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.

If Fonts Were Dogs. Been thinking about dogs a lot lately. Not ready for one yet, but maybe someday. Looking at adorable puppies on kijiji is both great and terrible.

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Hobbit houses in real life. How long have I wanted to live in a hobbit hole (just ignore how poorly I might fit in one for a second...)? Pretty much for ever. Neat stuff.

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Nintendo cartridge harmonica. So clever! Awesome!

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Fixing monuments with lego. Clever & awesome as well. Neat stuff.

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Hey Marc, speaking of things you might in a beautiful dream, check this out. OH MAN could not be more correct. I want to eat that. Of course, the chance of dying immediately would be high, but it might be worth it... Except I just realized that it looks like it's made with cheese slices. Missed opportunity on that one.

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While looking for something else today, I discovered these shoes, and instantly became obsessed with the idea of them. Neat stuff. I'd like to try on a pair. Buying them seems impractical obviously, but just to try them on could be pretty cool.

Hitchcock Re-envisioned. Can you tell I love these sorts of re-imaginings? Thanks Coudal for sharing yet another one. Personal favourite? The Birds. For sure. A style I always enjoy seeing variations on.

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Do you know about the Razzie awards? They're given out on Oscar eve, and are basically the opposite of the Oscars. Awards are for Worst Movie, etc, rather than best. Sandra Bullock won Worst Actress (for All About Steve, not The Blind Side), and actually showed up and made a speech. I don't think that happens very often. Pretty awesome.

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Best commercial on television right now? The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. Seriously. When this comes on, I stop fast-forwarding, just to watch it again.

In a genius marketing move, this commercial is actually paired with a shorter commercial, that reminds you how of how awesome the first commercial was, and is pretty solid itself. Basically if you're watching a show, the long one would come in the first commercial break, and the short on in the second. Smart!

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This letterhead for Hugh Hefner from 1955 would still look hip today.

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Normally I don't like it when other companies make Chuck rip-offs, but this pair has a gore-tex lining. Do I want a pair? Why yes, yes I do. Chuck style AND dry feet? Thank you!

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If the Coen brothers made Star Wars...

New poster up this week. Not my favourite I've done, but it should do the trick.
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Conan is on tour (love the tour name, btw), and we missed getting tickets by like seconds. Seriously, we actually had a pair up on ticketmaster, dropped it to try to get a better pair, and then couldn't get anything. Kicking ourselves for that one. Itching for a second date to get added. Fingers crossed!
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Have you seen the trailer for Tron: Legacy yet? You should.
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Record grooves under an electron microscope. Neat!
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GrainEdit has been posting some stuff I've been loving recently (not surprisingly...). Check these out:

Old Shell ads. Love the lines. Love

New HP ads. Impressive!

Naive: Modernism & Folklore in Graphic Design. Looks like a great book.

Tom Eckersley. Such great work. I don't know if I can pick a favourite on that page... The Panda, the handshake, or keeping britain tidy... Please, pick one for me! I've seen his work before, and it's just so damn good.

How awesome would it have been to receive a letter on that letterhead?

Where does letterheady find all of these great letterheads!?
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Things to watch!

The Sandpit - pretty great tilt-shift-esque film about "A day in the life of New York City, in miniature.

AFOL: A Blocumentary - Adult Fans of Lego! Great little doc.

Logorama - The video is at the bottom. I've really been itching to see this Oscar nominated animated short. It did not disappoint. LOVE it. (edit: I started this post days ago, and since then this short became not just Oscar nominated, but an Oscar Winner. I was so excited for it.)

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Since Leno's back on the tonight show, here's Plenty of Reasons to Just Say No to Jay Leno.

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Hey Marc, here's one of the things I wanted to tell you, and then forgot today: The Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger from Carl's Jr. How much do I want to eat that? A LOT.

Funniest part of that blog post: "It was apparently first invented by Carl’s Jr as a vegetarian option for their menu, but some executive said, “Why not add a beef patty and bacon”? Brilliant."

Have I mentioned how great of a blog baconbaconbacon/It's All About the Bacon is? I love it. But it makes me hungry (and jealous of people who can go to Carl's Jr.).

I recently added the Coudal Partners blended feed to my google reader, and it has been both great and annoying. They simply post too much stuff! There are tonnes of posts every day, and I so often want to share them here, or go back to them, so I keep marking things unread. I had 30 items unread from them, and that's just going back a few days! Here's some of it...

Amigurumi Star Wars characters. Adorable!

Stock footage reel from Expo '67.

Chris Mottalini photography. Check out the 'mistake by the lake' series. I always love seeing school bus shelters. There's something about them that I find really appealing.

What colour are you? My colour? Black. Perfect.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. At some point I really need to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Awesome photos of amazing models. Nice work!

More Michael Johannson.

Motorcycles of WWII.

So thanks Coudal, but slow down, would you? I don't have that much free time!

Another of last week's new posters. Still more to do this week.

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Here's a couple fun things before this post get's serious:

Bea Arthur Mountains Pizza. Obviously like Selleck Waterfall Sandwich. Not as good, but I do love Bea.

Really nice Glidden design work. I'm not sure if this is student work or not. Kind of looks like it, 'cause I doubt you'd see paint cans in that shape. It would be cool to though! The word mark is so cute!

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Have you heard about what's going on with downtown Brantford? Here's a nice little summary that Ben Ong shared on google. It's been on my radar for a little while now and I think the whole thing is ridiculous. Particularly that there's no real plan as to what to do when the building's come down. Reading through the comments, someone posted a quoted from the Mayor that made me so mad: "I think the worst mistake we could make is to have a solid plan. Let’s just take it down and look at what we have got. Then we can start deciding together what should go there.”

How stupid does that sound?

Something else that I think only comes up in the comments that I think is of particular note: "Within those 41 historic buildings we have the longest stretch of remaining pre-confederation buildings in Canada."

Here's a witty take on it all from the point of view of Hamilton.

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And now here's where I annoy people...

So I watched the big game on Sunday. How exciting! What I don't get though, is this celebration in Uptown Waterloo. I get that everyone is all excited and all and want to be together, but what a ridiculous place to do it! All I can think of when I see that is nuisance. Check out the ambulance slowly making it's way through the crowd 1 minute in. I don't know for sure that they weren't just there to celebrate, but it does look like they're on their way to the hospital, possibly with someone dying inside. Oh, but just keep celebrating, don't worry about that person...

This would have been the perfect occasion for a gathering in the square. What would have been really neat would have been to set up a screen in the square and make it a big event (maybe this happened and I just don't know about it...). But then I guess everybody had to drink while they were watching the game, hence the party in the video happening in the epicenter between bars. And of course none of them would want to bother to go down the street to where there's a big open area, so clearly the middle of the street is a good place to party.

I don't know. I get it to an extent. The heat of the moment, the joy of other people, the excitement, the patriotism, etc etc etc. But it all just seems like a big inconsiderate mess to me.