DUMPED!

Fun stuff from Meg Wachter.

The Generator.

While looking for name inspiration for my new bike, came across this French Male Name Generator... which connected to a French Female Name Generator... and Place Name Generators and Character Description Generators and Ethnicity Generators?! Oh my!

Presenting Serendipity.

A randomly generated snippet from some of my fave categories:
Fantasy Plotter: A wizard raised by merfolk goes in search of a devious sorceress.
Chinese Restaurant Generator: Happy Flower
French Female Name Generator: Gisèle-Joséphine Girardin
Villainess Name Generator: Hecate the Fiendess, The Manic Viper
Japanese Male Name Generator: Kono Noriyuki

So now that the hard bit's done for you, get writing. That Giller Prize ain't gonna win itself.

Screengrabs of my work...

To whom it may concern:

Some bits 'n bobs from my work over the past few months: scribbles, typing, design, and my blood/sweat/tears. Enjoy, folks.

Nagi Noda

Okay, so you know how we all say that the Japanese culture is all loopy and pretty much like an impenetrable/inimitable alien farmland? Here, Nagi Noda is further proof to affirm such a statement. She's a multi-disciplinary artist with an expertise in creating mend-bending Alice in Wonderland type scenarios for commercials, music videos, and even fashion shows.
Firstly, Hair Hats.


Secondly, the LaForet runway show. Beatrice, this is a whole new level of "shadow fashions" (which is trademarked by us, by the way).

{thanks to Michelle in Ohio for this one}

Blank is like Blank.

Copywriter Justin Feinstein's blog of things that are like other things.
Some of my favourites:

{via swissmiss}

The best Wednesday morning, ever.

Unknown man and even more unknown doggish pet from this past weekend's Woofstock festival in downtown Toronto.

I need that pooch and I need it now.

{image courtesy of BlogTO}

The Perfect Summer Blockbuster

An almost complete script for the greatest date movie to ever not be made.
{via McSweeney's}

Dan Witz

Talented painter, street artist, and prankster. Check out Dan Witz's portfolio of mundane things turned marvelous.

Big Mosh Pit 2007. oil and mixed media on canvas 46x70

Long Island City, Brooklyn 2007. Mixed media on plastic, affixed to metal sign.

East London. 2007 Mixed media on plastic, affixed to metal sign.

Q is for...

It's been a long time coming, but...

quarterly.

There's just something about Quarterlys (Quarterlies?). When I read them or fake read them (like it really matters) I feel like some debonair dandy getting ready to graduate to The New York Times but not quite ready yet and I am maybe referencing GQ. One such publication worth getting the ol' hat tip: Drawn & Quarterly.

The publication.

The site.

The store.
Managed to get my hands on an old issue at the closing of This Ain't The Rosedale Library, look for them in Kensington now.

Faro Architecten

A renovated and expanded 150 year old farmhouse. The pavilion represents modern rural architecture: it’s simple, practical and eloquent. 52° 06' N, 06° 08' O

Student housing/office in Amsterdam. 52° 22' N, 04° 55' O

FARO Architecten is a quaint little spot in Amsterdam where they bring in the best of the old and the modernistic lines of new to create beautiful urban spaces. Love it. The site offers a little more than other firms' sites, including preliminary drawings and media bytes of each of their projects.

{via materialicious}

I Diss You!

The Surrealist Compliment Generator.
No description needed, really.

Another Saturday morning...

It's a scorcher in sunny, humid Toronto today. Just summer gracing us with her sweaty presence... smells like a day for procrastination!
Some thoughts on things I could do today but likely will not do:
1. Go to the gym. I've been told my shoulders are too small.
2. Find a table and outdoor rug for my balcony.
3. Go out and buy some music, like my conscience-friendly friend, Angela.
4. Go grocery shopping.
5. Or at least buy some juice, dammit!
6. Look for a bike.

Instead, I think I'll just finish this posting, go the washroom, continue thinking about how nuts it is that there exist uncontacted tribes in Brazil, and do something useful like pay my energy bill. Till Monday, when I'm back with faster Internet connection! Thanks, work!

It's like the China tent at Epcot.

Click your mouse and drag around to get the full wah-BOOM effect funness of this interactive demo reel from Immersive Media. How is this possible? Why, with an 11-lens camera, a realtime blending box, video streaming equipment, idiot. Now why didn't you think of this?

Fact: Some people don't get sarcasm.

' “A lot of the social cognition we take for granted and learn through childhood, the ability to appreciate that someone else is being ironic or sarcastic or angry — the so-called theory of mind that allows us to get inside someone else’s head — is characteristically lost very early in the course of frontotemporal dementia,” said Dr. Bradley F. Boeve, a behavioral neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.' - The New York Times

Relatively interesting article about sarcasm and the fact that there exist some, other than those who just simply have a bad sense of humour, who just don't get sarcasm. I mean, actually. Like it's a biological thing. Watch the video and see whether YOU get sarcasm. It's soooo haaard, I mean it's like you might need to be Albert friggin Eiiiinsteiiinn to get it.

Vampire Energy

Video By Lindsay Utz, Morgan Currie, Rowland Holmes
Illustrations By Nigel Holmes
Music By E*Rock
Other Danielle Flug

Yep. Standby power = evil. A great little video that is not only informative, but with great animation and music to boot. Mmm... and there's nothing quite like a rumbly, manly, narrative voice.

{via GOOD}

Reason for Blogging Slackage...

So rather than blogging during my 'breaks' at work, I have been scrambling to put together a little piece for a fundraiser/auction for HIV going down 'cross the Pond called 'Confessions & Perceptions'. It's an impressive collaborative project by peeps both in Canada and in the UK. Any folks out in Birmingham who are able to attend, check out the Facebook invite here.

Below is my rather last minute submission, in 2 versions. I've always been a fan of McSweeney-esque, clean, white, typographic design, so here it is. First, the alternate version...

And the final.

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}