Get Yog – for WeAreMomAndPop.com
GET YOG
Peter Pelberg and the guys behind running app Yog wanted a more social fitness experience. So they built one.
“Veronica and I are trying this new fad, I believe it’s jogging or yogging. It might be a soft ‘J’. I’m not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It’s supposed to be wild!” –Ron Burgundy, Anchorman (2004)
Launching an app on your own is a bit like running a marathon. Just ask Peter Pelberg and Will Locke, creators of the social running app Yog. (Yes, the name is based off of that classic “Anchorman” quote.)
“I had just moved to New York City,” remembers Pelberg, 23. “I had no one to exercise with, but I didn’t want to join a gym. So I figured running was the best way to keep in shape.” After looking into a number of running apps like Nike+ and RunKeeper, he found that, as phenomenal as they were at keeping track of empirical data like output, distance, and calories burned, the apps did nothing for socializing the experience.
“The sociability of those apps are very post-mortem, like ‘I just did X, Y, and Z,’” says Pelberg. “I never felt any closer to the people I had been running with back in college in Atlanta. We wanted to change that model and create a new running experience rather than just a tool.”
Yog lets you schedule runs with your friends and other Yog contacts. That way, if you make a commitment to run with someone, you are more likely to stick to it. The app also keeps you in touch with runners via audio notifications that tell you when you are being surpassed and an avatar-based timeline that shows you how your progress compares to friends.
The app has been in development for the past eight months, with a small crew of four working late into the night (the Yog team members all hold day jobs). The first-time experience of building an app has left Pelberg feeling encouraged about the support system in the tech community.
“From my experience, people building things on the Internet are all crazy — crazy in the best way possible,” says Pelberg. “They recognize how much time and energy you are spending, so, when you reach out to them, they are willing to open up and help you succeed.”
“It’s a bit like that old Apple campaign,” he adds, “where the people that are crazy enough to think that they can bite off these big projects are ultimately the people will succeed. It’s an amazing energy that I love being around.”
Aria Entertainment Complex – BlogTO
Posted by Jesse Ship / JANUARY 8, 2013
The Aria Entertainment Complex had been spamming me to death with Facebook ads for their new club, and having viewed their over-the-top promotional video which resembles a high-end diamond or perfume ad (or more appropriately The Simpson’s Barney Gumble’s epic shortPukahontas), I couldn’t resist checking them out for their opening night. Before I knew it, I was on my way to discovering the club where “the influencers play”, according to their promotional messaging.
I scan my bathroom sink for cologne samples I’ve accumulated over the years and hesitate for a second. Is this an Axe or Armani night? With a $20 cover, and drinks priced between $6 and 7$ you might think the latter, but once the club started filling up, Axe might have been more appropriate. This isn’t exactly Toronto’s best-dressed crowd, but it takes a lot of bodies to fill up a space this big.
Aria is four main rooms each with their own specific Las Vegas inspired theme. There’s the “Vanity” room with its laminate bowling alley meets card room vibe accented by decorative bushes and wicker balls hanging from the ceiling. It feels like the interior designer (if there even was one) stumbled upon a Bed, Bath And Beyond warehouse sale.
The main “Aria” room is pretty run of the mill for the Club District with elevated VIP quarters in each corner, bar stations and scantily clad go-go dancers. An interesting touch were bowls of candy at the bar and an unattended drum kit by the DJ booth.
Following an unmarked stairway leads to the “Haze” room, whose logo seems like a cross between the classy purple of Alizé and the exotic orient of Mandarin restaurant. The décor is a bit more interesting here, with framed pictures of porn stars in the buff and a Lucite cage / grotto lounge for bottle service tables.
The top floor is the rooftop Pure lounge, possibly Aria’s one redeeming quality, with a mechanical SkyDome styled roof that opens in the summer. I really did feel like I was in a laid back Costa Rican bar, and despite dinky non-smoking signs, the ladies were puffing away. I guess when you’re a hot “influencer”, you can do whatever you please.
The layout is a bit of a nightmare with a series of drafty unfinished connecting corridors and dodgy industrial staircases that would clearly be a hazard to anyone wearing the pointy shoes that the district is so known for. If this were an underground warehouse rave then it would be perfectly acceptable, but I don’t think that’s the crowd the owners are targeting. It’s like the architect was a child with a lego model of the interior, smushing pieces together to force them to fit. It’s hard to believe Toronto’s building safety people even passed this place.
And then there’s the institutional row of unisex washrooms I encountered on the rooftop Pure patio which may seem “progressive” and “modern” for Toronto but with the crowd they are bringing in seems like more of an invitation for some rough prison sex more than anything.
With its cheap vinyl couches, potentially disastrous bottle necking in the sprawling stairways and off-kilter layouts Aria seems more like a death trap waiting to happen than a forward thinking entertainment complex. But if you’re looking for a laid back night out people watching in the district where you won’t have to worry much about being underdressed (required clown shoes aside) then this could be the place you’ve been waiting for.
Additional Details
- BEERS ON TAP:
- none
- SIGNATURE DRINK:
- none
- BAR SNACKS:
- Candy bowls in the Aria room
- PATIO:
- Yes
- MUSIC/GENRE:
- Top 40, Hip Hop, House, Mash Up, Electro, Latin, Rock/Alternative
- LIVE MUSIC:
- No
- WHO GOES THERE:
- 19-25 year old suburban “influencers”
- HOURS:
- 10pm to 3am Friday and Saturday
Synth pop and garlic mingle at Feast in the East 21 – Blog TO
Posted by Jesse Ship / JANUARY 7, 2013
As the name implies, Feast In The East is a monthly event that brings together a mix of indie bands and pairs them with a full meal (or snack, depending on your appetite). Every month features new foods, bands, and curated installations. With that in mind, I entered the mixed-use office building that contains PolyHaus in Dundas and Carlaw warehouse land, and was greeted with the gusting scent of of herbs, garlic and spices.
As chef Dan Bedard (former production and flavour wizard at Greg’s Ice Cream who is currently in culinary school) explained, he wanted to find a middle ground that would accomodate dietary restrictions, so a French-inspired vegan platter of vichyssoise (that’s leek and potato soup to ceux qui ne parlent pas français), red bean dip, a family olive tapenade recipe, and a Moroccan carrot salad were on the menu.
The medley successfully highlighted a hearty range of striking colours, flavours and textures for a frosty winter night. A mix of 20-something OCAD girls and older, slightly nerdy audiophile dudes sat around under streamers made from cut-up flags (created by Adrian Dilena) eating off their plates, fetched from a soup kitchen-style window.
The sounds of the night were as varied and textured as the menu, but still within a consistent theme of lo-fi synth pop, enabled by a sound system made up of a garage sale’s worth of ’70s bass amp cabinets that wheezed under the pressure of modern electro outfits. Miss Elizabeth, a two-man, keyboard-based synth pop band (named after a celebrity WWF wrestling manager) squared off on stage facing each other like dueling battle ships while fans swayed to harmonizing church beats. One even sketched their performance on her pad.
Dap’s Records Beta Frontiers, also a two man group, left the crowd awe-inspired and mouthing, “what the hell are they doing up there?” as they cranked out spectral synth loops and airy vocals off a laptop and Ableton, accompanied by their own live visual remixes. The dj/vj duo is rare in Toronto, but has been all the rage in Asia for a while now.
The main draw of the night for me was to check out Toronto/Berlin one man show Digits, aka Alt Altmann (formerly of The Ghost Is Dancing), who has been soaking up blog hype for his “Love Is Only Affection” music video shot by Toronto’s
waterfront (and strictly speaking, NSFW).
You wouldn’t expect such a low, dusky force to emit from his mad scientist exterior. Lanky, and dressed in a classic ’80s striped polo, wire-rimmed glasses and sporting a slightly asymmetrical bowl cut, he owned the stage like an ostracized math geek who’s taken control of his high school prom. While Toronto may be losing Diamond Rings to LA, we (and Berlin) still have Digits. For now, at least.
Closing down the night were another soon-to-be-buzz band, Yacht Club, lead by Fucked Up‘s Ben Cook. A four-piece band bringing feel good sing-along anthems that might as well have been written in the ’80s. Think Cyndi Lauper meets Genesis guitar licks and melodies.
Heavy on crowd interaction, Ben tossed glow stick bracelets into the crowd, borrowed fedoras, and plunged the mike deep into the mouth of a waiting sax for the song “His Eyes.” No ’80s band would be complete without at least one sax-based song. And I guess being so entrenched in the industry has given the band insight and certain liberties, as they currently have two singles out on two separate labels; “Flash” on Pretty Pretty Records, and “Tropicana” on Burger Records.
All the bands that played certainly have their own sort of hype going for them. It’s great to see that this kind of community exists in Toronto, where dinner and a show take a completely different kind of meaning.
Photos by Kat Rizza
Liam Howlett’s Unreleased 1990 Demo Tape (SIDE A)
Back when I was teaching English in Taiwan in 2008, I wound up partying with The Prodigy’s sound engineer and their sessionist who also played with Gary Numan. Through an inside tip,we found them at a shitty but ‘much hyped’ top 40s club (called Water I think?) and stole them away to a way cooler after hours. Apparently we had just missed Maxim Reality. I can’t say I met the full band, but I guess I got pretty close. I love how this has just surfaced now. With the lo-fi 90s sound thats happening in house and techno, this tape is more relevant than ever. Who’s got the B-side?
Tracklist:
1. What Evil Lurks
2. We’re Gonna Rock
3. Manic
4. Drop The Bass
5. Android II
6. Your Love (EP)
7. Pandemonia
8. Charlie I
9. Charlie II
BOYS NOIZE SET TO LET THE DOG BLOOD OUT WITH SKRILLEX ON NEW YEAR’S
Posted on Dec 31st 2012 4:00PM by Jesse Ship
Snoop Dogg might be responsible for Boys Noize‘ retirement.
“I used to joke with my friends saying I could quit music if I made a song with Snoop Dogg. Then suddenly I see myself with him in the studio, hanging out at his house and making music. It was really important for me to make something really cool with him,” Alex Ridha, a.k.a. Berlin’s Boys Noize, tells Spinner. Boys Noize features the smoky canine rapper on his new album, Out of the Black.
“He’s so chill. What’s great is that he still has a kid in him. He was super-open to the old Chicago house and quirky old Dancemania tracks I played him — stuff with lots of swearing and booty house. He was laughing a lot about it, but don’t think it was really his scene.”
Mr. Ridha typically works to foster emerging artists on his musical imprint BNR (Boys Noize Records) but lately he’s been taking a turn in a bit more star-driven direction, releasing Peaches‘ “Burst” (“I was a huge fan of Peaches. She’s one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met.”) and Mixhell‘s “Exit Wound” featuring Greg Puciato of theDillinger Escape Plan.
Then there’s his ongoing live tour.
The left-handed, unibrow sporting, skull-loving electro producer has been plowing across the planet in a stage-sized cranium vessel, playing an hour and a half of set of his past three albums, synched with psychedelic visuals.
“I’ve seen this kind of thing at Kraftwerk shows,” he says. “Like you play a sound that is translated into something visual that fits the aesthetic and style. I wanted to make this because there are always these huge LED walls at the clubs I play at. I wanted to give it the right taste and make it fit my music, and have it look good.”
Click here to read the rest of: BOYS NOIZE SET TO LET THE DOG BLOOD OUT WITH SKRILLEX ON NEW YEAR’S
GI Joe Closing Credits
I never noticed how ridiculously funky GI Joe’s closing credits were until I discovered the original Season 2 on Netflix! It’s a legit disco remix even, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were released on a b-side somewhere. I can’t even imagine what the musical team’s creative process was like, but I imagine subversion was in the air….
Dim Sum Guyyyy
Notorious S.A.N.T.A. aka Ready for Xmas
Hopefully at least a few of these will replace Christmas in Hollis. Not that I don’t love me some Run DMC but Cookin’ Soul and DJ Whookid have brought some serious finesse (and good tidings too?) with this mashup of classic Biggie joints and classic Christmas ditties. Also features soundbites from skits by Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby and even a little bit of Home Alone fun.
Lick Click here to download www.cookinsoulbiz.com/READYFORXMAS.zip
“Another classic remixtape blending acapellas from Brooklyns finest Notorious B.I.G. with some Xmas-inspired instrumentals sampling classics such as “Home Alone” or “This Christmas”. Happy holidays & best wishes!
All tracks produced, remixed & mastered by Cookin Soul
In memory of Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997)”
Afrika Bambaata – Toronto Dec 21 @ Revival
Imagine Hip Hop never grew old and we were stuck in a world of motherships, cowboys, aliens, and the Dr. Funkensteins that Afrika Bambaata emerged from. Would there still be the gun play, anger, bitches, and hos? It’s hard to say…
The December 2012 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine listed Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” as 3rd Greatest Hip-Hop song of all time. They credit the song for starting break-dancing and introducing the Roland 808 beats to Hip Hop along with developing the sonic language of electro, Detroit Techno, Freestyle R&B, Miami Bass and most of modern Dance Music.
Along with DJs Grandmaster Flash and Kool Herc (known in the 70’s as Hip-Hop’s Tri-Force) Bambaataa also developed “Turntablism” and were some of the first “Crate Diggers”, scouring vinyl records around the world for unique & funky drums breaks they could turn into songs of the own. The Tri-Force’s New York City block parties is where the foundation of Hip-Hop developed with the help of MCs who used percussive, chanting street language poetry style over the sampling of funky breakbeats. It was at this time that Afrika Bambaata labeled the new music “Hip-Hop” in an article in the Village Voice in 1982, in reference to the use of the word in Sugar Hill Gang’s track Rapper Delight and LoveBug Starski’s track Positive Life.
A former gang warlord of the Black Spades, Bambaataa vowed to use Hip-Hop to draw angry kids out of gangs and formed the Universal Zulu Nation whose values are Peace, Love, Unity and Having Fun. Now almost 40 years later the Zulu Nation is an international organization with autonomous branches in Japan, France, the UK, Australia, South Korea and South Africa. Inspired by his own world view shift when he won a essay contest to visit Africa as a young man, Bambaataa tours all over the world as an ambassador of Hip-hop and brings young at-risk youth from NYC along with him to give them a global experience.
In 1990 he was named by LIFE Magazine as one of the MOST IMPORTANT Americans of the 20th Century. In 2006, Bam was honored for his incredible achievements by VH1 at the annual ‘Hip Hip Honors’ show. In 2007, he was nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Planet Rock” has become arguably the most sampled song in music history, having been remixed and sampled by the likes of Paul Oakenfold, Westbam, George Acosta, LL Cool J and countless others.
Still extremely active, Bam continues to record, tour and educate, maintaining his status as a living legend and forefather of the art. In 2012, Cornell University announced the appointment of DJ Afrika Bambaataa as a visiting scholar for a three year term where he will discuss the origins of hip-hop and the cultural relevance and race-related aspects of the American artistic movement.
The Godfather of Hip-Hop, Afrika Bambaataa, the man who defined Hip-Hop Culture (MCing, DJing, B-boying and graffiti writing) performs in Toronto on Friday December 21st at Revival Bar.
Nils Frahm / Ghostpoet / Hyelim Kim – BBC Radio 3 Late Junction Session (Trailer)
This episode of Late Junction airs on Thursday 20th December. It will be available to listen back to here after that date .
