Cat's Meow

Simon's Cat "In A Box"



 

Shanghai World Expo

RMR: Rick at Expo 2010 in Shanghai



 

EXPO 2010 - Canada Pavilion



 

Circle of Life

The Life Cycle of A Plastic Bag, Majestic Plastic Bag narrated by Jeremy Irons



 

I Am the Walrus

The Walrus recently published the article Burning With Desire about the gifting, no commercialism culture of Burning Man.


Some of my favourite art installations this year were:

The Heart Machine by the Toronto Burners (see article above).

Ein Hammer, Flower Garden, Syzygryd,

and of course Bliss.




The Double Rainbow was fun too!

Burn night was fun, but I always prefer the Temple (Flux) burn.

 

Sorry, Flickr will not let me embed photographs from its web site anymore.

Listening to: Muppets - Lime In the Coconut

 

I Am Getting Excited

13 of the Coolest Art Installations in the History of Burning Man



Listening to: Télépopmusik - Breathe

 

Nora the Cat

Previously, I was fascinated by Nora the Cat who could play piano. Apparently, lithuanian conductor, composer and artist Mindaugas Piecaitis was too. Piecaitis has composed and directed a Catcerto for Nora. Nora, the soloist, was brought in by video.



 

Smash

Things being destroyed very slowly



 

Free Hugs in Sondrio, Italy



 

Bob Craig makes beautiful collages out of clippings from National Geographic magazines. I remember making collages as a kid with a paste made out of flour and water. His vision begins with imagination as he cuts out and organizes clippings by hue and texture. What begins as a rough drawing slowly grows into a beautiful mural.

 

Elmo interviews Neil Patrick Harris

"

 

Baby gets Excited Over Silly Dog

excited dog and baby @ Yahoo! Video

 

GPS Guided Walking Tours

Recently, I was contacted by GPSmyCity.com to use my photo of the Black Swan Pub in York, England. The company wanted to use my photo in their GPS walking tour of York. Too bad the app is only available for use with an iPhone.

 

Today, I looked at some photos from the G20 Summit in Toronto. I did not realize how violent and intense it was. It seems a small group of anarchists have escalated the peaceful protest to violence. Kind of makes me think the 1 billion dollars spent for security was a good move. I do not know all the details of what is occurring during the summit, and some of the money could have been better spent helping homeless or poverty, but it reminds me of the WTO protests during the Battle In Seattle.

 

70 days later and over 75 million barrels of oil release in to the Gulf of Mexico with no recourse in sight.



Listening to: Icicle Works - Whisper To A Scream

 

University of Victoria in Australia (?) performs a beautiful interactive performance to Train's Soul Sister.



 

A tiny teacup pig plays piano and dances:



 

The Viral Video of last week:



 

Fort Rod Hill

Last Friday there was a huge celebration at Ford Rod Hill in Victoria, BC. The city celebrated the 150th birthday of the Fisgard Lighthouse and Canadian Navy's 100th Anniversary. The city was swarmed with over 10,000 sailors from around the world.

At Ford Rod Hill, the Luminara group placed lights and lanterns throughout the historical park and a Victoria fire troupe Poi Pixies performed a fire show on the walkway to the lighthouse. After the fire show, there was a beautiful fireworks display over the ocean. Luminara also setup lit art installations featuring jelly fish and salmon schools.

 

Would you drink water that is processed from the polluted ocean? Would you consume marine life harvested from the polluted ocean? An art exhibit titled Plastic Century: a tasted of the polluted oceans is showing at the California Academy of Sciences in honour of Jacques Cousteau's 100th birthday.



A map of the world showing the surface area required to power the whole world with solar power. You may be surprised--I was.

 

On May 5th it's Mukhtar's birthday, a bus-driver in Copenhagen. In 2010, he had no idea that a large group of people had planned to celebrate him. How wonderful!



 

Happy Friday

Kitty, and her human companions, are walking across the American continent to the South American continent from Miami to Ushuaia for a 3 year trek.



Kitty started traveling the 9,000-mile journey when he was a kitten.

 

Electric Daisy Carnival Auditions featuring Nigel Ficke who shows how to do it better, faster, stronger, harder, unicornier.



I recently came across some vintage and sexist advertisements for products from the nuclear family era. Did you know that Lysol used to be promoted to prevent pregnancy and STIs?



Not too mention how to avoid a Booby Trap and not get an STI.

Listening to: INXS - Suicide Blonde

 

Goodbye Winter, Hello Future

Dog Snow Sliders



Proposal in Washington Square Park



Listening to: Massive Attack - Daydreaming

 

Banksy In Toronto

Previously, I wrote about Banksy new film Exit Through the Gift Shop. For the Toronto premiere of his new film, he created some art in Toronto.



Near near 4th and La Brea



Near 9th and Broadway

 

I wonder if he will leave his mark on Vancouver.

The CBC gallery of Banksy's work around the world.

 

A Sweet Reunion

Conservationist Damian Aspinall raised gorilla Kwibi for five years in England. He released into a conservation park in West Africa. After being apart for five years, Kwibi was attacking humans. Aspinall decided to go to Africa and see if Kwibi would remember him. The reunion is amazing.



 

I Am A Gleek

I think I am officially a Gleek. I recently watched the clips from Madonna episode the Golden Globe winner Glee and was hooked. Jane Lynch's rendition of Madonna's Vogue is outstanding.

The show features a passionate talented group of performance artists (outcasts) in a high school. Each of the show's character's and actors are an inspiration to nerds, geeks, misfits and outcasts everywhere. It is interesting to hear about their high school experiences, usually of being outcasts because they were part of choir or drama clubs.

The Glee cast was also on the Oprah Winfrey show. The cast also performed at the White House for Easter.

Creator Ryan Murphy says the show is about "celebrating the difference in you". He continues to say that at that young of an age you think that's the worst in you, but as you grow older and wiser, you realize it's one of the best things about yourself.

Recently, there was a Glee flash mob in Seattle.

Listening to: Glee Cast - Don't Stop Believing

 

Urban Art Is Here

Finally, Vancouver is starting to showcase and magnify the landscape with temporary and permanent urban art installations. The previous week, I walked with J across the Cambie Bridge and along False Creek North to English Bay. Along the seawall, we saw many art installations and the new park by Granville Bridge.

By Sunset Beach, there is a beautiful aluminum art structure in the shape of a man consisting of letters and symbols from many languages. Another installation is a group of bronze statues laughing at English Bay. The metallic structure at Vanier Park titled Freezing Water is another installation.




These art installations are part of the Biennial Exhibition.

This week, I walked with J again over the Cambie Bridge, past Chinatown, through Gastown, around Canada Place and around the new Convention Centre. The interior of the Convention Centre is stunning. The new center has a living roof, seawater heating and cooling system, on-site water treatment (recycles washroom water) and a fish habitat in the foundation.




The art installations consist of a gigantic blue teardrop (maybe a raindrop) and a Digital Orca by Douglas Coupland.

Listening to: Gorillaz - Stylo

 

Frisky reviews eleven questionable Barbie releases by Matel. I remember having the Barbie MacDonald's restaurant, however, I do not ever recall seeing the Poop-n-Scoop version with dog Tanner.

To celebrate hard-working, under paid Administrative Professionals everywhere for Administrative Professionals Day, here is a list of the best ten movie and tv shows with secretaries, receptionists and personal assistants.

In a society where the spread of germs and viruses is a growing concern, always remember to never try on make-up samples until they have been sterilized. Personally, I always just try it on my finger and wash my finger afterward.

Oh, la la! Where did you get that gorgeous roadkill accessory bag? I would die to have one just like it! Just kidding.

Listening to: Bjork - Big Time Sensuality

 

Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop



President Obama mandates visitation rights in hospitals for same-sex couples.

Crimson Collective builds a gigantic solar-powered crane art installation for the Coachella Music Festival.

Adam Savage's speech to Harvard students titled Food for The Eagle.

Listening to: Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle