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……

WW145:THE HIRSCHFELD SPECTACULAR, PEE-WEE and LES MIS!

5 things that I am enjoying this week……..i hope you love these too!!! Sorry Michelle- a lot of this is VIDEO this week!!!

1.) I really enjoyed this. Yes. it is old…but I still love this!! In response to Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries not wanting "not so cool" kids or fat women to wear his company's clothes, Greg Karber has come up with a funny way to readjust the brand……….

Funny. And BRILLIANTLY SMART!!!!!

2.) Hälssen & lyon has created FANTASITC gift idea!!!!!! So they created ‘the tea calendar’. Yes…..a calendar MADE OF TEA!!!

Each of the 365 days in the year are represented by a unique flavor and should be torn from the booklet style folio one at time and dropped into hot water, where the small, dated piece dissolves and brews into a drinkable beverage.

The singular layers were compacted into 1mm thin sheets and configured into printed pages. for now, the annual calendar has been developed as limited special editions for the company’s business partners.

COME ON!!!! I love this idea!!!!!!
(thanks Design Boom for this one!)

3.) Are you a fan of 80's cult have Pee-wee Herman? Or have a super fan in your family??? I think you need one of these:

The Official Pee-wee Herman Fun Book is an “old school” interactive, wild ride through Pee-wee’s life, featuring a pop-up Playhouse, Pee-wee rub-on tattoos designed by Chris Carver (Miami Ink), Pee-wee-inspired art postcards, an official Pee-wee spinner game, Pee-wee “Colorforms,” lots of cool stickers and a very cool Magic Screen (think 1960’s Magic Slate) with a pen that you can actually draw with and lift up the acetate to erase. Absolutely chocked-filled with color and pictures, this First Edition, limited run is a MUST have collectable for every Pee-wee fan.

or how about Pee-wee's Balls:

OR THIS T-SHIRT(hint hint Santa-- Robbie Like-y)!!!!

 So…go to his store…and buy a t-shirt for your  something for a friend Rob.

http://peewee.kungfustore.com/products/2705-funbook-pwh26
(VIA Pee-wee on Facebook!)

4.) This is ANOTHER reason I NEEEEEEED to go to NYC right now! I want to see Woody Allen, Carol Channing, Whoopi Goldberg, Jerry Stiller, Sarah Jessica Parker with Matthew Broderick, Liza Minnelli, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Bernadette Peters are appearing as three-dimensional Al Hirschfeld drawings enjoying a festive dinner party in the New York Flagship Henri Bendel store window this holiday (Henri Bendel, 712 Fifth Avenue at 56th Street)!

The "Hirschfeld Spectacular" is a tribute to the late illustrator who is considered by many to be the greatest line artist of the modern era. In addition to the sculptures created from Hirschfeld drawings for the window scene, Al Hirschfeld’s original line art is featured throughout Henri Bendel, including a two-story-high presentation of illustrations.

For more than 75 years Hirschfeld drew luminaries from Broadway and Hollywood for “The New York Times” and almost every other notable publication. Full of wit and verve, in distinctively bold and often intricate lines, Hirschfeld captured the greats with his pen. Actors, singers, dancers, producers, directors, and playwrights, classical musicians and rock bands-from the 1920’s on, being “Hirschfelded” signified that you had arrived. Famously, Hirschfeld drew while seated in a barber’s chair in his New York City studio. Hirschfeld continued to work daily until his death in 2003.

Henri Bendel has worked hand-in-hand with Hirschfeld’s exclusive gallery, the Margo Feiden Galleries Ltd., New York, to create a truly unique presentation of the late illustrator’s work for their holiday windows. The displays in the window and throughout the store were hand sculpted by Tom Carroll Scenery, with the art direction and assistance of Henri Bendel Assistant VP of Visual, Gilberto Santana.

above: The HIRSCHFELD SPECTACULAR! Poster (Size: 37"h x 28"w) is available for purchase. Until January 2, 2014! 
LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5.) Finally…..I was at a Musical Theatre themed party last week. I was surprised how much everyone at the party LOVED Les Misèrables. LOVED. I was a little 'meh' about it……..but for those people who are cray cray for LM…...I give you THESE…I LOVED these!!! Enjoy!!!!!

WW133: OOBJECT, THE GREAT LEGO PHONE and BUTTERCUP CHICKENBROTH

Hey folks! Let's gedder dunn! Here are the 5 things that I want you to LOOOOOOVE this week!!!!

1.) OH MY GAWD. I soooooooo need this:

LEGO has collaborated with belkin to introduce the ' builder case', a fully customizable iPhone 5 accessory that can be personalized with LEGO bricks. designed with a co-molded hard plastic back for scratch-resistance and a semi-flexible outer frame for shock-absorption, the easy-to-grip case also protects the buttons on the sides while keeping the ports and speakers fully exposed. the 'builder case' can now be purchased at belkin's online shop for $39.99!!!!!!!!

COME ON!!!!!!
This is a super great time waster for adults!

(thanks Design Boom)

2.) This is creepy...and cool! it makes me want to go to these places to see these houses! Ben Marcin's "Last House Standing" is a photo project documenting the forgotten solo row houses scattered around Baltimore, Philly and New Jersey. Standing alone, in some of the worst neighborhoods, these nineteenth century structures were once attached to similar row houses that made up entire city blocks. Time and major demographic changes have resulted in the decay and demolition of many such blocks of row houses.

"My interest in these solitary buildings is not only in their ghostly beauty but in their odd placement in the urban landscape. Often three stories high, they were clearly not designed to stand alone like this. Many details that might not be noticed in a homogenous row of twenty attached row houses become apparent when everything else has been torn down."

Very cool!!!

Check out more from Ben HERE.

(via www.featureshoot.com)

3.) Ok....so thanks to DEB, I am wasting a LOT of time on:

Thats's OOBJECT. It has daily lists of stuff. Weird and wonderful stuff. I encourage you to go and waste some time there!!! The firest thing I enjoyed was a grouping of 12 unusual cameras, posted by David Galbraith

Isn't that enough to make you want to waste your time here?????
GO!!
(not yet - finish my post - THEN go)

4.) ok.....now I am not sure about this one yet.....but I wanted to share......ROCKY: The Musical. Yup. You heard me!!!

Here is what the creaters are promoting:

In 1976, an unknown actor wrote and starred in an independent movie about a struggling but indomitable Philadelphia boxer who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to go the distance.

An underdog story both on-screen and off, Sylvester Stallone'sRocky went on to win the Academy Award® for Best Picture and touch the hearts of millions. Now, that iconic film has inspired an innovative new stage production, brought to extraordinary life by afive-time Tony Award®-winning creative team, including director Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher), book writerThomas Meehan (The Producers) and songwriting team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime).

What they've done with Rocky pushes the limits of the ordinary theatrical experience, bringing the audience into the heat of the action. Both an adrenaline-infused spectacle and a surprising tale of blossoming romance between two lonely outsiders, Rocky is a visceral and heart-stopping new production for everyone brave enough to follow their dream.

I have to admit, I am curious.....I generally enjoy Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's musicals.....still.....this isn't an endorsement......just a bit of curiosity!!!!

5.) Ok....you LOVE the TV series "Sherlock"....and you loved him in "Star Trek 2".......and now you are gonna love the Benedict Cumberbatch Name Generator........very amusing!

WW131: LINDI ORTEGA, BROSMIND, AND BETTER BOOK TITLES!

Welcome!
Let's get to it.....five glorious things that I DON't want you to miss!!!!!

1.) I know what you are thinking.....Rob, I do not waste enough of my time on the world wide interwebs.....can you show me something that will help spend time getting absolutely nothing accomplished? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!! I give you Tonematrix:

Useless? YES!
A solid waste of time....CHECK!
Enjoy this. (Thanks Deb)

2.) I heard this from a Facebook friend......and cannot stop playing it. LOVE her voice!

Now is the time to make a confession........it has taken me a long time to admit this.....
I love country music. That's right folks, I am coming out of the country closet!
As a country music fan, I am happy to share with you this Toronto grown gem of a singer.....
Lindi Ortega. here is a little wiki-bio:

Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. Now living in Tennessee, her voice has been described as a blend of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, and Emmylou Harris. She spent nearly a decade as an independent artist in the Toronto music scene, releasing two albums and an EP in that time. She has been described as "Toronto's best kept secret" and nicknamed "Indie Lindi". Ortega toured extensively as a backup singer for Brandon Flowers, the lead singer of The Killers. She has been nominated for two Juno Awards. She also has a brand new album coming out in October!

Here are a couple songs:

Now...go to her website - or iTunes and get a little country in your life!!!

3.) Thanks to Cindy....and a bit of research (aka time wasting) I found this website.....Better Book Titles, once you see the names of these books....you will NEVER see the old names again without thinking....oh ya......that WAS a better title!! Please enjoy this SMALL snippet......

Check out more HERE!
YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!!!


4.) This is weird...but WONDERFUL......

It's a unicorn covered in cute food!! The work of Spanish artists {and brothers} Juan and Alejandro Mingarro, aka Brosmind. Their Barcelona based studio is the hub for their very successful illustration company. Their wacky personal projects are the real treat though.

I also love the Brosmind WAGON. "a hilarious car covered with beanbags and powered by pedals. It was created for the collective exhibition ON! Handcrafted Digital Playgrounds, taking place at the Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati, Ohio (March-September 2013). 

All the visitors attending the exhibition are invited to drive it in order to tour the exhibition from a funny point of view. Technical support by Isaac Salom. Pillows manufactured by Woouf.

5.) Ridiculous. There. That's all I can say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy8FjcmDgck&feature=youtube
(thanks Warren)