Legacy Arcade: A Tribute to Daft Punk

Hey guys and gals,

On Saturday, March 2nd, 2013, Legacy Arcade returns to Saskatoon to play a non stop Daft Punk set to the masses at Louis' Pub.

Like most of us people who have never had the privilege of experiencing Daft Punk live, Legacy Arcade brings the experience to us but on a much smaller scale. But it's the thought that counts right?

It's a 19+ show, so come on out and party. What's the worst that could happen?

Update: Tickets are $15 and you can buy at the door.



Facebook Event

adidas Skateboarding | Silas in Tokyo

Cool skating, cool scenery, cool obstacles and a potentially broken jaw (2:25).



Yours Truly

Drew Tofin Band

Come check out the Drew Tofin Band at Louis on Friday, March 1, 2013. My friend will be performing a jazzy set at 9 pm (doors open at 8 pm), it will be a 19+ event. I have seen him sing in the past, he offers a great voice and a charming personality. This guy really was made for a stage. I hope to see you there!

You can RSVP here.

Yours Truly

Kendrick Lamar Ft. Drake | Poetic Justice

NSFW

Just a Taste: Prairie Harvest Cafe

Location
Prairie Harvest is a hidden gem that can be found on Early Drive by Brevoort Elementary School.

Environment
The restaurant is small and holds 33 people. It has a real "earthy" feel, the wood and earth tones play a huge role on that. The art work around the restaurant is funny too, it doesn't necessarily fit but it is quite amusing. For instance, there was a picture drawn by a child above our table that was nicely framed. Our server was polite and attentive, she worked alone when we went for lunch.

Menu
The menu is small but specific. All dishes are made with local foods, we even saw a family drop off fresh vegetables at the restaurant. They had a vegan lasagna, vegetarian chili, a veggie burger, daily fish sandwiches, a pulled pork sandwich, local liquors and maple bacon donut for instance. There is truly something for everyone.

Food
We ordered a veggie burger with beet borscht and the turducken burger with beet and potato chips. I had the chance to take a bite of the veggie burger which was delicious, it had a bean taste and was savoury. I went with the turducken burger, which is a turkey, duck and chicken burger. It had a cranberry aioli which gave it a sweet taste while the bacon gave it a salty taste, giving my tastebuds a nice balance. The beet and potato chips were a nice side with hummus, also offering a sweet and salty taste.

Conclusion
This place is delicious. I had a great experience and definitely plan on coming again. I would probably order the turducken burger again, but somehow try to leave some space in my stomach for the maple bacon donuts.

Yours Truly 

adidas Football | Lionel Messi Collection

Four time FIFA player of the world Lionel Messi unveils a collection that will be available to the public. It sucks that these were released right after Barcelona's loss to AC Milan but the collection is nice regardless. I am a big fan on the boots which have the new Messi branding. Recently, I have had an urge to try the adidas F50 adiZero due to friends speaking very highly of the footwear. The collection is available March 1, 2013.

Yours Truly

Oak + Oar "The Life After Midnight" Contest

Oak + Oar and ourselves have teamed up to host a contest. This will be specifically for Instagram and Twitter users. It's simple, post a picture of what "The Life After Midnght" means to you and hashtag #TheLifeAfterMidnight in the post. We will select a lucky winner on February 29th to take home $100 store credit for oakandoar.com.

Indoor Skatepark Fundraiser | Burgers & Fries Night (TODAY)

Plans tonight? why not support a good cause! Join myself at The Hollows. Lets keep this positive change for the Saskatoon community!

Support Saskatoon Skateboarding! Join us on February 16th at The Hollows for a Saskatoon Indoor Skatepark Fundraiser. Burger & Fries from 6:30 to 10:00, accompanied by performances by Shakey And The Elevators, Ride Til Dawn, and a DJ set by Ian Sargent after 10:30. This is an all ages event but The Hollows is a licensed restaurant, so beer will be available for those with an ID stating that they are 19 years or older. We are really looking forward to this event, and we hope to see a great turnout for this great cause!

ALL PROCEEDS (AFTER COVERING FOOD COST) GO TOWARDS THE INDOOR SKATEPARK.

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT MOMENTUM MARKETPLACE (2-960 Attridge Drive).

FOR MORE INFO, RSVP.

the Method to my Madness,

Just a Taste: TusQ

For this Valentine's Day, we decided to try something new and I was recommended TusQ by a good friend of mine in the past. I used to eat in this building when it was Mykonos and it always had a nice intimate setup.

Location
TusQ is located on 21st Street right across from the Bus Stop.

Environment
The restaurant was really nice, you enter through a downstairs door and are able to eat upstairs or downstairs. The lounge is known as StaQatto and offers dueling pianos performances. We managed to eat upstairs where an intimate experience is created for you and your company with the help of dim lights, a nice centrepiece and a candle. Our server and Sean (the manager) were very helpful and polite as well.

Menu
Sometimes I go out and eat and want to have a lot of choices or sometimes I want there to be a few perfected items. In this case, they had a two page menu of mouth watering dishes. There are appetizers, soups, salads, pasta, and all sorts of meat dishes including seafood. TusQ also offered a three course Valentine's Day meal for the evening.

Food
To start we began with the asiago tomato brus'ketta with baked baguette slices. It was very fresh, the tomatoes and onions had a nice blend of herbs and lime over them to give a fresh taste. This was followed by a glass of Purple Cowboy Tenacious Red which was recommended by our server and we were very pleased (I will be buying a bottle of this next time I swing by the LBS).

Next was our main course and I ordered a medium rare 9 oz. New York strip loin in a root beer reduction with a dill whipped potato, ginger and red wine vegetable medley and a lobster tail. I was happy with all parts of the meal, the beef was cooked properly, the root beer sauce was savoury (I was skeptical at the start) and I loved the mushrooms but I plan on replacing the whipped potato for a pesto jasmine rice in the future.

We finished off with a chocolate spongecake with raspberry jelly and peanut butter ganache on the side. This was delicious, I usually am not a dessert guy but could have polished off this large piece of cake by myself.

Conclusion
I am very happy with my first experience at TusQ. I recommend it as a place to go on a special occasion or even a place to grab some drinks. The service was good and the food was as well. They made the Valentine's experience a good one for us and it seemed like everyone else was enjoying their time as well!

Yours Truly 

Justin Timberlake Ft. Jay-Z | Suit & Tie

Just a Taste: Thien Vietnam

Location
Thien is located on 3rd avenue beside Red Pepper.

Environment
For looking like a tiny joint it is long and has a large amount of seating. The servers were very friendly but we had difficulties altering our orders due to the language barrier.

Menu
I honestly didn't look over everything on the menu but there was an abundance of options from Chinese and Vietnamese food to Western dishes.

Food
The food came quick and the portions were large. I ordered a jumbo sized vermicelli bowl with meatballs, spring rolls and shrimp. The flavour was good from all of the ingredients but the beef was bit overcooked. My brother and sister also really like their meals as well (as seen above).

Conclusion
I am really happy with the food here. If you work downtown or are willing to give a new Vietnamese restaurant a chance, I recommend Thien. I love when I find places where you can leave full and satisfied for under $10. If you don't believe me, Urbanspoon and my friends also agree with me!

Yours Truly 

Michael Jordan | Gotta Be the Shoes

Air Jordan 1 | Varsity Royal

This is a big release for the month. If people act on their words, a lot of people plan on spending their disposable income on a pair or two of the Royal 1's. This year, Air Jordan has managed to revive the Jordan 1's with the high model. I have seen these in person and they look just as good as they do in this photo. You can find these at Foot Locker or Momentum on February 16, 2013.

Yours Truly

Drake | Started from the Bottom

NSFW
Drake ~ Started From The Bottom from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.

Oak + Oar | Interview

What’s your name and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Chris Watchorn. I’m a University of Manitoba Graphic Design grad who was fortunate enough to get an internship opportunity with New York based company 3sixteen following completion of my Honors Degree. The internship confirmed my passion for design and allowed me the opportunity to get some hands on training in all aspects of running a successful business. From there I decided to move back to Winnipeg and start Oak + Oar alongside my full time job as a designer/product developer at FXR Racing (action sports outerwear).

What is Oak + Oar?

Oak + Oar is a creative outlet for me built around graphic tees and fleece. The name in particular stems from a failed outing on the lake with an unpredictable 9.9 Evinrude. I won’t bore you with the whole story but it’s on the blog if people want to check it out.

Oak + Oar also serves as a platform to put forth some of the stories, music and products that I am inspired or interested in. One of the highlights for me this past year was our Homegrown video series that I put together with friends of mine at Nice!Productions. I encourage people to check it out on the website.

Where and what does the inspiration come from?

Pretty much everything in the collection has come to fruition during weekends spent at our family cottage in the Whiteshell out on the deck or the water. With that said I draw inspiration from just about everything. From the creative people I surround myself with to the photos you guys post on Instagram.  I like to think inspiration can come from even the routine and mundane.

Before doing Oak + Oar, did you gain experience or knowledge from other activities and projects?

I have never been one to be content with just sitting still and always like to have some sort of project on the go. For me it started with a charity event called Face Off for a Cure. Essentially an event I planned where a crew of us raised money for the Canadian Cancer Society while temporarily securing a spot in the Guinness World Record book for longest street hockey game.  This led to an art show I put on in association with Vans called the 1 of 1 Project, which raised money for the Children’s Hospital of Manitoba and featured the likes of Mark Dean Veca, Blaine Fontana and Phil Annand.

But of all the experiences I would say the most influential stemmed from having the opportunity to interview a couple of the industries most respected which included Ben Shenassafar and Bobby Kim (The Hundreds), Benny Gold and Greg Rivera (Mishka) for a University assignment. It was during my interview with Greg at Magic that I met Johan and Andrew, owners of 3sixteen and Self Edge New York, who let me tag around with them for the weekend before offering me the opportunity to work with them for a 6-month internship in their New York office.

One of our contributors (Brennan), used to follow your old blog “The Life After Midnight” which is now the name of Fall/Winter 2012 line-up. What does that mean to you and how does it relate to the clothing that you put out?

Thanks Brennan. I started that blog the night I interviewed Bobby Kim. I got back to my hotel and started transcribing the interview for my class on the Monday. As I began, I started to research the people and brands he mentioned in his interview and realized my knowledge of art and clothing was only the surface. Through the blog I began documenting the products and people as a visual record of the stuff I was inspired by.

I always wanted to build a collection around this theme though. For me personally the hours after Midnight are always the most productive for me. It’s the time when I can focus on my creativity a bit more freely. The best stuff and ideas for me always come after midnight. The theme seemed to be a no brainer transitioned into lake life. The hours after midnight always seem to be the hours when people let their true colours and personalities show, which in turn seem to generate the best stories and memories.  

What are your favourite pieces from this current collection?  

I don’t know if I have a one specific favourite. I am a big hoodie guy (sorry bunny hug), so I would say the Life After Midnight hood. It was penned by our homie Sergey Shapiro who is one of the most talent typographers/calligraphers I have ever seen. I definitely take pride in the quality and fit of our hoodies. That and I was really stoked on the pocket tees and the tonal Oak + Oar stuff.

What can we expect to see in the upcoming collection?

I kind of take it in stride. The nice thing about just selling primarily through the online store is I can really leave it to last second and create pieces I am really into at that specific time instead of designing product a year in advance and trying to forecast what I might be into in a years time. This summer though I think I will take cues from everyone’s favourite cabin pastime…and no it’s not drinking.

I have heard that you donate some of the profits to organizations, who have you guys been involved with in the past?

 I understand that people can spend their hard earned money on a million different things and support hundreds of other brands. So when people decide to support Oak + Oar it only seems right to further extend this support to something greater then a t-shirt. This year I partnered with and cut a cheque for the Masicgine Children’s Home in South Africa. I had the opportunity to spend a couple weeks there and it seemed like a very fitting first partnership. They do incredible work. I am still looking into options for this year but I am leaning towards taking the proceeds and invest them directly back into the local community. Not sure how this will look quite yet but have some ideas.

It must make you proud seeing people support the things you put out and I don’t know if our readers have seen but “The Life After Midnight” Fall/Winter 2012 was posted on Complex. How did you manage to get on their website?

That’s just one of those lucky things I guess. I sent out a couple press releases and had a few sites post it. I am always reading Complex Fashion blog and Matt Welty always has his finger on cool products so I sent him a message on Twitter and he must have checked it out and thought there was some merit to it.

Like Oak + Oar, there are many companies entering the market. Do you have any advice of how to survive in the dog eat dog world of the fashion industry?

As redundant as it sounds you have to design for yourself. If you aren’t compiling a collection of stuff you yourself would want to wear you won’t have any fun doing it. You really can’t concern yourself with what others are doing. That and take care of the small things. Fit, quality and details go a long way. Any way you can differentiate yourself while staying true to your vision goes a long way. I guess an example of this is I wanted to put something small in with every order. In the end I went with a guitar pick. For our group it seems that the guitar always makes its way out around the bonfire so best to be prepared.

Where can people purchase your clothing?

The full collection is available at www.oakandoar.com/shop and also stocked in Winnipeg at The Urban Bakery.

Who is your celebrity wifey?

 My real, born in Saskatoon - former Evan Hardy Soul wife might not approve but I am a fan of Kate Beckinsale’s “acting” abilities.

Top three favourite sneakers? 

I am a Vans Era/Authentic guy. I have this thing where I hate wearing socks so I don’t feel bad when I have to toss a pair of these away. Something about a fresh pair of white Eras.

With that said my top three sneakers would be 1) Ronnie Fieg Asic Gel Lyte III Salmon Toe 2) Parra x Patta x Nike Air Max 1 3) Concepts x Nike SB Dunk Low 'Red Lobster'

Favourite beverage?

Arizona Green Tea

Favourite movie?

Happy Gilmore. That is a cabin must have.

Favourite midnight snack?

Brownies.

Favourite clothing brands?

3sixteen, Wings + Horns, Reigning Champ, Benny Gold.

Chris, I know in the past that you make the odd trip to Saskatoon. I am curious about the things that you do and the places that you stop at while visiting.

Saskatoon is one of my favourite cities. Seems each time I am back the city has expanded ten fold. We have a lot of friends and family in Saskatoon so most of our time is spent visiting and though me make frequent trips they always seem to be short ones. My wife's family is over in Erindale so I usually make point of stopping in at Momentum off Attridge which usually leads me over to the 8th street spot. Asif and the team at Momentum really have one of the best curated shops I have been into so I love to swing by there and harass him, check out what's new. If it's winter I usually try to take in a Blades game as well. Next time I'm hitting you guys up for a taste of the town.

Any last words?

Thanks for the opportunity. I am a big fan of the blog so it's cool to finally connect. Thanks to everyone in Saskatoon for supporting the brand. Listen to Saint Kris haha.

Thanks to Chris for spending time for us and stay tuned for a contest that we will introduce this weekend!

You can follow Chris on Twitter and Instagram at @OakandOar.

Yours Truly

SIGN THE PETITION | Help Skateboarding in Canada

I recently read this article about how Nova Scotia laws are putting skateboarders on the back burner. With this law in place, Skateboarders aren't allowed to skateboard on sidewalks anywhere (not even on their own street) and you aren't allowed to skateboard without a helmet anywhere in the city. With a total of three fines, Skateboarders are being turned away from car insurance (to remind you - for skateboarding on a sidewalk or without a helmet).

We are very fortunate with what we have for skateboarding in Saskatoon, let's prevent this law from going in a trickle effect from east to west. Let's help Canadian Skateboarding.

Please take time to read the article on CBC, and sign the petition to help our friends out east. 

SKATEBOARDING IS NOT A CRIME.

SIGN THE PETITION - HERE.

*To clear any mislead ideas, I fully support wearing a helmet. Everyone should wear a helmet, you only have one brain. The idea of singling out Skateboarding, and Skateboarders as a whole bothers me. SKATE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

the Method to my Madness,

Essentials | Chris Watchorn (Oak + Oar)

Let me give you a short summary of who Chris is. Chris is the owner and designer of Oak + Oar, a clothing company based out of Winnipeg. We began talking through the use of social media over the Christmas break and I thought that you as a reader would enjoy what he and his brand have to offer. We have a story to tell and this is only the first chapter. There will be more to read and see as the week goes on.

3sixteen+ 21BSP Denim - Chances are if you run into me I will be wearing one of two pairs of these. This particular pair was purchased at Self Edge in San Franciso a year and a half ago. In my humble opinion, the 3sixteen+ denim collection features some of the best fitting and quality Japanese denim money can buy. These ones are 18oz and fit like they were custom tailored for me. All in the details.

15" MacBook Pro - This this is a life line. I probably put in too much time on this thing but it is usually productive time.

iPhone 4G / HEX case- Much like the MacBook this thing is on my person at all time. Most frequented apps include Instagram (@oakandoar), TSN Mobile, CBC Music, WPG Jets, Winnipeg Free Press and as of late the recent addition of SquareUp. If you have a small scale business this is a great app for mobile credit card processing. I forgot to include the card reader plugin that simply plugs in the headphone jack. Check it out. The Hex case was a gift from my wife. Wanted to consoildate my wallet and phone into one and this was a great solution.

Muji Card Holder - this was an acquisition made in New York at Muji. Trying to make habit of keeping cards on me at all time. MOO prints some really great and rather inexpensive cards.

DSPTCH Key Chain - DSPTCH is a SF based company run be an acquaintance. I actually have three of these now. I have one for each set of car keys and a third for the cabin keys. This particular one is their Black/3M option and was purchased from Reed Space. These things are great. Not only are my TL keys always secured, but if I ever require it, I have 7ft of Commercial Type III 550 Parachute Cord which is sure to come in handy sometime at the lake.

Blistex DCT - When you live in harsh and varying climates like we do, you can never go wrong keeping one of these in tow.

RayBan Original Wayfarer - Insert Hipster comment.

Oak + Oar Guitar Picks - When I started packing orders in May I wanted to put something small in with each order. Stickers were my initial thoughts but I wanted something that could be a bit more relevant to the cottage aspect of the brand. Guitar picks seemed fitting because guitars are almost a given at the lake. I like to leave a few of these around town. Left a few of these at the YXE. 

Tanner Goods Belt - I think they call this colour Havana. Funny story with this though. I borrowed it while an intern to wear to the MTV Music Awards (I was just a seat filler but I wanted to look the part). From there I never took it off. Literally. In fact I think this is the only thing I have ever stolen in my life.

Those are the essentials. That and an Oak + Oar hoodie but didn't know which one to put in as I seem to rotate through about five of them, all Medium and either Black or Heather. The benefits of having a company means you can print one of samples for yourself.

You can follow Chris on Twitter and Instagram at @OakandOar.

Yours Truly

Rolling Stone | Rihanna by Terry Richardson

Here are some shots of Rihanna by Terry Richardson. These will be used for Rolling Stone magazine. The photos have been entitled "Crazy in Love" and the Rolling Stone magazine with Rihanna's cover photo will release February 14, 2013. The top one is definitely my favourite, not for the mad cleavage but for the cute smile.

Yours Truly