10/12/2009

Bits and Pieces

Face Your Pockets

What's REALLY in Your Bag?

Links that have been gathering dust on my computer...

Bill Moyers Journal: Wendell Potter
With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform.

Blind Women Help Detect Breast Cancer
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Blind women are being trained to use their sensitive touch to help detect breast cancer earlier and more precisely than doctors.

Fiji Water: Spin the Bottle
Obama sips it. Paris Hilton loves it. Mary J. Blige won't sing without it. How did a plastic water bottle, imported from a military dictatorship thousands of miles away, become the epitome of cool?

Off the Deep End: A Look at the Decline of Dubai
Deserts have a way of reclaiming whatever is built upon them. In the case of Dubai, the global financial implosion has sent that process into overdrive. After six years of frenzied expansion, during which the emirate's population grew at 7% annually and nearly $600 billion went into construction (the world's tallest building! the world's largest shopping mall! the biggest man-made island! an indoor ski resort!), reality has come rushing into view.

Brand Yourself and 4 Other Tips for Success From The Sartorialist
Starting in September of 2005, Scott Schuman became The Sartorialist, a fashion blogger with a lot more up his tailored coat sleeves than street shots of pretty people. He has created a thriving street style blog, not only accrediting himself as a guy with a great eye for fashion, but as a world-recognized photographer, and as a brand. This August, he released a compilation book of his photos aptly titled, The Sartorialist. In honor of Mercedes-Benz Spring 2010 Fashion Week in New York City, we share with you his nuggets of wisdom, as well as a few peeks at his book.

DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated
Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.

Fan-Made Music Video Restores Hope in Music Video Kind
Remember music videos being important, and good? Neither does anybody I know, because our memory's been wiped by MTV and VH1's current slate of programming. And then there's this beautiful, fan-made music video of indie band Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks."

Hollywood's Best Actors for the Buck
LOS ANGELES — In today's recessionary Hollywood, studio executives are no longer looking to cast actors who will demand upward of US$15 million just to appear in a movie and then a hefty portion of the film's revenue. Instead, the ideal package is a big concept with low-paid stars.

RealAge Test
Your RealAge is the biological age of your body, based on how well you've maintained it.

The Gold List 2009
THE BEST HOTELS IN THE WORLD
Welcome to the fifth annual Gold List, our selection of the hotels around the world that have the best rooms, service, food, location, ambience and design, and leisure facilities. To compile this ultimate guide to the world's greatest hotels, we have combined our editors' choices with the highest-ranking hotels in the Readers' Travel Awards 2008.


24 Ways to Exploit Chaos
Economic crises can lead to fear and paralysis within executive boardrooms, not to mention a shortage of capital or credit to act on good ideas that do emerge. But they can also create opportunities. In Exploiting Chaos (Gotham Books, 2009), Jeremy Gutsche—an innovation consultant and the founder of TrendHunter.com, a site that tracks emerging trends—offers, as the book's subtitle says, 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change.

All Broads Lead to Rome
Mired in sex scandals, headed for an ugly divorce, dogged by investigators, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is a national joke. He’s also the richest, most successful politician in Europe—and has no intention of changing his ways. Will Italy change without him?

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' Hotel Room
Room 3918 - which features four huge bedrooms, a private lift, marble-lined bathrooms and state-of-the-art kitchens – takes up the entire 39th floor of the luxury hotel, and is not just the most expensive hotel room in Australia; but rather, it is one of the most expensive in the world.

The Wave of Hotel Foreclosures Sweeping the Globe
Prepare for a period of the greatest deluge in hotel loan history. How bad is the recession on the hotel industry? On a daily basis, we at Scene Advisor are hearing of hotel loans going into servicing because of default. Currently, over 80 major hotels a week are going into default or closing the doors. The Wall Street Journal reports that currently 5% of securitized hotel mortgages are currently in default, and over 4,000 hotels will default this year alone.

John Oliver: Comic Crumpet
John Oliver is certainly a funnyman of the ha-ha kind, though he's not without his peculiarities as we found out in this interview, which was conducted via email for his own safety –– did we mention he's the thinking woman's bit of crumpet from The Daily Show?

Kat Williams: Drugs in America
"Have you or one of your loved ones been killed from using our medicine? Dial 1-800-OurBad..."

Bubbies Story
As John describes the Bubbie persona, "She's the essence of the kindly Jewish grandmother who happens to be passionate about things like cooking and pickling. She stands for all Old World grannies who pamper their family with wonderful foods they've hand made using authentic ingredients and traditional recipes."

Transparency Triumph: Reviewing is the New Advertising
In fact, Twitter has established itself as the real-time snapshot of what people are thinking/feeling/experiencing and yes, reviewing, around the world. Expect numerous services to capitalize on this burgeoning ‘global brain'. One example: SkinniPopcorn provides Twitter feeds of users' real time comments about newly released films and the current US box office top ten, as well as the ten movies that are currently mentioned most often.

Pop-Up Restaurants: They're Quick, Sharp, Full-throttle, and Then They Shut Up Shop
Pop-ups are the embodiment of our high-octane, short-attention-span culture. One minute they're here - restaurants and bars opening in unexpected locations, causing a storm - and then they're gone. The temporary dining spot manages to break all the rules of what a traditional restaurant should be. Which is precisely why the trend for temporary locations dips into our whimsical 21st-century consumer mindset.

Is This London's Most Fashionable Restaurant?
Blink and you'll miss it. Flash is a pop-up extravaganza from the brains behind bistrotheque. They don't come any cooler.

Heston Blumenthal Recipes and Cooking Tips
Heston Blumenthal is the chef and owner of The Fat Duck, the three Michelin starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire. The Fat Duck was named Best Restaurant in the World in 2005 by Restaurant magazine. Heston's recipes appear in The Sunday Times every week.

Bo Burnham: Welcome to YouTube
"Before YouTube I was just a skinny white kid that thought he was funnier and cooler than he actually was..."

The World's Highest Hotel...But Not for Long!
If a gob-smacking view is your thing - and heck, it's mine - you could do worse than check in at the Park Hyatt, Shanghai, which has just taken the mantle of the world's highest hotel. See that nice pagoda-shaped building you're looking down on out the window? Yeah, that's the Jin Mao Tower, and it's about 40 meters taller than the Empire State Building in NYC.

CinemaScore's Ed Mintz: Hollywood's Secret Box Office Swami
You never see him at any fancy movie premieres or making the rounds of the talent agencies. He hasn't turned up on any Hollywood power lists. But the 68-year-old Ed Mintz has quietly emerged as a key player in the movie business over the past year, thanks to the growing popularity of CinemaScore, his Las Vegas-based market research company that provides an invaluable piece of information to studio insiders every Friday night. His reports reveal just how much -- or little -- moviegoers liked the new movies that invade America's multiplexes each weekend.
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[via]

10/10/2009

Band of Horses


Ben Bridwell, lead singer



Band of Horses, previously known as Horses, is an American indie rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle by Ben Bridwell and Mat Brooke. Joe Arnone joined the band in February 2006. They are currently signed to Sub Pop Records. The band often draws comparisons to My Morning Jacket, largely due to the vocal similarities between Bridwell and My Morning Jacket lead singer Jim James, the occasional Southern rock tendencies that the two groups have in common, and a penchant for glimmering reverb. Allmusic has compared Bridwell's vocals to early Neil Young and Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips.

Band of Horses - official site
Upcoming Events
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LINK
Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie

Indie Rock Olympic Sketches

10/09/2009

Space Cadet

Guy Laliberté, founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil




Space-Travelling Cirque Founder About to Host Biggest Show in the Universe
MONTREAL - Canada's first space tourist is hours away from hosting the biggest show in the known universe.

Guy Laliberte has spent months planning an event some are dubbing 'Spacestock' - a concert on five continents, with the Cirque du Soleil founder acting as the master of ceremonies from the International Space Station.

The billionaire circus impresario hopes his grandiose event will focus the world's attention on an important cause: water conservation. [...]

The production costs for the multilingual show are estimated to be between $6 million and $10 million - which is on top of the US$35 million Laliberte paid to become Canada's first space tourist.

It will be seen on the Internet beginning at 8 p.m EDT through the website of Laliberte's One Drop Foundation at OneDrop.org. [...]

Bono, Shakira and Al Gore Team Up for Water Education
Tonight (October 9), a multitude of celebrities will take part in a global event dubbed "Moving Stars and Earth for Water." Musicians, movie stars, politicians and environmentalists will unite for one common cause: Bringing the world more and better water. This diverse group includes Shakira, Salma Hayek, Bono, Joss Stone and former Vice President Al Gore. Perhaps the most riveting component of the show? On the same day we searched the moon for water, the event will be broadcast into outer space.

Why? Because the architect of the entire project is Canadian billionaire Guy Laliberte, who has been on a personally-financed mission to the International Space Station since October 2. He describes the event as a "poetic social mission." Laliberte intends to use his time off Earth to find supplies of one of the world's most important resources. "My mission is dedicated to making a difference on this vital resource by using what I know best: artistry," Laliberte said. [...]



Guy Laliberté, OC, CQ (born September 2, 1959) is a French Canadian entrepreneur, currently the CEO of Cirque du Soleil. Starting out as an accordion player, stiltwalker and fire-eater; Laliberté created his circus which is a synthesis of all circus styles around the world. In 2006, the 95% share holder of the US$1.2 billion Cirque Du Soleil was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. [...]

10/03/2009

Nuit Blanche

Rabbit balloon__Jeff Koons__Times Square, NY

What to See
For all the talk of late night boozing, 24 hour subway service, and survival, it's easy to forget what Toronto's Nuit Blanche is really all about: giant floating rabbits. That, and free, accessible contemporary art. With 46 installations, 132 total projects, and over 280 artists (official and renegade), deciding what to see can be a daunting task. More likely than not, your more memorable art pieces will be the ones you accidentally stumble upon at 4 in the morning. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a plan. Here are some of the more interesting pieces at this year's Nuit Blanche. [...]

NUIT BLANCHE
Oct.03-04, 2009
6pm-6am

SO HOW WAS IT?
Water bottle pixels__[Flickr.com__Fumio Photo]

Rescue Bubble__[Flickr.com__MrBeng]

Sounding Space - art
Beautiful Light - art

Nuit Blanche 09 - set 1
Nuit Blanche 09 - set 2
Nuit Blanche 09 - set 3
Nuit Blanche 09 - set 4

Building a Nuit to Remember
Now that we have all recovered from our Nuits, it's time to step back and take stock...
Polling Booth: Bonne Nuit ou Ennui?
Fantastic! I loved it! 15% (55 votes)
It was pretty good 40% (146 votes)
Meh 24% (86 votes)
It was kinda lame 16% (58 votes)
What a colossal waste of time and money 5% (18 votes)
Total Votes: 363

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NEW POST
Paranormal Activity
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LINK
Top 10 Biggest Flops in Box-Office History

This Just in...

SHOPS AT DON MILLS
[flickr.com]

CC and I stopped by the new shopping complex in Don Mills. The outdoor mall is gleaming, sterile, pale in its colour scheme and not someplace where I'd choose to hang out for the "atmosphere", which it sorely lacks. Still, shopping is the objective here and on that front it delivers with recognizable brand name retailers like McEwan (below), Anthropologie (below), Michael Kors (link below), Aldo, Aritzia, Banana Republic, BCBG Max Azria, Browns, Calvin Klein Underwear, Coach, Eddie Bauer, Guess?, Mendocino, Mexx, Tabi, Tommy Hilfiger and Town Shoes. If I ever do come back, it'll be for the gorgeous McEwan, which is the only store here that doesn't have an outlet located minutes from where I live.

Michael Kors is Now Open!
This week, the new 1,800-sq.-ft. Michael Kors store opened at Shops at Don Mills. It is the company’s third store in the Greater Toronto Area and its sixth store in all of Canada.
blogTO review
I was skeptical about The Shops as well, but it is surprisingly walkable. There are a few small lots and "street" parking which gives the illusion of a quaint neighbourhood (emphasis on illusion: this is a nice idea, but feels forced).
Spacing review
I have mixed feelings about Shops at Don Mills...There’s something vaguely Disneyish about the place, almost something out of the Truman Show.

McEWAN



Specialty vinegars, I think



Some sort of seasoning...maybe dried flower petals?

I love fancy tea tins

I could eat every single one of these

Can't beat chocolate in tubes

Decadent white chocolate cake topping

McEwan Food Store (vid)

ANTHROPOLOGIE
I tried on the blue dress on that mannequin and it just wasn't me. As it turns out, I'm not an Anthropologie girl, but I do like taking pics of their pretty displays: everywhere you look there's a wonderfully colourful pile, row or stack just begging to be rifled through.













BLOOR ST. W.
Shoes Gallery Calendar 2010__Bata Shoe Museum

Related
Virtual Shoe Museum

ALLIANCE
The lobby of Alliance's new home on King St. W.; they also share the building with a mining company.

I had a job interview here for the position of a personal asistant, which sadly - or gladly - I didn't get. It sounded like an easy gig at first, but in actuality the job involved a lot more than fetching coffee - as in long hours, detailed work and cranky bosses. In other words, not my cuppa.

Alliance's actual office space looks nothing like its building's quietly elegant, minimalist lobby. Think flourescent lighting, gray carpeting, 3-sided cubicles and movie posters everywhere.


Wave "hi"!

MORTON'S
Dinner with Mr. Movie at Morton's. I had to get a pic of this kitschy-cute sleeping pig oil lamp, as well as...

...this adorable card holder; I wanted to swipe it but I restrained myself.

I believe Mr. Movie made his "O" face when he tried one of these scallops wrapped in bacon. They were divine.

YORKVILLE AVE.
This is - by far - the ugliest painting I've ever seen. And yes, that's our CN Tower in the foreground__Impressions Art Gallery

Teatro Verde all decked out for Halloween



Y5

MANULIFE CENTRE
Girls' Night Out wine__LCBO
One of three new marketing-driven Girls’ Night Out wines. Not to deny the gals their own wine (or a good time), but where’s the Boys’ Night In vino? This is a simple, cinnamon-spiced, apple pie–flavoured chardonnay. A touch sweet, even confected. Good to very good length.
Price: $12.95
Type: White
Varietal: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2007
Region: Lake Erie North Shore
[TorontoLife.com]

Looks like the Guggenheim on the cover__publ. Masterworks?__Indigo Books

Lovely Nanking vase featured inside

noi.se__Indigo Books

If I ever pay $20 for a fashion magazine, it better have photography of this calibre.






On a side note, a recent controversial French Vogue editorial has brought the term "blackface" back into the spotlight when really, I just wish it would die, along with the image of Aunt Jemima and the word nigger. I believe some words and images ought to stay in the past until they dissolve completely from our collective social memory.

Having said that, if I'm going to consider a thoughtful, photographic depiction of racial identity, I prefer it look something like this.

Here, the model isn't immitating or caricaturing another race, but rather masking herself with another colour in such a way that you still see her. In fact, many layers of interpretation can be derived from this photo: Is it about racial identity? Dark vs. light aspects of her soul? Hiding from reality? Or as her outfit seems to imply, is she merely acting the fool, like a clown or court jester? [via]

SHOPPERS DRUG MART
Janet looks great on the cover. Lord knows, her surgeons are worth every penny.

Loud gurgling and cackling sounds made my skin crawl, and when I looked around the corner there was this automated witch retailing for about $240. Her hips swivelled and her head wobbled as she stirred her cauldron and one guy nearby couldn't stop laughing and staring at her.

Cheezy "Get Well" greeting card

SCREEN TIME
Shark Tank is the new American version of the original Japanese series, Dragons' Den, and it's produced by Mark Burnett of Survivor fame.

Robert Herjavec, also of the Canadian Dragons' Den version, plays "good cop" shark to...

..."bad cop" shark Kevin O'Leary, another Canadian Dragon.
Kevin adds a scintillating touch of evil to the panel. One example of his many foot-in-mouth quotes: There's never a better time to upsell than when a family is stricken with grief...that's why the funeral business is so great.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY (1999 w / Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones & Bruce Greenwood)
Plot: Framed for murder, a woman seeks revenge.
How long were you and Angie fucking before you decided to get rid of me?

Uhh...

KILLING ME SOFTLY (2002 w / Heather Graham & Joseph Fiennes)
I finally broke the seal on Killing Me Softly, the $5 DVD I bought across the street a couple of months ago. Seen above is Heather Graham as Alice, an American living in London. On her way to work, Alice exchanges glances with...

...Adam (Joseph Fiennes), a mysterious mountaineer. A few hours later, as is the case with all hot strangers who bump into each other on busy streets, they end up...

...fucking. Not entirely implausible!

Natascha McElhone (the hotter blonde, IMO) plays Adam's sister.

A surprisingly erotic bondage sex scene...
Adam: Do you trust me?
Alice: Yes.

I won't give away the ending as I'm sure there's a dusty copy lying at the bottom of every rummage bin in every DVD store on the planet. Wait a minute...here it is. If it costs more than $5 then it's too damn much because Oscar material this isn't. Nonetheless, I was kept engaged until the end probably more because of Joseph's hot body and big brown eyes than Heather's acting "ability", which between the blank stares and mute nods, had me convinced she was borderline mentally challenged.

AND FINALLY...
Yes, that's a storm cloud outside my window. The "storm", however, was more of a 2 minute spit up.