say it with pie

How was your weekend? I spent my Friday evening as an artist's assistant at the CONTACT launch party. Nestled into the back corner of Brassaii, fellow Torontoist staffer John Beebe began his first of five appearances around the city in a mobile portrait studio/photo finishing centre/gallery. Check out John's website throughout the month as he uploads the portraits to his online gallery.

I had such a blast talking to dozens of party-goers, changing printer cartridges, and trying not to fall off an unsteady stool while hanging the portraits. Working at trendy launch parties is so much more fun than being a guest, posing awkwardly for people you'll never see again. The not paying for your drinks thing is also fun. I suddenly understand why people go into PR and events management.

Yeah, at first I was like, "Where are animated typefaces and the goodtimes?" but after about a minute in, I was mesmerized. I'm still mostly at a loss for words, so I'll leave the explanation up to Vaneska at Bif! Bam! Pow! Zap!

...the video is a flashback and commentary on the outburst of riots by French suburban youth in the fall of 2005. The riots were initially triggered by the accidentally deaths of two teenagers from a poor commune in the Eastern suburbs of France when they were chased by police and hid in an electrical power station where they were electrocuted. Over the course of three months, the unrest spread to 274 cities in France, with 2,888 arrests, 8,973 cars damaged, 1 death, and 126 police and firefighters injured. Damage was estimated at 200 million euros.

Ndeur told me that the significance of the camera crew in the video for "Stress" is the influence the French and international media had in sensationalizing and thus further triggering the youth riots. The lack of white racial representation of the delinquents in the video likely refers to international media coverage of the riots as acts of violence by the French Muslim youth, despite the fact that it was determined by the French Intelligence that there was no Islamic factor in the riots.

Well, colour me pleasantly surprised! The Pointer Sisters aren't just "I'm So Excited," "The Neutron Dance," and Pinball Number Count?

Check out the Sisters in rehearsal for a tv appearance in the 1970's behind the cut. So hot!

Via MeFi.

Continue reading "The Pointer Sisters In Rehearsal" »

Hilarious. This video was everywhere on the internet today and—lo and behold—the guy behind it is none other than Will O'Neil, an old internet friend of mine. Will and I hung out in real life once, but then I never heard from him again, presumably because I am so ragingly uncool.

Will appears to be some kind of stand up comic now. I remember his first internet video, lolherpes, a bitter tale of heartbreak and VD, which left us livejournalers in stitches for weeks. Way to make another hit, Mr. O'Neil. I owe you a beer.

Let a neighbouring cat in for regular visits. The end.

Sophie belongs to our downstairs neighbour and is one of those ultra-friendly runt cats like Orla, my old roommate Aine's cat. Charlie didn't really like Orla, and doesn't really like Sophie for the same reason: they do not observe the rules of animal hierarchy where Charlie should be the dominant alpha male. Perhaps I snuggled him too hard as a kitten, because now he can't assert himself. The result? Cute!

Most Sophie visits go like this: Sophie enters, heads immediately to Charlie's food dish and takes a few big bites, finds Charlie's favourite catnip toy and proceeds to saturate it with her saliva while Charlie watches, horrified. Then, intoxicated with nip, Sophie pounces on Charlie and sinks her tiny teeth into his fur. They chase each other around the house until Sophie discovers Charlie's favourite sitting spot and takes a quick nap, disturbing the careful accumulation of shed hair and pheromones. Repeat.

More cat photos after the cut, and yes, I do realize that I'm that lady.

Continue reading "A Short Guide to Socializing Your Cat" »