Tag Archives: toronto

Toronto. Prepare To Be Reviewed

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Matt Jones

So I’m back from my trip to Canada. A grand time was had and I got a chance to catch up with all of me Uberfriendship chums face to face. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to repeat it.

Now, down to business. If you plan on taking a trip to the city of……… wait, what’s Toronto known for? Poutine? Anyway, there’s a few things you should keep in mind when you visit Toronto.

So first thing you need to know is that Toronto is a very geek-centric city. There’s tons of little novelty shops and delightful diversions to appeal to the deepest of your geeky depths. It’s one of the few places I’ve been where I could let my full unabashed, overly detail obsessed geekness shine proudly and everyone else around me was doing the same. It’s a great atmosphere and If you want to learn the specifics, visit http://www.youtube.com/user/GeekTripMaps?feature=watch, made by our every own Shaggyshan. So if you’re so geekfully inclined, this place is like some kind of wonderful Mecca, although I imagine it might be a bit overwhelming for a non-geek. In fact if you’re something like an accountant that loves being an accountant or whatever, this place may actually kill you from over exposure to geek.

One thing that you’ve probably heard about Canada is that it’s pretty cold. As far as I can tell, this is a boldface lie. The whole week I was there everyone kept telling me that “this warm weather is really unusual. It’ll probably be cold tomorrow.” But it was never cold. It just got warmer.

It’s my belief that Toronto has a climate somewhat similar to Spain and Canadians just spread this rumour of coldness to keep sun-bathing tourists away.

But one of the nicest things about Toronto though is that I wasn’t assaulted once! There were a couple of times when people were walking towards me and I thought they were going to try and mug me but then they just said “have a nice day!” or complemented my shoes (which is fair. I have pretty rad shoes.) There aren’t many cities out there that you can walk around in the dead of night and still feel relatively safe but Toronto’s one of them. Admittedly I stayed in the nicer areas but even so….

Far less of this

Far more of this

So that was my great Canadian adventure. If you ever get the chance, I’d highly recommend visiting Toronto. It’s a beautifully friendly city and just as much fun as the Scott Pilgrim Comics suggests.

See you next week folks!

Posted in Matt Mondays | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Geek Trip Maps: Toronto

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Shaggy Shan

Spent this week finishing up editing on Geek Trip Maps, if you’re coming to Toronto, Canada and wanna find your fix for comics and games, it’s a pretty damn good start if I do say so myself.

Posted in Shaggy Updates | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Diary of a First Time Knitter

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Shaggy Shan

For my 2012 New Years resolutions (of which there are many) my most ambitious would have to be: learn a new ability every month.

Kinda like Mega Man really.

Currently, as we’re only one month in, this will largely be through taking a one or two day course in some hobby or trade that I’ve been aware of, but never seriously tried for myself. On my list are: mixology (bar tending / drink mixing), stage sword fighting, video game programing in Unity, and… knitting.

THIS badass scarf. (thanks mom)

Knitting has always been a part of my life, as it’s something my mom just does. While watching movies or TV, she knits. Everyone sitting by the fire in the living room, she knits.

And though I’d seen the hands moving, the yarn knotting, and needles shifting all around accompanied by quiet clicks and clacks, I never understood how it all worked. I couldn’t tell you how you start making anything, my assumption being you just tie a knot then… build a sweater around that? Or maybe you make an outline of the sweater in yarn and fill the gaps? All I knew for certain were the results, and they’re pretty damn warm n’ comfy.

So, I signed up for a 2 day beginners knitting course at Lettuce Knit, in Toronto’s Kensington Market.

Lettuce Knit 86 Nassau Street, Toronto, Ontario

It’s a nice li’l shop, with walls covers in colourful yarns, and books of patterns and ideas to keep you going forever. I actually had to go there in advance of the lesson to pick out my yarn and needles. I felt like Harry Potter in Ollivander’s shop, finding the wand that was right for me. Instead of magic, however, I was to conjure a scarf!

There was such a large verity of yarns to choose from, ranging in all prices, but I eventually landed on 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. One in red, the other in black. My scarf was to be Sin City themed.

"Goldie's dead. I've been framed for murder, and the cops are in on it." (*knock-knock*) "Open up! Police!" "... I'll be knitting a scarf."

The lesson was pretty chill. The shop was filled with people (mostly ladies, there was one other dude though) who may have crocheted before, but knitting was a new practice, so we were taught the VERY basics and were nurtured along the first 4 or so rows of our soon to be scarfs.

So, now with introductory knitting skills, and a yearning for some yarning, how had things gone since?

Week 1

… I have NO CLUE how knitting can be a relaxing hobby. I’ve probably cursed more while knitting than playing Halo. SO MUCH can go wrong! For instance, every time you get to the end of a row, you have to start a new one above the original, so you-FUCK! The loop fell off the needle!

Ok. Ok. We can recover, just pull it together-SHIT! I fucked up AGAIN!? ARE you FUCKEN SHITTING ME?!

ALRIGHT, it’s cool, we got this, we got-aaaaAAAaaaah-ASS!

I had 30 knots before!

…

WHY the FUCK do I now have 42?! This is bullshit! What the hell am I even making!? Is this a scarf or some sort of forced perspective rug!!!

Week 2

So I bring my masterwork to the 2nd lesson, get some questions answered, learned how to do the final cast off for when I’ll be done, learn how to make fringe danglies for the ends, AND how to bring in another colour yarn for stripes.

Check it, a stripe!

I’ve also notices that I’m a lot more relaxed with the knitting process now that I’ve gotten more accustomed to the flow of things, and don’t have to concentrate (or curse) nearly as hard anymore. Granted, my posture may need a little work, my left arm gets sore just holding up the main needle. It’s to the point that I’ve stated “I DON’T HAVE THE UPPER BODY STRENGTH TO KNIT!”

CONCLUSION

I’m not gonna lie. Beyond finishing my Sin City scarf, I’ll probably not continue to knit, because knitting isn’t just something you do to keep your hands busy while watching seasons of Friends on DVD. If I learned anything from seeing the laborious results of others and trying it myself, knitting is truly a work of passion. And though I personally don’t have that sort of dedication in myself for the craft, I’m glad there are those that do.

… need I remind you? This scarf is badass!

Posted in Shaggy Writes | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Our comic chums on comic show.

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Shaggy Shan

Hey all, comic convention table buddy Adriana Blake (of web comic Fall on Me) and bearded comic friend Brian Evinou (Brian Evinou Comics) are on episode six of Toronto’s Quinntessential Comix, hosted by Alice Quinn. Check out the YouTube video below:

Posted in Shaggy Updates | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment