Around the world, the fourth of May is increasingly being recognized as Star Wars Day.  Realizing that there was no centralized, official (or even ‘semi-official’) Star Wars Day event in Toronto, an enterprising group of Torontoian Star Wars fans took it upon themselves to establish what they hope will be an annual tradition.

Toronto’s Star Wars Day celebrations are happening at the Toronto Underground Cinema on Wednesday, May 4th and…

I am excited to announce that I am joining the party as Master of Ceremonies and host of the Original Trilogy Trivia Game Show!

Here is the laser blast of awesome you can look forward to at Star Wars Day Toronto:

★ the world’s best remixes, mash-ups, parodies, and tributes ON THE BIG SCREEN! – The organizers have scoured all available sources and curated a feature-length program of the very best, from straight-up tributes to parodies & mash-ups, it’s going to be a great collection of stuff – most you’ve probably never seen unless you’re a really hardcore head.

★ original, vintage 35mm prints of all three Original Trilogy trailers – The Toronto Underground Cinema has had these reels in their possession, and they’ve been itching for an excuse to screen them.

★ photos with the Stormtroopers of the 501st Legion – These are the guys who make any fan event legendary.  Make sure your camera is charged because you’re going to be very popular on Facebook after this night.

★ Costume Contest – Show off that you’re the biggest fan and come with the best costume.  The prizes are amazing (see below)

★ Original Trilogy Trivia Game Show - contestants are coming from the audience and everyone can sign up.  Study hard because you want these prizes!

The event is supported by Sticker You, Guerilla Printing, West 49, Silver Snail, Teletoon and Category 5 Printing who are all supplying amazing prizes for the Trivia Game Show and Costume Contest.

This Just In: Listen to Edge 102.1 FM in Toronto next Friday  night as the organizers will be doing a live interview about the event on the air!

See you May 4!  Visit StarWarsDayTO.com for more info, and follow @StarWarsDayTO on Twitter for up to the minute news!

May the 4th Be With You…

THIS WEEK ON THE SHOW:

★ we talk to Justin Moran, co-writer and director of the Spider-Man musical in New York City

★ we take you behind the scenes of all of the ‘Authorized Personnel Only’ doors you see

★ we play the awesome new game show Broken Phonograph

Our most distant viewer for this live episode was watching all the way from Israel!! I love the Internet!!

Help me out: when does NHL playoffs officially start?

Right now I am in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest with the gentlemen you see in the picture above.  This is Team AutoFollow, one of eleven teams in Chevy’s Road Trip Challenge contest.

The team (l-r):
@JustinBSmith @JeremyWright @DmitryZelikman @GuyGal and yours truly!

We set out on Monday night, driving all the way from Toronto to Austin, stopping to perform a series of challenges assigned along the way.

WE INTERUPT THIS BLOG POST TO BRING YOU A SPECIAL BULLETIN:

As I was typing this entry, news came down that we are the WINNERS of the Chevy SXSW Road Trip Challenge!

Our grand prize is Platinum Badges for SXSW 2012 and an addtional $400 donated to the class of our choice in the Adopt-A-Classroom Program, which we will send to Ms. Miller’s first grade class who we worked with on our Challenge Six video.  SXSW ’12 is going to be the party of the century next year so start making your plans now to be down there with us!

If you follow any of us on Twitter, you know that this has been an incredible and epic experience.  Enjoy a sampling of the videos we entered for some of our challenges below…

Meet the team

Our Art Project

This is how we experienced much of the trip between challenges

Giving the vehicle a ten-point inspection

Our Top-Five List

Our Music Video

Watch us do the whole drive from Toronto to Austin in a minute and a half (time lapse video)

Thanks to everyone who cheered us on to victory! To see the whole journey, check out chevyYYZ.tumblr.com

Check me out!

A few weeks ago I had to cut out of Harth Night early to go have my picture taken for a mixed-media portrait by the amazing and talented Kelly Grace.  Now the painting is finished, and available for sale.  I think there are ten in the first edition.  She’s got them for sale this weekend in Toronto at The Artist Project.

Here I am on the wall – postcard-sized, gel transferred, and available for purchase:

A view on the whole series:

Kelly is at booth #541 at The Artist Project.  Just look for the pizzazziest booth in the whole place.

@MissLateJuly – I thought this was you!

Kelly is just starting on Twitter!  Follow her – @KellyGraceArt

What up to my contest winners: Aleks, Reado, Shaun Hawaii, Aaron Broverman ★ Gail Gabrielle, 40deuce, Dave Coleman, and props to Jon (the Big Thinker)

★

Click here to get a $55 ticket to the world premiere of The Striking Truth for just $27!

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If you’re coming to this, let me know on Twitter so we can say what up!!

If you do not know that I am a Beatles fan to the point where it borders on obsession, you must be visiting this website for the first time.

One thing that fascinates me about The Beatles’ popularity is how in so many ways, they are still the yardstick by which we measure success in the arts.  But when we look at particularly how they entrenched themselves in the fabric of people’s daily lives, we see that it’s not just about the music.

The earth-shattering and continuing success of The Beatles is every bit about selling an image as it is about selling records.  The Beatles perfectly embody the concepts of creating the best art and presenting it in unique & exciting ways that I outlined in my Social Media Week presentation How to Be a Blog Star: The Artistry of Your Personal Brand.

On February 28, I’m going to introduce you to the artists & designers who helped a group of hoodlum dropout teenagers pull off the greatest personal branding success in history.

Seating for this presentation at the Yorkville Media Centre in Toronto is extremely limited. Click here to reserve a ticket on the Guestlistapp page.

Want to come see the WORLD PREMIERE of The Striking Truth with me? I’ve got five tickets, and I want take you with me!

Giving away one ticket per day, Feb. 14 through 17

WINNERS:

FEB. 14 – Shaun Hawaii

FEB. 15 – Aaron Broverman

FEB. 16 – Aleksandra Stalmach

FEB. 17 – Matt Read

Comment this post to be entered in the draw.  We’ll draw the winner tonight on Nat & Marie!! Thanks to everyone who entered!

The Striking Truth is a new documentary feature film following four years in the life of UFC champion Georges St-Pierre and dynamic MMA fighter David “The Crow” Loiseau.

Watch the official trailer:

I’ll be giving away 4 tickets to join me for the  World Premiere of The Striking Truth, one every day between Monday February 14th through Thursday the 17th.

Follow me on Twitter and join my Facebook Page for your chance to win!

For more info on The Striking Truth world premiere:

Friday February 25th
Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (Front & Yonge in Toronto)
9PM

Official Website

Official Facebook Page

Official Twitter
(hashtag: #TSTTO)

Click here to buy tickets to the World Premiere of The Striking Truth – February 25th at The Sony Centre in Toronto!

Saturday night was the world premiere party for the SidePonyNation SUGA WET video, with yours truly as your humble DJ.

I will confess: I had a hidden agenda when I agreed to be the DJ for this event.  I have hung out with Tanya from SidePonyNation (on the left in the picture above) a few times and I had a hunch about the rap duo she’s a part of, and I wanted to see what SidePonyNation was all about.  And DAAAAAAMMMMN!  Hot ladies, hot show, they’ve got it.

SidePonyNation is the shit.  They’ve got the look, they’ve got the flow (kind of like a vintage Salt N Pepa thing), they’ve even got their own Suga Wet dance to go with the song!  I cannot wait to do another show with them.

See the couple sneaking a kiss in the dead center of the photo above?  That’s album cover material, for real.  You’re welcome, SidePonyNation.

At the end of the night, SidePonyNation raffled off a bunch of prizes including autographed pictures (above) and the pink t-shirt sported below.

Remember these cupcakes?  They were out of this world.

The cupcakes were made by Sarah, posing with her creations below.  She is cool, and her shop – The Wedding Cake Shoppe at Ossington & College – smells like what you would imagine Willy Wonka’s factory would smell like.

The party took place at Lit Espresso Bar.  They want you to follow them on Twitter!

The coffee is good, and the little card that comes on the front of the package is a nice touch.

I do not DJ very often, so I spent most of the evening cueing up songs and frantically trying to get the beats to match.  I only got photos while the ladies were on the microphone, but one of their homeys was shooting pictures like crazy so I’ll add some of those to this post when I see them appear on Facebook or whatever.

Next time SidePonyNation and Sean Ward do a show together, do not miss it whatever you do.

THIS SATURDAY!

Check out the World Premiere of the new SidePonyNation video for Suga Wet!  Come party with us at the world premiere screening featuring a live performance by the ladies themselves, a BYOB drink situation with a special Suga Wet Cocktail created by SidePonyNation, and an extremely rare DJ set by yours truly!

Come party with us!  Here’s the deets:

• Party takes place at LIT Espresso Bar (810 College street, just east of ossington)
• Drink: BYOB plus the girls have concocted a special “SugaWet Cocktail”
• Eats: SugaWet Cupcakes made by The Wedding Cake Shoppe
• SidePonyNation buttons for everyone

And when midnight strikes and the video screening party has to close, follow us to the cluuuuhhhhb for the after party.

Check out SidePonyNation at sideponynation.com, and get to know them in their Mushy Pony interview!

Follow us on Twitter for the info! @seanward @SidePonyNation @TaCaGo @LyMoffatt