WW165: GLAD DAY, FARGO and THE SKULL SPOON!

Hey all! Here are the 5 things I want you love this week………

1.) Again…..I am not a HUGE bird lover……but these art pieces really make me want to change my mind…….Artist Juan Fontanive's pieces are REMARKABLE!

-4-COLOR SCREEN PRINT ON BRISTOL PAPER, STAINLESS STEEL, MOTOR AND ELECTRONICS. 20 X 21 X 3.7 IN. 2014

Still don't get it??? WATCH THIS and have your mind blown! ;-)

Vivarium from Juan Fontanive on Vimeo.

(if that didn't work - see the AWESOME videos HERE)

COME ON!!!!

(via Colossal)

2.) Fargo! Well…it's everything you might expect……this dark comedy-crime drama series created by Noah Hawley is based on the 1996 film of the same name written and directed by the Coen brothers. And it is Coen brothers worthy re-dux!

This story (just like the movie -- almost 20 years ago) chronicles the stories of "regular people" that spin violently out of control in a frozen small-town in Minnesota! If you like dark humour, subtle menace, and bursts of violence -- then this quirky, slow unravelling show is for you! Need another reason to watch?? How about the cast, which includes Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Colin Hanks, Bob Odenkirk, Kate Walsh, Adam Goldberg, Oliver Platt , Key & Peele, Keith Carradine…etc……

CRAZY GOOD! Here's a clip:

3.) Glad Day Bookstore. Ok folks, this is a great story! In a world where it seems like big conglomerate companies own everything, and books become more like antiques…..the gay community can STILL come together for something good…….and I am GLAD!

Opened in 1970, Glad Day was the Toronto (and Canada's) first bookstore targeted to the gay community….and moved to its current location in 1981. It is NOW the oldest surviving LGBT bookstore in North America.

In 2011 the store went up for sale due to declining revenues but was ultimately rescued by a collective of 22 community members! Under its current ownership, the store is revitalizing its role as a cultural hub, with an event space to host author readings, performances and community group meetings! My first visit to Glad Day was in 1994 (the year I moved to Toronto) and I was overwhelmed by the 3000+ titles!! It was a very important part of my induction to the Toronto gay 'scene'…..and it is still vital to our community!!!

You can find their online store at Glad-day-bookshop.myshopify.com
Let's support them!!!!!!!!

4.) I LOVE THIS! The Sugar Skull Spoon………yes…….I want a whole set of them! (Don't you Deb? ;-)

Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign last year, UK design studio Hundred Million has now brought the Sugar Skull Spoon to YOU….(or maybe ME???)

These special stainless steel teaspoons are also available to purchase at The Foodiggity Shop!

5.) This. Jimmy. Emma. NOW!

(for those of you who can't watch this….GO HERE!)

WHAT'S MY STORY…….ANOTHER FUN VALUE VILLAGE TRIP…….

Good Monday!
I keep getting the same reaction on my blog recently…..
"Rob…when are you going back to the VV Boutique? When?? WHEN??"
Well……today's your lucky day!!!
Please enjoy this post of Value Village treasures……here we go:

I really want my tombstone to say
"….was blended to mix graciously with social gatherings"

UNTRIVIA??
For UNsmart people?? 

This is actually just a kit to dye and blow out your comb-over.
Sorry…..nasty self-important attitude not included. 

No Frills Cashier: So your total today is $78.85, will that be debit or credit?
Rob: Neither. I'd like to pay with a cheque. Will you accept a shoulder rub today?

OK…..so my favourite V.V. game is "What's my story".
WHAT'S
MY
STOOOORRRRY
The rules of W.M.S. are simple. I like to figure out what kind of person donated the object I am looking at, and what circumstances lead to that decision……sometimes I like to imagine the conversation that said person has about the object in question……..sounds easy and fun?
Let's play…..

Who bought this and had it on their wall? I get it…..it is a real issue…..BUT this framed poster was HUGE!
And then WHY DID THEY GIVE IT AWAY? Were they themselves purchased by Walmart??????

Ok….my guess……I think the lady in the photo is actually a model and this is the centrepiece of her portfolio!

Did you think up another answer for WMS? A better one???
I'd LOVE to hear it!!!

Nope. Still look like vermin to me! 

"Juggling for Beginners"…..also known as….
"Bring Shame to your Family" or
"Loneliness for the Coordinated"

 Ok…..let's play another game of 'what's my story'….

"In January '06 I thought I would always love Ricky. But in subsequent years he started making
photo frames from painted human bones.  I eventually decided that we could never be close again.
I guess looking back, I could see murder in his eyes…."

 Oh dear….that was a titchy-bit dark…..sorry…..moving on…...

I put this album on as soon as I got home.
First, I set my hair and put on my pink lipstick, put on my best
dangly earrings, then I poured some pink champagne, got naked and danced, danced, danced.

What is this?? I really do NOT get it?
It's a cat….in a bowl that also has cat feet…..
Please….someone explain it to me!!!
…...and speaking of creepy ceramic knick knacks…….

…..there are these….

 Ok…..round 3……."what's my story"……

I want to believe something positive about this.

I am inclined to think that the person either just could NOT relax long enough to pose in a
rocking chair by the beach…...….or died the day after he got this retirement gift…isn't it ironic…don't you think?

I bought this for my Mother…….
She laughed and laughed……until she realized I was serious…
and then I asked her to look after my kid for the weekend!
Is THAT the story here????????

If you are going out specifically looking for matching anthropomorphic corn mugs…
you are in luck! I found them! Finally the right vessel to drink your made-in-the-bathtub-corn-liquor from!

IS this a get you give someone?
Or is it something you buy for yourself???

The books monster THEME-bundled here are:
1) "Horns and all"
2) "The big book of Monsters"
3) "Creepy crawlers"
and
4) "Rebekah at the well: a golden bible book"
Just sayin'…..monsters come in all shapes and sizes! ;-)

Don't have a smart phone? Then this is for you…..
Finally….a pocket abacus…..for all your counting on the go!

LADY DARTS????
REALLY??????????????
What man thought this one up???

This seems like weird merchandising.
School bus…….a recorder….a xylophone…..and a self massager!??
Am I the only one creeped out by this?????

"BILLY……....help me pump up Uranus."

SORRY - Couldn't be helped!

The "Fancy Men of the 1800's" triptych that I have been looking all over for! 

Sodom Steamworks is the perfect gift for any pre-pubescent homosexual!
OH SORRY….SodoR……..nevermind!!! 

The old Bananas belt buckle….handed down from one generation to the next…..
yes….it was so precious - i had to have them open the case for me to try it on!!!!!

Or maybe this Mens belt……or this 'Fancy Men's belt!

Kids hobbies are weird.
Puzzle, racetrack……coin sorter???
I guess accountants get their calling early?

AGAIN………strange……dolly, pig chef game, or garden edging??

I tried everything to help my appearance!
I tried the hot rollers, I tried the tiera,  I tried the flatiron…..
and eventually I just settled for gift bag over my head!
Thanks for the personal care aisle V.V.!

So there you go!
Another great trip to the Value Village!
Hope you enjoyed my trip!

NEW WORK! THE DISTILLERY, TORONTO

I know…I know….you have been waiting for SO LONG….just to see something NEW from me….
Well……...guess what friends……TODAY is that day.
(HUZZAH!!!)

"That's the Spirit", Acrylic on Canvas, 24" x 30".

Do you want to know more about this??

Pretty self explanatory……….This is of the Distillery…..in Toronto.

The Distillery District is a historic and entertainment precinct located east of Downtown Toronto. It contains numerous cafés, restaurants, and shops housed within heritage buildings of the former Gooderham and Worts Distillery. The 13 acres (53,000 m2) district comprises more than 40 heritage buildings and 10 streets, and is the largest collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America.

I kept this one nice and simple!

(and it was a request from MANY shows last year!)

I will be making prints of this in the next month!!

Stay tuned for that!

NOW ----- HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

WW164: ASPHYXIA, KATHARINE MORLING and BULLETS OVER BROADWAY!!

Welcome again to Wonderful Wednesday!!!!!
Here are the 5 things I LOVE this week…….

1.) Ok….so tonight is FAT (Fashion Art Toronto) which is kinda like The Artist Project for fashion designers….I have gone to this event for the last 3 years. Each year I am really impressed with the runway that I get to see!!! The main reason I go is because of this…..

Asphyxia (www.asphyxiadesigns.com) is Alexandra De Francesco, a fashion designer and textile artist. A graduate of OCAD, De Francesco creates spectacular wearable art couture, which also incorporates her flair for floral design. Asphyxia’s work has been called “bad-ass femininity,” “dark and daring,” “pin-up dominatrix chic,” “punk goth power” and “bordello in hell.” Her most recent collection, BLUSH & ALABASTER, was presented at |FAT| 2013.

Alex has a real sense of theatricality and I love it!!!

TONIGHT…….is her night!!!! GET TICKETS HERE!

This year her collection is called "Beautiful and Damned" and I can hardly wait to see it tonight!

(which is also the name of my auto-biography ;-)

BEAUTIFUL & DAMNED spotlights scarlet sirens, dazzling dames and hedonistic headdresses, highlighting 1920s influences in a tribute to the frantic pace of progress and its price, and featuring new heights of glamour and grit combined. Intricate salvaged beadwork dances, exotic live flowers and plumage abound and silks slink in deep emerald and ruby jewel tones set alight by metallic gold and silver and anchored by deepest midnight black. It’s a celebration of the era in which fashion and women’s roles roared into modern times with dramatic implications, taking its inspiration from exotic travel, vice and excess, new technology and industrialization.
Oh…here is last year's collection:

Check out her work on her site!!

2.) I am not usually drawn to ceramics…but this work by Katharine Morling is INCREDIBLE:
     (click on them to make them bigger)

See more on her site!!!

3.) This last Easter…..sister Patty made this delicious desert….that I think could be renovated for ANY occasion……

Mini Egg Cone-olis

1 cup light ricotta cheese
1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temp
1/4 cup confectioners sugar, with some for dusting.
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 -2/3 cup crushed mini eggs
5 sugar cones

INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Place the ricotta in a sieve over a bowl and let drain in the fridge for at least a half an hour.
2) In a large bowl or mixer bowl, beat together cream cheese, ricotta, sugar and vanilla.
3) Fold in 1/2 cup of crushed mini eggs
4) Cover the mixture and place it in the fridge to thicken, min of an hour.
5) Place the mixture in a piping bag with a large circle tip and pipe into the sugar cones.
6) Decorate with more mini eggs and dust with confectioners sugar

Only fill the cones about 3-4 hours before you are going to eat them as they will softened
Thanks to Pinterest….more specifically sweet twist of blogging
(and my sister for making them!!! :-)

4.) Ok….so this is for my musical lovers out there….I know there is at least ONE! I LOVE a good musical comedy….and I look forward to seeing "Bullets over Broadway"! I am NOT a Woody Allen fan…..but this is my favourite movie of his…….and it does make perfect sense as a musical…

In 1928, David Shayne is an idealistic young playwright newly arrived on Broadway. In order to gain financing for his play, God of Our Fathers, he agrees to hire Olive Neal, the actress/girlfriend of a gangster. She is demanding and talentless, but her gangster escort Cheech turns out to be a genius, who constantly comes up with excellent ideas for revising the play. As the players prepare for opening night, Shayne is soon in over his head claiming Cheech's rewrites as his own, cheating on his partner Ellen with the show's seductive, alcoholic leading lady Helen Sinclair, and facing his leading man, a compulsive eater, beginning an affair with Olive.

Fun….no???
Now…I want to see it because I LOVED Dianne Wiest in the movie……and the fact that she is being played by Marin Mazzie sure helps sell it to me!!! Also Zach Braff is in it! ALSO I am a super fan of Susan Stroman  - she is AH-MAH-ZING at bringing life to musical comedy!!!
Here's a clip:

Okay…..so let's go to New York!!!!

5.) Ok…..to end…..I couldn't decide what I thought was better…….so I give you this guy……

or…..Brian Williams - white rapper……

A PREVIEW….AND MY NEW SUMMER EXHIBITION SCHEDULE!

Ok…so I am not ready to show you any finished new paintings - but rest assured I have a BUNCH of new stuff on the drawing board! I working on new TORONTO paintings of the Sunnyside Beach Pavilion and here is a little preview of my easel RIGHT NOW…..

It is gonna be for The Distillery!!!
I will have more to show by the end of the week - I PROMISE…...I am also working on more prints and such……..until then…...

I will share with you my schedule (as I know it today) and I hope to see you out this summer!!!

MAY - TBA - still waiting to find out about 3 possible shows…..I hope to know soon! ;-)

JUNE - Print exhibition, First Unitarian Church, June 1st-22nd
           - World Pride show (TBA)

JULY - Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. BRAND new artwork for the "big daddy" of outdoor art festivals. Come out on this - probably SUPER HOT - fantastic weekend of fine art. I am not allowed to show my prints and reproductions at this show, so come to this to see my new mixed media paintings!

AUGUST - TBA

SEPTEMBER - Cabbagetown Arts and Crafts Festival, September 5-7th!

Ok…so that is it for today. I  hopes you are having a restful Easter Monday!
:-)

WW163: RUNPEE, SEPH LAWLESS, and THE GOLDEN FRIENDS

Hey y'all…..here are the 5 things I LOVE this week!

1.) Broad City. Agasin……I am TOTALLY late to this party….

Broad City follows two women throughout their daily lives in New York City, making the smallest and mundane events hysterical and disturbing to watch all at the same time…..or at least that is how IMDB describes it. Personally - I agree - it is great! Originally a web series, the series was created by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, who also star as the series leads from 2009 to 2011. Oh…and one of the producers is Amy Poehler! 

Here is a clip….but beware - it is a bit not child friendly!!!!

Catch up by watching it on demand - or on MUCH!

2.) You know I just love creeeepy spaces……..so I just love these cool photographs by Seph Lawless. These are super neato deserted abandoned shopping malls across the United States! "Black Friday-The Collapse of the American Shopping Mall" is the book that documents the demise of the Rolling Acres and and Randall Park Mall in Ohio, both built in the the mid-1970s and abandoned in 2008 and 2009.

According to Brandt: “The goal was to show the world a different side of America. A vulnerable side. I think an abandoned mall is symbolic of the economic decline of America and is a true indication of what happens when cities like Cleveland suffers massive population loss due to loss of manufacturing jobs.”

Find out more about the book here.
via [Laughing Squid]

3.) Ok…now I am not sure if this is ridiculous - or BRILLIANT……but this app called RunPee is worth checking out if you have a small bladder (husband - I am talking to you). Yes…..it is only 99cents…….and is available for the iPhone, Android and Windows phones…..let me show you how it works…..RunPee determines the best "Pee Times," 3-4 minute windows during which nothing crucial, extra funny or visually fantastic is occurring, for a large database of commercially produced films.

You start a timer at the beginning of the movie and your phone will vibrate (no bothering fellow movie-goers) a few minutes before each Pee Time so you can just sit back, relax and enjoy the movie.

It offers "suggested Peetimes" - Not all peetimes are the same. Some are better than others. The apps have a short message before the peetimes informing you which one we would recommend using and which ones might be for emergency use only.

There's even a synopsis of what you might miss during a particular Pee Time (you can read that on the toilet): 

 What do you think????
Awesome…..right?
Oh…you can access the information on the website RunPee for free. The movie list on the free website only goes back 3 months but the mobile app let you view every movie in the database - covering nearly ever wide release movie since Summer of 2009.
RunPee
(via If it's Hip it's Here )

4.) I MUST TRY THIS…..or YOU can try it an invite me for cocktails and Crudité…….Thanks to Emma at theKitchn

 Here's what you need…..

Now go to http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-creamy-asparagus-crostini-with-prosciutto-recipes to see the steps! (the last step is to call me and invite me over to eat it with you!!!! ;-)

5.) This I saw on Facebook…..I have watched it OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Honestly it made me laugh like a crazy person……...it combines 2 things that are near and dear to my heart. The Golden Girls TV show and the Justice League. Please enjoy this….or enjoy it again……