Enter "ScooterGuy."

Thanks to this very unusual local service, there's no need to leave your car on the side of the street somewhere overnight. All you do is call ScooterGuy at (314) 255-1800, and one of the company's 17 drivers will scooter on over to wherever you are, throw their scooter in the trunk of your car then take you and your friends home in your own vehicle. You can even reserve a ride ahead of time.

ScooterGuy hasn't even been around for a whole year, but already, the company is responsible for 4,500 people making it safely and legaly home with their vehicles. At $50 a ride, it gets pretty pricey, but it's definately more legal than drinking and driving, and according to those who use the service, waking up with your car in your garage is priceless. For more info, head here, and check out the perks of becoming a ScooterGuy member here.

St. Louis' emerging burlesque performance scene has gotten a great name and a lot of attention thanks to "The Derriere Beyond Compare," Miss Lola van Ella. Lola has dedicated herself full time to performing, teaching and spreading the word about the art of burlesque in our city. The art and performance of burlesque has been around for decades and recently St. Louis has seen a revival and renewed interest in the teasing and flirty dance style.

St. Louis doesn't just "have burlesque," we are home to some of the nations top performers. Lola and two other St. Louis burlesque performers, Sturdy Girlesque and Tomahawk Tassles, were selected from a pool of 200 applicants to head to Europe for the annual London Burlesque Festival. After the festival Lola will be staying across the pond to do a short tour performing in Finland, Sweeden, Spain and other countries. Besides spreading her love for the provocative dance style, she also teaches burlesque classes at Floored on Grand. Before packing her suitcase and heading to the Queen's Country, Lola and a few other St. Louis performers chatted with us about the art of burlesque, and showed us what a boa is really made for.

To see burlesque that is sufficient for work and to learn Lola's lesson about burlesque performance, click on [tab:trav_video].

Lola teaches us a thing or two about what a boa is meant for
(and it isn't just to wear during Mardi Gras).

Lola and crew will be performing at the Bacchanal Carnivale Costume and Art Ball on March 28 at Koken Art Factory. The evening will have burlesque (of course), fire eating performers, aerial performers and living art displays. This is the biggest burlesque event to ever hit St. Louis and all of the fun commences at 8pm. Tickets are $10 at the door, and they have already sold more than 1,000 passes to an event that promises to be titillatingly fun. Don't forget your toga when you head to this Greek themed evening of excitement; costumes are highly encouraged.

Sander is well known as a stellar DJ, but his skills go beyond the knobs of sound into visual mixing allowing him to connect with his audience on a whole different level. You can experience his show tonight at Home Night Club at Ameristar Casino. Tickets at the door will be around $30 if you didn't hit up the presale. Also expect a big turnout for Sander...some of us have been waiting months for this.

"...Sander's ambitions lie beyond the confines of the club. He remains fascinated by the possibilities of pop music, creating hybrids that are at once immediate and intelligent, club-oriented and credible. "I listen to Missy Elliott records and I go,' Wow, this is so clever,'" he admits. "This is cleverer than 90% of what I hear being made by underground dance producers and it's kind of inspiring. Like, 'Damn, we still have a long way to go!'" Sander is on his way and doing things right. Listen up people." ~ The DJ List

Come and check out the music, the venue, and the humongoid crowd that is going to be there. Party on people, let's start Spring out right! Check him out before you go.

Illinois police and government officials are calling for afterhours nightclubs and bars in East St. Louis, Ill., to close earlier to stem drunken driving and crime.

“Quite often, when St. Louis closes, we get all of the traffic from St. Louis,” said Robert Betts, city manager of East St. Louis, in a statement. “A majority of them are already intoxicated, and they come here and get further intoxicated."

St. Louis closes up shop at 3am, and if you believe old wives tales then there is nothing good going on at that time anyway, so why not shut it down at the same time as St. Louis? I'll tell you why not; because what the heck is everyone supposed to do after 3am? Go home and sleep?

St. Louis Jazz Cafe is opening up downtown at 1500 St. Charles St., and it hopes to become the place that St. Louisans head to when they're in the mood for great local jazz. The grand opening this Saturday (March 21) starts with a happy hour from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., but the free appetizers are also an incentive to attend. From 6 p.m. on, admission is $10 , but it's worth it to be able to listen to Erin Bode all night as you dine and drink.

The Factory, a new dance club and future live music venue at 1128 Washington Ave. is having the first of it's "soft openings" on Saturday, and for the ladies who show up before 10:30 p.m., there's no cover. Since the theme is Spring Training, it's the perfect way to combine your love of the Red Birds with your love of going out on the town.

DJ ROB LEMON

Starting in the mid 90's, DJ Rob Lemon commenced procuring his St. Louis fan base by throwing house parties.  Doing so gained him much exposure and finally landed him his first few gigs in the St. Louis nightclub scene.  Back in the day Lemon explains-" DJ'ing club music was not genre specific. A DJ played music ranging from deep house to trance all in one set. Around 2000, the touring DJ became the new rock star and the music ultimately became very genre specific. A DJ would come into town and would play either house, progressive or trance but never all of the above in one set. Today the touring DJ is even more genre specific. For example a DJ today may play tech-house, minimal, epic trance or deep house."

Lemon describes his "style" as progressive house with a deep sexy vibe. His main goal while working the decks is to paint a musical picture over the night by building tension early and then delivering a sound that has even the "wallflowers" dancing by the end of the night. Speaking of style, it got me pondering the age-old question of  "does art imitate life or does life imitate art?" The same goes for music and fashion.  Lemon explained- "Music sets the trends and fashion follows. Fashion designers want to design pieces to compliment whatever music style is hot at the moment. There is so much money and power behind fashion that it appears that they are in sync because fashion can be produced, marketed and delivered so quickly. It is that simpatico that creates the cool element that is executed at fashion events or in an advertisement. "

Even though DJ Rob Lemon travels a large part of the year spinning in Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Miami and LA, he never forgets his roots and adores the St. Louis music market. "St. Louis has a more extreme core group of electronic dance music lovers verses other cities. The people here who love dance music are totally addicted to it. They do not listen to anything else and I really love the passion they express about club music"-he explains.  While in St. Louis, Lemon has residencies at the $15million nightclub HOME located at Ameristar and SOL in the heart of the Central West End. He describes-"HOME has greatly elevated the expectation for nightlife in St. Louis with a national roster that compares to none. SOL lounge is the closest example to a New York City underground bar that draws an international clientele and has a very cool vibe."

In 2006, Lemon produced a massive hit named Hypnosis. It's been played by such international DJs such as Deep Dish and Paul Van Dyke. In 2009 he is working on a track of that magnitude and hope that it will surpass his last club hit. Even with today's economy in the tank, Lemon feels that it has actually helped the nightlife scene. "People want to let loose now more than ever before which has resulted in packed houses at almost every national nightclub."-Say's Lemon.

Today it seems that every Hollywood starlets and stud are claiming their DJ status and Lemon feel that this has only helped promote the club music scene by exposing more people to it.  However, if your career is DJ'ing you must eat, drink, breathe and sleep music 24/7. Lemon hopes that once the Hollywood DJ trend has passed, those who were newly exposed to club music for the first time will continue to go out.

If reading this article on one of St. Louis's ICONS of club music hasn't got you excited about experiencing Deep House Dance then you should check out DJ Rob Lemon spinning at one of his up coming performances or log onto www.RobLemon.com . Below is a list of his up-coming performances. Now get yo' booty on the dance floor,

Style ON!

DSly

DJ ROB LEMON

March 13^th            SOL                                                 9:00pm

March 14^th            HOME                                            10:00pm

March 20^th            HOME w/ Sander Kleinenbeg            9:00pm

March 21^st            CZAR BAR (Kansas City)                  10:00pm

March 28^th            SOL w/ Justin king                            9:00pm

April 4^th                SOL                                                  9:00pm

April 24^th              HOME w/ D-Fuse                             10:00pm

April 25^th              SOL w/ Justin King                            9:00pm

May 24^th              HOME w/ Benny Benassi                   10:00pm

                        (Look for DSly at this Event)

This year celebrate the fact that you have avoided the stinky rose bouquets (they are corny anyway), you aren't forced to sit through an over priced and calorie laden dinner (swimsuit season is just around the corner) and you don't have to hunt an peck for the good chocolates out of the bunch (you can buy yourself a whole box of the good ones).

The latest US Census stats show that there are more single folk our there than there are attached, especially in urban areas, so you will be in good company if you hit up some of the singles events around town this Valentines Day. You could...

• Head out to Home Nightclub to see DJ Deception in the club or Emilio Hernandez in the lounge


• Head to Dante's and dance the night away to the sounds of Kid Delicious and DJ Jeff Hopkins.


• You could groove with Javier Mendoza at Off Broadway


• If you are looking to see some new faces at a new place, you could also hit up the Single Mix party at Chesterfield's Kemp Auto Museum.

Plus, considering that V-Day falls on a Saturday night this year, everything is going to be open. My advice? Avoid the movies and avoid the restaurants. Hit up some Taco Bell drive-thru (even White Castles has a silly dinner planned that evening - reservations required) and paint the town red. Singles are in the majority now, and it's Saturday night!

Even if the actual competition isn't up your alley, it might be a great way to find out about a new salon that might suit your hair-style, and you will probably learn some tips on how to style yourself.

When: Tonight, January 29
When: 10 p.m.
Where: HOME Nightclub at Ameristar Casino
Why: It's free

If you do end up at HOME for the battle this evening, be sure to say hi to ToastedRav's own DSly the style guy, who is a judge at the event. He says that "with six salons competeing for the grand title of best in show, the beauty battle is sure to be a Hair Raising event!"

Home Nightclub has had some of the hottest stars and celebs rocking their casbah. In the last year you could find the blond heiress that everyone loves to hate, Paris Hilton, and the most famous face from the latest reality show family, Kim Kardashian, at the cluuuurrrb. Whether stars are coming through town on business or pleasure Home is where many of them choose to put on their dancing shoes.

You don't have to be a star to get the royal treatment (but they aren't going to say it doesn't help). There are private booths lining the dance floor, and each comes complete with flat screen TV and X-Box for your gaming pleasure. We wanted to find out what it was like to when a Paris or a Kim parties in the 'Lou so we stopped by and got a glimpse at Home's royal treatment. Check out the stars and the VIP tour of Home on [tab:trav_video].

In 2009 Home is expecting more big names and faces than ever before. When Clooney comes to town they hope to accommodate him, they are hammering out the details to get some big name national DJ's to come through, and they are planning to have more live performances for club goers.

Home Nightclub is located at One Ameristar Boulevard in St. Charles, MO. They are open Thursday through Saturday from 10:30pm until 2:30am.

Last weekend I was invited to a cultural event that I would of never expected to find in St. Louis. Every few months the Network of Indian Professional host a Bhangra Party. This one took place in the heart of the CWE at Bar Italia. Hundreds of multicultural kiddos packed the Luna Bar at Bar Italia and dance the dance of the bhangra until 1am.

Now, i'm sure you are asking ...what is a bhangra party? According to the people I asked, Bhangra was first started during the Vaisakhi festival celebrations of the Punjabi Sikhs, and found its way to the performance stage after the division of the Punjab. The Punjabi dance performed at this time in ecstasy with the beat of Dhol came to be known as Bhangra. The tradition spread slowly to other parts of the region and developed into a unique folk dance form. Bhangra has come of age and is now performed at every major celebration and in clubs, etc. The music will for sure get your booty shaking and your hands a-waving. you can also find a lot of Bhangra music in modern day Bollywood films. 

Bhangra parties and many other events are put on by The Network Of Indian Professionals (NetIP) which is a non-profit, non-partisan, volunteer-based organization committed to identifying and celebrating the diversity of South Asians in America by promoting professional development; encouraging community service activities; raising awareness of the South Asian culture; and providing forums for the discussion of important societal issues.

NetIP's energy and diversity are best illustrated by their "resume" of past events. they have partnered with various St. Louis organizations during the last 5 years including the International Institute of St. Louis, the River City Professionals, St. Louis Cares/United Way, Missouri School for the Blind, Metropolis St. Louis, and ASHA St. Louis. for more information on this and all their up coming events head over to their website www.netipstl.org. 

Trust in the DSly... if you are tired of the same-ol-same-ol get involved with NetIP. One can never have enough cultural in their lives!

Style On,

DSly the Style Guy

As the saying goes: your opinion is awesome, unless its different than mine. Opinions about the really important stuff in life, like who rocks more David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar, and whether South City or the Central West End is more happening, are pitted against each other once a month at Brennan's, a relaxed wine and cigar bar that is a Central West End favorite.

Arguments and Grievances is a light-hearted, monthly debate that has been taking place at Brennan's for two years now. Local folks like you and me get a chance to gather round to watch and participate in passionate debates mano-a-mano or... wono-a-wono (yeah, that didn't really work but I am trying to be all P.C. here).

What: Arguments and Greivancance
When: The first Wednesday of every month @9pm
Where: Brennan's (4659 Maryland Ave in the CWE)

Tonight, ToastedRav.com's style maven, DSly the Style Guy, will be arguing for the Central West End in the main event. If you are interested in pulling up a chair it should be a great debate as he attempts to take South City down a notch.

You can check out video from past debates, see what's on tap for this month, and even sign up to participate in a future throw-down by checking out the Arguments and Grievances website.

Not only does Anheuser-Busch InBev's new logo suck , but their tap is running dry. By the time the first week of February rolls around, there will be no more free beer samples handed out at the company's three SeaWorld and two Busch Gardens theme parks. They're even going so far as to remove all beer memorabilia from those locations, too.

Just a little FYI to InBev - the way to Americans' hearts is not to take away their complimentary beer samples. Just a thought.

1. You can find me at the club. I decided to skip this one for a couple of reasons. One being that I am kind of sequined and stilettoed out for '08 and another being that most places charge between $40 and $100 to get in. Yeah, they say free drinks but at those prices the drinks.are.not.free, and if I were to get my money's worth for a $100 ticket that would be really bad news.


2. Running around all night because if I say yes to one, I have to say yes to them all. This was voted out after being in the car three times at the stroke of midnight. Why was I in the car? I haven't mastered the skill of making it past the police barricades and drunk people with enough time to get to the "the midnight party" (code for the party you actually wanted to go to).


3. Playing hostess with the mostest for the evening. While I love throwing a good party I can't get past the confetti thing. While everyone is blowing their shiny kazoos and throwing little sparkling bits in the air I can't help thinking about how many months it will be until I will actually vacuum up the last bit. Meanwhile, I am constantly fretting back and forth trying to make sure everyone is having a great time.


4. That awesome party where everyone is comfortable and having a great time. See number two and number three to understand why this seems like a mythical fairyland party to me.

There are tons of places to go, see, and be seen around St. Louis. If you are in the mood to get out and about check out ToastedRav's Community Guide for some of the happenings around town - and if you are so inclined, you can add your own event as well. Whatever you do, have a happy and safe NYE.

This Saturday, from 8 p.m. to midnight, El Borracho will be featuring drink specials and appetizers to celebrate the preview of the new cantina. Fresh-squeezed specialty drinks like their signature Borracho margarita or the exotic Paloma cocktail are just a couple of the drinks that sound pretty good to me.

The taquieria and cantina will feature original creations by executive chef and partner John Griffiths. Food is available in either authentic Mexican style or Americanized "gringo" style.

El Borracho is located in downtown St. Louis at the corner of 20th and Locust. (Right next to The Pepper Lounge and where Nectar used to be.) If you would like to attend this special preview, please call 314.348.3535 or e-mail info@synergystl.com . Still, I doubt they'd turn you away if you just show up.

I definitely suggest Home Nightclub as a destination for a great experience, but ladies, if you have to go it alone, take these pointers to heart. Most women won't venture out into nightlife without and escort or group of lady friends, but sometimes you gotta get out even if it means flying solo. It's all about the music to me, but other people make their own assumptions and this is why you have to be ultra careful.

Whether you are going out with friends, looking for a date, covering an event,or just letting off some steam, there are some things you should remember while strutting the town.

1. Be careful about your drink. Never set it down for a second...if you do, consider it a goner. You never know what people might be willing to do. Honestly, if you are going it alone you probably should not drink at all unless you have a cab coming.

2. Be aware of your body language. Whether men understand our language or not, a timid stance is just as good as an open invitation. How you hold yourself can deflect unwanted attention.

3. Club security is the key for the guy who will not take no for an answer. Approaching and engaging in a conversation with security can be helpful. If the situation calls for it, you can always ask to be escorted safely to your car.

4. Always let a friend or someone know that you are going out that night, in case of any rough situation and to make sure you made it home in one piece.

5. Carry a mini pepper spray or something to protect yourself in a bad situation. Taking your keys and holding them between your fingers is easy to do and can do some damage if needed.

This is not to say that my experience at Home was bad, it was just a good reminder of things that are crucial when enjoying a fab club. The atmosphere is great and I would recommend trying it out one weekend...it is a beautiful place that I enjoy enough to visit solo from time to time. Check out the pictures of the night (an my amateur photography) in the Gallery!