My company, InFlux Design Studio is offering free design work throughout the month of February. Contact me for more information!

43rd Annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Nathan Phillips Square
Blue West Section
Friday July 9th, 10AM-8PM
Saturday July 10th, 10AM-7PM
Sunday July 11th, 10AM-6PM

Rain or Shine

In Toronto?

Go if you can, sounds fun:

CALLING ALL OPEN MINDS AND HEARTS.
CALLING ALL THOSE WILLING TO BE
SILLY FOR PEACE AND FRIENDLY FOR FUN!

yaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!
the subway party is happening!!!!!!
here are the most important details.
get your costumes, instruments, friends and excuses
to talk to
strangers
ready because there will be a fabulous RUSH-HOUR
SUBWAY PARTY!!!!!


when?

The Morning of Thursday February 12th at 7:30 AM
sharp!
(yes it's very early so get some rest or stay up all
night the night before) *If you don't think you can wake up on your own set up a phone tree with friends....you don't want miss all the fun do you?

*the party is scheduled this early because there has been great success at previous parties which have been this early. Everybody on the train loves the party because they are all on the way to work or on
the way home from their night shift and they need some cheering up.

most of us aren't morning people..but this is worth it.

where?

The north end of the platform at Downsview Station...once you get there just look for the other freaks.

*it takes about 20 min to get to Downsview from Spadina Station


what?

picture this.....
A normal early morning on the subway car. Suddenly
people start to decorate the train with streamers and balloons and home-made art.
People on the train exchange strange glances. Next stop - a drummer and other musicians get on the train and start to play music. More strange looks.
Next stop, a giant fish and people in other silly costumes get on the train and start dancing, inviting others to join in. The cold mood of the train melts into a wonderful and unexpected celebration!!!!! hoooray
it's a subway party!!!!

a subway party is a great way to start your day and
it's the ultimate cure for the February Blahs...... you can dance, laugh, dress up, play instruments, make art, talk to strangers and participate in spontaneous acts of creativity and kindness. if you think of something you'd like to see at the subway party...bring it on!

*Another good trick to do is to dress up like an every day subway rider (you could wear a business suit, a school uniform, whatever). Sit and stare in awe as the party begins, but when someone asks you to dance, let your hair down, loosen your tie and get down! Other people on the
train will be inspired by your liberation and they may join in on the grooviness.

how long will be party?

The party usually lasts between 1.5-2hrs. That is enough time to ride the U-line. Usually about a 1.5 hrs into the party, the TTC security catches up with us and asks us kindly (and with obvious regret) to shut down the party. At that point we are usually up north at the other end of the U and ride back downtown together. There is always the option of getting on to the Bloor line for a bit more partying, but it's also nice (for those who don't have to leave for work, school or other commitments) to go get some cheap breakfast together.


why?

because nobody talks to each other on the subway let
alone look each other in the eye!

because on a cold thursday morning nobody expects a
celebration and that is likely just when we all need one!

because subway parties are a great way to overcome
apathy, loneliness and bitterness among other nastiness!

because subway parties are the ultimate cure for the
February Blahs and other winter induced syndromes!

because the subway is a great alternative to smog producing cars!

because you'll never feel the same on the subway
after you've been to a subway party!

because it's an idea that has been capturing peoples
imagination and you can help to make it happen!

because people you'll never forget the look on peoples faces when the streamers and balloons go up and the party starts.

because it's boring to have your fun packaged, sold and served to you in a nice tidy little package.

because there is no better way to start your day than to dance with a stranger on the subway!

because you could make someones day!

because it's a great (and cheap) way to have fun!

SOOOOOOO.....

start planning now. get your party gear together and
figure out how you can wake up early enough to get to the party. (for those of you who can't make it to the party....hopefully you can make it next time). Please
RSVP, especially if YOU CAN BRING A DRUM TO PLAY!

Thursday FEB 12th @ 7:3O AM DOWNSVIEW STATION

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY!!!!!!!

rsvp carly@intrinsik.net

Trafficking Women, a gross violation, a global problem, yet turned away from with eyes down


yes, this is a huge problem

and since it is women who are the victims, poor women at that, the world doesn't have much concern for them, and even sanctifies the practice through it's apathy and indifference. it is truly disgusting and makes me feel shame for humanity.

there do need to be strict fines, and investigations by the rich agencies of the nations in Europe, Asia, and North America (etc.) where these unfortunate human beings are sent to be enslaved and used for their sexual organs. our countries (i am canadian), have the money and resources to examine these crimes and go after the culprits, as well as work with the government of the countries where the women are sent...but we do nothing, we are shamefully and inexusably wronging and ruining millions of lives. lives of women have value, as much value as a man's, as a child's, as any living creature. until women can be seen as equal, they will only be seen as things, as objects.

article on tig:
http://www.takingitglobal.org/express/article.html?cid=2543
(too lazy to do html today)

Have you heard of TNT? You might like them...


Their album "Tortoise" is a masterpiece of serenity.

...all the things you could have done for those people who may have needed it, but didn't.

Have you ever not done something because you "didn't feel like it" and not thought about what that meant for the people you weren't doing it for?

Okay, maybe I'm just thinking about myself.

But I have to remember, I am so lucky that people like being around me and want my help, and if I start taking that for granted and shunning them, then I am wasting my potential. Besides, it goes against my credo in life; that our purpose in life is to make at least one other person's existence that much better. We were made for each other.

I have no right to judge and make assumptions about those acquaintances whom I have not taken the time to get to know, and so it is my duty and pleasure to take the time and give it to them so we can share our time and, together, live life right.

Ah, I guess I'm just babbling :)

Oh! Listen to the Jack Johnson band! Their single, "The Horizon Has Been Defeated," is great, but they have way more great songs. They're playing with Ben Harper in Toronto soon, and I am SO going! It's kind of a Sublime sound, and indeed they do a respectfully qualitatious cover of "Santeria." Another cool thing that obviously adds to their mellow sound...they surf! And make films about surfing!

On my way to my guitar lesson yesterday evening, I was waiting for the bus and out of boredom read a poster featuring the face of a young girl with the words MISSING hanging over her photo. The thing that interested me was that it was obviously printed or copied by the people who were looking for the girl, because they were all on regular printing paper. I'd seen them in a couple places around the neighbourhood.

Today I find out that the 10-year-old girl, Holly Jones, who'd lived relatively close to me, was murdered. Her body was found in pieces along the lakeshore and washed up on Ward Island...a man found her this morning while walking his dog.

All the girl did was walk home alone in the brightness of a spring evening, she was barely a block away from her own house. Last night, while I was listening to music or watching TV, this girl was "in hell"...it makes me sick.

It's so sad that there are people in this world, in my city, in my area, that could disrespect the life and body of such an innocent person so cruelly, so horrifically, and then try to get away with it by dropping her cut-up remains to the bottom of my lake, Lake Ontario, that I test the warmth of in the summer and walk beside to relax. Their plan didn't work, and now I know the investigators will be able to find them with so much evidence.

The air in the city is a little quieter, everyone seems to be in meditation even while talking to those around them.

How unfair it is.

A page or two from my journal of the two weeks I spent in Rome, Italy recently:

March 25th

...Joanna and I went to see some Carravagios, I don't know why I haven't heard of him. The paintings were very good, but awkwardly placed for viewing in a strangely lit church. We walked across the Piazza di Popolare - I love that piazza almost more than Navona - probably more.

I forgot -> on our way to the Piazza our bus was travelling in a tunnel and suddenly we shook and there was a loud sound - a CAR had hit the side of the bus. The bus stopped and we got out to see a sardine can of 3 cars squished and crumpled in a zig-zagging line with the first, most destroyed, bleeding clear fluid (I was afraid it would explode like in a movie). Whoa!

...We went home and I got a drive to meet [my friends from Italian Class] Marie [German] and Marcelo, the Brazilian, for the [PACE in Iraq] concert. We went but it was "picolo" - the people there were cool.

We went to find a "bagno per me." We found a nice one.

We decided we were only going to speak Italian, which was excruciatingly hard but ultimately entertaining. We didn't feel like going allll the way back to the concert [a bathroom could only be found blocks away], so we went to find a pub. We looked around the San Lorenzo district, very communist with the best graffiti in town (it doesn't have much competition with the crappy fascist/anti-fascist scribblings covering the rest of the city's walls)...


***shrug
--->I'll put up pictures later

is hard...

I'm applying to Film school and they want to find out if I'm an interesting person with creative ideas and an exciting and culturally aware lifestyle...I am all those things, and I know it, I have the confidence...

but how do I prove it with their measly questionnaire?!

I'm going to be doing my very rare UNDERGROUND HIP HOP MORNING RADIO SHOW...

this SATURDAY (the 18th) morning at 9 AM (***thaaaaz right, lazy people, you gotta get up!!!) on CIUT 89.5


LISTEN TO ME AND MY CO-HOST SHIYANA AS WE PLAY GREAT SONGS, TALK TO A TEEN WHO FREESTYLES, AND TELL YOU ABOUT A COUPLE UPCOMING EVENTS!



It's called
"Quest for the Underground"
on CIUT 89.5

(wanna email the show? questfortheunderground@hotmail.com)

FRIEND:
i'm just p!$$@d off at everyone

f*&k 'em all

ME:
why?

FRIEND:
why not?

ME:
well

it's a waste of hate energy

most people don't deserve our hate

hate is a form of respect

disdain is better

or avoidance

will kill me.

I am researching some films I saw recently, all of them to do with the Vietnam War. I came across a useful website, but look at that!

They claim that Oliver Stone's Platoon is better than Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket!

I don't think so!

They say Platoon has High Historical Importance. WHY? Because it shows lots of fighting and dirty guns and war heroics? Because it shows what it was "like" for the veterans of that war? Because it doesn't show a single Vietnamese soldier, only "enemies?"

Full Metal Jacket is a much deeper depiction of what the war was like. It doesn't show the guerilla warfare that American troops couldn't handle and had to suffer through, like Platoon is praised for showing so realistically. It's more psychological...but that's what that war did to thousands of veterans. It forced them into situations that forever changed their perspective on life, their mind changed. It was a very bloody war, but it was a very psychologically profound war, for those fighting and even people who didn't.

Anyway....what do you think? Which movie do you like better?

I like a lot of his stuff...

myself being an artist who is in love with the human face, I must congratulate Mr. Shawn Barber for his fantastic facial expressions. He has a real eye, and a genuine feel for the Emotion.

sdbarber.com