Defending Hipsters: Let Their Style Roam
By ana maria kresina
photo credit: Sam Norris
You can’t seem to miss them, they’re everywhere, invading every local pub like a plague – they wear tight skinny jeans and v-neck shirts poking out of their American Apparel hoodies. They sport asymmetrical haircuts and oversized thick plastic-framed glasses. They smoke their cigarettes and drink their Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. With their edgy fashion sense and slack lifestyle, hipsters are here to take over the world.
This month I decided to feature the LUSH deodorant. I ran across this interesting product one day as I was getting my product ‘fix’ while I was perusing the shopping malls. The LUSH deodorant is intriguing because it boasts 100% natural ingredients. As an individual with mega sensitive skin, I wanted to try this product because typical commercial brand deodorants usually irritate. I was curious as to how this product would stand up to regular day to day use but most importantly how I would feel after a super sweaty workout. With LUSH’s awesome return policy, I had no hesitations to give it a try. (I was told that if I was allergic to the product or didn’t like it I could return it within 30 days, used or unused and get my money back.) Furthermore, if you are sitting on the fence about a product they could easily just whip you up a sample and you could try it at home and determine if you like it or not. No other drugstore could make a product be so amenable and customer friendly if you ask me!
God knows I try to embrace this seemingly endless season, but my body and spirit refuse to cooperate. I cringe at the sight of those cheerful keeners bundling up and embracing the many so-called winter wonders. I, on the other hand, choose to impatiently wait it out indoors. When I must enter the outside world it is done by dashing from taxi to taxi, underground path to underground path until sight of the first crocus or until a groundhog gives me the all clear. Whether you are a lover or hater of old man winter, the end results are the same – it wrecks havoc on our skin. No wonder really, after months and months of dry indoor heating, freezing outdoor temperatures, blasting Arctic winds, we are left dried out, cracked and wind burned.
Krisiun is a band that has managed to survive and stay together for more than a decade. As the majority of bands that have made it this long, they have a clearly defined sound. However, that does not mean that there are no surprises in store as they continuously strive for perfection, like their most recent production called Southern Storm.
Known for their eclectic mix of garage-like guitar riffs over bubblegum pop synths, the snazzy LA-duo electroclash duo of Nicole Morier and Legs Le Brock are back. Released earlier this April, their short but sweet six track EP this time comes with a little help by veteran DJ Junkie XL, whom the duo have previously worked with before on the Dutchman’s latest studio release Booming Back at You. At the risk of sounding lazy and losing my musical integrity the album is best described as Electro/Cute (no seriously), which is the sound that has been accomplished in this record. Compared to their previous release Troublesome Bubblegum, the record is a bit more inspired sonically as they come off as more electronically inclined and with less vulgar and sexually suggestive lyrics.
Airplanes trip me right out. From the artificial smiles of the stewardesses, to the close proximity of coach seating, to the over-processed, pre-packaged, microwaveable gruel on the menu, it all creeps me right out. How is it that in such a technologically advanced society, a giant block of frozen urine can drop from a Boeing and land on some poor schmuck’s house through the roof and into the living room from over 20,000 feet in the air?
Often in life random things will happen and they will leave you wondering, how did this even come to be? In this case, I had no clue what I had in store. It was definitely in the spur of the moment. I frequently cease to think and frequently act on impulses. It’s how I am now, and how I have always been.
Nothing screams “Canadian, eh…” like a piping hot poutine, full of artery clogging goodness: cheese curds and gravy smothered on a mountain of fries. Unlike many of our Canadian faves, which are brought from the “old country” by our immigrants, this is truly a Canuck invention originating in Quebec in the late 1950’s, with several Quebecois communities laying claims to its invention. This is our “soul food” – delicious, comforting and decadent; and loaded with flavorful fat!
Publisher-Creator Mikhail Saavedra began life down by the deepest tip of southern Latin America. He started life with a deep curiosity for all things, with music and books being at the forefront, a curious child by all accounts. As he grew and opened his eyes to the world, he developed a sense of justice and dignity in part as a reaction to growing up in a military dictatorship. Alas, this did not fill him with fear or cynicism but a more rebellious spirit, which led him to being incredibly popular at the principal’s office and the local riot police department….
Then came Canada and it was here that he was able to formulate his deep desire to learn about the world, with Toronto being the kind of multicultural soup that could engage his need to know and embrace. It started with writing, then moved on to what became Toronto’s first Latin Alternative radio show, followed by an all-English show in the same vein. It was this desire to find the true “crossover” among people, which led him to the concept of “Alternavox”
He is a lover of wine, good food, Neruda, Eduardo Galeano, rebel music, revolutionaries, dancing, family and beautiful people. Believes that kindness in this much too cynical world is revolutionary, that you are a better person when able to give a little without asking for the change and that on the same token you should laugh at yourself and the madness surrounding you as often as possible as you set out to change the world bit by bit. 