Posts tagged nxne
NXNE roundup #1: Andre Williams, Buck65, Shelshag and lounges galore
Jun 17th
Stop. Drop. Shut ‘em down, Open up shop. Ohh. Noooh. That’s how Ruff Ryders Roll…
I have no idea why that song is stuck in my head. DMX has nothing to do with North by Northeast or the MuchMusic video awards, but the rest of these photos and videos, which I present without context or comment (for the sake of time um… artistic mystery) do — for the most part.
Awww, Mini. My brother's cat had an accident a few weeks ago. Her pretty cast was reset today!
Without further ado, a few highlights from the past 24 hours of my life:
- Andre Williams with the Sadies at the Horseshoe (the one act I needed to see this year):
Forget about the no comments or context line above. This was SO SO GOOD. It actually blew my mind to hear that Andre Williams was coming to Toronto. Big ups to The Sadies for that! You can hear their entire collaboration album here, and more Andre everywhere (but especially here).
- Buck 65 at Tim McCready’s NXNE BBQ
One of Canada’s most interesting and creative hip hop artists. He’s the kind of good that stops you in your tracks – makes you rewind for one line in one song 6 times and then do that again for 8 more lines in that same song. I highly recommend that you listen to everything he’s ever put out, and start following him on Twitter too. He gives good Tweet.
- Shellshag: -
This Brooklyn duo was a blast to watch – wicked high energy, wild sound, fun stage play – but hanging with them outside after the show was even cooler. Shell (the female half) told me all about how she used to hang out with Nirvana, back before they got famous. I was dying over details. If you know anything about my love for Kurt Cobain… well. You know.
NOW for the photostream — I’ll tell you more about the MMVA gifting lounges (The Wiliamson and Williams Influencers lounge and Universal Canada‘s Friends with Benefits) in my MMVA2012 wrap post. Kay? Kay.
On with the MMVAs… MY third. Looking forward to seeing what transpires this time. Will I FINALLY meet JB? Probably not. But I WILL get a new dress, which is just as fun.
Helicopteros, Hot Chris Hemsworth and Holding Hands with Strangers
Jun 12th
Hi there. I have something to show you, okay?
!!!
This young chap is doing something called a “helicoptero” and it’s not even fake. That gif is as real as the nose on your face (unless you’re one of those betches) and it. is. spectacular.
I found out about that slick move on a Parkour blog earlier tonight, complete with this video tutorial from 3RUN’s Fabio Santos.
I’m probably going to give myself a concussion this summer trying to perfect my own helicoptero, but maybe I’ll succeed on the first try. Actually, I think I will. I can already do a cartwheel split so I’m pretty much a professional gymnast, right?
And now you know that the helicopteros exists, so we can continue.
Sorry for the lack of bloggage this weekend – I took a little bit of an Internet break (as much as I could, anyway) to enjoy real life stuff because the experts say that sometimes you should do that for some reason or something.
It was aight. I didn’t feel particularly refreshed or free or tralalalawesome, but I did get a chance to spend some quality time with my boyfriend, which is always nice.
We went for a walk.
I wore some new kicks from my homies at Sorel, and they’re as comfortable as they are adorable.
I’ll write more about them later when I post the unboxing video of these + this pretty pair of sandals. Pedicure first, though. I really need to get a pedicure.
You know what else I did on Sunday? I watched SO MANY MOVIES. Three of them, Which is a huge number for someone who averages maybe 10 per cent of one film on a good week.
When I started cleaning my room, A Bronx Tale came on – one of my favourite movies in existence.
Then, after I lied in bed watching the rest of it Casino started, and I couldn’t very well leave the house at that point because, much like Goodfellas and the aforementioned A Bronx Tale, you don’t walk away from Casino when it’s on TV.
I decided to use the next four hours to switch over my wardrobe / practice teasing my big ponytail while watching Sharon Stone go from Sharon Stone to Kate-Goselin-on-crack. Tsk, tsk. Such a sad character, that Ginger.
At night, Sean and I watched Thor. To my surprise, it was effing awesome – and not only because of the Chris Hemsworth thing…
… though it did help 
That guy is painfully hot, eh? I’m probably going to marry him.
He’ll propose to me with this:
While he’s wearing this:
And I will say…
Ahhhh juuuust kidding S. Simmer down. I would never accept a Star Trek engagement ring. I’m after one of these:
This little Rock, Paper, Scissors logic graphic below is circulating Facebook right now, which means that it was probably posted to Reddit a few weeks back or something. I don’t know. I’m a fair-weather Redditor right now. Whatever the case, it’s SO TRUE:
RIGHT?
I’m going to go to bed now, for it is very very late and I’ve got a big week ahead with NXNE and MMVA and WORK.
So excited for so many things. Follow my Tweets to see where I’ll be if you’re into the party report. If not? Kudos. Let’s meet up and do this to people when it’s all over:
For real. Who’s wants to pull YouTube pranks with me this summer? Mommy?
NxNE, Social Scratch, Party Party Party and my new fox tail…
Jun 16th
You know what feels worse than having your iPhone die at 6:48 p.m. when you’ve got a full night of party hopping ahead? Being stuck in downtown Teeyoh traffic, knowing that your dinner date is furiously texting a dead iPhone to find out where the heck your road-raging ass be at. And also being attacked by locusts, I presume.
Today was a doozy, but a great one indeed.
First off, I went to work and found out that Antoine Dodson got a new weave. Woah.
Then I actually worked for a little bit before high-tailing it to the NxNe Interactive conference for some panelization. The hashtag for “The Black Hole of Facebook” was “#Facehole“, which started trending shortly after the session started.
This made me happy, but not nearly as happy as the word “Facehole” does in general. Big ups to Lee for that gem.
(Thanks for taking that photo, Rannie!)
The house, as they say, was full.
It flew by faster than you can say “engage authentically” 10 times fast (I think I might have actually done that) but it was super fun and I felt incredibly honoured to be up on that stage next to Lee, Aikta and Sean. Big-time talent. Thanks for having me!
So stoked on post-panel accolades was I, (ego is one hell of a drug) that on the way back to the office a little celebratory gift was purchased. If it had been a bad day, I would have deemed this a “pick-me-up” present. Anything to avoid acknowledging my impulsive buys as what they really are. What a tangled web of emotions and spending I weave…
DO YOU LOVE IT? I do = so much that I bought two! I saw these fox tails in the window of a local furrier and I just couldn’t resist. Now my purse has a tail, and the PETArds who hover around Heritage Court during fashion week can guilt trip me even harder.
Whatever. At least I don’t EAT the dang things.
After work, I went to The Verge (XM)’s Rooftop Party across from Sugar Beach. Babillions of hot boys (you know, that indie rock type) and great bands were there – Zeus was there and Leake was there and HOLLERADO was there too!
I love this band more and more all the time. They always roll with confetti and rule at music.
*swoon*
My phone died mid text (sorry Nate!) and then I went to The Toshiba Primer Party for a bit. It was aight.
The YYZ Living Summer Issue Launch Party after that was swank as hello operator, please give me number nine. I loved it.
My camera battery was ALSO dead by that point so I nabbed narry a photo, but plenty of people were around snapping the YYZ party. It was the best party of the night for sure. I’ll post photos later if they come my way.
Annnnd last but not least, you might see me in a wee video around NXNE this week if you’re hitting up the Interactive conference or film festival at all. I’ve been getting mad Tweets about it already! So fun!
The spot is about digital influence and it’s produced by Social Scratch. I don’t know why I look so angry… I wasn’t angry. Just pensive. Regardez:
That’s it that’s all! It’s way late for a girl who needs to be up to get ready for work in a few hours. That’s what I miss more than anything about university… the lack of Friday morning classes. Sigh. I guess that’s growing up…
At least I’m not being swarmed by locusts?
Video blog with a Horse and a Cop: Vroom… Vroom… Neighhhhh!
Jun 15th
Oi Friends!
Remember last week when I Tweeted my head off all day long about how much fun I was having in the Ford Focus Challenge? Of course you don’t. You’ve got a life outside of Lauren O’Neil (unlike SOME PEOPLE).
I’m going to show you this video anyway because it’s hecka blogworthy – as is anything involving horses and/or tractors intersecting with my life. If you were me, you’d blog about this too.
Allow me to give you some context here: On Tuesday, June 7th, Ford Canada wrangled together a bunch of local bloggers, paired us up into superteams and sent us off to complete a series of fun challenges in a not-even-released-yet 2012 Ford Focus.
We ate, we drank, we TWEETERED THE HECK OUT. And we drove.
Oh, how we drove…
We also took photos of ourselves in the cool blindspot mirrors while our partners drove. Or was that just me?
Keri was there and Corey was there and a whole bunch of cool bloggers that I’d never met IRL were there too. I really like it when that happens. When I meet new people outside of my bubble, I learn and I grow.
My partner in crime was the ridiculously cool Jerry R. Lem (left). Not only is he a bomb driver, he’s got a fascinating career story – particularly inspiring to a girl like myself who’s just starting down that road. Homeboy kicked it off as a teenager, shelling shrimp in restaurants and by 18 bought his own restaurant… and then another. Years later, he was running the show at some of the country’s ritziest hotels. Now he’s a succesful professional photographer. Talk about a life fully lived! Jerry is definitely next level and I’m glad we were paired up.
Over the course of the day, we got to learn about our trusty yellow steed. The Ford reps taught us all about TORQUE-VECTORING (makes the car more fun to drive) and BORON (makes a car body dead strong).
I couldn’t stop saying either of those words. BORON. TORQUE. TORQUE BORONING BWAHHHHHH!!! *insert flaming skull*
There’s Jerry and I burning some rubber (Thanks to Ammar!). This car handles well. Really well. Is my old Mazda that jerky or is this car just that smooth? I’ll hope for the latter… Either way, Vroom!
I enjoyed that exclusive torque vectoring feature almost as much as I liked the capless fuel port, the rear mounted camera (for backing up) and the fact that this car can sync with (and charge) my smartphone. The future. She’s a here.
Horsey time and tractor time were obvious highlights of my day, but parallel parking with no hands (see video) was pretty cool too… in theory.
You see, one of my most bragworthy random skills as a driver – nay, as a human being! – is that I’m a great parallel parker. I love to roll up next to a tight spot in front of a big group of men and watch their jaws drop as the stupid blonde zooms it on back like like NYYYYYYEEEEEE.
Active Park Assist threatens to make obsolete this already flailing lost art, and that worries me… but not enough to stop me from enjoying the horsies and tractors when Ford brought us to a farm.
If you’d like to learn more about the Ford Focus, visit Ford.ca or drop me a comment. We can talk cars and stuff.
In other news, NxNE has officially popped off and you’ll be hearing lots and lots about it over the next couple of days.
I decided to take ‘er easy tonight because I’m flat exhausted and need to be on my A-game tomorrow. If you’re at the NXNEi conference around noon, feel free to stop by and hear me speak on a panel about The Black Hole of Facebook with Lee Dale, Sean Howard and Aikta Chugh.
Must fingers paint nails and eat Lucky Charms now. Night night
NxNE Giveaway: Name My Cool Band, Win Some Hot Tickets
Jun 11th
AIDS Wolf, Church Chizzle, Extra Arms and The One-Look DonnyBrook. Ghettosocks, dd/mm/yyyy, Evil Farm Children, PKEW PKEW PKEW (gunshots).
Those are all band names. Like, REAL names belonging to a few of the 650 artists that will be performing in Toronto next week during the North by Northeast Music Festival.
Some of those names make me LOL, while others make me cringe. Mostly, they just make me wish that I was in a band with a cool name too.
So, I’ve decided to start a cool band. We’ll probably be headlining NxNE next year if we aren’t already booked to open for Britney and Christina (Yes they WILL tour together! Has NKOTB + BSB taught you nothing? Believe, child… believe.) so we’re going to need a dope name.
I’ve thought up a few on my own (Litter box tempeh, Estelle Costanza, image001.jpg, Pickled Cripple…) but I’d love some more options, so here’s the deal:
Windows Canada is hooking my readers up with three pairs of tickets to see SHAD + 88 Days of Fortune at the Ballroom in Toronto on Saturday, June 18th.
Want to come to the show? All you gots do is Tweet me an awesome band name for your chance to win, Like so:
“Dear @laurenonizzle: Your cool #NxNE band should be called “________” http://bit.ly/iEU8Bq #RockwithWindows”
The originators of the best three names will score a pair of special wristbands for Saturday night that will get you into the show for free AND let you cut the line as well. You’ll also have the chance to win an Xbox 360 once you get there chhhyeahhhh!
That’s Shad. I interviewed him during Canadian Music Week, and have also seen him live several times over the past couple of years. I don’t need to tell you that he’s a phenomenal rapper because the Juno awards already did that. Instead, I’ll embed the video for a song of his that I’ve loved for a long time.
Don’t just groove to it, LISTEN. Listen to the words. He’s a great writer.
Okay, one more... A newer one. I love this viddy. Isn’t he adorbs?
If you can’t make it to the concert, no bigs – you can still try to win one of two Xbox 360s or a Windows Phone 7 over on Windows Canada’s Facebook page or through following them on Twitter.
Now, does anybody want to be in my band so that we can book some stadiums and stuff? Otherwise, it’ll pretty much be me sitting in front of my webcam doing Eminem covers…
Whatever. At least I’ll have a cool name.
SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! (are you ready for the MMVAs & afterparties?)
Jun 20th
Oh it is ON mans and womans. It’s on like Donkey Kong… like a Donkey Kong Thong… Like Donkey Kong singin’ the thong song ON.
Finally, after weeks and weeks – nay, MONTHS and MONTHS- of anticipation, MMVA madness has hit its peak! In less than 24 hours, The MuchMusic Video Awards will pop of at the corner of Queen st. W. and John St. in Toronto Ontario and IT. WILL. BE. EPIC.
Hello, btw
I’ve been so dang busy running around town these past few days, preparing for Sunday’s festivities, catching up with old homies and taking in as much NXNE awesomeness as is humanly possible that I haven’t had much time to blog about everything – and for this, I apologize… though I do hope that my onslaught of tweets has kept you feeling up-to-date on all of the sweet happenings taking place in the teeeedot this week.
I’m actually typing this post up on my blackberry while I ride the subway downtown. It’s jam packed up in here, and I’m pretty sure lady sitting next to me with her eyes trained on my hands is reading every word that I’m writing right now…
Oooh! “arriving at Osgoode, Osgoode station…” that’s my stop! I’ll finish this later…
(Later…)
Hi again!
What a day this has been so far! In the past 5 hours I’ve watched Katy Perry, The Raveonettes, Stereos, Justin Bieber and Iggy Pop rock out on stage. I bought some shoes too. I’m starting to develop a habit… Toronto is bad for my wallet. Maybe I should buy a new wallet…
Uh… where was I? MMVA Eve, yes! As you know, I am a Virgin Mobile VVIP for the 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards. This means that I’ll be blogging, vlogging and tweeting up a storm all day long tomorrow – expect some majorhuge photo, video, and story posts come Monday. I’ll be rolling with my BB (for to Tweet with), my good camera, a notepad and my camcorder.
I’m going media-ninja on this event, my friends… it’s my favourite thing to do Stay tuned.
And on that note – I just want to warn everybody right now that I will not be sticking to the ’5 tweets per day’ twettiquette rule tomorrow (do I ever?). I’ll pretty much be e-blabbing a mile a minute as I prepare for the event, moon over celebbys on the red carpet, watch the big show and then hit up the afterparties. Sorry.
And speaking of afterparties, there are about a zillion of them going on, eh? I’m slated to hit up Perez Hilton’s MMVA afterparty for definite, but who knows where I’ll end up post-pink-carpet?
Where are YOU going to be tomorrow night after Canada’s biggest and bestest awards show shuts it down? If you haven’t got the foggiest, check out this list of Sunday night’s best MMVA afterparties, courtesy of Canadian celebrity blogger Zack Taylor :
Snooki - Century Room
Drake, Hedley and Justin Rego - This Is London
Jonathan Toews, Blake McGrath, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Adam Lambert and Fefe Dobson - Ultra Supper Club
DJ Pauly D - SkyBar
Ill Scarlett, Midway State and Rob Dyer - MOD Club
Ashley Tisdale and Cobra Starship - Opera House
Stereos - Nyood Nightclub
Whitney Port and Kristin Cavallari - Dolce
Down with Webster - Cheval
Danny Fernandes and Belly - Lobby Lounge
I’m thinkin’ that I might have to hit up Century Room for a cartwheel or two with Snooki if I can get in… but the two major parties that I want to hit are at Ultra (the official MMVA afterparty spot) and This is London (Universal’s bash).
Too much awesome! I wish I could use a magical hammock to split myself into five different people, go to five different parties, and then reconvene with my selves at the end of the night to share pictures/stories/cute-boy-email-addys…
I need to peace on out for some more festivations right meow and then rest up. It’s going to be a huge Sunday. Huge like this HUGE FRICKIN’ DOG or this HUGE RUBIK’S CUBE. HUGER, even – like this lady’s… tank top:
I’ve got an interview lined up with someone very, very cool in the afternoon tomorrow. Someone I’ve idolized for a long time I don’t want to jinx anything, but… watch my tweetfeed around 1:30 if you’re interested.
Love always,
Lauren O’Neil, the living bundle of nerves/excitement…
Oh Oh – one Pee Ess: Last night during MMVA sound checks at MuchMusic, the entire block just happened to black out (oops!). I had just left Toshiba’s Primer Party at Ultra when it happened, so we decided to head west for more NXNE stuff. As we were crossing Queen at Spadina, some amazing drunk, shirtless guy was trying to direct traffic. It was so hilarious – definitely one of the best things I’ve seen IRL in a while.
Fortunately, my homie Sean Ward caught the whole thing on tape (hoorah, modern technolomagies!). Check it oots!
