Tech | Another One Bites the Dust: RIP Rdio

The list of social sharing services I’ve seen disappear over the last five years keeps getting longer. A bit of sadness for Rdio this week as it’s been purchased by Pandora for $75M and filed for Chapter 11. I’ve been using Rdio since early 2012 when it came to Canada after I was introduced to it at SXSW. Around them I took part in a round table to discussion on the future of music streaming and music piracy with a bunch of music execs and media. Canada.com covered the session (here). After my free year of Rdio was up, I continued to pay $9.99 for the service the last few years, with my own money. Rdio was there for countless road trips, dance parties, summers on the dock, sing-alongs in the boat, and Christmas parties. I made heaps of playlists and Rdio has been part of all my fun the last few years. I mentioned it as one of my fav apps in interviews w/ ApexPR & Mad Hatter Tech. It’s crazy how attached you become to a service, how integrated it becomes in your life. I was really sad when 12seconds.tv was purchased by AOL and dissolved, felt heartbreak over Dailybooth, and another wave of sadness when Viddy shut down. Transfer Your Rdio Playlists to Apple Music Today I’ve been transferring my Rdio playlists to Apple Music. TBH I don’t mind Apple Music but I really loved Rdio. I decided to fork over the $4.99 to have movetoapplemusic.com do the work of moving my playlists over from Rdio. Luckily, I think Apple Music will be around for a while. I am really feeling this 90’s hip hop & R&B playlist from the commercial with Mary J. Blige. You’ll love it too, heaps of good jamz!  

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Rdio New Music Weekly – feat My Girl @SURY_JK!

I’ve been using Rdio since 2010. I LOVE this service. Currently listening to Lightbulbs by Fujiya & Miyagi. Have a bunch of posts tagged Rdio from the last two years here if you wanna check’ em out. Sury is in this Rdio New Music Weekly – featuring Yamantaka, Sonic Titan. The extended version will be released soon and I’ll update the vid then. Animation studio Tendril. <3 CASIE

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Rdio & Sync in the 2012 Ford Fiesta

Earlier this year I drove to Austin, Texas from Toronto in a Ford Focus with two friends, it was the playlist that made the long drive bearable. This summer I’ve been used Rdio, a music streaming service that is fairly new to Canada. You can use listen your favourite music on all devices online or off. You can also create playlists with friends and share your tunes on Twitter & Facebook. Rdio has been a hit at the cottage, awesome on the subway, and perfect for road trips. My free trial ran out last month and I IMMEDIATLEY went to pay for the service. That’s how you really know something is amazing. Below you will find my road trip playlist from my Montreal trip in August. It’s good to work with. It took about six hours to drive with traffic so having access to TONS of music in the car was essential.  I have the Rdio app on my iPhone and connected it to the Ford Fiesta using Sync & USB. You’ll need to turn on Bluetooth in your smart phone in order to connect it using Sync. If you are having trouble at all the manual has step by step instructions on getting you connected. Make sure you plug the phone right into the USB jack if you are not using Bluetooth. I got frustrated wondering why it wasn’t working until I realized… I plugged it into the car charger and not the actual car. Whoops! Using a USB to connect is a fool proof way to get your music from device to car. Happy Music Monday 🙂 CASIE  

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Day 293: The First Day of 2021

Hello gorgeous, beautiful new year! I greet you with my love, kindness, hope, and joy! I have high hopes, a renewed sense of self, and a positive outlook. I know the world we live in is going through a rough patch but each of us has the ability to shift our perspective and see the light. There are heaps of things to be grateful for each day, the moon and a pink sky on a cold January morning, a new book, exercise, food, love, health, friendship. We have all grown so much in the past year as the world has changed, we’ve learned and unlearned. The world will never be the same and neither will we. This morning I did Peloton cardio and ran 5k on the treadmill. Listened to my latest read on Audible while cleaning. We’re heading back to the city today and I’ll be at home for a little while. I’m looking forward to going back to work on Monday and being at my desk. Here’s to a fresh start and high hopes!

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So Long Muskoka, Until Next Year!

We closed the cottage yesterday. As soon as we got north of the city there was snow. I’ve seen snow every winter of my life but I still feel a burst of energy and excitement for the first snowfall of the year. As we got progressively north the snow continued and we drove through our first snow squall (almost blizzard!). Since the cottage isn’t winterized, closing up involves putting huge wood panels on the windows, draining the lines,  dryer sheets everywhere (to keep critters away), emptying the fridges (we have condiment overload now), cleaning, and final lock up. There is a lot of lifting, garbage, flashlights, and tools. I always take a minute to be grateful for the work, the views, and doing it together. Sean and I have been opening and closing it for about 5 years now. Winter wonderland! ❄️❄️❄️ #muskoka #cottagelife pic.twitter.com/pG7kl1W45v — CASIE STEWART ☀️ (@casiestewart) November 19, 2017 I got to thinking about how our lives will change before we make it back up in the Spring. It’ll likely be late March or April, and a lot can happen in 4 months. I’ll be away for about 4 weeks over the holidays and I really hope we can take a family vacation in February. Emily will be 10 my blog will be 13. Maybe we’ll start a renovation or have a new couch and TV? I’m hoping for more speaking at the start of the year and am working on that with my agency. I like thinking about the time passing because it’s easier to set goals when you have a timeframe to work with. I’m upping my fitness routine and hopefully, by then I’ll feel better in a bikini. I’ve never really been on to set New Years Resolutions, why wait will the new year when you can make a change now? Come…

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BRB Moving Pokemon from Games to Lifestyle Folder

Not gonna lie, I spent a significant amount of time yesterday searching and catching Pokemon. I never thought I’d be saying this! When I got home from the cottage it was so nice out I decided to go for a run (to see if there were any Pokestops or Pokemon Gyms near my house, there were!). I ran around going to all the closest stops collecting Pokeballs, whist stopping do a few exercises in between each one. I managed to get up to level 5 so I could finally join a team and battle someone at a gym. Pokemon is always fun, Pokemon Go is even more fun. Of course, finding a site like www.kigurumi.co, is downright amazing. I had a friend who used to play Pokemon all the time when I was younger. He loved Pokemon Fire Red and would spend hours trying to catch all the different Pokemon to complete his Pokedex! We recently discovered that you can actually play the classic Pokemon games like Fire Red online using a site called Royal Roms, just click the link to find out more. This all may seem foreign to you if you haven’t tried the game but let me tell you, it’s a phenomenon taking over with more daily users than Snapchat, Tinder, Instagram, OR Twitter. Pokemon Go is the fastest growing thing we’ve seen in a long time. Here’s a few great resources I found on how you can use Pokemon for business and how it’s helping peoples mental and physical health, really. #PokemonGO has amassed 21 million active users in days. It is now the biggest mobile game in U.S. history. pic.twitter.com/ihpknLYDEm — Ryan Brown (@Toadsanime) July 13, 2016 Pokemon Go Is Driving Insane Amounts of Sales at Small Local Businesses What not drop a lure and…

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Blog Life: Sometimes I don’t feel like it. #11

I know today is Bell Let’s Talk day and I’m not sure how to talk about the depression and anxiety that I face or if I even want to. Being on the Internet in itself gives me anxiety. Some days I just don’t feel like it at all, written about it a few times.  Sometimes I want to hide and pretend I don’t even have a blog. (Or Twitter, tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Selfish, Rdio, Google+, Vine, or phone.) I like keeping to myself on on those days, not sharing stories.  Being alone. My dad battled depression growing up and it was really hard for our family. He moved back to New Zealand to be with his family when my parents split up and it was tough for us. It sill is sometimes. * Thanks Andrew Mitchell for drawing this photo of me. I love it.   I want you to know that I too have days when I’m down and I’ve been through some very dark times and almost not made it through. It’s not always sunny where I am but I do try to bring my own sunshine to the internet each and every single time I make an appearance. My blog is a place you can count on to have bright colours and a fun photo. It’s helpful for me to look back and remember the good times too. This is a place to make you feel happy when a cloud tries to rain on your parade. I’ve worked through a bunch of sad days wondering what to do with my life and I made it through. Don’t ever give up. I wanted to quit blogging a few times over the last 10 years and I am damn well glad I didn’t. I want you to know, I am actually happy most of the time and I…

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Fashion | Gifts that Keep on Giving, TOMS for Target

Starting November 16th you can find a special collection by TOMS at Target stores across North America. The limited-edition collection is co-designed by TOMS founder and chief shoe giver, Blake Mycoskie and goes along with TOMS One for One® giving model where every purchase helps a person in need. Along withe the collection they also created this totally awesome ‘Together Sweater’ inspired by TOMS One for One. Naturall, I tried it on with all my fav people. I love togetherness. Sean has agreed to wear it to a ‘Ugly Christmas Sweater Party’ and I reckon it’s a contest winner! Sorry guys, the sweater ISN’T for sale. They’ve got items for for men, women, kids, and home and with this collection, Target is donating a blanket, meals or shoes in partnership with TOMS and North America-based charities American Red Cross Disaster Relief, Canadian Red Cross, Feeding America and Food Banks Canada. Each product displays the corresponding donations so you can easily see how your purchase is helping someone out. I’ve got a couple pairs of TOMS and have picked a few of my fav items from the Target collection below. Love this poncho and am hoping to score one bright and early tomorrow morning. Each purchase will give a blanket so someone in need. Sean’s fav outfit is chambray shirts and jeans, aka the Canadian tuxedo. The plan is to pick one of these up for him and by doing that, TOMS will provide one week of meals through one of their selected charities. The kids clothes are especially cute and by picking something up for your fav lil’ shorty you’re doing some good.  This t-shirt gives 1 week of meals and the hoodie 1 blanket. The housewares items are all under $30 and make great gifts. I’m a fan of these little journals. Nothing like afresh new…

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CottageLife | You Might Just Need An Entire Weekend of Sleep

Hellooooo November! I love summer but there’s something so calming and creative about winter that makes me want to lock myself inside and write or organize the house. I did neither of those things this weekend. I slept at least 25 hours.  I took as many extra hours of sleep as I could find! We spent most of the weekend on the couch watching shows and movies from Netflix or iTunes. The fridge is full of takeout. I was tired. I had work to do but I just didn’t have the energy. Today I feel much better and ready to take on the world! Whenever it’s a new month, year, and sometimes even day I look back and feel grateful for memories or think about how life has changed. Two years ago Sunday, Dad and I did the CN Tower Edgewalk thanks to Mastercard Canada’s Priceless Surprises. Timehop is a great app for looking back on that you posted on Twitter or Facebook that day (see posts about the app). Saw this rusty rat rod truck that made me think of you Daddio! He custom builds hot rods and is working on his own rat rod right now. It’s the start of Movember so I can’t help but think about the MoSistas TO pinup calendar from last year 2012. (Gah, I can’t believe it was 2 years ago!)  The girls and I had a good time getting dolled up. I was May. Apron was Mum’s and I love it. I use it on the regular. I hope I still have that scarf. In other news, Regina George started following me today and I’m already into the Christmas music w/ one of my favalbums by She & Him.   If you need something to cheer you up on this gloomy Monday, press play, or check out THIS happiest Christmas playlist ever…

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Events | Romance Anyone? Toronto Sex Show

Loving this remix of Tove Lo’s ‘Stay High. I put all the recent songs from my Shazam (music discovery app) and put them in an Rdio playlist. You can check it out here. “I eat my dinner in my bathtub, Then I go to sex clubs, Watching freaky people gettin’ it on, It doesn’t make me nervous, If anything I’m restless, Yeah, I’ve been around and I’ve seen it all” Next weekend I’m going to The Everything To Do With Sex Show for my first time even thought it’s been in Toronto for 15 years. The three day event runs October 24th-26th at The Direct Energy Centre and features all kinds of seminars, art, wellness, celebrities, and other fun stuff to do with sex and romance. It’s a great time of year for this show because we’re about to start hibernation and if we have a winter like last year, we’ll all be spending heaps of time at home. And hopefully not alone! I creeped the event website and found this group of cool peeps I can vouch for that are worth checking out at the show: Actor, musician, gamer, and bar owner Rainbow Francks Artist extraordinaire Jessica Gorlicky UFC babe Elias Theodorou (met him at Todd’s show last month) Katrina McKay from Ohhh Canada! The one & only Todd Shapiro Adult film star Voodoo (met him on Todd’s show too) Caryle Jansen from on Good For Her shop, did a seminar w/ her & Raymi in 2011  Other things I reco checking out are burlesque, the leather, latex, and the exhibitor floor. I’m not sure if you have ever worn a latex outfit but if you have you know how amazing it is. I used to have a gorgeous long latex shirt but it ripped. These are a few of my fav Gaga latex outfits. Tickets to attend the show…

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Huge TBT | The Blog Years, March 2009 – 2013

Ok here’s a MASSIVE TBT on the month of March from 2009 – 2013. I love looking back on things I’ve done. It’s so easy to forget! The main reason I started this blog in 2005 was so I could remember more. It totally worked! On this day last year Sean sent me flowers to the office .What a darling. Love you! I also blogged about Andy Warhol on this day last year. Sean and I were getting ready to go on a trip to Boston too. See posts tagged March 2013 here. Two years ago on this day I was at The Gladstone for an event. Loved those boots so much. And RIP that leather jacket. Took part in a round table w/ Russ Martin from Marketing Magazine about Rdio & music streaming in Canada. It was MUCH nicer outside and I visited the Toronto Music Garden. Took this using 360 Panoramic app in iPhone from  hTO Park (Urban Beach) which is right beside the lake. Around this time two years ago I filmed ‘It’s All About Me’ documentary that last year won several film festival awards. I’m in another documentary that will be on the festival circuit soon. Pretty neat if you ask me! In March 2011 I was a Personal Branding expert with Levi’s. I love looking back on this stuff, I forget how many things I’ve done! Here are some tips on building your personal brand to help  establish yourself online: Set a goal: Make a plan for your brand. What are you passionate about? What do you want to be known for? Start a blog: Use WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger or Posterous to create a free home for your online activity. Find a mentor: Find someone who is doing what you want to do and introduce yourself, learn from them…

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Girls, Tattoos, Attitude + Sun

I haven’t decided to colour in the owl on my arm or not. I like it like this. I think it’s time for some new work. I have a few ideas but it’s time to get drawing. Some nice girl tattoos on this blog I found. My right arm has tattoos because I’m left handed and I draw them on first. Had a jerk chicken sandwich on the patio at Harlem Underground yesterday. Was ok, made me miss Ackee Tree, that place had the best jerk sandwich ever. Loving this warm summer sunshine. The lake waves are crashing on the dock. Rdio cottage mix in the background. Beaut! Enjoy the day! CASIE

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And recharge…

Remember how I said I was exhausted? Went to bed at 7pm last night. Feeling pretty good this morning and looking forward to being back at the office tomorrow. Starting the day with a relaxing soak at the Sky Lounge, one of my fav things about living here. Back was hurting a bit so should feel better after this. Will be wearing my Lazy Pants all day. Listening to A Very She and Him Christmas album on Rdio and have the place to myself. I love this time of year! Enjoy the day! ♥ CASIE

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Work, Work, Worker Bee, Babe Friday

Lots of work today. Busy office bee buzzing! I love having an espresso machine in the office! [View the story “Today on Twitter This Happened: ” on Storify] Today on Twitter This Happened: Storified by CASIE STEWART · Fri, Oct 05 2012 13:24:05 Mmm espresso! http://loopc.am/casiestewart/loops/mmm-espresso #LoopcamCASIE STEWART “@casiestewart: Sushi surprise! Via @alison_kaizer #lunch http://instagr.am/p/QaHuy4FJEP/” cutie!Alison Michelle Rung Mum at her office and she’s out picking flowers. What a gem. Can’t wait to head home for #Thanskgiving! https://casiestewart.com/thanksgiving/CASIE STEWART Thanks @MolsonCoorsCDA! Don’t mind this txt at ALL! Insider FTW! #Molson Beer Store @33 Carlingview Dr. open Mon 10-6! http://pic.twitter.com/evjMlWedCASIE STEWART Don’t be scared. It’s just that time of year. http://pic.twitter.com/prWE3nvHCASIE STEWART Watch all of this week’s vids from @casiestewart @shanleesimmons @SaraLynnCauchon @edgyveg – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvPI4L2–KmuOZrsLrhpwvTfRH76_OoUU&feature=view_allCORAL Listening to Cello Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach on @Rdio: http://rd.io/x/QVmrjyLkAg #favCASIE STEWART I loved our #bloggerbabe lunch ladies @alison_kaizer @caronsue! http://instagr.am/p/QaKhpGFJGU/CASIE STEWART #Halloween is a #marketing goldmine. Here’s why brands should better align with this spooky celebration: http://www.pulp-and-fiber.com/?p=4277Pulp&Fiber Hoping to see some friends at @the_hoxton for an #ExtraordindaryNight, filled with #Drambuie cocktails & fun! http://pic.twitter.com/7FbePIn1Drambuie Canada

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