Sunday, April 20, 2008

SNAP! Sessions Mark I with 'The Darling De Maes'















Hey'all!

So last night was our first SNAP! Sessions with a local band called 'The Darling De Maes.' I still haven't found out what 'De Maes' means ... I should have asked the band ...

It was a pretty great night and the band were really good. Apparently we have amazing acoustics in the SNAP! Salon (I take that as a personal compliment, naturally) and the drummer said he had "never had so much fun playing" (I'm obviously also taking that personally). So they played a few songs, our film crew filmed from two different angles (technology these days). Can't wait until the SNAP! TV is up.

The night is meant to be an 'intimate and interactive' affair which basically means we want the band to interact with the audience. Most attendees were friends of the band so I did ma best to ask varied and interesting questions ... just to get the ball rolling like. Of course I was one of the only people asking really great questions. To spice things up a bit, I whispered to the guy next to me and prompted him to ask some pearls too. Anyway ... we'll see how it all looks on the site and I'll let you know when it's up (cause you want to know).

It has been a pretty chilled Sunday in the Salon. Our new graphic designer Sarah has been over all day working on the mag. We go to print for edition 1 in just a week so it's that run towards the finish line. I did my best to keep spirits high with a tasty melange pasta of spinach, tomato and mushroom. I threw in a few cheeky wee brewskies for good measure and voila!

I'm working on the launch party at the moment. We hope to get some kind of SNAP! 'dog tag' made which we will give out with each copy of the magazine. Gotta get that name out! So we are working with a few local designers and have thrown around some interesting ideas.

Well ... I don't want this post to drag on for too long so happy Sunday evening! A+

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Catch up

Today is a little catchup as this blog is sorely neglected ...

All is well in the SNAP! world. We are working hard towards our deadline of releasing print edition 1 May 9th. It's a big push but we're all pretty psyched to get something out there in the flesh (cause a magazine has personality you know ...).

Our first 'SNAP! Sessions' will happen next Saturday night with the Darling Demaes playing. I have a meeting with organizer Alec Elsworth this afternoon to knock out details etc. Should be a fun night and the first of many! We plan to film the music nights and get them up on the site.

We went to an interesting 'Nationality Stereotypes' party last night. It was pretty last minute.

My costume: a tee with an upside-down picture of Australia being held by a koala; an Aussie flag in my pocket (the joys of having a mother who is trying to get me home is frequent Australia-related gifts) and a pink sweat band around my wrist (cause we're into those you know).

Best costume of the night went to a Romanian gypsy, complete with gold hoops and all. Not sure how politically / socially / economically correct the whole thing was but you know ... nice to get out and about with our Montreal peeps!

Apparently Australians drink a lot so I had to get into costume / character ... now in need of some poutine ...

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Spring!


I think spring is here! After the last gasp of winter yesterday, it seems that spring is finally here! This morning I hung out our front window for some people watching (gotta love living on St. Laurent!).

Today I had a good meeting with two of the guys from Indyish and we have some exciting projects in the works! So watch this space for more info to come!

(Picture from Chloe Beaulac - now exhibiting at Blizzarts).

Friday, April 4, 2008

Lost at E minor

I just came across this newish website and well ... they rock! They are doing what we are trying to do ... give us time and we will take them on! (ha ha)


Lost at E minor

But it's snowing again ...

Taking the Plunge (Literally)

There's a first time for everything, first official blog "contribution" included. So here goes, I don't think it will be too painful.

Two unfortunate things have happened in the last 24 hours or so. First of all, it snowed. I cannot believe it is snowing. In April. Actually, that's a lie. I'm sure this happened last year, or even the year before, I just block it out every time because it just isn't fair. Being from Toronto doesn't really give me any justification to hate winter because I've been told that we get it pretty tame compared to say, the prairies or something, but any excuse to complain about something is alright with me. Yeah, I'm definitely not bitter about winter at all...

The second thing was that my phone got waterlogged. As in dropped in a lot of water. So now the screen looks like it is dripping from the inside and the colours go all funny and it won't charge. Which is all kind of problematic considering I really have no other line of communication besides the Internet, which has also been faulty recently. I think it's a sign that I should become a hermit or something... good thing I live at the bottom of a mountain. I hope Rogers believes my story and gives me a new phone. Life could be disastrous otherwise, and I'd rather not think about it.

In other news (the actual reason I was supposed to contribute to this blog in the first place), the Snap! podcast is (slowly) picking up speed. There's already one episode up on the Snap! website called "Electro Shock Therapy" and, well, it's pretty shocking. In a good way. But there is still more to come! As well as having a great heap of excellent music to play, we've got some sweet artists we're looking to snag for an interview. Don't worry, loyal readers, you'll find out who they are soon enough. The suspense is overwhelming, so stay tuned.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

How to learn French in 10 easy steps

Just 'cause I'm Australian doesn't mean I'm not bi-lin-gual. Here are some of my tips in perfecting the fran-cay langue.

How to learn French in 10 easy steps:

Step 1: Sign up for a three week French course. Flirt with your interviewer and be assigned to a level well beyond your skills. Regularly skip class in a vain attempt to ‘catch up’ with your fluent classmates. Spend ‘catch up days’ lying in parks thinking about French.

Step 2: Get into constant trouble from a teacher who thinks you understand what is going on in class. Be under the misguided impression that he is complimenting your shoes and smile sweetly.

Step 3: Start a conversation exchange and speak only English as your exchange partner is unable to understand your pronunciation / English words mumbled in a faux French accent.

Step 4: Hang out with Quebecois friends. Be so nervous that you speak only English.

Step 5: Start watching English movies with French subtitles. Lose all sense of plot, characterisation or idea of what is actually happening in the film.

Step 6: Start watching French movies with English subtitles. Become even more confused than in Step 4.

Step 7: Start watching French movies dubbed in English. Attempt to lip read the French actors, while shuddering under out-of-sync dubbing. Become even more confused than in Step 4 and 5 combined.

Step 8: Hang out in cafes in French speaking areas. Be asked out by random 40 year old men who think you are trying to wink at them, as opposed to listen in to their tales of drunken revelry.

Step 9: In shops / cafés, pretend that you are French. Say your ‘merci’ with confidence and your ‘de rien’ with flair. When posed with a lengthy French tirade, feign deafness and get out of there tout de suite!

Step 10: Throw all French studying plans out the window. Have a random French conversation with a friend who congratulates you on your improved skills. Act modest, smile coyly and pretend that it was all part of the master plan! Voila! You are almost French.

Montreal weather


I have been in Montreal for nearly two years now and yet the weather never ceases to amaze me! Warm one day, blizzard the next. I woke up this morning, alarmed to note that I had only one arm. I tried to recollect, casting my mind back to the previous night. Surely I had two arms when I went to bed? Didn't I ...? Cold weather and alcohol in the veins will do that to you.

In other news, we are plowing ahead with the design of our second website which will act as our 'corporate site,' (watch out Corporate Canada). Designer Benoit Poirier is busy at work and I'm eagerly awaiting a sneak preview. More details to follow ...

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Salon Updates

So we have finally ironed out kinks in the Salon page of our site so go take a look! (Salon). We have three new graphic designers working with us and we're really excited about collaborating with some new talent! Welcome aboard Ghassene Jerandi, Sarah Williams and Benoit Poirier!