Friday Five: Animal friends

Anjana, Shiva and Mitra:

This week’s Friday five has more cute-power than a unicorn chaser.

Friday Five: The follow-up edition

1. Another gadget orchestra: 
This time it’s an all-ipod MGMT cover. If MGMT were to die and become reincarnated… they would obviously come back as a group of ethinically diverse songstresses with adorable grins. And they would obviously multiply by two. A follow-up to Friday Five 02/20/09

2. A new song from St. Vincent:
The all-knowing Wikipedia Gods claimed her upcoming album Actors would be “sonically inspired by Prince”. The little taste of thick, dreamy electric guitars I got on this track makes me want to incorporate a sexual Prince joke into all of this, but I’ll hold off for today (2day). While you’re at it, click here, scroll past the ‘Blah blah blah decades-past… nostalgia-inducing pretenses blah blah blah’ and check out my favourite little tape recorder buddy. Num nums. A follow up to Lady Tunes, if you ignore my Ariel Pink digression.

3. The Eco-Friendly Port-a-Bach:
As far as housing aspirations go, I’ve upgraded from tiny traveling homes to homes made from boxes. Actually, you could say I’ve downgraded in the same way homeless people in box-towns are downgrades from hobos travelin’ the land. It’s really a matter of personal homeless-lifestyle preference, and whether or not you choose to keep your box house stationary. A follow up to I’m Not Joking 08/25/08

4. Hey Rosetta on Billboard.com:
I briefly mentioned Hey Rosetta back when they opened for H Dubbs in November, but did you know that their album is so wonderful that I’ve chosen to wake up to it every morning? Hey Rosetta’s Into Your Lungs lives permanently inside my cd alarm clock! They’ve survived what is normally the ‘music-I-love massacre’ of any album assigned to shake me from my warm, blanket-laden slumber-cave every single morning! Oh yeah, they’re also touted as the next Canadian break-through on Billboard. Whatevs. A follow-up to Hawksley Workman in London 11/27/08

5. Nadja covers MBV’s Only Shallow:
As pitchfork-centric as this post already is, I absolutely must include this. Reason: it had me doing weighty, exhaggerated head-nods in slow motion within seconds of its opening. Anyone who has seen me do this knows I have entered a realm of serious rocking/music enjoyment. A follow up to You Made Me Realise 09/24/08

Music Attack: I suggest we take this outside

Believe it or not, there are good ways to be attacked. You can be kiss-attacked, massive attacked, sneak-attacked by friendly baby pugs, (this apparently happens a lot), and even music attacked on the streets of San Francisco.

I’ve actually featured a few videos filmed by La Blogotheque before, some done specifically for Beirut’s Flying Club Cup and more recently with Lykke and friends, (though I missed her awesome cover of After Laughter Comes Tears with Sarah Assbring. For shame!)

La Blogotheque don’t just film our favourite musicians performing unexpectedly on the streets. Though the Black Cab Sessions come from an entirely different group of film makers, Blogotheque continue their idea by filming concerts sailing on water or squeezed into traveling vans. It’s exciting to see some of my favourite musicians do their thing close up and on the go, instead of in a crowded concert or flashy music video.

My favourites? Guillemots take the cake, though little babies dancing to Menomena are certainly in the running. The Flying Club Cup sessions are also not to be missed. This post is already link-filled, so I’ll let you do your own exploring. Keep your eyes peeled for Tom Jones!

Bookmark clutter be gone: Kaboodle and LaterThis

Later This: If you’re anything like me, your bookmarks folder is a treasure trove of how-to’s, reminders, inspiration, and resources. I also do a lot of my research and event planning online, (my wedding bookmarks folder is massive), and some of my classes are through correspondence too. I think this is why I’m a bit of a maniac when it comes to organizing my bookmarks. Items must pass my critical test of importance before being labeled and filed in their proper place. Then I murmur ‘You just got cataloooggued’.

As a result of this compulsion, the lighter stuff I set aside for future reading is archived at LaterThis. To quote their main page, ‘LaterThis lets you save and manage all the links you’d like to have a second look at, but don’t have time for now.’ When I find something of interested I just click the ‘Laterthis’ button in my menu bar, give the item a title and tag, and continue on my merry way. On a rainy day when I have nothing to do, (a day that has yet to happen), I can head on over and read my Laterthis goodies. Until then, it’s out of sight and out of mind, keeping my bookmarks free of clutter.

Kaboodle: Remember Caboodles? Yeah… anyway, this is not about sparkly bathroom organizers of our youth. Kaboodle is the alternative to out of control fashion folders everywhere. It’s pretty much the same idea as Laterthis, only geared specifically towards clothing items found online. The interface allows you to look at photos of your items, along with descriptions and prices. Other options include making a wish list, creating nifty style boards, and adding other people who are equally addicted to internet shopping as friends. If you don’t like shopping for clothes, you can use this for just about any item you’d like to buy: books, art supplies, housewares, puppies…

Edit: A quick thanks to Lindsey for mentioning me in Fickle Little Machine yesterday, it was a nice surprise! Go check her out, this post pretty much made my day.

Friday Five

The Sister Project: Celebrating sisters of all kinds, an idea I wish I had conjured up first!

Snuggly winter gear: Cutest coats and warmest boots.

Kinetic art by Casey Curran: Her pieces come alive! It makes me think of the ticking clocks scene in Pinnochio. This was sent to me by Jon, he’s always finding neat art and thoughtfully sending it my way.

Exile in Guyville: It’s been a while since my last Liz Phair phase. I was twelve when my brother loaned me a copy of What’s Up Matador. It was then that Liz Phair’s Stratford-On-Guy became my obsession. I also have this hilarious memory of playing Cat Power’s song Nude as the News in the car with my father and best friend, expecting them to marvel at my musical taste. They begged me to turn it off.

A candid letter to the two pygmy marmoset babies who live on my left index and middle fingers.

Friday Five

Goofy music nerd shirts. Here’s a little tribute to The Cure, plus one for J.S. Bach, (and possibly Meatloaf at the same time?)

Snuggly bedlinen from Rachel Castle.

These Songsmith creations. Be sure to scroll down for some Van Halen lounge music. And is it wrong that I actually love me some bluegrass White Wedding?

I’m not crazy about Banksy, but I absolutely adore his use of animatronics in The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill. This is kind of old, I think it happened in October of last year, but you can watch videos at the website I’ve linked.

The Martha Blog. I’m a bit of a Martha Stewart fan, and though I once viewed her as a robot only useful for brilliant DIY advice and Conan O’Brien hilarity, I’ve recently decided that she is the cutest cat/dog lady ever. Upon adding her blog to my reader, I was treated to posts of her dogs making crafts, and her cats having a new years party. I nearly died from the amazing, heart-warming weirdness. When she adopted two more cats she was sure to feature plenty of animals in the shelter, and I bet they found a home soon after their Martha endorsement.

Friday Five

This unusual dress by a Blanche MacDonald student, photographed by Alex Ramon

Fancy mirrors that cost $1000

Gadget orchestras

A crocheted coral reef, (take a look, it’s unbelievable). My crafty mom would love this.

Cute little Bentos by Sakurako Kitsa. She has a spa bento, a heron bento, and even the Sydney Harbour!

Busy months and family annuals

photo from anknelandburblets.com

Hello! I’ve been wanting to share all the new things going on in my life for a while now, but I still find myself very busy. As you may or may not know, I’ve recently started planning my wedding, am finishing up the final semester for my English degree, (it’s about time), am trying to find an after-class job that doesn’t involve a cap and name tag, and have been struggling a bit with a recent and somewhat hilarious diagnosis of narcolepsy, (though I’m glad to say I’ve been very much awake and on track this past week). I stayed in London alone for spring break, and am pleasantly surprised by how much work I’ve gotten done in all this solitude.  As a result, I think I’ll be writing more soon on the exciting new developments listed above.

Until then, here’s a little something I found today. Planning this wedding has me thinking a lot about family, which might be why I’m so into these family annuals by Charlotte at anknelandburblets.com. Charlotte seems to have extra incentive to create a few softcover life-photo collections, considering her new baby(ies), and her ability to take beautiful pictures. However, I think this would be a cool idea for any person at any stage of life.

Not too long ago I was taking endless snapshots of just about anything fun that was going on around me, which I would then post to my now retired photoblog. The collection revolved around parties, gatherings, and adventures with family and friends.  Though the photos weren’t meant to be aesthetically pleasing, (and most of them certainly weren’t!), I love looking back at all of those memories, complete with comments and blurbs that remind me of moments I otherwise would have forgotten. Maybe I’ll try my hand at taking better photos and turn them into a nice book to keep and enjoy for a long, long time.

Naptime

My new blog obsession: doubletakesblog.com, with a url that pretty much describes itself. Check out the above image by artist Rebecca Miller, or head out to the 7-eleven for Ben & Jerry’s new ice cream flavour Yes, Pecan!

More Miniatures

A little while ago I mentioned my love for all things miniature, and I thought I’d write about another artist along that line that makes me very happy. I’m pretty sure Slinkachu’s Little People won’t be new to you. I discovered them a year or two ago and fell instantly in love. I was talking to someone about this miniature-love and they said they didn’t really get it. I think it has something to do with fantasy worlds, imagination, and focusing really hard on a small detail in a time when such an act is almost unheard of. It reminds of me of being little, looking really closely at something on the sidewalk or in the garden, and imagining how a tiny person might navigate that terrain. Was I the only nerdy little kid who did this?  

Jon commented on my previous post with a few links on dollhouses and little things, and I found the works of Stéphanie Kilgast to be especially drool-worthy. Seriously, how does she makes these? Each setting is the size of a match, sometimes less. Click the thumbnails below to see how scary-detailed they are.