It’s official, there is a serious feud between WMC – Winter Music Conference and UMF – Ultra Music Festival organizers. Earlier today, I got super excited when the official dates for WMC 2011 were finally posted. My joy quickly turned to a big exclamation mark when I saw the dates Mar 8 – 12, but I took it for what it was. Throughout the day, I just thought it was way too odd why the dates changed from the usual schedule of last week of March. I decided to search around on the internet as to why the sudden change after 25 yrs of tradition. I soon found out I was in for a surprise. Not only have the dates for WMC changed, Ultra and WMF are feuding. Ultra will remain March 25 – 27. So we have a feud, now 2 events in the same month and these 2 events are two damn weeks apart. Attendees have been pretty much left out in the dust to figure things out.

All I could think of in my head was, am I glad I didn’t book anything yet. A 25 year tradition which people from all over the world have been used to just screwed us all over without warning. So many people anticipated things will be the same, that they had already made all their bookings and reservations even before the dates were announced. I decided to do more sniffing around to find out WTF is really going on here. I was able to find this official statement from WMC:

At 12:57am today, Winter Music Conference’s founding Director’s received an email from Ultra Music Festival notifying them that the 2011 Ultra Music Festival would not be presented during and in conjunction with the 2011 Winter Music Conference. The notification was served despite a signed October 15, 2009 contract between the two entities which stated that the 2011 Ultra Music Festival would be presented during the five-day period in February, March or April 2011 designated and promoted by WMC as the ‘WMC week’. WMC organizers say “We were blindsided by Ultra’s last minute announcement this morning.”

Since the news broke out, everyone has been jumping in to give their piece of how they feel about the entire situation. Owner of Space Nightclub in downtown Miami, Mikey, shared his thoughts also:

With WMC comes WMC Drama, the two just seem to go hand in hand. This year the big D is all about the two different Dates (WMC and Ultra) which are confusing the fcuk out of everyone and raising all sorts of questions… What is up with the 2 dates? What is really happening? What is the inside scoop? What is Club Space doing? When should we come to Miami?
…
This year and once again, Ultra is trying to monopolize WMC by engaging exclusive contracts with all major DJs which will not allow them to perform at your favorite dance clubs. Last year they got Tiesto, Deadmaus, Guetta, Carl Cox, Armin…) to sign Ultra exclusives and this year they are going after everyone else.
…
WMC used to be about free parties with DJs and industry folks sharing and enjoying new music. Now, it is about greed and money with Ultra and all the clubs fighting over talent, hotels charging 4 times what they are used to and agents and DJs banking on the demand

You can also get snapshots of what various Artists and DJ’s such as Swedish House Mafia and Tiesto are saying at Miami NewTimes. Even MTV news has also picked up on the story. This must be really confusing to everyone and I am in the same boat right now. I really want to go to WMC, but Mar 8 – 12 does seem a little too early and the weather is still a little cooler then too. In the meantime chime in, which event will you be attending?

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The dates for the 2011 Winter Music Conference have finally been announced. The dates are March 8 – 12, 2011. If you don’t know about WMC, let’s just say it’s the biggest Music Conference in the world. Anyone and everyone will be down in Miami. I try to make it down every year and I’m very excited for 2011. I sort of scratched my head though when I saw the dates. Typically, they used to have it in late March, around the week of the 23rd. Now it is much earlier, I wonder what changed or why. This messed with my schedule a bit, but I would have to figure it out. Anyway, there you have it…will you be down in South Beach to join the biggest music bash?

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A friend on mine posted this video via Facebook and after watching it, I thought I just had to share this. I am quite surprised this video is not even viral yet. It is so powerful it gave me chills and goose bumps, yet very inspirational. The video is called “How Winners are Made” by Gary J. Raser of Limu Nation

Below is a full text transcription which I was able to find at This Moment Called Life, which saved me the hassle of re-typing the whole thing.

Life is tough, that’s a given. When you stand up, you’re gonna be shoved back down. When you’re down, you’re gonna be stepped on. My advice to you doesn’t come with a lot of bells and whistles. It’s no secret, you’ll fall down, you stumble, you get pushed, you land square on my face. And every time that happens, you get back on your feet. You get up just as fast as you can, no matter how many times you need to do it. Remember this, success has been and continues to be defined as getting up one more time than you’ve been knocked down. If experience has taught me anything, it’s that nothing is free and living ain’t easy. Life is hard, real hard, incredibly hard. You fail more often than you win, nobody is handing you anything. It’s up to you to puff up your chest, stretch your neck and overcome all that is difficult, the nasty, the mean, the unfair. You want more than what you’ve now, prove it! You want beat the very best out there that is, get out there and earn it! Once you decide that, you’ll know where it is you want to be, then you won’t stop pushing forward until you get there! That’s how winners are made. At the end of the day, success is what we all want. We all wanna win, and the race will be won. There is no question about that. So c’mon, get out on top, run faster, dream bigger, live better than you ever have before. This is in you. You can do this. Do it for yourself. Prove it to yourself.

….See you at the finish line.

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Kanye West’s “Runaway” short film will debut on Saturday, October 23. It will be shown on MTV, MTV2 and BET at 8PM EST. The screening was yesterday in his hometown of Chicago. I can’t wait to tune in on Saturday and see what the film is all about, should be interesting.

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I started my own “Art of Shave” series with Part 1 a few weeks ago.  This Part of the series will now go into the good ol’ long lost tradition of “The Wet Shave”.  In Part 1, I talked about an amazing article I had read which talked about the Wet Shave but I had lost the link to.  In short, the author went into great detail about how we are a society that has grown accustomed to wanting things now now now and quick quick quick.  You can see this in other areas of our lives such as fast food, diets etc.  This mentality was what boosted the popularity of the disposable razor and the tradition of the Wet Shave was lost.  Even the corporations make sure we stick to using these silly disposable razors. You can’t walk into a store and easily find any of the traditional stuff for sale.  I get all my stuff online from Lee’s Safety Razors.

The Pre-Shave

The pre-shave is a very important part of the Wet Shave process.  Unfortunately, this very first process is one thing that is already missing from the way Men shave today.  If you are going to get into the Wet Shave, you cannot skip this step.  You will really need to prep your face before you start sliding a razor and blade on it.  I started off with the Musgo Real Pre-Shave Oil when I got into the Wet Shave.  I used it for while and then decided to move on to something else.  Now I have a primary and secondary.  My primary pre-shave care is the Art of Shaving Lavender Pre-Shave Oil for sensitive skin.  I especially like this because as the name implies, it works great for my sensitive skin.  The fragrance is also nice, and not too overwhelming.  It really helps soften the hair and protect the skin for the shave process.  My secondary is The Body Shop for Men Maca Root Wash Off Shave Oil.  I call this my secondary because I only take it on trips.  I do a lot of travel and carrying all this stuff around is not exactly practical.  So having a nice small 0.5 oz spray bottle works better in this case.

The Shave Brush

The shave brush is another important element lost in todays go-go world.  I use a Vulfix 660 Super Badger Shaving Brush.  The brush is made from Badger hair as it implies.  This is important because it actually retains heat and water when you use it on your face.  That warmth is necessary to soften the hair as you apply the shave cream.

The Shave Cream

The shaving cream is used to create a nice rich lather in which will be applied on your face before shaving.  Today, most Men use the crappy foamy stuff in the cans.  This on the other hand is some good ‘ol traditional cream.  The feeling of this on your face will not even make you look at those canned foams again.  I use the Geo F. Trumpers Soft Shaving Cream Pot of Rose.  I’ve tried the other pots like Extract of Limes.  But this one seems to work best for me.  This is quality English stuff, you can’t go wrong.  Shaving creams also come in the form of Shaving soaps.  It’s all a preference thing at this point if you want a Shave cream or soap.  But they both do the same thing, which is to create a rich lather.

The Shave Mug

The Shave Mug is also sometimes called the Shave Cup or Bowl or even Pot.  It is in essence where the lather will be created using the shave brush and the shave cream.  It is very important to have a nice warm/hot lather, and that is why wet shavers use mugs.  I use a simple one called the Sante Fe Shave Cup.  Lately though, I’ve been reading up on Scuttles and considered giving it a try too.  Because of how scuttles work, it keeps the lather warm all the way through.

The Razor

The Razor is one of the most important pieces to the wet shave process.  I use a Merkur Heavy Duty Double-Edge Safety Razor.   This is made in Germany, and if you’ve used anything German, you know how anal they are about perfection.   It’s a weighted razor, so it allows you to move almost effortlessly.  If it’s your first time with these Razors you have to be extra careful, this is not child’s play.  Focus and steady hands will save your face here.  If you really want to go all out traditional you can opt for a Straight Razor, and say a prayer that you do not chop your face off before you begin.  Unless you really know what the hell you are doing, I would not even touch this.  The double-edge (DE) razor is called that since you can use both edges of a single blade.  Most of the DE razors come with Safety Bars on the edge just so you don’t chop your face off.  But there is only so much the bar can do, you still have to be seriously careful using this stuff.

The Blade

The blade is what goes into the razor and does the cutting, duh!  Well, it might sound simple enough, but it could be very complex finding the right blade for your face.  When I started wet shaving, I started off with the Merkur Double-Edge Supler Platinum Blades.  Another German product at its best.  I was lucky, because these blades were just the right fit for my face.  I stuck with it for years until a few months ago, when I decided to venture out to see what other blades felt like.  You see, I’m the kinda guy that likes to try things at least once and judge for myself.  So I ordered the Japanese blades instead, the Feather Hi-Stainless Platinum Coated Blades.  Let’s just say I cut myself so many times, I almost busted a tear the first time I used it.  These blades are so damn sharp.  I cannot even begin to describe how sharp the Feather blades are.  Don’t get me wrong, I like the fact that they are death-wish sharp, but there is no room for error with the Feathers.  The Merkur was more forgiving.  So this is a little heads up for anyone who orders the Feathers.  For now, I went back to the Merkur.  On the same note, I recently just ordered a set of Israeli blades, the Crystal Double-Edge blades.  I have yet to use them since I ordered them, so maybe I’ll provide a later update down the road.

The After Shave

The after shave is often an after thought for most people.  But it is just as important as the pre-shave.  They complement each other and a good after shave will leave you feeling like a million bucks.  Most Men today get those counter after shaves which are just terrible. After Shave is not supposed to sting people!! They are not supposed to smell excessively strong either, this is what cologne is for.  I’ve always had a problem with how people use them.  When I used to put those on, not only did my skin sting, but it dried up so bad it felt like my skin was being damaged.  For the wet shave, I use Geo. F. Trumpers Coral Skin Food.  This is in my opinion the best After Shave ever.  It does not sting, it is not greasy, it cools down and cures my skin right away after the shave.  This thing is just great, it literally just evaporates into your skin.  It doesn’t even leave any weird overwhelming scent.  It just feels so natural.

So there you have it.  Step your game up guys.  If you haven’t tried a Wet Shace, give it a shot.  This is honestly the best and healthiest way to go when it comes to Shaving.

Stay tuned for Part 3, the Art of Shave continued….

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I decided to write my own piece on the Art of Shave, as I have been shaving with a Double Edge (DE) Razor for a few years now.  There are many articles out there about this style of shaving.  Before I even knew about this option, it was difficult trying to find out what will work for me.  I feel others who have/still are contemplating making the move from those silly disposable razors to good ol’ traditional shaving could find this article useful.

Every guy remembers that period in their life when puberty hits, you start seeing some serious facial hair and then you realize, oh snap, time to learn how to shave.  Most men today would consider only 2 options: (1)An Electric trimmer or (2)The Plastic disposable Razors with multiple blades.  When this period in my life hit, I remember picking up a Gillette Mach 3 and trying to shave.  I was not even able to get half way through, my skin was so irritated that it blistered a little.  I thought to myself, I might not know jack about shaving, but this can’t be right.  I gave my face a week or two to cool down and gave it another try…the exact same thing happened.  My skin was highly irritated, it blistered and my face was in serious pain.  To make matters worse, I put after shave on it and I thought I was going to die…the pain was unbearable.  This was the first time I realized I probably have sensitive skin, but also, this style of shaving just isn’t working out.

I decided to try out option 2, an electric trimmer.  I purchased an Andis T-Outliner II, recommended to me by my barber as it gives a close shave.  I tried the Andis, and it was a good trimmer.  It cleaned my face with no irritation, and was quick to use & easy to clean.  I actually stuck with this way of shaving for 7+ yrs.  During this time though, I felt like something was still missing: (1) The trimmer just did not give a close enough shave, no matter how close it was. (2) The thing gets way too hot. (3) When I use after shave, it stings A LOT, and its use caused my skin to dry up so fast I could see cracks appearing (4) The movement and cut pattern of the electric was just so rough on my skin, you could see like a dark burn shadow sometimes after using it. I thought to myself again, I might not know jack, but this is not right.  If this is really what every guy goes through, this is messed up.  I ventured out to do some research, and this is where my friend Google came into play.

Believe it or not, this research actually took weeks.  I read so many articles, magazines and watched so many videos that a good friend of mine thought I was losing it for a second.  This is how much I wanted a damn answer…there had to be a way to achieve that spotless and smooth shave of perfection.  This is how I came to learn about the “Wet Shave“.

I remember reading this amazing article about the Wet Shave, which was actually the article which sold me on this idea.  Sadly, I have lost the link to this article and it kills me, because it was a well written piece.  The author went into some great details about the Wet Shave, but more importantly about the history behind how the disposable Razor came into the market and then the good ol’ Wet Shave tradition was lost.

Stay tuned Part 2, The Art of Shave continued…

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This is one of those posts I file under random thoughts, because it’s one of those randoms that I come across and I just want to share with people.  Yesterday I was jotting down a couple of entertainers that have great style and it came to mind: what in the world were 50 Cent and Kanye West up to.  They seem to have just gone MIA for some time now.  I decided to do some googling of course and some interesting things came up.

I found this article on the NY Daily News which talks about a new film 50 worked on where he had to drop a significant amount of weight:

The Queens rapper shed nearly 60 pounds to play a football player who has been diagnosed with cancer in the upcoming Mario Van Peebles film, “Things Fall Apart.”

Reading it was easy to overlook, but looking at the images freaked the crap out of me, just have a look at what he looked like:

Kanye West on the other hand has been hard at work in the studio working on his new album.  There has been a leak online for his song “Power”.  I got a peak of it.  I personally don’t think this is Kanye’s strongest track, but it definitely reminds me of the old Kanye.  The flow, the lyrics, brings back the spirit of his first album I think.  I actually enjoyed this song a lot more starting at 3:30.  I think that part alone sounds like it should be a different song on it’s own.  Listen below!

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Last month, I wrote about Mass Exodus which is a yearly event by the Ryerson University School of Fashion 4th year students.  Although the event for 2010 is already past, I happened to stumble upon the 2010 promotional video.  I thought it was neat and it’s always good seeing all the talent and good things coming out of the school I attended.  See the video after the jump.

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Just the other day while I was making some updates to ReelModels.com, Mass Exodus came to mind.  For those who don’t know, Mass Exodus is a yearly event by the Ryerson University School of Fashion 4th year students.  Mass Exodus is probably one of the largest fashion shows in Canada (if not the largest) that is simply run by undergrad students.

As a Ryerson Alunmi – Computer Science grad myself, a friend and I were just discussing how we seemed to have at least learned some useful stuff as I was able to build ReelModels.com all on my own.  It definitely wasn’t an easy task, but it sure put my skills to the test.  Before I digress, I was thinking of the different channels I could use to reach out to Models as I continue to build the site.  So I thought, wait a minute, Mass Exodus is huge and perhaps University students might be the perfect candidates to help me continue to test the site as they use it and provide some good feedback.  Students are often more eager to give things a try, and actually use it to it’s full potential.  Heck, that’s how Facebook started.  Unfortunately, it’s a little late now as the school season is almost over and Mass Exodus is just around the corner.

For anyone interested to find out more information about Mass Exodus 2010, you can check out the main site http://www.massexodus.ca/exhibit/.  The event takes place April 7th – 10th 2010.  I believe it is still being held in the Ryerson Theatre.  Would be nice to see what kind of neat footage will come out of this years event.

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