On the Eve of My First Father's Day

Photo by my lovely wife. She's awesome.

I'll be frank: getting to spend more time with my son this year has been the highlight of a rather shittastic 2011. The surprised and happy look he gives me when I come downstairs in the morning makes me feel like every day is The Dad Show. No drug can replicate that.
However, if someone were to create a drug capable of such a thing, they'd make a killing.

I won't make any bones about this, either: I'm a better dad than my own. Mine SUCKS. He's an ignorant, sexist, philandering Neanderthal. The best thing he did for me, other than donate DNA, was provide an apex example of what a dad shouldn't be. In some way, I should be thankful for that, but I'm hard pressed to give him credit for anything. Can you blame me?

"Stop being baby daddies, and be fathers..."
– "Why", Fashawn

PechaKucha Night Vol. 6

Photos by Adrian J. K. Shum. Nice work, dude!

Last Thursday, I had the honor of being part of the sixth event of Winnipeg's PechaKucha Night. If you're unfamiliar with the concept and origin of PechaKucha, this right here will get you up to speed.
I spoke on the topic of procrastination, which ended up being rather cathartic for me.

Dribbblin'

That's right, I'm now a Dribbble member. My friend Neil had a few invites available, and I was like, "well, why not?" So far, no regrets. In fact, I feel reinvigorated creatively. There's something about this combo of social media/Flickr/Twitter/show and tell that is pushing me to actually do stuff. Not gonna look this gift horse in the mouth.

I'm not sure how I found out about Dribbble, but I'm betting it was through Twitter. Upon arriving at the site, I was puzzled as to what it was about, as every picture uploaded was no bigger than 400 x 300, and either a fragment of a finished project, or an element of an unfinished one. And, to be truthful...I thought a lot of people were biting Frank Chimero.

With that said, I wasn't about to totally dismiss Dribbble. I learned my lesson with Twitter and Tumblr, both of which I now use avidly. I think I turned a corner on Dribbble due to an episode of The Freelance Radio Show, where panelist Von Glitschka mentioned that he was user of the site. That was good enough for me!

As I was saying, I've got a renewed vigor goin' here, and if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna work on something I made some notes on.

The Artist Formerly Known as Sixtoo

While adding some songs to a playlist on CBC Radio 3's site, I thought to myself, "what the hell has Sixtoo been up to?" I knew his musical focus had switched, but I didn't know much else. It turns out he now runs a gallery and a creative agency (here's their Vimeo page), in addition to touring as Prison Garde. To be blunt, I think that's pretty fucking cool.

Above is the first installment of a series of Red Bull Music Academy tour videos, where Prison Garde and his cohorts jetted across the land to bring beats to the clubs. I recognized the Winnipeg Airport baggage pick-up area right away, and was immediately bummed that I missed their Peg City stop. Oh, well...can't see 'em all! I do love the shot of Portage and Main in this thing, by the way.

   PRISONGARDE TOKYOBULLITTRAIN by prisongarde

Best of the Super Jr. XVIII

I'm pretty excited for this year's tournament. Since New Japan started their own YouTube channel, we've been able to watch the action unfold on an almost daily basis. Participating again is Winnipeg's own Kenny Omega, who is bound to entertain and amaze the New Japan fans yet again.

Death By Popcorn

 

There's still much speculation about what's gonna go down with the Atlanta franchise. In the meantime, let's watch this film that satirically documents the last days of the Jets. L'Atelier National du Manitoba are the cultural archivists behind this.

So, the Jets are back.

Maybe. It's not official yet. Right now, the faithful are at Portage and Main, having a good ol' time and diverting buses. Apparently, an announcement may be made on Tuesday.
If the Thrashers relocate to Peg City, cool. I can't get mad at NHL hockey. I'm just tired of my fellow denizens getting jerked around. Well, my fingers are crossed.

The other question on people's minds should be: what are they gonna name 'em? Will the Jets monicker be slapped on 'em? Or will they still be the Thrashers? Also: will we see a brand new logo emerge, and will it get reviewed by Armin Vit?

(cross-posted at Mr. Lorde Should Be Drawing)

Getting Back On That Horse

Mameshiba merch at Tokyu Hands – May 11th, 2009.

I've posted barely a fraction of my 2009 Japan photos. I'm attempting to make up for that (to myself, really) by posting 10 or more of them whenever I can. I've been dying to go back since the day I left, so this is my way of prolonging the magic.

The Therapeutic Power of Live Music

Top: The Sadies at WECC, February 11th, 2011. Bottom: Kid Koala at WECC, April 21st, 2011.

The shows pictured above got me out of some emotionally rough spots recently. I could use another live music prescription right about now.

The Best Twitter @Mention I've Ever Received

Aaron Draplin knows how to put a smile on this dude's face. Now, go buy some of his bad-ass merch already.