Still crazy busy. I’ll spare you the details and move onto the more interesting stuff.

Last night, I met one of our wonderful designers to discuss the style we’re shooting for. It was much easier to do so in person than by e-mail. I simply showed them a bunch of flyers that I gleaned in London and Berlin and went through different examples of what I would and wouldn’t print on a T-shirt.

After the meeting, I swinged by Boulevard Saint-Laurent, aka La Main, the nightlife HQ of Montréal. With not too many good choices on a Wednesday night, I went with the fail-safe option and headed to A GoGo Lounge.

As soon as I entered, the bouncers immediately directed me to the cloakroom, a growing practice in Montreal. I suppose bars need to make extra money during the cold season.

The review from the World’s Best Bars describes GoGo Lounge very well. I can also add that it draws mainly a 25+ clientele, has eye-catching staff (very common in Mtl), and is known for its long queues at weekends. Here’s a very, very short clip:

After a few drinks and a chat with a friendly staff, I planned to check out Radio Lounge, which welcomes every Wednesday a local celebrity to bartend. But noticing the student mob lined up, I decided it was best to grab dinner (big mistake: it left the same way it entered. And yes, I eat with my mouth) and hit the sack.

Addresses
A GoGo Lounge: 3682 Boul. Saint Laurent, M Saint-Laurent
Radio Lounge: 3614 Boul. St Laurent, www.radiolounge.ca, M Saint-Laurent

Been glued to the PC these past few days researching where to incorporate and how to minimise sales taxes. We’ll have to eventually hire a lawyer but for now we’ve decided to keep things simple and incorporate in the U.S.

Among the most burning questions that are still unanswered:
- if we ship a product from the UK to a customer in Spain, do we pay the VAT to the UK or the Spanish tax authorities?
- if we ship a product from the US to a customer in the EU, are we exempt from charging VAT, since the US is not a EU state?

We also have others on corporate income taxes, personal income taxes, and dividend taxes. But we can worry about this later once the company takes off.

Can’t wait till this adminstrative burden is over so we can concentrate on just making T-shirts.

I arrived in Montreal a few hours ago. The weather is unusually mild for late November. I hope it stays this way during my two-week stay.

Roommate and I caught up with a friend last night at Market Place. As I’ve said before, this is one of my favourite hangout spots on a weeknight. But lately, I’ve noticed that it’s not as lively as in the previous times. I wonder if it was because of the rain (we’ve had remarkably good weather the past 3 months).

After a quick drink, we decided to move to a different venue and settled on Digress. This Soho bar looked busy the few times I had walked by. But last night was more relaxed, at least when we got there at 10pm. Most of the clientele were in the 25-35 range and, like us, mainly talked among themselves. One quirky note, I noticed on my way to the loo that a couple of guys were getting massages. I first thought that they had thoughtful girlfriends but then realised they were professionals when I spotted their tags.

As it was getting late, my wonderful companions went home while I headed to my final destination. Since it was my last night in London this year, what more fitting place to party than The End?

As you can see from the image, I stayed a long 20 minutes at one of the top clubs in London. I just didn’t have the patience to wait until it really picked up (at 2am like at 333?). Besides, I wasn’t in the mood for D&B.

Addresses
Market Place, 11 Market Place, www.marketplace-london.com, Oxford Circus
Digress, 10 Beak St, www.digress.co.uk, Piccadilly Circus
The End, 18 West Central St, www.endclub.com, Holborn

“Oh no, not Tiger Tiger!” Despite a friend’s plea, we went in, and I won’t lie, had a good time.

I’ll be blunt. Tiger Tiger is a meat market, especially at weekends. And by meat, I mean the pickup variety, not the takeout one. But last night was not as blatant. At least not while I was there.

Sure, there were tons of guys when we arrived. But they had other things on their mind. The Man U game was on. In fact, once it was over, most left. I guess one “game” an evening is enough.

The opportunities were definitely present last night. At around 11pm, scores of women started to trickle in either without male companionship or with only one or two (the injustices of life!).

As there were quite a few of us last night, we stayed in the quieter area to chat. But Friend and I did venture to the more intimate second floor to observe the social dynamics of the bar. It didn’t last long.

Friend: “I hate these types of bars.”
Me: “What do you mean? Bars where people don’t know how to dance?”
Friend: “Exactly.”

It’s a pompous thing to say but I figure he couldn’t divert his eyes away from that guy on the dance floor who seemed to come straight from Borat (if you’ve seen it, simply picture the guy running in the preaching scene dancing).

Tiger Tiger’s still a place to consider going in Soho on a weeknight (and at weekends if the personal ads aren’t effective). There were about 300 people inside (there’s a counter right above the exit) and a short queue was forming when we left shortly at 12am.

Address
Tiger Tiger, Haymarket St, www.tigertiger.co.uk, Piccadilly Circus

To get warmed up for this week, I went to a bar near Angel called The Chapel, which hosts every Monday night free DJ lessons.

When I walked in, about 25 people were huddled around the DJ booth, introducing themselves and sharing their dance music inclinations. According to Roland, the affable teacher, this was double the regular turnout.

To accommodate this sudden influx of newbies, the regulars had to step aside and patiently wait for the introductory lesson to end. Unfortunately for them, only a few got the chance to spin as the primer lasted until 11.30pm. It was time for many to catch the last train home.

Here’s a short clip I took with a student spinning at the back:

Address
The Chapel, 29 Penton Street, www.thechapelbar.co.uk, Angel
Open Deck Nights on Tuesday and Wednesday nights