Best Dressed at the Emmy Awards

The 61st Emmy Awards were last night and, agree or disagree, these are my choices for BEST dressed:

Some hated but I loved Leighton Meester in this white goddess gown, Gossip Girl, Bottega VenetaLovely Ladies in Purple
Lindsay Price, Eastwick, J. Mendel

Mary-Louise Parker and her killer gams, Weeds, Zac Posen Mila Kunis looking stunning in wine, Family Guy, Monique Lhuillier Perry Reeves, Entourage, Naeem Khan
Chloe Sevigny always does something different, Big Love, Issac Mizrahi
January Jones, Mad Men, Versace Jennifer Carpenter with a Jessica Rabbit silhouette, Dexter, Zuhair Murad And the best looking award goes to Hunter Parrish of course, Weeds, who cares they would look better on the floor anyway

Step 2 buy a canoe

So golden! I know that you wanna be Canadian.

I've reason to believe we all will be recived in Graceland

One of my favourite childhood songs, Graceland by Paul Simon.

Diez Vistas would be the death of me

So yesterday Alexa(sooo freaking happy your home) and I went to Buntzen Lake for a hike. We pretty much killed ourselves doing the Diez Vista trail and then today I find out we didn't even touch a chunk of it. All in all the trail is 6-8 hours return and 7 km one way. We did the first mountain and I was ready to pass out or keel over so we chilled for a bit at the top and then headed back down. We thought the way we took up was brutal cause it goes up for what seems like forever, keeps twisting and turning, and around every bend theres more uphill, but then we took the way back down under the power lines. I never suggest going up using that path. It's basically a cliff that you scale down winding back and forth. I slipped several times, falling only once, luckily only on the path and not off the edge. The trail is also quite overgrown and had it not been for the stick we were using, we would still have spiders in our hair. Even though I really felt like death during the hike, afterwards I felt like a million bucks and we went for a nice swim on the dock which was perfect.

In other news I just got back from a week of mayhem in Osoyoos with Tara and two wonderful world travelers have come back to the COQ. Osoyoos was a complete gong show, as always, it was great to see old friends and great to meet new ones. We floated tons and got suuuper dark, which is always lovely. The only down fall of the week was that my parents came up Sunday(Tara and I drove up Saturday) and brought the boat but never put it in the water. The poor girl had to sit on the side of the road all week! WTF guys put the freaking boat in if your going to bring it up! So that was super depressing but we still managed to party on.

Theres only one thing that could possibly make me leave Oso a day early and it's the arrival of Alexa Lupul in Vancouver after 7 months in New Zealand. To make things even better she brought Kris home with her and to be honest I thought he caught the world travel bug and we'd never seen him again. There's really something special about seeing the world. It opens your mind up to new ways of life and new ways of being that were never even a thought in your head. I couldn't be happier that more and more of my friends are getting opportunities to experience this. There's a little sparkle that they bring back in their eyes and it's the sparkle of adventure and wanting to go do and experience more.

Sadly Summer is winding down so lets make the most of whats left of it! Grab your friends, some beers, and get your ass near the water.

Peace xox

You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself

It's finally here! Or well it will be March 2010! Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland will surely blow the 1950's Disney one right out of the water. That's not to say that the older one isn't a classic and one of my favorite movies but it's definitely time for an update. The cast is pretty much stocked with the weird, beautiful, and talented including Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Alan Rickman(Professor Snape) as the Caterpillar, Helena Bonhom Carter(Tim Burtons wonderfully strange wife, Bellatrix Lestrange) as the Red Queen (aka the Queen of Hearts?), Anne Hathaway as The White Queen (didn't know there was one), and a bunch of others I've never heard of, such as Mia Wasikowska playing Alice herself. The trailer looks amazing and I really can't wait for the movie to come out. Thank god Alexa will be home by then because I don't think I could drag myself to see it with out her. One year for Halloween I really REALLY want to go as the cast of Alice in Wonderland or well as many characters as we can get people to be. The only problem for me is I can't decide between the Mad Hatter (which I almost was for Halloween last year after finding this emerald green iridescent silk puffy sleeved jacket at VV) and Tweedle Dee and Dum! I'm kinda super obsessed with getting top notch Halloween costumes and already have visions of how great those two costumes could be. I also really want to go as the characters from Clue one year (aka next year Im here), with myself as Mrs. White, Alexa as Mrs. Peacock, and Tara as Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard and Mr. Green are pretty much up in the air at this point though so we'll have to see. Anyways the sun is shining and it's a scorcher today so I best get out there and enjoy it before the sun goes down!
Peace xox

Bettina Rheims

Bettina Rheims is a pretty wicked photographer. Her work is provocative without being trashy, sexy without being sleazy. It's playful, seductive, beautiful, and artistic. She shoots women from a woman's perspective and is able to draw out this raw sexuality in her photographs without making her models look like skanks. Rheims prefers to shoot celebrities but over the years she has approached hundreds of women on the streets asking if she can photograph them and of course most of them agreed. You can see she uses a lot of bold colours in her photos, mostly reds and black with a lot of flesh tones and gold. As the daughter of a french artist (her mother was a member of the French Academy, a big deal in the art world) and a photographer, Rheims was immersed into the arts her whole life. She began working as a model but at age 26 switched over to photography. Her work is documented in several books such as The Book Of Olga (which is $850!!) and Chambre Close. I would love to have my photo taken by Rheims one day, maybe if I go wander the streets of Paris I have a slight chance!
Peace xox

Coco Avant Chanel

"How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but someone." -Chanel

Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel has been one of my idols pretty much since I learnt who she was. I could quote Chanel all day for she was an extremely talented woman with a brilliant mind. She was given the nickname Coco during her brief career as a cafe and concert singer and it stuck with her. She revolutionized women's wardrobes in the 1920's with her signature cardigan jacket in 1925 and, every girls staple, the Little Black Dress or LBD in 1926. She is also known for her perfume Chanel No. 5 which was created in a little town in the south of France called Grasse that I was lucky enough visit and even make my own perfume there. The movie trailer above is a new film made about the life of Chanel. It's in French, of course, but the hope is for it to show with English subtitles at a theater close by! Enjoy the sun today and I'll finish off with another quote from the extraordinary Coco Chanel.
Peace xox

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” - Chanel

Brody's back!

Thought I would share the music video from Brody Dalle's new band Spinnerette. So here is Ghetto Love, great track for the Summer. Enjoy!

I love my friends

I would like to announce that this is the Summer of Love, even though I don't really need to 'cause I know you're already feelin it. The weather has been amazing and it's pretty much been one of the best Summer's ever and "Summer" hasn't even started yet. This is why, and I hate to be the one to say it, we really need to be careful. It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt and sadly thats already happened. I don't mean for this to be a downer post or anything. My point is simple: I love all my friends to bits and can't wait to play hard this Summer, we just need to stay safe. That is all and I hope everyone is out there taking advantage of this gorgeous weather we've been given.
Peace xox

Artwork of the day!

Another artist from the Three Piece Show, Tiffany May. Couldn't find the title but check out her site.

Child of the ADD era

On Wednesday night Jenny and I went to check out a Three Piece Show at Box Studios down on Franklin Street. The show was awesome and really made me long for the days when I can afford to buy my own art. There were a lot of really captivating works there by a variety of artists showing painting, mixed media, and photography. One of the artists that really caught my eye was Nathan Gowsell. He contributed this lovely triptych, shown above, and my heart melted when I saw it. I don't know what it is, probably the combination of the colours, use of nature, and crazy shapes and patterns, that reminds me of Alexa(wish you could have been there!) So I decided to check out more of Gowsell's work when I got home and it's really great. Check out his website for future shows and a closer looks at more of his works!

Peace xox

WTF C-15?

A little while ago I sent an email to the government through whyprohibition.ca. Now they are looking for support in stopping bill C-15 from passing. Please click on this link and send off an email of your own. On the site you can learn more about what C-15 is and why it's not something anyone will benefit from. Here is a copy of the email being sent off, it pretty much states all the arguments against C-15 and why it's such a shitty idea.

'Bill C-15 is a dangerous and radical change in Canadian drug policy that will further enrich gangsters, create more violence on our streets and assuredly fail to reduce either the demand for, or the availability of, drugs in our society.
This statement may seem bold. But it is backed by the preponderance of available science. Comprehensive studies published by the Senate of Canada, the Canadian Department of Justice, the European Commission, the US Congressional Research Service, the Fraser Institute, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Rand Corporation all support the view that mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offences are useless at best. At worst, these policies will increase the dangers associated with the drug markets and, therefore, the chaos created on our streets.
The types of mandatory sentences contained in Bill C-15 have been utter failures in the United States. There is no evidence that harsher penalties affect drug use rates or the supply of drugs on the streets. Nor do such sentences appear to deter prohibition-related violence. Instead of seeing success from its mandatory sentencing policies, the United States has become the world's largest jailer with 1 in every 99 adults in custody. The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prisoners. Many of those persons are serving time for non-violent drug offences. Bottom line: the United States has some of the harshest sentencing regimes in the non-totalitarian world while also suffering from the highest rates of drug use, the highest violent crime rates and the richest, most powerful gangs. Instead of serving a positive purpose, Bill C-15 will increase the power of organized crime and the violence associated with the illegal drug markets.
Indeed, the very idea of mandatory minimum sentences relies on assumptions that are simply false. There is no evidence of any deterrent effect on organized criminals: these people are already willing to risk arrest, prosecution, incarceration and, indeed, a violent death from other criminals in order to make the huge profits associated with high-level drug trafficking. There is no evidence of deterrent effect on street-level dealers: these people are often addicted to the substances they sell and commit the crime out desperation driving by their addiction to very expensive drugs. Worse, while Bill C-15 purports to target "serious" drug offences, its terms apply to even very minor offences such as growing a single marijuana plant. This helps no one in our society.
Increasing the risk (harsher sentences) associated with a behaviour (drug crime) only prevents that behaviour so long as the benefit (profit) stays the same. In the case of drug sales, harsher sentencing may increase the street price and therefore the profit of dealing drugs. This phenomenon of prohibition guarantees that the supply of individuals who will commit these crimes is virtually unlimited.
The drug wars in Mexico and Vancouver only serve to exemplify these issues. Latin America generally, and Mexico specifically, have been the focus of intense interdiction efforts for decades, yet cocaine is still as available as ever. What has changed is simply that drug lords now control vast swaths of territory. Afghanistan is another example: despite a massive military presence, the supply and availability of opium is at record levels, while organized criminals (working for or with the Taliban) control more of the country every year.
Indeed, the evidence is that the prohibition of drugs has been a complete and total failure. Drugs are as available today as they have ever been. Drug use is higher in countries that have harsher sentences and penalties, and lower in countries without such penalties. The only real effect of increasing penalties is increasing prison populations and levels of violence on the streets.
Our teenagers report that it is easier to access illegal substances such as marijuana than regulated substances such as tobacco or alcohol. Why? Because alcohol and tobacco stores (usually) check ID and drug dealers never do. Teenage tobacco smoking rates have decreased due to effective regulation and education, while at the same time teenage marijuana smoking rates have increased because of no regulation and misleading education.
If you vote for C-15 you are guaranteeing higher profits for gangs, more violence on our streets, unregulated access by teenagers, and the continued supply and availability of drugs. Bill C-15 is a step in the wrong direction. Ironically, it comes just as the United States is amending and repealing many of that country's mandatory sentencing regimes. Bill C-15 is not a solution to the problems caused by the prohibition markets.
On the other hand, it is possible to take steps to reduce instead of increase the influence and power of organized crime. A good first step would be to tax and regulate marijuana. Doing so would create tax revenues for government, cause a massive decrease in profits for organized criminal groups, and result in savings to society and government of billions annually. A further benefit would be the regulation of a currently unregulated marketplace, complete with age limits and reasonable time, place and manner restrictions.
Currently, marijuana offences comprise more than three-quarters of all drug crimes. This drains police resources that are better spent elsewhere. Under a regulated market, police would have resources freed up to investigate violent crimes and property offences. This benefits us all. Bill C-15 does nothing to address this problem. Indeed, it makes it worse.
Passing C-15 would be costly and dangerous to Canadians and Canadian society. There is no research or experience that demonstrates this legislation will do anything else. I urge you to prevent the passage of this bill by whatever means possible. Don't endanger Canadians. Don't vote for C-15.'

Hope you take the time to read the full email and send off one of your own.
Peace xox

Artwork(s) of the Day!

Photos by Robert Mapplethorpe an artist known for pushing the boundaries of censorship. I'll try to keep the pictures PG but if you want to see photos of people shoving things up their asses give him a google. Above image: Lisa Lyon, 1982 Bottom image: Lisa Lyon with Snake.

"I went into photography because it seemed like the perfect vehicle for commenting on the madness of today's existence." -Robert Mapplethorpe

This songs about me being really drunk and not knowing where to sleep tonight.

Ida Maria singing Louie, such a cute song!

Artwork of the day!

Keith Haring, Statue of Liberty, 1980, Felt-tip Pen and Dayglo on Fiberglass

Who would you rather be The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?

Metric's new album Fantasies hit early 2009 and I must say it is excellent. Some of my fave songs include Stadium Love, Sick Muse, Help I'm Alive, and Gimme Sympathy. I really thought that Help I'm Alive was going to be their first single but they threw a curve ball and put out Gimme Sympathy. I love the video, great editing. Pretty sure Emily can actually play all the other instuments she gets around to and I just find that so impressive. Great lyrics in this song, I love the line 'Common baby play me something, like Here comes the Sun'. Ahh soo good, here's the video. Enjoy kids!

Peace xox

Tis the season

Camping season is finally upon us! I hope everyone is taking advantage of the beautiful weather out there, I know I am. On Friday, myself and four strapping young men, there was of course a fifth but he came and left so fuck him, made our way over to Twin Islands for the first Twins trip of the year. It felt great to get the first one under our belt. For once I didn't bring my 10 man tent so I had quite a small load compared to past trips. We had two 4 man tents which I was shocked to see up in no time at all (usually everyone is too gooned by the time we get there that I have a really hard time getting anyone to help with the tent). The boys brought up two pellet guns and at first I was a little uneasy because I didn't want to get hit, but once I learned how to properly shoot the damn things I was addicted. When we first got there I was betting that I was probably the worst shot on the island(we had the island to ourselves) and my first two shots proved me right. Then I decided it might be a good idea to actually learn to aim and that changed everything. I hit pretty well all my targets first try except this one damn can, but no one was able to hit it. We made a rule that once your done a beer you have to go put it in the forest as a target for later. I feel bad for anyone who camped in that spot after us because theres no way in hell we got all the cans from around the site. My legs were in pretty rough shape after our Harrison shit show and now they are probably 100 times worse, I bruise like a banana, but it was totally worth it! My only wishes for the trip that could have made it better were if Tara was there and I actually got to see the girl on her birthday, or Alexa, Jen, Rom, or Sarah were able to come.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish Tara a VERY VERY Happy Belated Birthday! I know were going to celebrate in a few weeks but it feels fucking weird to let it pass by and do nothing about it, I mean you did turn 21! Don't know what I'd do with out you by my side, you're the best friend a girl could ask for, thanks a million! Wish I could include the picture of us when we wore matching outfits to the Charlotte Diamond concert but I have no idea where it is and thats probably for the best.

Peace xox

P.S A tip to all the boys out there with guns. If a girl is complaining about you bringing it around on trips any what not, teach her to shoot, I guarantee she'll shut right up.

Out of this world

Probably one of the reasons I can't bring myself to try and make it as an artist is Damon Soule. To be honest I would rather spend my days surrounded by the works of artists like him than sit there and try to do my own shit. To have half of his talent would be unreal and that's not to say that there isn't a shitload of hard work that goes into developing those skills as well. On his website there are two t-shirts with prints of his work that I would kill for and some actual prints, anyone is allowed to suprise me and order me either, I won't complain. You need to click on the pictures to see them bigger it's the only way you can appreciate how amazing they really are. Great use of colour in the top one which also pays homage to Dali's Surrealism and the bottom is so morbid yet the cutest thing in the world.

Hope everyone had a great May long weeeked, I know mine was a complete gong show.

Peace xox

Wild beasts of art

The Fauvism movement is probably one of the shortest art movements of the 20th century lasting only from 1905-1907 but that doesn't mean it's any less kick ass. Les Fauves, translated means wild beasts in French, were a group of artists from Paris who liberated colour from it's descriptive function for expressive and structural use. Henri Matisse and Andre Derian are probably two of the most well known fauves but of course there are many others. I love this movement because of it's explosive use of colour and energy in each work. Here are two of my favourites from Les Fauves, the top is Henri Matisse Woman with the Hat and below we have Andre Derian The Dance. Hope you enjoyed the little art history lesson!
Peace xox

My Daddy's got a gun ga- ga- ga- ga- ga

Here's a video of an excellent song by an excellent band, Mother Mother preforming Hayloft. Thank you so much Lex for telling me to download them like forever ago. I couldn't find them at the time but some how managed to just recently and this is just one of the many songs thats making their way onto my playlists. Enjoy!
Peace xox

Why don't you.....

Diana Vreeland, late editor of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, was an incredibly stylish and eccentric woman. She literally invented the word 'pizazz'. One of the things Diana(or Dee-Ann as she pronounced) was known for while at Bazaar was her 'Why Don't You?' columns. Her lists of stylish suggestions were written with the most glamourous women in mind. Some great ones of hers include: Why Don't You.. wear violet velvet mittens with everything? Why Don't You.. have an elk-hide trunk for the back of your car? Hermès of Paris will make this. Why Don't You.. have your cigarettes stamped with a personal insignia? or Why Don't You.. wear, like the Duchess of Kent, three enormous diamond stars arranged in your hair in front? (Right, like we all have three enormous diamond stars lying around) I decided to pay homage to the style icon with my very own list of Why Don't You? so here it goes:
Why Don't You... get off the treadmil or out of the gym and go for a hike?
Why Don't You... make a head band of fresh wild flowers?
Why Don't You... do something outside your comfort zone?
Why Don't You... reunite with an old friend?
Why Don't You... DIY (Do it yourself)?
Why Don't You... read a book?
Why Don't You... go see a live show (music or theater)?
Why Don't You... let go of a grudge?
Why Don't You... listen to some new music (maybe check out some Canadian talent)?
Why Don't You... try and get a tan from the sun instead of a light bulb?
Why Don't You... have a drunken sing-a-long night of one thousand adventures?
Why Don't You... make a list of music you think a friend might like and have them do the same for you?
Why Don't You... book your next trip to go somewhere you've never been before?
Why Don't You... plant something in a public place?
I'm trying to make it through the list myself right now. I've been reuniting with old friends and have a pretty good tan going from the sun. Anyone know a good field full of wild flowers let me know! Belcarra park is covered in cute little daisies but its also covered in goose shit. Here is a video from Canadian band The Arkells. Enjoy!
Peace

Reefer Madness!

Coral reefer madness that is! Some of you may know that I love the ocean, west coast girl all the way, and I also happen to love our local gift, BC bud. Well I could not be more stoked than when I saw Kennaroo combine the best of both worlds in Reefer Madness! These bongs have to be the sickest ones I've ever seen. I would die to own any one of them.. or learn to make my own. I've included a lot of photo's to get the full effect(sorry I couldn't figure out how to make the layout of the small pictures not look like shit). There are some other really amazing glass works on glasspipes.org but one of these caught my mind and I'm just in awe. I think I'm going to need to go and watch Planet Earth now to see some more crazy underwater worlds. I'm craving to go snorkling or scuba diving so badly it's not even funny. Tag, I hope there's good spots to go in Thailand cause I need to go.
Peace xox