Let’s go back to 1978, oh yeah…

Toronto of the 1910s. It has been one crazy hundred years. Hey 2011, bring it.

Title credit: Salim Nourallah, 1978

There ain’t no one going to turn me ’round

{See more about it here}
Went to see this killer documentary last night. And like every good documentary I have seen, it starts off with a very directed goal (meet and talk to Winnebago Man), and ends up telling us way more about the writer/director than it does about the subject (why are all these smart, interesting, well-spoken people so obsessed with watching garbage on the internet?). And Dick Cheney bashing. And swears. Lots of swears. it was muthercussin fantastic.

And like all good documentaries, I can relate. Not only do I have my own online go-tos when I’m feeling down (LEEEEEEEKSPIN!! and Morrissey Dance, of course,) I kind of love Winnebagos and have wasted lots of exposures on them. They are as photogenic (to me, yeah yeah) as a 1950s barbershop or greasy spoon diner.

Title credit: Evan Dando covering Big Star’s The Ballad of El Goodo on the Empire Records soundtrack (that is a major confession. But hey, I was born in 1981. Empire Records was kind of a big deal when I was in grade 9. Plus I just listened to the Sound Opinions episode about Guilty Pleasures, and I’m all about online confessions.)

Armed with every previous failure, and amateur cartography

So cool, it hurts:

Still not over my map obsession. Hopefully not ever. Although my Ray Ban fetish is waning. Could be all the plaidsters and jcrewsters wearing them. Ubiquity kills cool. Until then, will rock my almost-yoko shades and hope no one else likes them.

Oh, and if you haven’t started working on it, FESTIVAL OF 24 THINGS: 401 RICHMOND EDITION is due in one week. You can email your final submission to thefestivalof24things@gmail.com

Download submission form here

 or here:

Festival of 24 Things: 401 Richmond Edition - Submission Form 2010

Title credit: The Weakerthans, Aside

‘Cause once you learn the steps, it’s somethin that you’ll never forget

I may have just purchased this:

So I could hear this:

Mostly because of this:

Which was recorded for this album. And listening to it reminds me of this guy:

dancing around the living room of a certain Hamilton Street apartment I used to frequent.

Back to school time makes me miss Rochester a little. Moving to Toronto makes me excited about finding terrible records for 99cents at the Goodwill. Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah yeahyeah!

Title credit: Toronto, Daddy Don’t Know

I used to write, I used to write letters, I used to sign my name.

Saturdays also fit the bill.

See more drool-worthy posters from this week’s design crush Public School

School Supplies – Keep These In Mind Poster Collection.

Title credit: Arcade Fire, We Used to Wait

Oooh child, things are gonna get easier.

12 Things that make me feel better, right now:

1. Chuck Norris Jokes on Soup

2. Wearing my papa’s painting overalls and finishing up a cottage painting blitz for the evening.

3. The Five Stairsteps coming up on my shuffle at exACTly the right moment.

4. Toronto address, phone number and a plan that doesn’t cost 80cents a minute!

5. Festival of 24 Things: 401 Edition!

6. Shooting stars at the end of the dock and the Vaccuum Cleaner constellation. And nighttime sweaters.

7. The Weakerthans at the Red Dog!

8. Staying up late, ’cause that’s what you do when you are wearing the painting overalls (flashback to undergrad painting class, when I stayed up all night painting in my studio, wearing the overalls)

9. Leonard and Joni, back-to-back.

10. Cool haps at my former school alma mater (oooh, someone has a few letters after their name).

11. Finding one more roll of Kodachrome in my messy bedroom.

12. A blog post sounding like it’s going to end with the Mastercard phrase: “Priceless”.

Title credit: The Five Stairsteps, Oooh Child.

And I wonder whether we were the ones who meant nothing to you

Hm. If only the sad bastard songsters I quote had like and dislike buttons out in the real world. Oh wait….

Facebook Like and Dislike Stamps! « Design and Print Blog | Overnight Prints.

And it’s too bad we don’t have some way to express our favourite social networking sites and software around the house… oh WAIT!

Hooray for commerce.

Title Credit: Justin Rutledge, Japanese Rose

No matter how smart you are, how could you know?

Jason Fulford of J&L Books, speaking at Visual Studies Workshop, July 2, 2010

One great effin weekend in Rochester, NY. Lots of stuff to fill my notebook. Jason Fulford was a highlight. Reaffirming my belief that there is more than one way to skin a cat connect a group of photographs. Stay tuned for my full report.

[Visual Studies Workshop Photo Bookworks Symposium. July 1-3, 2010]

Title credit: Rheostatics, Stolen Car

How can somethin’ so old seem so wrong?

A New Subway Map for New York – Interactive Feature – NYTimes.com.

In case anyone was wondering, I really really really like maps. Sometimes I even use them as an excuse to visit cities that I also really really really like. Besides, it has been 12 years, shouldn’t the new NYC subway map get some kind of fanfare and birthday party? Hey New York, are you free in September? I’ll start saving my dobles.

Title credit: The Silver Jews, Trains Across the Sea (Yes, I quote it a lot. that’s what you are supposed to do with one of your all-time top five favourites)

Leave the silver city to all the silver girls

A dated post that has been haunting me from my drafts folder. And I thought I coined the term Photocartographies last May. Damn you, internet!

Great writing and interesting photo+map work, well worth a gander. And if you like cartography as much as this little stuffmaker, check out the new maptastic stuff up at Artspace in Peterborough. It looks AMAZING from the seat of the Greyhound bus. Can’t wait to get a closer look.

Title credit: The National, Conversation 16 (Okay, okay, I’m done with ’em for a bit)