ladymika and the attack of the killer narwhals

Internet, you're killing me

2009-03-25T21:42:00.002-07:00

You're not used to playing with anyone, are you?

2009-03-05T22:28:00.003-08:00

lol midi controllers

yes, that's right.

new fun with animated gifs

2008-11-29T18:24:00.004-08:00

and then...

I can has Batman?

2008-07-22T17:15:00.002-07:00

lists.

2008-06-19T18:18:00.007-07:00

quoted from flickr

coolest thing ever no. 21

2008-06-13T12:30:00.003-07:00

(you'll note that these cool things are not in chronological order)

it's okay, though. Right? Well. Watch this, and let me know.

coolest thing ever no. 34

2008-06-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

I've been reading "soon I will be invincible" by Austin Grossman.

One of the superhero characters is Lily, a transparent woman. This idea is totally fascinating to me: she's not invisible, but by being see-through, she still manages to escape scrutiny. you never quite know what she's up to (a key part of her superpower -- try stopping an adversary you can't quite see) and nor can you discern her true intentions, since her body language and facial expressions are obscured.

perhaps she would look like this:

The above image is from a collection by Tony Ariawan.

Do transparent people have invisible hearts?

L.I.V.I.D.

2008-06-11T11:31:00.002-07:00

Living in Vancouver Irritability Disorder.

Characterized by foggy brains, soggy hearts, and a tendency to consume more coffee than water. Other symptoms include: FOMS (fear of missing something, namely, summer), complaining incessantly about the weather, paleness, and (obviously) irritability.

The best known cure for LIVID is moving away from this rain-filled, over-priced, "tourist desitnation". Other recommended short-term remedies are buying a membership at the local tanning salon, alcoholism, vacationing at least three times a year, retail "therapy" and nymphomania.

monday morning.

2008-06-09T15:07:00.008-07:00

the constant angled wetness
forms pools in the street outside my friend's second-floor apartment
and also secretively
below my grey, downcast, rapidly drawn-in eyelids.

....

old emo poetry

2008-06-05T14:14:00.003-07:00

christmas in brasil

2007-12-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

My infinitely gracious friend Nadia invited me up to the mountains to see the Natal Luz (Christmas Lights) in Gramado. This town looks decidedly German, and is, due to the large amount of German settlers in this quasi-alpine region (I say alpine because it was actually COLD here, a fact which Nadia failed to mention...I felt like a right idiot in my havaianas and summer skirt). Clearly the primary industry in Gramado is tourism, as all the perfectly darling streets are lined with souvenir shops, fondue restaurants, and chique boutiques. During the christmas season every avenida, tree, storefront and intersection is decked out with rather North Americanized Christmas decorations.

We went to a posh (not my choice) Italian restaurant that overlooked the main street where the Christmas parade took place. It felt rather like a surreal Winter Disneyland, complete with blowing fake snow that I was hard pressed to believe was not, in fact, real. After the parade we arrived at Nadia's sister's home, an ornately (and, surprisingly, Orientally) decorated apartment in a gated community in the town of Canela. In the centre of this town, located adjacent to Gramado, was the most beautifully illuminated church I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.

The countryside of the serra (mountains) of Rio Grande del Sul reminds me of a cross between the Okanagan and the sea to sky region of BC. Pines and cedars are common, with some palms and banana tress mixed in to remind us that indeed we are in a sub-tropical area. I do admit I felt a little bit homesick for my province for the first time upon viewing the rolling landscape. This feeling was fleeting however as switching from 27 degrees to 10 was definitely a shock to my system!

Feliz Natal! ...will post more after Rio de Janeiro.

Estou esfriando!

Church square, Gramado.

See, it actually gets cold in Brasil...não sabia

Brazilian angels (that were wearing rollerskates!)

Tree lights.

Main avenue, Gramado.

The Gingerbread homem

Igreja, Canela.

the serra.

cachoeira do sul

2007-12-10T10:29:00.000-08:00

"Meu nome é Mika, sou Canadense, faz dois meses que estou aqui no Brasil, e sim, eu falo super-bem Português assim."

Cachoiera (waterfalls) is a beautiful town in the interior of Rio Grande del Sul. Small, quaint, and typically Rio Grandense, it is characterized by rolling hills, large fazendas (ranches) and quietly friendly locals tending herds of domestic animals or cultivating rice and soya. I stayed with my friend Tiele, her mom and dad, adjacent to her two grandmothers, grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousin, and nephew and managed to survive two massive family barbeques. Brazilian families are enormous, and everyone wanted to know everything about me (the most commonly asked questions were, “what are you doing here, a Canadian, in Rio Grande del Sul?”; “how do you speak such good Portuguese after two months? Are you serious?”; and “do they have rice in Canad Fa?”) Note that I say “survive” because churrascos (bbqs) are basically meat roasts, accompanied by fruit and desserts. So I basically ate papaya and doce de leite and ice cream for two days.

Here are some photos...

photoblog um: lugares

2007-11-12T15:06:00.000-08:00

Bellatores, Santa Catarina.

Centro, Porto Alegre.

Mathias Velho, Canoas.

Feira do Livro, Porto Alegre.

Gaúcho mural, Porto Alegre.

Magazine store, Porto Alegre.

Sunset, Torres.

Street, near Cidade Baixa, Porto Alegre.

Canta Brasil Sul

2007-11-12T10:35:00.000-08:00

À ce moment je suis en train de travailler dans le petit bureau de Canta Brasil, mon organisation culturelle ici en Brésil. Elle est située en Canoas, un banlieue de Porto Alegre. Il y a maintenant cinq personnes dans deux petits salles, ça veut dire un garçon de quatorze ans, trois filles d’entre seize et vingt ans, et la mère, qui est aussi une administratrice, d’une des petites qui danse avec l’équipe de Canta Brasil. C’est assez normal que tout le monde chante, crie et danse autour des salles dans n’importe quel moment pour n’importe quelle raison…En fait, il est bien intéressant d’essayer de faire du design graphique au milieu de cette énergie!

Le mandat de mon organisation est de créer un meilleur atmosphère pour les enfants dans les endroits les plus pauvres de Canoas, au même temps faisant une connaissance positive de la culture ici. C’est surement plus qu’une ONG simple, c’est actuellement un ‘mouvement institutionnel culturel’. Ils ont, comme des associés, des autres ONGs (le plus fortement avec Afroreggae, qui était la partenaire fondatrice de Canta Brasil), des organisations de communications (comme le DCS, une entreprise majeure de la publicité et markéting ici en Porto Alegre), aussi que des citoyens privés qui s’intéressent dans les activités du mouvement. C’est bien intéressant que mon organisation est plus connue dans les cercles “chiques” de Porto Alegre que dans les associations sociales et politiques, mais je trouve que c’est un exemple du classement social qui caractérise la plupart d’interaction sociale au Brésil.

Le semaine passé je suis assisté à la Semaine de Communication, une semaine des ateliers, conférences et débats sûr des topiques diverses concernant la communication, la publicité et le graphisme. C’était vraiment une évènement tellement bien réalisée, et j’ai trouvé qu’il était tellement instructif d’avoir eu une chance de comprendre quelles sont des perspectives particulières du graphisme ici. Il y avait des cérémonies des prix donné de la part du Semaine de Communication, et l’entreprise qui a fait l’annonce suivant (en bas) pour Canta Brasil, a gagné un prix pour le même campagne dans la catégorie des annonces des journaux.

Ça me plait beaucoup d’avoir l’opportunité de contribuer aux projets ici pour Canta Brasil, car je crois qu’ils font quelque chose assez différent en se focalisent de l’importance du talent et de l’éducation pour améliorer des vies des jeunes ici. De plus, mon directeur, Rubielson Medeiros, et une personne vraiment pleine de l’énergie de vivre, qui est évidement une pointe d’inspiration pour tous les gens ici. Je vais additionner des points intéressants dans les prochaines sémaines, puis merci pour lire.

brasil -- duas semanas depois

2007-10-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

pensamentos pra as primeras duas semanas...

Dia das Crianças, Porto Alegre

Brazil...strange and beautiful. the first thing you notice is the smell. Meat, shit, sweat. The air is heavy here, at times, thick with moisture and dirt and sound and yes, sex. But the beauty of this country is either brilliant or muted. Brilliant, as in the myriad of fresh fruits and vegetables of the public market, or in the smiles of the children of the church-turned-dance school in the favela, or muted, as in the quiet sadness of the man with his four emaciated, sleeping dogs lying down amid the bustle of my city's central square.

Sometimes it is ugly as well, particularly here in Porto Alegre. On days when the sun fails to break through the clouds, and the gritty reality of decaying concrete and inadequate garbage collection presents itself with unabashed certitude, yes, this city can be called feio, dégeulasse, sad, angry, alive. In stark contrast to the Disneyesque beauty of downtown Belo Horizonte, the centre of this city is a violent mishmash of grace and anger, desire and desperation. Rows of delicate colonial architecture, like the candy-coloured neighbourhoods of children's novels, frame a game pantomime of ordinary workers and beggars hustling to earn their daily Reais.

There are so many products available here, it is overwhelming. Farmacias stock hundreds of boxes of women's hair colour; the chain store Lojas Americanas (literally,"American Stores") carries everything from Barbie dolls to incredibly overpriced home electronics (A basic Sony digital camera goes for more than $800 Réais...the average Brazilian makes less than that a month); and the local supermarket has an entire aisle dedicated solely to cookies. In the streets, hawkers sell indigenous jewelry, sandals, toys, pirated DVDs, brassieres, electronics, gold, barbequed meat, sunglasses, fake rats, dreams. I begin to wonder what development has really brought to this region, supposedly the richest in Brazil.

Here in Rio Grande do Sul the regional symbol of the 'solo gaúcho' is everywhere. The Gaúcho is essentially a cowboy, typically costumed in tall boots, billowed pants, a beret, scarf and often a moustache. He lives in the serra, or plains of the southern and eastern parts of the state, tending cattle and/or farms with his family. Often he can be found in bars that don't close, buying drinks for foreign nationals (ahem) and stamping one booted foot in regional pride. The other symbol indicative of this region, dependably omnipresent, is maté. Often we see people walking about parks with their thermos of hot water and their ceramic pots of maté, drinking this concoction (chimarrão) for two or three hours.

For the next week and a half the Feira do Livro (Book Festival) takes place in Porto Alegre. The feira includes author and academic talks, live musical performances, kiosk upon kiosk of booksellers, and a free film festival. I attended my first Portuguese movie tonight, alone. (That should probably read, I went to my first movie alone, which happened to be in Portuguese.) Titled Achados e Perdidos, it was a well-rendered, passionate and sombre tale of death and love in Rio. When the movie ended, and I exited the theatre, it was raining. Magically, the few street merchants scattered along the Rua das Andradas were selling umbrellas.

the mannequin hunt

2007-09-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

So I have a new and strange obsession.

No, it's not tube drawings of what was going on in Miss South Carolina's head, nor is it the brilliance of Canada's own Michael Cera (if you haven't already, go see Superbad right this second)...

it's mannequins.

Montréal storefronts offer a startingly large number of these strange, ill-used plastic creatures. Best viewed at night, they come alive under buzzing fluorescent lighting while the rest of the world meanders drunkenly along.

We've been sucessfully tracking them for the better part of the last month, with decidedly bizarre success.

Behold our recent spoils.

A flock in their natural habitat. Some inter-fighting
must have occurred at an earlier date
(observe amputated hands and missing digits)

Although orphaned by her kin, this amputee
remains gracefully austere

Here, an older specimen quietly accepts her morose fate

These juveniles have engaged in an apparently fatal game
of "spin the baby bottle"

Nothing creepier than baby dolls

Model slash chef mannequins, ready for work

This week we hope to reach the Valhalla of Mannequin-land: the Magasin de Mannequenerie on Sherbrooke. If our next expedition proves fruitious, I will post the results here.

i was hiding! en français!

2007-08-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

bonjour les amis...

so, i am currently living in Montréal embroiled in intense training for the Canadian Armed Military Light Army Brigade.

Well, not really, but at times it feels like it! Pour élaborer: I am training for an internship with Cyberjeunes/Alternatives, a Canadian NGO with programmes throughout Asia, Africa, and South America. This training consists of full-time courses in graphic design (le graphisme), website and blog management (formation Web), database management (aka hell), video editing (montage), Portuguese classes, "mobilisation" (various conferences and boot camps related to the the social justice and equitable trade movements), and fundraising for our trip (levée de fonds).

My internship is going to be in Porto Alegre, Brasil:

Look at the little pink hipster building! (photo by Zórzimo Croquezz)

where I will be doing graphic design and public relations for an NGO called Canta Brasil. From my understanding (translated from portuguese --> french --> english) the directors run school programmes in the favelas (slums) to teach kids dance (specifically, ballet) and singing so that they have a better life and don't get involved in crime.

This is going to be fantastic.

Meanwhile, life in Montréal is busy, entertaining, and full of bikes. The last point is incredible considering the following:

1) drivers in Montréal do not signal when turning, even across three lanes of traffic;
2) the bike lanes can be described as sporadic at best, and, being two-way, are often more dangerous than taking your chances in the street with cars;
3) no one wears helmets, uses hand signals, or yields;
4) bike theft is rampant; yet seemingly 75% of montréal homeowners post "PAS DE BICICLETTES" signs on their gates, fences, poles etc. (I've even had servers come out of bars and tell me not to lock my bike to what I thought was just a post on a city street but was apparently private property.)

At any rate...being immersed in French is definitely demanding (all my training and 85% of my interaction each day is French, so that I experience some difficulty speaking English if the first time I say anything in that language occurs after 6pm), but often hysterical. For instance, did you know that the French word for "raccoon" is raton laveur...which literally translates to WASHING RAT?! Last Sunday, delerious after three days of early morning conferences in three languages, none of which were English, I nearly collapsed in a fit of giggles at this discovery. All my French compadres think I'm totally insane, by the way.

Side note: as I write this blog, the instructor is teaching us how Facebook works. Ecccchhhhh...

If it interests y'all, there is a blog that all the stagiaires (interns) have made, to give people an idea of what we have all been up to. Last weekend we participated in the Forum Social Quebeçois at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM)...you can read about it here.

c'est tout pour maintenant...
More photos/writing/french soon!

bisoux.

I'M IN UR COMPUTER

2007-04-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

So I've been in internet hiding for a while, apparently...Either that or I am bucking under the pressure of maintaining two Myspace accounts, Facebook, Stalker Facebook, Baby Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo mail, hotmail, Flickr, another blog, and YouTube.

No, really, it's getting nicer in not-so-sunny Vancouver so I am trying to be outside getting more of a UV tan and less of a pixeltan.

However, just dropping by today I decided to share with you my favorite Stupid But Hysterical Mispelled Funny Cat GIFs.

The first one I ever saw was this one:

followed by

Then there is this animated GIF that is worth at least 10 seconds of your ADD time:

I have no idea why these are funny. They just are. Sorry.

(Back soon with something more worthwhile to say)

ode to eurosatire

2007-03-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

"Prepare for downcount"

"My other favorite thing, is not going to a job."

wednesday afternoon musicart jam

2007-02-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

first off, SCANDINAVIA RULES!!!

look at this really beautiful and fun stop-action drawing animation from Swedish duo Minilogue:

the artwork is done by a swedish illustrator named Kristofer Ström.

he also has a lovely website that details his (really rad and diverse!) work and interviews in many style/art/life magazines and blogs.

------------------------------------------

and...Did I just have an AUDIO ORGASM!?!?

It's Erlend Oye-fronted awesomeness band The Whitest Boy Alive covering Robin S.'s "show me love"...

From the same concert, at Iceland's Airwaves Festival, they also cover "I like to Move it", "I've got the power" and "Music Sounds Better With You"...which, now that we are on the topic, is totally one of my top 10 disco house party anthems of all time...

GENIUS MUCH?!?!

Of course now I have to go home and scan a picture of the lady raving from like '99...Yes. I am going to do it, so don't try and stop me.

More from the Whitest Boy Alive..."golden cage" is my current song obsession, which incidentally has a really really cool video.

Optical illusion instructions

+

norwegian bands together

= bliss.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

what else...oh, !!! isn't from Scandinavia, but they have a new album, and a beautiful new website!

cats and wolves!!! playing music!!! aaaaaa!

check it out here!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

basically, europe rules.

QUOOB.TV

this is a great Italian music/film/art site with new uploads and a great user interface. Basically YouTube for Europeans, but with way better organization and way less videos of skateboarding dogs. What, you don't understand Italian? Neither do I, but I can figure out most of this site due to my knowledge of Spanish and French...heh.

i dare you to not spend way too much time on this site. I DARE YOU!

love and bubbles

ladymika.

whistles

2007-02-12T16:29:00.001-08:00

Colbert and Stewart in '08!

2007-02-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's a pipe dream...Whatever. I still am trying to think of a way to get on Stephen's Fantasy Board. You know, it's like the On Notice board but for fantasies...le sigh.

introducing...Buck 63

2007-01-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Morgan,

I love you.

hope chest/tuesday afternoon design jam!

2007-01-16T16:55:00.000-08:00

So for all of you wondering, "what will I get Mika for her wedding present?" here is a current shortlist of, well, decorations and toys.

(Don't worry, y'all have a few years left. I'm just saying...)

First off, I think that I had 3/7ths of an orgasm looking at this staircase:

Or, I sneezed three times in rapid sucession. Which is what, a partial multiple?

And in this nifty loft with this amazing DNA staircase, I will also have (please) the following plates:

Time to get creative at dinner

Mood lighting...

one side of the bulb is real and the other decorative. either way, a bright idea

From the folks at 100per...

A place to sit...

James Design UK

Somewhere to put my shoes...

I'd need, like, maybe three or four of these.

and, some portable green space...

Created by students at Dalhousie University's School of Architecture

If you want to turn a public concrete space into a park, the folks at Rebar in San Francisco have a nifty little instruction article here.

which, incidentally, comes from the "great minds think alike file" as this project bears some resemblance to my friend Clinton's art:

"Dammit, there's never any room to park my bike by the football stadium!"

anyway, like i said, it's a hope chest.

------

hey kids, i added new art websites to my list (at left)...check 'em out yo.

the world is pretty

2007-01-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

Check out when the eagle fails to launch.

2006 is so last year...

2007-01-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

december 29, 2006. 5:02 pm.

all i want for christmas

2006-12-20T16:21:00.000-08:00

Shameless. But, in case any of you are wondering:

1) "The Rainbow Goblins" by Ul De Rico

2) "The Blue Fairy Book" edited by Arthur Lang

3) A bookcase.

4) A pony.

My Little Scenester Pony

5) Anything with wings on it (birds, angels, faeries, winged unicorns, or just plain wing things)

e) BODY MASSAGE!!!

7) Peace love and happiness.

8) And, Mariah Carey said it best...

capital mag is back

2006-12-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

hey kids

my friends at Capital Media are back up and running their online edition.

The newest issue, Collisions, features an article by yours truly:

MySpace and the challenge to individual conciousness.

word up, homies.

Naughty and Nice

2006-12-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

Santa: Hello, what is your name?
You: My name is Mika.
Santa: Hello Mika, I always like to make new friends.
You: I would like a pony.
Santa: You want only one?
You: I would also like a boyfriend.
Santa: You want only one?
You: yes it would make things easier.
Santa: They might be cheaper in quantity. Tell me more about it.
You: Um...well, maybe at least six feet tall?
Santa: Yikes! Well that's okay. Perhaps. Try being more or less specific.
You: He has to be nice.
Santa: A lot of people say that about him.
You: I don't know him yet, though.
Santa: Oh. Do you mean, "Him"?
You: Yeah, the lord Jesus.
Santa: Praise God. I hear you.
You: Let's get back to the pony.
Santa: OK let's do get back to the pony.
You: Maybe it could have wings?
Santa: Perhaps. Under what circumstances?
You: Well, i might want to use it to fly away.
Santa: Well that's okay. Perhaps. Congratulations.
You: Santa, are you messing with me?
Santa: Yeah, Do I look like MESSING WITH him or her?
You: What?
Santa: Didn't you understand it?
You: This conversation is becoming way too rhetorical.
Santa: What does "this" refer to?

www.santabot.com

PUFFY FACE!

2006-12-13T17:27:00.000-08:00

So in a slightly dazed bout of accounting procrastination/break-before-I-go-mental, I stumbled across My Heritage, a site that allows you to track your family history through photographs.

More importantly though, it allows me to do this:

MY CELEBRITY LOOK-ALIKES!!!

Surprised I didn't know that I look more like Renee "Puffyface" Zelwegger than Tyra "Tranny" Banks...

I did a few more and the four common denominators (all of whom showed up twice) were Tyra, Halle Berry, Beyonce Knowles, and...wait for it...

ALYSSA MILANO.

I also variably looked like Scarlett Johannson, Kristin Kreuk, Cameron Diaz (WHAT?!?!), Rachel Leigh Cook, Naomi Campbell, Kates Winslet AND Beckinsale, and Aishwariya Rai.

Weird. Told you I wasn't black.

lights in dark times...

2006-12-12T11:02:00.000-08:00

first off, let me quote from the SANTA LIBERATION FRONT!!!:

"The North Pole is not a nudist colony. Mr. and Mrs. Claus must don their traditional red faux fur suits. With temperatures on the rise, clothes have been shed, distracting and upsetting workers."

Did you know? Al Gore didn't tell you?

and now a little aesthetic break.

when in dark times
I walk along these decembered streets
and come upon such childish delight
in glowing things moving slightly here and there:
so I think there may be a place
for good wishes and hopeful wonder.
warmth in truth,
despite all the cold and smallness
this errant faerie finds in solitary meanderings.

I'll kill your dog just for fun, so don't push me

2006-12-04T13:03:00.000-08:00

Just tell me another thing that makes Monday better than hearing:

when i was in harvard, i smoked weed every day
i cheated every test and snorted all the yay
i got a def posse, you got a bunch of dudes...*

Can't think of anything? Yeah, neither can Natalie Portman...

*Did you know this line is from a Sir Mix-a-track? SIDKT...

thursday thoughts

2006-11-30T13:12:00.000-08:00

First of all, something to make you laugh:

SCREW YOU, KIDS!!!

and something to make you cry, or yell, or something:

Cat Power - I Don't Blame You (Live on Jools Holland)

I just was blessed to see this lady in concert. Having been a Cat Power fan for well over four years now, I was both surprised and spellbound by the pure unmitigated humanity in Chan Marshall's voice. This was all the more impressive as the diminutive lady was feverish and nauseous, as was much of her band...I can only imagine what she would be like operating at 100%. At some point someone gave her a bandanna to wear to ward of the chills she was experiencing on stage. Later it turned out the bandanna came from everyone's favorite flanneur Blond Dan. Gotta love indie rock crushes...

Throughout the concert, Chan Marshall moved about the stage like some sort of modern-day Janis Joplin, but more quaintly deranged fairy than total drugged-out lost soul. Prior to performing "Naked if I want to" (my favorite track from The Covers Record) she took a break and summoned her energy by performing some sort of dance crossed between flamenco and tai chi. It was if she was drawing energy and light out of the air to channel into herself so she could keep herself going for the crowd.

It's the kind of thing I'll be doing for the next little while in order to process my thoughts and warm my nights.

"We've lived in bars
And danced on tables
Hotel trains and ships that sail
We swim with sharks
And fly with aeroplanes out of here"

painting with m. dunnet

2006-11-24T11:48:00.001-08:00

pretty images on an ugly day

2006-11-23T14:23:00.000-08:00

did you miss RESFEST?
I did, even though I meant to go. Like usual I was too busy being coldependent...

Resfest combines innovative film, music, art, design, culture and technology in a festival that takes place in more than 40 cities around the world.

Here are some of my favorite animations and music videos from this year's tour.

An interesting, catchy Korean entry commenting on identity, urbanism, and, presumbably, bitches and hos:

Hipsters vs. jackass vs. artnoize:

(Don't try this at home)

"For '200 Nanowebbers', Semiconductor Films have created a molecular web that is generated by Double Adaptor's live soundtrack. Using custom-made scripting, the melodies and rhythms spawn a nano scale environment that shifts and contorts to the audio resonance. Layers of energetic hand drawn animations, play over the simplest of vector shapes that form atomic scale associations. As the landscape flickers into existence by the light of trapped electron particles, substructures begin to take shape and resemble crystalline substances."

basically, just really cool.

my favorite director, Michel Gondry, doing Beck's "Cellphone's Dead":

Jamie Lidell's "New Me":

this is one of my favorite songs from last year:

A beautiful and strange animation from the artists at LEFTCHANNEL:

and finally, a crazy, Tim Burtonesque animated short from the Black Heart Gang:

Wait for the rat.

hearts and robots

2006-11-22T16:44:00.000-08:00

the perfect woman: "I provide for you but don't feel"

Robot for hire!

A japanese company is hiring out a number of 113cm-tall robots that can do a number of tasks, from giving directions or handing out balloons.

"Just give it electricity, and a robot can work for long hours, even doing repetitive work, and you don't have to worry about labour laws."

In other news, scientists (there they go again) have isolated a master heart stem cell in mice that give rise to cardiac muscle cells, smooth muscle lining the aorta, and endothelial cells that form coronary blood vessels.

Now all I need is for someone to develop a robot heart that won't get tired, never complain, keep me at optimum performance levels and never, ever break.

where?

2006-11-20T01:47:00.000-08:00

i don't understand where you are
i don't know, and it is so so scary.
i don't comprehend where you have gone. i just want to know cos it is so so frustrating that you left.
and there is so much love in the world. so much love. i don't even know
i want to find you and tell you
it's gonna be okay.
it's not that bad, it's not that bad.
you can get through it
and it's too late.
i never told you
cos i didn't know
cos i was there
and i was lucky
i figured it out...
oh god. you always reminded me of me. but i was lucky, and i figured it out.
if i could take every small moment of every beautiful thing in the world
and if i wove it together
in any part, of any diamond,
it would make but a small understanding of why it is still worth it
but it's too late,
and you shone,
and you shone so bright for me.
and everyone
and i am so, so brutalized, by what was never
and it doesn't matter how many sunsets i see and lovers i have
and babies that wake and see the new dawn.
cos you didn't
and i can't even breathe through the darkness
cos you gave up on us.

but you were so bright.
i wish you knew.
and i sit here, and i feel
and i feel so much.
i feel like my sister is gone
and there is nothing
nothing i can do.
but you shone
on and on
forever in me
and everyone
forever.
and i promise it will not be in vain, babe.
i promise you
i promise.

good night

2006-11-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

so once you came in this place
with grey eyes masking the gentle filigrées
of your blue robin's egg soul
and I too had a hiding spot for my gaunt smile
quietly how i meant to say
but misty are my words that come
from such kindred and lonely spaces.

rest well, little sister

painting and drawring

2006-11-14T14:38:00.000-08:00

looking for some inspiration?

Kenichi Hoshine and James Jean's illustrative/conversation project
A P O L I T E W I N T E R is just the kind of artistic/lyrical marriage I totally covet in my own creative endeavours. It's beautiful, melancholy, amusing, disturbing, erotic, and provocative all at once.

a polite winter...is just the way it is turning out, incidentally.

the department of codependency department

2006-11-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

I have so oversaturated myself with these people that I almost don't want to see any of them for, say, at least 72 hours:

too bad they are all such great cooks, hanger-overs, dancers, sleeping partners, and, AND -- they don't talk shit about me behind my back like all my other friends. Especially You, Beckstar!*

* becks you know I kid. plus if it wasn't for my competitive nature and your rad blog I wouldn't be on here at all. Just sayin'.

(no title)

2006-11-10T17:33:00.001-08:00

fast what?!

2006-11-10T13:43:00.000-08:00

I just discovered that one of my favorite albums of all time was released on my tenth birthday. No wonder I am so obsessed.

You get a prize if you
a) know which album it was and
b) when my 10th birthday was.

I guess those are totally inclusive facts, but whatever. I never said I wasn't still affiliated with the D. of R. D. (again, another prize if you know what that stands for...)

hello, long weekend.

Friday Afternoon Dance Competition

2006-11-10T11:54:00.001-08:00

Watch and learn...

P.S. this is one of my best friends in the whole wide world...Yeah, you're jealous.

a new dawn

2006-11-08T12:58:00.000-08:00

This was Stephen Colbert's "dejected" rant after last night's Comedy Central's Midterm Midtacular Madness:

"...You know what really gets me? Democrats didn't even win this thing, the Republicans lost it. They ran away from the President. "Hey, the ship's in trouble quick, let's drown the captain!" We were this close to Jesus coming back. And you Republicans who abandoned the President are going to wander in the desert for the next two years. Literally. Someone's gonna have to replace those troops in Iraq. And don't think you're off the hook, voters – you're the ones who made this bed. Now you're the ones who will have to move over so a gay couple can sleep in it!

Tomorrow, you're all gonna wake up in a brave new world. A world where the Constitution gets trampled by an army of terrorist clones, created in a stem-cell research lab run by homosexual doctors, who sterilize their instruments over burning American flags! Where Tax-and-Spend Democrats take all your hard-earned money and use it to buy electric cars for National Public Radio, and teach evolution to illegal immigrants! Oh, and everybody’s high!"

And here is his "Surrender" cake...

"Mmm...tastes like surrender."

God bless America. Well, Stephen Colbert at least.

See the whole Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert Midterm Midtacular Madness

YouTube vs. Puppies

2006-11-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Cute genetically modified Golden Retrievers...or Pumpking Attack? You make the call

Check out this headline from today's CBC news online:

Time names YouTube 'Invention of the Year'

Ahh, where to begin? First of all, YouTube beat out a vaccine that prevents a cancer-causing sexually transmitted disease and a t-shirt that simulates a hug.

Buh? Okay, great, I understand the hugging t-shirt (what's next, panties that simulate a penis?), but seriously, people. Is our need for instant entertainment, rife legal, content, and selective exposure issues, greater than health? Is it? I don't really have an answer. Yes, YouTube is a great idea. But my whole problem with this whole internet networking, DIY cyber media thing is that maybe we are rolling along with it so quickly that we don't realize the impact it is having on actual social interaction.

By the way, last year's winner was a cloned puppy.

rainy day real estate

2006-11-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

ten ways to love a rainy day

1. appreciate water: carry an umbrella. wear boots. splash across streets. listen to raindrops. observe greenery. squish leaves.

2. soggy sounds: nick drake, bjork, the beatles, chopin, coco rosie, the walkmen...find something that matches your mood and revel in it.

3. pretend at summer indoors: wear flip flops. make fanciful fruit drinks. i personally recommend pomegranate and watermelon. N.B. pomegranate is harder to muddle than watermelon.

4. eat sweets.

5. read books: jeanette winterson, milan kundera, jose saramago, madeline l'engle and ernest hemingway are all good to snuggle with.

6. drink good wine and eat generous foods: olives, pizza, tortilla soup, macaroni and cheese (cheese of course is always implied.)

7. dance around your house in your underpants.

8. take yourself out for a walk: visit a used bookstore. sit alone in a cafe and read the paper. eavesdrop. become acquainted with puddles.

9. write a letter.

10. hug a friend.

From the Codependency Department of Codependency

2006-11-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

a.k.a. the best Halloween ever.

Randy as Waldo, Mika as Randy, Joni as Clinton, and Clinton as Magnum PI...which is himself, kind of

This costume brilliance came to Jay-O and I after the longest day of "hurtin' for sure"...I somewhat shellshocked as a result of less than four hours of sleep and a familial explosion (not mine), while Jay-O suffered from a torrential case of hanging over as well as a disarming lack of cell phone (which she later found...under her bed).

Is this (somewhat freudian) picture hot, or creepy? Probably...just creepy

So much Mikandy love.

My attention to detail is frightening: an airbrush of Randy's tattoo

Saturday evening found us rocking out in fine fashion as Tina Turner, Slash and Axl Rose tore Shaughnessy a new one:

I ripped a big hole in her fishnets...Sorry

You know where you are? You're in the Jungle, Baby!

On Friday we rocked out at the Emily Carr Cabaret, where Patty C cruised around knocking people over in rollerblades as...himself, kind of:

This was posed 3.4 seconds after wiping out on his sick blades, dude!

Sara was fierce (Yeah, I said it...) as a sexy Viking:
(I will point out that this beautiful costume took us exactly 36 minutes to execute...Anyone want to hire me as a wardrobe assistant? I'm available after January...)

Sometimes Beefeater Lime Gin can really get to you...

Other Halloween highlights included the hottest Hot Cops I have ever seen:

T-dot, as a banana:

"I'm a banana!"

Jablonsky, as the cutest Little Red Riding Hood on record:

Jono, dressed up as (what else?) a Boy:

I think he is adjusting his moon boots.

Travis, as some sort of wasted rocker skid: (I know, what costume?)

Someone on my Flickr account commented "More of this guy!"

Natsicle, looking super ballin':

I heard she has a mean 3-pointer

Greg, flying in from NYC to be this awesome:

His name is Devil Kneival.

The lovely Kara stopped by to be a Kara-Kat:

She's fast. Like a cat.

Where's Waldo, Magnum? Oh, there he is

Joni adjusts her 'stache as the Dreamer rocks out

Every good Halloween party has a Hunter S. Thompson...and a room full of drugs. True Story.

So. Much. Awesome.

All in all, a good effort was made by all. I can't wait til next year...or can I? Thanks to all the party throwers and revelers who kept it real for our fine posse.

Some mazing

2006-10-31T12:45:00.000-08:00

Is it just me, or are some advertisers smoking (really good) crack?
The Portuguese text below reads, "You never know when you will need it."

This one is for a men's magazine called Ché. The copy reads,
"Let us keep on dreaming of a better world."

These were all shamelessly stolen from Coloribus, a really mazing marketing and advertising blog out of somewhere in Europe.

P.S. If you are wondering about "mazing"...it comes from one of the many ESL immigrant mistakes my coworker Dmitry made when first arriving in Canada from Russia as a teenager. He thought when people said that something was amazing, they were saying "a mazing...". Similarly, he would hear "nincompoop" as "an incompoop".

Some mazing.

if only it was this relaxing to actually do it

2006-10-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

I love doing laundry. Really, I do. Except for that it always takes way longer than you think it will and I always have 2.5 loads that I try to fit into one or else abandon a bunch of wayward not-so-favorite clothing...

sleepy

2006-10-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ever find a filmmaker that presents the world in a bizarre way that strangely enough mirrors the odd manner in which you view the world? Or maybe you are not bizarre. I'm sorry, if you aren't.

Michel Gondry is that filmmaker for me. The subconcious memory erasing in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind where things aren't lit properly and fall away? That dim/bright juxtaposition that seems so awkward and frightening? Yes.

The flying sequences in The Science of Sleep that illustrate Stephane's troubled attempts to contact his neighbour? That's how I fly in my dreams.

When Stephane gets confused between French, Spanish and English? Welcome to my mind when all three languages (and sometimes Portuguese, too) get jumbled up in my brain. "Hola, ma cherie, Cómo estás? Yo pensé à toi ayer...I'm sorry, je suis um pouco confundido..."

The creative process of this movie inspired me to move away from click-easy communication and get back to basics.

I came home and drew, paint and wrote until 2 in the morning...I started to think about how no one writes letters or hardly even postcards any more. I thought about how my mother would send me little letters from her travels across Canada, carefully written and decorated with little collages and stickers and images from the places she visited. Naturally I didn't appreciate it at the time...However now it really seems as though people just right-click, slap something up on Photobucket and a comment or a bulletin later, real heartfelt human communication turns into just a temporary fingerprint on Myspace.

Several disjointed dreams and interrupted sleep cycles later, I awoke. Getting out of the shower, I thought about how my own mother will only communicate with me via email. I realized i don't even have her mailing address (she lives on my street several blocks up) and I screamed quietly.

So. Send me your real, physical, address. I might send you a thought, or a poem, or a small piece of tangible reality you can hold in your hand and know that we exist.

More inspiration lies at postsecret, a public/private art project that encourages strangers to make postcards detailing their secrets and send them into this blog.

Tony and Angela: Part One

2006-10-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

So before I begin, I just need to say that certain members of my dojo have been watching me and my friends closely and alluding facetiously to Tony and Angela from everyone's favorite lukewarm 80s sitcom, Who's the Boss?.

I started googling Who's the Boss when I came across this discussion site:

Who's the Boss jumped the shark when...

I particularly enjoy this thought:

"I loved the show up unto the point where Samantha chopped off her hair. After that, everything she wore was just dark and goth. I liked the more cutesy dressed, curly brown-haired Sam. Her dark, straight hair ruined it for me. I use to watch the show to check out her hair and clothes. I couldn't depend on her anymore for fashion tips."

Fashion tips?!?! Really? From this girl?!

(By the way...jonathan looks really earnest in this still, dontcha think? Awww...and now you're gay.)

Who did you turn to next for fashion tips? Punky Brewster? Blossom?

Come on, though...Blossom and her crazy hats aside, who didn't love Joey? Whoa!

...come to think of it, Joey Lawrence played Joey, and Tony Danza played Tony...

"Has anyone noticed that Tony Danza is always cast as Tony? Is this because he is SO stupid that if you called him "Jim" or "Bob" it would take months to film a show because he would always forget they were talking to him just like when Homer Simpson was in the witness protection program and he couldn't remember his code name?"

Anyway, I digress. Now, back to Tony and Angela. Right.

Ohh they're so happy. Except for the fact that Tony looks either like he is going to squeeze one out or possibly faint from Angela's vice-like hug of death-love.

I really don't know where I was going with this.

were-pyres

2006-10-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

maybe it is the recent controversial photo shoots from this season's ANTM, or the fact that I just watched Underworld last night...or maybe it is halloween, but Melanie Pullen's High Fashion Crime Scenes photo series is pretty scary/mazing:

Remember, creepy is the new hot.

Notbleeding

2006-10-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night I was once again prone to the attack of the vodka dinner. Unfortunately I also turned into Cinderella sometime after midnight but without having secured a pumpkin coach alternative for myself.

As a result my cries of S.O.S. were intercepted by my own erroneous texting of "notbleeding" to my best friend.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some...It's a pretty bitchin' photo if i do say so myself.

a repost from my "other" blog

2006-10-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

a monday poem:

maple dawn

here is a small, unassuming morning
when the leaves turn
they sigh and welcome us gently
to a new and damp autumn day.

Oulipo!

2006-10-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

As the weather turns damp and drizzly I often find myself turning indoors for comfort, namely from friends, hot toddies, and books. That being said, I have been trying my hand at writing a few things here and there to get myself back into the wintery literary mindset.

After reading about the finalists for the Governor General's Literay awards, I became curious about the literary style used by one of the finalists, Paul Glennon.

Apparently, Oulipo is a form of writing created in 1960 as part of the Collège de ‘Pataphysique. Among other constraints, it limits the way poems, stories and novels are written using syntax patterning.

This is my favorite: "The prisoner's constraint (a.k.a the "macao" constraint) is a type of lipogram that omits letters with "legs" (b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, p, q, t, and y)."

Sounds like a great hyperintellectual game of balderdash to me...

Remember this guy?

2006-10-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

I do. Did you know he has a blog? Yes, it's true, and here is a hilarious audio exerpt:

Wil Wheaton Sees a Red Light

I don't know who reads it, but there you go.

new and better than myspace

2006-10-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

well, it's finally happened...i now exist in not one, not two, but THREE separate public accessible web entities.

true story.