Twilight Sucked - Again!

It's not like I was surprised, but for a moment I thought, maybe this is more than just a horrible pubescent crazed fad like the Jonas Brothers. I thought, maybe New Moon might live up to the hype. Wrong! Now to prove my point, ask anyone who likes the movie and they will also voluntarily add, "Taylor Lautner is hot!" So okay, I will give you that (not so much the vampire boy though- he's kind of gross) but come on people, just admit it, you all just want to see Bella have sex with someone. They're confusing the crap out of these kids with all heavy breathing and sexual tension between the trio and then they end the movie with, "will you marry me?" ;which I applaud by the way,that's an awesome message, waiting for marriage. But does Bella really need to breathe so hard all the time? And did they have to replace all the parts where a good script should be with Titanic music? The movie had great potential but why they didn’t make use of it, I don’t know? Well, maybe they knew they could do a half-a** job and still make over $250 million in the first week (cha ching!).
( pic from http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/phenomenal-breaking-records-new-moon-doing-dark-knight-midnight-numbers/)

Toronto Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010 BACKSTAGE PICTURES, YOU WON'T SEE ANYWHERE ELSE!

Backstage with the biggest celebs, including Canada's new queen of R&B,Jully Black, last year's So You Think You Can Dance Winner, Nico Archambault and MTV's, Jessi Cruickshank and of course the hottest models to walk the runway this season!

(I own the rights to these pics)

Rihanna -Style Icon

(pic source www.accesshollywood.com)

The whole shoulder pads are in again hadn't got me convinced until I saw this picture. Now I'm not too sure I can rock this, but Rhianna sure did.It almost looks like an ad campaign of some sort.
What's your take? Would you wear these shoulder enhanced jackets??

Here's a list of some new CD releases for the week of Nov. 17:

Now, as I've mentioned before I've gotten a bit bored with a lot of the mainstream music today but this week I've decided to give some of it a fighting chance.I will be listening to and critiquing some new CD releases as listed below (yes critique can be good too lol), feel free to give me your insight.

50 Cent - "Before I Self Destruct"

Kris Allen - "Kris Allen" Kris Allen’s self-titled debut album lacks edge and gives us a pretty predictable playlist. These popish tunes may have worked 10 years ago but will definitely struggle to stand out on the mainstream charts. His pseudo-Christian tracks become a bit boring after a while and overall he plays it safe; he’s brought nothing really new to the table. Although, I must commend the overall good guy lyrics, feels like a breath of fresh air in that way, but the remake of “Heartless” was unnecessary. I really liked the raspiness in his voice on the track “I need to know” and maybe he should have done a bit more in this direction. He can be compared to Hanson and Steven Curtis Chapman. (pic from http://ewmusicmix.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/kris-allen-album_l.jpg)

Anthrax - "Among the Living" (Deluxe Edition)


Justin Bieber - "My World" Watch out Jonas Brothers you’ve got competition. Listening to this album made me feel old with songs about prom and having a “First Dance” you can’t call it anything but cute. With his almost instantaneous rise to success, I would expect his fans are going download this album like crazy. His tracks are about finding love and being his one and only girl are going to have every 13 year old girl and possibly some guys, swooning. He professes that when he was younger he was a player but now’s that he’s “Bigger” he's not. Now Justin, how much younger can you get? It’s pretty hard being a player when you’re just a zygote so he must have crazy skills! (Ha ha!). On a serious note, he’s got potential. I would compare him to New Kids on the Block and a younger Jesse Mccartney. ( pic from http://media.musictoday.com/store/bands/2181/product_small/BGCDJU01.JPG)

David Bowie - "Space Oddity" (40th Anniversary Edition)

Petula Clark - "This is Christmas"

Cheryl Cole - "3 Words"

Creedence Clearwater Revival - "The Singles Collection"

The Doors - "Live in New York"

Fall Out Boy - "Believers Never Die - Greatest Hits"

Forever the Sickest Kids - "The Weekend: Friday"


Hedley - "The Show Must Go" Hedley released this album a week ago but I’m already a bit bored of it. Sorry Jacob and other guys who no one talks about. This album is at times a fun and funky, punk pop fusion and other times – just a bit cheesy and lame. There are a few things I liked about it, and that is the Reggaeish, UB40 vibe they threw in with the song “Shelter” (if you don’t know who UB40 is, it’s the guys who sang “Red Red Wine”, still lost ? look it up ) kind of like their song “Never too late” from their last album. In songs like “Amazing” Jacob’s vocals are great, and it’s a perfect acoustic ballad; reminds me of their first album which I love. His voice is captivating and has this old world Sinatra feeling to it, and who doesn’t love Sinatra. However, as far as the writing skills go for this album, not impressed; it’s a lot of fun and games but I expected more from them. Some may disagree but I actually enjoyed the rhythmic flow of “Sweater Song”, but it’s definitely a “chick song”. My best advice to this band, get a reality show or at least start making good music again.
(pic source- http://www.melodic.net/img7/hedley09.jpg)


Robyn Hitchcock - "I Often Dream of Trains in New York"

Janet Jackson - "Number Ones"

Katherine Jenkins - "Believe"

Norah Jones - "The Fall"

Leona Lewis - "Echo"

Vera Lynn - "Vera Lynn at Christmas"

John Mayer - "Battle Studies"

Paul McCartney - "Good Evening New York City"

Motley Crue - "Greatest Hits"

Ross Neilsen - "Early Grave"

OneRepublic - "Waking Up"

Katy Perry - "Katy Perry: MTV Unplugged"

Queen - "Absolute Greatest"

Rakim - "The Seventh Seal"

Rascal Flatts - "Greatest Hits, Volume 1" (Limited Edition)

Rush - "Working Men"

Spandau Ballet - "Once More"

Stereophonics - "Keep Calm and Carry On"

Them Crooked Vultures - "Them Crooked Vultures"

Patrick Watson - "Just Another Ordinary Day"

Karl Wolf - "Nightlife"

Shane Yellowbird - "It's About Time"

Will Young - "The Hits" (Special Edition)

Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe 2"


Shakira -" She Wolf " - Being a fan of her voice, I would say combined with her amazingly unique vocals, the eclectic music and sexy lyrics, this record really grows on you.She goes for a more edgier sound that we've had a glimpse of but here she really dives in with it. She does a good job of throwing in a few tracks that will definitely appeal to the more mainstream audience with "She Wolf" and "Did it Again".It's a very sexy album ( she even howls... ), she retains that part of her persona for sure and she does give us some old Shakira with a few tongue rolls and sexy drums. The more electro and dance-pop songs are quite fun and great for the clubs.I would have liked to hear more of the Middle Eastern sounds she includes in songs like "Gypsy" and "Good Stuff".Its like Kylie Minogue only more current and cultured. ( pic from http://blog.taragana.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/shakira.jpg)

(Source - The Toronto Metro)

Sandra- up and coming artist

Sandra is an up and coming prophetic artist specializing in surrealist art


All paintings are originals and reproduction of said images are prohibited.

All pieces are for sale but not available in stores.Email me at tashikagomes@hotmail.com if you wish to make a purchase or to arrange an in person viewing Sandra's work.

Coming this week - My one on one interview with Sandra, how she started painting at 48-years-old and who gives the inspiration for her amazing pieces.

Jimmy Choo coming to an H&M near you ... and me!

Tomorrow morning, yes tomorrow, yes morning, at select H&M stores nationwide, you too can own a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes.
For us fashionistas on a budget, Tamara Mellon, founder of the widely popular label Jimmy Choo is bringing us all an early Christmas present, cheaper Choos. She’s following in the footsteps of some of the greats, Stella McCartney, Roberto Cavalli and Karl Lagerfeld, who’ve graced us mere mortals with a taste of the good life with their similar collaborations with H&M.

"Jimmy Choo will bring to H&M a sophisticated, fashion forward, accessible and glamorous collection - the perfect party pieces to buy now and then wear out that night!" Tamara Mellon, the founder and president of Jimmy Choo, said in a press release. (www.hollyscoop.com)

Although handbags and accessories will also be available at very affordable prices, the much loved shoes will range from $ 59.95 to $299, an incredible mark down from the usually pricey foot wear.
Don’t drool ladies but here’s a taste





pic taken from http://www.coveringsmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/jimmy-choo-hm-shoes-and-accessory-line.jpg

Disney’s first ever Black Princess

When I saw this, a little piece of me died inside. I thought, wow we haven’t done this yet? And wow, I almost didn’t notice that we haven’t done this yet! Now, I pride myself in being somewhat color blind, which may have contributed to me not noticing that, in 2009, we are only now having the first ever black Disney princess. I thought we had made a little more progress than that, but I guess we’ve taken the term ‘‘baby steps’’ literally.

To restore our faith in humanity, somewhat, I`ve listed a few other great days in Black History.


SEPTEMBER 11, 1999--At 17, Serena Williams became the first Black female to win the U.S. Open tennis title since Althea Gibson's historic 1958 victory.
JULY 11, 2000--The Rev. Vashti Murphy McKenzie is elected the first woman bishop of the AME Church.

FEBRUARY 19, 2002--Vonetta Flowers (with teammate Jill Bakken) won a gold medal in the women's bobsled event at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. She became the first Black athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

MARCH 26, 2002--The first class-action lawsuit for reparations was filed in U.S. District Court in New York City on behalf of descendants of African-American slaves.

APRIL 12, 2003--Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson, the first Black female Prisoner of War, is rescued by U.S. Marines. She was one of seven soldiers captured by forces in Iraq.

OCTOBER 26, 2005--Ken Williams, general manager of the Chicago White Sox, hoists the championship trophy after the team he put together won the World Series in a four-game sweep against the National League champion Houston Astros. The White Sox hadn't won a World Series title since 1917.

January 20, 2009 – Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States and the first African- American president.

The excerpt dated from 1999-2005 was taken from -http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_4_61/ai_n26732708/pg_3/?tag=content;col1

The picture of Tiana the Princess was taken from http://www.cinemablend.com/images/news_img/12019/12019.jpg

The movie is called “The Princess and the Frog” and is set to release late November 2009. I will keep you all posted!!

Question time!
The movie is said to be quite controversial as Tiana, the black princess, spends most of the movie as a frog and falls in love with a white prince. What are your thoughts? I know you have many...Comment below.

The woes of a Wanna be VJ

A certain amazing television station hosted a VJ search recently.... I won’t name names . Now last minute, I may or may not have punked out and not sent in an audition tape, but I did look through a hundred or so audition tapes, which may or may not have been the reason I punked out. What I would like to ask this particularly amazing station is... what the heck are you looking for?! I’m pretty sure that just like every other amazing person that has been following the VJ search, we all have our favourites. It may be out of jealously, anger or resentment or it may not be, that I say this – Why does the search remind me of a beauty pageant? I’m just saying, I saw some really amazing talent out there... namely a few obviously awesome people from Ryerson... (go Rye High!) none of whom were chosen. The few who were picked do have a certain charisma, charm and undeniable good looks but in my humble, humble opinion did not match up in talent to a lot of the other hopefuls that I saw. Does anyone else agree with me or have I just been consumed by envy?? I know there’s politics and you don’t need Frankenstein in front of the camera... sorry, but come on what is it that you want from us?!
And now a word to the audience who have a great deal to play in who becomes the next Much VJ.... please try to look past the amazing good looks (yes I think Tim Deegan is hot and by the way fire your stylist) and try hard to focus and vote for talent. Now that Matte Babel has gone and taken all his swagger with him, Much needs help and given that I’m not there yet, we’ll just have to settle with second best. 
Ok enough of me venting, I would like to wish good luck to all the contestants (or maybe I kinda hope you guys would all suck so there’s room for me).
Much Music you’ll be seeing me soon!!

Flyleaf in Concert tomorrow !

FLYLEAF is coming to T.O!!! They will be at THE MOD CLUB THEATER on NOV.13, 2009!!
They are an awesome American alternative rock-band worth checking out!

check them out here >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wn6ZT5apFc&feature=related to get a taste of their music.

check out tickets here only $21.50 >> http://tickets.urmusic.ca/artists/flyleaf great deal you must admit.

check out http://concerts.muchmusic.com/ for more details and concert listings.

JayMez - up and coming artist

I have found myself over the last year or so looking for and finding great undiscovered raw talent on YOUTUBE.It's so refreshing to get to see these young artist, so passionate, so dedicated and so unspoiled.I will ever so often post some of this music but I'm proud to say that this song by my very own brother will be the first I will be posting.

Drake ft. JayMez - Do It Now



JayMez does not own the rights to this music but I think Drake should give him a call

Fashion has Music at the Reins

We can all agree that that there is an ongoing symbiotic fusion, a ying and yang, a push and pull relationship between music and fashion but who's the one really wearing the pants, and on occasion the hot pants in this relationship? Who really influences whom?


In the last decade or so the music industry has not been the one at the reins; we haven't seen a major influence on the fashion industry from its music counterpart since the days of Tupac or Madonna, when our singing fashionistas were so influential they infiltrated the design dons with baggy pants or punked-out gloves. What we are seeing is that designers are using the music industry as a way to promote their own lines, and as the mass populace latches on to certain trends this in return influences the demands on the fashion industry.

Now I wouldn't say there isn't a possibility that Alexander McQueen does not kick back listening to Kanye West for inspiration, but Kanye is a well-known fashion junkie, recently signing on to a Louis Vuitton campaign, again expressing his enthusiasm for fashion.One may feel that the music industry is the one influencing fashion but this is because we usually see celebs in the eye catching gear before we see it on the runway. Most of us can only dream of what it would be like to sit front and center at a Jean Paul Gaultier show, and so instead our chart topping heroes become our liaisons to the fast and fabulous world of fashion.

James Brown wouldn't have been singing about hot pants if it wasn't already H-I-P to do so; and it didn't really matter how many times Elvis sang about his blue suede shoes, we don't all have a pair in our closet -thank goodness!

So like Beyonce in a Valentino gown, music and fashion are great alone but better together- music just won't work without the fashion, like Lil'John without the dark sunglasses. And we all know why we watch the pre-shows to the MMVA's; and it's not for the very eloquent interviews,it's for the "OMG, so who are you wearing?"

Fashion Week Fever (Day 5)

Day 5 - Bittersweet Tears. So many people have dropped out,guess they came down with fashion fever ! I will work until my feet bleed, then wipe the blood and work some more !

Brandon Dwyer- didn't hate it .... didn't love all of it, what I really like were the exaggerated head pieces , hope those catch on :)

Jessica Biffi- So i'm loving her jersey jumpsuits and those box layers, I predict a trend !!

Ula Zukowska- Futuristic desert wear.I liked the print on some of the dresses and wish it was used a bit more. Also I really think the whole collection could have done without the red sunglasses....

Gotstyle the Menswear Store- So this was such a fun show !I loved how they mixed it up with a few celebs to give the runway some personality , specifically Nico Archambault, so very very rarely do I get star struck ! but Nico .... sighhh.... anyhooo the show was great no complaints here :)call me... lol

Lucian Matis- Midevil Glamour? It was actually really great working in the same space as him , you could feel his creative juices flowing. You could see that he preferred doing things himself.He made it his duty to dress some of the girls although come show time it was quite impossible for him to do so. I loved the shoes he used again it was a mix of soft and hard and off the topic he is quite the looker in person.

Pat McDonagh- This was a yummy collection. The desert theme was evident throughout and you know what,lose a few cherries here and there and it works.

Dare to Wear Love, Produced by Hoax Couture- 25 designers each made a piece for this benefit show to raise awareness for those with AIDS in Africa. Although everyone took time to recognize and bring importance to the matter, the night was made even more unforgettable by crazy fun catwalks by Jully Black and Jessi Cruickshank. A definite must see !Some Jully Black footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Gehj63cK8Q


Lucian Matis Spring Collection 2010


The Dare to Wear Love Finale Show

*Unfortunately, I did not volunteer for all the shows at fashion week. But please feel free to comment if you did and tell us all about your experiences !!!
Just a note -I do not own the rights to any of the fashion week pics posted unless specified.

Visit http://lgfashionweek.ca/ for more details,pics,vids,bios etc.!!!

Fashion Week Fever ( Day 4)

Day 4

Vibgyor- Most unique collection of the week! Although a bit crazy at times, like a kindergarden class art project, the embellishments were amazing.For such young designers I tip my farmer's hat to them both for such whimsy!

Rain Anthology- hmmmm .... ammm... just look at the show for yourself http://lgfashionweek.ca/Designer.aspx?id=85 . So the clothes were okay but Stacey Mackenzie please help those girls! The designer did wear an interesting shirt that said 'Google me'.Eh..

Aime- Well although this show was a bit forgettable I must say that I really like the pieces and would wear most of them :)

Cheri Milaney- This was a sophisticated collection aimed at a more mature woman, she kept it clean and classy and reinvented some classic pieces with the use of a more modern color palette.

Evan Biddell- The much anticipated Biddell show.You could feel the excitement in the air backstage.I thoroughly enjoyed this show. The clothes were edgy yet soft, sexy and feminine.He's definitely out of the box. I would love to see more menswear.

Rudsak- Loved it. Classic, timeless, loved the punches of color in between it all.Great clutches.

NADA- This was a designer who wasn't shy in vocalizing exactly what she wanted backstage. I guess us volunteers were just spoiled with designers like Joseph Mimran and Wesley Badanjak. But I actually really enjoyed the whole look, the lace, the chunky pearls, even the hair !

Romona Keveza- Okay I'm going to try not to gush but this is one of my favorite collections this season ! ok so i'm not that much in the whole getting married thing but I would get married 10 times if I get to wear 10 of these dresses !


The Romona Keveza Spring Collection 2010

Fashion Week Fever (Day 3)

Day 3 - I arrived just in time to be thrown backstage for the Paul Hardy show.

Paul Hardy - Some may disagree but I actually like the pieces in the this collection, I found it was like a breath of fresh air. Being Caribbean it held a certain sentimental value for me, with the head ties and white cotton it reminded of designers I've had the pleasure of working with in Trinidad.

Reva Mivasagar- This collection did not stand out too much for me although I did enjoy the color and prints used. One thing, the bead-work was extraordinary. you have to check it out below.

Lovas Wesley Badanjak- And the funniest designer award goes to.Seconds before the show started he jumped up and down like a school girl clapping his hands saying," Omg Omg, I'm going to piss my pants !!" Hilarious !! and on top of that that I loved his collection. It was all fun fun fun !

Katrina Tuttle- So I am super excited to do this show but somehow it wasn't what I expected I though the pieces were super great and feminine but I expected something a bit different. And a super secret message to Katrina Tuttle, I am soooo sorry !

Attitude. Only at Sears.- Now when you think Sears you don't really think attitude so when I heard Sears was showing I must be honest us volunteers weren't too thrilled.... but WERE we suprised! Now I think it was mostly the crazy hair that had the most attitude but I think the models really rocked what they were given to work with.

Pink Tartan - Now don't piss your pants but can you say full house! Now I must discuss what Kimberley Newport-Mimran wore, specifically the shoes.OMG FAB. She looked super chic from head to toe and then to toe again.Kimberley where did you get those shoes ??! O yah and her collection was great too and like her platforms a bit of a step up.

Joe Fresh Style - The patrons remained seated for another one of the top shows of the week, but personally I wasn't very impressed.Although I must say Joseph Mimran and his wife are two of the nicest designers that showed this fall. They ensured all their models were okay and saw the showing more of a celebration than anything else.Great great people! The show ran almost an hour later than expected but neither designers seemed bothered and although the prices are great I'm not that into booty shorts or farmer hats.

Joe Fresh Style Spring Collection 2010

Fashion Week Fever (Day 2)

Day 2 - I arrived at 8.45 am as was requested to a fabulously deserted building. After milling around for a few minutes the backstage crew or dressers as we were called headed to the temporary white tent housing bevies of beauties,bottles of champagne that we could not touch and photographers who weren't the least bit interested in taking my picture- shocking I know! lol

The shows of the day and my critique-

VATA Brasil- ladies active wear, well it was just that but with a bit of a punch, although I did not have the pleasure trying any on , the models all looked quite comfortable.

Lizares- well... let me say a few good things first. the models for this show were HOT HOT HOT and some even sweet and didn't treat us volunteers like their own personal minions. One model in particular, was a bit nervous it being his first show, he showed up to get dressed and was handed a pair of tighty whities, dispite seeming quite nervous backstage he Rocked it on the runway. see below for pics. Now back to the clothes. They were calm and collected with a bit of zing, like a Bahamian vacation. I must say however, this was the most disorganized show I had the pleasure of being a part of,I felt as if no one was sure what was going on, not even the designer.

Travis Taddeo- This was a fun show. It was street wear with a lot of edge, lots of skin and baseball bats.... yahh...

Jason Meyers- So this is a funny story. So the volunteers and I were all ready and revved up to dress for Jason Meyers when we received word that the designer would like all the volunteers to EXIT. Basically he didn't want anyone else touching his stuff. can you say DIVA. ok so maybe if I were a designer I probably wouldn't want to put the fate of my showing in a bunch of volunteers' hands but thank God DIVA isn't contagious.

David Dixon - Even if I wanted to say something bad I couldn't.I though the clothes were great although a bit mature for moi. One thing though, I think he could have used a few better models...Oh I have to mention a certain lethal piece in the collection that looked like pieces of stripped metal.. yah it actually is exactly that.. it gives the comment "you look Fierce" a whole new meaning !

Barbie by David Dixon - Now this was a beauty. the models were absolutely gorgeous and carried the clothes amazingly. This was one of the biggest shows of the week and it was crazy backstage. One of the models I dressed who looked like a 12 year old barbie, her shoe being too big for her I asked a fellow model for some of the duck tape she was using to tape her own over- sized shoes, to my surprise she refused to help out, the sad thing is that this same girl ended up on the cover of the metro the next day but at least I was able to find another shoe for my model. Caty Caty!

Bustle- Every man should shop at Bustle ! Bustle delivered as expected and the kind of power and control that was exhibited onstage resonated backstage as well. Founder Shawn Hewson, I would say the best dressed designer of the week, was as cool as cucumber backstage as he walked around tweaking collars and sleeves to his liking.And I am convinced now that Rick Mercer has a microphone attached to his umbilical cord and yes he's that shiny in person. Great guy! added so much pin
stripped flavor to the show !


[Travis Taddeo Spring Collection 2010]

Fashion Week Fever ! (Day 1)

So I'm going to kick-off this blog by sharing my awesome experiences volunteering at FASHION WEEK Spring 2010!!

My intentions were to blog about what happened on a day to day basis, but that was impossible as I was working about 10-12 hours per day so all that I could do after work was sleep.

The first day on-site (9 a.m) the place looked amazing the new location at 1030 King Street W. looked completely different than it did at the volunteer meeting. Although volunteers were broken up into various groups,fashion environment,logistics and of course the much coveted backstage( me ! :) ) we were were all herded into the soon to be holding place for the who's who in fashion.

Day1 -Is pretty much a blur at this point and to my utmost dismay there wasn't any awesome backstage stuff to do :( . So my day included:- lifting, pulling, pushing,pasting, some more lifting and a brief steal away for a lunch break.Fun times! I must say though that everyone that I meet that day was super nice, although that didn't last for too long... I left on-site at 7.30pm,excited, exhilarated and exhausted.