fourONEsixSTYLE

By the time Saturday rolled around I was getting pretty anxious to get over to the islands to see what was in store for the Wakestock’s 10th anniversary jam. We learned the hard way that the ferry is probably the worst way to get to Centre Island (the water taxi was only 10 bucks) but my friends and I waded through the lineup and got aboard a ferry within an hour.

Over at Centre Island things were heating up and getting messy. Kids were already passing out and Bud Light cans littered the grass. All eyes, however, were on the ladies at the Miss Reef bikini contest. When the drool contest was over, the winner was declared, then it was time for the crowd to shake it too.

It was sweet to hear De La Soul drop some beats from back in tha day.

They mixed it up and cranked out the energy, working the crowd until we all had our hands in the air and were yelling back the lyrics.

At one point the show stopped as we all heard a loud chainsaw rip through a tree branch to make some room for motocross riders. It didn’t go over well with De La Soul or their crowd, yelling ensued and the sawing stopped. Fortunately they did very little damage to the tree. This didn’t stop The Toronto Star and Torontoist from overblowing it and making it seem as though a giant tree came crashing down. If you wanna talk tragedy, the lack of recycling for 40,000 fans drinking beer or bottled water and throwing butts in the lake was a major mistake.

After all that shouting we deserved a drink and found a little marina for a break. Behind the building, a few boys who I’m sure were wakeboarders were winding down with a game of volleyball while one dirty boy was rolling around in the dirt with a big smile on his face. My girlfriends swapped some words with the hotties and left them to sweat it off. About an hour later, as we sailed slowly through the western channel we saw the boys racing toward us. They mooned us and sped off.

Five seconds later, a police boat with sirens wailing slammed through the channel too. We watched the police chase them across the lake and I swear they never caught up. I love watching the police boats race through the lake and that was one chase I’ll never forget.

Sunday promised new beginnings and an excellent round up of athletes in the wakeskate, railslide and wakeboard tricks finals but my girls and I were suffering from exhaustion and didn’t make it there until late afternoon.

As the sun fell over the Islands I was torn between listening to Lupe Fiasco on the main stage and watching the top four wakeboard finalists compete in the Malibu Boats Expression Session.


I couldn’t tear myself away from the tight competition though and stood screaming my ass off for Muskoka rider Rusty Malinoski in the final four. He nailed the tricks over and over showing incredible stamina, but it was Phillip Soven who impressed the judges with technical trick perfection. Andrew Atkinson (wakeboarder above) turned my head too. I loved watching these riders push the limits of the sport, trying all sorts of new combos including a shot at the first completed 1080 of the day.

About 40,000 people washed up on the Toronto Islands this past weekend for Wakestock’s biggest and messiest event ever. I got my adrenalin fill and learned a bit about wakeskating as well. For those willing to give it a shot I can attest the water’s warm now and if you get stuck on the island, like many of us did, you could always use one to paddle back to the city.

Thanks to to my ladies including Rachel Ford for shots two and five. Wanna read what people think about the tree branch controversy? Check out the comments on blogTO.

Saturday night Brassaii is officially launching their patio season with a sexy little jam that’ll knock your socks off. If you made it out to the recent Contact Festival launch party hosted by the sexy crew at blogTO you’ll know what a sweet spot it is.

Saturday night will bring together talented house music DJs JoJo Flores of Therapy and Nicolas Matar from Cielo in NYC. I heard Matar spin one night at this intimate club in the heart of the meat-packing district and you couldn’t have pulled me out of there, and JoJo, well he’s been bringing sexy beats to the Toronto scene for years. Together they’ll be launching Cielo’s newest CD Seventh Heaven. Tickets are $15 in advance from ra sunspa.

Brassaii 461 King Street West 416.598.4730
ra sunspa 388 Richmond street West 416.977.3748

Friday night’s Brassaii party kicked off the Contact Photography Festival exhibiting across Toronto until May 31st. Photographers Alex vs Alex set up a photo booth to get stills of the crowd as they entered, setting a bit of a red carpet vibe. Meanwhile Toronto’s most loved photobloggers were in full swing getting their snaps of the jumping crowd inside while others milled though large prints of Toronto strewn across Brassaii’s glossy white walls. CBC’s report on Contact finds fellow blogTO writer Jerrold Litwinenko inside before the show.

Signs had been up for awhile, announcing the sale of the building on the corner of Peter and Richmond, formerly known as nightclub Fez Batik. I passed often on my way up to Queen wondering what the next incarnation would bring. Maybe it would be another stuffy joint catering to lines of men in black leather, or a techno club for kids jacked up on Red Bull. If we were lucky, I’d thought, it would once again find the laid-back vibe of those who loved Fez, and the summer scene would once again jump to life on its patio. Seems though, that future plans may bring an entirely different kind of crowd.

The City is in the works to purchase the site in the hopes of facilitating the needs of homeless and displaced people in the downtown core. The centre would be open around the clock and provide beds and counseling to get people back on their feet. In theory it sounds like a beautiful thing. However, in reality, I can’t imagine a worse place for these kinds of social services. I can just imagine, with music pumping and littering drunkards spilling out of clubs looking for confrontation, that comfort and stability would be the last thing one would find in the middle of our Entertainment District.

A community meeting to discuss the plans will be held tonight, 6:30PM, at Metro Hall - Room 308.

Last year my friend, actor and indie filmmaker Brett Reason, shot and cut a short video which followed four car junkies (including himself) getting wasted and heading to the auto show. Their goal? See how long they could sit in the Mercedes S550 before someone kicked them out. After he showed me the piece, we debated what the name of it should be. He thought Loaded at the Auto Show would be good, I figured Fully Loaded would be more slick. It was his bit, so he won.

Brett called a couple days ago to tell me what the slogan is for this year’s show - it’s Fully Loaded. I’m not sure if he was more excited that we nailed their ad slogan before they did or just because the show would be starting this week, either way he got me hyped to go and I’m no car buff.

While him and his buddies cruise the fast car corner I might see what’s new in hybrids. If you’re still driving an old jalopy maybe you should check it out too - Metro recently reported that the biggest emissions (up to 37 times the normal amount) can come from cars 20 years old and up.

Scrap watching the auto show’s promotional vid on their site, there’s nothing innovative about it. Instead, amuse yourself with a little dark humour at theigloo, where you too can get Fully Loaded at the Auto Show.

photo: Richard Tamayo

Czehoski Restaurant on Queen West
Originally uploaded by hc916.

I’ve been having a bit more fun rating restaurants in Toronto on Restaurantica. My favourite place out there is Czehoski. It’s a great place to meet friends for drinks in summer or winter. Menu is small but there’s a great selection of drinks, even organic wines.

It was my top pick too when I wrote a piece last fall for Variety magazine. New Yorkers (Gotham edition) could get a quick look at the best places to hit in Toronto for nightlife when visiting during the Toronto International Film Festival.

At the time I sat down for an informal interview with the Manager of Czehoski; he revealed great stories about the former mob hangout and butcher shop, remnants of which are immediately obvious when walking through the door. On the second floor it’s another world entirely, small intimate areas make up the space.

Visit Restaurantica for more of my review.

citygirls
Originally uploaded by 416style.

Madonna’s lyrics “Am I Gonna Be A Star?” run through my head. Took yesterday off to ’star’ in a commercial for Toronto’s Beck Taxi. Not a bad way to spend the day, drink wine, say a line…. I wasn’t feeling natural at first but it seemed to all come together. My boyfriend Craig starred opposite me, the archetypal boyfriend trying to rush his woman out the door. Hope the chemistry shows on screen.

Later in the night I attended some broadcaster’s convention/piss up with my sisinlaw Wendy. We were there at about 7pm but these kids had been drinking since noon. It was a little nuts but a great time. The highlight? I ran into Mayor Miller in the Sheraton, shot him a coy smile and got a sincere hello from the charming man.

Love this city. Toronto’s feeling electric lately and (maybe since it’s all lit up in fantastic Christmas lights) yesterday I was bubbling with civic pride.

photo 042
Originally uploaded by funkin.

Jay Kay’s funk bank Jamiroquai played at a little publicized concert at Toronto’s Koolhaus Friday night. A girlfriend called me late that afternoon to see if I wanted to try and get in somehow, even though it was already sold out. I was still game, only because she seemed very optimistic. I’d been listening to the band since high school and never seen them play live. At one point it didn’t look good, but my girl Rachel, in a stroke of genius, scored a way in for me and Liz as well as herself. A wonderful, fun and polite crowd nearly filled the place, everyone unable to stop shakin their thing. We danced the whole time and could’ve kept going for hours while Jamiroquai played classics like Cosmic Girl, Alright, High Times and You Give Me Something. Jay Kay also used the opportunity to promote the new CD “Dynamite” and played it’s signature track. I was impressed; more fun, danceable tracks by the group who knows how to get down and get funky. I was only put off a bit that the group didn’t seem to explore their musical range which includes several unusual instruments. I’d still definitely pick up the new CD, in fact I was just about to but noticed it isn’t yet available on itunes Canada. Big surprise. Guess I’ll have to go to the record store just like the high school days.