Main Tabs

27.12.13

Holidaze

1. major frost nipping at my window
2. holiday "baking" of chocolate almond butter cups
3. lights and decor on Coloniale ave.
happy new year!

20.12.13

Lili Co.

Not too long ago I had the pleasure of eating at the offal-rich Lili Co.  We were a group of six so we maximized our eating capabilities and ordered everything on the menu.  The portions are small and of the sharing nature, so for the brain-squeamish (me!), a little bite instead of a whole portion made things psychologically easier (pun totally intended).  That being said all of the dishes were delicious and we scraped every last morsel off our plates.  My fave was the smoked butternut squash cream, with boudin noir and brussel sprout leaves-just looking at the picture above makes me salivate with the memories.
For actual food reviews check out here and here.
Bon appétit!

17.12.13

Nike NSW Premium Sneakerboot


My buddy Tim was freezing his ass off as he modeled his very winter appropriate Sneakerboot from Nike. Tim got hooked up with a NSW Free Run 2 Sneakerboot QS in leather from their premium pack that should drop in Canada/US any time now...or in the new year!  (Hitting Asia and the UK this week-does that help?)
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Tim dressed up his kicks with a tuque from Joe Fresh, a Uniqlo Undercover 'UU' collab puffy vest, a custom long sleeve wool button up shirt from Fly Streetwear, doing the double collar thing with a shirt by Uniqlo, and a pair of camo Dockers to jazz it up.  Bam! Now it's time for some hot chocolate.

3.12.13

white boxes - ibiki


First came Old Gold, then came Héritage/Inheritance, and now one revamp later I stumbled upon the opening festivities of ibiki.  More objects have been brought into the fold, including a very awesome sparkly Maison Martin Margiela snow globe-why not?  The store has maintained its clothing selection of mostly neutral colours, classic shapes and covetable pieces. There is an anonymity to the clothing as nothing screams its brand.  In a similar vein there are also many white boxes: long ones, big ones, small ones and triangle wedge ones.  Clean and label free, ahh...

2.12.13

5 1/2 Baillat Cardell & fils

Graphic designers, motion graphics artists and new media gurus Baillat Cardell & fils celebrated their five and a half years of visual orgasms with a retrospective of their work.  They took the occasion to unveil MASSIVart's new identity with a bang and a cocktail or two.  Much of their print and poster work was on display, including a selection of posters in homage to Brazilian poet Augusto de Campos (third image from top).  Clearly lovers of the neon bulb, many incarnations of geometric lamps were on display, as well as an appearance of the installation Ici, that we first saw at Nuit Blanche earlier in the year.

30.11.13

Komono

Can one own too many sunglasses?  I am normally a "wear-one-style-all-the-time" person, until I lose or damage them, and then get another pair.  But as of recently I've started accumulating collecting them and just added these black rubber beauties to the mix.  The Belgian maker of unisex accessories, Komono, just hooked me up and just in time for that glaring white snow that just carpeted our city.

29.11.13

ArtUnion-Spotlight on the Arts13

It starts with some blank canvas...
the all-star team! image by Mil Seguin
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collage of collage- image by Mil Seguin
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I was insanely pleased to participate in an artist workshop for the Spotlight on the Arts conference at the QPAT convention.  We (a group of five artists) were to facilitate with the creation of a collaborative collage/paint/draw/go/crazy project with thirteen high school students.  It was not only fun but super rewarding to create and jive on the three assigned themes (food, energy, technology) with a group of talented kids.
Art Ed! Whoo!

21.11.13

Marilyn Castonguay

I was super stoked to dress the super talented actress Marilyn Castonguay in a very casual/cool/chic style.  Lensed by Daniel Cianfarra for the ELLE Québec December issue, this was a mandate very close to my heart!  The look was composed of skinny distressed jeans from Diesel, ultra loose, wide necked t-shirt by Splendid, a perfect perfecto courtesy of Mackage, and a sparkly 'thorn' pump by Saint Laurent Paris-it is the holiday issue after all.

19.11.13

Filipino Home Cooking

I'm still thinking about the delicious fundraising dinner event for the Canadian Red Cross for the victims of typhoon Haiyan that I attended this past weekend.  Artist Gene Pendon, brother Dave Pendon and their uncle Ed orchestrated a Filipino menu that tasted almost like my mother made it...almostThe awesome volunteer kitchen and wait staff at the Sparrow hustled-to say the least-to fulfill the orders of the packed restaurant/bar that has probably never seen so many adorable kids underfoot.  Cue to this sibling pair pictured above, with their t-shirts emblazoned with a classic dish: the chicken adobo.  If you are not vegetarian, please, please, try this dish, so simple, so deeeelish.

You missed out? It's never too late to donate!  Or check out Fantasia Festival's fundraising fun featuring Filipino filmmaker Erik Matti (info here!)  Or enjoy the Franco Proietti Morph-tet's jazz vibes at BBAM! Gallery (event link here!)  With surely more events to come!

Ok, serious stuff:
Climate change is real, freak storms are becoming the norm.  Yeb Sano is still fasting. Food for thought.

18.11.13

Atelier Frank & Oak

Frank & Oak the purveyor of stylish and affordable duds for the hip and young gentlemen crowd threw a party to welcome guests to their street level presence.  Mmmm, I love me an iron pressed grilled cheese sandwich.... The online-only retailer wanted to provide their clientele with a space to interact with the brand, be it trying on the latest shirts on the rack, by getting the barbershop treatment or settling into the couches and leafing through recipes from The Kinfolk Table.  Come and stay a while!

13.11.13

Isabel Marant pour H&M

photo: h&m
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Last night Montreal's flagship H&M store hosted a shopping preview for many press/industry-ish guests of Isabel Marant's collaboration for the Swedish mega-chain.  As I waited to enter, I watched through the windows as the frenzy began for her signature pieces of boho/rocknroll/rolled-out-of-bed-looking-this-fabulous/cool girl styles.  But this collection wasn't just for the ladies, Marant designed her first capsule collection for men (and kids!) so they could have a piece of that cool-knit pie. 

obligatory crowd shot
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PR gurus for H&M Karen & Denis decked out in Marant finery
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Debbie tries on (L) leather trousers, (C) boys hat, (R) shiny patterned trousers 
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Yours truly was unsuccessful scoring any Marant booty, but the cream puffs kind of made up for it. Yum!
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friends helping friends clean up and clean out
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all gone
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So the preview was totally cleaned out.  But don't despair!  There's plenty to be had when the collection drops November 14, 8AM at select stores.

11.11.13

Detroit, MI

These images came from a recent day trip to Detroit, a city that I associate with techno, GM, the Crow, Robocop, and maybe the Red Wings.  More recently Detroit filed for bankruptcy, a culmination of years of debt, corruption and a bad Wall Street deal.  Sure Toronto's got Rob Ford, Montreal's got Coderre now, but Detroit's had this guy to thank for part of their problems.

After a browse through the sprawling John K King bookstore, we took a drive around various parts of the city.  One thing that is apparent is the abandonment and the decline of population.  Parts of the city felt ghostly, with stunning historic buildings either boarded up or windows blown out.  We made a stop in front of the old Michigan Central Station and a man named Harrison (pictured above) sauntered up to us.  The self-proclaimed "ambassador" to the city filled our heads with stories of the station, Detroit pride, and visions of revitalization.

In his own words:
"This place was built in 1912 [...] the same artist who built the station in New York, it's the same artist here...the last train out was in 1988.  I used to be able to go up on top and take a bar-b-q pit up there and watch the fireworks and chill with a lawn chair.  I really miss that."

On his connection to the building:
"I'm a part of this, through time, and it grew on me.  Yes I am, yes I am, in my heart because I come through here everyday to make sure this building is ok."

He then kindly asked for a tip-we handed over a couple of dollars, we shook his hand and wished him well.  And then the station's ambassador made his way over to chat up another set of gawkers.