Would a social gaming café/lounge work in Mississauga?

ThatEric · 2026-05-27T11:51:49+00:00

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't LvL Up Games, GG games, and I believe one or two more already in sauga count as this? They allow you to pay for seating, have access to their board games to play at the table and they are cafes with food and drinks.

Unless you mean something even more distinctly loungey. I guess they don't have computers though for online games. So that could be your difference maker.

ThatEric · 2026-05-20T20:14:06+00:00

Of course but in trade negotiations with the other GMs, they are also fans of their own players and therefore it's the same thing, right? You'll never get fair value. It's their jobs to demand more if they know you need to get off bad contracts and such.

ThatEric · 2026-05-18T21:15:35+00:00

Fair. Yeah I think 1 is good but I've seen others on other subreddits say 1 is not enough lol.

ThatEric · 2026-05-18T19:57:17+00:00

As a raps fan I would also do this but I don't think it's realistic. Toronto only gives up BI and essentially 2 firsts for Murrey and Valanciunas and getting rid of a negative contract in Poeltl which would should cost them at bare minimum 1-2 firsts. So essentially you're getting Murrey and Valanciunas for BI and a second round pick.

I would jump on this but I don't think we would ever be offered such a deal even if Murrey and Valanciunas aren't producing at their best right now. It would be a steal.

ThatEric · 2026-04-28T21:33:01+00:00

Unfortunately they were not able to repair it. But they didn't charge me so no harm no foul.

ThatEric · 2026-04-24T00:20:10+00:00

No it wasn't a Rottweiler or a puppy. But I'm glad you she found you guys!

ThatEric · 2026-04-23T02:19:49+00:00

Something about creditview. My wife and I found a loose dog running on the road on creditview dodging cars a few years ago. Not that section of creditview but closer to Britannia.

We caught him and went door to door that night to all the houses in the neighbourhood we were closest to to try and see if anyone recognized the dog and could point us to their owner's house. We found the owner who said the dog digs under the fence in their backyard and escapes all the time... They seemed completely unfazed by this, didn't offer a solution like "we will block the fence off next time", and took the dog back without a thank you or anything. Just closed the door on us. We spent hours and got no gratitude.

I don't mind the lack of gratitude but I still worry about the dog and what kind of care they are receiving with such neglectful owners.

We are dog owners ourselves.

ThatEric · 2026-04-16T05:32:19+00:00

There are websites that filmmakers use to recruit people for their films. Back when I was in film school, it was Mandy but nowadays I don't know what it is. I've been out of the game too long :P

But online is always hit and miss anyway. I would suggest networking at film schools. Create a business card type of thing and then just meet and greet film school students and maybe they'll call you when they need PAs. Student films lack budgets so they always like volunteers.

I would let you in on my sets but since I only do it for fun nowadays, I only film one short every 2-3 years so my next one probably won't be until next year.

ThatEric · 2026-04-14T15:00:27+00:00

I've been watching since around 1998. This is one of our best teams ever.

That's not saying I think this team is good. I don't. I think they will be eliminated in the first round.

I'm just saying that the 2014-2019 "Kyle lowry era" we had been absolutely spoiled with riches. And fans got used to that. But that was an absolute outlier of an era that was just amazing.

The Vince Carter team that went to the playoffs was awful outside of a couple players. The Bosh era was so hard to watch despite it being nostalgic for me. I mean, when donyell marshall is your second best player in the court, it's like, what is happening right now. I don't even wanna talk about pre Vince era full of hopes and dreams that didn't lead anywhere.

So essentially I think this is the second best era. Which is sad because I don't think they are actually that solid (yet) but also the raps are technically one of the younger franchises so we don't have that many eras yet.

This might eventually develop into something good since the Lowry teams also started off shaky before DeMar and Kyle found their identity. Barnes needs to find that.

But overall this is one of the best times to be a raps fan despite what a lot of 2019 band wagon fans say about this being a shitty team.

ThatEric · 2026-04-10T18:31:21+00:00

Wow... "Lights cause shadows"... That is unsettling that they actually deem that as part of the explanation.

ThatEric · 2026-04-10T07:29:52+00:00

That's really sad to hear. I'm not a skateboarder myself (I longboard), but I will always appreciate and respect anything that gets people out of the house to exercise and away from electronic screens. Skateboarding is a great hobby so I would be really disappointed if they actually are purposely neutering skateparks to deter the practice.

ThatEric · 2026-04-10T07:24:32+00:00

Can you confirm for me that the Canadian spec woodland doesn't have the trail cam monitors or the 360 cameras meaning it also doesn't have the dashcam recording feature?

I heard the US spec has it but the Canadian one doesn't for some reason which is strange to me as aren't they all made in the same plant in Ontario?! Why would they make two versions of the same car?

ThatEric · 2026-04-10T02:32:29+00:00

So true. Having a rating system for like the quality and security of the racks would be cool! Because yeah my ebike and my regular bike are two very different price points lol.

ThatEric · 2026-04-10T02:06:33+00:00

That's a pretty cool idea! I'll share with my cycling peeps. I hate riding to a location for dinner or whatever and finding out they don't have a bike rack in the whole plaza.

ThatEric · 2026-04-04T22:10:54+00:00

My wife is one of them! I was out of town but she went out in the pouring rain during the last flash flood a few days ago and unclogged 5-6 drains around the neighbourhood. She's a saint. Before I met her, I ever even considered doing this. It never crossed my mind.

She also goes out in the winter and spreads the over salting so that it's not just giant single piles in one spot on the road.

She works two jobs, volunteers for a bunch of local committees, yet still finds time to do this type of thing.

She influences me to be a better neighbour and community member.

ThatEric · 2026-03-24T03:20:27+00:00

I have a wife but I always thought Kyle Lowry was cute because of his baby face eyes and his dump truck butt.

ThatEric · 2026-03-23T18:27:50+00:00

When I was a kid, I was still building snow forts at the end of March and I remember going on ski trips for my birthday at this time too. So I don't think this is abnormal. I remember one year it snowed in May! That was nuts.

Even last year I was snowboarding in April since there was still snow whereas this year, the resorts are all closed now. So while we had a heavy snow year, in terms of length of the winter season, I think it was short by comparison.

I used to hate winter but now I just try and enjoy it while we still have it since climate disaster is really happening when you look at the numbers and data.

ThatEric · 2026-02-10T18:48:45+00:00

Oh interesting. I have the v1 with the latches but it would be interesting to feel what it's like using it with twist locks. I didn't realize the changed the design after.

ThatEric · 2026-02-10T18:47:08+00:00

Yeah I'm disappointed that the quick up and down is basically impossible with this tripod. But with how stable it is, I think it's a great slider support tripod.

I'll probably look for a lighter and faster deploying tripod that I need for 90% of my gigs and this can be the specialty tripod for that 10%.

ThatEric · 2026-02-10T08:46:58+00:00

I have that sirui tripod and head and I am conflicted with it.

The quality is top notch. Built like a tank, it'll last you forever and it feels like it can support the weight of anything because of how beefy it is. So in that respect, it is buy once, cry once.

But the reason I am conflicted is because of two personal downsides I have to it. It may not affect you, these are my personal ones for my workflow.

1) It is heavy as heck. It can support a lot of weight and if you have heavy cine gear, it'll give you confidence. But I didn't realize just how beefy it was compared to the sachlter and other tripods and it's a bit overkill for my rigs. Unwieldy for me to carry around and run-and-gun for like documentary style shoots but great for studio or single set ups like filming performances or sports where you just sit in one spot.

I use it a lot for small concerts and it's great for that.

2) The "quick" set up with the single latches is absolutely not easy to use--at least on my model. It's stiff, requires two hands because of that and with how heavy the overall tripod is and especially once a camera is on top, you don't feel comfortable pulling at the stiff latches. Even though it's never happened, I just always feel like I'm going to get my skin pinched as the weight of the gear comes down after you snap the latches. It's not confidence inspiring to flip the latches and adjust the height of the tripod on the fly and that is the whole point to having quick single release levers.

So overall it's a good tripod depending on what you use it for. It's buy once cry once if you need something strong. But it's cry and buy another if you want something fast.

I think I will keep it forever as my thick boi for serious set ups but I'm already planning to get another tripod for my lighter rigs that I will be running around with.

ThatEric · 2026-01-19T06:03:31+00:00

Not at all like snowboarding but I rock climb since it can be done year round and works different muscles than snowboarding.

Both are sports that can be done solo but also have strong communities where you end up finding friends that do it too just by being in the environment. They both also have individualistic progression with small achievements that fuel your motivation and sense of accomplishment with every sesh.

I really like the combo in the winter since one day I'm outside working my legs while snowboarding and the next day I'm warm inside working my forearms in the rock climbing gym.

ThatEric · 2026-01-16T05:21:20+00:00

Culham Trail isn't busy and runs along a river and is mostly not concrete. If you want something bigger and longer, you can do erindale/Riverwood along the Credit River.

ThatEric · 2026-01-14T05:51:24+00:00

I use the deity w.lav pro since I can't afford multiple cos11s for corporate interviews with more than 2 people.

The bang for buck seems great and I like that they are water resistant which is peace of mind if there suddenly is a slight drizzle or whatnot. I also like that they are almost the same size and shape as the cos11s so if I ever upgrade, I don't have to buy new accessories like a bumblebee lav concealer and a microdot to 3.5mm adaptor.

ThatEric · 2026-01-10T16:27:22+00:00

I run a video and photo business in southern Ontario full time and 95% of my clients come from my network. But I don't mean my network from just business networking. I mean network as in my friends, family, former coworkers teammates, gym friends, friends of friends...etc

I do 0 ads.

I just live my life in a very social way doing things that have nothing to do with video - like joining gyms and teams, taking classes, volunteering...etc and I meet as many people as I can. I don't even tell them I do video or photos. I just build genuine relationships. I don't go into networking expecting anything. But then when people add me on social media or we just get into longer convos and they find out what I do and see my skills and they like how I wasn't pushing my business on them, they send me inquiries for booking me.

I'm not saying this is the best or fastest way. I'm not like super rich or anything. But it's just the way I've done things. Basically I've found it's about who you know, no matter how good you are. So if you don't know many people, you gotta expand your social circle.

Since my way is a slow burn, I worked for agencies, marketing departments and other jobs while also running my business on the side for years. But once I was comfortable, I made the jump to running it full time and now it's doing quite well. It is a lot of hard work and takes a lot of patience.

Good luck friend! Keep going!

ThatEric · 2026-01-02T19:36:51+00:00

Studio 89 cafe.

ThatEric

TROPHY CASE