.: r u b y pajares – ninja / graphic designer / pirate / creative / superhero / x-man / wolverine :.. v2.0

This video and Phil’s dance moves made me incredibly happy! I’ve watched it a NUMBER of times and I just came across it earlier today. It just makes me smile! And how can you not want to dance with him?!?!

Recently, I’ve discovered Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and the one and only, Karl Pilkington. Our buddy Merv, introduced us to this little series called An Idiot Abroad, and since then, I’ve been havin’ a laugh.

Anyway, check it out. The clip features the best of the Ricky Gervais Show (Season 1). It runs under 2hrs, so make sure you have the time to listen to it. You can download this file for free off of iTunes too. Enjoy!

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Since I’m reading Let My People Go Surfing, I was curious about finding Yvon on a podcast. The guy seems to have a few (good) things to say. Just a few… being the founder of a small wonder called Patagonia. So I looked him up on iTunes and came across this little thing. If you have or haven’t read his book, this still makes a nice little file to put in your iPod. It’s just over an hour. You can tell just by listening to it that Yvon isn’t one of those well-prepared, public speakers. He speaks from experience.

I could say a lot more about the man and this lecture… and his book, but give it a listen yourself. As a (reluctant) businessman, it’s refreshing to hear, to say the least.

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You can get it right from the iTunes Store (look up “Yvon Chouinard,” and look under “iTunes U”). You’ll probably find a couple more podcasts too!

Last Christmas (2009), we were dogsitting little Ralphy. I wanted to take advantage of all that condo space, so I tried using one of their large lamps, turned their closet into something like a darkroom, and used their spacious cupboard for storing, to create screen printing stencils. I sadly wasn’t able to finish all the cards and my screen just sat around over the past year. I’m keeping an eye on my spending so I thought, why not finish those cards?

Since I printed Trev’s illustration on all the cards last year, I had to print my illustration on the same baseline and in a similar blue. The blue turned out a bit darker than I was aiming for, and it took a few test runs to match the baselines but eventually, I got something passable. I then had to complete Trev’s illustration by hand since his stencil didn’t turnout as clear. So I stayed up a little that night and painted in his legs too.

We got a response from the few that got them (we sadly didn’t manage to dish them out to everyone we wanted to give them to… again). So who knows – maybe we’ll use them again this year!!

I attended a baby shower for my buddies, Anne and Dave. It’s definitely a boy and looks like he’ll be on his way pretty soon. Mommy Anne is looking beautiful and healthy. Can’t wait to meet little Jonah!!

Oh – this little name painting was something I did to make up for forgetting to get a card.

Majority of people are mostly familiar with TB’s more recent works, like Alice in Wonderland, The Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas – all of which I thoroughly enjoyed, but really under Hollywood production standards. But, with this exhibit, you get a really good look at an anthology of TB visions – before we were introduced to the classics, Beetlejuice and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (both of which hold a special place in my heart). His illustrations from his younger years still captured that fun, dark sense of humour – got some good chuckles from them. You even get to see a rejection letter from Disney (years before he started working for them as an animator) for a children’s book he wrote and illustrated. You also get a good look at a number of sketches, sculptures, costumes, and props based on his imaginatively creative and sympathetic monsters and characters – some created by him and others from artists he still works with today.

Pictures aren’t permitted in the exhibit, but I definitely got my eyes set on the monstrous-sized art book ($75, but, I think it’s well worth it – it’s not like Burton needs the dough, but if you’ve been a fan of the guy’s work, you’ll appreciate this collection. It’s something heavy too!).

There’s even a nice surprise at the end of the show.

*******(SPOILER ALERT!!! Don’t continue reading if you’re going to see the show for yourself!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!!!……… You’ve been warned…) It was a great ending to the show. Right when you walk out of the main room, you’re directed to the right, where you get to see one of his earliest short films, Hansel and Gretal. This live action short features Japanese actors and amazing set designs (which TB created with his bare hands) is probably the gem of his earlier work. It’s a pretty dark story to begin with. Created for Disney’s Japanese channel, and only aired once in the US – with a limited budget in mind, it was quite awesome to see what the young TB manifested. The evil step-mom/witch got what she had coming too… old bitch.*******

If you have a thing for the fun and the weird with an anthropomorphic touch – please, check out the show. You won’t regret it.

Also, check out the informative review from the Globe and Mail here.The article also talks about the spoiler at the end – so again, be warned!

And hey, if you want to buy tickets, go here!

One of Kanye’s more recent ambitions. He directed a short film called “Runaway” to help promote his upcoming album (released next month). Looks kind of interesting. Check out the trailer if you haven’t already.

JUST AWESOME. Can’t believe they managed to do this! If you haven’t seen this yet, WATCH IT! (It’s less than 2 minutes.)

This is what I’ve been listening to a few times over this summer. Enjoy the sunshine!

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Artist: Tegan and Sara
Song Title: Turnpike Ghost

Finally, t-shirt designs that are more than just t-shirt designs.

Up-and-coming clothing designer Akhil Chawla, tb5design‘s founder, aims to bring life-inspired design to the fashion world with his unique illustrative style, rejuvenating t-shirt designs by creating an art piece with each shirt. Akhil says, “This isn’t just another urban fashion line. I think of each piece as art created to be worn and interpreted by everyone.”

Akhil’s clothing line is set to make its debut this summer.

“The tb5 movement is coming. Don’t get left behind.”

Above and Below, 2010, recycled plastic and monofilament, 24 x 24 feet, photo credit: Peter MacCallum

This is quite cool to see in person, so if you can check it out, DO IT! Harvey’s a well-known artist from Toronto. If you want to check out more of her work, go here.

The image above was taken from this article.

We just saw Jonsi perform last night at The Sound Academy and I’m sorry we missed most of the show – just running a little late mixed with missing our stop and ending up somewhere we had no intention on being and hustling in/around/under/over bridges by foot. We did manage to catch most of the second half and I’m super glad we did.

We’ve been to a few shows, and it’s not often the music is accompanied by such perfect visual enthusiasm.
Jonsi’s music, I would say, is quite different to what we’re most often saturated with. Even in comparison to the music we dig for in the indie scene and in the underground, Jonsi’s sound is still quite unique. There’s an ambient beauty and energy that he’s managed to create. I felt like we were mesmerized in wonder and beauty. It seemed like everyone around us were just as lost and amazed too.

I don’t know who did the animation for the videos that accompanied his performance, but it was really, simply amazing. The last number, Grow Till Tall, left everyone in awe. I’m sure if we could’ve pushed mute for just a few seconds, the venue would’ve been dead quiet despite being sold out.

It really, really was an experience to witness.

I was going to post a fan video from one of his shows, but I don’t think it even exposes half the beauty from what we experienced last night. So, here’s an official video Jonsi from his site from one of his shows. The song is called Sinking Friendships. Enjoy!

jónsi – sinking friendships (live) from Jónsi on Vimeo.

So… Lionel Richie and ol’ Quincy turned their 80′s classic into a complete mess with their tribute to Haiti. Simon Cowell did his own effort for Haiti too with REM’s trademark song, Everybody Hurts – not nearly as bad as the American effort, but my ears still quivered a little. So, to my (slight) surprise I gave the Canadian effort a listen, and in my humble opinion, the Canadian tribute to Haiti just pisses on the other two. Bob Ezrin, the guy who pieced this successful project together, managed to gather a bunch of quality Canadian artists (and maybe some not so quality… but that’s not the point) to sing K’Naan’s jam,Wavin’ Flag. I thank you, sir! It sounds great! Well done!


Yes, the little Bieber is in this (he’s also in the American tribute) BUT I don’t find him annoying this time around. Can it be because the Canadian effort doesn’t seem as forced as Lionel’s?


You don’t have to be a fan of all (or any) of these artists on this project to hear the quality of this project. If you have a few minutes, please give it a listen.

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Watch the Young Artists For Haiti’s Wavin’ Flag video here. To see the full list of artists who participated in this project, go here.

Quite a few people I know have been raving about this artist, whose work is currently showcased at the AGO. So, to find out more about Ms.Mutu and her work, I checked out this video featured on the AGO’s site.

My conclusion: I’m definitely going to the AGO – soon. I suggest, if you can, you do the same.

Check it out – the new OK Go video! I first saw it on Attack of the Show. They even managed to get some geniuses from NASA to help figure this thing out! Perfectly timed, perfectly executed.

Imagine how many takes this took?!?? Amazing…

Click on the image to see it enlarged.

I got inspired, thanks to my good buddy Jen (Spinner), to do this fun little project for NOW Magazine, since I was applying for one of their job openings. This turned out to be a lot more fun than I anticipated. Our good-at-everything buddy, Phil (Cha), agreed to do the photography, even though he had next to no time! We ended up doing the shoot during his house party the day before he left for a trip. He really didn’t have much time, but he still did it, and I’m very very grateful Mr.Phil! THANK YOU. It all worked out perfectly.

Some of the other shots were kind of funny but I thought this one worked out best in consideration to the overall layout and my facial expression.

Trev originally came up with the line “up for grabs.” When he blurted that out loud, this visual popped in my head and everything else just seemed to fall into place. The subheadings eventually arrived naturally while I was figuring out the layout.

Those hands belong to people from the house party and the hand grabbing my hair is Trev’s (I don’t think anyone else would dare do that…).

I know I heard this song twice while I was watching figure skating, and I know it’s in one of the commercials running during the Olympics. I think it’s great… powerful… epic. Makes me a little anxious though… a little stressed… but it keeps me awake. I feel like I should be holding a sword in a some kind of battle. (It’s all instrumental, and it’s about 6:35 minutes.)

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Composer: Clint Mansell
Song Title: Requiem For A Dream

Enjoy!