As you may or may not have heard, Kate McGarrigle died yesterday. I'm not going to pretend like I was a big fan or something, but I will say that I think that the amount of times that I saw The Log Driver's Waltz as a kid has to have had an impact on both my love of things lumberjack and birling related, and my love for and appreciation of the NFB. Two pretty big things, if you ask me. So have a watch, and appreciate it. I do love their voices. Maybe now is the time to finally get around to listening to more?
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Speaking of the NFB, I think I need to order this shirt, since they have it on black now...
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Crazy concept furniture. Seriously crazy. But awesome. I know I'd like to hit a big cube of metal into a chair...
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Lego guitar. Nice. If only the neck would hold under the tension of the strings...
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Fischer Price Merry Mutt. SO CUTE. Jenna sent me this one and I love it! Such a scrappy looking little pup-dog! If only he wasn't so expensive...
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It's been awhile since I've posted pictures from Shorpy. I recently re-read Time and Again, in which the protagonist travels back in time to New York in the 1880's. I love the book for how jealous it makes me of him. Recently there's been a spate of NY in the early 1900's on Shorpy, and I really wish I could jump into them. Check 'em out:
Flatiron Rising: 1902
Brooklyn Terminal: 1903
The Bowery: 1900
Death Star: 1902

This one I meant to share before Christmas: Toy Story: 1923. How did we get from that crazy tree shape to what we favour now?

Don't forget to click 'view full size' to really get in there on some of them. Check the signage in the background at the terminal for one. "Carters Little Liver Pills" is a nice one. So is the half covered part of the Quaker Oats sign that declares it as an option "Instead of Meat."

Just finished that poster above earlier tonight. Not sure if it's printing as is, but I felt like sharing. Definitely a show to look forward to as well. I've been itching to see Angus and Brad's new project and Ace Kinkaid is always enjoyable.
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Back on my very Canadian day, when I was at the NFB I was looking around, really hoping they'd have a shirt with the classic NFB logo on it. They didn't then, but it turns out that now they do! Wish it wasn't on white, but I might need one...
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Bunny garbage bin. Cute.
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Speaking of cute, at work today I was looking up stuff on upcoming movies and found Paper Heart. SO CUTE. Seriously. There's some other stuff I'm looking forward to coming up (Brothers Bloom, 500 Days of Summer [could be crap, but Zooey Deschanel is a big draw for me. Actually Joey Gordon Levitt is a pretty good draw too...], and of course Away We Go [though Jenna says I just am excited for this because I think John Krasinski looks like me in it]), but none of those trailers have made me smile nearly as much as this one did. Adorable.
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I have come to realize that sometimes the images on the front are old patterns are amazing. This is one of those cases. I have an even better one saved up for potential future use that maybe you'll get to see. Mini Magnum is all I have to say...
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I never knew that they made Chuck mids, but now I really want a pair. Nice.
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I'm sadly pretty excited to buy my Miracle Whip in this new packaging. Really hope that this part of the write up about it becomes more and more true as time goes by: "Apparently all the thrift shopping of vintage stuff by the 18- and 34-year-olds has finally paid off and that oldish look can feel new again." Seriously, all a company really needs to do is just reintroduce their classic packaging and will be so looking forward to buying it. Sad but true.
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Big things to come next Friday. Can't wait.

Had a real Canadian media heavy day yesterday, and am left with some strong feelings of pride as a result. Drove Jenna and her mom into Toronto and had nearly 3 hours to myself. Aside from visiting MEC and buying my favourite hoodie in gray (I already own 2 black ones), I also visited the CBC and the NFB.

The CBC had a little museum, which really had a stuff related to their kids shows, which was awesome. Lots of Mr Dressup, including the tickle trunk, Casey and Finnigan's house, and the stool he always sat on to draw! Also saw stuff from The Friendly Giant, Sesame Park (remember Sesame Park, Sesame Street with Canadian bits?), and a lot of microphones (including the one I have in my room, which turns out to be a Shure from like 1955). Finally got myself one of these shirts, which I've been coveting for awhile.

The most pride-filling part though was spending some time in the NFB mediatheque, where you can sit and watch any of the amazing films the NFB has produced over the years. Truthfully, you can do that online too, but it was a nice thing to be able to go there and do. The NFB has documented, and created culture in Canada for a long time, and I'm so happy they're making it so readily available back to us. I grew up watching their shorts, and it's been so long since I've seen some of them, but now I can watch them all again. Yesterday I watched Neighbours, the Oscar winning classic, and Carts of Darkness, which I've been meaning to watch and would definitely would recommend.
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Thought I had a bunch of things to post, but then I started working, and realized that a lot of them probably don't matter. Maybe they do, but right now, it's just time for bed.