I feel like any day now one of these posts will be the last one to live in this incarnation of Siteway. Fear not dear reader, I will certainly continue some kind of writing on Siteway, but the very structure of Siteway World is changing, so brace yourselves. ¶ The above George Carlin illustration came to me in a nanosecond earlier today. What it lacks in precision it gains in overall comforting composition, and for this I am grateful. Sometimes that's all a day needs: a fine little drawing, however imperfect. ¶ Speaking of imperfect drawings, I uploaded Vera Farmiga to my flickr photostream.

Labels: Drawing, FeaturedIllustration, Flickr, SitewayWorld

¶ 12:04 AM

The Dude: You're not wrong Walter. You're just an asshole. ¶ There are so many choice lines and scenes from The Big Lebowski but the aforementioned gets me every time. Like many things I enjoy today, I didn't enjoy this at first. But it only took a few more viewings for me to get into the character of The Dude. He's the unexpected anti-hero for the 1990s. And unlike Hud, the anti-hero for the 1960s, The Dude has apathy holding him back, not pride. With both, though, you're conflicted, and this is part of the fun. And with quite possibly Philip Seymour-Hoffman's best and funniest supporting role, I could watch this noir riff epic many times a year. ¶ I recently crossed the 25,000 views threshold over on my flickr photostream. I've been grateful for the feedback and inspiration I've found over on flickr.

Labels: Cinema, FeaturedIllustration, Flickr

¶ 9:46 AM

Brad Pitt is this week's featured illustration. ¶ Last night was our fifth of ten sailing class and it proved to be worthy. The breeze was lackluster but the feeling was positive. My confidence, roughly speaking here, is slowly increasing. I'm convinced that this sort of thing is a private language: my confidence may very well be higher than those that report high confidence. I'm reluctant to overstate the case, however, because of a near infinite number of reasons that exist in the self. Having said that, I'm beginning to see the Matrix in the code, and that's always exciting. My strength is muted: I'm fairly good at everything, I excel at nothing. What's beginning to emerge is the first stages of second nature. Everyone is after second nature. ¶ We saw Robert Altman's Gosford Park last evening. Not only is this a beautifully shot film with enough plot to keep you playing along but it's also quite touching. I suspect achieving this sort of thing on film is not easy. ¶ I'm new to the Judd Apatow world, and, though I rank low on the "biggest fan" scale, I'm enjoying the ride immensely. Most recently in the form of Knocked Up and, as I've mentioned before on Siteway, Freaks & Geeks. It took me some time to warm to Seth Rogen, the actor. Suprisingly, he actually made gains with me in the silly and misguided You, Me, and Dupree. Only a certain kind of Matt Dillon fan can enjoy his silly movies, of which there are plently. If you're going to watch one, I'd say give One Night at McCool's a whirl. This is classic "oh I hated it/turned it off/walked out on it" material based largely on how hard it tried (and, as a result, failed), but to me it's still a fun distraction. I'd rather a dozen of these misguided ensemble Hollywood romps over so-called spoof comedies which peaked when I was in junior high. ¶ Some time ago I had Kavin build me a Flash browser for Siteway illustrations. You can see the beginnings of it implemented here. More to browse soon. ¶ I've put up some pictures of my soon-to-be new office in Toronto over on flickr. ¶ Jake Gittes: Why are you doing it? How much better can you eat? What can you buy that you can't already afford? / Noah Cross: The future, Mr. Gittes, the future.

Labels: Cinema, FeaturedIllustration, Flickr, TV

¶ 10:28 AM

Two Wednesdays ago we got a late start to our morning but our intentions were solid. We were going to visit Brooklyn. ¶ We had a few reasons to visit Brooklyn and one of them was simply to visit. We took the L train to Metropolitan. When we got to street level I was immediately reminded of the North End of Halifax. It has that distinctive wood panelling, low-rise, eastern-seaboard feel. I'm working on an illustration for an upcoming business in Brooklyn, and so we were also there to see the location. We bumped into my client and we chatted a little about the business and Williamsburg. After that we wandered over to Bedford Ave, I grabbed a midday pint and cheeseburger, and then we explored some more. ¶ I stopped into Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers (218 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) and was tempted by many things. I ended up purchasing a postcard upon which I based this photo and an audio CD by David Lynch and Penguin Audio: Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity which is VERY good and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their lives vis. being able to do more of what you love in this life. ¶ In January I recorded myself draw a portrait of David Lynch. I'm very happy with the way these time-lapse animations are working out and intend to do more in this vein. ¶ I've temporarily removed The Art Game from the main navigation until I figure out the role of Art on Siteway. Until then, I've linked it to my photostream on flickr which is not only where friends and family can catch up on photos but also where I upload some of my illustrations.

Labels: Flickr, Heroes, NYC, SitewayWorld

¶ 4:41 PM

Can I just say before getting into anything to do with our trip to New York that we saw The Departed last week and I absolutely loved it. It made seeing Martin Scorsese win (in our totally excellent rented East Village apartment) all the more sweet. It's an amazing amazing film. How good is Mark Whalberg? Very good. ¶ Frank Stella was a New York based painter. We were invited to an Allen Shawn book launch at Glenn Horowitz Bookseller and there were several Stella works for sale (24x16 pieces, $4,500 each). Later in the week, when we were at the MoMA, we thoroughly enjoyed looking at Stella's work. I think I can safely say he's my new favourite artist (despite having known about him for years). ¶ As I've alluded to over on flickr as well as here on Siteway, our trip to New York City was priceless. I marveled, I gawked, I did more people watching than I can remember, I ate, drank, walked, and fell in love with this great great city. We took some photos, and I've collected some in a flickr set. We have a disposable camera to develop in addition to these, but I think they capture the feeling of our trip. Up next: Seeing Conan.

Labels: FeaturedIllustration, Flickr, NYC

¶ 1:14 AM

I had one of those weekends you sometimes yearn for: quiet, calm, inside, productive, and good. We broke out Starfarers of Catan last evening and it proved to be a very satisfying. I spent the bulk of my weekend drawing: for work and for pleasure. I uploaded a David Lynch to my flickr account as well as the making-of to YouTube. Enjoy! ¶ Some of James Caan's best films were underrated. I'm especially fond of him in Thief (from which this week's feature is based) as well as The Gambler. ¶ Don't forget: I've got a Jack Bauer portrait in tomorrow's National Post (AL1). Stay tuned, as always. ¶ Sometimes a day can be made by a mere link on the Internet. And today that link is this one (Jet-set poster archive, via Seen and Not Seen).

Labels: FeaturedIllustration, Flickr, WeekendUpdate, YouTube

¶ 10:10 PM

"Glenda. You don't offer a man like Jack a drink in those piddling little glasses. Give him the bloody bottle."—John Osbourne playing Cyrill Kinnear ¶ From the moment that Michael Caine boards the Newcastle train from London you know you're in for a film treat on the scale of a The Conversation or perhaps even GoodFellas. Get Carter (1971) isn't just good British gangster film, this is classic cinema that transcends genre. You don't even have to be an Anglophile to enjoy this picture. If you've ever spent any time in any working class town (Canadian substitutes include: Sudbury, Hamilton, Sydney) you'll appreciate this location-heavy film. Real extras (watch for the six-fingered man early on), real locations, and documentary filmmaking techniques make Carter extremely enjoyable to watch. Add to that a taught script and possibly Caine's best performance, and you've got a film worth owning. To boot: it doesn't feel dated. And when you consider the dramatic pretense, it could have—and easily so. ¶ My drawing of Jack Carter here. ¶ More on Wikipedia.

Labels: Cinema, Flickr, Quotation

¶ 10:16 AM

So I'm sentimental. Sue me. ¶ A man in my position has waited far too long to find this amazing gem: High quality DVD screenshots from films, movies and some popular tv-series.

Labels: Flickr, Gratitude

¶ 4:26 PM

So Pauline and I were walking along the barely-shoveled Adelaide sidewalk on our way to the market. We wanted egg nog. We got egg nog. But we also got mooned, by a joker in a pickup (passenger side) who was getting a kick out of us snapping some pics (of Banting statue and more, forthcoming) not once, but twice! They actually doubled-back to get us one more time, saying yet again, "hey... take MY picture!" and sadly we did not. Maybe they knew, or maybe they didn't, but we were laughing our butts off! Good times, good times. ¶ It's Happy Hour! ¶ Okay you need to start playing my What's the film flickr game.

Labels: Flickr, Londontown

¶ 5:09 PM

You know that guy or girl you meet in the first week of school that you're not sure about but you're totally taken with? They might become your best friend or they might be a temporary trip. That's the way I feel about Johnny Knoxville. For better or for worse, I'm not familiar with the Jackass franchise, but I have been really charmed by his performances in John Waters' Dirty Shame and in the medium-controversial film, The Ringer. It's the time of year where, for many people in the West, school begins. New friends and new beginnings. And yes, I had every intention of drawing something with a San Franciscan theme tonight, but you learn early that the intention is only a small piece of the puzzle. ¶ It's great to be back. The honeymoon was awesome. I've got a Freddie Mercury portrait in the National Post tomorrow. I'm watching Entourage, and I've just enjoyed my second glass of EastDell Black Cab. ¶ I've uploaded some pics from the last little while. More soon. ¶ Sleep well.

Labels: Cinema, Flickr, San Francisco, Wine

¶ 11:43 PM

I'm stealing a few moments during the working day to write because I honestly don't know when I'll have spare time in the coming days. Most people were overjoyed; they took to their boats. ¶ When I first met Ponitac, she lived in a tiny bachelor near St. Clair West station. It's far and away my favourite TTC station. ¶ I'm selling for cheap: framed Blow poster ($30) Update: sold. And the following Siteway framed prints: George Harrison ($90), Stanley Kubrick ($90), Martin Scorsese ($90), and Aristotle ($90). Pickup only Update: all sold. ¶ Do you live in San Francisco? Know any cool art galleries? Stuff only the locals know about? Drop me a line. ¶ It's been a hectic time but also, exciting. Malista!

Labels: Flickr, Lyric, San Francisco, SitewayWorld, Toronto

¶ 4:23 PM

Had the pleasure of attending a Q&A session at the AGO with Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg yesterday evening. There were about a dozen bloggers who were there to take photos, write notes, ask questions, and, in my case, sketch. He was at the AGO to celebrate the launch of the Andy Warhol exhibit he guest-curated subtitled Supernova: Stars, Deaths, and Disasters, 1962-1964. Much thanks to Matthew Ross over at the AGO who was good enough to make this happen. ¶ With all that in mind, may I present my portrait of Andy Warhol.

Labels: ArtShow, Cinema, FeaturedIllustration, Flickr

¶ 11:11 PM

Check out tomorrow's (Thursday, July 6, 2006) National Post for an illustration of the one and only: David Hasslehoff. Arts & Life. ¶ Even though our digital camera is not with us for a time, we didn't let that stop us from documenting our recent excursion to Sudbury, Ontario. And yes, we did see the Big Nickel! ¶ On a related note, I've added a flickr link to the global Siteway navigation.

Labels: Flickr, NationalPost

¶ 3:24 PM

Here I am in my on-site office at 9:42am and my body can't believe it. Last evening Pauline and I had a warm meal at Mitzi's Sister and then afterwards I began to draw Mike Wallace, my fictional character Avery Hutch, and then at the last minute I switched to Raymond Carver. As a result, I didn't have time to upload any of my camping photos, but keep your eyes on my flickr account this week. Legs hurt but my soul is well. And the coffee I'm drinking is warming my inner kore. ¶ Toronto's photoblogger extraordinaire Rannie Turingan has a photo in today's National Post. Cover of Arts & Life, lawn bowling.

Labels: FeaturedIllustration, Flickr, NationalPost, WeekendUpdate

¶ 9:42 AM

I have an illustration in today's issue of the National Post. Arts & Life section, Out and About page. ¶ May is definitely my favourite month of the year. Aside from some drama worthy only of a bad television drama (think double-feline drama), my month has been going very well. I started writing this blog about six years ago in my tiny flat in Nottingham. Then, it seemed like a good idea but I would be lying if I told you I knew I'd still be writing. And I would have never predicted it would have graduated beyond BBSing and make it a newsworthy phenomenon. ¶ I started a month-long gig at a midtown agency recently and I've been really enjoying it. They've got a good thing going there, and it shows. Soon I'll post some pictures of my workspace there, but for now check out Dan Arne's tattoo of my porttait of Frank Zappa.

Labels: Flickr, Freelancing, NationalPost, Nostalgia

¶ 9:10 AM

Receiving my eyeglasses today has given me, in tangible form, another dimension to what has been a month of exciting reckoning. On the first day of this month I gave up smoking cigarettes (sidebar: ever find it strange to read about cigarettes on a blog? I know I find it strange in part because it's so difficult to picture something so 1970s as smoke in the clean world of CSS beauty.) as part of what the marketers are calling Driven To Quit. It's a month-long contest encouraging folks who smoke to pack it in for at least a month. Successful cessation gives you an entry in a draw where prizes include a Honda Civic Hybrid and a bunch of huge flat televisions. So that was the impetus, and I'm happy to report that as of this writing I'm well on my way to succeeding. I go almost six years and 500 some-odd posts before I write about smoking and here I am with the second post in just a few weeks. ¶ So the weekend away in London, Ontario, provided me ample daydreaming time where I was able to picture my life there, starting in the fall. This sort of imaginary picturing is vital to my life. Pauline's going back to upgrade her BA from UWO and I'm there to continue building the Siteway business (including, but not limited to Siteway Select), designing as always, and generally enjoying my newlywed status. Part of my plan is to buy a workstation-replacement notebook and a smaller Wacom tablet to start the transition from home office to mobile office. Suggestions here are not only welcomed but encouraged. ¶ In other words: I'm slowly but surely making decisions about lifestyle and career that I've been putting on the backburner since I moved to Toronto. It nevers comes all at once, but this month has been an inspiring one because the work preceding it is actually bearing fruit. ¶ Off to Halifax in the morning. The blunt truth is that I haven't been looking forward to going home this much since the summer after first-year at Western. The reality is that my home is here now, but because I'm uprooting here and there for the next 24 months or so, and because I've never been able to show Halifax off to Pauline in the warmer months, I'm keen as a kitten. When I get back I've got a nice surprise for anyone who has ever taken an interest in Siteway and what I do online. ¶ P.S. The glasses are awesome. I can see. ¶ P.P.S. I don't think many of you know that I have a Flickr account. Check out some of my pictures.

Labels: Flickr, Londontown, Musings, SitewaySelect, SitewayWorld

¶ 2:02 PM