All good things must come to an end. No, world famous DJ Misstress Barbara isn’t going anywhere – in fact, she’s fresh from major promo for her latest album, I’m No Human– but she is playing Piknic Électronik’s labour day weekend bash, possibly the last chance of the year for Montreal party folk to dance outside sans jackets. There’ll be three days of outdoorsy fun (you can check out the full DJ line-up here), but something tells us Sunday will be the one that counts, with Misstress Barbara holding court from 5 p.m. onwards. GURU Energy Drink caught up with Montreal’s own Misstress to find out how she spent her summer vacation.

You’ve been pretty busy promoting I’m No Human – how much personal vacation time have you really gotten?
I got two days in Marseille just two weeks ago. It was short but amazing!

If you had to write an essay on How I Spent My Summer Vacation, what would be the highlights?
Tennis, bike, motorcycle, ceviche, wine, rocky beaches of the Mediterranean.

You’re playing at Piknic during labour day weekend – pretty much the end of Montreal’s summer festival season. Is that bittersweet?
No, it’s an annual rendez-vous for me. I always picked that date and I’ve been doing it for five years now, and it’s just incredible. It’s my favorite gig in the year! It doesn’t matter for me that it means the end of the summer, as I travel so much that for me seasons don’t mean anything really.

Who’s been your summer music guru (i.e. on repeat on your summer playlist)? Any music gurus of all time?
Blind Pilot, Adele, Metric. And the all-time gurus are Charles Aznavour, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Dionne Warwick, Nina Simone…

We hear you’re a big fan of GURU Energy Drink, if you had to plug us shamelessly, what would that sound like?

GURU: spirit, conscience, knowledge. Make it yours.***

***If you end up using this advertisement sentence I want royalties.  : )

Is it wrong to have an ice pop for breakfast? Because I’ve been thinking about it all summer, and one particularly hot and humid morning I caved. I ditched my a.m. staples – the hot coffee and muffin combo and the GURU-enhanced but not-so-portable smoothie – and grabbed one of these easy peasy homemade GURUcicles.

Now make your own in four ridiculously easy steps. So ridiculously easy we pretty much posted these photos just to tempt you! (And in case the heat has baked your brain to the point where you’ve forgotten what ice is, let alone how to make it.)

1. Find an ice pop mold (try the Dollar Store).

2. Fill with your fave GURU flavor (we used Juicy Superfruit). freeze overnight or cave in and make half-frozen slushies ; )

3.  Feel refreshed (and not at all embarrassed) as you walk to work with a frozen can of GURU on a stick.

When GURU talks about “clean energy,” we mean it (”dirty minds,” too, but that’s for another time). And not just the kind you find in a certain organic energy drink. We told you about Bixi back in May, now we’re on board with the Zipcar. As much as we (and most gung-ho cyclists) would like to believe a bike can take you anywhere, some trips need four wheels: heading out to Ikea, spending a weekend in the country, taking your turn with your office car pool.

That’s where Zipcar comes in. “The car for people who don’t want one” is how they put it. By signing up through their site, you get hourly or daily access to cars across the United States, in Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, and all the way in London, England. No huge car payments, no monthly parking bill – even gas and insurance are included.

As with Bixi, you get a special card that allows you to unlock and lock your vehicle. And like Bixi, you’re doing more than saving money and getting around, you’re helping out the environment (but there’s no need to be smug about it!).

Zipcar’s so committed to eco-friendliness they encouraged people from 13 Zipcar-zealous cities to go on a Low-Car Diet by swapping their car keys for running shoes, bikes and rollerblades. You can check out their photos, videos and testimonials here.

The results of last year’s challenge?

Now if only some us more coddled urbanites would get around to actually earning our driver’s licenses, we’d be set…

(photos c/o zipcar.com)

Forget car chases. Forget shoot ‘em ups. And try to put zombies aside, if only for an evening. As Montreal’s GURU-sponsored Fantasia Film Festival enters its last week, the craziest on-screen action can be summed up in two words: combat basketball.

Yeah, that’s right. Bare-knuckle brawls and mixed martial arts on the basketball court, courtesy of Thailand’s Fireball. The high energy action flick premieres in North America this Sunday (and plays again Tuesday), courtesy of GURU.

Fireball mixes slam dunks and Muay Thai fighting as its main character investigates his brother’s involvement in the underground world of five-on-five, to-the-death basketball. Sound a bit, er, out there? As the Fantasia site summary makes clear: “It’s preposterous, yes, but firm direction… a surprisingly strong script that treats its characters with respect and a great cast make Fireball a winner.”

Says director Thanakorn Pongsuwan, “The theme of this film is that every man on earth has to pass a test: we all need to overcome harsh obstacles, which is an interesting proposition.”

Hmm. Makes the NBA seem a little lame in comparison.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit the Fantasia Fireball page.

When GURU Juicy Superfruit isn’t enough to take the edge off this summer, there’s nothing quite as refreshing as a swim. For most city dwellers, this mean’s finding an outdoor public pool (or pretending to be friends with someone who’s got one of their own). On the off chance we are blessed with another day or two of sunshine before September, here are three sweet spots to get your swim on.

The ‘Secret’ McGill Pool
A shady, grassy, no-frills escape for under $5
Pros: Full of hot locals, a great antidote to a sweaty hike up and down the mountain, like a picnic in the park – with swimming!
Cons: A bit of a trek from Mile End or further, the bathrooms smell funny, somewhat less of a ‘secret’ as the word spreads (oops)

De La Montagne Hotel Roof
Just an elevator ride away from the hustle and bustle of downtown
Pros: Stunning view of the city, right by the bar, open late, features kitschy live music every Thursday
Cons: The pool’s quite small, prepare to get ogled

Mont St. Sauveur Water Park
Feel like a kid again with an out-of-town adventure
Pros: With water slides and restaurants it’s more than just a swimming pool
Cons: A day pass costs $35, expect extreme line-ups on weekends, some of those steep slides are apt to take your bikini top (wait, is that a pro?)

Images c/o Rhiannon Brock

GURU Juicy Superfruit is the runaway hit of the summer! Our new hybrid beverage got top ratings on BevNET upon its release in 2008 and now, everybody who likes it juicy is craving it daily. Not only do we love the taste, but in certain circles, Superfruit has been known as ‘the hangover killer.’

We thought it was about time to give our readers a proper breakdown of the ingredients that make this Energy Drink extra special: the Superfruits!

“Superfruit” is a term that refers to a fruit which combines exceptional nutrient richness and antioxidant quality with very appealing taste.

GURU JUICY Superfruit is made with the following superfruits:

Açai

The açaí berry comes from the açaí palm, a member of the genus Euterpe, native to Central and South America. These palms grow mainly in swamps and floodplains. The fruit, a small, round, black-purple drupe about 1 inch in diameter, similar in appearance and size to a grape but with less pulp, is produced in branched panicles of 700 to 900 fruits. The fruit has a single large seed about 0.25–0.40 inches in diameter. The exocarp of the ripe fruits is a deep purple color, or green, depending on the kind of açaí and its maturity. Recently, the açaí berry has been touted as a highly beneficial dietary supplement with claims that it provides increased energy levels, improved sexual performance, improved digestion, detoxification, high fiber content, high antioxidant content, improved skin appearance, improved heart health, improved sleep, and reduction of cholesterol levels.

Blackcurrant

The Blackcurrant is a species of Ribes berry native to central and northern Europe and northern Asia. It is also known as French “cassis”. The fruit is an edible berry 0.5 inch in diameter, very dark purple in color, almost black, with a glossy skin and a persistent calyx at the apex, and containing several seeds dense in nutrients and antioxidants. The fruit has an extraordinarily high vitamin C content, good levels of potassium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B5, and a broad range of other essential nutrients. Other phytochemicals in the fruit (polyphenols/anthocyanins) have been demonstrated in laboratory experiments with potential to inhibit inflammation mechanisms suspected to be at the origin of heart disease, cancer, microbial infections or neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. Blackcurrant seed oil is also rich in many nutrients, especially gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an essential fatty acid.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate fruit has gained a great deal of popularity over the years. Originally from the Middle East and Asia, the pomegranate fruit is also known by the name Granada or the Chinese apple. These days, the fruit is mostly grown in the Mediterranean region, India, tropical Africa, California, Arizona and Latin America. Pomegranate fruit have a round, spherical shape. Inside, you’ll find hundreds of small ruby-colored seeds. The pomegranate fruit has a citrus flavor and is very juicy. The wide adoption of the pomegranate is due to recent studies that have shown that the fruit contains a high amount of antioxidants that are beneficial to our health in many ways. Its great flavor and health benefits have made it a great candidate for those who seek natural health foods. In preliminary laboratory research and human pilot studies, juice of the pomegranate was effective in reducing heart disease risk factors, including LDL oxidation, macrophage oxidative status, and foam cell formation, all of which are steps in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Pomegranate juice has also been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by inhibiting serum angiotensin-converting enzyme, may inhibit viral infections, and may have antibacterial effects against dental plaque. Containing polyphenols which inhibit estrogen synthesis, pomegranate seed oil was effective against proliferation of breast cancer cells in vitro.

Yumberry

Myrica rubra, also called Yumberry in America is a sweet, crimson to dark purple-red, edible fruit. It is native to eastern Asia, mainly in China, where it has been grown for at least 2000 years, and also Japan and Southeast Asia as well. The fruit is spherical, 0.5 to 1 inch in diameter, with a knobby surface. The surface color is typically a deep, brilliant red, but may vary from white to purple. The flesh color is similar to surface color, or somewhat lighter. The flesh is sweet and very tart. At the center is a single seed, with a diameter about half that of the whole fruit. Yumberry has been studied scientifically for phytochemicals implicated with health benefits. The medical literature is diverse. Significant progress has been reported on polyphenols, particularly ellagic acid, tannins and anthocyanins, antioxidant activity, anti-cancer and anti-viral properties.

AND OF COURSE WE GOT A FUNKY VIDEO COMING UP!