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Toronto

4 Reasons I Love Twitter

I’m officially a university graduate now and the day after convocation, the celebration continues: today is my fourth anniversary on Twitter.

That means it’s been four years since I first tweeted “Jewellery is not a toy” after a beaded necklace that I made broke. I still have those grey beads in a ziploc bag. Today, the manager who worked at Toronto’s Bead Cafe is engaged to a family friend. As Twitter reminds us every day, it’s a small world!

To celebrate this exciting occasion, I’ve created a list of 4 reasons I love Twitter:

1. Twitter Contests

Twitter is responsible for helping me win many products and experiences. Contest prizes have included touchscreen gloves from Target Canada, an Aroma gift card, and a Rob Thomas concert DVD. More recently, I won a free hour of bowling from The Ballroom, which I have yet to redeem. The most amazing prize, however, came from MuchMusic, who gave me tickets to see Arcade Fire!

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire

2. Job Opportunities

To apply for my current marketing role, I submitted links to my social media profiles, not a resume. And like the characters of The Internship, they hired me following an interview on Google+ Hangouts. Social media is a crucial part of the hiring process now and I’m curious to see how the relationship between social media and HR continues evolving. Twitter helps you showcase your industry knowledge and personality, so share your commentary and keep it clean!

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June 20, 2013 by

Gilmore Girls Cast Meet & Greets

To kickstart this summer break, I returned to New York looking forward to seeing a couple more of my favourite celebrities: author Jennifer Weiner (In Her Shoes, Good in Bed) and actress Lauren Graham (Parenthood).

Lauren Graham

Jennifer Weiner

Though my chats with the famous women were short, the trip was a great way to celebrate graduating from Western! Between shopping at Uniqlo and touring the Big Apple Sex and the City style with On Location tours, I started liking the city much more. Too bad we weren’t one of the lucky groups to run into Sarah Jessica Parker in her ‘hood. Regardless, I’ll definitely consider buying another tour from them, especially because they just launched a new TMZ-themed itinerary – my kind of vacation activity!

HBO

Since then, I’ve been organizing everything I moved home from London and waiting until I could attend another celebrity meet and greet during the Victoria Day long weekend. To date, I’ve met the actors who play Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, watched Jared Paledecki from afar at a Live @ Much event and now I can finally say I’ve met Rory’s dad too! David Sutcliffe, who once played Christopher, now stars in CBC’s Cracked, for which he made the transition from rom-com actor to a stern cop.

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May 20, 2013 by

98 Degrees is Back!

 

Image Source: MTV

Image Source: MTV

Millennials, rejoice: brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, as well as Justin Jeffre and Jeff Timmons from 98 Degrees are making a comeback!

During their spring/summer tour, the boy band will be joined by New Kids on the Block and Boys II Men. With 12 musicians scheduled to perform, they’ve named the tour The Package, and what a good choice! Looks like it’s time to create another 90s playlist and play it on repeat.

According to Ticketmaster, seats are selling fast for the following Canadian tour dates:

June 4 – Ottawa: Scotiabank Place

June 6 – Montreal: Bell Centre

June 7 – Toronto: Air Canada Centre

July 10 – Vancouver: Rogers Arena

July 28 – Toronto: Air Canada Centre

If you live in Toronto and can’t get tickets to see them at the ACC, perhaps you should make a road trip to Buffalo! They’re playing at the First Niagara Center on August 2, conveniently on a Friday night – perfect for a fun-filled weekend of live music and shopping.

98 Degrees’ first album in over a decade will be released on May 7 – get excited for 2.0!

In the meantime, let’s go back to 2000:

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYb2IdrN-ns&feature=share&list=UUi6lEAeZjgyVkg7XgFUZfUg’]

April 26, 2013 by

The Meme-ing of Life According to Second City

Second City Toronto Cast

Second City’s new show, The Meme-ing of Life, which examines technology’s impact on modern relationships, induces nostalgic feelings for a time when people spent more time talking than texting. From sifting through online dating profiles on Lavalife’s website to coping with YouTube addictions, The Meme-ing of Life essentially covers everything in today’s zeitgeist.

One wonderful sketch features a driver (Jan Caruana) intensely frustrated with a border crossing guard (Nigel Downer). The majority of Torontonians seem to have a funny story about discretely indulging in shopping sprees abroad or hiding beer in the trunk, so this is remarkably relatable material. Next time you and your partner drive to the United States and they ask if you have anything to declare, perhaps you should test out the following line as your response: “Yes, officer, our love.”

While it’s easy to bond over stories about crossing the border, few local experiences compare to encounters with sketchy people on the TTC. Another sketch effectively pokes fun at how single people can potentially find love amidst all the smelly commuters. Through interactions that gradually become flirtatious, a man’s efforts to sit in the seat a woman reserves for her purse eventually lead to a make-out session on public transit. Local newspapers are filled with stories of missed connections, so theirs is perfectly suitable for a dating story about Generation Y’s hook-up culture.

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March 24, 2013 by

Behind the Band: Two Hours Traffic

Two Hours Traffic

Some Western students may have missed Two Hours Traffic’s last local concert to attend Homecoming festivities instead. Thankfully, the Canadian band is returning to Call the Office on Tuesday to promote their new album Foolish Blood.

Their latest tour began at the end of February and recently included a stop in Texas for the SXSW festival. No matter where they perform, Liam Corcoran, lead vocalist for Two Hours Traffic, emphasizes he values his eastern Canadian heritage.

“The sound we have is kind of reminiscent of the Halifax pop sound,” Corcoran remarks. “I think between the way we write songs and the way we sound, I think we belong to a kind of family of bands that started out in Halifax. Also, [it seems] we must have an accent, although I don’t really notice it.”

Two Hours Traffic is content living in Prince Edward Island, but Corcoran has his eye on Toronto as his future home. Corcoran admits America’s song-writing capital Nashville, Tennessee is a particularly appealing alternative too.

“We have a lot of friends [in Toronto] and family as well. We know the city really well,” Corcoran says. “I’ve never seriously thought about anywhere other than Toronto, [but] I daydream about a few places.”

Recognizing concerts with major headliners are relatively rare in Canada’s remote areas like the Northwest Territories, Corcoran likes playing there because everyone truly appreciates the opportunity to see them play live.

The band’s catchy hit song “Jezebel” has been featured on many film and television soundtracks, including in episodes of popular teen shows like One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl. Eager to interact with fans that discovered them on such TV shows, Corcoran and his fellow band mates tend to hang around the merchandise table after concerts.

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March 15, 2013 by