Green Living Show (a.k.a. best food court award)

The Green Living Show is another one of those events that I tend to check out every year. While it's not one that stands out as one of my favourite events, I never leave empty handed and always enjoy myself. So I will basically continue to go every year. And with a wide variety of ways to get free admission, I've always gotten in for free and don't see a reason for anyone to pay admission. This year alone, I was aware of at least 5 different ways to score free tickets, and that's without having to look very hard. If you're paying to get in, thank you for supporting the local economy but you really didn't do your homework.

The show itself features a pretty wide variety of exhibitors - anything from food and drink companies to eco-friendly skincare to sustainable real estate and home improvement merchants. There's something for everyone. The show might not blow your mind, but there's fun to be had if you know where to look. With this show, I find that talking to exhibitors is key. Many of the displays might not look particularly exciting, but if you chat up the reps, you can be surprised by what you discover. For example, you can learn some pretty nifty things about the Bruce Trail (it really is pretty darn cool!), test drive some hybrid cars with Ford, swap some of your old books/music/movies for something new with Swapcity, get your makeup done at Arbonne (they also do free skincare parties if you put together a group of friends - girls' night, anyone?), and of course, sample your way to a very happy belly.

One of my favourite stops

If you're not quite full after making the rounds of the food merchants, this show has one of the most exciting (and delicious!) food courts I've ever seen. It's set up like a mini culinary tour adventure, where you buy a set of tasting tickets and trade these in for delicious treats (both gourmet food and craft wine/beer). The vendors are set up by local counties, which gives it a worldly feel. Great idea and not a greasy pizza slice in sight!

Finally, there are usually a variety of presentations taking place. I went on a Friday this year and there wasn't much happening, but I checked out a couple of these last year. Take a look at the schedule before you go to help you plan your visit.

Guess people are offloading his books these days (@Swapcity)

WHAT: Green Living Show

WHERE: Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place

WHEN: April 12-14

COST: $12-$16 (but there are numerous ways to get in for free!)

INSIDER TIPS: Did I mention the whole getting in for free thing?? Seriously, look into it. Other than that, bring some items to swap at the Swapcity booth (it's a great way to discover new music), use the coat check (the $2.50 is really worth it when you don't have to cart around a lumpy jacket), and check out the food court (it really is a fun one!).

The Catalysts Presents an Evening with Curtis Stone

Globe and Mail, in partnership with the Lincoln Motor Company, has launched The Catalysts search for "individuals who, through their vision, leadership and action have measurably influenced culinary culture, the arts, style and design." As part of the related event series, my friend and I got a chance to spend an evening schmoozing with Curtis Stone, our favourite Aussie chef.

I didn't even know any of this was happening, but my friend's mom got an an email about it and passed it on to my friend, who wasted no time and managed to score us free VIP tickets to the event. The VIP ticket (valid for 2 people and non-transferable), came with complimentary parking, early admission to the event (where we got to hang out with Curtis over some food and drinks), a cooking demonstration (and more food) in the main event space with the other attendees, and a gift bag that included a signed copy of his new cookbook (which is beautiful!), a gift card to the Rosewater Supper Club, and an apron from the Curtis Stone line of cookware. And yes, all of this was 100% FREE. Needless to say, we were pretty excited.

Coming off the Casa Loma wine tasting event the previous night (write-up to come!), I wasn't my liveliest self, so kept a low profile and managed to stay away from stirring up some extra excitement in the form of silly photos and audience participation (a missed opportunity, but not to worry, things always even out!). I also largely stayed away from the bar. Still, their Caesars were delicious (what? I had to at least try it) and the food was fantastic. All the recipes were from Curtis's new book and really well done. There were about 6-7 different appetizers that were circulated, and the food stations set up after the cooking demonstration offered a generous taste of three of his mains. It was definitely enough to keep our bellies full and happy for the duration of the evening.

A romantic dinner for two?

A note must also be made about the service at Liberty Grand, which was fantastic and definitely helped make the evening even more enjoyable. The crowd itself was also pretty friendly - we were cracking jokes with some of the other attendees (particularly when some of the participants went up on stage for a cocktail competition, which was in and of itself hilarious). And of course, Curtis himself was ridiculously nice (and funny!) and spent most of the evening chilling with the crowd and talking to everyone. Love him to bits :)

WHAT: The Catalysts Event Series - An Evening with Curtis Stone

WHERE: Liberty Grand, 25 British Columbia Rd (Exhibition Place)

WHEN: April 11 - 6-9 pm

COST: Free

INSIDER TIPS: I'm not sure what mailing list you need to be on to hear about future events in this series (though trust me when I say that I intend to find out!), but I would highly recommend spreading the word among your friends. If you do happen to receive an invite, grab those tickets ASAP because they will get snatched up very quickly. And if you do get a chance to go, feel free to dress up! Many of the people in the crowd were quite fancy.

Brew Benefit TO

I love social media and yesterday a whole bunch of my friends were loving it too when we got to reap the benefits of what feels like a well positioned horseshoe where the sun don't shine. Last week, I was quite surprised to learn that I won not one, not two, but three separate contests for free tickets to Dishcrawl's Brew Benefit in support of The Stop Community Food Centre. And the weather couldn't be better! Not much can beat a day spent out on (numerous) patios with good friends and local brews, especially after a long winter. First day out in a t-shirt - check!

The Brew Benefit was essentially a mini pub crawl where we got to sample 12 different beers at 6 different venues, most of which also offered specialty $5 dishes to accompany our drinks. All 6 bars were all within a block radius and some were literally right next to each other. Spending the day bumping into some of our new friends was a lot of fun and actually helped us plan our approach. At check-in, we each received 12 beer tickets, which we then redeemed at participating venues to get their featured selections:

"Lucky" doesn't begin to cover this!

• Amsterdam Bicycle Club featuring Amsterdam Brewery : Big Wheel and Boneshaker
  Featured dish $5 each : Popcorn shrimp. ABC Nachos
• Scotland Yard featuring Mill Street Brewery : Tank House Ale and Vanilla Porter Featured dish $5 each: Quebec style poutine, Scotland Yard's famous nachos
• Great Burger Kitchen, featuring Beaus All Natural Brewing Company : Lug•Tread Lagered Ale and Beaver•River I.P.Eh. Featured dish $5 : beer braised chicken poutine (cash or debit only)
• Bier Markt featuring Spearhead Brewing Company : Hawaiian Style Pale Ale and Belgian Stout Featured dish $5 : Slow smoked BierBQ brisket
• Berber Social featuring Great Lakes Brewery : Crazy Canuck Pale Ale and Orange Peel Ale Featured dishes $5 each : Fingerling potato chips, Mac n cheese, Fish taco
• Fionn MacCools featuring Duggans Brewery :No.9 IPA and No.5 Sorachi Lager

The whole day was a lot of fun but we all wished we had more time!  The drinking lasted from 2-5 pm (though we stayed at the last bar for an extra hour finishing our drinks), which was much too short to get through all those brews. The 12 drinks were sample sized but this ranged anywhere from the equivalent of a small espresso cup to half-pints (like I said, it was a lot of beer). We we lucky enough to find out which place had the biggest samples and rushed there last a few minutes before 5pm to get our orders in before the cut-off. While we took our time lounging around on patios at the first 3 venues, the last 3 stops on our tour were definitely a team sport, as some of us would go ahead and get everyone's orders in while the rest stayed behind to finish the drinks and try very hard to remember to tip. Our more or less unanimous favourites were Amsterdam's Big Wheel, Mill Street's Vanilla Porter, Duggans' No.5 Sorachi Lager, and the beer braised chicken poutine from the Great Burger Kitchen. Yum!

Other than the challenging time limit (which kind of made it into more of a game towards the end of the event), we couldn't have had a better day. The drinks were great, the food was great, the people were great, and the weather was fantastic! Plus it was really fun to check out a whole bunch of places we don't normally go to. Huge thanks go out to Dishcrawl, Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance, and Crystal Luxmore for making it possible for me to bring a whole group of friends on this outing for free! The complimentary tickets were definitely much appreciated :)

WHAT: Brew Benefit

WHERE: 6 venues in the St. Lawrence Market area

WHEN: April 7, 2013 - 2:00-5:00 pm

COST: $40 in advance (I scored an incredible 5 free tickets!)

INSIDER DETAILS: Once again I feel compelled to plug social media contests. Enter them! You never know when you might win one (or three!). And make friends at events you go to. Not only were we able to actually hit all 6 venues because we chatted up people in the know to get the inside scoop, but we also made some new friends when I shared one of my unclaimed tickets with one of the other contest winners who got to bring his friends along as well. Now we're planning picnic days on the island. Life is beautiful :)

There were only 5 of us...Like I said, it was a lot of beer!

The Old Book and Paper Show

This year's Timeraiser was hosted at Artscape Wychwood Barns and when I was there, I met some people from Artscape and learned more both about the space and the organization behind it. Quite taken with them, I hopped on my computer the first chance I got and set off exploring their website. Which is how I came across the Old Book and Paper Show. Being an avid reader and lover of all things paper and vintage, this one was a no-brainer and I quickly added it to my calendar.

The show promised: "vintage postcards, posters and lobby cards, vintage photography on paper plus daguerreotypes and tintypes, scientific journals, collectible comic books, advertising and magazines, and more." It certainly delivered on all counts. Not only could you find all kinds of collectibles, but if you were looking to spruce up your art collection, this was also a great spot to pick some beautiful vintage pieces that wouldn't cost you your firstborn child. And for those looking for a chuckle, some of the vintage postcards are downright hilarious! Even by modern standards, they are quite cheeky (but in a really smart way!). I loved browsing through boxes of those.

WHAT: The Old Book and Paper Show

WHERE: Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St.

WHEN: April 7, 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

COST: $8

INSIDER TIPS: Normally I'd say go early, but with the antique crowd, this hardly makes a difference as they were out in droves right from the start. So instead, budget a few hours and pack your patience. Some of the gems you can dig up will be worth it. And talk to the vendors! I don't know the first thing about antiques but enjoyed the atmosphere and one of the vendors told me about some great shows to check out. Nothing like expanding one's horizons :) Finally, take a look at Antique Shows Canada - they were offering a discount on admission.

As if I could leave without buying anything!

Six Degrees of Social Innovation

Once again, a fantastic time was had at CSI Annex. Each time I go, it feels like home and I never want to leave. Six Degrees of Social Innovation is one of their signature events that I hear takes place monthly. Part a networking social and part social experiment, it's an opportunity for people in the social change sector to connect with each other in a casual setting over some food and drinks. CSI gives 6 tickets each to people they know, who then keep one to themselves and pass on the rest to someone they know who has a connection to the social change sector, and so on. The evening is free to attend but you must have a ticket.

The minute I heard about this event, I desperately wanted to go. Unfortunately, I didn't know anyone with access to tickets. Once again, Twitter came through big time and I met a random guy who had a spare ticket to give away, which he graciously shared with me (we connected at the event and plan to keep in touch). Just like that, I was in. The power of social media truly is incredible.

The evening was essentially a social mixer, with a quick icebreaker game to help people chat up their neighbours (we had stickers placed on our back and needed to figure out what the word was and find our match). Once again, I found that the crowd broke up into chatty clusters very quickly but this time I was better prepared and didn't get quite as intimidated (it really isn't an intimidating crowd at all, but as an outsider, you do tend to get jitters). I met some wonderful people doing great work and had a few very interesting conversations. CSI truly is a hub of inspiration.

To round off the night, I went on a tour of the working space at SCI, which only made me want to work there. Desperately. What a beautiful space and a fantastic concept! As if that weren't enough, when I came back down, I ran into some people from my current office with whom I never have a chance to socialize. As I'm in the last days of my contract, this was a wonderfully unexpected opportunity to catch up and actually get to know each other, and we discovered that we get along incredibly well and have many things in common. We stayed well past the official end and I hope to repeat the experience again next month. In the meantime, I will spend as much time as I can at SCI and hopefully find a way to be a part of this amazing community. Highly recommended!

WHAT: Six Degrees of Social Innovation

WHERE: SCI Annex, 720 Bathurst St.

WHEN: April 4 - 6:00-8:00 pm

COST: Free

INSIDER DETAILS: Check with your network to see if anyone you know knows anyone who has a ticket to this event. If not, try getting in touch with CSI (in person, through Facebook, or Twitter) to try and score an invite. If all else fails, I hear you can show up fashionably late and walk into the party without having to present a ticket. If you really want to be part of this community, you can find a way to get in.

Lock and Key Mixer

I love random events, so when something comes up that I haven't done yet, I'm usually first in line even when I'm not entirely sure it's a good idea. Such as singles events. When I'm not in a relationship, I love being single and actually (casually) date quite a bit. But I rarely go looking for dates at organized events, as those can be very awkward and, well, lame. Still, throw in words like "charity" and "a good cause" in there, and I'm usually pretty easy to convince. Or, in this case, "discount", "swag", and "prizes"!

Popular coping strategy

The concept was simple but brilliant: girls get locks, guys get keys, and you spend the evening trying to see if your hardware fits (har, har). When you find a match, both of you get a raffle ticket to win one of the prizes. One of my friends found the evening pretty awkward but I actually thought it was pretty fun (though it has taken some training to get to the point where I get out of my own head and don't run straight to the bar for some liquid courage). The crowd was friendly, there was a good mix of people, and it was a pretty chill vibe by and large (you always get a few socially awkward individuals who take these events too seriously, but that comes with the territory).

Our raffle ticket haul

There were a few kinks in the operation. I don't think anyone expected that match-ups would be so easy to make. I think multiple keys opened multiple locks, which resulted in a constant bottleneck at the table to get raffle tickets and get a new set of keys. Until they ran out of raffle tickets, that is! At which point everyone was suddenly aware of a lull in the previously boisterous atmosphere until one of the organizers returned with another roll and the game resumed. I actually wish it hadn't and we'd have gone straight into the draw (it was a work night and getting pretty late!), but instead I had to watch that raffle jar continue getting filled up to the top and to keep adding to my pocket-full of raffle tickets. Try keeping track of 15 different numbers when they're doing the draw! Not easy, I tell ya. This also resulted in a greater chance of the same person winning multiple prizes (which my friend did, walking away with three!). I would have much preferred it if the matches were harder to make and the tickets not as easy to come by. Finally, the space itself, while beautiful, was not optimal for this event. Drinks were seriously overpriced and there wasn't a lot of standing room, so it was hard to circulate.

Swag bag contents

Overall, though, I think the evening was a success. The organizers did a good job of ensuring a good age range and sex ratio of attendees, which is no easy task, so kudos to them on that. There was a free coat check provided, a candy bar, lots of items in the swag bag, and the raffle draw - despite the fact that many people have ducked out early when the time got pushed back - was actually quick and painless. I met some new people, learned a lot about British accents and politics (thanks to one conversation), and generally had a good time. The organizers were also very accommodating (they refunded me part of the ticket price when I came across a discount code after I had already purchased mine!) and a few little tweaks would iron out any of the evening's kinks quite easily.

WHAT: Lock and Key Mixer - Spring Fling Edition

WHERE: Proof Vodka Bar, 220 Bloor St. West

WHEN: April 2, 7:30-10:00 pm

COST: $10 (with early bird discount and additional $5 off code); $20 after that

INSIDER DETAILS: If you see a space to enter a discount code when purchasing an event ticket, look around on the internet to see if you can find one. Chances are, you'll be able to knock the price down a bit and sometimes it can be significant. And if you're one of those people who gets stressed out at singles events, get out of your own head and lower your expectations if you want to have fun. Go in expecting to enjoy yourself and meeting new people and don't put pressure on yourself for it to be anything more. When you go with the flow, you'll find yourself having a lot more fun.

HotDocs20 - Part 1

I was going to do a full write up on this series once all the screenings have happened, but my notes are getting quite long, so I'm splitting it up into 2 parts.

HotDocs20 is a special screening series in celebration of the 20 years of the Hot Docs Film Festival. The series essentially sandwiches this year's festival and features audience favourites and award winners from the past 20 years. I was lucky enough to snatch up one of the special price passes to all 20 films and set out to see as many of these as I could.

First of all, the space itself is pretty neat. The original theatre is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The space was renovated recently and is now a dedicated Hot Docs theatre. But rest assured it is not just there for the festival itself - regular screenings take place throughout the year. Some of the neat features include a liquor license (yes, you can enjoy a beer or a glass of wine and still get the big screen!), unique programming, and a two-tier balcony. With so many different seating options, it took me a while to find my favourite seat but now that I've got one, I'm quite partial to it. And I'm not the only one! There is a gentleman I've noticed at many of the screenings I've attended that always sits in the same seat as well.

There are a couple of drawbacks. My main complaint is that I've now seen the same set of previews about 8 times too many. And they get old very quickly. I can tell you that I won't be seeing any of those documentaries just because seeing the previews so many times has kind of turned me off anything associated with them. The second inconvenience is that there are no cup holders on the seats. This one is more easily remedies, as my favourite seat is in the most deserted part of the theatre and it's quite easy to spread out and take over neighbouring seats.

As for the movies themselves, I have mostly been enjoying myself and only came across a couple that I didn't care for. The rest have been quite enjoyable and entertaining. I only missed one film in this first half of screenings, on account of having class that night. As for the rest, here are my 2 cents:

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media - Didn't care for this at all. It is a much talked about award-winner, but I personally found it much too long (167 mins!) and quite diluted in terms of content. Much of the content was quite general and would have been more effective if it were concentrated and precise. In my view, the film could have benefited from some cutthroat editing.

Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows - I personally don't care for wrestling but despite this fact, I found the film quite enjoyable. It was a very human story with surprisingly strong morals and values. Definitely unexpected.

Chasing Ice - Hands down my favourite. See an earlier blog post for a full review. I feel like this should have been either the opening or the closing film in the series, since I doubt anything else in this series will beat it (and so far nothing has).

Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance - Quite difficult to watch at times, as I found it incomprehensible that such blatant injustice could take place and go on for so many years. It would be very easy for the Mowhak people to hate us, yet the film was not hateful. The voice narrating the story about the many violations was quite dispassionate and objective.

Grass - This was a fun one to watch. There were quite a few chuckles in the audience at the old propaganda campaigns against marijuana. Incredible that it happened and was taken so seriously. Some of the old footage is absolutely hilarious from today's perspective.

The English Surgeon - This was a lot more graphic than I expected! I'm quite squeamish, so some of the images were downright shocking. However, the images were not the focus of the film. It was a very humane and compassionate story that offered a glimpse into the minds of neurosurgeons: how they can be so blase about sawing/drilling through someone's skill and rooting around their brain, but at the same time care so much about their patients. Being desensitized and incredibly caring at the same time just doesn't seem to go hand in hand.

Thunder Soul - Every teacher should watch this. Wonderful to see someone who practically demanded his students do better and succeed be recognized and thanked for his efforts by his own students decades later. Teachers really can make all the difference and affect many lives.

Street Fight - Another one that was a tough pill to swallow. Absolutely unbelievable that such blatant lies and voter intimidation could be clearly documented but still not make a difference. The outcome went against every sense of justice and was quite discouraging. The story itself felt a bit one-sided (understandably due to lack of access to the other camp, but would have been interesting to see their perspective). I wish the film covered a longer period of time, particularly the aftermath and the events of the next election. The message would have been very different.

Let It Come Down: The Life Of Paul Bowles - Another one I didn't much care for. There didn't seem to be a central plot to the story and it was hard to follow. If it weren't for the title, I would have no idea what the film was about.

My extra large seat with a side of leg room :)

WHAT: HotDocs20 Screening Series

WHERE: Bloot Hot Docs Cinema

WHEN: March 24 - April 24, 2013

COST: Varies (individual tickets are available; passes for all 20 films are $55 regular, $32 for members, and $20 for the first 20 to purchase them)

INSIDER TIPS: I personally like sitting up on the balcony, since the screen is then right at eye level and you don't have to tilt your head back to watch the movie comfortably. Some of the aisle seats in the theatre are extra-large, so if you're looking for extra comfort, keep an eye out for these. Further, because of the non-standards seating layout, there is more than one front row, which offers extra leg room. Finally, documentaries can be hit and miss, so sitting towards the back either on the main floor or on the balcony not only lets you play on your phone without disturbing others, but also gives you an easy way out should you choose to sneak out undetected.