Pride: New Pulp Cards and New Pulp: The Blog

I am very excited to share with you my latest creative adventure: NEW PULP. This is my new business, started from the ground up in early March 2011, registered with the Ontario government and well on its way to being launched! The whole concept is about consciousness, of your surroundings and the impact you have on them. Based on this I've developed two parts of the business: one side is made of Greeting Cards made from recycled materials (books, posters, flyers, etc.), with crazy graphic designs on them. The business will run like the fashion industry, designing the cards in collections of 15, each with their own theme, and released in seasons (Spring, Summer, etc.). Also, each card is left blank intentionally - I'm not going to write a few phrases for you to sign your name under and pass off to your dearly beloved.

I believe in saying what you mean and not letting others speak for you, which leads to the other half of the project, New Pulp: The Blog. I really wanted an outlet for myself and other creative people to share their projects, musings and discoveries. So far we have approx. 15 authors and a few posts up already! The big launch for the card business and website is set for July 28th (also happens to be my birthday)- the party is at 7pm (location TBA). Should be a great night!

New Pulp Cards - http://www.newpulpcards.com

New Pulp: The Blog - http://newpulplives.blogspot.com

FYE: Janis Joplin Forever

Janis Joplin is a Goddess. She works out her life through the microphone, sings from her core and hits on so many good levels I get chills. When I said before that I wanted Dusty Springfield to REALLY TELL ME that Billy Ray was the only one, I meant SING IT LIKE JOPLIN. What an unbelievable voice this woman has, and the soul to bang it out with heart, and make me fucking BELIEVE Bobby McGee was the only one. Really wish this beauty was still alive, what a shame she died so young. Now listen to that and then try to tell me she isn't fucking incredible:

 

Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee

Gluttony: Poor Man's Food

I am terrible with my money. Saving and investing are two words I have yet to learn the meaning of. However, because I find myself penniless on countless occasions, I have come accustomed to making really inexpensive meals (I can also make an expensive one too, which is sometimes how I end up in this mess!). Today I experimented with PESTO! I recently bought some herbs and planted them in pots, left them on the window sill and after a few weeks of daily watering and great weather, I have some awesome growth! Two of the herbs I bought were Basil and Purple Basil, they smell delicious - so when I found myself out of numerous items I would normally consume, I turned to my plants for help.

Turns out I had two servings of spaghetti noodles that could be cooked (they were over a year old - but still good!!) and some Parmesan cheese (best before date was about March 2010, so naturally I have been continuing to eat it for several months), AND some garlic (I cut off the green part that was growing out of it). I looked up a PESTO recipe and I had all of the ingredients except for the pine nuts. They are expensive, and I buy them for salads when I'm RICH, but gobble them up quickly so they never last long, I used some walnuts and cashews instead (also had them laying around).

This is the recipe I used: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fresh_basil_pesto/ and this is what happened:

 HERBS!

 Wash the leaves and then dry them. Blended them in a food processor with the nuts and then with the garlic and then with the olive oil.

 Then with the CHEESE! I love cheese. Also, cook the noodles while you're at it so everything finishes at the same time.

  

Mix some of the pesto with your freshly cooked noodles. And then die and go to heaven because it's so fresh and creamy and delicious:

 And then I ate some watermelon with Feta cheese. I love cheese:

 

Also, I must point out that Sneaky Dee's on College at Bathurst has the best nachos. Feast your eyes on their KINGS CROWN plate. Everything, it has everything, including orgasms:

Gluttony: Homemade Ice Cream Cake

 This weekend I made an ice cream cake for my sister, Kat. It was her 21st birthday, and she has recently developed an interest in tattoos. Last year's gift was $100 for her to get the tattoo on her side coloured in, and an orchid plant (white flowers, the theme was "what's missing? = colour!")... this year was a magazine for women of tattoos and the cake. Kat had mentioned to me that she wanted her next tattoo to be a Native whale on her leg, so I topped the cake with a fondant whale. It turned out to be a bit warped - the fondant was very soft from working it in my hands.

The rest of the cake was outstanding! I used a Betty Crocker Vanilla Cake Mix and instead of water I used 1% milk. I layered it with vanilla ice cream and RAINBOW ice cream. In case you are unaware, Loblaws has a new collection of ice cream and is marketing the freezer section as an ice cream parlour. Included are flavours like Tiger Tail, Party Cake, Rainbow and other crazy types. Rainbow consists of BUBBLEGUM, GRAPE and BLUE RASPBERRY. You may be thinking, "Um, that sounds like overload," but I assure you, it is just the right amount of sweetness.

After multiple rounds of popping this bad boy in the freezer throughout construction, I was finally able to cover the entire outside with Duncan Hines Whipped Vanilla Icing - holy crap, was it so good. The entire cake ended up being light, fluffy, sweet and creamy: the perfect summer treat to follow a BBQ.

FYE: Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man

I'm really digging this song right now. Wish it was a little grittier, like Billy Ray is REALLY the ONLY one who could ever reach her and teach her - when Dusty sings it's like there could possibly be a couple others that might be able to. I really want her to sound like Billy Ray is THE ONLY ONE, but it still has a groovy-ness I can jam to over and over again.

Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man

Aretha Franklin does a great version too, but I like Dusty's more.

 

Aretha Franklin - Son of a Preacher Man

Envy: (Google) Earth is beautiful

I've been surfing Google Maps lately and I've been so inspired by the textures and colours of its satellite images. I pulled these from all across the globe.



Sloth: FORESTS @ Tarragon Theatre

Ok, so this is a bit opposite to SLOTH, but I have found myself once again with three jobs (not including my new business)... It's at Tarragon Theatre, and for those of you not familiar, it's a great company in Toronto that produces original works through aiding playwrights from the inception of their stories with workshops and staging of their pieces. The outcome is usually well-crafted Canadian theatre (whatever that REALLY is...), and I am happy to be a part of their final show of the season: Forests. I may only be doing the laundry and some wardrobe maintenance, but I like the space and the people and who doesn't love a little extra money? The play is written by the same playwright that did SCORCHED (which was also turned into the film INCENDIES), and seems promising. Come see it.

Sloth: Hanna

HOLY FUCK

What an awesome movie. This girl can fucking act - she takes on every role with such dedication, and rocks it. Hanna is a very well-done film in all production aspects I can think of! Acting, lighting, direction, framing, costumes, set locations, and the fucking music. Chemical Brothers always had a place in my heart, and it's grown since watching Hanna. What an awesome match to such an ass-kicking movie. I just want to watch it again. And then kick ass.

Envy: Annie Hall

I recently watched Annie Hall for the first time, and instantly fell in love with Diane Keaton's wardrobe... very streamline, carefully accessorized and put-together. I know I'm not the first to recognize the HOT FASHIONS of Annie Hall, but god damn, it's hot. Screen captured by yours truly (except the last image), so they're a bit blurry. Two words that come to mind: NECK SCARVES. Yes!

These images sum up some of what's going on right now in my life..

Gluttony: Don't Play With Your Food

Watermelon skin carving from Vid Nikolic on Vimeo.

Vinyl Wednesday: Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman

Despite growing up with this album and hearing it almost every Sunday thanks to my father, it still happens to be in with my all-time favourite albums. Stevens just knows the way into my heart and what to say while he's there. If Cat Stevens was a preacher, I would follow him regardless of the religion. Ok, so he's chosen a different career, but I still love the guy.

With this collection of songs, you get to dive into another world and swim about in luscious harmonies and a very sweet man that loves you very much. I don't know what else to say about this album other than it will comfort you and give you peace. And it's a lot of fun.

Track Listing:
(Side I)

Where Do The Children Play

Hard-headed Woman

Wild World

Sad Lisa

Miles From Nowhere

(Side II)

But I Might Die Tonight

Longer Boats

Into White

On The Road To Find Out

Father & Son

Tea For The Tillerman

Beautiful & Haunting: James Jean (Artist)

 James Jean produces some incredibly stunning paintings, full of imagination and wonder, with such skill that you're immediately immersed in his world the moment you set your eyes on them. I first fell in love with his work when I saw some graphics he had done for Prada, and at that point he hadn't made much of his personal work public as he had for commissioned pieces, but at the time his sketchbooks (which are still on his website) were enough to blow me away. James Jean took a hiatus from commissioned pieces to work on personal projects some time ago and from there blossomed a whole side of his artwork I had never seen before. His sketchbooks have a lot of figure renderings and the like, but his paintings have so much more depth and narrative that you can't help but fall in love with them. I received a copy of his book Kindling, a large book of poster pull-outs of a few of his recent works (which are currently displayed along the entire length of my apartment), and they are mind-blowing. Take a look at some of his work to see for yourself, and I highly recommend picking up a copy.