Quake of the Cans 2 - yes, it's graffiti day

As promised, more photos of the Quake of the Cans paint-in. Here are some individual pieces. I am ashamed to admit that no, I cannot read more than five of these, and that's only because I know who did them and can recognize their style. I am not street. At all. 

Oh yeah, this reminds me of something. You know how people have weird half-jokey half-judgemental stock phrases they say to you about your tattoos? Like these:

1. I heard they are addictive. 

2. What will you do when you're 80?

3. Did it hurt?

4. I fell asleep when I got mine.

5. I want one but I just can't decide on something I will like forever.

6. You'll never get a real job.

7. You should get my face on your butt. 

8. My husband would kill me.

Well to graffiti guys, people ALWAYS ALWAYS say this: 

"I like the big pieces but I just don't get tagging," or "Some graffiti is nice, but not those tags, you can't even read them." Or some variation on that same theme. I am talking every. single. time. I'm not here to defend property defacement or whatever, but come on guys, say something original. And if you don't understand what it is, don't make fun of it.

Up next....detail shots!

Quake of the Cans

A bunch of really talented people got together recently for the QUAKE OF THE CANS paint-in - a mega graffiti jam session - and turned this big ol' grey wall into something I cannot even describe. If you want to check this thing out, it's on Douglas Street, Victoria B.C. at the fifty fifty art gallery.

As my bus goes right past this wall every day, and I may or may not know some of the people who painted at this thing, AND I love a good photo op, of course I had to stop by and take some photos. Unfortunately I had to work while this was going on...

(photo stolen from my pal Cody's facebook page)

But I did manage to stop by the next day while the scaffolding was still in place, and snap like a hundred photos of the finished product.

Big grey wall before... (taken from the bus window as I was going by)

...and after!

I took ninety something more pics that day, you can probably expect to see them all soon.

Warning: shameless friend's band promotion.

My friend Jay is the drummer in this band - The Manvils.

They  recently moved from Vancouver to Toronto, I guess there's more of a music scene there. If you're in the Toronto area and get a chance to see these guys play, (maybe this weekend!) definitely do it.

Anyway I just looked them up on YouTube to see if there's anything new going on because yes, I stalk my friends like that all the time. If you're in a band it's just that much easier.

They have a new album out now called Black Tornado. It's available on iTunes tomorrow, and in stores November 29. 

I found this live video of them from last year, and man have they ever grown as a band. Their live show is so tight! Ryan and I saw them play last year too, and maybe because it's always awkward to meet your significant other's old friends or maybe just because we had tickets to see the Red Elvises and had to take off right after the Manvils were done, Ryan was kinda doing the watch checking thing when they first started playing. By the end of the show both of us were like 'whoa!'. They're a real fun band. Okay I'll shut up now but watch this video. I know you have seven minutes to spare or else why would you be looking at blogs? huh? HUH? That's right. Watch it now.

glass in my finger

This is the result of planking everybody. Planking is dangerous. 

This is what I heard from the other room:

Kid 1: I was watching this video on YouTube of this guy planking...
Kid 2: What's that?
Kid 1: It's this thing people do where they lay on things all flat and then take pictures.
Kid 3: LIKE THIS?

SMASH CRASH BANG SMASH SHATTER

Not hearing any crying, I sauntered into the bedroom and casually asked "What just happened?"

Well, guys...one of the kids who shall not be named tried planking for the first time...on an open dresser drawer. The entire thing tipped over, spilling stuff everywhere, including a full glass jar of pennies which shattered into unbelievably tiny shards all over the carpet. And then conveniently it was time for all the kids to go swimming and leave the glass all over the floor. So now you know how I spent my evening! Hooray!

Here's the glass in my finger with a cooler background. You know you're in the 2000s when you don't pull a glass shard out of your finger before taking multiple photos to show your friends on the internet.

Where basically no magic happens these days...

...my home office. We have a small-ish walk-in closet in our bedroom that I somehow talked Ryan into giving me to use as an office, Peggy Hill style. It is really great, but lately I've just been chucking things in there and using it as storage space as though it's, you know, a closet rather than a place for me to go and work/create things.

I'm going to take it back! Step one: clean it out. Step two: use it. Sounds easy enough, right? And so I shall do it. Soon. One day. When I feel like it.

For now, would you like to see some teeny vignettes taken around 'the office' that conveniently do not show you any of the mess, and only all my cool toys and pictures?

You see that blue 'Snap Sights' camera? That's the only camera I brought with me when we went to Cuba last year, it took some really beautiful photos. (click here to see some)  I've tried to find more cameras like it online, but it seems that the only thing that company is making now is underwater disposables. So that one is kind of a treasure in my collection of toy plastic cameras.

And that's not even all the books. I ain't called a word nerd for nothin'. But come on guys, how could a person NOT be inspired to create when she's surrounded by tiny butcher knives and rainbow brite pins? I mean, really. 

I'd like to see your work spaces too! Definitely leave me a link here if you post about your own little space. But not if it's all neat and tidy and well-lit, because I'll feel bad about myself.

My thumb warrior. And like me on FB please!

 Everybody out there, I started a Facebook page for this here blog last night! Please go like it because if you don't it'll just be my mom and my boyfriend and two nice people who found out about it from Twitter. And that is kind of sad and lame. 

Click pretty much anywhere on this post to go there. Try it. You might like it.

Things I Love Thursday

 I love bright colors, both on my hair and on my walls. But I do not love being mistaken for a teenager, so I dyed that beautiful red hair back to brown. Which did not work and now I have copper-y hair instead. Close enough.

I also love...

Wood tape. What a cute story!

A day in the life of a Lonely Planet author...not glamorous but still sounds really interesting.

Amazing composite photos of NYC.

This mega cool tattoo my friend Roberto did last week.  

The Lomography La Sardina cameras are now available in a metal body! I LOVE the beluga one.

Funny kids test answers.

A human's potential. 

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Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison photography.

For much much more coolness, click here.

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Gigantic camera beanbag and other beanbags. 

Steep and cheap. One item at a discount at a time. How exciting. I like watching the countdown.

The charmed life challenge.

The story of teenagers who were lost at sea for 51 days.

Fiverr - what people will do for five dollars. 

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Pierrette Diaz paintings - a look into the mind of a child?  

Click here for more. 

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This crazy panoramic drawing this guy did from memory of NYC after a 20 minute helicopter ride.

This before and after 'the scream' series of paintings.

This matchbook art.

The creepiest lego houses you've ever seen. Probably. 

Frankenstein money!

And last but not least...

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Repurposing old books - I love the wall hanging one, is that a mirror? Amazing! 

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Tattoo Age - and prizes you could win

How on earth did I forget about Tattoo Age?  And now I accidentally posted this now instead of later...that's three in one day. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? hahaha Yikes.


Tattoo Age is now on Twitter, and if you follow them there's a chance you could win prizes like a signed copy of Grime's Iron Will book, which we have at my work and has some darn cool mind blowing pictures in it and a lot of school-girl-esque diary entries. Click here to follow them!

chest tattoo - FINISHED! Also, bonus bloody boobs pictures.

Welp, if you are one of the new followers I have around these parts maybe you don't know about all the awesomeness that is my chest tattoo. Yesterday at work Colin had a cancellation, and so we actually had time to finish the thing! There was only about an hour's worth of work left to be done since the last session, so it was really no big deal for me to sit for it and then go back to work/answer the phone while getting tattooed (haha)...until I got up and looked in the mirror and saw this.

The pic

Yep, that is a big deal, actually. I am in love with my own chest right now. The pictures don't even do it justice, it's so striking, and the colors are so bright, it's crazy!

I swear it felt like Colin was tattooing my neck when he was coloring in the top of the poppy and the leaf on my collarbone. The body does weird things with pain sometimes.

I like how it goes with the mummy on my arm. (Mummy tattoo by Bryan J. Turnbull) They just kind of fit together naturally. And really, why wouldn't a giant bee attend a mummy/my little pony tea party?

Hey...Boo-bee. Get it? Just thought I'd make the joke first so you guys don't feel the need to in the comments section. And now for the aforementioned bloody boob pics...

I was on the bus like this, all shiny and leaky. Ew! Good thing my sweater was covering all the gore. Anyone else get any tattoos recently? I've been going nuts lately with them...remember this? and this?