Well, lookie here. We’re almost mid month and I still haven’t sent my thank you’s.

Right now it’s 3:13am and I’m writing this on my iPhone in the dark. I can’t sleep because my mind lately has been on 24/7 grind mode. This past two months have been the pinnacle of busy, which I confess to all the unanswered emails I’ve received in December, I apologize for being inattentive. The holidays brought an onslaught of planning and execution for many of my clients, both public and private: Christmas contests, buckets of gifts to distribute, and Boxing Day sale ideas to make a reality. In the world of Gotstyle, our last month concluded a record breaking year; I’m not one to discuss figures, but I can say that we hit record sales in 2011, higher than any of the 7 years Gotstyle has been open. While the sales staff has finally matured into their own and providing amazing customer service, you can ask founder Melissa Austria herself: social media was part of the reason why Gotstyle had such a successful year. Back pat.

But thats not really what’s keeping my mind drumming with ideas late at night. With so many upcoming initiatives I’ve begun this year and am helping to coordinate, ideas can happen at any time. And you always have to be ready to keep that door open. Even if it’s 3:20am.

Anyways, that’s why I’ve been so afk lately. I’m not making the obligatory blogger promise of “I promise to update more”, because really, I’m busy getting paid. But I’m still far from leaving this online palace that I call my second home and my thought bubble.

2011 became an exceptionally busy year. I started the work year migrating from the Uniq Lifestyle nightclub homestead and bringing my social media skills to Gotstyle’s investor company; which means more time on the menswear side of things, more time spent eating Bully Burgers at SCHOOL restaurant, more diversity in applying social media to multiple private industries, more social initiatives to lead, more client side projects, and more.. well, the pay is pretty sweet too.

While the social media guy side of me reaps the benefits of awesome projects and doing what I love and do best, the social instigator side of me has been up to a whole lot this past year. Needless to say, I have a list of much deserved thank you’s to dish out.

The Ramone Awards. #RRawards. I don’t know, I just wanted a hash tag to signify my favzies of ’11. I pretty much love everyone I follow and regularly tweet with, but I just felt a brief shoutout to my top comrades is more than suitable.

• • •

Best company to tweet with: @virginmobilecan

Virgin Mobile’s tweet genius (tweenius?) @shapeandcolour is a hilarious dude. Really knows how to personify a brand, which is increasingly difficult with big brands. He also invited me to a wicked-ass Virgin Mobile party and got me stupid blackout drunk way back when (skip to 1:45 and 2:26).

I’d love to give an honourable shoutout to whoever used to expertly manage the @fabfindtoronto Twitter account. Whoever used to tweet there earlier in the year was a freakin’ rockstar. These days the once-epic Twitter account just spits deals out and responds generically to people, which is a supreme bore. Whoever you were, early-2011 @fabfindtoronto person, this nod is for you.

• • •

Funniest person to tweet with: @YoshXL

I can honestly say Yosh (or Richard) has been the funniest guy I’ve ever tweeted with. And he’s been there from the start (about two years ago). You’re going to have to sharpen up your jokes if you want to rival him for that award. He didn’t need to photoshop my face on a comic super hero to do it, either.

An honourable mention to Marie from @NatandMarie, who, for the record, I’ve exchanged hilarious email banter with. And it’s not just there that I find her incredibly humorous: via her webshow with Nat, her tweets, and in person. Maybe it’s because we’re both Maritimers, which makes us easily susceptible to oddballisms. And as I’m a frequent RealGM basketball forum reader, her boobs jiggle all over the website. Try to spot them here.

• • •

Best agency to rock with: @MediaProfile, @Matchstick

This one is honestly a big toss up. My boy @alensadeh from Media Profile really knows how to connect to bloggers and has been awesome to shoot the shit with, fire off creative ideas with, and get-drunk-and-talk-about-chicks with. They also gave me a 2011 Acura to drive for a week, which severely overshadows all the other awesome test-goods they’ve allowed me to try. Oh, they also get me drunk a lot on whiskey. Jack Daniels and Collingwood to be exact.

But then again, @DrEricAllan from Matchstick is a pretty gangster dude. He’s co-commish of our #And1Fantasy NBA Twitter league and has sent me to a few neat events like the Courvoisier Collective, the Fashion Forum, and more. Plus, their superstar queen @sumayapapaya put me on the spot in their Blogger Spotlight. I also got a very pleasant Christmas card over the holidays from them. They’re an example of a WOM company that proves that, “size doesn’t matter”.

Honourable mentions don’t full describe how much I dig what @charmainealia from @kethumPR has helped put together this year, including collaborating with Nokia in putting together the uber cool Gotstyle street style themed party Be (Flash)ion and putting me in a Bentley and sent me to get some burgs. They know me all too well.

In the launch of Textuality, the super engaging folks at @WeberShandwick took me out to dinner along with a few other friendly chatterboxes for a round table about mobile dating (and tossed in a Blackberry to giveaway). And Twitter wouldn’t be the same without @gosiaantkowski @mattjuniper from @praxisPR. Always reaching out with a friendly hello and an invite to get crunk on Canadian Club whiskey.

• • •

Best tweet repliers: @yourpretendbf and @bettykiss

If there’s two people who comfortably like to reach out to me on Twitter, it’s @yourpretendbf and @bettykiss. I’ve been lucky enough to meet both of them a few times, and they’re just as social in person as they are online. Thanks for being 100% better at reading your timeline than me. You both rock.

• • •

Most frequent random run ins: @ievster13 @kevinseto @MissChenessa

Part of the reason why I have a one-quarter face as a Twitter avatar is to avoid random “HEY ITS YOU”‘s on the street or at a party. I’m pretty low key. Well, kinda. But you can’t be in the Toronto Twitter scene without running into a few people all the time. Sure, we all see each other at the parties, but Eva and Kevin are two people I constantly run into. Which always makes a good day better. Maybe because they live close to me. I don’t even have a clue where Chenessa lives, but I seem to run into her on Queen like she lives here or something.

• • •

Best social media friendly restaurants: @table17 @loudawgs @khaosanroad @schoolville

This year, we’ve seen an explosion of restaurants in Toronto hopping into the social sphere (and yours truly may have had something to do with SCHOOL‘s exploration into it). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the tweets that Table 17, Lou Dawgs, and Khao San Road have done in bringing guests into the restaurant. I’m a big fan of owners/managers who embrace social media to the point of tweeting themselves; Lou Dawgs and Khao San Road both carry that flag firmly, and are open to meet you and shake your hand too. Yet to meet Table 17′s tweeter, but @mariapie and I both loved the dinner we had there.

• • •

Best TV buddy to chat with: @ChristinaRitza

I used to tweet hoard about LOST. I did it almost every day. Now I’m exacting on Fringe. Regardless of the show, Christina always seems to have watched it with equal enthusiasm and have the exact same opinions about it. Bravo miss, don’t think I haven’t forgotten.

• • •

Most memorable party: @TOBeerFestival

Is it really memorable if you can’t remember anything? No, right? Well, from what I do recall, @jonsinden threw a bangin’ party for the social media folks in the Social Tent at Toronto Beer Festival. Somehow managed to black out, give my tickets away, and cab it across the city to have dinner with my aunt. Which I also don’t remember.

• • •

Best assistant ever: @CourtneyCorner

She probably wins by default considering I only have one assistant, but she’s been able to lighten my workload drastically. She may be the only person to know how anal I am when it comes to detail, but she can deal with my perfectionism without quarrel. Which makes her quite invaluable. Thanks CC.

Hmm, note to self. Why the hell does her Twitter avatar look all sultry? Remind me to make her take that shit down tomorrow. Yeah, I’m one of those kind of bosses.

• • •

This is far from my final list of Thank You’s, but I figure I should stop now since I have to work in the AM. Plus I’m still writing this on my iPhone in the dark with one eye open.

Thanks for being a spectacular bunch of people. If this were a deck of cards, you’d be my Aces. If this were a spaceship, you’d be my engine. If this were an orgy, well.. you’d be my climax.

Happy new year, folks.

Had a weird dream a few nights ago.

My dream involved a future where the NBA decided to create teams with only celebrities and aging stars. I remember this one team I was watching had Sylvester Stallone and a super old Scottie Pippen. Think the NBA All-star Weekend Celebrity team, but playing against professional teams.

Their opposition was a star-studded super team (like the modern day Miami Heat), but I only remember Allen Iverson on it. After four quarters, they were blowing out the celebrity team 709 to 0. And the fans were loving it, watching AI do crossovers on old Rambo. There was no competition at all. It was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters vs. the Washington Generals all over again, but with professional athletes, past-prime players, and popular celebrities. It was the future of the NBA. It was pop culture’s NBA.

There’s a lot of talk these days of big market vs. small market teams. Superstars forming super-teams in big cities, and leaving the other 26 teams in the league to suck ass. Oh well, people seem to like it. #justsayin

Read these first:
Part 1: That High School Shit
Part 2: The Rise of the Sworn Allies

My first year in university was exactly what you would expect from a typical Asian kid in computer science.

I kicked ass at Counter Strike.

I got a job selling cameras and cell phones at Future Shop.
This photo sums up what I was doing when 9/11 happened.
While pointing at the crumbling Twin Towers on the big screen TV behind them, I asked, “Don’t you care what’s going on?”
They replied, “Yes, I’d like to buy camuura.“

I started a small hacking crew and did things that may never surface in writing.

I started a local Asian gang that spewed hate against the racially insensitive and the ignorant (and we didn’t have to go shirtless to do it).

I took on a new nickname: The Angry Mexican, or in short, the AMEX, from my red hot temper that seemed to spin out of control when I hit the bottle too hard.

And of course, I had my rap group. The Sworn Allies.

Needless to say, I dropped out of computer science when I had too much cool shit to occupy my time with.

By 2000, the Universal Music opportunity came and passed without a word. I don’t think we were ready for that kind of shine. Either that or we were just too stupid to realize how much of a pivotal, life-changing moment that was. You know, that old wish we always dreamed about: If only we were as smart as we are now, back then.

Scriptchaz, previously known as Armz/John Wilson and my other half in Infliktion, and I were first to follow up with a sophomore release, Arc Angels. I decided that Ruckus was way too common of a word, so I started going by rX, but the rest of the crew called me Demestik. I still hate that name. What was I, a stay at home dad? A domestic import? Did I give tell-tale signs of domestic abuse? Whatever. For the time being, my name was Ruckus.

Arc Angels was a bit weird. Sure, it had a few head bangers, but in hindsight the skits were corny as hell and I’d love to blame methamphetamine for its superfuckingweirdness. We created characters as part of the album’s intermissions, including these unfortunately felons. And here’s what they may or may not have looked like.

Poppy and Ronald: Extremely gay British fairies.

Scottish Rottigan: Extremely overweight Scottish fellow, who essentially was Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers films.

There were a few sick tracks we laid on this album. Feel free to skip the Poppy & Ronald/Scottish Rottigan skit mid-way.

Around that time, Prosody (previously known as Odd Rock, and yes, we love having multiple personalities) dropped his solo album, Daily Topics, which he still pretends doesn’t exist. I don’t know, I thought it was pretty dope.

Another crew emerged during our come up in ’99: Vet Cru. We respected their music a LOT. Their rhymes were tight, beats weren’t from Hip Hop eJay (they had an actual producer – whoa), and they even had a DJ who could cut really well. We were kind of embarrassed of our album when they dropped theirs, but we were extremely stoked to have another group of good rappers in the city that we could work with.

2001 came, and Scriptchaz and I had been a few years into DJing on the side. We started in high school at dances and parties, playing music under the title, “Beat Fusion“. I found these two gems last week while digging in my historical collection. From my legendary Paint Shop Pro 4 skills.

We had a radio show on campus radio at UNBSJ: the Sickly-Ill Cypha. We surfaced the hottest underground tracks, hosted live rap battles with the Sworn Allies, Vet Cru, and other Port City rappers, and basically did and said anything we could to get our show taken off the air. Inmates at a local prison would call in their weekly requests for 2Pac and DMX. We created a strong following of listeners, and it allowed us to seed Sworn Allies tracks to people across the city. We lasted for an awesome nine months before the station booted us off the air.

By the end of 2001, the Sworn Allies began to split into different directions. Words were spread. Sides were taken. Fists were thrown. For most of us, it’s something we never bring up much, other than the odd, “Hey, remember them days?”. Although we all live mostly in different places in Canada, we’re all very much cool with each other, ten years later. Maybe not tight as chain links, but we’re forever connected none the less.

That year, Scriptchaz, now going by the name Anubis, dropped his solo album: Symbolik Intervention. The Book of the Dead was a written finale to a saga of what-could’ve-been.

Anubis – The Book of the Dead

2002 came, and as we struggled to mend our friendships, most of us continued to rap. Phakt, previously known as Tempoetic, along with an entourage of myself, DJ Loc Dog, and Philintheblank from Vet Cru, went to Halifax for the DJ Olympus, where Phakt tore apart everyone in the MC battle. I kept an audio copy of the battles.

Phakt – Preliminary Freestyle at the MC Olympics

Round 1: Phakt vs. Mic-Al

Phakt later signed with Halifax-based CTG Records and put out this dope video.

The same year, Prosody teamed up with Expedyte (a Rope Squad vet previously called Mastermind) as Piece of Mind. Their content was more political in nature, featuring quotations from Herman & Chomsky and corporate corruption in Organized Crime. Stay Awake was a tribute song to a late friend named Ramone. Ironic. I still rock this shit to this day.

I recorded a few tracks with Piece of Mind, both unfinished and unmastered:

Ruckus, Young P, Expodite – Still Underground

Still Underground was featured on an online Okayplayer Mixtape, hosted by the same label that hosted The Roots, Talib Kewli, etc. As hype as that may sound, it didn’t really mean anything. But the song was chosen to be on it, which is kind of rad.

Ruckus, Young P, Expodite – Naturally Graphic

Philintheblank dropped the cuts on Naturally Graphic, but it remained unfinished.

Expedyte was later signed by Man Bites Dog Records, a label based in Virginia, and put out an insanely good album featuring underground rappers Killer Priest, Louis Logic, and C-rayz Walz. But I’ll always be a fan of this never-released track & video.

While some of the boys had went official, we still liked making magic in the lab: putting together tracks that were never meant to go anywhere. There’s a certain clarity involved in the process of writing lyrics and executing them in poetic form.

Ruckus, Napz and Prosody Snippets

By 2002-2003, the Sworn Allies recorded their last track. While we were missing Anubis who moved out west, the remaining five members of team got back together for one last song. It was never mastered nor released – I do recall Prosody trying to delete it, but I was able to make a surviving copy (although he kept screwing around with the audio).

The comparison between our humble and amateur beginnings to the final recording was substantial. It was a tale of growth from troublemaking kids to creative maturity. And in Port City, we’d say this shit was dope as hell.

We were Ruthless.

Da Allies – Ruthless

Keep an eye out for Part 4: Ten Years Later.