F is for...

Finnish design.

Work these days has been about all things Marimekko inspired, so rather than blog about other recent "F" things (like how Coachella was F-ing great), this seemed like much more the debonair route, indeed.

To kick it off, here's Company, a design duo hailing from Finland.

First thing's first, their site is brilliantly understated, kicking it old school much in the same stream as French design prolificateurs M/M Paris. But today isn't about them (though another day, it ought to be). Today, it is about Aamu Song and Johan Olin, and when they put their heads together to inject a little auringonpaiste into everything from graphics to enviro design.


Talk about functional design. Seat in the skirt is awesome. And those father – daughter shoes... sweet.

Hiatus

Going down to L.A. for a couple days for Coachella. Will be back on Tuesday with some F for this space.

In the meantime, enjoy the French:

{via my pear tree}

An oldie but a goodie. She's too perfect. Even with a ciggy.

{via the sartorialist}

Design is a Superpower.

Compliments of "greenster" (which is, by the way, far more du jour than yesterday's scenester), Meaghan Orlinski: Had the good fortunate fun of working with her for a couple years on the Sustainability Fashion Show, and don't be anything but inspired if you run into her at Circa wearing some fantastic, sustainable, reworked fashionistical masterpiece.

I. Love. Camps. Dino also does. This one looks great, where designers of all make and medium converge to talk about just how design and sustainability can converge together. It's an open, completely welcoming "unconference" of sorts set to take place April 29, 2008 from 10am-4pm, location TBA.

See what they're all about here or via their .org website. Join the Facebook event and put your good ideas to work.

"A world map showing current sunlight and cloud cover, as of Apr 22 2008 14:00 UTC."

Great site that provides regularly updated views of Earth's interaction with the Sun. They call it.... a World Sunlight Map. Seems pretty accurate. It's sunny in Toronto. And sunny on the leftish side of this map.

Things like this are fantastic. I mean think about it, we are on this map! Somewhere! A speck, but a part of it in any case! Space is weird.

E is for...

Earth.

Which is perfect. Because today happens to be Earth Day.

So instead of sitting around moping about how sad the current state of our wonderful planet is, perhaps we should take this day to celebrate it for all the beautiful and wonderful things it has offered us. If we take this day to remind ourselves of how incredible it is that all these things around us can even exist simply via the power of nature and time, maybe it'll inspire all of us to play our part the other 364 days a year.

Here's hoping.

The Discovery Channel loves the world, and they know everything.


{via Coudal}

Tea is for elitists.

Tea, while I don't drink it too often, lives in this fantastical realm with connotations of a bygone era, be it the Arts & Crafts tea rooms, exotic blends sent from China to Marie Antoinette, or even the simple pleasure of sipping and catching up on a quaint bistro set.

Here's one of my favourite things on Etsy: a handcrafted, fully functional teapot from georgiesmom in Toronto. The colour and shape reminds me of a seaside playground off the Mediterranean Sea. Sigh.

D is for...

Darjeeling.
Of course, thanks to Wes Anderson's love/hate movie last year (I happened to love, also in part due to the fact that the 2 movie posters were some of the best I'd seen in 2007), the term Darjeeling is now familiar to most folks. Suspiciously, it appears as though a town in the state of West Bengal in India ripped this movie off and had the audacity to name their own town, Darjeeling, selling tea, and even building a famous railway.

"Darjeeling is internationally famous for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tea plantations date back to the mid 19th century as part of a British development of the area. The tea growers of the area developed distinctive hybrids of black tea and fermenting techniques, with many blends considered among the world's finest.^[1] The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway connecting the town with the plains was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 and is one of the few steam engines still in service in India."
{via Wikipedia}



Wait... did they say 1999? Impossible, considering the movie came out in 2007. Further proof that Wikipedia is not a reliable source.

C is for...

...compact.

From my compact designer friend Krista:
Compact life in flip books from Kraak & Smaak.

{via Krista via ViaComIT}

Compact Fold-Ins from the NY times (Interactive! Check it out here).

{via Krista via The New York Times}

A-Z Animalistic Awesomeness

Okay, so this doesn't have anything to do with 'B is for Baked Goods', but it's alphabet themed so I automatically veto any opposition to this posting.

Love the simplicity of Jeremy Pettis' work here, where's he's taken an animal for each letter and rendered the word in it's appropriate typoGraphic (emphasis on "graphic") style. Black and white makes anything look good, especially when it already looks pretty great to begin with. Also love how he left in the crop marks as a graphic element in itself.

Spell your name. I'm... Tiger Alligator Manatee.

Eugene & Louise Bakery

The magical marzipan creations from this Belgian bakery give me another reason to not want to eat marzipan anything. Inspiring to observe the perfect mixing of two very sweet things (treats and graphics). Bake at 350 degrees and you got one smokin' little bakery shop.
Note*: Especially love the wrapper for spiced cookie bits in milk chocolate…

B is for...

Baked goods.
Which I've been having way too much of, no thanks to my sister having recently acquired a job at a local bakery. So why not let my sugary carbed-out gut spill over into the online world? Today's dedication is to the sinfully Bad-Ass World of Baked Goodies. Indulge.

Hiding Out

Just remember to stock up on bottled water and destroy all your computers before midnight Jan. 1, 2000.
Installation and photos by Bjørn Bjarre.

{via swissmiss}

The Miesenboeck Matrix

Speaking of Armageddon, there's nothing more comforting than the idea of accessing the "master switches" or "command centres" of flies' brains in order to confuse them of their gender. The point of this entire procedure was to control their sexual behaviour.

Professor Miesenboeck, el mastermindo, states that:
"It is often the case that males have to work very hard to convince females to mate with them... In many animal species, males have to put on elaborate courtship displays to impress females - even the tiny fruit fly."

I think the best line comes when he confirms that:
"... if the female likes that sound, she'll surrender to his advances."

I'm not providing any context, by the way. It seems better as such.
Check the article, courtesy of BBC News, here.

A is for...

Armageddon.

Is it so surprising that the first site to come up when one Googles "Armageddon" is that definitive pillar of movie-making of the same name? Bruce Willis AND Ben Affleck? And Billy Bob? And Steve-freakin'-Buscemi? It doesn't get better than that. However, to my delight, the IMDb link to the movie site has some pretty brill illustrations from (I assume) from the storyboard.

Thursday: Rubbing ribs and A-Z

{image courtesy of the Newport/Naples Rib Company}

Good afternoon everyone! I return after waiting at the walk-in doctor's office for 1.5 hours for a 5 minute diagnosis. Despite the typical prescription of... anti-inflammatory meds and lots of this thing they call water, I did walk away with a fascinating revelation: my breathing problems are due to the fact that... wait for it... one of my ribs are rubbing up against my breast bone. It's an "-itis", I just don't remember what sort.

In any case, while I was waiting and watching the roast beef sandwich I had packed for lunch go lukewarm, I decided that I would run through the alphabet and dedicate postings to the one place/thing/person/event of choice, starting with that letter. These would include nuggets dug out from the depths of the WWW, and personal diddle-doodles.

This is partially inspired by my search (in vain) for the name and author of a beautifully illustrated children's picture book from not too long back, which dedicated each DPS to one, glorious, eternal letter. If anyone happens to know what the frig I'm talking about, please enlighten me.

Till the next post, farewell from me and my swollen rib.

Bite me

Mad mad rice art here. It's even crazier than the rice bear in the pink basket. Look for the Christmas themed ones.

So you think you know your fonts?

It takes more than just hating Comic Sans and Papyrus to be a font connoisseur. Try The Rather Difficult Font Game and if you get your LT STD 55 in gear you might just make it into the Hall of Fame for all Perpetua. Ha, sorry. Couldn't resist.

Out of the 18/34 questions I filled out (before office guilt set in again), I had gotten 12 correct.

Get more than 2/3 right and I'll send you something. Seriously.

Wednesday: Dino and Dinos

Today's news in pictures around the world:

In Paris: Finally, a giant 65-million year old triceratops skeleton is up for auction! Get it while it's prehistoric! Mais non, ce n'est pas possible! I didn't know 3-horns could speak French!


{photo courtesy of BBC News}

In Toronto: Not 3-horned but broken boned buddy from work, Dino, of planning, DJing, and bone-crushing fame was so kind as to give my little web presence a shoutout on his blog. Check it out to learn about media, brands, and Obama. But I doubt there's anything about French dinosaurs on there so maybe come back after.

CNN is like the worst "news" source. Ever.

Appropriately whack illustrations of CNN's many, landmark, highly noteworthy headlines from Kelly Chambers' blog. Humans really are weird. Updated daily!

{via Coudal}

The Lazy Man/Woman's Fix

Steamed Chocolate Pudding

Adapted from Barbara Kafka

Time: 15 minutes

8 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces, plus 2 tbsp softened
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
Ice cream or sweetened whipped cream for serving, optional

Use softened butter to grease a 4-cup bowl (Corningware works well). Grind chocolate in a food processor, then add cold butter and sugar; process until combined. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth.

Pour into bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and cook on high for 4 to 5 minutes in THE MICROWAVE, or until just set. Remove, pierce plastic with tip of a sharp knife, and cover with a heavy plate; let rest for 10 minutes.

Unmould onto a serving plate and serve warm or cold, with ice cream or whipped cream if desired.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Stacked.

Compact is the future, and this stackable lawn furniture series from Dedon is all that without looking like something out of Blade Runner. Now you push your wicker tower to the corner of your balcony so you can push your Hip Hop abs to the limit, and then deconstruct it again and kick back with a giant slushie. What more can you ask for?

{via apartment therapy}

"We deserve better."

CBC Radio 2 Overhaul: As part of the very demographic they are trying to tap into, I am devastated by CBC Radio 2's decision to not only get rid of the CBC Radio Orchestra, but also close one of the few accessible windows we have to classical music. I mean I love listening to Akon and Gwen and Flo Rida, Mr. Steinmetz, but only between 9-5! Where the Vivaldi at?!

Sign the petition to save North America's last radio orchestra. And hey, who says they're outdated? They have a freaking Facebook group. Modernists.


Protest outside the CBC building in Toronto last week.

and without further adieu... eggcorns.

A snippet from Mark Peters article on Eggcorns entitled, well, "Mark Peters on Eggcorns" {via GOOD Magazine}:

"The website Eggcorn Database has catalogued more than 500 of these errors, including “cease the opportunity” (seize the opportunity), “whoa is me” (woe is me), “girdle one’s loins” (gird one’s loins), “financial heartship” (financial hardship), “throngs of passion” (throes of passion), “mute point” (moot point), and “without further adieu” (without further ado). I think my favorite is “lack toast and tolerant,” a dietary problem that makes lactose intolerance seem like a pleasant alternative to a barren, toastless existence."

More wonderful, whimsical illustrations like the one above by Kim Scafuro.
And what??!!? What do you mean "ruckus" was really something else?

Sweet ride, man.

Wanna get your bike stolen? Get one of these! Actually, maybe not. Thieves generally don't steal giant pop bottle rings with rakes attached to them. Checkout these 10 loopy bike designs.

lies to a 3-year old

Trees talk to each other at night.
All fish are named either Lorna or Jack.
Before your eyeballs fall out from watching too much TV, they get very loose.
Tiny bears live in drain pipes.
If you are very very quiet you can hear the clouds rub against the sky.

The moon and the sun had a fight a long time ago.
Everyone knows at least one secret language.
When nobody is looking, I can fly.
We are all held together by invisible threads.
Books get lonely too.
Sadness can be eaten.
I will always be there.

{heading east via swiss miss}

{image via enchanted learning}

The first.

And so, it begins. Glad to finally join the blogging community after a nice, long healthy procrastination spell. So this is the new home of carpalfun (of the now defunct www.carpalfun.com ), with the addition of things that inspire, as well as some of my own little musings and doodles.

Here goes.