October 8/09 - Uptown Magazine
Vegan MoFo
Most people are familiar with vegetarianism, but veganism is still often misunderstood. Inspired by National Novel Writing Month - in which participants attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in one month - cookbook author/chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz decided to launch the Vegan Month of Food to encourage discussion on plant-based diets and help promote a vegan lifestyle. This year, over 320 vegan (and non-vegan) bloggers are participating and have pledged to blog about vegan food over the next month. In addition to being a great source of new recipes and food porn, hopefully the blogs will help debunk some myths about veganism and show people how easy it is to work a few vegan options into their regular meal rotation. You may not be convinced to totally abandon your favourite steak dinner, but dropping meat from one or two meals a week a will go a long way to improving your diet.
My Favorite Things: DJ Roc Raida
The DJ world lost another innovator on Sept. 19 when Roc Raida passed away from complications from injuries he suffered while doing mixed martial arts training. A skilled trick DJ and member of The X-Men and The X-Ecutioners, Raida also DJed for Busta Rhymes. Raida set the bar high with his fluid body tricks and innovative routines, which won him the DMC World Championship in 1995 and the respect of a whole generation of DJs. Like many of his contemporaries, former Halifax-based DJ Skratch Bastid was influenced by Raida. In a post to his blog, he writes about the New Yorker’s impact on DJ culture. YouTube clips from some of Raida’s famous routines are also included.
Quick Hits
MP3 of the Week: Thom Yorke - Four new songs (Live in L.A.)
Thom Yorke (performing with Nigel Godrich, Flea, Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco) caused a stir last week when he played a couple shows at Hollywood’s Echoplex and The Orpheum Theatre. Both video and audio bootlegs of the shows are available, including mp3s of new Radiohead material.
Video of the Week: Stephen Harper Covers The Beatles (with Yo Yo Ma)
In a rare move, Prime Minister Stephen Harper let his guard down to perform The Beatles’ With A Little Help From My Friends with Yo Yo Ma at a recent gala in support of Ottawa’s National Arts Centre and The National Youth and Education Trust. The video has already been viewed nearly 200,000 times after being on YouTube for only two days.
People of Walmart
Like a Walmart-specific version of Vice’s Dos and Don’ts, without the dos.
