The Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) hit Toronto last week with the conference's largest number of travel bloggers, writers and new media content creators in attendance to date. I was one of them and it was my first time. Despite TBEX being the largest conference of its kind I had no idea what it was until approximately three months ago. Some background info on me: I came into the blogging game sometime in 2008 writing for a muay thai website. In 2009 I sold most of what I owned, caught a flight to Bangkok to train and continued writing about muay thai. My internet diet consisted of a handful of hours a week at Thai net cafes to let family and friends know I … [Read more...]
Photo Series: Wolf Eyes + CCMC At MOCAD, Detroit
Detroit's Wolf Eyes and Toronto's Canadian Creative Music Collective (CCMC) played the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) on May 21 to launch the 19th annual Media City Film Festival across the border in Windsor. The night also served as a launch party for the limited edition vinyl reissue of the 1978 CCMC Volume Three, a lost recording made available as a limited edition pressing of 500 copies after 35 years. In attendance performing as CCMC were Al Mattes, John Oswald and Michael Snow. From Media City's Film Festival Guide: CCMC (Canadian Creative Music Collective) formed in 1974 as "a composing ensemble united by a desire to play music that is fluid, spontaneous, and … [Read more...]
Doing Toronto with Mr. Everywhere Mark Strong
This year's Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) Toronto is up at the end of the month and the city's Mr. Everywhere Mark Strong was kind enough to answer a few questions about traveling to Toronto. Some info on Mark: Mark Strong is the co-host of G98.7 FM's morning show Mark And Jem In The Morning, the in arena host of the Toronto Raptors and the in stadium host of Toronto's Argonauts. He's also the host of NBA XL. Mark's previous endeavors have included being the live voice of The Juno Awards (Canada's music awards) and Canada’s Walk of Fame. He was the warm-up talent for TV's Deal or No Deal (with host Howie Mandel), Are You Smarter than a Canadian 5th Grader (with host Collin Mochrie) and … [Read more...]
Reader Q & A: On Decency And Sportsmanship In Muay Thai
MBSB community member Artemis sent in the following: Hi Laura, I would like to ask for your opinion in regards to codes of conduct that promote decency and sportsmanship in the art of Muay Thai. A friend of mine who is a fighter uses an aggressive fighting style that unsettles me. When he fights he aims to KO his opponent in the first round causing significant pain and injury. This has become his trademark and there are usually a group of Western spectators who are there in support of him who go wild and praise him as a good fighter. The spectators change from month to month as they are tourists passing through, profits are … [Read more...]
Author Shawn Micallef Discusses Engaging with the City of Toronto for Travelers
In anticipation of the 1,000+ attendees of this year's Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) to be held in Toronto at the end of the month, I thought I'd touch base with the remarkable Shawn Micallef in search of advice for those traveling to the city. Some background on Shawn: Shawn Micallef is a senior editor and co-owner of the independent, Jane Jacobs Prize–winning magazine Spacing, and the author of Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto and co-author of Full Frontal T.O.: Exploring Toronto’s Architectural Vernacular. He currently writes a Friday column in the Toronto Star about the city, is completing a book in the Coach House Books Exploded Views Series, The Trouble with … [Read more...]
The Next Chapter: Windsor – Toronto – TBEX – Peterborough
I'm currently writing you amidst piles of my possessions. I'm downsizing. Again. I arrived in North America from Asia with two suitcases and two carry-ons and I've decided to drop back down to one suitcase and two carry-ons. I tend to find the process of collecting my items and my thoughts in anticipation of a change of locations as though I'm preparing for a little death. I make peace with my present life, I appreciate those around me and I get ready for a new chapter. In roughly two and a half weeks I'll board a plane and arrive in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange). The conference offers a venue for bloggers, writers, new media content creators … [Read more...]
Travel Tip No. 12: Detoxify Your Liver
Sometimes we're exposed to things we're unaware are detrimental to our health. While traveling, we often don't have the same control over our environment as we may have in our native countries. Eating in restaurants, buying medicines manufactured in areas with questionable standards, among any number of other situations may effect our bodies in ways we couldn't have foreseen. Sometimes those effects remain in the body and sometimes, those effects can be lessened, even healed through the cleansing our livers. Think of your liver as an air filter that traps all the dust, dirt, and other germs that circulate through the air. Imagine what an air filter looks like right … [Read more...]
How To Avoid MSG In Thailand
Eating MSG free in Thailand can be a difficult task. Most restaurants and vendors use it and deciding to cook for yourself can prove to be additionally difficult as most sauces and condiments contain the additive. Few labels list ingredients in English. The following is the result of years of trying to not be poisoned and often not succeeding. Some pointers: MSG In Grocery Stores Assume anything savory contains MSG. Should a food label list ingredients in English, any ambiguous word for flavouring added should be assumed to include MSG. When in doubt, the safest course of action is to only buy savory products (i.e. sauces, potato chips, shredded pork, nori) and other … [Read more...]
Photo Series: Winter’s End
Where the two motor cities almost meet. Windsor, Ontario, Canada on one side of the Detroit River and Detroit, Michigan, USA on the other. As a kid growing up in Windsor, I was told that aside from the strong current, the pollution in the Detroit River would kill me. This was further punctuated by stories of pollution in Windsor's west side. I would hear tales of locals having to rewash the laundry they hung to dry as pollution, filtering in from Detroit's Zug Island, would contaminate their lives. I was thankful I grew up in the south central part of the city despite living outside of an industrial park. Rolling around in discarded factory plastic wrap and thinking the aqua … [Read more...]
Gender And Power In Thailand’s Muay Thai Gyms
Anne Lieberman was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship to study the role of women in Muay Thai in Thailand in 2010. That same year, Anne interviewed me as a participant while I was based in Bangkok. I thought I’d catch up with her to discuss her findings on gender and power in Thailand's Muay Thai gyms. Please explain the awarded Fulbright Fellowship. The Fulbright Fellowship is a bilateral exchange program sponsored by the US Department of State in partnership with participating countries. Fulbright provides funding for a wide variety of education and research related programs around the world. Fulbright funds students, scholars, … [Read more...]
6 Ways To Make Money To Train Muay Thai In Thailand
The previous piece in this series focused on assisting you to save money to train muay thai in Thailand; this installment will help you make money to fund your muay thai training. Take from the list what you will and adapt anything to suit your needs. Create something new and let us know about it. Here we go... Ways To Make Money To Train Muay Thai In Thailand 1. Sell What You Neither Need Nor Care About I began with what I wanted and needed the least and continued. Check out the piece I wrote on how to declutter and sell your things to learn about the process. 2. Sublet/Rent Out Your Home Find someone to … [Read more...]
How To Declutter And Make Money To Travel
My first trip to Thailand in 2007 lasted six months. Previously I had traveled twice to Cuba in addition to number of other North American locations, mainly in the U.S.. I predominately traveled to see bands. I was the person that would get a call and be asked, "Hey, we're playing in Whatever City next month. A bunch of people are coming out. You should come." And off I'd go with a crew. Sometimes we slept on someone's floor, if I was lucky I got a couch or an extra bed. A number of additional trips were to visit people I'd met in various locations. I wasn't well traveled in the traditional sense. Deciding to spend six months in another country was the result of … [Read more...]
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