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.)

Another new Timber shirt! This one is on it's way to me now, along with this one that I finally ordered. That puts my Timber shirt count at 7. Did I mention that I really like his shirts? Now I'm just waiting for this one to come out in a colour I like more...
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Here's a new ad to the want list from Penguin. Love the classic covers, as a lot of people do, so I think it's a great idea for them to basically just give you 100 of them. It would make it a lot easier to display the ones you really love rather than having to prop a few books up on the shelf.
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Back when I mentioned this picture that I love, I mentioned Boler trailers. This little Scamp trailer reminds me of a Boler, and has been beautifully re-done inside! I would love to own something like that. Not that we camp, but I can always dream (both about camping, and about owning a camper...)
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A quick trip to the Globe & Mail.com today to find a review yielded some interesting news:
A-Ha are still together (but not for long). Who knew??
Seriously, they have 9 albums, 4 of them released in the 2000's? Wow. I really had no idea.
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Since I got on the topic of music I like in my last post, I thought I'd let you know that lately I cannot stop listening to The Acorn. Since I first heard them on a sleepy morning at track & field a few years back I've been a fan, but lately it's like I don't want to listen to anything else. Sometimes I force myself to, but really, my first instinct lately is always to go for The Acorn. They are perfect for this time of year. I wish their current tour had come the the Starlight and I had gotten to make them a poster (though that also would have been somewhat scary to do...)

Unconditionally Guaranteed

That little feller above is either now, or will soon be, in the post, on it's way to join my merry little collection. I can't wait! New! In package! Unfortunately, I had to pay a little more than I normally would for a cub, and substantially more than the $1.49 on the package. Definitely worth it just for that "unconditionally guaranteed" line on label. So bold and confident. Strong. Like a good stapler should be.

(I should mention that Jenna found this. 'Cause she's awesome, and she did.)
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More bread! Those labels are pretty amazingly Charley Harper-esque if you ask me. Once again, I'd totally pick that shit up based on packaging alone.
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As you may be able to guess, I do love me some vintage light fixtures, and this company appears to make some beautiful reproductions. Not that I can imagine having the money to throw around on them, but it's nice to know they're out there. Some of their coloured shades are pretty damn nice.
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While at least one person I know has been geeking out over the Star Wars lego sets that are going around, there's a new development afoot that I think I can get behind: Lego Architecture. Starting with some Frank Lloyd Wright. Awesome. Can't wait to see what else comes out of that.
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Riding the rails. Killer logo. Nicely composed shot. One of the rare times when "buy framed image" is a link I might possibly consider... (via Draplin)
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Badass new Timber shirt. Will be putting my order in for that one soon. Mos. def.
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Finally, the best news for last: Chili's opens in Ontario. Hell yes. May have to hit that up this weekend... More locations to open by 2014 (which is a lot closer than it sounds like it should be, if you know what I mean...)

The above poster by Richard Perez is pretty much my favourite thing I've seen on the internet in a while. It's called Things I Like, and I agree with so much of it.
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Another awesome image I just saw: Morning Commute by Timber. Pretty much awesome. If it weren't on a white shirt, I might have to buy it...
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This diagram of the ignition system on a motorcycle is pretty damn amazing as well.
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Signifier and Signified by Brandon Bird. Ridiculously amazing. "If you like linguistics and vans, then boy, is this the print for you." I do like both of those things!

Brandon's got some other pretty ridiculous things for sale on TopatoCo, like:
No One Wants to Play Sega With Harrison Ford - the awesome thing about this print? it looks like a really well detailed original Sega.
In Heaven - Bob Ross + Surfing + Dog = ridiculous.
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Speaking of TopatoCo, Jeffery Rowland and other folks whom he seems to chum around with are going to be at Toronto Comic Arts Fest on May 9-10. Which is free and sounds awesome. I will hopefully be going.
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I will definitely be going to the big CFUW Book Sale today. Always a good time. Tonnes of books. Can't wait to hunt through the kids book room for some gems. Gotta love old kids books. I seem to more and more all the time. Amazing illustrations.

That up above is a little of the extra work I've put in recently. It's a little logo for my friend Dana's metal dj project Sludge King. He's got a couple metal mixes he's putting out there, so if you like heavy stuff, you should check them out. More stuff should be coming for Dana soon. (This will have links to Sludge King stuff eventually, I seem to have lost them, so check back if yer interested...)
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On a personal note, things are a little slow around here due to some serious back pain I've been suffering. Midday Monday I got a lower back pang that has turned into me getting stabbing pains when I make certain movements. Not so pleasant. I actually went to a doctor (and found out I no longer have a family doctor, since I haven't been there in forever), which, for me, is a sign that it's pretty damn bad. Got some pills, and got to bring my work computer home and work on the film guide from home today though, which was pretty nice. It's going to mean that I won't be able to do something pretty important involving Jenna's family though, which has got me pretty down.
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I think I may have a new favourite website: The Book Cover Archive

When I'm really honest with myself, I have to say that that would be my dream, designing book covers. I like posters, and I'm sure cd booklets would be great too, but book covers have to be my holy grail. Maybe it's just because that's what my hero Chip Kidd does, but the fact that he, and so many others, have impressed me so much with their covers, it's hard not to want to take a crack at that kind of canvas. So, if any of you have a book you need a cover designed for, hit me up.
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More Chip Kidd!
I'm pretty sure I started drunkenly writing a post I never posted about how Lindsay gave me this book, and how I had just been reading it, and how I'd never wanted to climb into/hug a book more, and then I realized how ridiculous that sounded and decided not to post it. But then I thought about it and decided that, ridiculous as it may sound, I did feel that way, so I thought I'd mention it. So much work, and insight into the work. Such a good book!

And more!
Chip Kidd takes you on a tour of the New York Comic Con. Scroll down, there's a video down there.
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Squirrel bot!! He's one of my favourite bots yet! The acorn for a heart totally makes it! He'd go real nice with my woodgrain bot, don't you think???
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Foldable shoes? What!? What will they think of next???
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Since subscribing to their feed, this is the best post I have seen on Inspiration Resource. Seriously, look at that first pic. When was that made? Are the Modern Woodmen the originators of the fist bump? This sounds like a group I need to look into.
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Steve Zissou: Anne-Marie, do all the interns get Glocks?
Anne-Marie Sakowitz: No, they all share one.

If I were to carry a Glock, it would be this one, for sure.
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This Swink promo piece is making the blog rounds, and I have to say, I would love to have one. Apparently you can order one from Swink for $12, but I'm afraid it will just sit around like the Hatch bird mobile I got for Jenna awhile back. Really really cool letterpress stuff, but do I need it? Will I use it? I guess I'll have to decide...
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That sweet Swink piece was printed by Studio on Fire, who seem pretty freakin' awesome. They've got a pretty sweet blog showcasing their work (like this cute/clever baby announcement) called Beast Pieces that you should check out.

When the time comes I'd love to have do up our wedding invitations on a letterpress. I've heard a little rumour that maybe by that time my favourite local print shop might be able to help me in that regard. I'm not sure of that will be the case, but I will love it if it is.
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Bigfoot vs. Bunyan. Awesome concept. Not positive if I love the final product or not though. I bet if Timber had come up with this idea and produced his own version, I'd have already bought it. As is, I'm still thinking about this one here.
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Oh, and if you're not reading Meagan's new blog yet, then you should be. Lots of funny people on there. Lots and lots. Funny in that good, awkward, awesome way. Her article on Mondo about SF Comedy Fest was definitely jealousy inducing.
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La Bamba's on the tv (as it often is) and Ritchie's just about to get on that fateful plane... 17 years old. 17. What a crash. Taking out Ritchie, the Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly. Crazy to think about.
This movie always makes me think about a few things:
a) Why do I remember seeing a movie with this much sex, violence, drinking, etc. at such a young age?
b) How many times did I see this movie as a kid? I feel like it was at least more than 6.
c) I think this movie and Back to the Future both play key roles in my current love of 50's and 60's hits (which I'll be dj'ing a full night of again at the Bond on March 7th, btw...)

Special Delivery

While I haven't come back to post here in almost a month, I do keep returning to the above picture on Shorpy. Just a great image. Check it out real big. I can never say enough good about Shorpy.
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So I've been in what I call "cocoon mode," where things are just a little too hectic, so I pull back and avoid anything and everything that I don't HAVE to do. Of course, "have" does include spending time with family and friends, but you know, I gots my priorities.

For the quick Christmas re-cap, I had a great one, that included a hard fought for Wii (Jenna's parents both lined up separately before stores opened to pick one up), and this amazing piece by Timber that she managed to find and buy before I even knew it existed. You may know I love Timber, and I usually buy anything I see from him that I like as soon as I see it, so yeah, good score. Big surprises, awesome presents. The rest of it was great too, like having family over here for Christmas chili, getting to see my mom, and lots of time spent with The Suze and Big Ronnie T.

Now on to a tonne of links I've been meaning to share for awhile now...
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A beautiful Calgary manhole cover. From another favourite, of course, the Canadian Design Resource.
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Orla Kiely does some real pretty work, that keeps popping up in different places. The water bottle here is just cute.
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Luggage tags seem to be a huge colletibles market. This one might be my favourite I have ever seen around the old internet. The colours, the drawing style, the clean crisp typeface, the nice script, the shape, everything. But really, the illustration and colour especially. Perfect.
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Here's some interesting stuff from box vox, both related to chocolate, which I'm sure a lot of you, like me, have a lot of sitting around right now...
The Canadian $.05 chocolate bar revolt. In 1947 candy bar companies tried to raise the price of a chocolate bar from 5 cents to 8 cents, but Canadian kids were not having it. The Five Cent War is definitely a movie I wouldn't mind checking out.
And trust the Germans to make chocolate (more) evil: A "chocolate grenade," yes, a grenade disguised as a chocolate bar... Apparently there was more than one type of this in WWII. Evil.
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Finally, you gotta love Lincoln. Well, Obama rightfully does, and he and the democrats seem to be taking Lincoln away from the Republicans. Good call. I never even realized he was a Republican, but then, it was a whole different party back then, from what I hear.
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If you're not doing anything tonight, DJ Bearface! will be playing tracks all by his lonesome at the Jane Bond (that is, minus DJ88), so come by and say hi.

TIMBER!

Our mail has been particularly boring lately, but now I've got something to look forward to! I just noticed the above design by my favourite t-shirt maker, and I absolutely had to have it! Of course, I grabbed one of his other shirts in the process as well, you know, just for good measure.

During an etsy conversation, I also sent him this little pic from our trip to Funspot, where I happened to wearing one of his shirts and spot a pretty special arcade machine:
(not the best picture of me, but you know...)
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Some beautiful work on here. (via Draplin, I think...)
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I am in love with this Philly post office via 1900. Amazing. I've said it before, but this is definitely one of those pictures that makes me wish I could travel through time. (thanks Shorpy!)
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This is a really cool little application that lets you search through millions of flickr images by colour, and combinations of colour. Select up to 10 colours on the side, and it will return images that use those colours. Pretty great to play around with. (via Jeff)
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Awesome early Star Wars storyboards. Pretty cool flickr set to flick through, if you ask me.
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"Wasted" a good chunk of time flipping through the images on Letter Cult last night. All hand drawn lettering. Great stuff to check out. Here're two favourites:


Time to get up and go to work! And then tacos!