Sunday, October 5, 2008

The weekend links


Last night's Nuit Blanche was amazing. I was walking around the city from 8pm to 630am when I stumbled back home. I've never seen so many people downtown crowding the streets - it was wild! Interesting art installations too. Here are some pictures:

'Into the blue' in the middle of the Eaton Centre

Olga and Max go into the blue

This massive wall of letters was screaming nonsensical sentences in Liberty Village

Rubber ducks in Rye Pond

Did anyone else think that the Waterfall was kinda overrated?

So Nuit Blanche was a hoot. Some of the installations were lazy while others really engaged people. It sounds like I'm from Haight Ashbury when I say this, but it was great to experience everyone experiencing everyone else. Tremendous energy that whole night.

One of our city councillors and organizer of Nuit Blanche, Kyle Rae, said on the news that the purpose of the event was to get ordinary people to consider different perspectives on the city, themselves, and culture. The event is like an art installation in itself - getting people to reflect.

But oddly enough, some of the most poignant, reflective moments of the night for me came not from an art exhibit but from unique moments in the night that were unexpected or intimate. Weird moments like:
  • Stumbling upon a massive guerrilla skater dance party in a parking lot behind Grange Park
  • Seeing the hardest black leather goth kids I've ever seen texting on Blackberries on the Queen streetcar
  • Walking with Amanda and her cat Jib and listening to her stories about living in a squat and panhandling
No surprise that these did more to shake my perspectives on live than a crowded art exhibit at Yonge-Dundas Square.

This musical garbage can did stand out though. it was at Dundas and Bay and it blew smoke, flashed lights inside, and played Prince's 'Delirious'. Really bizarre!



Anyway, on with the links:

Clever camapign using beer bottle tops for drunk driving.


Smart cars transformed with body panels. I want a Smustang.


Strange commercial ads from the past. I'm confused, are they selling weenies or sweaters?

OJ Simpson guilty on 10 counts including armed robbery and kidnapping. Send this slimy cretin away for good.


Awesome chairs that are artistic but crunking ugly.


Strange bags, Olga Ivlev maybe this interests?

Wow - the Japanese voice actors who voiced Pokemon!



And finally, congratulations to Howard and Beth!

Have a great week everyone!

1 comment:

Lee&Lui Haesu Cherie: Lost in Italy said...

hhHAHA the pika pika. jeez. but at least i wasn't so surprised that the pika voice was a tiny japanese woman. the lady who is bart simpson is a far greater surprise -__-