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5 Scary Album Covers

2006-12-21T13:50:00.000-05:00

These are just amazing.

We haven't spoken for a while.... so heres a video!

2006-10-18T01:03:00.000-04:00

Fragments of Everyday

2006-09-12T15:36:00.000-04:00

"Fragments of Everyday" is our first solo show, we really hope you will come and celebrate with us! The exhibition will feature many photos from our daily photoblog http://www.istoica.com/everyday.

For more information about our show or the WhipperSnapper Gallery check our their website at http://www.whippersnapper.ca

When: Friday September 15th, 2006 @ 7pm
Where: WhipperSnapper Gallery 587A College Stree t (at Clinton)

Please feel free to pass along this invitation.

Hope to see you there :)

whippersnapper!

2006-06-20T13:32:00.000-04:00

This Wednesday (June 21st) at the elmocambo whippersnapper is holding a fundraiser. 2 floors of music drinks and artists- you should go.

WHAT IS WHIPPERSNAPPER?
Whippersnapper is an independent, not-for-profit Toronto based art gallery run entirely by students and young artists for students and young artists.
WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACCOMPLISH?
Whippersnapper's primary concern is to showcase young talent of any and all mediums. Through exhibiting the work of students and other young artists we aim to act as a meeting place where young talent can build connections with one another.

is it possible this is the coolest thing going on in this city? yes, yes it is.

acoustic mimicry

2006-06-13T10:53:00.000-04:00

It's amazing what natural selection via sexual selection can come up with. A case in point is the Lyrebird from Australia. Watch and see for yourselves :)

link via Seed

do you see what i see?

2006-05-18T20:23:00.000-04:00

So we have been going batty trying to get our photos to have consistent colours between our laptops. It's really disconcerting when you post-process a photo only to realize it looks completely different on another monitor. That's where this little tool comes in, the Huey is a little gadget that helps calibrate the colour of your display. It's really small, relatively inexpensive and has little suction cups. The cups are its biggest selling point. Not really. It significantly altered our displays for the better, and now they match. No more evil doppleganger photos!

Thanks to Sam for the recommendation.

and the nominees are...

2006-05-09T12:04:00.000-04:00

Finalists for the 2006 Photobloggies have been announced and we are so pleased and surprised to find istoicaEVERYDAY nominated along with the best of the best. We are up for Best Portrait Photography, Best Studio Photography, Best New Photoblog and Photoblog of the Year - against some pretty stellar competition. Congratulations to all the finalists, and Thanks so much to everyone who nominated us!

Man and Machine

2006-04-30T14:31:00.000-04:00

Amazing work by Boris Artz:

Fought with anti-communist White Russians before immigrating to US (he spoke no English and arrived with 14 cents). A chameleon, able to adapt different styles, from children's books to portraits. Renowned for his ability to turn machines into living beings (and living beings into who-knows-what). Advisor to the Psychological Warfare branch during WW II. A profuse illustrator for the majors: Life, Fortune, and Time (producing 200+ covers for the last). Illustrated 50 books, including those he wrote himself, notably "As I See." Plentiful ad work for Xerox, Shell Oil, Pan Am, Casco Power Tools, Alcoa Steamship lines, Parke Davis, Avco Manufacturing, Scotch Tape, Wickwire Spencer Steele, Vultee Aircraft, World Airways, and Parker Pens. Mechanics Illustrated profiled him with a cover story in 1954, "When Machines Come to Life."

Original link via Drawn

make CONTACT with the photojunkie

2006-04-09T16:11:00.000-04:00

Our friend Photojunkie has a showing as part of Contact this year. It's called "Toronto Squared" and everyone who can should go see it. His work, both in photography and community building, is truly inspiring.

Toronto is a city of a million stories, some told, many hidden. Over the years, Rannie Turingan has captured this by seeking out inspiration in the unlikeliest of places. Through his lens he uncovers a patchwork of scenes from the everyday, often dismissed by society. In Toronto Squared, he presents you with his view of the city, one square at a time.

identity crisis

2006-04-09T15:52:00.000-04:00

The photography festival Contact is going to begin shortly, and while looking at the upcoming exhibitions I came across this...

In 1992, Bruno Rosier found twenty-five prints dated from 1937 to 1953 in a flea market, showing the same person posing alone in front of famous landmarks all over the world. This discovery was the starting point for a photographic odyssey that was also intended as an exploration of self- representation and the artistic process. Rosier decided to follow this man's footsteps (only his initials, R.T. are known), in order to re-create the same shots half a century laster he dressed and posed in accord with the original photographs.

Now that is determination.... should be fun.

Let's go to the videoteque

2006-03-31T19:36:00.000-05:00

Videoteque is a cool blog which is archiving/linking to interesting music videos. They have been busy little bees since they launched, check it it out and bask in the glory of the mtv generation.

P.S. - LCD Soundsystem is amazing.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

2006-03-24T19:03:00.000-05:00

"the cabinet of caligari" 9pm Saturday @ the cineforum, 463 Bathurst (below College) --$10.00

Nothing like a nice piece of German expressionist cinema to cheer you up :)

Thanks Ron for the heads up.

Can you make my lunch please?

2006-03-19T14:14:00.000-05:00

Vegan Lunch Box is the blog of 'Jennifershmoo' a mother who makes her son (little shmoo) the most amazingly delicious loving lunches. I started following her blog after she was nominated for the food blog award from the bloggies...and it makes me hungry every time. Pictured above is a personal favorite of mine: 'Injera' from October 13th....yum. I always think I'm going to make one of the recipes she mentions, and in a way I do....I just substitute some of the ingredients for things we actually have and find myself in front of a bowl of cereal.

exploring flickr

2006-03-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

Scout and Leech are two different ways of looking at flickr. Scout allows you to find pictures that broke into explore based on username and cites their ranking in "interestingness". Leech eliminates multiple pages by displaying lots of images on one page.

the King

2006-03-13T03:26:00.000-05:00

Sometimes flickr is beyond bizarre. This is a shot from DIgital DI's photostream. Even monkeys have to put pants on one leg at a time.

Korean Fun!

2006-03-10T01:06:00.000-05:00

What's that you say... furry lobsters?

2006-03-08T00:47:00.000-05:00

A team of American-led divers have discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky, blond fur, French researchers said Tuesday.

Evolution is a strange drama, I wonder what part this little creature plays in it. Any ideas what that "hair" could be for? I'm guessing its not just to remind me that I hate spiders.

First saw this story on Newsvine.

Bugs Bunny x2 with spray paint (Elmer Fudd gets soap)

2006-03-08T00:17:00.000-05:00

Project3media and Bastards Films present the Canadian Premier screening of the Danish documentary on Copenhagen street art CPH REMIX. The film follows two urban artists and a city appointed graffiti remover during the week leading up to the marriage of the Danish crown prince.

(upcoming.org)
Thursday March 9th, at Cinecycle.
looks like fun.
link originally from Ron, an amazing illustrator and friend of ours.

Scores of Spores

2006-03-02T15:24:00.000-05:00

Spore may change the way people understand videogames. The basic concept is that you start out in the primordial soup and evolve until you are exploring the vastness of the enitre universe. Oh yeah, and you get to play everything in between. To explain Spore is beyond the scope of this entry, but if you check out the Google Video you might get a better sense of how utterly amazing this game can be.

Democracy

2006-02-22T15:17:00.000-05:00

Democracy is a player that lets you download and watch free high quality programs and music videos.

"There's an opportunity to build a new, open mass medium of online television. We're developing the Democracy internet TV platform so that watching internet video channels will be as easy as watching TV and broadcasting a channel will be open to everyone. Unlike traditional TV, everyone will have a voice."

So go get it already.

Hidden City: Tropolism Photo Contest

2006-02-22T14:01:00.000-05:00

"The theme of the contest is uncovering the Hidden City, your Hidden City, the one you see every day. It may be in plain sight of everyone else, but it is your eye that finds the extraordinariness in a particular street corner, a unique stair, a crazy intersection, a visually arresting approach, or a particular tree in the city. The photographs can be of a beautiful (and perhaps unpublished) park, or as simple as the sun hitting a particular building at a particular time of day. Please include a caption, or a Flickr annotation, about what makes it extraordinary to you. The entries should have one thing in common: they demonstrate, to you, the pleasure of living in the city."

The categories are:
Best Hidden Place
Best Density
Best Natural/Urban Overlap
Best Unofficial Landmark
Best Building

Add your photos to the Flickr group to enter.
Read the details here.
Link from Cool Hunting.

Toronto Area Photobloggers 2

2006-02-16T23:50:00.000-05:00

On Sunday February 26th 2006, as part of TAP 2, we will be speaking alongside other GTA photobloggers at the Apple Store in Yorkdale.

The event looks to be a really fun and includes the following speakers:

Irina Souiki - Still Memory.ca
Taku Kumabe - U&I Magazine/media.smaku.com
Payam Rajabi - Colourblind.ca
Sam Javanrouh - Daily Dose of Imagery
Us - istoica.com
Shahin Edalati - Foto Project

We welcome everyone who has the interest to check it out.

Thanks to Himy Syed for letting us get involved.

hasselh off!

2006-02-16T01:11:00.000-05:00

We know what you are thinking, and yes that is David Hasselhoff and yes he is wearing a fur parka and yes he is pretending to eat a giant prop fish and yes he is in front of an overtly fake background and yes he is pretending to surf and yes it is the funniest thing ever. ever. until we find something better. next week.

10 Songs that are good for Saturday...er, Monday February 13th, 2006

2006-02-13T01:11:00.000-05:00

We are a little late on this one, sorry if your Saturday had no good music in it.

1. Artist: Q and Not U
Song: Fever Sleeves

2. Artist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Song: Maps

3. Artist: The Dandy Warhols
Song: Heroine is so passe

4. Artist: The Cure
Song: Lovecats

5. Artist: Air
Song: The word Hurricane

6. Artist: Blonde Redhead
Song: Equally Damaged

7. Artist: The Gloria Record
Song: Ozona and Sonora

8. Artist: The Detroit Cobras
Song: Hey Sailor

9. Artist: Piebald
Song: Grace Kelly with Wings

10. Artist: Rilo Kiley
Song: The Execution of All Things

Let Us Sing for You.... maybe not.

2006-02-13T00:45:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wanted to send someone a song, but you wanted to employ a database of famous musicians to sing it for you? Well, now you can. Let Them Sing it for You let's you write down whatever your heart desires, package it into a hodge podge of spliced together sound bites, then send it to someone you love... or hate. Check out our ditty HERE