Pharrell Williams Designing Prefab Homes

Pharrell Williams has always been one of my favourite producers and musicians, but now I have an even higher respect for him.  He's collaborating with Pritzker prize winning architect Zaha Hadid, and will be working on some prefab homes with her.  Here's an excerpt from his new book “Pharrell: Places and Spaces I’ve Been”:

Pharrell Williams:: With my next project, after my next chair, I would love to do a prefab house, have you ever done a prefab?

Zaha Hadid: No, but I’ve done temporary structures. So I think the prefab could be interesting.

PW: The average single-bedroom trailer or mobile home is somewhere between $40,000 to $70,000, and two bedrooms range to about $99,000. They say that we are bouncing back from the recession, but in a lot of areas, especially the housing sector—

ZH: It’s not coming back…

PW: …at all. So I felt that if we would make something that was about $75,000 to $100,000 that we would could do something really fun and really next-level that could change the game, you know?

ZH: No, of course.

PW: So if you’ll be into it I’d love to talk to you about doing prefab houses together.

ZH: That would be very exciting.

PW: First of all, I’m super excited. I’m not going to jump up and down and run out of breath. Then we won’t finish the interview. But when we finish I will do that…Because I’m a big kid!

ZH: [Laughs]

via: http://freshome.com/2013/01/10/an-architecture-collaboration-between-pharrell-williams-and-zaha-hadid/#sthash.jDIZgegz.dpuf


He's also designs furniture, here are chairs he designed:

via www.dazeddigital.com

Random Acts Of Kindness

Unfortunately, it's rare to open the paper and find good news these days.  We see horrific crimes, political turmoil, and economic debates.  Then, I read a simple, but amazing article.  A woman in Kansas accidentally dropped her engagement ring in a homeless man's panhandling cup.  He kept the ring, knowing she would return for it.  Her fiance was so touched by the gesture, he set up an online donation for him which raised more than $145,000.

My favorite part of this story is the humility, and knowing that sometimes we're wrong to make judgements and expect certain things from certain people.  I think the fiance was truly humbled by this man's honesty, and I think he was humbled because he didn't expect it.  What would you expect?  Most people look at homeless people on the street and feel that they cannot trust them.  We put our hands in your pockets, or hold our purses a little tighter when we walk by.  We conclude that just because someone is downtrodden, their experiences have tainted away their integrity.  Then you have the kindness of the fiance.  He didn't have to set up a donation fund, but he wanted to help.
 
My assistant called me the other day with a beautiful story.  She loves to go thrifting - she finds posters, gadgets, trinkets and nice little items with a lot of character.  So, she was in a thrift store a few days ago, and a man next to her picked up a coat.  Attached to the coat was a $5 bill with a note that said "Today is your lucky day, remind someone that you love them".  Simple.  This person didn't want any recognition, they just had the satisfaction of knowing that they made someone's day.

Another friend was telling me a story about a time that he was in the Tim Horton's drive thru.  When he got up to the window, the woman told him that the person in front of him in line paid for his coffee and said to have a nice day, and pass it along.  So, he did.  One morning he paid for the person's coffee behind him and gave the same message.  Hopefully, this circulates.  Imagine getting your morning coffee, and having that message start your day?

We often underestimate the impact we can have on others.  A small act of kindness can change someone's day, and maybe even snowball into changing other people's day.

Newest Addition To Kensington Market

I am a HUGE fan of Kensington Market, and have been for years.  There have been some definite changes within the past 10-15 years.  Kensington Market has always prided itself on being non-conformist and unique.  It's a community that supports small businesses, and has a plethora of products that you can only find in Kensington.

But, as shabby became chic, and different and unique became the norm, we started to see some changes in our beloved market.  The European Quality Meats and Sausages - a place that sold certain meats that you couldn't find anywhere else in the city - sold, after over 50 years of business.  The Blue Banana opened up, which is a bit over-saturated in capitalizing on pseudo-unique products.  You used to be able to go to kensington market and buy an authentically cool vintage t-shirt for under $10.  Now, if you mistakenly buy it from the wrong place, you'll be paying $30 for a vintage looking t-shirt with a Fruit of the Loom tag on it.  There are nightclubs and bars that are "places to be"

One thing that has always remained the same in the market are the residents.  Partially because it's rare that property becomes available in Kensington, and partially because there's an underlying camaraderie between residents.  Things may have changed in Kensington, but you will never see a Starbucks on Augusta, or a McDonalds on Nassau.  This is because the tight knit community has always fought together against large corporations infecting their beloved market.  

So I wasn't surprised at the newest Kensington Market stunt.  This morning, I read in the paper that a vacancy has opened up in a Kensington store front.  This is very hard to come by, but the landlords have taken the their community and to the public in trying to find a suitable tenant.  They've asked that people provide their feedback, and have hung a sign in the entrance "What would you like to see in this space".   They're going to charge the same amount in rent whether it were leased out by a Starbucks, or a free trade coffee shop, but they want the opinion of their neighbours and friends before deciding who will be the newest addition to the market.

If you'd like to let them know what you'd like to see, email them at 225augusta@gmail.com 

Romantic Toronto

Toronto may not be romantically famous like Florence, or Paris, but there are a lot of places in the TDot that are still romantic and great date spots all year round.

Casa Loma

By far the most romantic historic building in Toronto

Kensington Market
I know it's not obviously romantic, but there's something nice about strolling around Kensington on a date.  It's got more character than any neighbourhood in Toronto, and you're guaranteed to stay entertained by even just looking in the different stores.

Pickering Beach
Pickering has a beach??  That's exactly why I put this on the list.  It's a hidden gem.  It's quiet, and almost a secret amongst it's visitors.  Great for just sitting and looking out on the water.

Scarborough Bluffs

The scenery at the Bluffs is wonderful, and the trail is nice for strolling in all year round.

Downtown Oakville

The older style buildings in downtown Oakville date back to the 1800's, and you can walk down the street and just choose a quaint little restaurant or bistro to sit in.

Harbourfront

The Toronto Harbourfront gives you the best of both worlds - there's always an event, or you can find a quiet place to just admire the city.

Mississauga Waterfront

St. Lawrence Market

What's romantic about fresh meat and vegetables?  It's not so much the market, but the ambiance of the market that makes it romantic.  This is like a 5th date place - pick up some fresh ingredients and go home and cook together.

High Park

Edwards Gardens

Toronto Planetarium

Definitely a unique date place, but if you've never been, it's something you need to experience.  The city lights block our view of the stars, sitting back and admiring them here is a fun place to take someone.

Forgot It Was Valentines Day??

CRAP!  It's Valentines Day.  It happens, people forget...well, men forget.  Women don't forget.  So, you could be in some deep #@$t if you don't pull something together FAST.   Here are a few things you can do last minute to save your a$$:

1. Dinner
Chances are, most places are booked up for tonight (all those damn guys who didn't forget actually made reservations).  Check out opentable.com, they have access to the reservations of hundreds of restaurants, so you'll save yourself the hassle of having to look each one up, just go down the list until you find one with availability.  If all else fails, get some candles and have dinner at home.  She would love it if you cooked - it shows that you made an effort.  Check out allrecipes.com, they have pretty much everything, show you how long it takes, and if it's easy or not.  If you really can't cook, or really don't have time to do that, pick something up.  This is where Longos can be your best friend.  I know it sounds cheesy, but odds are against you being able to pick up something fairly gourmet tonight.  Longos has impressive carry out dishes - I've seen braised ribs, glazed salmon, stuff like that.  They also have a plethora of sides.  Whatever it is that you decide to pick up, make sure that when they pack up your food - this is very important - they separate each dish (meat in one container, vegetables in another, etc...).  When you get home, plate it nicely.  This will matter to her.

2.  Flowers
Boutique flower shops will probably not take your order at this point.  You're going to have to be creative with where you go, and what you get.  Again, I direct you to Longos.  They have a great flower section.  If they are out of roses and only have those cheesy looking arrangements, get a potted plant.  Whatever you do, DO NOT GET CARNATIONS.  Orchids are great, lilies are also good - simple, elegant.

3.  Jewelry
If you want to get jewelry and just don't have time, tell her that you got her something, but it still needs to be engraved, or fitted.  Be coy about it, hint that you got her jewelry, but don't tell her what.  Tell her you really wanted to give it to her today, but they just couldn't get it done on time.  Then, rush your butt to the store and get it as fast as you can.   Don't forget your excuse - if you said you were waiting for the engraving, make sure it's engraved.  If you said they were fitting it, measure her ring or bracelet size.

4. Chocolate
You can go ahead and grab some Godiva chocolate if you want, or you can grab a nice small cake from Longos (yup, Longos again!).  Get them to write something on it, 'I love you', 'Happy Valentines Day', something like that.  Or, if you really want to over compensate, grab some strawberries and chocolate chips.  This takes about 10 minutes, tops.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave with 30 second intervals and mix in between.  Then dip, and refrigerate.  If you want to be really fancy, go to Bulk Barn, get some white chocolate, and some red chocolate (melting chocolate looks like quarters and they have all different colors).  Do some red, then mix the two and do some pink.  She will be SO impressed.  **very important tip - if you do this, make sure the strawberries are completely dry before you dip them, or else the chocolate will curdle.

5. Finale
Here's the icing on the cake.  Burn her this mixtape and tell her you made it for her, and that all of these songs make you think of her.  She will melt.  Tell her she's beautiful.  Tell her she makes you a better man.  Act like you were a little unsure of yourself - "Did you like dinner?  I know it wasn't amazing, but I wanted to make you something", "Do the strawberries look dumb?  I guess I should have just bought them...", "Are you upset that your gift is late?  I really think you'll like what I picked, and I didn't want to get one you wouldn't love."


What every woman wants is to see that you made the effort.  It will seem like it took you weeks to pull this off, but you can do it in a few hours.  Good luck!

Great V-Day Gifts For Guys

As much as we love to spoil our women on Valentines Day, it's nice to get your man a great gift too.  Whether you want to spend $10 on a bouquet of bacon roses, or a few thousand on an interchangeable laptop, I'd love any of them...

How Safe Are Our Toronto Cabs??

The Toronto Star recently did an investigation on Toronto Taxi drivers (full article here).  It's something you never really think about, though it really is such a simple thought - would you get into a car with a stranger??

Taxi drivers automatically get exempt from that thought, because you figure that they've made it through some extensive screening process.  That's where we're wrong.  The article outlines some very disturbing facts about the city's guidelines, as well as what different companies require.  The city only requires a criminal record check once every four years, and they operate on an "honour system", which "requires" drivers to report any criminal or traffic charges.

The article outlines a few specific instances involving drunk driving, assault, and even a very disturbing sexual assault on a 13 year old girl with a severe mental illness.  The worst part is that very few taxi drivers lose their license.  According to the article, 340 of the drivers who were refused renewal within the past five years appealed this decision, and only 53 of which were denied their appeal.  So all you have to do is appeal a revoked license, the odds are in your favour.

Some taxi companies maintain their own integrity by implementing an internal screening process.  Royal Taxi runs regular criminal checks on their drivers, and require for their employees to be bondable.  Beck and Diamond do not have their own screening process, they just rely on the city's.

So what do we do about this?  Taxis are vital to our city, and serve as a great alternative for drunk driving.  I don't think the onus for a more vigorous screening process should be on the city, our tax money should not go towards the due diligence of Taxi companies.  I do think that regulations should be put in place, such as the screening process for companies, or taxi cabs should have locks that are only locked from the outside but can always open from the inside so that passengers are never locked in.

From now on, I would recommend that we only use Royal Taxi.

Toronto Tool Library

I was reading the paper today, and saw a really amazing article.  Toronto is opening it's first Tool Library.  People can visit this library in Parkdale for an inexpensive way to borrow tools.

"Other people who need the tools are having to spend their hard-earned money on buying new tools or renting them at an expensive price, when they (could be) available from a neighbour they haven’t met yet.”  Amazing concept.  If you make more than $40k/year, your membership fee is only a measly $50 - which, let's face it, you can't even buy a screwdriver set with.  If your income is less, your fee is less - another amazing concept.

I'm so damn proud to be Torontonian sometimes - this is so cutting edge, yet the foundation of it all is still so friendly.  

Check out torontotoollibrary.com for more info

My Two Cents on the Canadian Penny

Today, the Canadian government has stopped the production of the penny, and started their initiative to phase out the penny.

"The decision to phase out the penny was due to its excessive and rising cost of production relative to face value, the increased accumulation of pennies by Canadians in their households, environmental considerations, and the significant handling costs the penny imposes on retailers, financial institutions and the economy in general.

The estimated savings for taxpayers from phasing out the penny is $11 million a year."

I did a bit of research, to see how exactly they plan to do this, and these are the facts:

- production of the penny will seize

- retailers are urged to round up or down to the nearest nickel when completing cash transactions

- cheque, debit, and credit transactions will continue to charge to the penny, not having to round up

- businesses can choose to, or not to accept pennies

- the penny will retain it's value indefinitely

So, is it just me, or are there things that just don't quite fit?  The process seems a little ambiguous to me.  If you pay debit, you still pay to the penny, but if you pay cash, you have to round up or down.  In my opinion, this will skew business ledgers, inventory balancing, and general budgeting all around.  The "rounding guide" that the Canadian government put out is somewhat reminiscent of the grade school lessons we all learned years ago.  It's basic to say the least, and the biggest gap you can pay more or less for is $0.02.  It's not much, and for the average person, you'll at most lose $10 if you are rounded up for 500 cash transactions.  But, if you are a business that completes a couple of thousand transactions per day (gas station, grocery store, Tim Horton's, etc...) that could affect your financial statements by tens of thousands of dollars.

Have you heard about that lawsuit agains Subway in the US? Well, they have allegedly been producing 11" subs instead of 12".  First, you think "What's the big deal, it's one inch".  But, consider that this means that every twelfth sub is technically made at 100% profit, because it's paid for by the inch shortage of it's predecessors.  There are approximately 35,000 Subway locations worldwide, and on average I think it's safe to say they sell roughly 5-600 subs per day.  So, that's about 6,387,500,000 subs per year, if you divide that by 12, that gives us 532,291,667 subs made at 100% profit every year, having been paid for by the inch shaved off of previous subs.  Obviously, this is based on a lot of assumptions.  

But what does this have to do with the penny in Canada?  My analogy is simple - it may not seem like a lot, but when you look at it in a grand scale, the two cents can add up, but where do they go?