lesamici

A Bohemian Door

2011-09-05T12:52:00.000-04:00

The New York TImes Books Section: A Portal to 1920s Greenwich Village

University of Texas: The Greenwich Village Bookshop Door

2011-08-17T15:03:00.001-04:00

The other day I spent a couple of hours weeding the Diversity Garden that takes up a small rectangle of the park near my home. Just over half of its space is cultivated by local families – and they are a diverse bunch – while the other half is tended by volunteers, the organic carrots, lettuce, tomatoes and cukes going to a variety of food banks.
The weeds had come up thick and fast after some summer showers but the proliferation of vegetables remains truly impressive. The problem is, to keep up this kind of productivity, we need more natural fertilizer, and the city has not been forthcoming in delivering compost. Yes, what we need is some good, strong, old-fashioned animal manure – I suggested contacting the police to see what they might be able to give us from their herd of urban horses. Our volunteer coordinator Marc, meanwhile, was wondering how he could rent a truck and drive north into the countryside to see what he could pick up from a sheep or cattle farmer.
However our lack of inputs – in such a contrast to the abundance of beautiful and healthy produce – seems part and parcel of the current city administration’s corresponding lack of interest in our efforts. I certainly didn’t vote for our Rush-Limbaugh doppleganger mayor Rob Ford. In fact, not many in our downtown ward most likely did. But Ford is a man of the suburbs, and vegetable gardens in the suburbs are rare and never collective; food banks or homeless people are non-existent; and the idea of devoting a few hours a week to some healthy physical labour something to be avoided at all costs when there is a handy couch and cable TV at hand.
Rather, Mayor Ford, who during his campaign promised neither to raise property taxes or cut services, has found problems where none existed before. Basically he wants to pay down more of the city’s debt from annual deficits than has been done in the past, and to do so by cutting what he considers frills – libraries, school meals, parks maintenance, the Farmers’ Markets, community centres – basically all the stuff poor and lower-middle class people need and use.
And, really, how much can Farmers Markets or urban gardens cost the city? On the contrary, encouraging people to grow their own food in summer, giving urban farmers a venue to expand and improve their businesses, and turning handfuls of seeds into tonnes of healthy produce must surely save money. Not to mention beautify and humanize a city that, contrary to many, I find still pretty unattractive.
The real cost to the municipal budget – about 80% I gather — is very clear: salaries for city staff, including firemen and police (among the highest paid in North America). So raise property taxes a small amount and add a tax to liquor or hotel rooms. It’s not rocket science. And give us some free compost from all those well-fed horses or the compost we already separate and pay to have picked up every week.
Even former mayor Art Eggleton – no progressive by any means – came out recently in the Huffington Post sounding like a paragon of reasonableness. “In particular we must avoid cuts that would affect the most vulnerable among us,” he wrote, “ the poor, the elderly, racial minorities, the disabled and at risk youth, to name a few. These individuals rely on programs and services like nutritious meals for low-income children, child care, libraries, and affordable housing every day. Without these, their quality of life would be drastically reduced, and at what cost? Many of these programs are just a drop in the proverbial bucket that is the city’s budget. Remove them for a small gain, or maintain them for a tremendous upside; it seems like a simple decision.”
Unfortunately, it’s actually simpler for Rush, I mean Rob, to attack things he doesn’t seem to understand: physical activity, healthy produce and reading. And that’s the kind of crap we don’t need.

Something I'm now involved with...

2011-08-16T13:48:00.000-04:00

2011-03-18T11:56:00.003-04:00

Typewriter Ribbon Tin Cans

2010-12-15T13:09:00.002-05:00

Discipline and The Modern Boot & Shoe Maker, 1886

2010-10-21T18:37:00.002-04:00

Too much is not good for you.

Banksy does The Simpons opening sequence

2010-10-11T22:24:00.003-04:00

Ode to a Nissan Figaro

2010-09-25T17:42:00.003-04:00

Photograph by designwallah

The Nissan Figaro was an automobile originally only sold in Japan. It was introduced in 1989 at the Tokyo Auto Show. This is a retro homage to a retro vehicle.

I found the car parked on Ossington Avenue, it is owned by a waiter at Union who had a bitter-sweet story. It's simply a beautifully designed (right-hand drive) auto. It can be imported into Canada by Right Drive.

View Large. More at Wikipedia.

Boing Boing: How to open a new book

2010-09-06T15:44:00.000-04:00

Melody Nelson Prelude

2010-08-27T14:07:00.001-04:00

Goin' My Way?

2010-08-25T09:32:00.003-04:00

X Books

2010-08-18T17:15:00.002-04:00

Bookshelf Porn

2010-08-13T13:23:00.001-04:00

Anthony Burgess Museum in Manchester

Nixonland - the first "enhanced" eBook?

2010-08-03T14:48:00.001-04:00

Maury Chaykin, R.I.P. (The best rumpled actor around)

2010-07-29T12:57:00.002-04:00

Photograph by designwallah

R.I.P. Maury Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010). So sad to lose him, I will miss spotting his perfect rumpled self in our neighbourhood.

This Ain't The Rosedale Library is in trouble

2010-06-25T12:33:00.001-04:00

Seismic Waves - Magnitude 5.0 - Ontario-Quebec border region, Canada - 2010 June 23 17:41:42 UTC

2010-06-23T15:01:00.000-04:00

Chopin: Adolescent Sculptor and twenty-something Elvis Impersonator

2010-06-01T17:36:00.001-04:00

Copy one of the following...

2010-05-30T11:31:00.001-04:00

Photograph by designwallah - flâneur

2010-05-05T15:49:00.001-04:00

Poetry

2010-05-04T22:20:00.001-04:00

Photograph by ajax-dad

Picture by brother Chris.

IPhone Retro

2010-04-27T22:59:00.005-04:00

By freeland studios

Twin Lens Reflex

2010-04-22T11:45:00.003-04:00

By Rafael Sica

Twin Lens Reflex Club

So you need a typeface

2010-04-19T21:57:00.001-04:00

(For best results, click image)

From Julian Hansen

2010-04-14T11:34:00.001-04:00

a twofer from the McSweeney's store

2010-04-13T12:28:00.002-04:00

A Millard Kaufman bundle

The lucky devil!

2010-03-27T13:05:00.001-04:00

Photograph by ericparker

Memories of Rue Charlot

2010-03-23T20:32:00.002-04:00

Lettres à jour: over at Typefoundry Blog

2010-03-23T16:25:00.003-04:00

here

Dear Padre

2010-03-22T18:06:00.001-04:00

Photograph by designwallah

Apparently Catholics and Protestants number the 10 commandments differently…

Nine Knots

2010-03-20T22:20:00.002-04:00

...some more from College Street

2010-03-18T17:07:00.002-04:00

Cheap Camera Shots: Part Two

2010-03-14T14:30:00.002-04:00

Cheap Camera Shots: Part One

2010-03-14T14:28:00.001-04:00

Ikea takes over the Paris Métro

2010-03-13T17:32:00.003-05:00

Aparment Therapy: IKEA Paris Métro Takeover

2010-02-26T11:44:00.000-05:00

2010-02-22T20:33:00.001-05:00

Julia Pott

2010-02-17T21:55:00.001-05:00

2010-02-17T10:32:00.002-05:00

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

more info

spray it....

2010-02-12T15:15:00.001-05:00

here please

2010-02-09T00:25:00.002-05:00

More than 65,000 19th-century works of fiction from the British Library’s collection are to be made available for free downloads.

Designwallah's 100 Circles

2010-01-04T10:22:00.009-05:00

Move your cursor over the slideshow to access options to pause or change speed.
(To get rid of the annoying image icons, move the cursor over the slideshow and then move it away)

The Complete National Geographic on 160-GB Hard Drive

2009-12-30T23:52:00.000-05:00

I New Dada - White Christmas (1966)

2009-12-18T09:31:00.000-05:00

Two and a half minutes of Romy Schneider - Screen tests for Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno

2009-12-09T22:01:00.002-05:00

Wait for the Slinky!

Gainsbourg, vie héroïque

2009-12-08T21:22:00.001-05:00

What you're missing if you're watching "The Tudors" on CBC

2009-11-12T18:14:00.009-05:00

"Joan and her sister Jane"

Après «Portrait présumé de Gabrielle d'Estrées et de sa soeur la duchesse de Villars»

Blue Travel Guide

I wonder if this will be any good...

2009-11-07T02:10:00.005-05:00

GAINSBOURG - 5 Bis rue de Verneuil

2009-11-05T18:18:00.002-05:00

Wu-Tang (Reissued)

2009-11-05T16:32:00.004-05:00

Photograph by advantagelogan

The Prisoner (Rebooted) - With Sir Ian as Two!

2009-11-04T22:52:00.016-05:00

About the show

God Help The Girl - a soundtrack to a future film

2009-10-08T22:35:00.004-04:00

God Help The Girl - an introduction from God Help The Girl on Vimeo.

(Yes, that was Neil Hannon in the video, for half a second)

Songs about books - a mix tape, by "Letters have no arms"

2009-10-08T22:01:00.002-04:00

Une Seize? Exactly what I needed after the day I had!

2009-09-16T23:26:00.002-04:00

Photograph by designwallah

trip #1

2009-09-13T00:37:00.001-04:00

Photograph by votreceinture

Une very stylish fille!

Tonk Pile!

2009-08-28T10:21:00.002-04:00

The queue for Banksy vs Bristol Museum

2009-08-25T23:39:00.002-04:00

The queue for Banksy vs Bristol Museum
Originally uploaded by Leo Reynolds

The Beat Hotel

2009-08-09T15:14:00.004-04:00

click image

Three Hinges - Same Door

2009-07-24T15:13:00.002-04:00

Three Hinges - Same Door. Toronto. Laneway. By Designwallah.

News: Album cover art for second volume of Neil Hannon/Divine Comedy leaked!

2009-07-16T13:58:00.001-04:00

Photograph by designwallah

A Companion For The Weekend.

Released near the end of July, beginning of August - when DJ FM has the time.

À table, le souper est servi !

2009-07-13T23:49:00.002-04:00

Photograph by designwallah

Magret de canard

Fresh Duck Breast • Magret de canard - Produced somewhere in Canada for Rougié Sarlat, France

Fresh and Sweet Peas • Pois frais et sucrés - Mill Creek Farm, Prince Edward County, Ontario

Red mini potatoes • Mini-pommes de terre rouge - Grown somewhere in the USA for Henry's Harvest • Récolte de Henry, Grand Bend, Ontario

Sella & Mosca Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva 2005

Sunday New York Times Book Section

Draw Serge!

2009-07-02T21:57:00.006-04:00

Throbbing Gristle and all that Jazz

2009-06-04T17:28:00.003-04:00

Photograph by Chris Carter

Throbbing Gristle, Hipgnosis, Denmark Street, London and 1979.

Chris Carter wikified

Tag: You're It...

2009-05-12T16:56:00.001-04:00

The most dangerous game

2009-04-30T19:46:00.001-04:00

Dean Allen: My Day, Yesterday

2009-04-06T14:36:00.002-04:00

-from somewhere in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France

go here to watch it on Flickr

As The Stores Disappear

2009-04-05T13:36:00.000-04:00

go to Nancy Pavia's Flickr site to watch the video

DAAU (Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung) from Antwerp

2009-03-19T18:22:00.002-04:00

-via Crisis in Frascati

"Buenos Aires, quatorze janvier 1984"

2009-03-03T00:09:00.002-05:00

Photograph by designwallah

Taken at the exhibition "L'univers de Borges" at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1992. Jorge Luis Borges.

Ambient

2009-02-15T14:37:00.005-05:00

Cafe, Paris, 1959

2009-02-03T19:09:00.003-05:00

Saul Leiter here and here

Maigret from the 60's

2009-01-25T16:19:00.005-05:00

climb

2009-01-21T20:02:00.003-05:00

Flickr

Obamicon

John Mortimer/Rumpole: RIP

2009-01-18T17:00:00.002-05:00

more here

Momus does...

2009-01-17T12:29:00.000-05:00

Momus and Germlin - Ashes to Ashes from Jordan Fish on Vimeo.

Seen Reading

2009-01-14T14:33:00.000-05:00

Tilt Shifted by TiltShiftMaker

2009-01-09T14:42:00.005-05:00

Photograph by designwallah. A few more of my fakes on

TiltShiftMaker.com

Universal Infrared Remote for iPhone - Brought to you by a group of students at the University of Toronto

2009-01-06T22:28:00.003-05:00

UiRemote: The Universal Infrared Remote for iPhone

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

2009-01-06T10:36:00.001-05:00

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

How To Tie A Cherry Stem In A Knot With Your Tongue

2009-01-02T12:40:00.001-05:00

1. Select the longest cherry stem you can that has the notch-y bits intact on both ends.
2. In your mouth, use your tongue to bend it once about one-third of the way up the stem. You need one side to be slightly longer than the other. Cross the ends.
3. Flip the stem around, if necessary, so the notches point toward the back of your mouth and the longer half is on the bottom.
4. Using your tongue and the back of your teeth, push the loop part upwards, flipping it as though towards the back of your mouth while pressing it towards your teeth. Use your tongue to push the notch of the longer end through the loop as it is coming back down.
5. Use the notch to secure the longer end in the middle of the loop.
6. Extract it sexily (if possible) from your mouth. Amaze friends and bartenders alike.

- From Jezebel

Inuit Rap

2008-12-21T10:27:00.001-05:00

See Paris in 8 minutes

2008-12-18T19:26:00.012-05:00

Claude Lelouch - C'était un rendez-vous (1976)

“It makes Bullitt look like a cartoon” - Jeremy Clarkson (Top Gear, BBC)

The film shows an eight-minute drive through Paris in the early hours of the morning (05:30hrs), accompanied by sounds of a high-revving engine, gear changes and squealing tires. It starts in a tunnel of the Paris Périphérique at Porte Dauphine, with an onboard view from an unseen car (a Ferrari 275 GTB) exiting up on a ramp to Avenue Foch. Well-known landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe, Opéra Garnier, and Place de la Concorde with its obelisk are passed, as well as the Champs-Élysées. Pedestrians are passed, pigeons sitting on the streets are scattered, red lights are ignored, one-way streets are driven up the wrong way, centre lines are crossed, the car runs on a pavement to avoid a refuse lorry. The car is never seen as the camera seems to be attached below the front bumper, judging from the relative positions of other cars, the visible headlight beam and the final shot when the car is parked in front of kerbstones on Montmartre, with the famous Cathedral Sacré Cœur behind, and out of shot. Here, the driver gets out and embraces a young blonde woman as bells ring in the background, with the famous backdrop of Paris.

from Wiki

Les enfants de Serge

2008-12-18T19:21:00.001-05:00

On est venu te dire qu'on t'aime bien - Gainsbourg
by ACF_Lolo

The Examined Life

2008-12-14T15:06:00.000-05:00

And now for a commercial break

2008-12-12T11:24:00.004-05:00

... to the tune of The Kinks "Picture Book". An oldie but a goodie.

Dave Emlen's Unofficial Kinks Web Site

Tenez cette pose svp!

2008-12-09T10:38:00.002-05:00

Pierrot the photographer
(Adrien Tournachon)
Félix Nadar
1854

Emily The Strange is a rip off

2008-12-06T23:57:00.000-05:00

For the inner geek in all of us

2008-12-06T13:20:00.006-05:00

From The Obsolete Technology Website

Found at boing-boing

18,400 Billboard Top 100® Rock and Pop 45 RPM Records

2008-12-06T11:15:00.002-05:00

Just $275,000.00 at Neiman Marcus.

Sweetness and Dark

2008-12-06T09:03:00.002-05:00

Photograph by designwallah

« SarkObama » : « Monsieur le Président, le climat, c’est maintenant ! »

2008-12-05T22:24:00.002-05:00

Goodnight Bush

2008-12-04T19:05:00.006-05:00

Lesamici Gastronomique

2008-11-23T10:38:00.001-05:00

Martin Picard at Au Pied de Cochon

Lesamici Book Club:

2008-11-17T11:42:00.003-05:00

CKOI Masked Avengers prank call to Sarah Palin!

2008-11-01T21:51:00.005-04:00

CBC: Montreal comedian pranks Sarah Palin

The Huffington Post: Palin Prank Call: Canadian Comedy Duo Convinces Palin She's Talking To Sarkozy (with audio)

Audio: Sarah Palin piégée par les justiciers masqués MP3

Gainsbourgmania 2 - Une vie héroïque

2008-11-01T01:29:00.003-04:00

Eric Elmosnino as Serge Gainsbourg

Le Figaro cinéma - Le Gainsbourg de Joann Sfar

Gainsbourgmania - The Japanese are wild about him too

2008-10-24T15:04:00.001-04:00

Gainsbourg 2008 at the Cité de la musique, Paris

Digital Dada - "Lavez vos seins commes vos gants"

2008-10-24T12:08:00.005-04:00

Excursions & visites Dada: 1ère visite, Eglise Saint Julien le Pauvre. Paris, 1921.

Prospectus for a mock guided tour conducted by the Paris Dadaists on April 14, 1921. Text attributed to Tristan Tzara.

From The International Dada Archive

The fun really starts at 5:26

2008-10-24T11:28:00.001-04:00

bio-moi is still there...

2008-10-19T16:22:00.001-04:00

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