Thomas Forsyth

So I bumped into this guy Thomas Forsyth cruising around I forget where now, but it was for another piece of his work with spinning tops but I'm a huge chess fan and when I found this I thought it was just way too neat!

UPDATE: I forgot about this, but the GZA from Wu-Tang is also obsessed with chess, he believes teaching kids to play at a young age will assist in taking on the world and taking over it. Read more here. He wrote a ultimatum about it for Frank 151 but I couldn't find it. If you can it's awesome.

Goodbye Christmas

We finally took down the Christmas tree. But instead of just taking it outside and leaving it on the side of the road. We decided to utilize this and heat our home, so I cut off all the branches and sawed it into sections and we had a roaring fire all night. All with my Swiss Army knife too! Here is all that's left.

we sure do!

Allan Gardens Conservatory

Had a weekend off for a change which was nice. It's not often Sonia and I have corresponding days off so we took the opportunity to visit the Allan Garden's Conservatory just a block away from our place. It is part of the Toronto Botanical Gardens and is almost 100 years old with over 16 000 square ft of greenhouses all interlinked with different sections and different temperatures and moisture levels it's really awesome. Areas for tropical plants, palms, seasonal cooler trees, a cacti desert section, ponds, water falls, bridges and a water wheel. If you get a chance I suggest you make a visit, it's open 7 days a week 10-5 and it is 100% FREE. I have more photos posted on my flickr, go here to see!

Flickr Update

I posted some new stuff on flickr, nothing special, but if you're bored. click here.

Emily came over tonight, was so good to see her. Welcome home!

Moist Beaver

Moist Beaver... you may be thinking I'm on a new porn craze lately, Last post with the pixel porn and now Moist Beaver? But let me put you at ease I am not going through puberty again.

Here is a little blurb on what Moist Beaver really is.
Taken from their website

Moist Beaver magazine is a production featuring new aspiring artists and art culture in Toronto and surrounding areas: functioning as a method of publicity, and giving these artists a place to be projected into the public eye and be discussed. The world of art feeds off itself and there is a need for a place to publicly view and analyze art and the contemporary issues that artists and young up and coming adults are addressing today. This magazines goal is exactly that; we have a fun youthful flare and we approach the issues concerning the young adult population.

There are very few platforms for visual artists in Canada to connect, and to gain exposure. In our overly structured society, which revolves around money and connections, artist tend to find it hard to make a name for themselves, despite whether they are talented or not. This magazines function is 3 fold:

1. A platform for artists to view other work of their contemporaries, gain insight and advice from others, and get ideas for their own practice, as well as broaden their horizons about mediums techniques and opportunities that exist in the artistic world for young artists.

2. A place for artists to gain exposure, exhibit talent and make connections. As well as a place for artists (and commercial photographers, writers, etc) to showcase their talent, add to their resume and expand their knowledge.

3. A way for people to address and read about current issues, connect with the culture in the emerging youth of Canada, and a place for people to voice opinions, and ideas about society, change, and our physical world.

Or just check it out for yourself here.

Emily is the girl smoking the cigar on the main page in gray, she recently had some photos featured in the latest issue which is available online you can download here. You should totally do it!

UPDATE: I thought this needed a picture so I added one.
photos by: Emily Marie Collins, Jen Mann and Erika Brodzky

Jean-Yves Lemoigne

Pixxxel Porn. So I bumped into this photographer Jean-Yves Lemoigne while cruising around on It's Nice That only to later realize that i'd already been to his site for something else I saw on a post on Main Vein by resident blogger sp, then to again fall upon it on Fabrik so I figgered although he has been featured on a few blogs already I wanted to highlight a different series of his. I think the style is awesome, reminds me of playing Duke Nukem 3D back in the day. Check out his stuff it's pretty great and some stuff is rather funny. Here are some other cool ones of his.

Dan Grzeca

I was very lucky this Christmas, Sonia spoiled me to the extreme. One of the highlights was a collection of hand screened Explosions In The Sky posters which are featured on the walls of our home. Two of which were done by Dan Grzeca who has a very distinct style and has done work for all sorts of band from Explosions to the Black Keys, Iron and Wine, The Melvins, Built To Spill and even Saves The Day and Atmosphere. I like it, check his blog with the link above or check out or even buy some posters here.

I've also started back at school and it is mad, in many senses of the word, the classes are rad but as comes with school, I've got a lot on.....and no money