Hiatus number ... I think I lost count!

I seem to like to take massive hiatuses - or hiatii, the way I do them - from the Odyssey. I've experimented with other websites and even created other blogs in this time to see what fit. Since school is starting and my work load is going to be getting heavier, now seems like the right time to get back into it. In all seriousness, having this is a nice break from the mundane.

From this point on, I promise there will not be anymore posts (a.k.a. excuses) about my time off.

Welcome back, folks! That is, if there are still people who read this...

Krzysztof Kieślowski's Trois Couleurs

I recently checked out a film by Polish film director Kieślowski entitled Trois couleurs: Bleu - the first film as part of the Three Colours Trilogy (the next two are entitled Blanc and Rouge, after the colours of the French flag). He is known to make films as part of a cycle and the story of each film in this series is based on one of the three political ideals in the motto of the French Republic - liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Bleu is speaking loosely on the idea of liberty, not in a political sense, but on an individual, emotional basis. So far, it's pretty interesting - the whole idea of this trilogy brilliant. Too bad I couldn't wait to finish the whole series before I wrote this. I will have a better post when I've watched the next two... I'm having a hard time juggling this with LOST right now. I'm sure you'd understand.

What's Up Buttercup?

Blog out of Vancouver

And so the blog community grows...

With http://internethug.blogspot.com/

This one's from the brains of the coolest kids this side of the planet (literally), Azadeh and Ameneh. These girls give the goods on what's hip and cool out west, that we're all missing here in Toronto.

Trust me, they know what they are talking about!

More Music

So what if my last few posts have been about music. You should be happy you don't have to look too far for it.

There has been some great stuff thus far in 2008... Too bad I haven't heard all of it. Here are albums that have made some noise this year. The link will take you to the respective download. Hope you dig.

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours


Radiohead - In Rainbows (cd 2)


The Black Keys - Attack & Release


N*E*R*D - Seeing Sounds


Portishead - Third


Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends


The Roots - Rising Down


Lil Wayne - The Carter III


Does it Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into


I hope Chris Martin and Weezy don't kick my door down and break my legs for downloading and uploading their stuff for free. If there are no blog posts after this one, you'll know why...

Remember, you only have a week to get the music before the link expires.

Funky Punk

I've had bandwidth and a lot of time on my hands since school's been out, so I've been downloading music and movies like a villain to the industry. (HEY, I'm unemployed, so what do you expect?)

Here is some of the stuff that has been eating away at my ears as of late.

A young Iggy Pop doing what he does best

Iggy Pop & The Stooges – The Stooges (1969) http://www.sendspace.com/file/ingdxt

This is a legendary album that was way ahead of its time. It’s short and intense, but brilliant all at the same time.

The Fall – Live at the Witch Trials (1979) http://www.sendspace.com/file/8y60dq

Continuing with my little classic punk phase is The Fall. This is their first record of many, but don’t let the name fool you – it’s not a live album. This is real, uninhibited punk at its finest. This version of the album is the 2004 reissue.

We Are Wolves – Total Magique (2007) http://www.sendspace.com/file/mi35wl

Out of Montreal, I would describe this album as electro-punk - but those sounds together can be categorized as ‘badass.’

The Long Blondes – Couples (2007) http://www.sendspace.com/file/ze6qet

The day I discovered Sheffield’s The Long Blondes, they were playing a show in town. I listened to this album and was disappointed that I missed them. They have been categorized as neo-punk, but if you hear any trace of punk in this album, please let me know.

Swedish Music Man

Jens Lekman (pronounced "Yens") is an indie rock artist out of Sweden, has 2 LPs and numerous other recordings under his belt. When I started listening to El Perro del Mar, I enjoyed her immensely, but didn’t look into other Swedish artists. I don’t know why. I can't seem to turn him off now...

He's too good.

Thanks to Her Royal Hotness, Isabel who gave me his music SO LONG AGO, but I only listened to it now. Silly me. She's always on the cool way before it becomes cool.

The Bape Life

How fitting that a pair of golden Bapestas led me to the Bape website last night and there I discovered how far reaching the brand has become. Nigo – the mastermind behind the Bathing Ape empire – has had a goal for his brand to be more than just another label. With stores in 6 corners of the globe, and with its various departments, it has become a lifestyle that and continues to exceed and redefine what a lifestyle brand should be.

It has everything you need to live a lifestyle: Towels, glasses cases, bags, pencil cases, wall clocks, and umbrellas to name a few.

One indication that a brand has become a lifestyle is when it successfully extends beyond its original product category – in Bape’s case, it began with clothing. The company not only maintains its apparel line, but also operates Bape Cuts hair salon, Bape Gallery, Bape Sounds Records. There’s even a Bape Café with its own brand of food, drinks and dessert. They don’t miss a beat!

Bape Food!

Designer names like Abercrombie and Fitch and Calvin Klein are considered typical lifestyle brands but are no where near as comprehensive as A Bathing Ape. Part of its far-reaching

success could be its constant collaborations – the current big one being Sponge Bob, but has included big companies like Adidas, Casio, Disney, Marvel and Pepsi in the past – combining strengths of the brands involved, leading to mutual benefits to both in expanding their horizons so to speak.

Bape shirts that are two-sided – You know when you grab that shirt even though its dirty but you still wear it? Bape lets you continue this life style by looking new and fresh on the block while doing it. I like how Bape takes into account your busy lifestyle and not having time to wash your clothes all the time. They make it seem like you have more clothes than you really do. The crazy colours and designs are helpful: in case you get lost in a crowd, you'll be easy to find (not good if you’re a fugitive, so criminals beware).

In North America, the culture Bape reaches is limited to those in-the-know, particularly sneaker heads. But in Japan, where it has been established for over a decade, it is well known and not limited to such subculture, but rather to everyone and that’s really where the lifestyle aspect can really take off. Give Bape a few more years in North America and see how far it can go.

Artist: Lucy McKenzie

"Cheyney and Eileen Disturb a Historian at Pompeii"

Just when I thought there was nothing to write about, I stumbled across Scottish illustrator Lucy McKenzie. McKenzie is a very diverse artist who takes on numerous styles ranging from hyperrealist to abstraction in a variety of media. Her latest series of work is very much influenced by Belgian artist Hergé - who created Tintin - and places her subjects in interesting world destinations in the style of Hergé.

"Lucy and Paulina in the Moscow Metro" / "Simon in Fort Greene"

MSTRKRFT Essential Mix 05.23.2008

Toronto's MSTRKRFT - consisting of Jesse Keeler and Al-P - lend their hands to this week's Essential Mix on BBC Radio One. The two hour electro punk house mix is out-of-this-world and worth checking out - only if you like to party hard.

To be honest, I wasn't much of a fan until I heard this mix. Glad to see these Toronto boys putting out something that can seriously compete with the world's best! This is my top Essential Mix of the year so far.

Imagination Garden

I was strolling along Yonge St this morning as they were setting up for their annual Green Toronto Festival. They close down the City's busiest intersection outside of the Eaton Centre for car-free activities for everyone - especially hippies and families.


This little thing set up by ING Direct caught my eye - it's called an 'Imagination Garden' and it is equipped with trees and a play area for children. I think it would be a great idea to set up similar micro-environments like this all over the city could give the illusion of green space, and retrofit them with tables for people to sit and enjoy the good weather in the middle of the busiest areas of Toronto. This would be good for the psyche and even as an decorative installation for the landscape. It doesn't take up too much space and is a great idea that I could see people falling for.

It would make a nice intimate break from the concrete jungle that is the city.

As green as it gets

He makes it look so easy

St. Patrick's Day was earlier this week and it made me realize two things:

i. everyone claims to have some connection to Ireland and,
ii. I have no green clothing!

If I were to go out to a bar and drink green beer on that festive day, I would have nothing to wear! I mean, who doesn't wear green on St. Patty's Day?? It just wouldn't look right.

I have always been simple with my colours: keeping it grey, black and white for the most part. I like the dark, mysterious look. I experimented with purple, but it didn't really work out for me... I sure as hell couldn't go green.

It's not like I hate the green or anything. I do consume things that are green. Like, money (specifically, $20 bills being the most common of cash), my aftershave happens to be green, same with my mouthwash... but clothes? Maybe I should branch out a little, take some risks. Summer's coming up, making it a perfect time to do this. I should have made this a New Year's resolution or something.

But this goes to show you, it's not easy being green.

Pimp my Eiffel

I love design competitions.

Especially those that mess with an iconic structure in attempt to refresh it's image.

The competition is for the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower and was an open call to designers to reconfigure any of the public reception or access areas in a manner that suits Gustave Eiffel’s renowned structure.


The winner of the competition was Serero Architects and their design consists of a carbon kevlar structure TEMPORARILY (thankfully) affixed to the top floor plate. Not only will this double the capacity of the platform, it will give visitors a new and improved 360-degree view of the city and an interesting new look for the structure and the Paris skyline.

What do you wear under that Batsuit?

Bale and Freeman while filming The Dark Knight

Not only does Italian design house Giorgio Armani design the Italian Police Force's uniforms, they will soon be taking care of another crime fighter: one Caped Crusader. Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne will be getting the designer treatment in this summer's The Dark Knight being clad from head-to-toe in an Armani wardrobe when he's not in his Batsuit. Why expect anything less from billionaire-playboy Bruce Wayne? You can see Christian Bale looking pretty sleek in Dark Knight-themed print ads in fashion magazines when marketing for the film begins.

Craig and Bond girls

Another big movie getting the designer treatment is James Bond, who has a new tailor, namely Tom Ford. The 007 franchise is known to have brand names associated with it, like Omega watches, and previously, Brioni suits. Daniel Craig is reported to have ruined around 40 bespoke suits by Ford during filming already. I'm sure there will be 40 more by the time Quantum of Solace reaches theatres later this year.

Fashion seems to be the the newest addition to movie product tie-ins, or at least, it's more on the radar because of these two blockbusters coming out. I don't understand why this hasn't caught on in other Hollywood films. I mean, fashion is more realistic to have in your flick than Dominos Pizza or Pepsi, because people wear clothes the whole time - unless it's a love scene or something - maybe then they could have designer underwear or sheets. More films should have fashion incorporated in their marketing campaigns to get the names out there and to even influence style.

This has got me wondering: who will Tony Stark be wearing?

Satellite Radio

I've always wanted it, now I'm listening to the greatness of what is Satellite Radio! They have even have portable XM devices so you can have the world at your earbuds - with no commercials!

I suppose this is how it works

Maybe I'm just really excited because I'm craving an alternative to my ever-static iPod. It's possible they will standardize satellite radio the way they are getting rid of analog televisions by 2010, but no announcements made yet.


XM

Sirius

A Greener, Leaner City - Ras Al Khaimah

I haven't gotten all planner on all your asses because planning is handling me pretty well these past few weeks. I'm buried in work and don't see an end in sight.

Here's something to feed your city needs, and it comes in the form or Rem Koolhaas' Gateway Eco City in the ever-booming United Arab Emirates. It's goal is similar to the development in Masdar, and includes that of zero-carbon, and zero-waste. The interesting thing about this development is that they planned it in such a way that the least amount of direct sunlight will strike the city’s buildings during the warmest times of day. That's brilliant. I need to see how they figured that out!

I don't want to write about it, because I've been writing enough about cities, so you can read more about it at Inhabitat. Be sure to check out the associated links to Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) as well.

BBC Essential Mix 03.14.08

I can't believe it's March and I haven't written about an Essential Mix all year! Oh wait, I did... It was Hot Chip's a few weeks back - I guess there really hasn't been many stand out mixes this year. On the topic of Hot Chip, this week's mix is from a Detroit-based DJ who opened for them on their UK stretch of their tour, Matthew Dear aka Audion, aka Jabberjaw, aka False. This guy has a lot of aliases and with that, a lot of different sounds spanning through different genres of electronic music - even inventing a few. This mix, he appears as Audion, and offers a minimalistic techno sound. You have until Friday to check it out. Get on it.

He is set to play Circa on Friday April 11th but I'm not sure if he will be spinning or actually performing with a band.

Southland Tales

"I am a pimp, and pimps don't commit suicide." - uh huh...

Sarah Michelle Gellar always seems to play the overly sexual character in all her film roles.

From the twisted mind of Richard Kelly comes Southland Tales: the movie that stars a random selection of... pretty much everyone you wouldn't expect to see in a movie together and really, makes absolutely no sense. Kelly is the director behind Donnie Darko so you can see where I'm coming from here.

Ladies love JT, even when he's got a nasty scar and is covered in gore.

I'd love to give you a synopsis but I really don't know where to start. I still don't know what to make of this movie, but it comes out on DVD today so I think I'll do a much needed re-watch. Although it got really bad reviews from everyone under the sun (including at Cannes), it's worth checking out what all the fuss is about... that is, if you have 2 and a half hours to spare.

The Rock - who was the breakout star of this film - and Sean Williams Scott

Holler at JE for recommending this one... I think?

Ludwig

Up and coming brand out of L.A.


www.ludwigvantheman.com

Robert Longo

Dancing Trio I from the "Men in the City" series (1980s)

Robert Longo is a New York-based artist who is influenced by mass media as seen through his work. He is a trained sculptor, but drawing is his expression of choice as his work is done using charcoal and graphite, which is then but in the form of a lithograph. Notable of most of his pieces are the extreme poses the figures hold. Some of them seem to be dancing, others look like they are having a fit of some sort. You be the judge.

Most likely from "Men in the City" - more like "Mob in the City" - okay, lame. But look at how 80's these guys look!

American Psycho series, 2000s

Interesting fact: Longo directed several music videos and even the 1995 Keanu Reeves flick Johnny Mnemonic.

Emmy the Great

The cutest girl on a guitar by far!

I think I like her more than her music... But this Pixies cover is pretty good!