June 28, 2010

G20: Follow-up Vids

As the G20 Summit comes to a close, the edit suites are busier than ever. Over the next coming days I'll be updating this with short films/videos from friends and other grass roots journalists. These are the types of things worth sharing.

Photo Credit: Matthew C.X. Langford

Check out Blog TO for more still images
Comments and share's highly encouraged.

SHORT FILMS:






COMMENTARY/CIVILIAN JOURNALISM:








June 27, 2010

G20: Behind the Scenes of Grassroots Journalism

For those you outside of Canada who have no idea what's going on right now: The G20 Summit is taking place in Toronto with protestors from all walks of life filling the streets, along with local Torontonians, media outlets, and about 5000 Police Officers in armour. It is both awesome/scary.

Photo Credit: Daniel Villate 

As someone who works in the television industry, I have many friends and colleagues out there on the streets covering Toronto from all perspectives (both for news stations and independent film productions).

I have been sitting here for over two days taking it all in via Twitter, TV, and phone conversations with friends watching it all go down. What bothers me most is the amount of tourists and curious Toronto residents that are flocking to these burning cars etc with their cameras.

My photographer friend Brendan Meadows put it well in his caption for this photo that said: 
"1 idiot, 20 fools with cameras and 0 Progress"

I feel like in times of conflict or tragedy, everyone wants to be a goddamn journalist. There is nothing totally wrong with that (I'm a vlogger myself) and I feel civilian journalism is incredibly important...but there is a difference between capturing and offering productive commentary and just capturing it for the sake of saying 'you were there'.  If you are one of those people... were you there for the Cause? or just BEcause? More cameras only fuel the fire and make it difficult for police officers to sort through the crowds. Unfortunately the purpose of protests (warranted or not) was completely lost on the vast majority of bystanders this weekend.

There is something to be said for the people who were out there working for news stations/blogs/magazines for endless hours upon hours. Take CP24 and CBC for example who had reporters/tweeters all over Toronto interviewing civilians and doing what they do best; breaking news as it happens (BIG shout-out to CP24 for bringing Craig Kielburger on board as a special correspondent). Both stations also had people like Maurice and Kim monitoring the activity online and reporting live what people weren't seeing on TV.

I've noticed a lot of people complaining that the same images get shown over and over again (usually the most horrifying) but you have to understand that people tune into TV at different times and 're-capping' what happens should be expected. News production 101.

With that, I would like to share with you things you won't find on TV: (see more here)

This first one is by a young filmmaker who captures some very moving images including reporters from various newstations amongst the madness:



And the second is from a friend, P.J. who is also a video blogger. He hopped on his skateboard and checked out what was happening at different parts of the city. From the riots, to the peaceful protests, offering up hilarious yet intelligent commentary along the way.
But what I liked most about this video blog? PJ doesn't get too wrapped up in it and most importantly knows when to call it quits and head home. What he says and shows at the 6:10 mark is exactly what I'm trying to hit on:




At the end of day, it's difficult to understand what people are protesting. But there are many people out there doing it peacefully (see also Derek's photo album of the true faces of the G20):


As a resident of Toronto, I thank you and trust me when I say your voices are being heard :)

June 25, 2010

An Ode to the Caesar: Part 2

For those of you who missed My Ode to the Caesar's 40th Birthday last summer, basically I'm obsessed with this cocktail. Known to many Canadians as the hangover cure, this cocktail is my staple summer drink at the Cottaggio and a perfect patio drink.


When I recently travelled to Australia I was heartbroken to discover they don't sell Clamato juice there. The only thing close to a Caesar was a Bloody Mary. I tried... but it doesn't even compare! We had an Aussie friend visiting Canada who asked us if we'd like anything brought back. My Canadian friends and I jumped up in excitement and said 'CLAMATO JUICE!'  She looked at us funny... but alas our mate pulled through and showed up at a party in Melbourne with two beautiful Motts jugs in hand.

Which lead to this... An Ode to the Caesar:


Did you know that more than 350 million Caesars are enjoyed by Canadians each year?
Help make the Caesar Canada's National Cocktail by signing the petition here!

June 20, 2010

The MIM (Melt in Mouth) Series: Part One

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After spending the past six months in Australia, I came across some really great food dishes that made my experience that much better. But there is one recipe in particular that still makes my tastebuds water just thinking about it. So I decided to share it with the world by writing an article for my dear friends at Chickadvisor: 




Be sure to check out the full recipe on Chickadvisor's Website.



Big thanks to my Melbourne mate Gill for her amazing cooking skills while I snapped away. 
Feel free to check out more of our food experiments on her blog as well :) 

June 07, 2010

Wanna Go on a Date?

In Cali? Like for reals.



The Bonus round of the BTJE Competition is in full effect and THIS girl here is in the running to win a trip to Cali and blog about the adventure. Even better news... I get to bring a friend! So I thought, why not make a date of out it?



If you're too lazy to vote, all I ask is that you head over to: http://besttraveljobever.com/tagg and write me a nice comment :)

Every vote and/or comment I receive enters me in a draw to win the Cali trip for 2 (did I mention the dates are open?!)


Hope to see you in Cali ;)

xoxo
@Taggio

Meet the Tribe

During my time in Australia I met a lot of really great people. 
Some I've introduced you to, some I've kept all to myself... but alas 
I'm finally learning to share. So with that I would like you to meet 
the Sydney Travel Tribe! 

Every month the tribe gets together to share ideas, business tips and 
chat about their one true love: Travel.
I found out about the group through Graham who has been supporting 
me on my Best Travel Job Ever journey. When he saw that I was leaving 
Melbourne and heading back to Sydney, he immediately suggested I 
come out for some beers and meet the tribe. 


I’ve never been to a tweetup before 
in my own country, let alone one on the 
other side of the world… but I thought to 
myself, what have I got to lose?
The moment I sat down and started 
chatting with some of them I realized 
how much we all had in common. We are 
young entrepreneurs with nothing but 
endless ideas spilling out of us the more 
we got to know each other. 


These my friends are the people of the future. 
So with that, I would like to introduce you to the tribe:



 @aussie_ian: The mastermind behind this whole thing,
Ian is also the founder of a realtime Q&A service called Travellr
He’s also in the know of everything that goes on in the social media 
world of travel and someone you should definitely be following on Twitter!

@brookeschoenman: A perpetual nomad, Brooke 
has an awesome blog called Brooke Vs The World. She also sends 
out a monthly newsletter called Female Travel Underground that covers 
off-beat topics for the off-the-beaten path female travellers. Ladies I highly recommend you sign up now. 

 @grayum_ian: Founder of Project Wander, this dude 
never sleeps. He devotes an obsessive (and impressive) amount of time 
to following current travel news and trends via Twitter, podcasts, 
conferences and personal experience. He’s totally crushing it… 
oh and did I mention he’s Canadian?

 @kevlippy: Kevin is one of those uber cool dudes that
 has so many ideas in his head he can barely contain himself. 
He’s been working really hard at launching his website Brokepacker.com 
so keep your eye on this one if you want to save some serious cashola 
while you travel. 

 Alicia and Katrina from World Nomads: These ladies were 
kind enough to offer me some desk space and free (high speed) WIFI 
at their World Nomads office in Sydney so I could upload some vids. 
Big thanks to Ian for the hook ups as well :) 

 @trooperlauren: Co-founder of Globe Trooper, Lauren 
came up with this brilliant idea to create a forum where people can 
create their trips online and find like-minded travellers to join them. 
I highly recommend you follow them on Twitter as well.

  @vagabondquest: This cute backpacking couple 
Dina and Ryan have been on the road for over a year now and have
a great blog VegabondQuest that offers tips, tricks, and awesome stories 
from the road. 

But these are just a few of the awesome people you will meet if you 
ever attend a Sydney Travel Tribe. Their numbers are only growing, 
so I highly recommend you check out their website. If you’re a 
travelling vlogger/blogger like myself and ever in the Sydney area, 
be sure to stop in and enjoy some beers with the tribe. 
I can’t wait to reunite with them again in the future! 

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