SNEEZE mag

Vancouver gained big in the street cred department with my newest discovery: SNEEZE magazine. There are only three cities in the world where you can buy this broadsheet-style (read: BIG) skate magazine from a coin box: Honolulu, New York City, and Vancouver.

SNEEZE includes big, loud photos and artwork, and is written in English and Japanese.

I found it at Abbott and Water. Only $2.

The goal is to create a destination for the reader by having one box per city in a select location -- like a flagship store. We want to grow with you city by city, issue by issue. Having a box on the street not only differentiates us from the rest, but just makes Sneeze more carefree since nowadays magazines are all about over production. The newspaper format is raw and it complements our coverage since underneath Sneeze is ultimately a skateboard mag. And obviously because the box is on the street, our publication can be accessed 24-7 by anyone at any time.

Bees always remind me Irving Penn's "Bee on Lips" (1995). There was one buzzing in my room for five days or so, struggling to get out of the space between my blinds and the windows. Today, I captured it in a cup with the help of a wooden sculpture of the Empire State building (as a plank and a nudge in the right direction) and released it outside, where it took flight like the fresh air was a magic tonic.

Wallflower

"Vogue Patterns" by Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia, 2007
via booooooom
see the entire editorial at foto_decadent

Accidents Happen (sorry, little guy)

"The Accident" (2008) -- Jeremy Hatch is a ceramicist and sculptor who holds a BFA from Emily Carr Institute and an MFA at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He has attended residencies and exhibited his work throughout Canada and the United States. Jeremy currently employs a ceramic process of slip-casting porcelain to produce large unglazed sculptural installations. He has expanded his material investigations to incorporate rubber, plastic and fiberglass into his ceramic work. Hatch was the recipient of British Columbia’s 2005 Visual Arts Development Awards.

Take a look at Canadian Design past and present at The Canadian Design Resource

That's right, I just saw Adventureland

Here's some music to set the mood... Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes

Kudos, Geist

With issue 72, Geist switches to vegetable-based inks and eco-friendly paper: 40 percent post-consumer fibre inside and 100 percent post-consumer fibre for the cover.

They’re marking the occasion with a new logo and cover design by Steffen Quong, with art created by Rebecca Dolen, featuring several styles and weights of the Bodoni and Nobel font families and the issue number set in Blender. Steffen Quong is a freelance designer in Vancouver, and Rebecca Dolen is an artist and co-proprietor of the Regional Assembly of Text.

The most beautiful set of books I have ever had the pleasure of researching from

Thoughts on Bill O'Reilly and Squeaky the Chicago Mouse

"Did you [Bill O'Reilly] really say you are more powerful than any politician?

"That reminds me of the famous story about Squeaky the Chicago Mouse. It seems that Squeaky was floating on his back along the Chicago River one day. Approaching the Michigan Avenue lift bridge, he called out: Raise the bridge! I have an erection!" "

--Roger Ebert

Ol' Fashioned Innovation at Esquire

Take a look at the May 2009 cover of Esquire US



via MagCulture

Goodbye Maxim

Lads' mag sales have been plummeting for a while now, and it's hard to mourn the losses. The mistake would be to think that the decline of these magazines reflects a decline in misogyny. It's likely readers are migrating online, where they can find much more hardcore material, much more cheaply.

--Kira Cochrane, The Guardian

In related news from The Guardian:
* Maxim closes UK print edition: Dennis Publishing title to go online only from next month, putting 12 jobs at risk
* Maxim is dead. Have men stopped reading magazines?
* Men's monthly magazine Arena to cease printing after 22 years

"It is very rude to take close-ups and, except
when enraged, we don't:
lovers apporaching to kiss,
instictively shut their eyes before their faces
can be reduced to
anatomical data."

WH AUDEN, 'I AM NOT A CAMERA'

Dirty Secrets: TIMES Online

The Times Online reads like a sociological freak show. Indulge your voyeuristic curiosity by reading the sensational life and style section. Today's headlines include:

* Family secrets: I hoped bulimia would make me beautiful
* I had sex with my brother but I don't feel guilty
* Why happy couples are moving to separate beds
* I'm not too young to say 'I do'

"One thing that Vancouver has been particularly adept at doing is obliterating it's own history."

--Reid Shier, director of Presentation House Gallery, in "Nostalgic poster exhibit revisits Expo 86," Vancouver Courier

The global financial crisis pushes the environment off the front cover of Vanity Fair. Say goodbye to the "Green issue."

20-Year High School Reunion

REUNITE! REUNITE!

Can you believe it?

The CBC Radio 3 Podcast is four years old! Today, Grant Lawrence released the 200TH PODCAST with new tracks from Metric, Arcade Fire, Joel Plaskett, MSTRKRFT, Handsome Furs, plus Super 90 Second Egg, Canadian Dictionary, and Failed Features.

Right click and save this. Happy listening !

Waxin' and Milkin'

So long as I have fingers, I will keep scrolling Waxin' & Milkin', a "visual mixtape" (the most ingenious and successful idea I have seen in a while).

*Now with never ending pages! Keep scrolling until infinity!

Just Sayin'

Can the press please stop talking about Michelle Obama's fashion and beauty?
As Lexington puts it, "It would be good to hear a bit more about what Mrs Obama thinks and a lot less about what she wears."[from "The Other Obama: Let Michelle be Michelle", The Economist]

There's also an interesting story behind the blog post image above. Read more about it here.

Another Magazine goes digital

The fantastically creative and original Another Magazine has appeared in many forms on the newsstands. It's consistently hard to find because it seems to be redesigned every few months. But now you can read it online for free; yes, that's all 300+ pages of art-y, fashion-y glory — ads included. Just enter your email address here for access.

Also available are AnotherMan and the AnotherMan Style Guide.