Flora and Freeze

A white freesia as a reminder that spring is on its way.  The latest dusting of snow with tire tracks that will hopefully melt away soon enough.

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!

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.

Friday Night Hootenanny

This is what February is looking like in Montreal.
I was really pleased with the last few weeks of snowlessness (I.LOVE.WINTER- not really.) Alas, my ideal winter couldn't last that long...
But onward we go! It is Friday night after all!

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word Hootenanny as "a gathering at which folksingers entertain often with the audience joining in." Therefore the last Friday of every month at MainLine Theatre, is a gathering of musical folk and bluegrass-ness at the appropriately named Friday Night Hootenanny.

Above are images from last month's Hootenanny. To your left is the lovely Sarah Jane Scouten and to your right is Brad and Mike (ex-Holy Moly/Lake of Stew), and an audience member on her knees holding up lyrics to the very funny vocalist whose name escapes me at the moment.

See how much fun you can have? You can be the one holding up the lyrics spontaneously! This all goes down at 22h30 tonight!

But before then I will be checking out INNI at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québecois for some moving images.  Aaaand then maybe after that check out an art exhibit at the Fresh Paint Gallery....
While it snows....

Sad Bicycles

I never really understood why people left their bicycles out in the winter. Sometimes leaving them abandoned to face the elements or worse-the snow plows.  Today we will look at some examples of sad bicycles.  The above image is a wheel just asking for trouble...Viewer warning:  there might be some aesthetically mangled objects.

 above:  is that a bicycle?

 

 above: miracle of miracles! It has been spared!

 

above: Hey! It's my knit grafitti bike! Still there and attached to the bike stand that has been dislodged by the snowploughs! 

...and last but not least, this is what happens when your bike is left to it's own devices in wintertime.  There's one excuse to get that fixie you were jonesing for this spring.

Snow, Lights and Icicles

Happy winter wonderland to those who have a big pile of snow on their doorstep!

To those who don't, here's what you're missing out on: minus one million celius!  

At least it's somewhat pretty.

Lights on snow on St-Laurent.

Icicles!! Brrr....

Remnants of holiday lights near René-Lévesque.

Stay warm!

Snow and Mona Sharma

Head down, tuque, scarf, mitts, down jacket, hood, big boots.
We are now (sort of) ready to trudge into the depths of Quebec winter.  If you have read my previous posts on snow here and here, you can come to the safe conclusion that I am not a huge fan of winter and cold.
But alas, here we are again in the -20celcius department, onward we go!

While I was trying my best to tuck my head into my neck, two glowing blue portholes caught my eye.

Despite the cold, I felt compelled to examine articule's beckoning window installation. As I pressed my cold nose to the glass this is what I saw:

What I was looking at was a seascape of soft sculptures by Mona Sharma.  This dreamy yet brooding scene was fitting for a cold dark night.

Pleased to have stumbled on some art amidst the blustering weather, I walked away visually satiated and my nose just a little bit colder.

Snow and Colour

Will this be the snow that actually stays? I certainly hope not.  If we can keep going snow-less for awhile I will be most pleased.  While today was quite grey outside, (and probably will be for the next few months) I was on a shoot getting my vitamin D from some spring colours.

Wow, is that bright enough? I promise I did not change the saturation of this image.  Shazam! Instant pick-me up. Not surprisingly there is lots of brights for spring 2012 in fashion, nicely summed up in this Refinery29 slideshow.  Care to wager a guess as to what Pantone has named their colour of the year for 2012? Give up? Why it's Tangerine Tango, a rich orange hue that brings to mind a Montreal landmark: the Orange Julep! It's your year to shine!

Snow Day

Oh snow...
Why did you decide to come down
To our fair and fall-like town
Before I got my snow tires on?
Oh snow...
That's all the poetry I can give today's snow. Which will probably melt before the weekend.  I did a scary 180degree spin on a one-way hill. Nothing/no one was hit. A bus driver bailed me out of my stuck-on-ice-facing-the-wrong-way predicament.  Then a car slid into the bus. Oh dear.

When I got myself and my car back from the garage in one piece I decided I needed a drink to soothe my really-wish-I-was-still-riding-my-bike-nerves.  A couple of vodka gimlets from Sparrow did the trick.  And with the mojito-ish cocktails sitting in my belly-I walked home.