Lookie look, we are finally starting a new year! I hope y'all had a wonderful two weeks holiday-ganza. Did you fill up your tummies; satiate your sweet tooth; and topped up your quota of visiting relatives? I certainly ate my way through the weeks while catching up with old friends. I can now hibernate. As for the new year,  I truly have no grand expectations towards my twenty-fourteen prospects and I'm not going to start a carbon-copy resolution speech; I hold an ordinary wish: finding the path to happiness and overcoming the fears to get to it.

----- Coming Soon -----

www.vivian-yu.com

This 30 seconds commercial for Nikon is so simplistic and calming (i swear I felt a breeze but only to realize it was from my heater a second later). Beautifully shot and edited, Nikon is advertising a new camera that will soon arrive, and the enigmatic sound of the shutter sends nostalgia to many camera fanatics. Apparently this is a hint at the old school design of the new DSLR. interesting, I seriously got chills. weird. I'm a weirdo.

----- Car To Go -----

Over the weekend, while on the highway ramps, there appeared a large parking area filled with blue smart cars, almost looking like a scene from a futuristic movie of cloned soldiers. When the name, Car to Go, appeared within my viewpoint, I suddenly realized what they were since i heard this kind of program starting in other cities around the world. Like the Bixi bikes, this is for automobiles. Looking around the website, car2go.com, I'm finding this program more and more interesting and meets my needs when I suddenly need to go, say, the South Shore or Laval where bmw isn't convenient or slightly too costly for round-trips. The future is looking bright and friendly.

How it works:
Pay for a one time cost for a membership. It doesn't start charging you until you swipe your card in front of the windshield, which will unlock the car. As you get in, the keys are located next to the touch screen. Money is charged as soon as you start the engine. Prices are varied between minutes, hours and day. Pretty cool.

----- British Airways and VisitBritain - A Big British Flashmob -----

Hehe such a clever marketing campaign.

----- Screen Print Goodies -----

 

Crispin Finn is a duo of creatives who work solely in blue and red and white. Illustrations, prints, homewares are their repertoires. Love, love, love. There are so much screenprinting glory that makes me tear up.

----- Taking Instant to a New Level -----

Ah! Technology you're killing me. What can you not do these days?

For any Moleskin snobs such as I, this will make the perfect gift for a loved one or for oneself. Moleskin gives you the chance to customize your cherished notebook or sketchbook (photo books are available as well) to your liking. By adding your favourite filtered photos, you instantly become your own editor-in-chief, art directer, photographer, and audience. I must say, I may create one for Christmas.





Check out: http://moleskine.milkbooks.com

 ----- A Clubhouse For Freelancing Creative Professionals In New York City -----

"[...] is for people to stop working from their kitchen table and join a creative community". Awesome.


A Clubhouse For Freelancing Creative Professionals In New York City

----- Age -----

Since I can remember, I'm obsessed at the science of aging and the psychology of aging. The characteristics and flaws that come with each number adds emotional pressure, which is unique to each of one of us. I recall, and my mom corroborates, being a young child and constantly counting our ages into the future (if my old sister is 30, I'd be 20 or if I'm 25, my youngest cousin will be 16). Being a curious person, I always imagined what that age would feel like. So when I watched this 4 minute video of a single person who's aging process was created by animators and special computer effects, it puts me at the spot again, imagining how I will look 20 years from now. This video artwork gravitates your attention and holds it, it is so subtle but astonishing, exactly what aging does. Sometimes you forget what you use to look like or maybe you only remember looking the same way for a long time until someone points out an old picture and realizing the subtle changes.

; )

Yeah—WHAT?! CJ Hendry black ink photorealism drawings

----- Conveying a Smart Idea -----

Toyama Kitokito Airport have been saving little in between wait time at the airport luggage claim. Squeezing advertising in between your luggage, abeit knowing how annoyingly bombarding ads can be, is as fresh as it can be like the sashimi it's advertising for the restaurant shown below.

----- Let's Eat not Design -----

Long time no write readers (silent applause). It's okay, I made you a dish to replenish your taste buds for your mind, and stomach. I've come to a point where I ran out of things to write, and because summer facilitates the laziness so well. Anyway, less design and more eating in this post today. I conjured up a delightful dish of pasta with ingredients I already had in stock.

Cooking is like designing. First, you brainstorm what to make and what you have in hand to work with. Second, you start executing the concept and process. Third, the finish and presentation. I opened my fridge I found goat cheese, Italian sausages, fresh basil, red onion and some tomatoes. Then the penne from my pantry, and here is how they met each other:

- 2 medium tomatoes — diced

- 3 sun-dried tomatoes — sliced into thin stripes

- half red onion — diced

- 1/4 cup of basil — chopped

- 2 gloves of garlic — chopped

- 1 Italian sausage (hot or mild)

- goat cheese

- 2 cups of Penne -

- tsp. of dried oregano 

- tbsp of red wine

- 2 tbsp of cooking oil

- black pepper and salt

1. Boil water at medium heat, add salt and pasta; stir occasionally. Ready when its al dente. Drain and set aside. (save pasta water if your sauce needs it)

2. Meanwhile at the same time, prep all the ingredients. Peel the skin off the sausage by making a short incision. Next, roll the meat into gumball sized meatballs. 

3. Heat pan with oil. Add garlic, onion, sun-dried tomatoes until lightly browned. Put tomatoes and red wine, and oregano;  stir for 30 seconds. Add sausages. 

4. Once the sausages are cooked (they will feel firm), season to taste with pepper and salt. Stir in a tablespoon full of goat cheese; it helps thicken the sauce.

5. Add the penne; sprinkle basil and mix until all ingredients are well blended. 

6. Garnish with goat cheese and basil.

7. Done.

Italians and Chinese are quite similar. They're loud when they're angry—and happy. Adult children are still acceptable to live with their parents. Family is large and important; weddings go big or nothing at all, and we love our food; it's always about the food. Which is why both cultures share similar taste buds. Sometimes a risotto is 2 cups of water away from being congee; our noodles are pasta's grandparents; cannoli is sexed up egg roll. See the similarities? The point is pasta can be dressed up like a congee or a plate of lo mein; it's just the foundation, you can dress it up any way you want.

Buon Appetito! 食飯啦...!! (how my family howls dinnertime )

These are not four different pictures...

If only I was in London at this moment.

photographer bela borsodi

----- Baguette -----

Another fantastic useless thing.

reminder for keys, wallets, tickets, bills

----- Piotrowski Sandwich Book -----

Ridiculously useless but ridiculously awesome. Brilliant piece that reminds me of livre d'objet.

Even though it is just a fish, this koi had a lot of history with us. First it came from Toronto, surviving a 6 hour bumpy car ride in an air filled bag. I was 14/15 years old at the time, so it's been with us more than 10 years. I never gave it a name, I never do with all the fish I had, seemed meaningless. But only until I was older I started calling it Old Man because he survived through all the deaths and sickness of his companions. In recent years, he became slower and less hungry, I even saved his life a few times (salt really cures fish--no pun intended). I felt bad for him when his eye sight worsened; I would drop food strategically in his view but he had trouble getting to it. His companion would dart towards his food and eat them before he could. I learnt to separate the feeding into opposite sides. Call me crazy but I would mumble a silent support to Old Man to quickly get his food before Mr.Speedy steals it. This weekend after cleaning the tank, I noticed a red rash/streak over his bladder area, a little concern so I tried a salt bath with air bubbles treatment; Old Man seemed happier and livelier, maybe that was his "last hurrah". It's crazy and incredible how Old Man lost all his yellow and orange colour when he died; nature is incredible. I will miss his quiet Old Man nature whenever I pass by, staring at me while his friend in the background is swimming around like it has some place to go, but not Old Man, he looked wise and unfazed by the fool his friend is; almost giving me a hopeless stare. I owned a good handful of fish in my lifetime, Old Man and his late partner will be the most memorable ones.

----- Holy Batman! -----

Hyper-realistic sculptures depicting ordinary intimate moments of human emotions and interaction. The genius and unbelievably dexterous human is named Ron Mueck.

WTF.

----- IBM -----

If only more advertising were this handy and useful. Brilliant concept and execution, not only does it benefit the company, it simultaneously transform a space into an interactive artwork.

----- Turkey -----

Having the fortunate opportunity to visit Istanbul, Turkey, two years ago, it became one of my most memorable experience to date in my short travel timeline. Fast forward to current date, I am sadden to learn about the events happening there now; citizens who are simply passionate about preserving a piece of public land are eradicated violently for protesting against the construction of a future mall that will be bulldozed at the site. How does this case justify for the police brutality? This gesture for protecting the environment and conserving valuable land from becoming another capitalist opportunism is something rarely seen and acted in this world. So to see ordinary people being banished by having them tear-gas and tents burnt sends another disappointment to my heart. During my short travel across Turkey and in particular Istanbul, I have never felt as welcomed and safe throughout my Europe backpacking trip than there. To witness the images and reports makes me think otherwise.

----- NYC Thirteen -----

This year's New York trip marked my first return to the city when it wasn't covered in snow or requiring me to put my winter gear on, and boy it surely was nice; however rain did shower us generously. Nothing is more synonymous with the Big Apple than shopping, walking and eating. I walked till I limped on my second day; not sure if I really shopped, just really bought; went to the ones on my list, pop into spontaneous ones and called it a day. From staying in the Upper East Side to exploring the tip of Brooklyn to checking out street fairs, this trip was cool and relaxing as a cucumber on your eye. The picture below marks the most interesting purchases (sigh I spent so much).

1. Uniqlo always carry good graphic tee shirts, just not for women, in my opinion. I shopped at the Men Section and purchased the Jean Michel Basquiat Tee.
2. Pikolinos Pop Up store in Meat Packing District, where they lured me in for a free bracelet and mysteriously I came out with a pair of sandals. Pikolinos: The Maasai Collection is a sustainable project where the Maasai tribal women in Kenya hand embroider the designs then shipped back to the HQ. All proceeds go back to the tribe to sustain their culture and lifestyle. Pikolinos is environmentally and socially conscious brand of comfort shoes.
3. Chelsea Market: The Filling Station, is exactly that. You fill up your reusable bottle with their olive oils or vinegar and salt.
4. Stumptown Roasters Brooklyn: i once stayed in the same building as the cafe and really liked their coffee.
5. Mint M&Ms. Bring. Them. Up North.
6. Walked by a Myers of Keswick selling UK products: Walkers Crisps! 
7. Sigh I swear i thought I would stay away from Time Sq. but followed cousin to M&M store where I made an overprice purchase of personalized M&Ms.
8. Trader's Joe: Preserve toothbrush, finish and mail back (with paid postage) to the company.
9. M&Ms in cool colors.
10. Footsie, finally found those socks that make you look barefoot.
11. Brooklyn, Wisconsin.

Check:

http://maasai.pikolinos.com/project/

http://www.thefillingstationnyc.com/

http://stumptowncoffee.com/

http://www.preserveproducts.com/

soon.

be eating.

be seeing.

be walking.

be crazy.

----- Google Celebrates Saul Bass's 93rd Birthday -----

one of my fav designers.

love you google.

----- "We Press Play. Don't Press Pause" -----

Initially "Thift Shop" didn't quite move me, nor did it catch my attention, abeit Macklemore and Ryan Lewis giant step away from accustomed, over-recycled hip hop crap of the current age, Same Love  definitely won me over (perhaps until i preview their whole album). If this beat doesn't pull you in, the words most irrevocably will. And his awkward vintage shirt is cute. Preach.

----- ManilaMac -----

www.manilamac.com

WANT.