[Moi, Iolanda, Beetle Brit, Ash]

Twas a wonderful Easter Sunday, quite different from the many years I’ve spent celebrating it going to church with my family as a yout. My sister/soulmate/roomate/best friend/wingwoman/partner in crime fo lyfe, aka Beetle Brit, invited me to spend Easter Sunday with her beautiful italiano side of her familia. Brit, myself, and her older sister Ash, drove out to Woodbridge and was instantly greeted by Brit’s Nonna and Nonno, aka the cutest grandparents of life. Zia Theresa, Iolanda, Frank, and of course, Hershey/Cookie (the dog has two names and understands Italian, ehhh!) were also there to have probably the most juiciest tenderloin I’ve ever had. We had tomatas, patatas, green olive and green tomatoes, homemade bread, cheeses, homemade wine, lemon cheesecake for dessert… Lord, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nonna and Nonno raised the cows themselves. Everything was exquisitely simple and delicious. Italians know whattup, forreal though! We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing on the couch, watching the wedding preparations of Prince William and Kate, then took a lovely walk round the suburban hood with little pup. It was such a wonderful day, and super awesome to get to know Brit’s italiano side of her family. I received ample kisses, warm embraces, and a lotta tinfoiled leftovers upon returning back to downtown Toronto. I also received the official invite to upcoming BBQ’s, BOO YA! Love, Love, Love to the Sirianni familia.

Hope ya’ll had a relaxing and wonderful Easter weekend. Enjoy the flix.

I’ve spoken my piece.
Peace.

— If one is wondering of my whereabouts as of late, then all I can tell you is this: Patio. Sunglasses. Shorts. Tank. Notebook. I’m studying ya’ll. Happy Easter.

Count your blessings. Before you know it, a year has passed and with all that’s happened, you are now Here. Here, as in, the place you arrive to after accomplishing much, enduring much, persevering much, and yes, Growing much. It’s a beautiful place to finally come to, as you are equally aware that it won’t be the place you’ll rest for too long. Embrace it’s moment in your life, because This Time will fleet, and it will only become fond or somber memories. Count your downfalls. If they don’t equate the number of your rise-ups, do something about it. The imbalance will throw you off and only slow down your arrival to the next stop. This Time will fleet. Hold your blinks a little longer, a little tighter, and prepare yourself for when you open your eyes once again.

[It’s finally here. Superior Taste by TFHOUSE]

My best friend Teddy has been working diligently with the TFHOUSE team aka DSTRY and Beetle Brit for the past couple of months. Meetings upon meetings at the Granby Mansion, these guys sure know how to break me from my study state when they have surprise meetings at the crib. I can’t say it any other way: I am so effing proud of Teddy. The production value on this mixtape is unreal. He has grown exponentially since his last mixtape (On My Way), not even a whole year ago. The songs on this album really suit the vibe I dig. When I have a whole album on repeat, that says something. By far, my favorite song is ‘So Dope’ and have had that song pulled up over and over and over again all day… provokes too many bad ass music video ideas in my head. *Achem Teddy*. Lol.

The past month working on this mini-doc has been such an incredible learning experience. The piece isn’t perfect and there’s so much I wish I could’ve done to make it something more, but the fact that I know the work isn’t finished, excites me. I think what I value most through this was being able to establish some real connections, and being given the privilege to be let into a world that is not my own. This is only the beginning. This isn’t just about a Graffiti war that’s being waged with Ford. This goes beyond that: this is about the system that we live in and recognizing we have a voice to speak up about it’s injustices.
Whether you choose to be idle or do something through some sort of medium that you excel at, whether that IS graffiti art, writing, music, dancing, film, photography… I provoke you to be more intentional with your talents. Join the movement and cause a ruckus with me. Silence is over-rated. This is our city.

Mad Love to everyone who helped put this together. My team, Dylan Mc Fadyen and Eric Kupp; the artists, Teaser, Under the Radar, Zion; the soundtrack, gripski, askyaluv, fate, switch b, sunclef, hector, and special shouts to Giles Monette, Water, Jedi, Skam, and The Bombshelter.

Now share this sh*t!!! Join the movement.

It’s that time again. If ya dun kno, Main Ingredient is a party that I’ve been working for, for a year and a half and every month the music is guaranteed to be live. But the party is only as good as who’s there. So come through and bring your good vibes… let’s rock out and hopefully the sun will get the hint and bring us back the Spring we never had! Sean Sax. Mensa. Agile. Wan Luv. Ohtake. Sheryl. Notaurious. Yobi. Dope-A-Lot. Yours Truly. With the Side Dish: James Redi. Hector. Let’s go hard!!

Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=208222549204402

Congrats to everyone who helped put this event together, and to Rian and Jazmine for spearheading it. You ladies are amazing. Great cause, great performances, dope talent, good times. Below are the flicks, if you take em, please give credit where credit’s due. Lovehard, ya’ll.

Man, my Fridays and Saturdays sure don’t feel like weekends anymore. Goin into the editing labs till like 1am on a Friday night, being exposed to all the (actually) super cool cats who like to spend their weekend evenings on their grind, has changed my perspective on a lot of things. I love being out and about in the city, and everyone knows I love music and I love dancing, but… as exhausting as doing all this school work is, I kind of don’t mind it. (Except for the fact that my back KILLS.) Sometimes I get waves of anxiety, trying to organize all the things I need to do and feeling like I’ll never get it all accomplished, but in truth, embracing it and feeling like I know I’m accomplishing things I can be proud of, well, that makes it all that much more worth it.

Lately I’ve been on my greazy working on this mini-doc for my Design In Media class. It’s about the Toronto Street Art/Graffiti scene and I have to say, the entire process has been so rewarding. Being my toughest critic, looking back on it, I wish I had taken this shot, or that shot, or got more B-Roll of this… but the content of what was being said, and the inside look I got into the personal world of some of these pretty extraordinary artists, is more valuable than what any other interviewer could obtain. I’ve learned a lot through this process about who I am/who I can be as a media artist, and my responsibility as someone as the future of media. The best stories I heard or the things I saw while interviewing these artists, I didn’t even get on camera. And even though I partially wish I did so I could let everyone in on what I experienced, there are just some things that can only be captured with the mind and the heart. I feel honored to be let into a world that’s not my own, and to appreciate it for what it is.

That’s my little update for now. Back to the editing lair I go…