Agyness Deyn and Birds of Prey

I recently saw the short film Here, promoting Starwood's The Luxury Collection of hotels.  The film was directed by Luca Guadagnino (who did I Am Love (2009), a heartbreakingly beeeeyoutiful film!!) and conceptualized by Waris Ahluwalia (what does this guy not do?) and (swooon) Tilda Swinton.

The film features Agyness Deyn on a luxurious treasure hunt of sorts to various hotels around the US.  Beyond noting the amazing wardrobe, locations (etc.) of the film, I remarked a moment when Agyness receives a message from an eagle (or falcon? A hawk?) Take a look below.

Notice the name of this post is "Birds of Prey"?  Where is the other bird you might be wondering?  As I am sometimes a little slow with being on top of music, I had only seen the (awesomely styled) clip for Woodkid's Iron (see footnote below!) just recently, and lo and behold what do I see? Why it's Agyness again! This time with a an owl of prey!

But the birdie link doesn't stop there.
Woodkid's Iron was also used as the soundtrack in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Revelations E3 trailer, and what do we see in the trailer?

What?! It's too good to be true! Ummm, yeah it is....
Actually this bird comes from another version of the trailer, the one sans Woodkid.
Close enough right?
..
..
..
FOOTNOTE BABY!
I have to add that the Woodkid Iron video recalled to mind another clip, very different in content but strangely familiar.  I refer to Jay-Z's On to the Next One directed by Sam Brown.  I have lots of love to share about this clip, with its nod to hip-hop symbols, art references and a fischerspooner-ish warrior chick.  Take a peek at both clips and judge for yourself.
...and there is a bird!

Saturday Newspaper

I'd like to call this installment: You Know You Spend Too Much Time On The Internet When...

I just took a look at today's Globe and Mail, and saw these sunglasses on the front page.

 

Without a second of hesitation I said "Suno x Warby Parker!" to myself. Then realized maybe I spend too much time reading up on fashion online...

Blackbox Studios

Ohhh, there's a new studio in town...
I speak of Blackbox Studios, located in Little Italy, tucked in among industrial and residential buildings, this is one sexy little studio.  Ok, so I couldn't find a single link for the space but it's pretty brand spanking new, one of the partners of this venture is here.

***update 17.02.12*** they now have a link!  www.studioblackbox.ca

Not to be confused with Black Box Productions or Hexagram's Black Box, Blackbox Studios is a photo studio that inspired many "ohhhs" and "ahhhs" and at least one "I want to live here!"

Ohhhh, that beautiful wood plank wall!!  What you might notice is that there is a lot of natural light and high ceilings, injecting an awesome energy into the space.

Some vintage furniture to recline in.

I love this taupe-y pale colour palette, mixed with blacks.  The clothes are extra inspiring when viewed on these Hay Loop wardrobe stands.

A tree stump serves as a stool or side table.

A view of the space from the back at the end of the day. Sigh.

Batman and Robin

Batbond and Robin speculate art and if it ruled the world.
A paste up in near Little Italy.

Rainbow Chard

Today I'm going to share a veggie that admittedly I am not very familiar with. Other than eating some steamed swiss chard from my aunt's garden I can't say that I've had many other experiences with it.
But then I got a blender for Christmas and started blending a bunch (haha) of greens as a morning smoothie.
Lo and behold the rainbow chard called out to me.

While reading up on this veggie, I also learned that rainbow chard is not a variety in of itself (although that would be so cool), but various stalks put together.  So much for crazy colours growing all together.

One stalk in my bunch was twice the size of my head:

WHAT?! That thing is huge!
Then I drank it all...with a banana, some pineapple, and a bit of fresh parsley.
Take that giant chard! Muahhh hahaha!

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.

Dessert Dessert

Chocolate terrine. Caramel. Smoked toffee. Maybe that's whip cream on top.

It's all a blur. 

Now you see it.

Smash!
And by chocolate terrine I mean three layers of chocolate.

White. Milk. Dark.

Go!

Going.

Totally gone.

That delicious dessert was devoured at L'Orignal.

Thank you very much.