Qasim Virjee

Photos from last night are up on flickr!  It was a fun time; I whipped up a costume that employed battery-powered LEDs;

- on my feet they provided uplighting along my legs

- on my head I wired a toque with 2 sets of 10 green LEDs on independant wires, powered by battery packs clipped to my waist - these lights could flicker at 2 speeds or be on/off.. I also clipped 3 directional bright white LEDs to the hat to shine onto my face,

- On my chest was the piece de resistance; a superbright 24 LED circle hung around my neck behind a plexiglass sleeve with a scary photo I sourced on flickr...
You can see a slideshow on the photo page here or jump into the flickr set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28963297@N08/sets/72157608565609374/

Until a few moments ago there was a block on the right hand side of this site that listed my facebook status.  I've always thought that it was cool how facebook gave each member an RSS feed for their status and its something I wrote a note about on my WhyDrupal blog - with instructions on taking that feed and displaying it on any site built w/Drupal (an Open Source Content Management System I use @ Design Guru).

Well, it looks like Facebook once again changed their RSS URLs - which of course hiccups any RSS reader (like my Drupal-powered site), leaving them grasping in the dark for information that is either available in another room or not at all.

To be honest, my distaste for FB's closed-door mentality on sharing information with sites 'outside' their network leaves me feeling quite fine with my decision to remove my FB status from this site and never again worry about having to trace down a new RSS URL or check whether they no longer off status feeds...

Why do companies like FB still not realise that openness is something that leaves people feeling good about being users of a service?

Nuit Blanche Toronto 2008 - footage remix from Abdul Smooth on Vimeo.

(repost: Abdulsmooth.com) This live mix session features original footage shot throughout the night of wandering around Toronto for Nuit Blanche on October 4th 2008.

Filmed mainly in the Distillery District, Cabbage Town and at the Centre for Social Innovation, this short film also features Blair and Katherine from That Night In Toronto (nightintoronto.com)

More info on the filming locations:
qasim.ca/blog/contextualization/nuit-blanche-2008-picks-and-route

Exciting stuff; tomorrow night is another installment of Toronto's wonderful Nuit Blanche - an event a free 'all night contemporary art thing.'  Running from 10 minutes to 7pm until sunrise on Sunday morning, its one not to miss.

Given how cold its been the past few nights its recommended to take a thermos with you, as well as acoutrements to prove your Canadian-ness :)  ie.  Long Johns and a flask of scotch :)  I know I'll be busting out the heavy gear as I cruise around on my electric scooter!!

I've been trawling through the listings and here are my picks, organized from East to West as the travel route I'll be taking.

Notes:

• Please pass this link onto anyone you know who may benefit from a route for the night
• I plan on hitting up spots near my house and then heading over to the Centre for Social Innovation for a drink with other wanderers at 11pm sharp - txt/email me for info, before heading to more spots in the West End...
• I've linked event titles to Google Maps but left out ones I know/remember...

(Everywhere)
r u part of the art?, 2008
Text 'yes' to 647-989-7707
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&mapID=12

Zone B:
(Downtown South - map)

1. Distillery District - Octopus Project
Balzac's Cafe, Casegoods Warehouse, 55 Mill Street, building 60 and 74
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/iProjects.aspx?zone=B&rowID=12

2. St Lawrence Market Neighbourhood BIA
St Lawrence Market and Neighbourhood, 93 Front St E
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/iProjects.aspx?zone=B&rowID=17

3. STILLNESSENCE, 2004-8
Rainbow Cinemas, 80 Front Street East (between Church & Jarvis)
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&rowID=10

4. Don Coyote & Quixotic, 2008
Cathedral Church of St. James, 65 Church Street
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&rowID=6

5. The Greatest Falls, 2008
Parking lot at Church Street and Colborne Street
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&rowID=7

6. Toronto Nocturnes I, 2008
Brookfield Place, Garden Court, Entrance on Front Street
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&rowID=2

7. Business Class, 2008
Parking lot at Temperance Street and Sheppard Street
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&rowID=4

8. Turbulence Sound Matrix: Signe, 2008
10 Adelaide Street East. The Gallery at Ontario Heritage Trust
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&rowID=13

9. Alternator, 2008
St. Lawrence Parking garage, Yonge Street and The Esplanade
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&rowID=9

10. Alumnae Theatre Company
Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/iProjects.aspx?zone=B&rowID=7

Zone A:
(Downtown North - map)

1. Stereoscope, 2008
Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=A&mapID=1

2. Zombies in Condoland, 2008
College Park, 444 Yonge Street
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=A&mapID=6

3. Sound Forest, 2008
Queen's Park North Parkette (University Avenue - south of Bloor/North of College)
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=A&mapID=11

4. House of Leaves, 2008
Ryerson University Student Centre, 55 Gould Street (between the Student Campus Centre & O’Keefe House)
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=A&mapID=15

5. U of T - Sweet Dreams
University of Toronto: Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/iProjects.aspx?zone=A&rowID=27

Zone C
(South-West - map)

1. Workman Arts / Trinity Square Video
Workman Arts entrance, 1001 Queen Street West
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/iProjects.aspx?zone=C&rowID=21

2. Koffler Gallery of the Koffler Centre of the Arts in partnership with InterAccess
InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, 9 Ossington Avenue
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/iProjects.aspx?zone=C&rowID=9

3. Overflow, 2008
Former Prison Chapel, East Liberty Street and Lynn Williams Street
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=C&mapID=6

4. SMASH! Droppin' Stuff, 2008
Parking lot at 60 Atlantic Avenue, north of Artscape
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=C&mapID=11

5. UNTITLED, 2004-2005
153 Dufferin Street, entrance via Mowat
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=C&mapID=1

A friend of mine just sent me an article she wrote which mentions me; take a read and feel free to drop comments under the post.

q./

As a Recruiter for metropolitan clients for a range of industries over the last few years, I have come across more than my fair share of candidates who appear ruthlessly drained by the mundane routine of their robotic lives in this city. I’ve seen how working a job with no outlet for creative potential, no room for innovation and no playground for the mind can take its toll. Interviewing candidates at all levels of the corporate spectrum, it is unfortunate to see just how many designated and skilled employees experience dejectedly sitting within confined spaces, fastened to phone and computer, bound by quotas and statistical goals, futilely monitoring the clock and feeling a daily sense of desperation inside.    read more »

* Cross posted from metronauts.ca

Last summer I caught wind of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s Power-Assisted Bicycle pilot programme and was immediately excited by the prospect of cruising through Toronto’s downtown streets without pedaling.  Though I love my bicycle, I’ve turned down too many social invitations to far-off regions of the city (like, ahem, Roncesvalles) because the bike ride would take too long and riding the TTC both ways would entail coming home early enough to not suffer waiting around for the next streetcar/bus/etc…  read more »

The team over at metronauts.ca has just launched a brand-new website; a few months back I developed their first one in Drupal and since, we've decided that a straight-forward site running Wordpress with regular and guest contributors blogging would be the most effective way to strike up conversations about transit in and around the GTA.

Read the 1st email newsletter online now...

... Then join the convo: http://www.metronauts.ca

I just got back from a wonderful 3 week trip to greece and have uploaded photos from the trip to my flickr account.  I'll be editing this site to remove the clunky embedded gallery and instead auto-embed all the photos I will be adding to my flickr account but in the meantime, you can peep Greece here.

Some of you may already know that I've been working on a project called Indian Electronica for some time now - well, actually I suppose its been nearly 6 years.  Whoa, 6 years!

Back in 1997 or so I began incubating the idea that an aural aesthetic was emerging internationally expressive of diasporic South Asian identity - from within brown communities as well as from outside.  Well,  after a few years I was convinced this aesthetic existed and was becoming more defined as the days passed; so I launched a zine or early blog in 02/03 to chronical my observations about the sounds I heard reflective of this aesthetic...  The site grew and grew and today stands as a fully blown multimedia experience; broadcasting 24/7 with an internet radio station and podcast, taking tunes to the people through an international festival circuit as well as releases on the 'Indian Electronica' imprint off and online + developing community through the website - of music producers and fans around the planet.  read more »

Amitabh is back thanks to the guys (and gals?) at Badmash!