Finished that poster last night. For some DJ nights my friend Frank has coming up. It seems hard to tell on here, but 'coolest' is in an icy blue. Aside from being a DJ, Frank also runs the UW Weather Station, so I figured that if you combined that, 'coolness' and 'love,' you get a thermometer with a heart on the bottom... Fitting?
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The subject matter of this Christmas song is one I am definitely familiar with. Gift Card by Thao. Well dealt with. Totally feel the sentiment. 
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A sad/sweet christmas wish from Patches. Poor Glasses.
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Fonts in Use. This is my kind of blog. Doing film guide layout involves its fair share of font identification on posters. I can do a fair bit of it on my own, or at least throw up a close facsimile, but I also do my fair share of googling 'moviename poster font' for the tough nuts. Hoping this blog will be entertaining and helpful.
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In this essay by Ricky Gervais he says some things I have said almost exactly many times:
'As an atheist, I see nothing “wrong” in believing in a god. I don’t think there is a god, but belief in him does no harm. If it helps you in any way, then that’s fine with me. It’s when belief starts infringing on other people’s rights when it worries me. I would never deny your right to believe in a god. I would just rather you didn’t kill people who believe in a different god, say. Or stone someone to death because your rulebook says their sexuality is immoral.'


'“Do unto others…” is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. But that’s exactly what it is -­‐ a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I’m good. I just don’t believe I’ll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It’s knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that’s where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. “Do this or you’ll burn in hell."'


It's a little long winded, but still a good read.
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I'm sure this is making the rounds pretty heavily, but I gotta link it here anyway: You're A Comic Sans Criminal. You tell 'em!

Dying for Christmas to be here. Need a few extra days off work, and an excuse to do nothing and not feel bad about it. I just spent a little over around 2 hours clearing our my Reader (only 27 unread items!!) and linking stuff here, and now I feel like I've wasted too much time... Oh well.
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Just realized I haven't posted pictures of our table at Stitch 'n' Kitsch yet. There's one up above. Click it to see it big. Sorry for the ugly background, there was stuff going on behind us, AND we were freaking out and making a mess of our own stuff trying to set up.
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It was weird and exciting to start viewing this beautiful video that I came to from a link by Coudal, and hear music made by friends of mine as the soundtrack. Same thing happens every time I hear them in a Ford commercial too...
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Olly Moss totally killed it on these Star Wars posters, as he often does.
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Czech postage stamps. Some pretty awesome stuff in there. Highlights for me come all in row: Anniversary of TV broadcasting;  Anniversary of Radio broadcasting; Workers and banner; Factories and Rising Sun.
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I haven't bought into the whole selvedge jeans thing, but I love this guy, Roy, and his one-man made jeans. That's hard work and commitment. I can respect a $275 price tag on a pair of jeans that one guy put that much work and soul into. I think I'll stick with my 50-ish dollars a pair Levi's at the rate of about 1.5 pairs a year though. I don't make $275 jeans money, yet.
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I wish I was into playing guitar enough to justify spending $45 on a strap. I would definitely buy this Couch x Timber one. A guitar strap with bearded dudes, tree stumps and crossed axes? Yes, please!
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A little creepy but an interesting development. BMW uses afterimage to brand their logo in viewer's minds.
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Frequently I wish we had a fireplace or wood stove, for the warmth, and smell, but also for the excuse to chop wood. Now I specifically wish we could have this stove, because it looks awesome, and is super efficient.
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I wish I was friends with Matt Stevens, so I could have a copy of this limited run Air Max 1 a day book. I love this series of illustrations, and it looks pretty sweet in book form.
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I don't think I've linked to this yet, and I can't believe. This Delorean external hard drive could just be the best thing ever to store your Time Machine back-ups on. Seriously. Amazing. Clever. Detailed. Awesome.

Somehow I'm always busy at Christmas-time. We recently streamlined film guide production at the Princess, so theoretically I should be less busy than other years at this time. But then BRFC had a really great day at Stitch 'n' Kitsch, and at the same time Bon Mot opened in Uptown Waterloo and started selling our stuff. So suddenly we were out of stock on pretty much everything (a good problem, I know), and I've been relegated back to the basement in my free time, printing up more stuff.

I can't really complain though, I'm still loving doing it, and the response we're getting is pretty amazing. For going from not doing this at all a few months ago, to knowing that something I've printed is in someone's house, or is being given to a friend or parent as a gift, or is even on someone's Christmas tree, this is all pretty cool. BRFC has even been mentioned on two blogs recently, which you can see here and here. It's so cool to see the stuff in other peoples' homes!

Long story short, I haven't been posting because I've been busy. But I'm so happy being busy because everything going on right now is awesome. If you've bought something from BRFC, I really have to thank you, because you've helped to make this an amazing year.

Enough blathering. Here's some links...
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From Andre in Jenna's office: Flamingo's gather in the shape of a flamingo. Seriously!?
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In case of holiday emergencies: Altoids tin martini kit. I don't drink martini's, or mixed/shaken drinks much at all, but this is a great idea.
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1987 Nissan Pao concept car. LOVE it.
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R2D2 headphones. Pretty awesome. Not for me though. I'm kinda thinking of buying a pair of these though. What I find annoying is that I like the look, but I don't know if I want noise canceling. I use my headphones mostly at work, and kind of need to hear other people around me at the same time.
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It's kind of lame that this is done by Buick, and the conversation is pretty awkward, but this video makes me pretty excited about the idea of visiting Chicago. Good thing that two people I love are moving there soon!
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I LOVE this Arcade Fire poster. This one too. The problem? I'm not a huge Arcade Fire fan, so the idea of having a poster of theirs up feels a little weird to me. This actually happens to me a lot. Particularly with Andrew Bird posters. So many nice ones out there, but I've never even really listened to him! Conflicted!
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And now I've eaten up too much of your time. I keep meaning to post more, shorter posts. And then I don't.

Things are moving along at BRFC. Getting real close to Stitch n Kitsch on December 4, and I'm getting real anxious about getting everything done that I want to have done for then. Got a prototype made of a new product on the weekend, now we don't know if we can get the material to make them or not! Still soldiering on though. Only thing to do, really. Just finished a new coaster design that's totally pandering to a specific market we're expecting to see at the show, let's hope they like it!

That's the poster for the upcoming show up there above. Designed by Sheila, who you can find over here.

I have to say, I am SUPER excited to be selling at an SnK show for the first time.
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Some items of mine recently got featured by people I don't know, which is exciting. On this blog here, and in this etsy treasury here. Lots of views on my stuff now! Nice to know people at least like looking at my stuff online!
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Art of Manliness meets Etsy in this storque guest curator spot. My kinda stuff. (unfortunately, none of my stuff though... somebody else's handkerchiefs at least.)
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Talking to your kids about Star Wars. An excellent PSA. Lots of things to think about when you have kids. How young is too young to see the original trilogy? 'Cause it would be nice for them to see before they get all tainted by the school kids and the new stuff...
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Cookie Monster auditions for SNL. I know this is all over the place, but I had to re-link. Gotta support the Muppets.
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I want to go to here!

One of the funny things about doing promotional design work, is that I tend to spend a fair bit of time thinking about things that are kind of far off in the future. At the Princess, I'm often working on things that are two months ahead. I tend to get excited about movies as I'm working on the film guide they're in, then forget about them by the time they're playing because the distance between production and show time is so big. Up above are two text lock ups I put together for the Starlight new years poster. Have you started thinking about new years yet?  Well I've been working on it!

Pretty happy with how these worked out, so I thought I'd put them up here solo. I think I'll be using the Charless one again somewhere, as I think it suits him. I hope he does too!

If you click 'em, you should be able to see them bigger. If you wanted to that is...
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This is the prettiest camera I've seen in awhile. Seriously, I've been looking at other cameras for the last little while and thinking "yeah, I'd like one of those someday." Then I saw this and thought, "I want THIS NOW." Really nice work making a modern camera and making it look amazingly old school. Impressed.
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Speaking of impressed:
Peering out of the windows of the International Space Station (ISS), astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson takes in the planet on which we were all born, and to which she would soon return.

Love this picture.
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Product placement on Days of Our Lives. Hilarious, and a little scary that this is what things are coming to. But still hilarious.

When Marc recently ordered a bunch of coasters from me for the Princess Cafe, he asked me to make some with a projector on them. I've been working on how that would look, and I'm pretty sure that the image above is going to be the end result. I hope it ends up printing okay.

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Started off today with some design work for a yoga teacher in Guelph, and a viewing of Vanishing Point. Spotted this production company logo in the opening credits which apparently somebody else also thought was cool, since they put it up on youtube. Simple and awesome.
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The more I see of the design for Frank, in Austin, the more I LOVE it. Seriously, it's making the rounds and it is awesome. Check out this run down that The Dieline posted. Really, really nice stuff. Thorough too. I love how they even went to town all over the outside of the building.

Actually, a number of things designed by the firm behind it, Helmsworkshop, have come to my attention of late, and they are putting out some amazing stuff all around. For example, go here and pay special attention to the Optimistic Beverages logo. Forget that, just look at everything on there. Nice stuff.
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These might be the cutest bird-feeders I've ever seen. Too bad I've only seen them for 99 euros. That's a little much for me!
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Shepard Fairey, and other people, have designed manhole covers in Milan? Awesome.
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Dueling Bears by BoyGirlParty. This print is adorable. I've seriously probably looked at it once a day for the past week or two.

I'm really holding it down with being inconsistent with my blogging. Honestly, I've been pretty busy all around. Lots of work being done outside of work lately, like those two posters up above, and printing items for brfc.etsy.com and the upcoming Stitch 'n' Kitsch show on December 4. The posters each reference something different that I'm a big fan of; Saul Bass & toggle switches. I have been tweeting a fair bit lately, so if you want to know what's going up with me personally, check out the feed up there on the right.

If you've been looking for links to stuff I like, sorry! Here are some for you now though.
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It Would Have Been Cooler as a Van. Classic movie vehicles re-imagined as vans. Awesome. So hard to pick a favourite, but I pretty much have to pick the Back to the Future Delorean any time I get the chance.
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History of video game consoles. Thorough. Seriously. Like, so thorough I've barely even started to look at it. Excited to slog through the whole thing when I have some time (so, never?).
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Apple: Their tablet computer history. More thorough, nerdy chronicling of techno-history. Another thing I'm excited to read through...
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Heroes of Folk. Love these. Love the classic American folk hero stories.
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Jack Purcell mids in melton wool? Yes please!
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10 reasons to grow a beard. As if you needed one.
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CBC 75th anniversary logo. Nice.
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The evolution of the geek.
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That's enough for now! Maybe more sometime?

It's hard, in all good conscience, to call the above picture 'the saddest picture ever,' considering all the  pictures out there of war, and genocide, and whatnot, but damn if it isn't one of the saddest pictures ever, for me at least. Been feeling the desire to watch Big Bird sing "It's Not Easy Being Green" again, but I don't know if I'm up for that kind of crying, yet.

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It occurs to me that I don't think I mentioned it on here, so hopefully you heard me blather about it elsewhere, but this weekend we had a table in a craft show for the first time ever. I've been screenprinting handkerchiefs, coasters and trivets in our basement for awhile now, and we're starting selling them under the name BRFC (BeaRFaCe). The sale this weekend I was viewing as sort of a test run, and it went really well. So I'm projecting an Etsy site launch of Oct 16, and am writing up my application (and then printing my arms off if I get in) for the winter Stitch n Kitsch show. I uploaded some pictures of the BRFC table to flickr, that you can see here. Super proud of it right now, and thankful for everyone who bought something this weekend and said nice things, and especially for Jenna, who is a BIG part of BRFC, and has pretty much all the best ideas related to it, which helps me get down to the business of printing.

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In other stuff I'm involved in news, my good friend Marc just took over the Princess Cafe from my boss at the Princess Cinemas. Though many things are staying the same, Marc's doing some redesigning this weekend, including new menus and other paper goods that I got to throw together for him. Really just an update on the old stuff, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks! Long story short, go to the Princess Cafe this week and support Marc!!

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Maybe things will slow down soon, and I'll get back to sharing links with you. I was excited last night to get my Google Reader below 300 unread items, so you can see I'm a little out of the loop right now...

That just might be my favourite poster I've done yet. Excited to see it printed. Tried out a bit of a style I've been envying for quite some time.
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This NES coffee table is one of the most impressive things I've seen in awhile. Seriously amazing. The giant pull out controller is functional! Insane. The controller ports are outlets! So clever!
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Speaking of impressive, check out this Lego Ghostbusters scene. Shared by Sean via google. Nice stuff.
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To digress for a second, here's a quick shot of car-related things. I can be a fan of cars sometimes. I can't help it....

What a find! Over 50 Porsches found in a Ford dealership. Can you imagine finding that? Even just looking at the pictures is somewhat awe inspiring.

The BMW Isetta - Mid-century micro car. AKA that weird car Steve Urkel drove, if I'm not mistaken. Amazing looking little car.

Speaking of little cars, check out these great kid-sized reproductions of classic cars. Can you imagine having one of these as a kid? I'd go for the Porsche, not surprisingly. Okay, or the Jeep...
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Out of cars, and into.... a cab? This is a really cute story about a cab driver who makes people in his cab make "paintings" for him. Love it.
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I almost forgot this one. It's been haunting me. I keep going back to it and being amazed at how huge the boat looks. Can you imagine standing there in the shadow of it like that? Amazing. Just amazing. So impressive.
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Layer Tennis is tomorrow. Check it out. Mark Weaver is in it and he has made some stuff I love. Of course, he's up against the guy behind the Obama campaign, so it should be an amazing match. I had to edit this to add that this self portrait by Weaver is pretty much one of my favourite images on the internet.

And my summer blogging hiatus-ey kind of thing continues. It's been a pretty awesome summer though. Old friends in town. Screen printing. Disc golf (finally made it to St. Thomas this weekend). Other stuff. Great summer.

But I've returned because there are things I have to share... Hold on for a tonne of links, and then another long break likely... Exciting things coming in the future though, I promise.
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This Patches comic is one of my favourites in a while. SO CUTE. And sad. Don't you just want to hug him?
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Speaking of wanting to hug comic characters, I think I might need to make my own Beartato pillow. I was tempted by the shirt, but realized I don't really wear brown anymore, so I figured it was impractical. BUT, I have been wanting a stuffed Beartato (this guy is close, but not quite, and yes, we do own one) for some time, and this looks like it's as close as it gets...
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Wow, Coca Cola made a great move in the re-branding of Mello-Yello. Nicely retro. The one thing I don't like, is that the can seems to be having an identity crisis, trying to make the retro look a little more modern with the citrus in the back. Take the citrus out and drop the outline on the text, and the whole thing looks a lot better. But still, nice work.
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The best Emmy's opening ever?
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Love this pin-up girl hot chocolate packaging. Clever.
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These bottled smoke art pieces are beautiful and a little haunting. Really nice stuff.
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The Birds art installation in Vancouver's Olympic Village. That's something that would be exciting to come across.
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United States Postal Service theoretical re-brand. Really nice. If they switched to this, I would be so jealous!
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Stubby Beer Bottles. While tall cans of Red Stripe have definitely taken over my summer drinking, I'll never not love a stubby. They do look a little silly when I'm holding them though...
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I guess that's it for now, maybe you'll hear from me again sometime.

So I took a week off, and I fully intended to post numerous times during it, but then I mostly ended up ignoring my computer completely, which was pretty nice. The week featured Jane Bond disc golf, a picnic, rib/beer-fest and other things, as well as the beginning of a new project. Not bad.

Speaking of disc golf, I need to post a picture of the shirt design, and the special, limited-edition (10) disc golf sweat towels that I screened. That image up above is from the back of the shirt. Pretty happy with it.
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I always waver between thinking Best Made Co. axes are awesome, and thinking they're ridiculously overpriced. I guess if people will pay it, then they aren't over-priced, and either way, I can't stop loving the look and idea of them (as you may have noticed...). Here's a pretty good article on the founder of the company. I really like this line about him, and definitely know the feeling: “Peter is like a regular guy with an eccentric way of thinking, and he’s interested in things that function. You know he loves a Shaker table. He probably loves a yellow pencil or a bar of Ivory soap or a paper clip or a well-designed tube of toothpaste. It’s all about stuff that’s what it is.” I think you could add 'stapler' into that statement pretty easily.
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One of the cutest things I've seen on the internet in a while: Baby in a Watermelon. Thanks to Kaitlin for sharing that!
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Love this shorpy image of an old bar. They make the colored entrance lettering so cheerful!
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Did not know that this airplane rotary phone design was a Canadian design. That's something I would love to run into in a thrift store one day for sure.
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Speaking of Canadian design, this Hush-Shak oil can is very high on my list of things to keep an eye out for. I've always mostly avoided looking at oil cans while shopping, so as not to get into them and want to collect them, but now I've got to look, in case this thing is hiding in there somewhere. At least I can limit it to just wanting this right now. So pretty. Amazing colours. So perfect.
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Taking my dad to Hog Tails tomorrow, and taking my sister and he to try out disc golf at the arboretum on Wednesday. Definitely looking forward to both.

Watched Love the Beast this past weekend. Great little doc. Emotional story about Eric Bana and the car he has owned and loved since he was a teen. Good movie both for car stuff, and for realizing that at least some celebrities are regular people too.
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I want to go to the Levi's Tailor Shop. Impressive all around. They even have their own custom Field Notes sets.
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Hot stuff! Pin-Up images and their source photographs.
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The Girl Scouts logo was redesigned, and thankfully they did not screw up another Saul Bass classic. Instead it's a great revision that makes for a cuter, more modern female profile, and results in a great overall identity. Nice work.
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Paedomorphic flightlessness and taxonomic affinities of an enormous Recent bird or What, If Anything, is Big Bird. Love it.
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Sean shared this one on the google and I think it is adorable. Christopher Robin's toys.
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The hottest gadgets of the 80's.

 Even more excited for disc golf now after I spent a good chunk of time yesterday working on the colours for the image above to go on the front of the shirt, and the design for the back. Pretty happy with how it is turning out. I hope other people like it! I love seeing people wearing last year's. I can't decide if July 12th is now "only 2 weeks away" or "still 2 weeks away." I guess I also can't decide between being an optimist and a pessimist (or realist as Jenna might say...).
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Time to clean out the collection of things Coudal has posted recently that I've kept unread for one reason or another...

Original Pac-Man sketches. Neat!

The Evolution of the Hipster 2000-2009. I have the star tattoo's to prove my connection to the 2000-2001 Emo and Emo Redux eras, and apparently am now stuck in 2006 with the mountain man. Glad I never fell for the Ashton...

Movie poster font quiz on Mental Floss. I got 100%. This one is way easier than others as it lists all the titles that will come up. I didn't realize that until title 3... (I went back & changed one after I realized it...)

USB Typewriter. Great concept.

Subway slide. Awesome.

Alt/1977. Clever fake ads. Extremely well designed. Extremely. I want that pocket hi-fi.

Thomas Allen pulp paperbacks. I have seen these before, but don't think I've shared them on here. They are amazing.

George Lucas 1983 & 2005. Or, why the second Star Wars trilogy sucked.

A history of musicians who have demanded that Republican's stop playing their songs. David Byrne, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN? Why did the republicans ever think these people would be on board?

Lego Printer. Neat!

Apparently these have found their way out to invitees now, so I feel okay posting them here now. This is a wedding invitation that I put together recently for a friend of Celene's. Pretty happy with it. It's taking place at a family cottage/boathouse, so I thought it might be good to highlight the location. The picture is one the bride sent me of the location that I tweaked a little. The bird in the chair/bird image is based on the bird in the picture, and I gave the image a distressed look so it has a more personal/diy feel to it, like the bride and groom stamped each one themselves. It's not the invitation that I would make for my own wedding, but I think it suits the location well, and the bride seems very happy with it, so I'm happy.

The rsvp echoes the back of the invite:

I haven't done much of it, but I've really liked doing wedding related design, so if you know someone who's looking to get some invitations created for them, I would likely be interested! As long as they're looking for something at least a little different from normal that is...

A quick trip to the Criterion site today resulted, not surprisingly, in me looking at some very pretty dvd covers for a bit. Here are some highlights.

Stagecoach - I love pretty much everything about this cover. The colours are perfect. It's playful but not too playful, and the Criterion logo looks deliberately slightly offset to connote an older, imperfect printing style, which is a nice touch. Even though I've never seen this movie, I would put a poster version of this (sans the Criterion bar on the left) up on my walls for sure. It also makes me want to see the movie.

Make Way For Tomorrow - A Criterion cover by Seth? Awesome. If you have Seth create your book or dvd cover, I will want to consume the material inside. That's a sad but true fact. I take it as his personal endorsement. Should I?

Night Train to Munich - Like a vintage travel poster, but with terrifying action, and a subtle swastika. I wonder if this was created just for this cover, or was an original poster? Either way, I am impressed.

Two-Lane Blacktop - I know nothing about this film, but this cover, and the fact that it's a part of the collection, makes me want to see it. There's a whole lot of bad-ass going on on there. Okay, I just read the description, and now I definitely want to see it... Wow, Richard Linklater's Ten Reasons I Love Two-Lane Blacktop makes me want to even more!!

La Strada - BIG fan of this cover. Nicely done, great colours. Love the b&w with the red dot on the bottom image. It also helps that I think that Giulietta Masina is absolutely adorable in this film. This cover is a great reminder of that.

This site visit also reminded me that I need to buy the Criterion Bottle Rocket. Gotta round out the Criterion Wes Anderson collection.

Seriously, where the hell have I been? I've still been stockpiling stuff to share with all of you, of course, I just haven't been sharing them.

Like this awesome picture of a church with a light up sign. Love it.

See?

Or, how would you like to see my favourite Nedroid comic in a while?

Pretty cute, eh?

Oh, and check this out, MOCA is going back to their 80's logo. Definitely a good call, always love a move like that (at least when your old logo is nice...)

I have looked at this Buzz Aldrin letterhead wayyy too many times. Partly because I think it is awesome, and partly because I had it marked unread to share, and so kept stumbling across it all the time.

Finally getting some things out of my Google Reader!

But stuff keeps piling up from all over!! For instance, I cam across I'm Comic Sans, Asshole thanks to Twitter, since I'm not all up on my McSweeneys Internet Tendency anymore.

It's a never-ending battle to keep up with neat things on the internet, and apparently I'm losing. I haven't even bothered to include pictures in my last two posts! What!?

To be truthful though, cool things on the internet aren't everything, so I'm actually pretty good overall. I think I've spent more time outside already this summer than I have in any summer since grade 8, and it's barely even started! Also, as of today, we've been homeowners for a year. Which is pretty awesome. And there's still projects in the works to tell you about sometime, whenever they get done.

So there you go, I haven't been here, but things are still good. And there's still plenty more stuff to come, either from my life, or my google reader, whenever the hell I get around to posting again.

At some point I really need to own something by Jay Ryan. I've definitely talked about him before on here. I love his work. Today I found myself looking at this one again. Not that I think I might buy it, but part of me is always drawn back to it, and I don't really know why. It make me both sad and happy. And the little guy on the front (a recurring character in his work) is just so cute. There's a lot going on there.
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Looks like Southern Comfort is being re-branded, and it looks pretty nice! Scroll down and check out the 100-proof bottle. It's pretty for sure.
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Check out this amazing office at Pixar. It looks amazing! It would be fun to work in I'm sure.
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Here's a nice little video about billboard sign painters. Neat stuff. I do always love me a dying art.
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Pooljumpers: Catchers of the Ball
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No posts in awhile... Been on the internet less, in real life more. This one's been sitting here waiting to be posted since the 19th, so I thought I'd throw it up as is, before it sits any longer. Hopefully more to come soon-ish. Got a couple home projects I might have to share pictures of...
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Annnnnnd, apparently I screwed something up and didn't post this on the 1st like I meant to. Go me. More to come soon, I promise. For realz this time. Just about to start a post. I swear!

Bears in a glass dome!

Also, it turns out there's more of the Jeff Canham birdhouses that I linked to the other day. Check them out here.
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I'm pretty sure I put this all together on Friday, then forgot about it, so here you go now.

Big week! Julia and Gord are in town and were over with Eileen last night. Already looking forward to getting together again. This weekend is Conan in Toronto, and hopefully a round of discgolf as I'm pretty sure Chicopee officially opens on Saturday. Awesome.
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The 2010 Vader Project. Damn. Neat stuff. Love the flocked one with the brain. This gas mask one popped up elsewhere in my travels. All gas masks should look like that...
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So it looks like a lot of people whose blogs I read have gone to the Brimfield Antique Show, and now I'm itching to go. An excuse to go back to Massachusetts? Maybe!!

Seriously though, check out ACL's day 1 and day 2, with more to come it would seem. The line "I probably saw more waxed canvas yesterday than in the last five years combined" pretty much makes me salivate. Some amazing looking stuff in there. 

And here's design*sponge's look at Brimfield. For the ladies...

So, September 7-12, eh?
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A couple days ago there was a nedroid comic that had me terrified that there were no more coming, and then he posted this adorable comic. And the mouse-over listed a url that takes you to this site, which is even more adorable! "This is my best friend Reginald. He is the best friend I have ever had!"
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Hammarhead is putting out some pretty sweet motorcycles. I'll take a Woodsman or a Jack Pine please! Also on the motorcycle front, check out Deus custom motorcycles too. I may have linked to them before. So nice.

Also, why is the Yamaha SR 400 still made, but only available in Japan? That's bike I could go for. It's no vintage Honda, but for a new bike, it's pretty on point to that end.

Someday I really need to get my motorcycle license...

 

Getting close to dropping my total unread in my reader to under 50. Close, but not there yet. Here's two items that have been sitting in there for awhile, waiting to be shared. Both a glut of pretty stuff from Lovely Package:

Vintage matchbox lables - That's where the hedgehog/porcupine up top comes from, not surprisingly. Lots of good stuff in there. Love the radio, and the socks & scarf.

Vintage Paul Rand packaging -  Love that first box design, and all of the rest of it too, of course.
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Here's one from the dieline that I've been meaning to show you for awhile too:
Studio Spotlight: ilovedust. Their Country Cider packaging is really cute, and the Quality Meats promo piece looks awesome.
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If you haven't noticed before, I'm pretty fond of pedal cars. This one here is pretty awesome, but at $2000, and looking that pretty, would you really want to let your kid drive around in it? They would look pretty suave though...
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The office supply store that time forgot on ACL. How much would I like to go there? How many vintage staplers still in their original packaging do you think are in there? Damn.
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I am already very excited for this movie, and I'm sure it's still a long time coming. Looks awesome though.

Been doing more book reading than blog-reading this past week. By the way, you should read City of Thieves by David Benioff. Jenna got me to read it, and it was real good. Aside from reading, this weekend I spent a lot of time re-arranging, sweeping, vacuuming, mowing, baking and more.  Busy weekend, with satisfying results.
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That image above is a crop of this image from Shorpy. I just love that giant hat.
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Here's an interesting little article on the founder of Best Made Co., who make really pretty axes. I frequently browse and covet their axes. They're really nice, but pretty impractical. If I had a ridiculous amount of extra money, I might buy one though. Like that's every going to happen...

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Living in: Stand by Me. I always find this feature on design*sponge interesting, but this has got to be my favourite so far. I think about this movie, and it's look and feel a lot. Many things trigger it. I've always loved the idea of it, and the image of the boys, and their bedrolls, trudging down the tracks. Particularly the bedrolls. There's just something about bedrolls...
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Speaking of camping, look how pretty these trailers are. Super compact, and super classy.
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Soviet Posters Recreated With Barbie Dolls. Genius.
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Caffeinated Maple-Bacon Lollipops. Wow. These things just have it all, don't they? Damn.
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Just what is letterpress? Here's a nice little Q&A with the guy from Studio on Fire, answering questions about what letterpress is, and why it is currently popular, in case you didn't already know these things...

I threw together a new desktop background for myself the other day. I'd had the picture of the guy cooking sitting on my desktop for quite some time, waiting to find a use for it. I finally gave up and used it for myself because I love it. 

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Boy with Cancer Turns Into Superhero for a Day. Really sweet story. So many people involved! He must have felt to awesome!
------Nick Offerman's Woodshop. Who knew that the guy who plays Ron Swanson on Parks & Recreation actually has a workshop, like Ron Swanson? Not me. But now I do. (Thanks to Sean and Meagan and Sean for bringing this to my attention)
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This is awesome: lots and lots of vintage bullet boxes. Some really nice design work up in there. Seriously.
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A guide for how to pronounce band names. Handy!
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Couch cushion architecture critique. Love it. It's been awhile since I build a good fort. When we lived on Marshall after Jess moved out and before Jenna moved in, Sean and I turned the whole room into a fort. It was pretty amazing. We hung the giant Canadian flag that I own over some chairs, threw some cushions and a mini basketball net in, and a tv at the door, and spent a lot of time in there. Until Jenna moved in and ruined everything!

Don't miss installment 2. Funny, funny stuff. Cute too.
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An A-to-Z guide to how Lost lost its way. Very much agree with most, if not all, of this. Definitely on the Time Invested train right now. Can't wait for it to finish, but can't stop watching until it's done... (thanks to Jenna for this one)

How cute is a clothesline that comes out of a birdhouse, that goes with clothespins that look like birds that get stored inside the birdhouse? Super cute. How do I get one? (from Canadian Design Resource)
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 I always love it when blogs I read feature things that I am kind of obsessed with, but don't really think that (very many) other people are. Case in point: the tent display at Canadian Tire.

Those mini tents pretty much make my day. Sometimes I go out of my way when in there just to go by and see them. That post sums it up nicely when it says "I was instantly drawn to this display. First by its cuteness, but then by its usability." I always want to own one of them. What I would do with it, I do not know, but you know me and wanting...
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Here's a handy little chart that helps you to compare the differences between Akzidenz-Grotesk and the typefaces that came out of it.

Perhaps more importantly, here are some pages that talk about the differences between Helvetica, and its bastardization, Arial.
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Lego disc golf.
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What a weekend! Picked up Conan tickets, went to Ikea, played glow in the dark mini-golf, ate at Chili's, and that was just Saturday.
Tonight I start week 4 of Couch to 5k. A little nervous about it, but also looking forward to it. I think this week is when I move from walking most of the time, to jogging most of the time....

Links!

Still slogging through my google reader, catching up on posts I delayed reading/sharing during film guide time. So here's a bunch of things from different blogs that caught my interest, and have just been sitting there. Sorry for the ton o' links...
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From BeardRevue:
Enter the Beard trailer - looks awesome!
Mustache Finger Once Removed - perfect combo of the moustache finger and the moustache on a stick.
Don't Worry, My Dad Has a Beard - I will need to get one of these once I have a kid...
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From Uncrate:
Boomer 8N Tractor - If I needed a new tractor, I'd probably get this. New tractor, vintage vibe? Pretty great.
Devon Tread 1 Watch - If I could afford a $15,000 watch, I'd probably get this. AWESOME.
Lecia V-Lux 20 - If I could get a way overpriced camera, I'd probably get this. Nice.
Quadski - If I owned a cottage near a beach, I would totally get this.
iRetrofone - If I owned an iphone, I would definitely want this.
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From Coudal:
Ephemicropolis - A city made out of staples. Neat.
Rock That Font - A blog about the typography used for album artwork. An immediate new addition to my reader.
Tiny Apartment Transforms into 24 Rooms - Crazy.
Muppet Cupcakes - So cute!
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From HighSnobiety:
Converse Japan May 2010 - Why does Japan get such great shoes? I want gingham purcells!
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Annnnd that's all I have time to get through for now. Time to get ready for work, but there are still over 100 things waiting to be looked at!

I bought a bird house from Home Sense the other day. For awhile now I've really liked bird houses that are designed to look like people houses. Home Sense had a bunch, and at fair prices, so I went ahead and got one. Nice little green house. Now I just have to figure out where to put it...

I'm happy about the new house, but now that I've seen these ones by Jeff Canham and Luke Bartels, I want one of them so badly! They're so cute, and clever. And they make me think of Seth's City of Dominion.
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Speaking of Seth, I swear that this book cover from 1946 or something that I spotted at the book sale the other day could have been designed by him. Particularly the grain elevator building thing on the right.
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Speaking of Jeff Canham, have you seen his work before? His lettering work is amazing. Big fan for sure.
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Cool kids items. Love the first three items there. The trike actually converts to a bike with a penny farthing-esque vibe. The boat is just super cute, and imagine seeing a kid pedal that airplane around!
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I don't know if I think Puma's Clever Little Bag is awesome or terrible. Good call on the environmental front for most people, but I love shoe boxes, and always keep them, convinced I will find some use for them at some point. I guess I don't really need any more though, but then, do I need another re-usable bag, particularly a shoe box sized one?

I'm still on the fence...
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Well this doesn't seem to make any sense: When Ontarians Conserve Power, Wind Farms Will Be Shut Down. What? Money wise, I can see how that's tempting, but it still seems ridiculous.
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Wow, if there was a place like Blood & Bandages in K-W, I might be tempted to pay someone cut my hair for once...

Finished that one last week for Andy Kim, who wrote such hits as 'Sugar Sugar' for The Archies. Fun poster to make for sure.
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So there's all kind of buzz in the geek world about the 'leaked' new iphone. Gizmodo seems to have verified that it is real.

Every once in awhile I have pangs of regret over buying a BlackBerry instead of an iphone. Believe it or not, seeing these images makes me feel better, because if I had bought the current iphone, and then this model had dropped in a few months, I would have been so disappointed. This new version is so much nicer looking. More functional machine, less toy. Flat back over round is a huge improvement. The gizmodo article makes a reference to this harkening to classic Dieter Rams designs for Braun, which I definitely agree with, and appreciate. It's exactly what I thought of when I saw this shot. Now, when I move out of my BlackBerry in 3 years, if I move into whatever iphone they'll be on then (rather than whatever Google/Android product is out there), I'll be so happy if it's still in the vein of this new style.
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Speaking of things that I would like, as we often are, check out this minifig crank flashlight. This is SO CUTE. And AWESOME. Totally can't justify the $32.90, but I really wish that I could This is one of my favourite things that I have seen in awhile. The fact that you crank his arm? Hilarious, clever, amazing, awesome.
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Check out this interesting little article about the origin of the good Sriracha. I've tried others, definitely not as good. Informative. Tasty.
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Rare Star Wars Images. Wow. Some really great candid stuff in there.
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So you need a typeface. Clever. Funny.
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Film guide prints Thursday. Still way too much stuff to do. Not looking forward to the next few days.

My Couch to 5K week 2 day 1 plans have been delayed by a rolled/sprained ankle from playing basketball on Sunday. Really hoping I can get back on it today. Very afraid of losing momentum, as I've been known to do.
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Earthquake lifts a layer of dust off a mountain range. What!?
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Did you know that the longest-standing record in gaming history was broken this past weekend? What commitment!
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A Fowl Approach to Bird-Watching poster on For Print Only. Clever. Cute. Funny. I like it. The Shape is great too. If there were more than 7 of them in existence, I might want one.
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This idea is amazing: Wolfpack Hustle crashes the L.A. Marathon course for a 4am bike race on 26 miles of open L.A. road. How often does anyone get to cycle on empty L.A. streets? I'm going to go with never. What an experience that must have been.
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Vans Classic gingham pack. Damn. Though I have never worn any, I love gingham. Would love those black slip ons.

So happy for spring. Check out these Signs of Spring from The Big Picture. Nice stuff. (via Coudal)

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Helping my continuing failure at not wanting an ipad is the acade arcade cabinet. So cute. So impractical but awesome. I really love those big red buttons and that joystick. That's proper gaming. If you can't have a full cabinet in your house (which, of course, is everybody's dream, right?), this looks like it could be a decent substitute.
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For a guy who used to store and transport his cd's in ammo cases, this would be an awesome ipod dock to own.
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Pillow menus. Have you ever heard of them? I hadn't until I was reading through this blog that features  weird things that people have searched online before. Great site. Most of them are super ridiculous, but when I read that someone had searched "Pillow Menus" I had to look them up. Long story short, pillow menus seem awesome, unless they come at a premium. I better not have to pay more for my memory foam! (ps, I don't actually use a memory foam pillow.)

Other entertaining entries on that blog?
"Mapquest, please show me United Arab Emirates." - love the idea of literally asking the internets to do things for you.
"How to draw awesome dragons." - this one's just cute.
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Real life video game driving. Entertaining and informative.
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How did a 4 day week still feel way too long? 

Went back to 365 Bears the other day. I almost forgot about it until Jenna mentioned it. Love that one above. Gotta love Rosie.
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Every weekend should have 4 days. So productive! Today was 5 hours of yard work, plus basketball with Shane and Ian, plus finally starting Couch to 5K. Feeling a little worn out, but pretty awesome. Week 1 day 1 of C25K was easier than I expected. The end seemed like it came too soon, and the end of the first 60 second run period was the biggest shock of all. I really hope that I manage to stay on this...

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I've been making my way through old posts on Clients From Hell. Some of it is very familiar. Some of it I'm sure I will encounter at some point.

A recent post on it led to what is perhaps the worst website ever.
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Speaking of design work, check out this video. It's pretty impressive to say the least. Really makes me want the new photoshop. I actually laughed out loud when they did the desert image.
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Jenna sent me a link to this awesome Strum-Fun Guitar. I have no idea how it works, but it looks great, and in great condition. If it weren't $85, I'd definitely want it.
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Oh, and by the way, if I haven't posted on here in a bit, and you're wondering what I've been up to lately, I've also taken to using Twitter a bit. If you look to the right of this page, there should be a feed of what I've said there. You should be able to click them to see more.

I haven't linked to anything on Shorpy for awhile, but I had to link to this one. I do love me a street scene, and the look of the old awnings on buildings, so this here was perfect for me. Love it. Go in close and check out the signage, and particularly the guy in the lower right hand corner hanging out in that upstairs doorway.

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Did you know that Mike Rowe used to work for QVC? Marc sent this to me and it's pretty much the best thing I've seen in awhile.

Number 1 question Jenna and I had while watching this? "How long did he do this for?" It can't have been that long. There's no way the people trying to sell Noah's Ark could not have been entirely happy with his representation of it. Also, if this wasn't the 2 a.m. shift, I'd be shocked. There's even more videos on YouTube that I have to get around to watching.

Amazing.

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A couple great items came around through long-time friend Sean:

AMC Greenlight's The Walking Dead. Can't wait. This reminds me, I'm a few books behind. I really need to place that Amazon order that I keep putting off...

Culture that makes you feel old on The Onion. It's a little long, but there's some good stuff in there. That article excitedly led me to this annual list of the 'mindset' of student's entering college, until I realized that it's pretty bullshit. For example, check out 2002 graduates, who were born in 1980. It includes the entries: 14. They have never owned a record player; 15. They have likely never played pac-man, and have never heard of 'Pong'; 16. Star Wars looks very fake to them, and the special effects are pathetic.

I was born in '81, and though it may be odd to some that I currently own a record player(s), and an Atari, I did also own a record player and an Atari as a kid, and was seriously impressed by Star Wars. In fact, I still think the old models look better than the re-issue. I was excited to read through all the years of that list, but now that I've vented about it, I'll never go back.

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If I needed a small mirror, this would be the one, for sure. Construction bear. Cute.

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This is probably about the only way you'll ever see me sporting a G-Shock watch. And even then, I doubt it.

That was a tempting purchase I left behind this weekend. A glass from the 1982 Knoxville World's Fair, with the Sunsphere likely represented by that red ball in the top left? Nice. Thank you Simpsons for making me care about things I never would have cared about otherwise.

P.S. The Simpsons episode I'm talking about? Gotta be one of my top 5. For sure.

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If you didn't already know this, sometimes my girl Jenna send me some cool stuff. Here's a selection of items she sent me recently:

Michelangelo Nintendo Remix. Impressive. Tragic. Cute.

Larger paper mache animal and human heads. Weird stuff. Check out more crazy stuff from the whole catalog.

Shoes that make everyone the same height. I would not need those shoes, as I am 2 meters tall with regular shoes on. My license says 198cm, which always makes me sad. Why didn't I just say I was 200cm!? It sounds so much cooler.
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Here's a shoe that is definitely on my 'to get' list. Some day. Still kicking myself for a pair I found on sale in my size about 2 years ago and didn't pick up.

Such a classic. Love it. Gotta love A Time To Get for featuring it. Great taste over on that blog.
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Arial, it's a little bit bullshit. Well said.

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This is a great response to the presence of the Westboro Baptist Church.

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President Obama looks at awesome things. Well done! I gotta go with the Tardis as my favourite, just because the Tardis is awesome, but they're pretty much all great.

SO CUTE.

So glad Patches is back.

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More things from baconbaconbacon:

Here's something that's good for all health-conscious bacon lovers to know. It's kind of weird though. "Due to changes in pig breeding..." What changes in pig breeding changed their fat content?

Damn.

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This may be the best picture I've seen on My Parents Were Awesome yet.

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Wow, there are some amazing looking pictures in this book. The drive in, the cop staring at the camera, the tree in the pool, the spotlight beams and the glowing lights. All amazing. I wonder what the rest of the book is like?

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I can't believe I didn't link to this when I first saw it (thanks Josh Chong for reminding me): Handsome Gentleman's Club

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Surprisingly I've never read the comic, but I am very excited for the movie version of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

So much lego stuff going around these days! Check out these art pieces. This one is definitely my favourite.

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THIS is super clever logo design. Love it.

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Rubik's cube for the blind. Can you imagine trying to do that? I mean, as a sighted person with no knowledge of braille. Well, either way, those things are hard!!

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Stormstache. I feel like I link to a lot of Star Wars stuff on here. It's funny because I'm not really a big Star Wars fan. I mean, I like the (first 3 [by year made, not year set]) movies and all, but I was never a huge fan or anything. Just an appreciator. And there's a lot of neat/cool/funny stuff that huge fans make.

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USB 'thumb' drive. Jenna and I seem to sit on opposite sides of the fine hilarious/creepy line mentioned. (In case you're wondering, I'm on the hilarious side...)

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Probably the only time I'll mention U.S. health care reform on here.

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Wrecking ball lamp. Awesome.

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Spaced Flash Mob Slo-Mo Gunfight. Hilarious. Awesome. Wish I could have been there.

Labatt, will you please go back to the above label design for 50? The current one is pretty much the worst I've seen. It was pretty nice when it was printed on the bottle and had that massive 50, but this version, and this version were still better. This trippy, multi-lined one though, for sure my favourite.

Also, Labatt was making an India Pale Ale in '54? Interesting.

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I've been spending some time on the twitter lately. One of the best things I've seen yet is this picture of Questlove from The Roots. Even as a kid, big afro and drumsticks. Apparently he's always been awesome.

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If I didn't already really want to see it, this poster for Kick-Ass (and Doug Benson's tweets about it), would totally solidified that want. Check out this red-band trailer.
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New blog on the radar thanks to the DDC getting burned on it. Beardist. Beard wearer. Beard fan. Call me what you will, I do love love things beard related...

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In a slew of beard link clicking that followed getting to the previous blog, I came across this amazing shirt design: Beard River. Beards and bears, two things I very obviously love. The print on the shirt is actually a little big for my usual liking, but I would wear that shirt, based on its beardy-beary-ness alone.