Put the finishing touches on this one last night. Excited to see it up, especially if it gets printed on the paper Jenna suggested.
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Speaking of Jenna, her and I tend to send each other a lot of links. Lately she's been killing it, sending me some great stuff that I just have to share.

When Polar Bears Attack - Extremely adorable. The first picture just kills me. Have I ever mentioned to you that I wish the technology existed to keep a baby bear a baby so that I could own one? I know the moral implications of that would be iffy, but how great would that be?

Wood Meets Metal - Faux Bois and Real Bois together! This buckle is awesome! Way out of my price range though, well, more even than I would spend on a buckle ever (probably). Still, nice.

Brass Boxing Bear - THIS IS AMAZING. I got so excited when I opened this link. Also, note that it appears to be a bookend, so there has to be at least one more of them out there. How great would that be to own?
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Cowches? Cowches. The picture they use in the first link is great and makes me want one (not that I would ever get one, but you know...). Some of the pictures on the actual site make them look a little less awesome. Cute idea though, and the name is obviously genius.
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One more Muppet video...
This one is a real tear jerker. I've always thought about looking for it , but never have until now, because I knew it would make me cry. Big Bird at Jim Henson's memorial service. So sad. The way his voice breaks slightly at times and the ending just kill me.

The Canadian Design Resource posted about this awesome pattern today, which led me to check out the Curse of the Multiples website, and spot that image above. They're both pretty great, and there appears to be lots more where they came from.
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Gotta go door handle shopping soon for our new closets. Even if this one actually existed, I don't think Jenna would go for it. Truth be told, neither would I, since it definitely would not go with our house, but it's just easier to blame her and keep my cool factor high.
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More hand stuff - This leash here is creepy, but also kind of cute, if you ask me at least. Not that the hand itself is cute, more that it gives you an instant significant other to stroll with.
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Muppets all over the place today!

Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody - This is being linked all over the place! It takes almost 2 minutes to get good (and then of course sucks briefly when Miss Piggy shows up), but it is pretty entertaining. Lots of good characters in there.

Dr. Doozer video #1 - A little teaser leading up to the release of the collaboration between Dr. Romanelli and Fraggle Rock. I still have no idea what to make of this, or what's coming, but I am keeping an eye out for mention of it on highsnobiety. I don't think I've ever seen the instrument the human guy is playing with in this video, it looks awesome though!
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Keeping on the streetwear/highsnobiety kick, here's another collab. that I'm interested to see what happens with: The Hundreds X Delorean Motor Company. Yes, that Delorean Motor Company. I'm a fan of The Hundreds' Adam Bomb logo, and a bit of their actual product, so something good could come of this...

I guess they've been hanging out with the DMC people lately, so there's some interesting posts on their blog here and here.
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One more from highsnobiety: Porter x Star Wars luggage collection. Have you ever seen a classier looking take on the Star Wars franchise?
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Back to videos and muppets... I just found this one, and I desperately want to see more of it! I love how a lot of the time Kermit is just sort of there, like a person. Nodding along, etc. Great video.

These pictures are from this great NY Times post Marc mentioned the other day. (Though I actually ended up finding it on my own, and realising it was what he was talking about...)
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Skipped taco's this week for various reasons, but got some work done on the Starlight's New Year's poster. Sending an early vers. to Shane now to see what he thinks, since he is DJ'ing the night and all. Want to get it done by Dec. 1, which is surprisingly close!

If all goes to plan, next week we'll have a main floor bathroom and 2 new closets! So close to getting to take 'after' pictures to go with the 'before's.
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Penny Farthings! Somehow the possibility of this never occurred to me before, but here's a company that makes classic Penny Farthings (and some awesome other stuff). And here's a modern Penny Farthing. I'm sure there are more companies that make each, but I was just excited to realize that these exist. Old timey. Neat stuff.
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Speaking of old timey neat stuff, I may have mentioned this before but, I love the fixtures and shades made by Schoolhouse Electric. So nice. But too expensive! I'm not sure if I like the new 'artist series' ones, but the classic looking painted ones are a nice touch.
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McSweeney's Internet Tendency started running a feature recently called Flip: A Column About Skateboarding. Not surprisingly from a literary based website, it features more grown up discussions about skateboarding. I just started reading this article, and before I even finished it, decided I should share: Ed Templeton: Professional Skateboarder/Atheist.

While I'm not necessarily an atheist, he did hit part of my beliefs right on the nose here:
"My belief system is that I believe you can do good things, and reach out to people and have morals and God can have nothing to do with that."

I also like how he says that he feels atheism shouldn't be in the closet, and that he's being more outgoing about it, which is something I've been struggling with some lately. I keep wondering why I feel bad about putting my beliefs out there when someone who has strong religious beliefs likely would not, and being annoyed by my fear of offending people by publicly not believing. I accept that both believing and not believing are entirely valid opinions, and even if I didn't, I feel most believers would have no fear of offending me by publicly declaring belief, I'm afraid of their backlash to my own non-beliefs.

How's that for a topic that came out of my reading a discussion about skateboarders/skateboarding? Only from McSweeny's.

(Speaking of Templeton, if my aforementioned attempt to get Objectified to show at the Princess works out, we may also feature this awesome looking doc. that Templeton is a part of, and which I've been dying to see.)
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Finally, if you loved that bear shirt I posted about as much as I did, there's a reprint coming, so keep an eye out here. (I emailed them before and it turned out they had one extra XL, so mine's already on its way!) No wearing it at the same time as me though!

This post here reminded me that I still needed to post a pic of this sweet plate from the '68 Olympics in Mexico that I found not too long ago. Love it. I especially love the way the Olympic rings line up with the bottom halves of the 6 and the 8. Nice touch.
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While looking up some info at work I ran across this article about ATM's in London using Cockney rhyming slang. I find Cockney rhyming slang fascinating, in as much as I know very little about it and it barely makes sense to me, and the fact that these machines are using it is very amusing to me. I'm still not sure if I like it or not, but it is amusing. Have you ever had an ATM that said "I am processing your request"? That sort of personification I know I don't like.
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Anyone want to take me on a trip to MoMA? This exhibit would be pretty awesome to see.

There's a pretty cool little behind the scenes/interview video with Tim Burton here.
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Speaking of museums, on an impromptu emergency trip to Hamilton/Burlington this weekend (we had to buy a vanity that apparently none of the Home Depot's in town had...) we drove past The Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology. That's a place I'd like to make a visit to. Jenna didn't seem too keen on the idea though. It's the steam part that really interests me, of course. The building alone, and the old train station beside it, already piqued my interest before I knew what was inside. Hopefully I remember to go back sometime...
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I guess I'm losing all of my street cred by being so behind that Saddle Creek already signed them, but lately I've been really into The Rural Alberta Advantage. I'm pretty sure I saw them at least once a few years ago (had to mention this to try to retain some cred...), but I finally got around to getting a copy of Hometowns recently, and I love it. It's one that Jenna likes too, so it's actually good for listening to in the car, which a good chunk of stuff that I like is not, so that's awesome.

Though I really like the whole thing, I'm loving this: Don't Haunt This Place
(Wow, and I'm losing even more cred as I just realized that this is the song you can get for free off of the Saddle Creek site. Did I just fall for the single?? Who am I!?)

Anyway, regardless of if I'm ahead of the game anymore or not, this song is good, and you should listen to it. Solid and earnest. As I said to Jenna the other day, when they say that they need something, it really feels like they need it. So good.

Ack! The newest Field Notes colours dropped today for mailing list subscribers. Much like the letterpressed "Grass Stain Green" summer edition, I knew right away I needed them. The colours are pretty much exactly the colours I love, and look pretty in line with some of what we're doing in our house. Since previous editions of colours have sold out in less than 24 hours (ridiculous for a notebook? yes.) I bought these bad boys as soon as the email came in. Can't wait.
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Wow. While I love bears, and I love t-shirts, I find that most of the time when they meet it's more in the over the top, big nature, mystic bear vibe, and that style just ain't for me. But this shirt? This shirt I want. (though it would be better if it weren't red. I'm not big on red. Still, though, want.)

Seriously. Actually, in case you can't be bothered to click the link, here:
THAT is a good bear shirt. (thanks to Draplin for linking to that one.)

Damn! Just noticed: X-Large (sold out) DAMN.
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Still on the t-shirt tip, here's another one that's kind of tempting.
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Do you like the drums? Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich drum battle. Nice one. Impressive, the both of them. But, I think I've gotta with Buddy on that one. Killed it. (thanks to ACL for linking to that one.)

Hot off the (quarkx)presses. Just finished this poster and I had to share it. It's been kicking around in my head (and in my Field Notes) since last week, but I finally got it done. At least I think it might be. I'm not even sure of how it will print. Who knows, maybe this won't make it up like this, but right now I'm pretty happy with it, so here you go. Hope you like it! Actually, I really hope the Cons like it.
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Here's one I figured out pretty quick when I started doing film related layout: Trajan is the Movie Font. Fer realz.
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I've been watching a lot of CNBC lately. I figured out a few years ago that I get pretty interested in business related stories. Not the money related parts, but the human related parts. For example, while I do enjoy flipping through the newpaper's business section, I never read an entire article, because the ends always just seem to devolve into numbers.

Anyway, I recently watched a nice little special on Coca-Cola (did you know they were down to almost a 1/4 of the market when they released "New Coke," and then, after the furor that ensued, when they re-introduced Coca Cola Classic, they went back to dominating the market?). There was definitely some talk about the bottle design, so it was nice to come online and see its evolution presented here.
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This book looks creepy and awesome. Nicely done.
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Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. These things look awesome. I would love to go inside one. Could I ever live in one? Size-wise, at 6'6" 220+lbs, it might be a bit of a comedy of errors, but doable I think. Love of things and possessions and collections and stuff-wise, no.
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The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. Wow. Lots of amazing looking stuff there.

Also, I feel like Turtle, and Mock Turtle, Soup has come up a number of times recently. All I can say about that is, if there's one type of soup you will definitely never catch me trying, it's probably Turtle Soup. I don't know, I just don't think I could do it.

Just a quick one before bed to let you know I had a great little weekend. Put the appliances back in the kitchen (equaling chicken soft tacos for dinner today!), saw Racoon Wedding (equaling getting to hang out with Tim and the guys, and get a copy of their album), and took a trip to Ikea and to St. Catherines to see Seth's Dominion City again.

Pictures of Dominion, and the Wine King float are up here, if you'd like to see them.

Badass. Seriously, that's all I can think when I see this poster, designed by Thirst. Check out their site for more awesome work.

I guess this piece is in that Lubalin Now exhibit I mentioned yesterday, as I saw it in this post about it on the H&FJ blog here. H&FJ, by the way, not only release many great typefaces, but they also maintain a great blog that you would not be remiss in adding to your regular reading.

Back to the poster: BADASS. Click it to see it bigger. Do it.
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The other day I was itching for more podcasts like This American Life, when I discovered that pretty much every show on CBC radio is available as a podcast. So far I have subscribed to Q, Spark, and Wiretap. I've always caught pieces of each of these and wanted to hear more, and now I can! I've heard some great stuff already, particularly a bit of an interview with Gary Hustwit on Spark. They've got the whole interview available too, which I'm very exited to hear, but I'm waiting to have time to give it my undivided attention.
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Still dying to see Objectified. Got a plan in line that might make that happen on the big screen here. I'll keep you posted.
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I am definitely coveting both of these bikes:

Grace - The World's First e-motorbike

Worksman Bike

Two obviously very different bikes, that I like for two obviously different reasons. Both pretty awesome looking though.

Some sad news while reading the blogs this morning: Tonka has redesigned their logo.

As Marc said when I showed it to him 'it looks so hockey'. Agreed. It totally looks like it should be printed on hockey sticks and bags. Armin points out in the post that it looks more 'truck,' which is also true. It makes me think of a Chevy Ridgeline or something. He also points out that this may be an effort to make up for the fact that the trucks themselves have gotten less rugged, so they had to rugged up the logo, and really, that's just sad to me.

To me the old logo was like a solid, hard working blue collar guy. Nothing special, but nothing to scoff at. It could still kick your ass anytime it wanted. It was strong and muscular without trying to be, just naturally strong. This new one is like a bodybuilder. Muscle for the sake of looking muscled.

Sad.
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There's been a lot of buzz lately about the Lubalin Now exhibit at The Cooper Union. Here's a nice little piece of coverage on it. Definitely jealous of anyone who makes it out to that one. Lubalin was a king among men for sure.
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So glad this version of the Charley Harper book is finally available. We saw it pop up as a pre sale on Amazon a while ago, but had no idea what the difference was, or when it was going to come out. Couldn't really justify the $150+ price tag of the o.g. version, but the $36 of this one is totally a deal!
Put that on the 'to get asap' list for sure. Maybe I should wait till after Christmas though, in case someone wants to buy it for me...
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Speaking of Christmas, if you do happen to be someone who might need to know some things that I might like for that upcoming event, my amazon wishlist is here.
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Interesting poster/project here. Great concept. Great message.

Two new posters out this week. Feeling the silhouette lately for sure.
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To get back to Halloween for a moment, I just came across this interesting little article on the whole Smarties-Rockets-Smarties thing. I find this topic interesting because I like candy, and branding, and names, but mostly because Jenna is a Rockets fiend. We definitely bought a big bag of Smarties last fall when we were in New England. It's really too bad for the kids of the USA that they miss out on Nestle Smarties though, as they are far superior to M&M's. I can't imagine living in a world where I think Hershey's makes the best chocolate out there (though I do enjoy their Kisses).

This article also reminded me that I forgot to hunt down some molasses candies this fall! What will I do? (Also, I didn't realize that these are a pretty Canadian item also. Interesting.)
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What!? Rice Crispies are Rice Bubbles in Australia and New Zealand!? I'm loving this blog's parallels series, I can't wait to see what they cover next.
I wasn't looking for yet another blog to add to my crowded reader, but I think I found one!
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Smoking Smarties!? What is with the kids these days???
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I'm not usually one to share quizzes I found online, but this one is great: So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica?
I do think I can, and my 18/20 almost proves that to be correct. There's a few key spots to check to tell the difference, do you know what they are? Try it!
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Okay, one more quiz, but only because it's from Mental Floss, and only because I got 100% percent on it, and this gives me the chance to boast: The Sandlot movie quiz
(kind of a sad thing to boast about, I know, but you gotta love The Sandlot)

What a nice fall poster. I haven't had a look at the Doublenaut site in awhile, but they're doing some nice work over there in Toronto. (thanks to Drawn for reminding me of that.)
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When I first heard about Monsters of Folk I was pretty excited. Mostly 'cause I just like the prospect of anything new from M. Ward. When it came down to listening to the album, I have to say there was a little too much Jim James going on in there for me. I haven't given up on them completely, I'll give it a few more listens, but I've gotten less interested.

Two of the contributing factors in my remaining interest are:
- This poster from Doublenaut
- This poster from The Small Stakes

Now I know the band likely had no involvement at all in the style of those, and thus they aren't necessarily indicative of anything about the band, but just knowing that this is what people are creating to promote the band keeps my mind open a little.
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Have you heard of The Small Stakes before? Jason Munn makes some pretty sweet posters. Definitely someone to keep an eye out for, and to try to learn a thing or two from.
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This superhero image is cute and awesome. A great combo.

These hand-stitched versions of classic book covers are pretty awesome.
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I feel like I'm behind on posting. We've been busy with kitchen things and work things though. I keep being tempted to share an 'in progress' kitchen shot with you, but I'm trying real hard to wait for the end. We finally have a floor, and now we just have to pick a back splash and a paint colour. Spent a few hours last night cleaning dust off the cupboards, and anything that was in an uncovered box in the dining room. Still more work to go!
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One of the things I always enjoy about Overcompensating is the way God acts when he shows up: today's comic was a prime example.

Jeffrey's blog posts are usually interesting/entertaining/good too. For example, with this comic he says some things about religion that I definitely agree with. Such as: "I've had the opinion that 'worship whatever you want, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody'" and "It's a good thing there isn't a commandment in the Decalogue that simply says 'Don't Be an Asshole,' because a lot of American Christians would be in trouble right about now."

My apologies for talking religious on you, but I always like it when someone sums things up nicely. On to lighter things...
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I found this picture exciting. Not that I have ever been able to justify buying House merchandise, but I do like a lot of it, and of course I love wooden crates, so this is a good combination for me...
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I forgot how awesome it is to search 'peanut' in vintage on etsy. It yields both Mr. Peanut, and Peanuts the comic strip results. Two things I definitely enjoy.
Here are some nice items I found this time:
Peanuts musical ferris wheel bank. This thing is awesome. Too bad it's rare and wicked expensive!
Linus rag doll. This is pretty much one of the cutest things I have seen. So cute.
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When I first saw images of this Kracken Rum bottle, I thought 'hey, if I drank rum, that's definitely the rum I would buy!' Now that I've seen this media kit, I totally want that too. Nice packaging, and what looks like clever marketing. I've mentioned before that I get sick of how often packaging blogs cover alcohol labels, but then sometimes, you get a gem like this one. Nice stuff.

Have I mentioned that I quite like Halloween? I do! I meant to post on Halloween, but then I kind of took the weekend off from the computer, so this is my Halloween post.
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Those are my pumpkins up above. I was pretty pleased with them in the end. My detail work on sustaining thin lines is not so good, so Ms. Pac-Man's bow doesn't look quite right, and I lost the line that was supposed to go between the two cherries. I got some great comments from some parents

Here's a Ms. Pac-Man screen shot for reference. I went round Ms. Pac-Man, pixellated ghost because we decided it would look better.

You can see more shots (and Jenna's pumpkin) on my flickr page.
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Speaking of Ms. Pac-Man, this tattoo is ridiculous, but these rings are kind of cute.
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More pumpkin stuff:
CBC pumpkin! Nerdy/awesome!
Deathstar pumpkin! Nerdy/badass! (Also seen there are someone else's pacman pumpkins.
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Centaur skeleton. Wow. Creepy and gross and awesome. It's made out of real skeletons! What!? Impressed, and scared, by these people. Too bad their website doesn't seem to work for me.
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I guess that's it for Halloween this year. The first at our new house. We only had 27 kids, which was kind of disappointing; I thought we'd get more. I went with the last second costume of Scrabble tile, which was Jenna's suggestion. Luckily my initial is worth 8 points, otherwise it would be a much more disappointing costume. A lot of drunk people didn't understand it. Racoon Wedding didn't play, but I did get to see BA Johnston, which is always a pleasure. Overall, a pretty good night. How was yours?