BJÖRK - Wanderlust

My world is rocked and this place we call Earth is but a minute fraction of the phenom that San Francisco–based art collective Encyclopedia Pictura have conjured up for Bjork: all puppets and CG, acrobatics and miniatures. Originally developed for 3-d viewing, this here is the 2-d version, which might be okay cause in 3-d my mind might've exploded. What?! You mean I can watch it in 3-d, but only here and nowhere else?

I'm not even going to bother posting a YouTube link to this because you NEED to watch this in high-res widescreen. Enter nirvana here.

Seriously. My brain is mush.

Just about there...

There being a time and place where I can get back to a barrage of blogging. In the meantime...

'Elvis' by These New Puritans. Nice simple vid that's all about the people and seriously sinister lighting. These kids have toured with the Klaxons, the Kills, fellow Torontonians Crystal Castles, and oh yeah, composed the soundtrack to Dior Homme's 2007 runway show.

For the high res video (worth it), click here.

BRB.

Will be back after this hailstorm of an early week passes.

Thoughts going out to my friend out West.

{image courtesy of Liam Daly}

Damn you, Twitter.

Twitter is good and fun and all, but how am I supposed to tell the 12 people following me about how I ate bad roti for lunch when the site's always down? In those times, I revert to When Twitter is Down for consolation. Refresh, chuckle. Refresh, chuckle. Refresh, baaah hahahha that was a good one.

Yo Peace!

It started 5 years ago as a response to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, promoting peace through the visual arts. Today, the mission of Yo! What happened to Peace? continues with ongoing entries, an online store, and of course, submissions from artists around the world with the same common goal.
Check out a few of the submissions below:

Talking parrot finds way home.

"A stray parrot was reunited with its owner in Japan after repeating its name and address at the local veterinary clinic that took it in, police said.

Police captured the red-tailed African Grey, Yosuke, earlier this month after a woman called to say it was sitting on a fence in her backyard near Tokyo... It began by greeting people and singing popular children's songs, before repeating its name and address.

The African Grey parrot is considered one of the most intelligent birds and is said by experts to have the cognitive ability of a six-year-old. "

Click here to see the video at BBC NEWS.

Imagine Peace

Peace Billboards: A really neat display of the international community (based on members of the UN) coming together with art in a public space. For all those lucky San Franciscans, interpretations of 'peace' by 10 artists will be on display on billboards around the city starting May 26.

Book a spot on a free bus tour to check out all the work. What else is there to do in San Fran, anyway, eh?

P is for...

peace.

Mario Basanov & Vidis ft. Jazzu - I'll Be Gone

Smoooth moves, brotha.
Cool track, even cooler video. Watch till the end, it's worth it. I recommend watching the higher qual video by clicking here (your patience is required).

Or for the quick 'n dirty, watch above.

{via Coudal}

Next up, the Velociraptor.

Tiger may find new life through mouse

Scientists extract DNA from extinct Tasmanian cat and implant it into rodent's embryo
May 21, 2008 04:30 AM

SYDNEY, Australia–Scientists from Australia and the United States claimed a first yesterday, saying they had "resurrected" a gene from the extinct Tasmanian tiger by implanting it in a mouse.

The scientists extracted DNA from a 100-year-old Tasmanian Tiger or thylacine, which had been preserved in ethanol in a museum, and injected it into a mouse embryo where it was "expressed" or produced in cartilage.

The results, published in the international scientific journal PloS ONE, show the thylacine gene had a similar function in developing cartilage and bone development as the gene in the mouse, said the scientists from the University of Melbourne and the University of Texas

"This is the first time that DNA from an extinct species has been used to induce a functional response in another living organism," said research leader Andrew Pask of the University of Melbourne.

Scientists from the University of Texas also participated in the research, which was published today in PloS ONE.

The announcement was hailed here as raising the possibility of recreating extinct animals.

The last known Tasmanian tiger died in captivity in 1936 in the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.

{From the Star}

My pet monster.

{via Trends in the Living Networks}

Extinction Timeline

Nice looking, and very precise, timeline.

Extinctions to look forward to:
1. Paris Hilton by 2024,
2. Deafness by 2038,
3. Death sometime after 2050

Extinctions to dread:
1. Work free weekends by 2024,
2. Secrets by 2016,
3. Peace & Quiet by 2036.

From Future Exploration Network. Check this out, too. Working for them would be like working for MIB.

"What?! Cos' I'm doing a thing!"

Hold up! We Torontonians don't really speak like that, eh?

{via swissmiss}

For my consideration...

So it's due time I pick up another pair of shoes. It's been an obscene amount of time since I last made a shoe purchase (wow, do I sound like a North American or what!), so I've been on the prowl. On my travels this weekend really remarked the great stuff that Creative Recreation's been doing these days.

These are my favourite, right now. Alas, like everything else, the men's shoes are far superior than the ladies collection. What is it with companies thinking that we all love those wussy looking round shoes with some Polly Pocket strap over it?

Felty pebbles.

Made in Johannesburg, SA as part of a women's collective, these 'pebbles' made out of 100% felted merino wool just make me want to pet, pet, pet, pet them. Just stick one in my pocket and pet. Available at Branch.

{via Apartment Therapy}

Sit on paper.

From USA, designer's comment: "cardboard stool folded from 4'x4' cardboard sheet. this stool developed from a folded paper design exploration involving many small folded joints. scoring in the cardboard allows the sheet to collapse in on itself. clear tape secures the exposed edge."

From Spain, designer's comment : "foldable, comfortable, easy to move around and resistant. this folding chair, made of cardboard, is a versatile, easy and cheap to manufacture, made in one piece."

From Belgium, designer's comment: "private park is a foldaway seat to take out to the garden, the park or the beach. unfolded, it creates oneself a personal space in the outdoor environment. the angle of the backrest can be adjusted to any position thanks to the little feet that dig into the ground. following the seams of the quilting, private park folds up into a little bag (a triple seam indicates each fold); handles incorporate to the quilt makes it is easy to carry it around. sliding the backrest out of the canvas, private park can be machined wash. material: quilted cotton, canvas & plywood."

From USA, designer's comment : the name of this piece is origami chair. the construction of the photographed
prototypes is from polycarbonate and polyester mesh- polycarbonate stiffeners sandwiched between 2 layers of mesh. the chair folds together from a single sheet into a structural volume. due to the semi-transparent nature of the materials, the internal fold structure remains visible. the strength of the piece is in the clever series of folds that provide the structure and crisp angularity of the finished form.

{via designboom}

O is for...

origami.

Spent 35 minutes last week trying to figure out how to make an origami box, and I mean just a simple box, for a friend at work. Above is my hasty and rather shameful attempt at the letter "O". See what wonderful things can be done with this ancient Japanese art (if you actually know what you are doing, or are Japanese):

Robert J. Lang Origami: Intricate structures made without a single cut in the paper.

Made from one uncut piece of paper.

Made from 16 uncut pieces of paper.

Joseph Wu's Origami: nice pieces by Wu himself, as well as great links to other Origami masters, his Flickr site (he's working on an origami play), and instructions for us paper-folding novices.

By Joseph Wu...

... and for Stioli in New York.

By the master YOSHIZAWA Akira

Monday afternoon.

It's Victoria Day here in Toronto, and I'm sitting here in my pajamas, looking out my window at my two wooden patio chairs, Umbra lounger, people walking by Canadian Tire, a fellow biking by in a sleeveless shirt, the TTC bus rumbling on, lots of typically dark coloured vehicles, a pedestrian with a vibrant purple sweater, and with my dear napping in the other room despite the fact he just dissed my big cheeks, and I can't help but think about just how lucky I am to be here.

Please remember those who have lost so much in Burma and China.

If you can, please donate through UNICEF or The Canadian Red Cross.

I have hermès

Something of an haute couture online adventure as you dig through the folds of this site. Minimal text, which I love. It's all about visuals visuals visuals in the House of Hermès. Layers of horse videos, jazz musicans' secret wishes, and DIY printable paper handbags. Explore the site yourself and see what other nuggets you come across. Watching horsies makes me want to buy a scarf.

'Aliens Are My Brother'.

{image courtesy of UFOBC, from Kevin's account of his alien abduction}

"Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world. The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God...

Just as there are multiple forms of life on earth, so there could exist intelligent beings in outer space created by God. And some aliens could even be free from original sin, he speculates.

...Science and religion need each other, and many astronomers believe in God, he assures readers.

To strengthen its scientific credentials, the Vatican is organising a conference next year to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the author of the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin."

By David Willey
BBC News, Rome

{thanks to Rachael for looking to the skies}

MUTO

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

From my friend Krista.
You have to watch this. A longish short "animated" film shot in Buenos Aires and Baden. I wonder if these markings still exist...

N is for...

news.

We should read more of it.


http://www.themorningnews.org/

http://torontoist.com/

http://www.goodmagazine.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

'I Saw You' on Flickr

A bad night forever immortalized on Flickr. This and a few other nuggets in the photostream devoted to Missed Connections postings on Craigslist.

World's Biggest Missed Connection

{Bonding over Bush. Image courtesy of OurFaves Toronto}

"The World’s Biggest Bookstore last night hosted Missed Connections Addicts Anonymous, the first get-together for poetic souls who post anonymous personal ads on Craigslist Toronto. Invited by Craigslist user “pers-664328682,” they were to make themselves conspicuous while allegedly browsing for books, then post love notes to each other later on Craigslist in hopes of making an actual connection. The Post’s Brianna Goldberg was there to observe..."

M is for...

missed connections.

Like the hundreds, nay, thousands (?) of people in the GTA who lurk around Craigslist during their work I mean spare time, this has to be my favourite section to visit regularly. Like a horoscope, comic, or urban dictionary word of the day, it is a daily dose of romance, just enough to inspire Jane Austen-esque fantasies of two strangers in this big, scary city of ours who just can't make the first move, wish they waited a little longer, or who just need to cry a bit together, and through chance, fate, and a common secret hope, might be able to figure out that elusive thing called... love. Sigh.

Size doesn't matter.

In major cities everywhere, one of the greatest challenges facing developers and planners is, well, there are more and more people, but still the same amount of friggin' land we started out with. All those little nooks and crannies around street corners and hidden within buildings, that is all space that, if viewed with a creative eye, can be used for living. And not just any ol' living, but actually desired and forward-thinking living.

sculp(IT), a design duo from Antwerp, Belgium, took on the challenge of re-thinking a 4-level, 2.4 meter wide residential space. The result is a slick living space, which happily doubles as a light installation.

Downstairs for work, dining on 1st, relaxing on 2nd, sleeping on 3rd, and on the roof, a killer view and tub.


{via Archinect}

L is for...

living.

We all live somewhere, anywhere, and through our process of "living" day to day, we as individuals become, or rather, just are, the people we are. Warning: this could be the allergy pill I took this morning talking. In any case, drugged out or not, living is a wonderful, fascinating thing. Especially when we investigate how we live together, and how designers are reconciling the challenges of urbanization, our environment, and better living. Now gimme that cough syrup.

Click to Give - for free.

{image courtesy of People. In LA supporting World Hunger Relief Week last year. Further proof that Heidi and Spencer are idiots. )

Okay, now you really don't have an excuse. Click to Give @ The Hunger Site, and why not save a few trees and animals while you're at it?

The Pocket Book of Death

Click here for more funnyness. Thanks to Miguel for the link.

AWEARNESS

Greenpeace VS Dove



"What's interesting is that the Greenpeace "Onslaught(er)" video about Indonesian rainforests is based directly on the Dove "Onslaught" video that Unilever created to help sell Dove soap. Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty" is generally considered to be one of the greatest viral advertising campaigns in recent memory, so Greenpeace is actually engaging in a form of Web 2.0 jujutsu, using Dove's (i.e. Unilever's) very own strengths against it. In fact, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out over the weekend, the Greenpeace campaign has been so massively successful (over 250,000 views in less than a week) that if you type "Dove" into the YouTube search box, the first search result is the Greenpeace viral video, NOT the Unilever viral video!"
{via AWEARNESS}

K is for...

Kenneth Cole.

Thanks to his tireless mission to spread social awareness in a market where, well, Jimmy Choo's are generally top of mind, Kenneth Cole has successfully won me over.

Sure, his older campaign's were obnoxious, even offensive, but his current "We all walk in different shoes" campaign is able to ignite the same interest in a just cause (... individuality? acceptance? just being good people?) without the side effect of infuriating/confusing the masses. Way to rope me in with the ol' Wilson technique. Of course I'll have to see their faces! What? Go to your website? Well, fine.



{images courtesy of Kenneth Cole Online}

And, he has a blog all about social awareness. Well, rather, other people blog for him. Like bloody Alan Cumming.

The World of Blue Jeans

Time Magazine's short, but illuminating photo essay on the denim industry.
From this...

Zhongshan, China
"A worker uses a sanding machine to distress jeans. The factory also scrubs, sprays, tears and stone-washes their products."

To this...

New York, New York and Culver City, California
"Models display styles by hip Japanese jeans-maker Evisu."

{via Time Magazine}

Won Hundred

Apparently, Scandi design has a way of creeping it's way into everything I deem excellent. Presenting - Won Hundred. With its roots in denim design, this Danish company has been outfitting the moody, hollow-eyed youth of today since 2004. What I love about their collection is that the beauty of it is in the details, details, details. These jeans were made to be worked in by the wearer.

Their website and online catalogue are pleasant to flip through (yep, it's one of those online "flip" catalogues), and also check out their Spring/Summer Inseason 08 line. I happen to be going through a one-piece fad right now, and these jumpers have got me thinkin'...

J is for...

jeans.