Needing a Lyft?

The other day I installed a new App called Hailo, the Taxi Magnet. In a nutshell it’s an app that links you to the nearest licensed cab driver. How it differs from traditionally calling a cab. Is that the App offers Gps tracking so you know the exact whereabouts of the driver, as well as seeing their name id, and car number so you know who is coming to pick you up. You can finalize how much of a tip you want to give without ever discussing it or trying to figure it out. The draw back if any,  is that payment is only done with your visa card, but it is secure;  and you’ll receive an email. Soon after arriving to your destination with the receipt of your trip. This App has taken off in Washington, New York,  Madrid, Toronto, and few cities in Europe
 

I can only assume the Hailo App and others like it, is a systemic result of Lyft An App created in San Francisco the hot bed of all things tech, it’s a ride sharing application, where you donate how much money you feel is reasonable and donations are done through your visa so its cash free. What it is - registered drivers use their own cars and pick you up. Your only asked to rate your driving experience; and its said to be 20% cheaper than using actual Taxi services. Rest assured Lyft drivers go through a screening process. It finally got into Canada this past June and has been picking up steam ever since. To be fair I should mentioned two other Apps that are usually mentioned in the same sentence when referring to ride services.

 That is ‘Sidecar & Uber’ The service Uber is actually the most different. The App is  used in various cities and countries around the world, it offers you a private driver, and you get picked up in minutes from its on-demand service as soon as you use the App. Its a high caliber style of service; Dressed in formal attire, drivers will arrive in either a black Lincoln town car, Cadillac Escalades, Mercedes Benz S550, or BMW S series. It too is a ride sharing program currently that is looking to expand its parameters, and is a little bit more costly due to its high end service. The other aforementioned App service is SideCar, a peer to peer ride sharing App, it differs from Lyft by it having voluntary donations.

A CSI Immersion

Growing up watching everything from Star Trek to Buck Rogers, and Dallas to 90210.  Shows grounded into some reality that the kids in my neighbourhood  can actually identify with, as a possible  career choice would be Cops, Reporters, and Doctor Shows.

We did the class trip to the local fire station and police station, which was a definite highlight and help shaped our decision making into the field of study;  In which we would eventually pursue.  My best friend wanted to be an architect like Mr. Brady in the Brady Bunch, but found his niche in civil engineering.

Myself , I was mesmerized by the medium of entertainment.  I also never really let go of the under lying desire to become a detective or cop; The reality of actual law enforcement  is nothing close to television, its terrifying with variations of situations resulting in angry, violent or just emotional people who can be unpredictable and the outcome as it occurs could be on going, and once you arrive you are liable and responsible for the order and the balance of things to occur. 

Which brings me to role playing and videogames, besides the obvious disconnect, it is safe, and arguably harmless endeavour, but an incredibly great way to live vicariously through something.  When I play first person shooter games or simulated racing , it’s an adrenaline rush, as well as a great way to be a distraction, and let loose after a hard day at work.  It’s something to do with friends or alone, and gets you in headspace that in some ways can be therapeutic if one needs an outlet for self-expression or a means to release pent up aggression, by laying it out on a battlefield.  It works the mind to strategize and problem solve, and the newer games are coming out with better A.I.  so applying different approaches  will be required so it continues to be challenging and engaging.  Which in a very long roundabout way brings me to the world of CSI.  Just only one example such an immersion. 

My family watched shows like Trapper John M.D., Quincy, and Law & Order; But it was CSI, that used cutting edge technology, with real Criminal situation storylines. That allowed you to learn and follow through the process of the solving the case of the week,  Unlike the amazingly solved ending like Colombo, Monk, and Perry Mason.  CSI demonstrates that if we look carefully and organize our thoughts we can solve the crime.

It’s a successful franchise; the show went from Vegas, to New York, and recently defunct Miami. The Las Vegas team created 8 videogames based on the show, Miami had 2, and New York 1. and bunch of interactive games have been developed for the PC world, board games  and role playing games.

I owned CSI: Crime Scene Investigations on the original Xbox, and Hard evidence on the Xbox360,  some of my friends continue to place Crime City as a game found on Facebook.

While vacationing in Orlando I discovered CSI Exhibit,  An amazing CSI Experience,  you start off in a briefing room where you meet actual forensic experts and some retired Law Enforcement officials and they walk you through the set up.

and you get a briefing all along the way with videos from the cast members. you solve 3 cases, and enter 3 different crime scenes and take notes and careful observations of the crime scene. You learn and actually use  labs to examine bullet casings, matching DNA to potential suspects, identify the source of a single hair strand,  get a casting of a foot print as you complete the investigation process.  There are cool special effects and  a real deep hands on-experience. 

In Toronto,  Humber College still offers a summer camp for kids in Crime Scene investigation. 
 
During the School year,  if you have Police Foundations Diploma, Humber College offers a 2 semester - Protection, Security,and Investigation: Crime Scene Investigation Diploma, Utilizing a recently designed state of the art facility to implore the latest investigative techniques in this field of study.

Should I Be Excited for the X-BOX One?

Being an owner of the original Xbox and the 360, it is possible I could appear bias with this blog post; Well no, not true.

I was once a proud owner of the PS2 & Nintendo Wii at one point.

Then recently, on youtube I watched people investigate this console, I began reading on line, and asked around at local retailers, and this is where I got that creeping of mixed emotions with the XBOX One..

First it was the controversal backlash for DRM issues Microsoft had,  the mandatory on line connection every 24 hours, and the creepy kinect attachment.... Well the latter is still fueling my conspiracy side... I'll get to that later.

Microsoft has addressed the sharing of games, trading of used  games, and the online issues regarding the system.
With latest link to microsoft's Xbox ONE (click here)

I am a little upset that all games used in XBOX 360 can't be brought over to the XBOX One, it's NOT backward compatible, and the online newtwork geared for XBOX One is exclusively for that console of designed games.

But lets begin with some comperative details of the console with the PS4 and XBOX One

                                                           XBOX One                       PS4

TIFF 2013 Opening Night

Kicking off  DAY One of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Is the restored to 4K film  (See my Aug ‘13 post)

‘The Big Chill’. 

 Marking its 30th Anniversary the film made its first public debut in 1983, at the festival.

Director: Lawrence Kasdan

 

Glenn Close, Mary Kay Place, Kevin Kline
Meg Tilly, Tom Berenger & JoBeth Williams



  On hand was many members of the cast and its director Lawrence Kasdan.  After the screening the audience had the opportunity to take part in a Q & A with the cast & crew of the film.  This was Kasdans’ directorial debut; He is consider prolific, when you look at a hand full of his film credentials.  Kasdan co-wrote Raider’s of the Lost Ark, Empire Strike’s Back, and Return of the Jedi. He directed critically acclaimed movies  Body Heat and Silverado.  Televison shows like ‘Thirty Something’ & ‘Friends’ took away an archetypal blueprint from the Big Chill. The movie has been recognized as part of American Cinema  and cultural history; Its theme music “Ain’t to proud to Beg” was awarded America’s greatest 100 music in movies from AFI.



Benedict Cumberbatch



If the image of Benedict Cumberbatch looks familiar to you. That may be because you’ve seen him as the villain in the recent instalment of Star Trek: Into Darkness. Over the Pond, in the UK and in parts of Europe, audiences will automatically associate him as playing the role of a younger more modern Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock. 



Daniel Brüh

 

Dan Stevens

 This week, Benedict  Cumberbatch is here in Toronto for the Screening of
The Fifth Estate, another film screening on the first day of the festival.  The atmosphere in attendance was fan frenzy for the series Downton Abbey, actor Dan Stevens who was at attendance,  Joining the duo is actor Daniel Brüh who is better recognized for his portrayal as the  Nazi war hero Frederik Zoller in ‘Inglorious Basterds’. 
For those unfamiliar of the premise of the movie, its about Wiki-Leaks, and.based in-part on Daniel Domscheit-Berg's  book Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange and the World's Most Dangerous Website.

 

Mia Wasikowska



The third big Gala film to debut on TIFF’s opening day was

‘Only Lovers Left A live’.
An unusual vampire love story of characters Adam and Eve who live literally oceans apart.  I am not one to use big words, and I’ve never used this word before, but I found it fitting today, To characterized Adam played by Avenger’s villain Loki - Tom Hiddleston as one who goes through an existential crisis.  The movie features actresses Tilda Swilton & Mia Wasikowska .

Kevin Bacon Game

Just for fun I picked the main actors from the above films and find out how many degrees of Kevin Bacon do they reside,

All but Daniel Brüh are two degrees of Kevin Bacon; who is three.

Toronto Fan Expo of 2013

What started in 1995,  now annually holds a 4-day event that can be categorized into six different genres.

Comic Books, Anime, Sci-Fi, Horror, Video Games and new to this year - Sports.

This concluded year of 2013, housed the largest gathering to date with over 100,000 attendees,
last year’s record was 91,000.  In preparation for this year's numbers the venue needed to expand.  Home to the Toronto Metro Convention Centre, with its space reserved traditionally in the south building.  This year, the Expo opened up the North Building for the highly anticipated attendance, to a now whopping 600,000 square feet of space.

The most notable trend that took centre stage was the well over 10,000+ people in attendance for cosplay.  Marking it as one of the largest in North America.  Which also lends itself to the breaking of the Guinness World Record for the gathering of Daleks in a room.  The previous record was in the UK of 95 people.  The Doctor Who  Society of Canada smashed that record by gathering 159 in a room; On hand was the 6th Doctor, Colin Baker to witness the event.
 

Also in attendance was the Toronto Steampunk Society who are known to practice all things Steampunk, from holding workshops in  building gadgets & props to advance costumes; and holding a Tea Duel!

Geek Alert!  The Star Wars event held by the 501st Legion made their presence felt; With a Jedi School, Panels, workshops for kids, an incredibly elaborate  booth for photo sessions, and a gathering of storm troopers.

 Video Gaming

On hand was EP Daily host Victor Lucas  and voice actor Tara Strong.

The event mimicked E3, with the X-box One & PS4  display booths, equipped with playable demos.
 Montreal developer Ubisoft’s creative team was also on hand to showcase their soon to be release Splinter Cell: Black List with a playable Demo.
An entire area was dedicated to Board Games, Role playing games, miniature games and tons of videogames.

 In Anime 
Events included Anime music videos , cosplay takeovers, costume designing, live Anime game shows, Lolita Fashion show & Tea Party, and the Cosplay Awards. Also on hand was the cast of Sailor Moon who celebrated their 20th Anniversary

   Comic Books Headlined by Spawn creator

Todd McFarlane and

Marvels Legend Stan Lee

Fan Expo Brought back Artist Alley and featured Artist Sketching Duels,

Like Ken Lashley against Jeff Lemire who went pen to pen. The original art they produce went up for grabs once they’re all done. Workshop seminars for enthusiasts, Q& A Panels with writers and artists, Premiere comic book Artists David Fincher & France’s Olivier Coipel where signing their work plus over 200, 000 Square feet of comic book store booths, t-shirts, posters, props, TV/Film DVDs & Blue- Rays, Lego, and other paraphernalia.

.

Horror: Festival of Fear

Headlined by Director Joe Dante (Gremlins and The Howling) and Ron Pearlman (Hellboy)
On hand was the Author of World War Z Max Brooks, The Creator of Hellboy Mike Mignola, Stars of The Walking Dead, Stars of the Cult Favorite Re-Animator movie and its Sequel From beyond.  Rocker Alice Cooper, Members of Evil Dead the Musical, who are making their theatrical stage Return to Toronto in October.

 Guns N Roses Guitarist Slash unleashed  
 SLASHER FILM, his company dedicated to  
 resurrecting 70's & 80's style horror.  With
 'Nothing Left to Fear'. (His first film venture)

 Also on hand was the Canadian Cast of Being 
 Human; and the Cast of Once Bitten who
 came with their Screening of their pilot episode.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy 

Was packed with the most celebrities. 

Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars’ The Emperor) & Carrie Fisher, David Hasslehoff & KITT,  Richard Dean Anderson, Superman's Dean Cain,

CW's Arrow - Stephen Amell,  Linda Hamilton, The Stars of FireFly,  Defiance & Covert Affairs. The Full Cast of  Orphan Black, Lost Girl, Warehouse 13, Helix,& Murdock Mysteries

Actors George Takei (Mr. Sulu) & Michelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura)

Zachary Quinto (American Horror Story/Asylum/Heroes/StarTrek)
 Karl Urban (Star Trek, Judge Dredd & Priest) who was on hand to screening of the Pilot episode of  Almost Human,  Arron Ashmore (Lost Girl & Smallville) & Shawn Ashmore (X-Men's Iceman & The Following).
 

Roberto Alomar

Sports
To commemorate the 20th Anniversary World Series win of the Toronto Blue Jays, Roberto Alomar, Ricky Henderson, Paul Molitor, & Tony Fernandez  were on hand.
Sporting Legends Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Joe Montana, Joe Sakic, Martin Brodeur, Olympian Ben Johnson, Secretariat jockey Ron Turcotte, and Hulk Hogan whose infamous Arm wrestling match with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford went Viral.  And tons of retail sports cards and memorabilia

Rounding out the extras at  Fan Expo was, Jason Priestly who was on hand for the screening of the returning  episode of Season 4 of Call me Fitz, The Cast of Storage Wars Canada, Pawn Stars’ Chumlee, Luke Perry, and the Stars of Sons of Anarchy Ron Pearlman and Katey Segal.

Newlyweds David & Lindsey

And marking its 3rd year,

Speed Dating

 A couple who met at the 2011 event, got engaged at the 2012 event and on day two of Fan Expo (Aug 23rd, 2013) they got married at a golf club in Newmarket, Ont..

I first Attended the event in 2010, and that was the year of greatest criticism.  the venue was over capacity in crowds, management became painfully aware with multiple complaints. Just prior I had
just attended wizards Comic-con and was sort of spoiled on how smooth and logically it ran.

Entrance fee and fees for autographs and photo ops made sense, but Q&A sessions were free with first come first serve.  Here at  Fan Expo admission is a little higher, which is understandable with venue size and all the genres of star power at attendance, but  you need to pay for entry for Q & A, plus any photo op, or Autograph Session.   So essentially once you paid to get in , you must also pay for any and all interactions with the stars you come to see.  That year,  2010 to sign for an autograph or a photo op or attending the Q & A,

I needed to double back to another end of the building to register and pay for a select person or cast, then travel back to attend.  whereas with comic-con any signage is in relatively close proximity  and that’s only for photo Ops sessions. I could pay the celebrity directly for autographs.

The cost issue of paying for everything once inside is still a given, but overcrowding, has been addressed.  The Legendary line up for tickets and gaining access are also a given unfortunately, but that is expected even at comic-con...  In 2010, myself and few patrons felt Fan Expo was a large money grab, and complaints of particular incidents due to overcrowding resulted into 'no refunds'; it was their company policy. Jumping forward to today, steps have been made, and management appears to be listening.

For me the phenomena of Comic-con and Fan expo is watching the streets of downtown Toronto fill with cosplay, it’s such a colourful spectacle of seeing some of my favorite characters come to life as they now begin to walk among us.

Next year's Fan Expo is set for Aug 28th to Aug 31st. 2014.