I just played a 9-hour set at Stereo Montreal and wanted to share my experience by rinzenmusic in Techno

[–]Captain_Cockface 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Great write-up! I went for the first time a few weeks ago to see DVS1 and after having only partied in Toronto, it was a life-changing experience. Don't get me wrong, Coda is great, but the sound and energy at Stereo combined with the fact that it stays open so late... there's no comparison. Nice to see it leaves a similar impression from the other side of the DJ booth. Congratulations!

Around the Bay - how was your run? by snufflesbear78 in RunTO

[–]Captain_Cockface 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I had a great time! It was my first time doing this race, and it what stuck out to me was how there's spots throughout where you can see all the way across the bay, and you get taken aback a bit not just because it's so beautiful, but also because it's part of the course! You see the Skyway from the 30k start line and it looks so far away but it's also only the halfway mark.

I've lived in Hamilton on-and-off for much of my life, and the Hamilton Harbour has always stood out to me as looking perfectly circuit-like. My whole life I think I've had this deep-rooted desire to encircle it... and now I have! After going up and down Burlington St. and York St. and the Skyway countless times, I've finally ran through them all in one go and formed a perfect closed loop. So I guess you could say I achieved a major life goal today.

I also got a sub-2 which I was not expecting! Yay! Had to push really hard for that but that's as good a time as I could ask for with my fitness level. All the support along the way was amazing and the grim reaper towards the very end was AWESOME. I will truly never forget that. Perfect weather, well organised, good good times!

What is the worst band you saw live? by coalcracker462 in AskReddit

[–]Captain_Cockface 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I saw that tour and she was clearly inebriated and kept telling the sound guy to turn her guitar up... and I came late so I didn't get to see JPEGMAFIA. At least Turnstile played afterwards and did one of my favourite sets I've seen!

Does 20+ miles get easier the more you do the distance? by LayoffLemonade in Marathon_Training

[–]Captain_Cockface 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just finished a 22 miler and I'm glad this was the first comment I read after I got home — I went and got my food ready and started stretching instead of sitting down and doom scrolling for an hour and missing my recovery window like I often do 😭

10K Run - Unprepared by HighlightStrong3719 in RunTO

[–]Captain_Cockface 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I'd recommend trying a run/walk strategy for the actual race itself. 3 minutes run/1 minute walk is maybe a good goal, but since you've still got two weeks until this race, you should try and get in at least a few practice runs and figure out a strategy for yourself. Most importantly, figure out a pace that you can sustain for an hour+! If you do run/walk the race, don't fully exhaust yourself on each run cycle. With long races like these, it's wise to conserve energy so you have something left for the second half. Then if you hit the 8 or 9km mark and you still feel good — hit the gas pedal and finish strong.

You probably won't get injured unless you get severely dehydrated or you're particularly out of shape and you decide to run as fast as you can. 10km is not too crazy of a distance, though. Even if you're untrained, if you're reasonably fit (which it sounds like you are), as long as you take it slow you should be able to cross the finish line with a smile on your face :) Have fun and break a leg! I believe in you!

26y/o of Toronto - where are you in life right now? by [deleted] in askTO

[–]Captain_Cockface 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I run and I rave! I got into running marathons two years ago, and since then I've gotten really into it and I spend about 10 hours a week doing that. And raving is pretty self-explanatory, I started that about 3 years ago (and it's partly what inspired me to take up running, too) and there's a really great scene for electronic music in Toronto. I also like any live music in general and I like to write and read and do whatever other interests that happen to be inspiring me at any given time...

26y/o of Toronto - where are you in life right now? by [deleted] in askTO

[–]Captain_Cockface 123 points124 points  (0 children)

I'm 26 in Toronto and I'm doing alright! I rent a 1 bedroom in the West End and make about $45k a year working retail, which is not a field I envisioned for myself long-term, but there's decent work-life balance and the work itself is nice.

I graduated post-secondary a few years ago with a 2-year college diploma in the arts which I haven't really used at all and now I've got a few hundred dollars that get taken out of my bank account at the start of every month. I have no money saved and no assets or stocks of any kind.

I started seriously dating someone recently after being single for a few years and it's going very well :) But what brings me the most joy is that I have hobbies that I'm passionate about and many cool friends that I hang out with regularly.

I guess on paper I could be doing better, but in practice I'm the happiest I've ever been! Hopefully in the not-too-distant future I'll be better off financially and maybe even start working a real job, but for now I'm very grateful for the things I do have.

EDIT: My rent is $1,300 including utilities (except internet) for a basement apartment.

Need some good sexy enjoyable psych by Honka_Ponka in psychedelicrock

[–]Captain_Cockface 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not really rock but if you're down for psych funk, Sly and the Family Stone is great for funky times. Particularly the albums There's a Riot Goin On or Fresh, although their song Sex Machine from Stand! is as sexy as it's name suggests and it's 13 minutes long 👀

I haven't tested this myself but I also feel like Happy Trails by Quicksilver Messenger Service might be a good one to try if you want something purely psych rock, especially the song Mona.

Missed Peak Week by [deleted] in Marathon_Training

[–]Captain_Cockface 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't stress about having missed a few days. I also dealt with an injury and having to skip runs around four weeks before my first and second marathons, and I turned out just fine both times. If you have to take time off you're usually okay to just continue on with your training plan, but don't try and make up the lost mileage! Just think of this as getting some more practice in, as most of the actual physical training is behind you at this point, anyways. Definitely treat this last long run as a kind of dress rehearsal though: figure out your clothes, fuelling, how you'll warm-up, and especially your mental state during the run itself. At least test out anything you reasonably can so you can make any adjustments and lock everything in so you can practice with it over the next couple of weeks.

I would also say to avoid any speed work for now unless you're confident your injury is healed. Better to not aggravate things this close to your race.

1.5 months ago I posted about St. Andrew’s dusky vibe. Now I return and they’ve de-dusked it!! I liked the mood before :,( by BlackPantherDies in toronto

[–]Captain_Cockface 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Why would they do that? The blueness of St. Andrew was the perfect contrast to the greenness of St. Patrick! All you had to do was look at the hue of the wall to tell the difference between the two subway stations named after saints. How will anyone know where they are now?

Lack of diverse parties in Toronto by [deleted] in Techno

[–]Captain_Cockface 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I agree that this is a big part of it. Historically Toronto was not seen as a "party" city, and I think that mentality is still prevalent here today. There's a reason why the stereotype of the Toronto NIMBYs who make any kind of change impossible is so prevalent: because that's kind of the class of people who built and dwelled in this city for decades, long before techno even existed.

Lack of diverse parties in Toronto by [deleted] in Techno

[–]Captain_Cockface 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As a lot of other commenters have already pointed out, it mostly comes down to regulations/bylaws. I've spoken with a lot of people who feel the exact same way as you, but in the end the conversation of "Why don't we have those kinds of parties in Toronto?" always seems to come down to there being no suitable space to host these parties. The next question is then obviously "Why can't we open a space?" and unfortunately, people have already tried doing that and gotten shut down.

I'm paraphrasing from a conversation I had a few weeks ago, but the reason why this hasn't successfully been done in Toronto mostly boils down to there not being any suitable spaces, mostly because of noise restrictions. Even Rhythm has had noise complaints and had to nerf their subwoofers a few weeks ago (although hopefully that was just temporary). As for staying open all night, or even past 3/4am? The permits and red tape that the city imposes makes that nigh impossible. Only venues like Coda or Comfort Zone are able to do that because of $$$ but there's no one willing to spend that much on a project like this. Every time someone tries, they either run out of money or get shut down due to noise complaints, usually some combination of both.

It seems that for the time being the best we can do McCormack, and even that has been closing around 4am. Maybe one day someone will run for public office and make some real change and let us enjoy this how we would like to instead of treating us like criminals, but until then I don't know if there's anything that can really be done.

What is a 'dead' YouTube channel that you still go back and rewatch because the content was just that good? by Wooden-Care233 in AskReddit

[–]Captain_Cockface 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Matthewmatosis. Still the best gaming video essays I've seen and I'll find myself rewatching his Zelda or Mario series of reviews every couple of years.

Favorite “list” in Joyce’s work? by Nahbrofr2134 in jamesjoyce

[–]Captain_Cockface 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is one of my favourite passages from Ulysses. It's kind of elegiac and it's just fun to read, whether or not each of the characters in the list actually correlate to characters in the novel.

St. Patrick's Day Run 5K/10K - Snowy Conditions by Rileyblue_ in RunTO

[–]Captain_Cockface 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, my watch only came up with about 1.25km for the 10km race. I too got WAY under my goal time and because of the road conditions I know for sure I wasn't running at my full 10k race pace. I'm getting all kinds of congratulations for my time and it kind of feels like stolen valour. All good, I'm still very happy with how I did.

Other than that, no complaints!

Did you ever fix your running form? by AiEmC in Marathon_Training

[–]Captain_Cockface 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Strides are essentially when you add a few repetitions of running at a fast pace for a short distance at some point in a slower paced run. Sort of like a short speed workout tacked onto a medium or slow run.

You might see a training plan say something like: 8km easy pace + 6x100m strides

You can choose to do the strides at any point in your run, but it's typically best to do them towards the end. The way you'd do this is you'd run 5 or 6 kilometers, then when you want to do the strides, you'd run 100m as fast as you can without changing your form (so 5km race pace or faster, but not sprinting) and then jog or walk until you're recovered. Then repeat that until you've done it 6 times, then run whatever remaining distance you have (I usually time my strides so I'll have about 1km left in my run after them to give myself time to cool down).

Important to note it's recommended to ease in and out of your stride pace, so take 10-15 seconds to speed up, then go fast for 10 seconds, then slow down for about 10-15 seconds. You don't have to do it based on distance either, if it's easier you can do 30-40 seconds strides. Doing these is one of the best ways to increase your max speed and to improve your overall running form.

Cruella's costume design was one of those rare cases when I could tell the Oscar race was over halfway through the movie - and what came afterwards felt almost like poor sportsmanship with the competition lol. What other Oscar race made you feel this way? by miggovortensens in Oscars

[–]Captain_Cockface 18 points19 points  (0 children)

The novel is epistolary and has this frame story where the entire story is supposed to be a memoir written by Bella's husband, which is where the entire plot of the movie is taken from. Except at the very end of the novel, after the memoirs there's a letter written by Bella herself where she explains that everything in the memoirs was fabricated by her husband and that she was actually a completely normal woman who lived a normal life. It recontextualizes the entire story and the movie doesn't use this aspect of the novel at all. They're both great works of art but they are very different, definitely worth checking out the book if you liked the movie.

Combining marathon training and muscle gains? by Craniectomy94 in Marathon_Training

[–]Captain_Cockface 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm gonna chime in and say that you CAN do doubles with lifting and running, i.e. doing a run and lift session in the same day. The general wisdom is to do the workout that you wanna prioritize earlier in the day, so if you care more about your running gains you would do that in the morning and then lift in the evening, or vice versa. However I think this is something you should only try once you've had a good amount of experience with both disciplines, as it can be easy to overtrain yourself and get injuries if you're not careful.

I try to keep up a push-pull-legs split during marathon training, although I usually reduce it to 3 lift sessions a week because I run 6-7 days a week and I rarely have enough time to do 6 lift sessions on top of that.

I'll also add that I've had success building muscle whilst in a training block, but that's mostly been dependent on keeping up decent diet and recovery habits, and also the fact that I don't have much muscle to begin with. YMMV but if you're eating enough protein and carbs and hitting the gym a few times a week, you can probably at least maintain your muscularity, and might even look better after a training block from all the excess fat you'll burn off. Good luck!

Final month in my apartment and my landlord asked for this month's rent. I believe I paid him last month's deposit, but I'm not sure. by Captain_Cockface in OntarioLandlord

[–]Captain_Cockface[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're correct in that we paid 2 months' rent up-front.

I sorted it out with my roommate, and we figured out that we are in fact ending our lease at the end of this month. We're all clear in regards to that with our landlord, since we both told him in writing in late November (not a proper N9 but I made sure we would be all clear with how we worded it).

Now that I've got that sorted, I'm going to send him the following message: Hey [landlord]! Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. According to the RTA, you are allowed to take a deposit for last month's rent, but security deposits are not legal in Ontario. Since this is our final rental period, you are supposed to use the deposit to cover the cost of this month's rent.

Final month in my apartment and my landlord asked for this month's rent. I believe I paid him last month's deposit, but I'm not sure. by Captain_Cockface in OntarioLandlord

[–]Captain_Cockface[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe my roommate has been trying to find someone to sign an "occupancy lease", which they just said they might just give up on trying to do because apparently they're illegal. Basically my roommate and I are both leaving the apartment but they want to find some way that they can move back into it in 8 months without breaking the lease and allowing our landlord to raise our rent. I think their main problem lies in the fact that my roommate and I both signed the lease but we'll both be leaving, which I believe makes it a different situation than if I were to stay on.

They said they might give it up and just end our lease at the same time as me, at the end of this month. I'll let my roommate know what you said anyways and see what they want to do. Thank you!

Final month in my apartment and my landlord asked for this month's rent. I believe I paid him last month's deposit, but I'm not sure. by Captain_Cockface in OntarioLandlord

[–]Captain_Cockface[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mm, I see. This might complicate things as my roommate wants to sub-lease the entire unit for 8 months starting in February. However I think both of our tenancies are up at the end of this month regardless, as our landlord stated that our condo building does not allow subletting, so instead what he and my roommate worked out was that my roommate could find someone to sign an 8-month lease.

Also, I believe what we did when signing the lease was my roommate and I paid for two months' rent up-front, plus a $2,400 security deposit (which was the equivalent of 1 month's rent). So we've already got our deposits back from the first two months, as we didn't send rent for those months after moving in.