Iconart.ca Contemporary Art Prints

2011-08-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

Macbook 2.1 Ghz, Intel 2 Duo ---> OSX Lion. Should you?

The answer is no and here's why.

First of you must have OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.7 to go to OSX Lion.

Next, you will need a minimum of 2 Gigs of RAM for the App Store to allow you to down it. If you are upping from two 512 Megs RAM Modules that will probably cost you about $40 - $50.00. It's easy to put in and there are tons of videos on YouTube to show you how. If you are upping RAM you will instantly notice the speed increase without OSX Lion and you may want to note how good your MacBook runs and leave it there. If you are intrigued, the download of OSX Lion (10.7) will cost you $29.99. Not bad but ...

Here's what you will NOT be getting.

Most of the cool and tempting multi-touch trackpad gestures that make Lion so attractive. The multi-finger swipes/commands, zoom pinches and twirls will NOT work with the MacBook touchpad. You could set up a new Apple Magic TouchPad but what's the point? Two trackpads and a lot of money are just not worth it.

Once you down Lion you will notice how many PowerPC applications will not work. There is no fix for this as they are no longer supported. That means earlier versions of big applications like Photoshop, Dreamweaver etc. are no longer functional.

AirDrop, to me, the best features to OSX Lion will not be loaded. The ability to drag and drop to share to anyone wirelessly just won't work on the MacBook via airDrop and that's a real shame.

LaunchPad is cool-ish. If you have an Iphone or Ipad you will be used to the ability to scroll through your Apps using the IOS sideways wiping method but so what? If your MacBook had a touch screen then that would make sense. If you own an Iphone/Ipad but are moving from a PC to Mac then this would make you feel secure but why would anyone think this is a great feature if you already use the Dock. It's just as easy, if not more accessable now that you cannot finger scroll up to launch the LaunchPad.

The cool feature of holding down a letter on he keyboard for options a la iPhone won't work either. As far as I can see neither does AutoSave (sheesh) and thusly Versions are nowhere to be seen in most apps if at all on a MacBook.

Mission Control? If you use Dashboard or want to organize a lot of desktops then sure but it's not the best way to a big enough draw.

Expect your MacBook to be running red hot, like 50º and up. Your fan will be working over time but I find this is usually if the Finder window is open. Once shut it cools down a lot.

If you do buy it and don't like it enough, good luck downgrading back to Snow Leopard (unless you partitioned) unless you wish to do a clean install, inwhich you wasted $29.99

2010-01-13T22:14:00.000-08:00

Presso Part II

I love the Presso!

Well, now I have had the Presso Espresso maker for a while I can write a good review. (This will be a continuation of Part I.)

When my Presso arrived it was missing the basket for the portafilter so I fired off an email asking for the correct part. I have to say I am impressed by the Presso support! I received an email promptly and a new portafilter was put into the mail by Presso Canada. It arrived in around a week and I was making lattes quickly.

The only complaint, and it's minor, is that if you are serious about this machine, after using it for a month or so, you will want to buy a 49mm tamper. They can be found rather inexpensively. The spoon/tamper supplied with the Presso is really adequate but the perfectionist in me says buy a good tamper. The other thing, and this is really not a problem, is that when you pour hot water into the water reservoir, it steams up the heavy plastic making it hard to see the actual fill line. This will become, very quickly, a non-issue with use.

The machine itself is strong. The minimal design is pure and does what it should. It does exactly what it is supposed to do and easily.

Here's some tips:

- Buy espresso ground coffee or grind it yourself. The grind quality matters.

- After the water descends into the portafilter, let enough time go by to allow the water to soak/penetrate the coffee. Longer than recommended.

- Make sure your tamp is level, polished smooth and has no cracks. Lightly, not strongly, tap the portafilter before polishing to prevent cracking the surface!

- Draw the coffee through the Presso pushing down the arms ideally in one 25 second motion. It won't take long for you to learn the perfect pulling speed.

That's about it. If everything is done perfectly you should end up with a great espresso pull and a cake like this!

If you are looking for a beautiful, no electricity machine, and believe good espresso is an art, buy the Presso. I vouch for it.

2009-11-01T22:59:00.000-08:00

Presso. Never heard of it?

Or are you like me, shopping for an espresso machine for months and then coming across this little shiny beast? Or are you putting in some research as to whether the Presso Espresso maker is worth spending your money on?

I first saw one of these in a copy of Western Living's "Condo" magazine. Not a big ad or article but a small photo. Right away, I was attracted to it's design. It's certain old school European flavour is exactly what good design is supposed to be. It's simple with few moving parts doing only what is necessary to be done. It's strong and durable looking. It's environmentally appealing as it uses no electricity. But can this cycloptic metal octopus make good espresso? Well, lets see.

I ordered mine within Canada from Presso.ca without any payment or ordering problems with the site. It arrived from Ontario to BC in a little over a week in good condition via regular parcel mail. Pretty exciting!

This photo shows the packaging and is yet unpacked. The ruler is a standard 12 inch ruler for scale.

The box itself is sturdy enough to ship without any crushing or damage.

This is how the machine and it's contents are packed.

Here are the contents. The Presso. Portafilter. A milk frother. A spoon / tamper. A manual. Two cup splitter attachment. Single espresso dose attachment.

Okay first impressions.

The spoon/tamper is not a thin plastic as I thought I would get. I was sure I would end up with a bending, picnic fork feel to it but it's a hard and very thick, strong plastic. It would take some strength and effort to break it's design ... The manual is minimal but this machine is pretty intuitive and there are good instructional info and videos out there anyway. Non-issue ... The milk frother probably works but the whole look and operation is way to phallic for me. I bought a battery operated frother from Ikea for $3.99 ... It looks like it should be screwed down but it is very stable ... The portafilter is heavy and strong and not as flimsy and cheap as I have seen on other machines far more expensive than this. A good description is solid. But wait a second! It's missing something. =(

The portafilter is missing a basket so it looks like my first use of the Presso will be with it's customer service. I sent off an email on late Friday night and had a response on Sunday. So a bad thing is actually a good thing for me to know there is good support from Presso, So a new portafilter is on it's way!

No lattes for me until Part II ... Later.

2009-10-17T01:05:00.000-07:00

Click here to go to iconart.ca

2009-10-12T00:33:00.000-07:00

Shepard Fairey / Obey Giant, Dave Kinsey, KAWS, and Dan McCarthy prints are about to be put up on the site soon . Keep checking ...

European Invasion Z-Trip

KAWS Chum Keychains

Dan McCarthy 1 of 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Dave Kinsey Warborne Blvd

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2009-08-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I've uploaded four or five prints onto Ebay to move out some stock so please give these a quick look if you are interested.

TAKASHI MURAKAMI WINK POSTER

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2009-06-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

Faile Mermaid Print just went up for sale.

If you ask Faile, they'll say it's "Marmaid" but either way it just hit the site and at a way better price than their last $2300.00 print drop. A huge print too!

OFFERS WEEK!!

I want to move some stock so if there are some prints you have been eyeing up on the site, now is your chance to throw out an offer to me. There's still a Murakami up, an Obey Giant, Ian Francis and a lot of other pieces. ------> Consider it a sale!!!!

ENDS JUNE 28TH!!

Click the icon below.

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2009-05-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

Although well collected, not a lot of people outside the music industry know the name of Carylann Loeppky. If you are aware of the CD covers of Delerium or admired the print work for Avril Lavigne and Sarah Mclaughlin for Nettwerk Records, then you've actually seen Loeppke's work before. Carylann has amassed a great grouping of portraits for sale here. Stop on by, have a look, and keep in mind that these are originals. Take home a glazed oil painting for the price of a print!

2009-04-09T12:25:00.001-07:00

Shepard Fairey Obey Giant Israel/Palestine was added to the gallery list lately.

The fight to get into Shep's site was a killer yet again. At some point I think everyone is going to end up burning out his servers. The new release is scheduled to drop at a "random" time so maybe that will spread the load on the site.

Another addition I've added is the KAWS Warm Regards bar in brown. Grab anything KAWS, as his work just keeps getting harder to get and raises in value. His recent one-man show had line-ups for blocks with many people waiting for over 2 hours and not even getting into the gallery. I guess once you're in, nobody wants to leave.

Both pieces available by clicking the logo below....

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2009-03-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let you know I posted a Dalek (James Marshall) print.

Dalek's another noted graffiti artist off the streets and into the galleries. Best known for his "Space Monkey" character (seen in this print,) he has many books, prints, paintings and toys to his name. He even painted a car for Scion. < http://www.scion.com/installation3/dalek.html >

Dalek really came into view though in 2001, when he became the assistant to Takashi Murakami.

The print is entitled GreenHeads and is from a sold out print run of 150 pieces.

Click the iconart.ca logo for the link.

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2009-03-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

A new print from Aya Takano (タカノ綾) associated with Takashi Murakami's superflat collective, Kaikai Kiki. The title of the print is "Little Stars of a City Child." It is from an edition of 300 and is professionally framed.

Here's a quick video (Spanish) of Takano's work and also a view of her animation at the end of the video.

To see the print and frame, click the logo to go to the gallery!

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2009-02-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! Some Kaws prints (straight from Japan and not fake Ebays), a Dave Kinsey, a Tara McPherson (signed of course) and soon an Aya Takano. Whew, just a quick heads up for those who want to know!

Kaws Undercover, 1999 ( More available )

Dave Kinsey, Axiom

Tara McPherson / BLK/MRKT

Aya Takano ( Coming Soon )

Get them from the site ....

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2009-02-02T22:57:00.001-08:00

Krink Mailbox and Daniel Danger Nades!

Well, yet again the art world has taken a step into the vinyl toy world. This time another couple of cool artists. First of is Craig Costello, better known as KR and even better known for KRink, that is his graffiti inks. If you ever see a tag fully dripping in ink it's all accepted because of KRINK's first metallic silver ink. It's hard to create new styles of graffiti and Costello's drippings both are original and broaden the form. KRINK'S well known NYC Mailboxes were put into a vinl toy, limited to 500 pieces worldwide and quicker than ever, sold out.

If you really want to educate yourself on KR, you can not get a better video than here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrkwjNfIqas

Also, up on the site right now is concert poster artist, Daniel Danger's Nade toys. Long time in the waiting, and playing off Danger's common themes of ghosts, trees, figures, his Nade figures are finally out! Well, sold out that is.

Get them from the site ....

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2009-01-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

New! Yoskay Yamamoto Koibito in gold. Half koi, half boy, all cool, all sold out.

Well plenty of nothing going on but lots behind the scenes. I will be posting some new stuff sooner or later as it shows up. Man, was it ever hard to find this Yoskay piece. I guess, even with all the variations, these limited toys just flew off the shelves the second they showed up. I managed to grab one of these and it's in mint perfect condition ( little sad to let it go but maybe I will end up keeping it! We'll see. )
Yoskay Yamamoto continues to be in great demand as an up and comer to keep an eye out for. Getting lots of well deserved press and shows as he blends together American pop and Japanese influences.
Anyway, enjoy! More coming soon...

To buy Koibito, click the image.

2008-12-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

You know, for as much as people hate punk rock of any kind, is there anyone left who doesn't recognize the Sex Pistols album, "Never Mind The Bullocks, Here's the Sex Pistols." Jamie Reid was the artist who created the cover and a lot of other Pistol's artwork including pissing everyone off with his God Save the Queen posters.

Reid originally went to art school with Malcolm McLaren, who later went into the fashion field with Vivienne Westwood, while Reid founded his own radical, anarchist paper, Suburban Press. Later, McLaren recruited Reid to do work for the Sex Pistols. Subverting corporate logos, the Union Jack, and the Queen of England, Reid shocked his ransom noted, swastika'd, safety pinned, way into DIY revolutionary fame.

Now 30 years after the whole punk movement, Jamie Reid has now become recognized as an important pop culture artist releasing versions of his old punk work and his own more spiritual pieces.

Check out what I have available from Jamie Reid here.

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2008-12-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

There are still some unopened boxes left on my site (link iconart.ca image)

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2008-11-25T00:13:00.000-08:00

The Takashi Murakami Superflat toy figures (the sold out Japanese Convenience Store Edition) are now available. Only 8 boxes!

Find them by clicking here!

A new Takashi Murakami addition to my site just went up. If you are looking for one of the rare Murakami placemats from the Brooklyn Louis Vuitton VIP party, I now have one up for sale. It's on my Takashi Murakami page now (link above.)

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2008-11-19T22:46:00.000-08:00

Obey Giant's Los Muertos. Ai Yamaguchi's Kago no Hana and soon Takashi Murakami Convenience store edition figures. Whew! It's been a busy week.

Obey Giant collaboration with Ernesto Yerena produced yet another quick art print sell out. This one is really close in nature to Shepard Fairey's Peace Fingers in style.

Also just up is Ai Yamaguchi, who combines contemporary anime style with traditional Japanese Edo period paintings and prints. Very well collected in Japan and America based upon being Takashi Murakami's assistant at KaiKai Kiki. Yamaguchi progressed out on her own and has had many successful shows now in the USA.

So click here to have a look at the Ai Yamaguchi.

Pretty soon I will also be putting up some rare Murakami Superflat figures. These will be from the convenience store edition that sold out very quickly in Japan.

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2008-11-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

Nobuyoshi Araki (Araki, Nobuyoshi) has to be one of the most productive and important post-war Japanese artists and certainly one of the most famous photographers in the world. I have to say that for all the people who face frontal nudity as smutty pornography. The real news is that this is photography of love, sex, death, and you, my friend, are a voyeur.

I think I like Araki because I tend to be drawn to people who have a rebellious nature. All our heroes are rebellious, controversial, brave enough to buck the norm, which we admire. For an alleged pornographer, his book Winter Journey, (which is one of hundreds of his published books, Taschen's Araki sold at $4000.00 each) which details photographs of his dying long time wife, is incredibly honest and a devoted work. Check out his photographs of Minori Miyata, to understand his connection to the subject. Even with his erotic, often sexually bound (and traditionally bound) Japanese housewives, the viewer is confronted with an intimacy. And Araki isn't apologetic about it. It is a strange difference between North American view of "bondage " and the Japanese view of "Kinbaku." Each photo represents Araki's viewpoint of only being able to tie up physical parts, and not hearts. Araki sees this more as an "embrace." Even Bjork loves him (look at the album Telegram) and that's after he described her as "half virgin, half old bag." If you wish to see Araki is his full blown craziness, rent the documentary "Arakimentari."

It's an achievement to get Araki's polaroids outside of Japan and now (2008) that Polaroid has officially stopped all manufacture of it's instant film, and depleting all stock by early 2009, I'm pretty happy about having these in my collection and to be able to offer them. They can be seen here.

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2008-10-08T23:40:00.000-07:00

Man, the UK artist Ian Francis knows how to title a painting.

The full title of this print is " Paris Hilton: Alas My Love! For We Are Separated By A Dark River! Paris Hilton’s Lover: If I Were You, I’d Probably Do The Same Things You Do. " I think I'm really attracted to just how intricate his work is. Basically his entire style is based upon contemporary experiences.He says that his style is really influenced by another illustrator I really like, Dave McKean, who probably blasted the comic industry into the art world with his work for "Black Orchid."

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Anyway, I like how Ian Francis's work always deals with some version of contemporary world, like the news and interpersonal relationships, or in this case Paris Hilton. It's nicely done and going up and up, value-wise.

This print was a small edition of only 50 pieces. 9 months ago they originally sold for $700.00 USD. It's current market value, + $1500.00 USD. Check it out here

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2008-10-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

New Shepard Fairey Obey Giant Billboard Prints...

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I just posted these two new prints up onto the site. They are variations on the same print. Personally I like the eye better but it's up to the observer. The really nice thing about these prints, that you can't tell from the picture, is the detail of the dress pattern. Much nicer in real life. Also, there is more texture / fiber to the paper than can be shown in a photo.

This also went up too. This is a hand out from Obey for his E. PLURIBUS VENOM show at Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York City. They are not signed but were given out to the attendees on the opening night. Many are now starting to circulate, just like real currency, go figure. Not very big but the rarity evens out for it's lack of impact.

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Click the logo to check them out

2008-09-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Another Dave Kinsey print sold to a Canadian. Yeah Canada!

Definitely not for everybody but I just picked up this print by Akino Kondoh. I think we're very used to nice, cutesy design and painting from Japanese women so Kondoh is not very well known in North America. In Japan, Kondoh's illustrations (reminds me a bit of Edward Gorey) can be seen in ads, comics, and TV spots, especially her animation. The most popular of which has to be Densya Kamo Shirenai (たま～電車かもしれない.)

I really like the print but because of it's rarity, someone might be able to offer me enough to part with it.

BTW, I'm putting up a Kaws Original Fake Catalog if anyone is interested. Click here.

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http://iconart.ca

2008-09-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

Hey check it out, not a graffiti piece this time. This is Audrey Kawasaki's latest print "Tear Me." I like it because of the style that Audrey has become well known for, dealing mostly with a sole female figure which is somewhat innocent but has this underlying mischievous about her. There's a bit of a seductive mystery in every piece of hers. Not a huge print at 11" X 14" but the pencil work is really nice and the print is better looking in person. It's up on the site here

I just added Dave Kinsey's "Inhumanate II" up onto Ebay. It's a two colour silkscreen done on 100% cotton rag paper and is, like all other Kinsey prints, better looking in person. It comes in at 18" X 24" and is now sold out of it's 185 piece print run. Bidding started at $40.00! That's cheap, so if you want it, click here.

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2008-08-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Wow.
So I brought in a new print lately and this picture doesn't do it any justice. This is by graffiti artist Charles Uzzell Edwards who goes by the name "Pure Evil." He is a stablemate of Bansky and runs his own gallery in London. Prior to that he was part of Anarchic Adjustment, a USA based clothing company with stores in Japan. Charles also did some ambient work on Pete Namlook's FAX label out of Frankfurt, and did some work with Testu Inoue. You can hear samples here.
I read somewhere that Pure Evil was 1 of the top 5 grafitti artists in the UK to keep your eye on so this may be a good investment piece, although I think I really like it myself. One of the reasons is that this print is on a glossy photographic paper where the background (what you see is white in the picture) is actually a beautiful metallic silver. The other reason this is nice is it's sheer size. It is fairly skinny(at 19 inches) but almost 40 inches in height makes it a really striking print. I don't think you need to be have a crazy latex fetish to admire it. The colours versus the silver is really nice. Check it out here ...

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2008-08-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

Banksy? More like bring on the chaos.

I managed to pick up this pint recently. It's titled Tesco's Finest C*ntry Soup. It's an edition of 45 pieces, signed on the front in pencil by Banksy. Or is it? The problem here is that it is clearly signed on the back by the English artist(s) STOT21stCplanB, who have done some "Not Banksy" Banksy's .... WTF does that mean? Read on ...

Banksy was an anonymous English graffiti artist known for his stencil work unil a photograph revealed his identity, although there's mystery around that, too. I'm assuming that this print is a reaction to the art world, similar to Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup cans. For North American's, Tesco is a huge commercial retail store. It first started as a cheap grocery store but has expanded into a retailer of just about everything. Are you still following me cause this is where it gets all fucking confusing. STOT21stCplanB is hard to explain. They are artists/band/performers with a punk rock attitude connected to Crass, James Cauty (KLF, The Orb), Jamie Reid (sex Pistols) et al.

This print, amongst others including canvases, claims that the signature is Not Banksy's and is FAKE. It's signed by STOT21stCplanB on the back with the phrase "We did it." It references a box of "Banksy's" (the NOT Banksy's) done by STOT21stCplanB. Banksy prints sell anywhere from the cheap $580.00 and up to $5200.00 ... and up ... and up. So is this Banksy or not? Can't say yes but ...

- Banksy claims never to sell his own work. Not in prints. Not in galleries.
- Banksy and STOT21stCplanB laugh at the fact that they can do anything in the art world and it will sell.
- It looks exactly like Banksy's signature.

So, is it Banksy? Is it ugly as shit? Is it art? Is that the whole point?
If it is anything, it's more like the lottery in which only the artists know.

Another test ...
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http://iconart.ca

2008-08-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Alright, it's been a while since I pounded something up here. Plus check it out, it's in English too! I've actually changed routes and I thought there would be some really good photos to be had on this new route but I haven't had any inspiration yet. I've also been studying more Japanese but knowing a mass of verbs in present, present negative, past, past negative is a brain ache. Plus there is no future tense for verbs in Japanese unless you associate the verb with a time. Simple huh? I've been buying some prints and am thinking about having an online gallery of prints for sale. To tell you the truth, it's already online but I'm not telling anyone about it until I can tweak some stuff here and there. The other bad side of this is possibly selling prints I actually want to keep, haha. So I'm just going to price things at the value that I would feel okay with letting them go. Soon I will put up the link. This is the latest print I've bought and it looks incredible in real life. It's titled "Warbourne Blvd" by Dave Kinsey, who is an artist I really like. You want it you can buy it off me cause it's sold out!

The current test of my online art gallery.
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http://iconart.ca

2008-06-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

日本語の私のブログへの歓迎。私は日本語を書くことを試みる。私はまだよくない。漢字は非常に困難である。また私が用語を暗記することも困難である。これは私がしてもいいベストである!

2008-05-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

2008-04-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

2008-03-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

Guest Writer

Alright, my friends Steve and Mark went out of their way to prove, once again, that it takes time to create and mere seconds to destroy. In this world, there are do-ers and then there are critics. What people don't understand is that it takes effort, some skill, and strength to create. If given a choice, the average person, boggled with opportunities, takes the path of least resistance and that's the lazy path to negativity. It's soooo easy to rip something apart. There's no deserving respect to being negative. I mean, it's just too easy. So I gave Mark the chance to write but he passed to Steve but, when push came to shove, what I got from Steve was a whole lot of jack shit nothing.

So todays guest writer is my son, Charlie Payne.

His name's Boner? What? Penis? So Steve Penis, you think you're so hot! You think you can dis' my dad's blog and get away with it? My dad says you work in the cans. You work in the toliets? Well, let's fight old man. I'll fight you in the toilet.

2008-03-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

Bunch of fuckers!

Ok, first I don't even win a cup of cheap-ass coffee (currently 3/3) but again, as a former Scottish person, I must object to the subtle marketing as Scottish people being "stingy." The rrrrrrrrrrroll up the rrrrrrrrrrim can go rrrrrrrrrrrrroll itself up it's ass, as with these guys, and their cheap meals,

and these guys,

which by the way, if you know anything about tartan, this is a fucking crime,

http://www.3m.com/brands/scotch/scotchtape/contest.html

AND while I'm stuck on 3M (pardon the pun) for the benefit of Scottish people everywhere,

Listen up! ......... SCOTCH IS A DRINK. SCOTS ARE A PEOPLE.

2008-02-18T22:12:00.001-08:00

Alright, you've phoned for your pick-up and the Vancouver call centre is busy and you've been bounced to Montreal, they've told you I'll be by at some ungodly hour, like 7 pm (1900h) or something, and now you're surprised when I show up at 4:30 pm, freaking out saying, "it's gotta go now!" Why you ask? Because this is Vancouver and the domestic plane originates here and flies east, so we're first into the sky, unlike Montreal. So now you've dumped off you're package and your part is done, whew! But what happens to your package?

Well, basically I want to leave downtown at 4:30pm cuz the first plane leaves at 6:10 pm (1810h.) So I barn cleverly(that's airforce talk for returning to the building or "barn." Most of the original pilots were airforce pilots,) without speeding may I add, to the airport on a Friday night rush hour in, ta-dah, about 23 minutes. I will pull into the building (you don't see, the photo shows about a third of the building) and off load the freight onto a power belt. That freight travels to the area of the belt shown in the picture as "A". If you have envelopes, they are sent off at the split to the area "B" where they are subjected to laser barcode reading and sorting (in FedEx that's a machine called Purple Lights) and bagged in an area called the "doc sort." Bags are colour coded (Memphis/Oakland/Various domestic) and consolidated and put back onto the belt. International bags and boxes are sorted into Airbus canisters (cans,) that's the area marked "C." Domestic bags and boxes carry on to another row of cans, similiar to "C." From there the cans get loaded onto the various cargo aircraft and go about their sky journey.

Voila. Day in, day out. About 7000 pieces in building, sorted, into the air in about 100 minutes.

UPDATE: Every once in a while I get the joy of dealing with the general public who's trying to set a new record for stupid, like this guy. This kinds stuff makes my head explode. Thanks for the note, dude.

2008-02-05T20:31:00.001-08:00

Okay I haven't blogged for a while because I have been so damn lazy, I mean so damn sick!! But rest assured, through the weepiest of eyes set into a ballon head, I've been constantly thinking about you.

As you can tell by my photo, the first of evils was that someone had snuck into my bedroom and filled my head full of cement. My eyes have been a nice hue of poisoned gas in a sunset and forever tearing up like crazy. It's like I'd been watching African Children's Fund Commercials in an onion cutting factory. Hot stingy tears of bitter betrayal too. Also, as a bonus treat, my frikken gums were killing me from all that hillbilly mouth breathing I've been doing instead of sleeping. So after washing down four Advil with some Neo-Citron, and still getting shitty sleep, I declared Vancouver a no work zone. Sweet! Just to make the most of the days off, I spent days and evenings, eating soup and overflowing with tea with enough sugar in it to seriously kill a diabetic. I just needed the energy for the debating whether I was freezing cold or boiling hot, which ended up a tie.

But now the runny nose has has been blasted by Glico™ curry, my friends! I am back on the mend. In fact I'm enjoying a delicious Granville Island Winter Ale right now AND I can actually taste it! Maybe I should think twice before I start something nice --- Nah!

2008-01-08T20:33:00.001-08:00

Okay, Christmas is over and so is 2007.... but I still have a lot of leftovers, some wellll I was going to post that kinda stuff from my phone so I'm going to smack them all into this one piece of 2008 crap post.

Haha, oh ye merriest of smart asses. Okay, here's my Olympic post. Take everything you think about the Vancouver Winter Olympics, bad or good, the fun, the traffic, whatever, just take your ideas and visualize them. Now times everything by three. We have no idea what's about to hit us.

Hey, this Korean restaurant has BBQ beef. Like duh, can't you read the fucking window?

Okay, I was going to do this entire funny rant about bathrooms. Think about it, what do you do if you're sick? What if that $2.00 gas station egg salad sandwich that looked like a good deal when you were hungry wants to make a slippery dodgy mayonnaise escape out the back door. You go to the bathroom right? Well, guess what? My office doesn't have a bathroom cause I ain't got a frikken office. And super guess what? Most bathrooms downtown are locked so after your power-lunch with your boss Mr. Suity McSuit, you don't walk in to the washroom and find a hobo washing his hair with the free soap in your sink. You're kinda screwed. Anyway, I was going to photograph the WORST bathroom in the downtown core. It's in the Empire Landmark (they got a nerve) Hotel. I get more filthy coming out of there than going in and I'm leaving crap. Alas, I only got around to photo'ing the best toliets in town. The best view washroom is the 19th floor at 1030 W. Georgia. It's so nice I wish I could live in there. The other marbled, real towel affair is at the Wall Centre. If you gotta go, you gotta go ... there.

Well, that's it for 2007. Hope you had a good time reading. Onward with 2008.

2007-12-15T01:23:00.001-08:00

Too many people ask me why I'm vegetarian. I do not agree with preaching the politics or imposing vegetarianism on others like some dread locked hippie drinking dandelion wine at a BBQ. But I will because I am constantly asked to, explain my beliefs.

To me being vegetarian means no beef, no fish, no chicken. First off, I do not believe that we eat meat because it is healthy or because we own canine teeth. Grabbing chicken breasts at Safeway is not primitive hunting. If you believe we eat meat as a part of a balanced diet, I don't have a lot of respect for you. You don't know jack-squat about the role of protein in nutrition. Listen, we eat meat nowadays because we like the smell, the taste, the texture. We "consume" meat for our pleasure. Being vegetarian isn't about being selfish. It's about discipline. It's about the self control of greed and desire. The one thing I absolutely hate about vegetarians is vegetable spare-ribs, tofurkey, mock chicken, etc. If you want to eat bacon, deal with your stupid guilt, get over it, pass on the flavoured gluten bullshit and eat bacon and be happy. Mock meat is against the point and just plain fucking horrible.

For me, being vegetarian is a conscious decision of compassion. I believe in the act of putting people before myself and that means, if someone serves me meat not knowing I'm vegetarian, I will eat it. Hypocritical, huh? I think cooking is a grand gesture made humble. How many meals have you eaten lately without thinking about what went into it? If someone goes to the effort, out of the goodness of their heart, of making substance to further my life, I should not put my beliefs in front of their good will. Silently, I usually give thanks to the animal that has given it's life for a higher purpose. Vegetarianism is a way to cultivate kindness.

Okay, so much for that shit, so my reasons for being vegetarian;

1 - The simplest. The fact that I can survive without eating meat means I do not need to eat meat.

2 - I do not believe in arrogance. Human beings do not control this Earth. Animals or any living creature upon it are not here for our benefit. I do not believe in the participation of farming animals or in suffering and violence inflicted upon animals for our meals. You may laugh at that but reflect upon a moment in your life of your own pain. Animals are subjected to slaughter, decapitation, skinning, processing, cooking for what?

3 - The greatest reason is the most complicated to explain. Above all, I value thinking. The ability to improve upon oneself through thought and awareness. Humans differ from all animals by their ability to think. Human life is a precious situation and I believe it is my duty with my life to try to be the best person I can be and to do that I have to question everything I am taught. If an animal is self aware, that is aware of it's own existence, it has the potential, no matter how small, to better itself. I refuse to participate in any way with it's death.

2007-12-02T16:12:00.000-08:00

Taking photos while driving.

Okay, first off you have to rethink taking photos. What you want is some motion, some blur and you want the fun of not knowing what you are going to get.

WARNING: WATCH WHERE YOU'RE DRIVING NOT WHAT YOU'RE TAKING PICTURES OF.

Take lots of pictures, don't look to see how they turn out, take 40 shots and go back later to look at them.

2007-11-13T20:06:00.002-08:00

Alright, I admit I have been lazy on the updates, my apologies. Well, I still don't really have anything work related so let me just put up some crap. You like crap, don't ya?

First off, let's talk about Songza ... Think of it as Google for music but if you want to get into it, basically it is a media player for YouTube. It's simple as ever to use and it works. The more I use it the more I really like it.

Secondly, I'm testing out posting video from my phone. Pretty high-tech huh?. Actually more low-tech of my son Charlie's band. Enjoy (it's short)

2007-10-17T00:29:00.000-07:00

Q: Why is this guy braking without any reason? A: Cause he's a special kind of idiot.

He keeps speeding up, then braking. He's worse than a crappy driver because he's completely inconsistent. The reason why there is so much space between him and me is because I can't predict what this idiot will do. Something is going on it that tin can up ahead.

For a long time I didn't see any problem with being on a cellphone and operating a car. The problem starts when some people get so much into yapping that they forget they're not on their couch but that they're actually driving. The trick here is to keep in your mind that driving is PRIMARY and the call is SECONDARY. However, this is a real cellphone problem I see all the time; people reversing or parallel parking on the phone. Look, it's really easy, you just say "Can you hold on a second? I just have to parallel park." then you PUT THE PHONE DOWN. It takes about 10 seconds and your friend or client will still be there, you paranoid nut. But anyhow that's not the real problem. When I pass this guy I see what's going on, he's on his phone but he's TEXTING. This is the reason why I now believe cellphones should be made illegal while driving. I see it all the time. As if driving in Vancouver isn't bad enough, there is no reason why you should be driving and typing at the same time. It's too complicated and just plain stupid, even if you're good at it.

2007-10-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

Today at lunch I finished watching 2046.

It's a Chinese movie made by Wong Kar-Wai. It has Gong Li in it. She was recently voted the most beautiful person in China and there is currently 1.3 frikken billion contenders in China. Shallow men click here. She was in the excellent Memoirs of a Geisha and the absolutely stinker Curse of the Golden Flower. (Don't even rent it for a buck even to wish her boobs will pop out all over the place.) 2046 took four years to make. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle said he'd never work with Wong Kar-Wai ever again. Kar-Wai took the film back and re-edited it AFTER it premiered. The film showed at the Cannes Film Festival so last minute, some of the film cans came directly from the lab. It's an intricate and confusing film dealing with ideas like "All Memories Are Traces of Tears." It's worth it but only if you want a challenge.

Lots of people think I have a bad memory but I feel this is just another "why aren't you like me?" event. Here's the deal on how my memory works. "Past=Guilt, Future=Worry" That would put Prozac out of business and cure todays freak-out anxiety nation. Believe it or not, I consciously choose what to remember and forget. I don't remember movies, trivia, people's names, the storm when tying up the boat years ago or anything I don't think is really important. I don't trust people who can spout out facts from the past. That is not intelligence. What I concentrate on is the mood, my opinion, the situation of something. I remember the feeling of something. What's more important in the end: your name or how I feel about you right now?

2007-09-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

This is the only one of these signs I've ever seen.

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppress'd brain?

1 - Grasp extinguisher by the handle.
2 - Pull the pin to break the seal.
3 - Aim hose at the base of fire, squeeze the trigger.
4 - Direct at a back and forth manner.
5 - Listen for the bell from Lady MacBeth signaling Duncan's
chambermaids are "asleep" and stab the King to death.

...
Okay, Lady macBeth is dead, right? A courier arrives telling MacBeth that the forest approaches the castle. MacBeth can't lie to himself anymore and decides to die in battle and actually yells "Ring the alarum bell!" ... Pretty cool, huh?

2007-09-06T23:06:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of American Apparel.

At one time this puny company ran ads selling their soft cotton clothing made available to you for cheap and not using any sweat-shops to do it. Their ads featured environmentally sound dyes. Their ads stated they paid twice the minimum wage. Now, these fuckers are up to 53 stores in 5 countries and that's since 2003. Cool, huh? So, hey girls, wake the fuck up! Have you looked at the way you are represented in these ads now? What's the difference between this and porn? At least pornography is honest about it's intensions. Did you know that the owner of American Apparel once stated in a magazine that “women initiate most domestic violence.” So from heroes of the environment to Lauren Phoenix, superstar of "Anal Delinquents," "Angels of Debauchery," "Assploitation 2" and "Assploitation 4" and "Full Throttle Anal" selling their tube socks. Does that sound morally okay with you? It might be the coolest, hippest, clothes for young women today but it's also sexist and downright slimy bullshit they're selling you and you're buying it up, so stop giving them money.

2007-08-25T00:53:00.000-07:00

Recently on my route, someone walked through the open doors used by construction workers, walked up the stairs to the 30th floor and walked off the edge of this building.

The rumor from the site is that the person was homeless, known by the police to be depressed and was known at the time to be suicidal.

There is the tragic irony between a homeless person walking off an incredibly up-scale ocean front condominium. It looks like the divide between the have and have-nots, in this case, is 30 floors. It's about quality of life. Poor people live on the street, rich people live in the sky. It used to be the other way round before the invention of the elevator.

Where is my shame in taking this picture?
It's a good question. Here's the deal; shame is bullshit. Shame is a weapon used by society to keep you in line. Guilt is for how you act, but shame is for the very person you are. Shame is making your wrong doings secretive. Don't expose who you are, dead guy. We don't want to see a record of your depression nor your homelessness nor your desperation. Shame (or the avoiding of) causes people to fall out of the sky.

Should this person have kept on living with his problems? Does he have the right to control his own life? To be or not to be. And life itself is not important enough, we seem to be getting better at killing each other every day. So maybe we'd forgive you if it was a mistake, dead guy. I hope you are finally at the peace you did seek.

2007-08-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

Here's some lies about myself and my job.

- If you look closely at the ASTRA label on every FedEx package you will see a Unicorn. This is because of the medieval belief that the Unicorn was the only animal never late to the poetry readings of King Richard the First.

- Everyday for lunch I eat a light bulb. If I'm not very hungry I meet eat just a chandelier bulb, but in winter I have been known to eat an entire string of Christmas lights. Not the cord though as I find it rather chewy.

- When I have some down time I often surf the Internets or go to the Google. Once I delivered a small FedEx box to an IP address but they were out.

- My day consists of awakening at 5AM. As my FedEx house has it's own tap, I will fill the basin and start shaving with a knife while my maid presses my uniform. If the laundry isn't still drying from the wood range in the kitchen, I have some hot tea with the newly baked bread. As my FedEx house is close, I walk to the FedEx factory where I make one shilling and sixpence a week. That's a lot to a courier lad. If it's a pay day I might have some neck of mutton stew with a bit of gravy and a right chinwag with the lads at the public house by the factory gate. There's usually a nice smell of cakes and roly-poly when I get home from buying the candles. If I have time I clean out the chickens or polish the brass in the parlour. Then I'll clean the pots from the outside privvy (I don't need to share but it costs an extra tuppence) and top off the tin bath with the hot water from the range and have a bath before bed at 8:30PM. It's hard to stay up late with no oil for the lamps.

- And finally, I think what everyones asking is "Where's my bloody flying car?" At FedEx we now use the Mercedes Sprinter or what we call the "Roadable Aircraft." It's why all FedEx locations originate at an airport. So we can use the propeller ducts to vertically land at the warehouse using the hands free flight system. No need for a pilot's licence!

2007-08-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

I'm not motivated this week. Enjoy some colour

2007-08-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

This car makes my Ferrari look like shit.

2007-07-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

Because I'm a land based animal I spend a lot of my time walking around looking at the ground. This way I can get hit by something falling or hit by a car but at least I won't look stupid tripping over something. When I started to paraglide I spent a lot of my time walking around looking at the sky. Now I'm into bonsai so I spend a lot of my time walking around looking at trees. I guess your thoughts really do create your world.

Okay, I immediately had two thoughts when I saw this card. The first was based in reality. It was " Who gives a crap about $10,000.00 anymore? " Honestly, can you even buy anything for $10,000.00 anymore? .... The second thing I immediately thought of was " Maybe because I found this, I'll turn it over and it will say YOU WON $10,000.00 " You know like some kind of crazy rich guys idea of fun or maybe a radio show contest or something. That thought was based in fantasy .... It made me think about what kind of total shit game this came from. Some kind of no fun wholesome non-competitive motivational bullshit game like, uhhh .... like ummmm .... hmmmm .... well I don't know but I bet it sucks.

2007-07-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

I get bored a lot at work.

Sometimes it doesn't challenge my mind enough. So I didn't have anything to photograph. Nothing. This made me think of nothing but there never seemed to be nothing. There is always something. Darkness. Even emptiness is something. So I thought I would take a photo of nothingness for you but then I realized that if I posted the black photo none of you would notice the nothing. That disappoints me. It's very rare that people don't want you to just think for them and tell them the answer. Anyway, this was the photo from the darkness of nothing. It's something because you demand it like I demand to be challenged.

Here's a story. A guy comes across a tiger. The dude naturally tries to escape the tiger but it chases him, right? Unfortunately, it chases him to the edge of a cliff. Bad situation but he sees a vine strong enough to support him so he edges himself over the cliff to hang until the tiger goes away. The tiger looks over the edge, just sniffs around, lays down to wait. The guy looks down and you know what he sees down on the ground? Another tiger. While assessing the situation a mouse comes out of it's home on the cliff and starts to eat the vine. Right then, the guy sees a strawberry growing on the vine. He hangs on with one hand and with the other reaches up and pops the strawberry into his mouth. It is the best strawberry he has ever tasted.

2007-06-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

Possibilities:

- Everyone thinks she's ugly but he thinks she's beautiful.
- You think you are ugly but he doesn't think so.
- God thinks you are beautiful.
- Someone asked their friend what some guy, who they like, thinks about them.

This could be a feminist statement. Men look. Women are looked at. The man in this statement makes the judgement. It could be a gay statement, the beautiful one could also be a man. It could be a religious statement but there's something sincere about this statement, isn't there? It wasn't from God, it was from a person's heart. It was made by someone but it is not a mark, an "X." It has nothing stating "I am here. I exist" but rather it's effort is selfless. It is for the care of someone else. If it said "He thinks you are beautiful" it would be a confirmation to "Am I beautiful?" . "He thinks you are beautiful" is very third person. "He thinks you're beautiful" is direct, like he is talking directly to someone or we take on the role of the viewer, he is talking to us. It makes me say "I am beautiful." If it said "I think you're beautiful" it would be from the author, but it's not. Someone else, someone we do not know thinks someone else, we do not know either, is beautiful and that is what makes it beautiful.

2007-06-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

The creature returns a curious look to the Fool.

This is how you build followers for your religion. You create fear of every other religion. You turn their gods into the devils of your religion. It's your basic good vs evil. Seems very immature thinking to me. Like yelling "baaad" at your dog but it did make Star Wars into a good story. My point is that you can be turned into a non-thinker by being frozen with fear of the Devil. Demons have to be confronted and triumphed over.

Sadia from MCW read me my tarot cards today and the devil came up.

Matter overpowers mind. Desires rule. Beware of your dark side. The pursuit of the materialistic or sensual pleasures may taint your ability to think clearly. Cleanse yourself of behaviors and habits that are doing you no good.

2007-06-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

840 Broughton Street

Hey everybody, it looks like there's been another fucking explosion at the Anne of Green Gables Nuclear Reactor. What the hell are people thinking? Would you look at how fucking ugly this thing is? By the looks of it, she's studying for her blood test. It's as if someone flicked on a blacklight at 2:00 in the afternoon. I got a good mind to fire off a nasty email to the Prince Edward Island Old Lady Crafting Association and ask which one of their moustached members came up with this one. Not even bactaria would grow on this thing. (That's an inside copper joke, btw.) And the best thing about it is that it's only about four inches tall. Another two inches shorter and this thing woulda made an excellent IUD. You know, with all the home renovation going on, I know the first place I look for stuff to beautify a place up is beside the alley dumpster. Either that or this is a warning that you can get a copper imbalance from picking up too many pennies on the Road to Avonlea.

2007-06-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED

2007-05-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

My Former Life.

Every once in a while I will encounter someone or go somewhere and something will catch my eye and I will end up coming to the realization that "Oh yeah, I designed that." While waiting for a freight elevator, I happened to look into the fire extinguisher and hose area of the 1111 West Georgia (Terasen Gas) building and, lo and behold, some graphic design of mine. If you've ever shopped for Hugo Boss or Paul Smith, ate at an A&W or a Boston Pizza or driven by the Flying Wedge Pizza Co., bought a t-shirt from the Folk Festival (the list is endless) chances are I might have designed it. One career for life is what we are taught. Question everything you have been taught.

2007-05-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

The lemniscate.

There's a residential tower called the Infinity Building. Couldn't be more stupidly named. I hate this concept. Infinity. How can something get larger forever and have the same meaning as something that could get smaller forever? For instance, let's say you stand against a wall in your house and walk to the opposite wall by constantly dividing the space between you and the wall by half. In theory you would never be able to reach the other wall. I guess that's what bothers me - that infinity is never attainable. I always have this fight within myself, to strive to be someone more than who I am. When you stop thinking about something, you are left with just accepting it, you understand it. Everyone should understand that for anything to be endless, it cannot be perfect.

2007-05-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

This is a human being. This is what I see.

2007-04-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

My Life In Elevators

I spend a lot of my time going up and down. Sometimes when the doors open I get out at the wrong floor and have to get back in. The reason for this is because I am a robot. Sometimes I wait for the elevator and when it doesn't come I realize I haven't pushed the button. I'm just standing there, waiting. Quite often I will be standing in front of the elevator and even though the call button is lit up, someone will walk up and push the button again as if their fantastic touch will cause it to show up. The idiot who does this is always a man. Also, pushing the call button 100 times will not be any more productive than pushing it once but will make the presser feel more emotionally secure. At least twice a year in an elevator I will have to acknowledge to someone that I saw the movie Castaway. I often daydream that men who carry out loud conversations on the phone in elevators using Bluetooth probably have some bourbons with brokers then go home and beat their wives. People will ride the elevator in the wrong direction rather than wait because they feel they will get somewhere faster as long as they are constantly moving. This is the primary reason for the success of the escalator. When you are sick in this job the stop / start motions of an elevator will make you incredibly nauseous. Downtown they have TV's in elevators to provide the latest information or trivial entertainment but their real purpose is to make money by helping human beings avoid each other. Sometimes people will exit the elevator after farting and when people get on after me I know that they are thinking it was me. This is unjust. I have never been trapped in an elevator but I imagine it would be okay.

2007-04-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

Graffiti. I say that, you imagine something. Perspective. Subjectivity. How our experiences define. I see a lot of graffiti on my route. Some of it is good, some of it is bad. I really wanted to take a picture of some scrawl on the wall of a Korean restaurant. It says "Bomb the junks, feed the fish." The idea was to expose the hate of it but I found myself too scared to photograph it. That is the power of it on the public. Fear keeps you in your place ... If you have any interest in graffiti as an art form, you have to check out the documentary NEXT: A Primer On Urban Painting. It's an incredible film by Pablo Aravena covering various styles and the cultures of graffiti artists around the world. You can check out his site at http://www.nextthemovie.com The film not only has a great soundtrack but also really pushes your concept of the various forms of street art.

2007-04-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

Everybody is demanding content, so I have succumb to lowly words. Words mean I explain everything for you .... downright shameful.

There is a Buddhist concept that if you are making food for people you should take great care to prepare it with a positive, loving mind. It's important as you are participating in sustaining someone's life. Now I could live without coffee but I'm tired of having a Starbuck's machine make my coffee, all to be sloshed and dumped into my cup by someone more concerned with who's next. That's why I go to Chicco at 1504 Robson, everyday. (Please don't get popular!) Everyone there is Japanese and the Japanese have a tendancy to make things with care. A great attention to detail, temperatured to my liking (motto attsu) by cupping their hands on the stainless steel and not hurried either. Even the presentation matters and all that adds up to one good tasting latté. I'll see you there at 11:30 or so!