Long Time, No Post

Rock on!

The Amazing Race Looks Like Fun

I haven't posted anything in a while because… well because nothing much to blog about. Until I saw this, this morning. The very end is what made me laugh… out loud even.

Blue Dean

This is a watercolour that I did of my friend Dean (see his painted coconut two posts below) from a picture that I took in May, 2009. It has been a while since I've done a watercolour and I always thought that the photo I took of him (below) was one of my most successful portraits that I had ever taken.


My buddy, Dean, will be passing through again this weekend so I thought that I would surprise him with this painting. It probably won't be a surprise if he checks out my blog with any frequency, like a true friend would. But don't worry, I have plenty of other emotionally scarring surprises in store for him so it won't be the end of the world if this one is ruined.

~cheers

Just a Girl You Want

I haven't collected comics since the nineties but one of my favorites at that time was "Tank Girl." Tank Girl is a post apocalyptic story set in Australia, about a punk rock girl who lives in a tank and hangs out with kangaroos. This British comic was originally created by writer, Alan Martin and Illustrator Jamie Hewlett (co-creator of the virtual band, The Gorrillaz).

Here are the opening credits to the feature film starring Lori Petty, Ice-T, Naomi Watts and Malcolm McDowell.



I was recently reminded about this comic by stumbling upon a podcast called "Comic Genius" hosted on a website called Gamebreaker.tv which is mostly about video games.

What excited me most about it was that the new Tank Girl comics, called Tank Girl The Gifting, was illustrated by Rufus Dayglo (whom I am not too familiar with but like his style), Ashley Wood (I know from my friend Adrian's, borderline unhealthy obsession with his figurines) and Mike McMahon (the latter whom, again, I am not familiar with).

I found a preview of "The Gifting" on Popcultureshock.com.

To close here is some of Mr. Hewlett's work on the Gorillaz video (that could not be embedded), "On Melancholy Hill." This is the best mix of 2-D and 3-D animation I have ever seen.

~enjoy

Blue Bomber paint job or Quit hitting me, it's not a real helmet

This past weekend, My buddy Dean (Hank) Barkosky along with his dad and step mother came to visit and take in a Bomber game. Hank usually makes it in for one Bomber game a year and loves to paint up his face for it. In the past the quality of paint combined with mismanagement of time resulted in some pretty weak attempts at face painting. So this year Hank wanted to make sure that we would give it a solid effort.


Here is Hank before we shaved him and started painting.

Hank's dad also known as Mr. B, didn't want to be excluded so I prepare a design for him as well.


I thought it appropriate to have the senior Barkosky sport a retro logo since I was doing the current Bomber helmet on his son.




In the end, the Bomber's enjoyed a convincing 47 – 21 win over the Edmonton Eskimos and a good time was had by all. With exception to the Eskimo fans and players, so let me rephrase that. A good time was had by all that matter.

OUCH! Wouldn't want to be a Eskimo fan after this post.

See more photos at the orange kid flickr photostream.

Big Bang Big Boom

New (to me) from the folks at blublu.org, "Big Bang Big Boom" looks to be their most ambitious animation to date. Their fantastic, graffiti animation style has been among my favorites since first introduced to their work in college. You can see more of their animations at their Blu animations and other videos on youtube.

Oranje ist OK

FIFA World Cup in South Africa is well underway and in honour of my Dutch heritage, I offer this wallpaper of the Netherlands national team KNVB. KNVB is an acronym for Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond ("Royal Dutch Football Association").
They haven't reached the finals in the World Cup since it was held in Argentina when I was four years old and hasn't won a title since the 1988 Euro, but they are currently ranked fourth in the FIFA world standings and should prove a formidable force this year due to their crisp passing and a great balance of youth (Their under 21 team won the worlds championship in 2007 and 2008) and experience.

I have been a fan of the Netherlands since my Mother's aunt Mimi visited us from Holland when I was eight. She brought my brothers some trinkets with windmills on them and for me, a tee shirt with a cartoon lion bumping a soccer ball on his foot with the slogan "Oranje ist OK!" underneath. I remember finding it quite funny how modest the slogan sounded in English. When it comes to our national hockey team, you will never see claims that team Canada is just "okay". It probably loses something in the translation.


I was able to find a partial photo of the tee shirt on the Dutch site, Markt Plaza. Markt Plaza looks like an ebay type site, so maybe I'll ty to buy it. It apparently has more text to it that has been cut off in this picture.

The Netherlands will next meet Japan in group E of the World Cup.

Go Oranje!

General Buck Turgidson 2007 - 2010

In the early hours of Sunday, May 9th, 2010, General Buck Turgidson, our beloved Betta fish, peacefully passed away in his home. Buck is survived by his room mates, Doug and Rae Rae. A donation can be made to the BFCIBFC (Betta Fish Constipation and Irritable Bowel Foundation of Canada).

"Fish on"
~Primus 1991

Challenge For The Collective Blog

The Orange Kid would like to welcome, friend, Cara to the blogosphere with her first blog called "Challenge for the Collective" on which she explores the possibilities in using social media for corporate learning programs. If you have any input or interests on the subject of the uses of social media, be sure to check it out at www.challenge4thecollective.blogspot.com

Cara also brings my follower count up to three! Probably more like two because the OrangeBane probably accidentally hit the follow blog button. So I'd like to thank James D. for being my first follower.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love My Betta Fish Buck

This is my newly adopted Betta Fish named Buck after General Buck Turgidson from the Stanley Kubrick movie, "Dr. Strangelove or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb." This is my favorite movie of all time and general Turgidson was brilliantly played by the late great George C. Scott.


Fish Buck was adopted from my friend C-Mac360, who had to part with Buck (originally named Ashley after one of the Olson twins, but I think he looks more like a Buck), because he is in the process of moving.

Now for a scene from Dr. Strangelove featuring the good General.

Enjoy!

Magnum K.I. No Way Video

Magnum K.I. just released their new video for the song "No Way" on youtube.


Check out some of the photos I took at their self titles CD release party here.

Hockey Night In Mexico

Only Canadians Would Travel To Mexico And Watch A Hockey Game!

Is what a Mexican gentleman said to us after arriving in Playa del Carmen the morning of the Canada vs U.S.A. gold medal Olympic game. Our first morning in Mexico on our trip for Rae's sister's wedding started with one goal in mind. We were going to watch the hockey game that would ice Canada's 2010 Vancouver Olympic cake.

I woke up early to take pictures on the beach, donning my red, 2010 Olympic hockey jersey.


As soon as I left our room and started to walk around the resort I heard a voice behind me ask "You think we'll win?" to which I replied "I sure hope so."

The rest of that morning I became the resort's Canadian Hockey Liaison. I was asked everything from "when is the game?" "Where are you watching the game?" and "We've been here for a week, did we win?", I even heard a few "U.S.A., U.S.A." chants. Sadly, the fact was I had no idea where we were going to watch the game. The only place on the resort grounds that was going to have the game was the exclusive Grand Hotel of which I couldn't go to without buying a $100 day pass.

We eventually met a couple who said they were going into Playa del Carmen to watch it and were going to catch the 2 o'clock bus into town. The problem with that was that the game started at 2 and we only heard of one or two places (the Tequila Barrel and maybe Señior Frogs) showing it. I then told Rae that the next couple who asks us where we were watching the game, we will offer to split a cab into Playa with them. It must have taken all of five minutes for this to happen, so we made plans with our new friends to meet in the lobby and leave the resort by 11.


As you can see in the pictures above, my new hockey buddy and I subconsciously decided to where the exact same coloured shorts and cap.

When we arrived (around 2 hours early for the game) every bar and lounge that was showing the game was packed with a sea of red and white shirts and jersey's. Thus began our search for a bar with seats. We passed patio after patio bumping into more Canadians aimlessly looking for the same game until we became a mob roaming fifth avenue. We eventually stopped at one empty lounge that had a tv because the bar staff were frantically flipping through the channels to find the "money game" that would keep the hopeless Canadian hockey fiends around to drink their coolers dry. This distraction proved to be a good thing as our numbers thinned out to the original four and another couple from Vancouver Island.


Finally after following the advice of a man, who only asked that we mention that he had sent us, we found a place called The Pinche Gringo which was owned by an ex-pat from Calgary.


Through the duration of the game I think that we drank their beer supply out twice as we could never get the same brand of beer twice after the first period, drank warm corona's during the second period and were left to tequila, which was free pored down our throat at the end of the game.


After the game we drunkenly poured ourselves into the street and were promptly invited for drinks at the apartment of another new friend, originally from Montréal, that we met at Pinche Gringos. His apartment was amazing and we partied into the night on his rooftop patio, where most of these photos were taken.


He was a gracious and generous host.
Thanks again A.

Set The Wayback Machine Sherman

In the spirit of the new movie, Hot Tub Time Machine, here is a website that a coworker directed me to. This site is a must check out for anyone that has used the "World Wide Web" since the beginning of it's widespread use in 1996. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine lets you look at your favorite websites, how they looked as far back as 1996. Some of the images have since lost their links but still have their news articles, like Apple making $25 million dollars in profit in '96. I think that Ipod apps made that last week. One of my favorite vintage sites that I found was Manitoba Hydro's 1996 site complete with animated gifs.

Now here's the trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine.

Important Post

More important than finishing the second season of Flight of The Conchords?

Yep.

I know I already posted today but after going through my list of favorite blogs, my posts seem a little immature and pointless. So if there is anyone who actually looks at this blog, here is a post that I stole from Rob Peters blog.

Follow this link to The Story of Stuff website, a website that illustrates the importance of being conservative in our collection of needless rubbish and creation of waste. One issue covered is societies perceived need for bottled water.

I hope Rob (of Circle Design Incorporated) doesn't mind me ganking his post for my own blog, but I believe he will agree that getting this message out, is what is important.

Flight of The Conchords Season Two

Just finished watching the second season of Flight of The Conchors last night. Here is one of my favorite songs from this season.


And here is on from season one, from my favorite episode of all time.


Enjoy!

Swellzombie

I should have blogged about Swellzombie some time ago as I have been following his flickr account for some time now.

He has a great sense of humor and a fantastic illustration style. His flickr page is one of the most active in my list of contacts due to his passion for sketching.

What turned me on to his photostream initially was one of his comics inspired by a song, like the one pictured below. The first one, which I enjoyed enough to comment on, was his comic for an obscure Weird Al Yankovic song that I loved when I was younger, "Good Ol' Days".

I highly recommend that you check out Swellzombies flickr and enjoy the weekly comics.

Swellzombie's Weekly Lair of the Psychic Creature 099
Originally uploaded by swellzombie

E6 At The Albert

Last night Rae and I took in the Electric Six show at the Royal Albert Arms. I had never heard of them until starting work at Polar Bear close to 4 and a half years ago. If you haven't heard of them, they are one of those rare bands that don't have a bad song in their catalog. They are currently doing a Canadian tour that ends in Vancouver on the 24th. E6 is a definite must see if you dig their style of music because they put on a great show. Check out their myspace to hear a few of their songs as well as see some of their videos.

The video below is the song they opened with last night.



This one is, as they said last night, "Their best song." It's a total party anthem.



And they do one mean Queen cover.



enjoy!

Momentos from Chichen Itza

These are my favorite souvenirs from the amazing Chichen Itza in the Mayan Riviera. The statue might look huge in this picture but the chess board is actually quite small. I initially bought the statue for something to carry with me while taking pictures so that when people tried selling me things, I could avoid a prolonged interruption by saying "I already bought something." It didn't work but could you believe that it only cost a buck. Haggling is quite easy when you are genuinely not interested in buying something. What starts at $10, quickly becomes 2 for $5 and then $1.

Rae liked the look of the chess boards made from quartz and onyx and all kinds of stones, so I promised to teach her how to play if she bought one. I also bought a great Guyabera shirt, in orange of course, that has quickly become a favorite.

All in all Mexico was a much more successful bartering experience than Cuba. The key is knowing that if someone doesn't want to play the game at first, you can often find the same thing that you are haggling for in the same market. They are quite aware of this, so if you walk away, they usually make you an offer pretty quick.

Easter Treats and Mexican Weddings

This past weekend I took some more pictures of some of the Crusty Bun's Easter treats. Once again, I was fortunate enough to get some advanced sampling during the shoot. My personal favorite were the delicious Nougat Cookies in the shape of a bunny's face, pictured below.


As mentioned in a previous post, Rae and I just returned from her sister's Mexican wedding. She didn't marry a Mexican, the wedding was just held in Mexico. I have been working the photos and found that this semi-sepia effect gives it a real nice feel but please comment and let me know what you think. Congrats again to Marni and Nathan.


There are many more Mexico and wedding photos to come. I still working through the Gigabytes of images I took, so it make take a little more time. I will keep everyone posted.

Hasta luego!

Give Maya Pyramid Back Or I'll Punch You In The Temple

Rae Rae and I just returned from the Mayan Riviera in Mexico last weekend and WOW! What a great trip. we went there to help celebrate Rae's sister's wedding, so a big congrats goes out to N8-Dogg and the Marnster.


I will likely not be posting for a while as I need to weed through the 2000, or so, pictures I took of the trip. I could probably string the pictures into an animation and it would be like experiencing it all over again.

Don't know if my liver could take that though.

Classic Daffy

I've had this song stuck in my head all day and thought I'd share a version done by my favorite Warner bros. character, Daffy Duck. Before he went all cerebral, Daffy was a maniac and I suppose that is why I like him so much.



This song always reminds me of the scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit where Judge Doom brings Roger out of hiding with the "Shave and a haircut" bit.

Budget Cuts At The R.C.M.P. or Trading Squad Cars For Pintos

To kick of our visit to Vancouver we went to the Surrey House Pavilion where we saw Mark Donnelly, the "O'Canada" singing good luck charm of the Vancouver Canucks, kick off the opening day with our national Anthem. In true Mark Donnelly fashion he only earned half of his paycheck by getting the audience to sing.


At the Surrey House, they were giving out tickets to see the R.C.M.P. Musical Ride which we took in a couple of day after we arrived.


I tried to get the, back of the old fifty dollar bill pose in this photo below. I hope that I'm not dating myself by remembering that bill.


On our second last day in Vancouver we walked around Granville Island were I snapped a few pictures of a glass blower at work. I was something else to see glass being worked right in front of you and the caliber of work in this guys shop is incredible. I just wish that I remembered the name of the place he worked out of.


That's it for now.

Olympic Fever or Who Set Supeman's House On Fire

Last week, Rae and I took extra days off on either end of the Louis Riel Day long weekend to go to the 2010 Winter Olympic City of Vancouver. Even though we didn't have event tickets, we had an incredible time experiencing the energy of an Olympic host city.


It was great to see all of the visiting countries wearing their pride, singing their culture's songs in the streets and supporting their athletes by traveling thousands of miles. Check out my Vancouver 2010 flikr set to see more pictures from Canada's new Olympic City. Only a few of the pictures that I took are there right now. I will upload more when I have the time.

Those Poor Kids Played Hockey For a Year

So I finally changed the banner for this blog. And it's about time. The picture of the kids playing hockey on the river at the forks was taken well over a year ago and was posted over the past summer. I thought that this photo with the cigar, taken at the Tropicana on a trip to Cuba, suited the tag line a bit better. I am not saying that I never plan to give quitting smoking another try, just that this past attempt failed. Plus this is one of the few pictures of myself that I like.

Mango Tango and High Speed Adventure or Suspended Water and Fruit Covered Fish

I think that I am going to start giving alternative titles to my posts a la old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Kind of like Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night or What You Will." I like the new technology where you can record television but now I have about 65 episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle on my PVR that I need to watch.

Anyway that was not the motivation for this post but rather another restaurant review. I am by no means a food critic and had no intention of creating a food review blog but if one stumbled upon this blog or my flickr page they would find a plethora of food pictures (Sí El Guapo, I know what a plethora is) and my opinion on the restaurant.


Samurai Sushi at 330 Portage was where I had one of my favorite maki to date. The roll in the bottom right of the picture above is called a Mango Tango roll and it had the right blend of sweet and creamy between the thinly sliced mango and avocado. It also had a smokey BBQ flavour from the BBQ'd eel inside the roll.

Then, last night, I played around with high speed photography by taking pictures of my leaky faucet.


This was fun and led to playing with lighting to get dramatic effects like in this picture of Rae.


I like how her eyes are lit up and the way the combination of flash and slow shutter make her image clearer on the right hand side and softer on the left. Actually, its all a bit blurry, but still one of my favorites none the less.

pleth⋅o⋅ra  [pleth-er-uh] (dictionary.com)
–noun
1. overabundance; excess: a plethora of advice and a paucity of assistance.
2. Pathology Archaic. a morbid condition due to excess of red corpuscles in the blood or increase in the quantity of blood.

Crusty Bun Pictures

Here are some photos I took for the interior of the the Crusty Bun German bakery. This was one of my first real freelance jobs in photography.

Pop and Drag Group

I've started my first group on flickr and have been combing people's collections for good examples of pop and drag photography to add to it. Pop and drag is when you use the flash (the pop) and move the camera during a long exposure (the drag). You can add some really cool energy and movement to a photo and even your screw ups can come out looking great. It is a fun way to experiment with your camera and I have really liked the effect it has on pictures of live performances, as in the photos below. Just make sure that the venue, and most importantly, the performers are cool with flash photography.

So if you are on flickr, and have some good examples of pop and drag photography, or are just interested in seeing what the other three people have posted in my brand new group. Check it out here.

Clowns Are Awesome

I recently watched this Walmart ad on TV that made me laugh. This ad might explain why I receive mixed reactions from this painting that I did for my brother last year.

Magnum K.I.

As mentioned in a previous post, I went to the CD release party of Magnum K.I.'s self titled album. To quote my buddy Al from The Place Where Al Dwells…,"These dudes slay live!"

I recommend checking these guys out the next time they play, but don't take my word for it, hear them at their myspace.