfork TV's One Week Only. So all you hipsters better go and check it out so that you'll have something to chat about while you're chilling in the Annex.
This film gives Canadians total Hipster cred...It's pretty effed up.
On a side note, has pitchfork become too pretentious with their reviews? Our friend at Katuwapitiya thinks so.
Blue Velvet, David Lynch and 1986... It has all the Hipster Calling Cards; Cult classic film, it's Retro and of course David Lynch.
Also, it can be credited for the revival of PBR beer in Americas subculture scene.
I would argue that Canada doesn't have a PBR equivalent, because to Canadians all beer is good beer, and no Canadian hipster would dare disgrace the name of beer in an attempt at being ironic...pffft. They know better.
Never the less PBR has become synonymous with the hipster scene and is their preferred beverage of choice.
No Hipsters bedroom would be complete without a button pin, T-shirt, book or Obama memento. You wouldn't have anything too boisterous like a poster though, that would be overkill (even though you've been tempted to buy that Obama/Lincoln pop art piece many times).
Have no fear, the Obama Action figure is here. It's subtle and totally post-modern and would fit in perfectly with your other ironic action heroes... only this has layerd irony so it's far BETTER.
Pick him up at your favourite apartment furnishings store, Urban Outfitters... better yet, order him online.
SLICE blog was created to display and promote primarily Canadian artists, as well as to encourage discourse among the arts and culture community. We hope to foster and spark interest in the Canadian arts scene and we would like to use this as a platform for Canadian artists to gain attention for their work and thrive within Canada and hopefully beyond our borders. Fashion/textile, visual/fine arts, musicians, writers/poets, video/photo, general arts and culture will all be discussed on SLICE.
Noteworthy International artists will also be featured on the website and blog. Anyone can submit their work to be featured on SLICE, so please feel free to email us.
Alright, well not this bus... but one that looks mighty similar.
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