Weekend Suggestion: Food for the Soul

With a cold front hitting the Canadian and American North East regions over the weekend, it's the perfect opportunity to spend some time in the kitchen, and treat yourself and your family to a feast. A great meal and a nice bottle of wine with friends and family warms the heart and the soul.

A personal favorite in our household is the Vintner’s Wife’s Pork Chops, a bone-in pork loin chop covered in a Dijon mustard sauce with homemade pickles. With a nice glass of Burgundy, it's a real treat for the senses!

For ideas for your kitchen, visit www.kitchens.com.

Weekend Suggestion: Food for the Soul

Haute Couture for the Shower

French designer Philippe Starck, in partnership with the German company Hansgrohe, has recently launched a new shower collection.

The Axor Starck redefines the shower space: the basic 12 x 12 cm module can include thermostat, water volume, shower head, hand-held shower, sound and light control. With the possibility of installing it horizontally or vertically, this almost invisible module can be integrated to any living area of the house - in the washroom, but why not in the boudoir or in the bedroom!

Easy to install, easy to use, it's the evolution of the tailor-made spa in the comfort of your house.

Take the plunge, visit www.axor-design.com.

Haute Couture for the Shower

Artistic Connections

It's hard to define Dharma Arts in one short, quirky sentence... good thing their team has already done so : 'Dharma is about connecting – introducing communities with subcultures: artists with curators, musicians with audiences, writers with photographers. We’re looking to broaden the definition of what art is and redefine what Ottawa culture means.'

The brainchild of artist/entrepreneur/philantropist/superdad Akash Sinha is now in its fourth year of existence, and is the perfect reflection of the versatility of its founder - showcasing local artists, commenting on the social impact of art and sustainable food, discussing spiritual enlightment and polygamy, among the long list of subjects tackled by the Dharma Arts team.

The current Winter 2010 issue, The analog issue, looks at viability of vinyls and cassettes in the 21st century, a silent move revival, the little-told story of a downtown atelier, the drawings of Julie Maas and Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School.

Have a read and share your thoughts.

Everything is connected. Now you are too.

Artistic Connections

Take Your Pulse

Fan of music, video and advertising? Check out the eclectic portfolio of pulsefilms.co.uk, a production company from London, UK.

Their credentials include music videos for Groove Armada, Deadmau5 and Franz Ferdinand; live recordings for Blur, The Smashing Pumpkins and The White Stripes; ads for T-Mobile, Nike and Honda.

Take Your Pulse

Weekend suggestion: Miike Snow

Following up on yesterday's post, this weekend's suggestion is all about the Swedish/American trio Miike Snow. Mixing the songwriting talents of American Andrew Wyatt and the producing team of Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, this group has exploded on the chart in the second half of 2009, and they're currently in the midst of a world tour - even if the collaboration was suppose to be nothing more than a small studio album.

The eponymous debut album, released in October 2009, has spanned three single on the indie pop charts - Animal, Burial, and Black and Blue.

They also have remixed the likes of Passion Pit, Peter Bjorn and John, Kings of Leon, Coco Sumner, and Vampire Weekend. Their sound sounds familiar? Karlsson and Winnberg, also known as Bloodshy & Avant, are the masterminds behind the beats of mainstreams artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, and Britney Spears - including the 2005 Grammy Award winning Toxic.



Their website at www.miikesnow.co.uk

Their music on Myspace

Weekend suggestion: Miike Snow

Are You Free Or Are You Tied Up?

Miike Snow - Animal - Video directed by Anthony Dickenson

Are You Free Or Are You Tied Up?

Gucci for men - Fall 2010

Gucci unveiled its Fall 2010 men collection, designed by Frida Giannini, on January 18th, during the Milan Fashion Week.

The full collection can be seen on the GQ site.

What caught my eye:












Here is a short video featuring the runway show:

Gucci for men - Fall 2010

Golden Globes Fashion

Missed the Golden Globes and its red carpet event? Starpulse.com has a pretty exhaustive list of the ladies under the rain.



Halle Berry, Peneloppe Cruz and Heather Graham get my thumbs up while Ashley Olsen, Christina Aguillera and Tina Fey's fashion decisions were a bit more dubious.

Any favorites? Any disasters you would've liked to help avoid?

Golden Globes Fashion

Weekend suggestion: A Single Man

Fashion mogul Tom Ford makes his directorial debut in A Single Man, featuring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. The movie, based on the Christopher Isherwood novel, is set in the mid '60s and relates the last day (or is it really his last?) of a gay British college professor in Los Angeles coping with death of his long-time partner.

Colin Firth in the leading role is absolutely amazing, while the art direction and the costume design are marvelously done and very artistic. The story of someone who realizes that his whole world is gone is very touching, and makes you appreciate even more your friends, family and loved ones.



Learn all about the movie on its official website.

Read the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

Three Golden Globes nominations - Best Actor Drama (Colin Firth), Best Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore) and Best Original Score (Abel Korzeniowski).

Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Tokyo Film Festival and the London Film Festival.

Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival - Colin Firth.

Weekend suggestion: A Single Man

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity

Is there a caveman in you?

From the Fashion section of the New York Times comes this interesting article on a fascinating approach to dieting. Chanelling their inner caveman, a small group of New Yorkers have developed the caveman lifestyle, which involves 'eating large quantities of meat and then fasting between meals to approximate the lean times that his distant ancestors faced between hunts'.

The New Age Cavemen and the City

Workouts include 'cooting around the underbrush on all fours, leaping between boulders, playing catch with stones', and jogging barefoot across 'Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges on a frigid night.'

Interested in learning more? John Durant, the tribe's chieftain, will soon be launching his site at http://hunter-gatherer.com

Photo credit: Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

Is there a caveman in you?

D-d-d-d-disco Pants!

Disco is not dead. American Apparel's keeping it alive with its form fitting, high-waist disco pants.

"They manage to nip, tuck, and suck all of the places that we alpha females are most insecure about, procuring a slinky silhouette."
-cafefashionista

I can picture myself busting out my moves at la Discoteria in disco pants. Charcoal or Midnight Navy? Decisions. Decisions.

Red

Charcoal

Midnight Navy

Black

Rich Purple

D-d-d-d-disco Pants!

Weekend suggestion: The xx

Their sound is perfect for the beginning of a new year - melodic, athmospheric, dark yet hopeful. It's a perfect blend of indie rock and modern R&B, and a great way to enjoy the long evenings of January.

After a highly successsful tour in the fall of 2009, the trio will be opening for Hot Chip on their North American mini-tour in April 2010.



Listen to the band on MySpace

Visit their website: thexx.info

Read a review of their debut LP on Pitchfork

Weekend suggestion: The xx

Those who turn their back on Milan...

... turn their back on bread.

An old Milanese saying, from a city suspicious of those who turn their backs on her in favor of other lifestyles and rhythms. But what a wonderful lifestyle it is!

All The Pretty Birds, a fashion blog maintained by Tamu McPherson, puts on display the latest street trends from one of the world's most fashionable metropolis.

My husband and I spent a few days in Milan when touring Italy in 2007, and it's a gorgeous city, always busy, always on the go.

Those who turn their back on Milan...

Mizdragonfly Loves Animals!

And Crookers. And Soulwax. And Mixhell.



Crookers feat. Soulwax & Mixhell - We Love Animals - I Love Techno 2009, at the Flanders Expo in Ghent, Belgium.

Mizdragonfly Loves Animals!

Resolutions 2010

Personnal

1. Eating healthy
2. Exercising 3 times weekly, 1 time on the weekend
3. Invest my discretionary dollars to decorate my house

Business

1. List new creations in my online Etsy shop more often
2. Blog more often
3. Refresh my business plan

What about you?

Resolutions 2010