On Sunday, June 29th, Kate and I attended Toronto’s 2008 Pride Parade! The parade route took us west on Bloor, from Church to Yonge Streets, then south on Yonge to Gerrard Street, and back eastward toward Church. According to CTV.ca, somewhere near 1 million people turned out to watch as the colourful marchers made their way down the streets of Toronto.

RBC’s employee group, P.R.I.D.E. committee (Proud RBC Individuals for Diversity and Equality), came out in droves! We had a super awesome Flatbed truck, decked out with the loudest sound system that the generator could power (and from the sounds of it, it must have been a powerful generator), complete with an awesome DJ spinning some great tracks!

The atmosphere was astounding! As an RBC Employee, I was very proud to be a part of this. It was quite the sight to see over so many proud RBC employees wearing the same thing, and marching in unison for equality!

RBC P.R.I.D.E. is a fully supported within the organization and embodies the values of RBC. (Diversity, Integrity, Teamwork, Service, and Responsibility)

RBC has long been a supporter of the LGBT community in Canada and has made donations to many LGBT organizations. Recently, I was at an LGBT Youth Panel that discussed the challenges and opportunities to support our youth as they are coming out. At the end of the panel, RBC’s Dave McKay, group head of Canadian Banking, presented Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes with a cheque for 25 000$ in support of the Triangle Program, Canada’s only LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender) classroom.

If you made it out to the Parade, let us know what you thought of the music, and our super-awesome (imho) truck, and the parade in general!

Happy Pride!!!!!!

In Russia, I made a short movie about the financial life of students. For my movie that I made in Prague I wanted to do something a little more different as its my home. Thanks to Michel the idea of doing a short video about Czech fashion design came into the works. I wanted to write a short blog as a prelude to the movie and let you know about the experience itself.

To start off, I decided to meet with Helena Fejkova who is one of the top Czech Fashion designers. She designs mens and womens clothes and has really built a name for herself in Prague and the rest of the fashion world. My mom even goes to her for custom pieces sometimes.

Performing the interview with Helena like all of the designers was a slight challenge because although they speak english well enough they don’t like to do the interviews in english! The result is a series of interviews in Czech-English that proved difficult to edit.

When I asked Helena where she got her inspiration from she first answered that it was from daily life and then later as I looked at her ornate designs and diverse materials I asked her again. She told me that during a trip to India she was inspired to create a line a few years ago and so indeed she does get inspired from her life but it is certainly not a simple one! Helena Fejkova’s designs have seen the top fashion cities in the world as she attends fashion week in Paris, New York, Rome and Milan.

Fejckova related how once she was having a show in Paris and the venue was an abandoned bus station! To Fejckova, fashion is about beauty and not necessarily for the average location, or people and feels that fashion should be presented in places of beauty, like palaces and museums. Fejckova has built a name for herself and her business has grown but according to her, she leaves the business side, to her husband.

Ivana Follova represents the majority of Czech fashion designers. Her clothing designs are exclusively for women and with their earthy colors and materials they have a distinct Czech style to them. Follova also prides herself on making stylish clothing that is designed for every woman. As a result, Follova has been blessed with a loyal customer base but missed out on the cutting edge side of the fashion world, a side, she says she doesn't miss. Its been a long road for Follova from working in a communist clothing factory to starting her own line. At one point Follova had four stores in the Czech Republic and now she is down to just one. She says that it grew so big that she had to decide if she wanted to be a manager or a designer. She decided to be a designer and serves an older base of women with her ready to wear and custom designs.

Jozef Sloboda represents the other side of Czech Fashion design as he designs purely mens clothing. Talking to Jozef it was clear to see that he was a business man as he was the only designer to have his PR manager come to the interview with him.

Sloboda, unlike the others only designs ready to wear clothing and although it is still couture he makes about 20-30 of each item he sells. Sloboda stopped making custom clothes some time ago and claims that it doesn't make good business sense and that working on building his brand is the best business move he can make. Jozef Sloboda spends almost a third of its profits on advertising in mens magazines and claims that its paying off. Creating an online store (something none of the other designers has done yet) has also done the company good. If there is one thing that stands out with Jozef Sloboda it is that he is a business man first and a fashion designer second.

For more info on Fashion in my home country check out www.czechfashion.cz/ and keep an eye out for my short film on Czech Fashion designers coming soon!

Toronto is great for those students looking to whet their artistic palette without breaking the bank. I’ve been checking out some places that offer free admission for students who present their valid Student ID and with the hot weather coming, it’s a free alternative to cool down and learn something at the same time.

The ROM or Royal Ontario Museum is free every Wednesday from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Some specially ticketed exhibitions might require additional admission so check their website for details.

I’m personally not the biggest fan of the Crystal appendage attached to the more classic architecture and most people I know have voiced similar disdain, but I have to say the inside is nicely organized and pretty accessible. It flows well, which is what I found the earlier incarnation of the museum did not do. You should check out the Darwin Exhibit, which pretty much shows the justification for the theory of humans having evolved and Darwin’s research that led him to many of his theories. The man’s life was quite interesting as are all the cool skeletons and samples of a variety of insects, mammals and reptiles.

If you’re like me and like to read a good book the Harbourfront Centre has Weekly Readings where if you’re a student, you can get in for free to listen to a published author read and talk about his/her book. They have a schedule up so you can see if one of your favourite authors is going to show up, but I’m pretty sure it’s mostly domestic talent that is there. However, there is the Festival of Authors in October, which is a pretty international event. I’ve been there a few years ago to see William T. Volkmann read from his book at the time and there’s nothing like having a Q&A with an author you enjoy reading.

There’s also a whole myriad of live poetry, dub and plays that offer free admission over the city, but I’ll have to keep you posted on those shortly because I have to run and start work on the next video. If you have any links to fun, creative and free (or cheap) activities in your city, post away!

Is It Time To Break From Online Life?

The other day, on a gloomy afternoon, a friend of mine and I went to the library and played a little game. I know what you’re thinking: how does the library have any connection to games or anything remotely related to fun?

Well, I hope to convince you that sometimes it’s nice to face books, and not computer screens (as I write to you on the Internet and you read it on your computer screen). So the deal was that we had to find books related to four topics we had agreed upon, with a fifth that was a wildcard of our own choosing. Before the 25-minute time limit expired on the workstation, we had to find the titles and would then proceed to embark on our curiosity-quenching quest. Upon finding the books, we’d compare to see who found what – the goal being to have the more interesting book.

Here were the results:

1. I actually had a lot of fun doing this.

2. I ended up borrowing 5 books.

3. I learned some crazy things previously unknown to me.

4. I spent NO money in the process.

5. I got away from the computer screen for a bit.

Alright, so the example above may be entirely too geeky for your taste, but the fact is that libraries don’t have spam, x-rated links, flashing windows and other distractions that exist online. As I looked for my selections, I did not come across books titled Congratulations You Are the 1 000 000th Visitor of This Book or Win a Free Binder. There were no books that popped out of the bookshelf, trying to get me to read THEM instead of the books I searched for. Mind you, I DID end up finding other books but this didn’t involve being taken away from the task at hand. In short, it was nice to learn things - with good company - without all the nonsense that can come with researching online.

If you are fortunate enough to have a local library, I strongly suggest that you take advantage of its many benefits. In addition to books there are also:

· audio books - have someone else read the book TO you

· CDs - remember these round relics?

· DVDs (VHS?) - why pay to rent them?

· Instructional classes - learn a plethora of useful skills

In all likelihood, all of these things are available to you at no cost whatsoever. I have probably watched over 200 movies courtesy of the library (over $1000 in savings) and have discovered (re-discovered) tons of music as well. The only cost is late fees, and those are entirely within my control. Take some time and catch up on some blockbusters or classics, and save loads of cash in the process. I know I have, and will continue to.

What do YOU do that costs you very little money but provides much enjoyment? I’m curious!

So, the thing that sucks about making the transition from total parental dependence to financial independence is that it takes work. That may sound obvious to you, but for me the transition was some distant minor problem I would face in my future and nothing worth worrying about now. Well now I’m here, doing my best to take the advantages my parents have given me to work hard, progress and start down the path to financial independence. Don’t get me wrong I’m certainly not independent yet but this blog is about what I'm doing this summer to prepare for the inevitable.

I decided that this summer I would go down to Spain and work in a hotel there. Thats where I am right now: in a four star hotel on the beach in Spain. Sounds amazing doesn't it? Well, its not exactly as it sounds. My goals for this summer are to improve my Spanish, gain work experience and hopefully save some money...Oh! And get an amazing tan of course! So now its been four days since my first day and this is what has happened.

Where I live

As I turned the key in the door to my apartment that the hotel was providing for me I could barely handle the anticipation. I have always been lucky enough to live in nice, clean places and was nervous to see where I would be for the next two months. Nothing. I mean nothing I could have imagined would have prepared me for this place. In the room the was a cot, two chairs, a tiny sink, a small fridge which was jammed between the bed and the sink and a closet with a toilet in it. That was it. Seriously. No table, no shower, no stove and only a tiny mirror!

Obviously, someone who wants to learn independence doesn't want to start screaming, storm out and refuse to live in the place that was just presented to me. I wouldn't want to appear like a diva and so I simply said okay and asked “where can I shower?” The reply was no more comforting then the smell in the room “shower you in laundry around corner” Right. I can handle that. It just means that every time I want to wash myself I need to go and ask the superintendent for the key. Thats normal. “Gosh I miss my condo” I said to myself as I feel asleep that night after getting used to the drone of the fridge next to my head. Luckily, I was moved to an apartment with a shower later but instead of the sound of the fridge, I was greeted by a multitude of cockroaches in the morning. I thought it was a fair trade.

Where I work

Every day I bike to work in the morning heat. Its a really nice bike ride along the boulevard that runs parallel to the beach. Its fun to bike to work and watch the tourists exercising in the morning and they always stare back at me in confusion because Im in a suit. The hotel Sunway Playa Golf where I work is really beautiful and right on the beach. I work in the reception and so I get to look out at the sea all day long (it makes me thirsty). Because its high season right now my colleagues don’t really have time to “train” me and so the first few days have been insane. All day long guests come and ask me for something (in Spanish) and then I have to do it (without having learnt how yet) and thats how I learn. One thing after another I have to observe and do and basically train myself (in Spanish).

By the end of the day my brain is killing me from speaking Spanish, German, French and Russian all day and doing things I don’t know how to do. But I find hope in the fact that tomorrow will be easier and I will do better and frankly, that feels great. I somehow find it empowering to start working at the bottom and not letting colleagues now that my parents have shares in the hotel. I enjoy doing this because it makes the preparation for my transition more real. Every day for me right now feels like an episode from an upper middle class version of “The Simple Life” and its easy to get discouraged.

I suppose it would be appropriate for me to write a post-blog disclaimer to clarify for the sake of potential responses to this blog. I am in no way complaining about what I have or don’t have I simply exploring it for the sake that it might interest others. I feel very lucky to be working in Spain, learning Spanish and killing cockroaches.

My move to a new frontier

My foray into social media over the past - oh, what has it been now? - month and half, has been quite the adventure. I'm not going to stand here and claim to have grasped it completely. In fact, I don't think its breadth can be grasped. Since being introduced to social networking sites like twitter.com and the buckets of blogs that have been plopped onto my plate, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed. It's unlike anything else and the more I look into it, the more I begin to realize that this where aspiring student entrepreneurs need to be.

The Network, on and offline

It's daunting to initially get into "The Network" as it were, so I best advise you bring a friend or quickly find a friend who knows what it is they're doing. When I first joined Twitter a while ago, I remember thinking dang the concept is sweet - but it would be so much better if there was someone to interact with in all of this (which is, in essence, the objective of social media - interaction). Before I knew it though, I began to follow people who have the same entrepreneurial, interactive bent as me.

What I find most fascinating about Twitter and the social media frenzy that I've been opened up to is this seemingly intertwined network that extends beyond the internet into the real world. Go to any Democamp, Startupcamp or Third Tuesday (all of which take place all over North America and the world) and you'll see a third of those in attendance tweeting from their Blackberries. For a month and-a-half I talked to Malcolm Bastien on Twitter, and the other night I ran into him in person at Third Tuesday in Toronto (which I'll go into later).

Information, on and offline

Man, if I had a buck for every tidbit of learning I've consumed since getting into all of this I'd have at least a thousand bone by now. Whether its through random blogs of interest that you catch through a Tweet or events happening right now or in the future (yea, Twitter's earning a rep as being a first on the scene news force). But again, it doesn't end online - I was at Third Tuesday, which I found out about through Twitter, the other night and got to take in a really great speaker.

So to recap the learning cycle, I'm there on twitter, being fed information a mile a minute. Great. I hear about an event happening in Toronto for PR professionals, tech aficionados and entrepreneurs. Sweet. I check it out and hear a really great discussion and audience engagement. After its over, I get to hang around with all of these cool like minded people. Its a win-win for me.

You need it

I read an article in Profit the other day that heralded social media as the new critical success factor to starting up your business. Its beyond early adoption now and IDC says social media ought to grow 815% by 2009. That would make sense looking at this. But social media is fickle and not just anyone and any company can just jump onboard and say they get it; this is, in every sense, face time with the customers. Social Media Group from Dundas, ONT. says that if you're new to social media, take it easy and just blog.

Joe Thornley at Thornley Fallis (a PR firm in Ottawa) is all about setting up a blog for corporations and has worked with the likes of Visa and Dell. This guy knows what he's doing and I think he's borderline guru. But blogs seem to be the tip of the ice berg.

You'd be one of a few

I noticed this the minute I walked into Third Tuesday a few days ago: everyone is old. Scratch that, most people are older. There were very few students kicking around there, which tells me there's a huge opportunity for students to become versed in and excel in this. Malcolm discussed the role of students and digital media in one of his blog posts.

While there's plenty of students engaging in the online conversation, it seems to me that few are going beyond and taking part in critical thought about the potential that exists for social media as an integral part of growing a business. I recommend checking it out and really considering where your customers are, or will be, and how

On thing I'm learning for sure though, social media takes time, persistence and commitment. Fortunately, sites like Twitter are not time intensive (its a micro blog) and since its open source API, there's a ton of apps you can download in order to make your tweeting easier. I highly recommend checking it out. Now.

In downtown Prague there is this beautiful art nouveau style cafe in the municipal building that is quite famous. My mother and I went there the other day with some American guests of ours. As we all sat there enjoying the balmy summer evening, my eyes wandered and I stared intently at the man playing the grand piano, wishing I could play more than just ‘ode to joy’ on my favorite instrument. Then my mom said something that caught my attention: “I know what we shall do tonight Henny, we shall go and see ‘Sex in the City’!”

This moment was one of surprising realization. After my initial desire to remind my mother that the film was, in fact, called ‘Sex and the City” (although her title was just as suitable considering the content of the show), I found myself considering the irony of the situation. This consideration led me to conclude that something between my childhood and now had seriously effected my life, my country and my culture.

My mother grew up in the Czech Republic and had very fashionable, proud, parents. My mother herself is and always was a symbol of independence and female empowerment. After all, she was there in 1968 when the Warsaw pact invaded her country and she jumped on their tanks to express how pissed off she was at them in true Czech retaliation. I suppose, for me, her saying that she wanted to see that film was a surprise to me because she was also a symbol of European culture and fashion to me and others, and the way I’ve always imagined a woman should be.

Attending the film with her made my mind wander even further. We rushed out of the historical gem that we had just dined at in order to make the 8:30pm premiere of what was named ‘one of the summer's most anticipated films’. As we entered the massive multiplex cinema and found our theatre I was astonished to see that it was absolutely packed! The room was buzzing with pre-movie whispering as young and old, male and female Czechs waited for the film to begin. I don’t know quite how to explain the surprise that I was feeling. I mean, this movie was in english (as most cinemas play movies in english in Prague) and it was about four American girls, sex and fashion. It seemed shockingly ironic to me that so many Czechs, who have always been very good at sex and fashion were turning to this product placement filled melodrama from the west!

It was a sign of something I already knew was happening. Prague was changing, Moscow, London and Paris too. I remember the not so old days when my family and I would travel to the Costa Brava and enjoy shopping there because everything in the stores was so unique and different from home. It was a thrill to see how the Spanish dressed differently and to be able to take a piece of that home with you. Now when I go to Barcelona I see all the same shops that we have in Prague. Whats the point in buying something in Spain if you could have just bought it at the Zara on Robson street? Isn't half the fun replying when someone compliments your shirt saying “thanks! I bought it in Rome”. Moscow is the same way with sickly new “mega malls” popping up monthly. If you look around on the high streets of Europe’s most famous cities you will see every trend possible and less and less culturally typical fashions. Someday it will have all of them and the time that people traveled to buy things they cant buy at home will have died.

I am of course not oblivious to the benefits that the globalization of Fashion has brought to Europe and North America (much more North America). It gives people choices, they can be a skater punk if they want, dress like a ruthless New York lawyer or a Parisian princess, they have access to whatever style they choose. All this choice however, comes with a cost. The cost is that one of the best parts of fashion: culture, is lost and we find ourselves watching two and a half hour long advertisements like “Sex and the City” to tell us what’s in style. Such a shame.

Second edition of Behulsive Compaviour: Qwertyous Communication. More to come!

My mind is green. Sadly, it’s not with money.

But it’s not a bad thing.

I’m working for a non-profit environmental organization and I’m being introduced to all sorts of environmental initiatives. By day, my thoughts are focused on getting the community to go green, but by night my thoughts are on greening students. Specifically, how much is it going to cost them?

More importantly, is it worth it?

I thought the best way to think about this was to look at the cost of traditional items and compare them to the cost of their “greener” alternatives.

I found a wheels.ca article that compares traditional vehicle models to similar hybrid SUV models. The comparison is made in a very easy to read chart. In one corner, the article has the $33,899 base model Ford Escape Hybrid AWD and in the other corner the $25,005 Ford Escape XLT AWD.

The article explains that over seven years, the Hybrid would cost $83,826 and emit only 28, 224 kg of C02 during that time. On the other hand, the traditional model would cost $69,681, but emit over 54, 754 kg of C02 during those seven years.

I have also looked at organic food options. The cost of a traditional brocolli at Dominion is $1.50, but it’s organic counterpart is usually just over $2.00.

I looked up what organic food is defined as because I’ve heard many different things. A 2006 report by the Canadian General Standards Board says that “organic production is based on principles that support healthy practices.” The report also outlines several principles that organic food production must follow:

• Protect the environment, minimize soil degradation and erosion, decrease pollution, optimize biological productivity and promote a sound state of health.
• Maintain long-term soil fertility by optimizing conditions for biological activity within the soil.
• Rely on renewable resources in locally organized agricultural systems.

These regulations mean that pesticide us is out of the question. But, I’ve heard that quantity and type of pesticides used in food production are often harmless to our bodies. Therefore, making an organic choice may simply be putting a little extra money in the farmer’s and grocer’s hand.
A future blog is going to be a continuation on all that is green. I’m looking for some feedback before I go too much further because I’m aware that there are so many perspectives to reflect on when realizing the costs and benefits of going green. So, please, tell me about any considerations that I’m ignoring.

Also, is there anyone out there who is digging himself or herself into a hole of debt because of green intentions?

RBC p2p got an interview with Apache Indian... Check it out as we ask him the hard-hitting questions, and see him reveal a possible remix of the classic "Boom-Shack-a-lak"!!!!!! Also, some clips of his performance at RBC Desifest. The crowd went wild, we went wild, now hopefully you will too! Enjoy!

RBC p2p will be at RBC Desifest tomorrow, blogging live, right next to the RBC BlueCarpet. Come down and see us and take in some of the music! The event takes place Saturday, May 31st 2008, at Toronto's Dundas Square. We'll be talking with some of the hottest artists on the scene and getting an inside look at what goes on! We'll be posting live videos of the event right here!

We'll be talking with Apache Indian, RBC Desifest's headlining act! If you're not familiar with Apache Indian, you may remember a few of his hit songs, like "Boomshackalak"! Our video interview can be seen here along with footage from the concert.

In the meantime, while you're waiting for some amazing Toronto event coverage, be sure to check out our adventures at Vancouver's RBC Desifest!

12:30pm

It’s Nathan, Kate, Zach and Michel and we’re at DESIFEST in Toronto; everything is great, absolutely great. The weather’s great, the food smells delicious (worth coming just for the food) and all this cultural stuff is off the hook. There’s so much going on it’s almost overwhelming. Come by RBC Desifest at Yonge and Dundas Square and pay us a little visit, meet all of the performers (if you can nab them) and hang out with all of the sweet people that are taking everything in.

Come on down to Dundas Square to see it for yourself! If you can’t make it down here in person, take it in on the RBCp2p.com website and be sure to drop by http://www.desifest.ca/toronto/live to catch a live feed from the event!

5pm

We're having a great time here, despite some technical issues that have occured throughout the day! We've got everything back up and running, and we're up and producing videos!

For our first video, Kate thought that we would get a look at who was at Desifest, and we met up with some people from all over the world! Have a look! There's more to come!!

5:45pm

Kate also had an opportunity to interview some of the dancers from the Sri Sanskriti Dance Academy. Check it out!

6:30pm

Kate and Zachary are revving up for the coming day's events - before the rain hit! Plenty of people here, right from the start!

7pm


This is Sole Power from Toronto; they're some pretty animated performers, and they take it beyond just the stage (we just saw all four of them shuffle by under one little umbrella). So You Think You Can Dance better watch out for Sole Power...

7:25pm

Nathan had a chance to speak with Jay DeaLa... Here's what he had to say:

8:02pm

Zach just interviewed Avalla Connection, another one of the performers here at RBC Desifest! The rain wasn't keeping the people away and now that it has stopped, massive crowds are forming to take in the sights and sounds!

8:55pm

Kate had a chance to interview Meditating Minds Entertainment on the RBC Blue Carpet! We've got amazing access here at RBC Desifest, and we're talking to the hottest artists, established and up-and-coming on the desi scene... Stay tuned for more!

9:09 PM

We're bushed, but we're trucking on. We clearly need to eat some spicy curry or down some mango lassies if we're going to last for another couple of hours. All the entertainment's been great and we've had front row seats all day. Apache Indian is playing right now, so we're going to run and see if we can catch the rest of his act. If you're going to be in downtown Toronto tonight, come to Dundas square - there's a ton of people here! Also, the after party starts the moment Desifest ends, so if you still have some energy to burn, check it out for sure.

9:45pm

Little Empire just performed here at RBC Desifest, and it was quite the show! They then made their way to the RBC Blue Carpet where they were interviewed by Nathan! Here's the footage from the interview:

10:45pm

We've had an amazing time here at RBC Desifest 2008! We really felt the culture and buzz here, so much so that Kate, dressed in her South Asian garb had a henna design imprinted on both her arms by Christine Thomas. Check out the video of this amazing art form:

We're working on getting the Apache Indian footage together, and it will be up on the site soon!! We interviewed Apache Indian at our Toronto blog headquarters yesterday, and saw him perform to an insanely rambunctious crowd here at RBC Desifest!!

We're looking forward to being here next year! Signing off for the evening, and heading to the RBC Desifest afterparty...

Your Bloggers, on the scene:

Nathan, Zach, Kate and Michel

Click here to see our interview with Apache Indian!!