Double Future by Sarah Cain

Lessons in ART!

this is my dear friend sarah cain. guess how we became friends? zines..penpals...and here we are..10 - 15 years later.

i love her art. she's a poet.

this is a video of sarah talking about her recent work in zurich. she speaks my language.

it really doesn't take much...

to make my day! all it takes is a BUNNYKINS plate !

(or cup or bowl or eggcup...or!)

i started writing this on elisa rose's facebook wall and then realized i can only multi-task right now so here we go:

i sure do love my new BUNNYKINS plate (replete with 'bath time scene'). awwwwwyea. am about to eat off it in about...five. thanks again, fwend.xo ps have u seen those 'airwick' ads on 'surf the channel'? they're SO BAD. three different scenes of 3 different ladies from different walks of life walking into different rooms of their house and being 'greeted' by the scent of 'airwick'...it's a motion-activated plug-in airfreshener..the afro-american/black* lady says: "Now that's what i'm talkin' about'...UNbelievable.

aside from the lame stereotyping, can u imagine the REEK? probably a hunnerd times worse than FEBREEZE! my most hated thing on planet earth. (sorry people if u like febreeeze. i'm one of those scent nazis...two steps away from posting up posters: can u please stop wearing your cruddy perfume at yoga class or in the office space or on the skytrain or subway? thanks')

(do u know that song 'planet earth' by duran duran? i always have that in my head. NOT to be confused with 'ordinary world'. Duran Duran. @ age 11, i would fantasize that simon lebon was my older brother and john taylor was my ...love interest. sumthing like that. tres embarrassing. 'now that's what i'm talkin about...')

back to bunnykins..i've been eating off those since i was 3!

so elisa rose found one today at valvil in all the halloween insanity. she's got the magic touch! i think ALL of my friends have the magic touch! that includes you! she helped me today w/ my bunnies. i'm sick and rundown from too much working. i never know when to stop. i'm a SLAVE!

speaking of scents..i tried to give elisa a small tub of a lush product that brooke sent me fresh from the plant...it's made with shea butter from their 'friends in ghana'. okay. that's nice...and it's herbal...again. it reeks. she wouldn't even take it..she said, 'throw it out!' and i said, 'it's hard for me throw things away'.

back to multi-tasking...i'm mostly eating pureed soup i've been making from roasted vegetables. i have learned that if i drink it out of the mug i can still work and eat!

xo

yesterday was especially great because i got to see meet of my favourite kinds of dogs

i'm not real
real deal


gimme that dog
nice art
in action. totally hilarious
SCHIPPERKES.

i really love these little Belgian dogs. Maybe they are telling me i need to move to the city of light! Antwerp. I was reminded of that idea while i watched that movie 'away we go' during sew-a-thon...that movie is really sweet somtimes verging on u-know-what but adorable nonetheless. dave eggers had a 50% hand in the writing..with a lady - Vendela Vida - to balance it out. good. there is a super hilarious scene RE 'junk in the trunk'. that jon guy from 'the office'. ya i'll take one of those. (cant believe he's engaged to emily blunt. cant believe she made that 'jane austen book club' movie happen. that movie is horrible & insulting).

in other entertainment news, i saw DESTROYER play a lil while back. that was eye-opening. i've only seen destroyer play in vancouver - where they live. he. so it was just friends standing around. seeing them/him=Dan surrounded by DESTROYER FANS was a whole other thing . i couldnt' believe it. Destroyer Fans are O.O.C. I stood next to two frat boys (baseball hats/ralph lauren dress shirts. sorry to box) singing EVERY SINGLE LYRIC holding up their bottles in salute - boggling my mind. They might as well have been quoting every word of ...'war and peace'...Dan's song lyrics are of the more complex and tailored-word story-song telling..variety. I said later, 'they might as well have been reciting 'The Highwayman' -which is like an 18 stanza epic poem thing i like to reference). i was sneakily trying to get video documentation of the guys next to me singing along. For Evidence. It was too dark. Next time. i could do a whole art project based on this business. I guess bottom line is - i have faith for humanity. Music For Men. Just for fun i yelled out really loud between songs: We Love You Dan!


back to those little dogs. i love those little dogs..they are like a cat a fox and a dog all rolled up into one. they have two layers of fur - the undercoat. One of the breed characteristics is a long ruff that surrounds the neck. They also have longer coat on their hind legs called culottes! their Dutch name means Little Sailor or Little Shepherd. They love to travel by sea. Skipper Keys. There is great debate as to whether it is a SPITZ or a sheepdog. They are small dog and wiki:

The Schipperke is also known as the "little black fox", "Tasmanian black devil" and "little black devil," often because they can be stubborn, mischievous, and headstrong because they are naturally curious and high-energy dogs. Schipperkes are very smart and independent, and sometimes debate listening to owners and doing whatever benefits them the most.

and yes..they bear a striking resemblance to my beloved gone-away cat FRANCES the black manx...born with no tail. docking need not apply.

PS i'm not a fan of tail docking.

PPS AND! i just learned that 'the pie and the patty pan' by beatrix potter is about a one of these dogs!

i hate to say it i no longer believe that love can save the day.

i'm ALL ANGORA ALL THE TIME.
break through: i CAN use lambswool! it doesn't mess up the integrity of the Fierce Bunny...mind you..the lambswool is really only working for the PEEPER size now..visualize a peanut that swelled up to the size of...a twinkie. That's Peeper size.

been 'watching' that HBO show Bored To Death. I'm only listening and treating it like a radio play b/c if i look up from my sewing, i'm wastin' time! and that cannot happen right now. i'm a robot! anyways...listening to Bored To Death and have now developed a crush on JASON SCHWARTZMAN..wt? when did this happen? is this how pathetic...? i always thought he was too twee and goofy & obvious*for my complicated tastes. I'm so OVER THAT. I did glance at the screen once or twice and he was doing something incredibly hilarious (eg killing time - an hour - standing by a tree waiting...doing push-ups against the tree, attempting to climb the tree and 'falling'10 inches, pretending to tie his shoe etc. Pure comedy). That's when it started. a few years ago i was watching extras fr the Marie Antoinette DVD (which i LOVE) and he was doing a fake 'cribs' at Versailles and it was..hilarious. transcendent, basically. kid's a genius.

plus ted danson is on B.T.D...and he's just great. I 'met' him once at this antique store i used to work at. His wife Mary Steenburgen (co-starred in POWDER - world's most hilarious movie) was shopping up a storm - grabbing any 'shabby chic' item she could get her hands on. This crazy store i used to work at in vancouver was called 'salmagundi'. it was like working on an old, old ship. I'd put down my water glass and wouldn't be able to find it for the STUFF everywhere (antiques, toys, junk)...Ted Danson on the bottom floor was TOO MUCH. he's very, very short and very friendly. he was so nice. he said 'hello'. I love Ted Danson*

*plus he's on DAMAGES.

i should really blog more about salmagundi. there was some hilarious sh*t that went down there. mostly with my co-worker DREW SHAFFER. we had 5,000 jokes to keep us going. This included various personas, a fake band called "Bonus" and innumberable sketch comedy pieces with every prop you can imagine at our fingertips. One time i chased a junkie down the street who was trying to steal an antique painting. Actually. I didn't chase anyone. I just called out after him. He put the painting down and walked away.

VOYEUR

Last nite i was up till the wee hours working on THE SELVES, stealing songs off the INTERNET when it occured to me whilst d-loading scout niblett: "by gum, i dont have 'bette davis eyes' in my library" This spawned an hour of KIM CARNES TROLLING. Who knew? My cool mom would crank KC's album VOYEUR. It was played so often the album art was always in view therefore seared into my brain. (We had an excellent stereo system).

(note: i did a very unsuccessful karaoke of 'bette davis eyes' a few weeks ago. I was mad @ myself. It is a challenging song to karaoke (all restraint). Fortunately i killed it later with 'Toxic').

Back to Kim. The real gem I dug up is a song called "Breaking Away From Sanity" which is a low-tempo highly catchy ballad w/ a CHILDRENS CHORUS.

The kids are singing:

I'm breakin' away from sanity
Showin' the ghost inside of me
I'm running away
From you and me
Breakin' away from sanity
Breakin' away from sanity

Unfortunately there is no video for this song but you can hear it here.

There is, however, an excellent video for synth-heavy awesomeness: THIS
If I were to make a video for a song that I liked, I would use elements of this video and then I'd modernize it somehow - even though 'our modern' is pritt-tee lame these days. I'd have to work it through.

Here is VOYEUR. It is truly degraded. It is 1982. It might be a video some random made of a TV screen. A 'screener'. There is also a 'live' version of Kim lip-synching 'Voyeur' wearing a very bad silver outfit and pulling some very bad moves. She's the total poster lady for BLUSHER. ('she knows just what it takes/to make a pro blush'. One of the more quizzical lyrics I know. Oh wait. There's:

I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks

from 'total eclipse of the heart'. Powder keg? What? Classic examples of a songwriting team@ 3 30 A.M. scrambling for a lyric.

Back to VOYEUR. The chorus is SO GOOD. I love it.

Three New Pieces Of Art

Lucas wanted to see the "Boyle" i got for my birthday. It's a pencil sketch study of Michael J. Fox from 1985. Thanks Shareballs! She's up for the Sobey Award this year (canadian art olympics. sort of). So please put your hands together in prayer (and clapping, high fives low fives) for her to win cause she deserves it! lady artists rule the world. it's not a v. good view but u get the gist. u get the gist that i dont hv time. Selena Wong did the tiny delicate gouache bunny!! i love it. it was a birthday gift. i'm very lucky (the blue bunny was uploaded as CMYK.whoops. everything on this computer is getting every image ready for PRINT. regardless, i like blue bunnies. i had a stuffed one as a kid and i left it out in the yard and my dad got mad and ripped the ears off in some fit of rage. hazy. i used to leave my toys out in the yard near my hide-away in a hedge. i made a house in there). Selena's my intern. we have lots of fun! mostly goof off. she's helping me with my book. she's a genius (look at her website!!!). she's helping me with the puzzle. she put one image together the other day - a lil illo of a girl in the rain - kinda holly hob - and Selena placed her (via ye old photoshop) into a jar of honey surrounded by stacks of other honey. i started crying when i saw it. other times i'm crying b/c i'm laughing so hard. she stays up late like i do so we email late at night while we're both parked at the computer.

and a beautiful compass pencil drawing by Alissa Coe. This drawing is v. faint and it is hard to see. apologies to the chef. i will scan it later!! promise.

an incredible tryipdych!

ps my book is killing me at this point. i am sick of my art killing me (of letting it. my fault). i cant even listen to music b/c it's too distracting. i sit in complete silence trying to BOOK it. as in: haul ass b/c it HAS TO END. my brain is in major multi-task overload (cos i'm so good @ it :))*
(get it? END...behind....). that's the probz w/ collage: INFINITE POSSIBILITY.

this is why i'm going back to the yukon. too many distractions. i have a few projects to finish up there. can't wait! so yes. i'm leaving toronto. breaking up is getting easier and easier.

xo
i may be incoherent right now
*PS double brackets/smileys/emoticons/dbl brackets=chin resting upon other chin

(i think that was a pome)

PPS Peeve of the Week: when people say IRREGARDLESS
(actually more like peeve of the decade)

I ALWAYS HAVE THIS IMAGE IN MY HEAD

See that man? I feel like i have that bundle of sticks on my back. i keep wanting to go as him for halloween but i keep forgetting (Read: can't be bothered. Read: dont want to dress up like man, either. Read: I dont like halloween).
i want that sticker.
this song is always the soundtrack.
(probably since i was a teen and i saw the kiefer sutherland/winona ryder movie: 1969 and i went out and bought the tape and drove around listening to it. Nothing has really changed. looking back, unfortunately, the movie is a hunk of junk but it made an impression on my would-like-to-be-late-60s mind-born-the-wrong-time. If i was born at the right time, I'd be a Boomer now. How'd you like them apples? Plus I'd be almost done! PLUS i could start selling off all my properties. Or no. Wait. I'd wait just a lil longer...what was i thinking? giving away all my boomer secrets!


(RE 'vid'. who are these amazing people who sit around all day (@ work . no doubt. The Office) making these PHOTO MONTAGES? In this instance the credit reads: Creative: Coloradream. Ya.
gd. it must take forever. good thing they're getting paid while they're doing it. I tried office work after high school and it just didn't stick. Perhaps i should re-think this. Then I could sit around and make these vidz all day AND get paid!! I bet Creed* from The Office(US) does that).

'can't find my way home' by blind faith is a very good song. i like anything haunted. take up a few notches to a great lyric:

'i'm wasted/and i/can't find my way home'.

And you have a masterpiece.

*Creed. best character and name on TV ever. Favourite expression: "Cool beans!"