Here We Come

But not quite yet... I (and who knows who else will have committed to the insanity by then) will be taking on the most famous hiking trail in BC.

75 kilometres (47mi) of isolated, natural Canadian wilderness including caves, coves, cliffs, surge channels and coastal geology. Ladders, bridges and suspension cables add to the fun. Somewhere I read there are approximately 50 ladders to climb! And who wouldn't want to spend a week with Mother Nature. I can already smell the fresh rainforest air. There is so much preparation to do for this trek, both physically and mentally, but it has begun.

The history of the trail is filled with tragedy. Many ships have gone down along this western shoreline, known as "The Graveyard of the Pacific". Two lighthouses and a telegraph wire had been installed along the coast in the 1800s to aid navigation, in an attempt to prevent this from happening. In 1907, after 136 passengers aboard the Valencia perished in a fierce storm in 06, the old telegraph route was upgraded to a lifesaving trail eventually evolving to what it is today: the West Coast Trail.

It sounds like a freaking blast, albeit an incredibly arduous & treacherous undertaking. I'm up for a challenge.

Blue Peak Travel Photography has some awesome photos of the trail:



What's your most memorable hiking experience? What do you consider to be the most important advice in preparing for a long trek? Things you can't live without on the trails?

See The Forest For The Trees

A lake, a book, a fire, some film. Sounds like serenity to me...

Evocative Debris

"Capturing the dark and evocative debris that radiates from his mind"...

I caught myself admiring the work of Surrealist fetish/mutilation artist Brian M. Viveros again. A sultry menagerie of lust and the macabre. Apparently, smoking is sexy. The cancerous stick makes an appearance in the majority of his pieces. Too bad. However, this is his signature style, along with heavy black seductive eyes and the overall imagery of a Femme Fatale. I read in one of his interviews that he paints the cigarette last and this is when he knows the painting is complete. When he finishes with hers, he can have his. The process of Viveros starts with a drawing on paper, then he transfers it to maple board. Using an airbrush, along with charcoal and ink, or oils and acrylic, he creates these erotic beauties. I am in love:

Hang Over

Fight Klub
Evil Last
Dirtyland IV

Pass the Gas
Lazy Eye
Bullfight Her

Up to you

Steve Earle has some great songs. I've been listening to this one in particular as of late: It's all up to you. The lyrics really hit home when I first heard it. Bikkja does an amazing cover of the song. I was delighted to find it while looking for the original by Earle. I actually like her version better as it's softer, more melodic... haunting. Have a listen:



No matter which way the wind blows
It's always cold when you're alone
Ain't no candle in the window
You've got to find your own way home
Now the rain ain't gonna hurt you
It's come to wash away your blues
It's all up to you

No body said it would be easy
But it don't have to be this hard
If you're lookin' for a reason
Just stand right where you are
Now there ain't no one out to get you
They've got to walk in their own shoes

It's all up to you
It's all up to you
No one else can get you through
Right or wrong, win or lose
It's all up to you

You can stand out on that highway
Look as far as you can see
But when you get to that horizon
There's always someplace else to be
But don't you stop to look behind you
'Cause you've got some travelin' left to do
It's all up to you

The message is nothing new, but the reminder is always welcomed. It's so easy to forget...especially when difficult situations arise or people are their usual jovial selves (tongue in cheek). But it's true.

Such a Gentleman...

They say chivalry's dead, but I think you're making a pretty strong case for it's revival...

A Pug Named Moustache

"I would describe the practice of making art as requiring a mix of rapt dedication and raw conviction. It is one of the purest acts of faith I know about." ~ Sheila Norgate





Last night, I had the honour of attending "i never met a blank canvas i didn't like" by Sheila Norgate, a local visual artist. She photographed her painting process with a tripod set up in her studio and presented it in a series of slides. The timing of this show was bang on, as I have been awaiting inspiration for a while now (Merci beaucomp, JG!).

Paintings evolved from a glaring white canvas to charming pieces of art, subconsciously, through the eyes and mind of this incredible lady. The spontaneity of it all was quite hilarious. She would bring certain elements onto the canvas on one slide, and when we reached the next slide it had either morphed into something quite different, or been painted over altogether... and so on. It was almost stop motion. She made it all the more interesting with her narrations.




It's interesting to see the way different artists approach the canvas and a gift to be able to take with you a little something from each one. Whether it be a new idea, a new style or technique, or simply a burst of inspiration.

Her work can be found on her website: www.shelianorgate.com

The Lunacy of Clowns

"The images that mobilize conscience are always linked to a given historical situation. The more general they are, the less likely they are to be effective."
~ Susan Sontag

Erwin Olaf is a Dutch photographer who mixes photojournalism, studio photography and CGI (computer generated imagery). Bizarre. Controversial. Symbolic. Imaginative. I'd like him to teach me a thing or two on photography.

Self Portrait (I Wish. I Am. I Will Be.)

The Royal Blood series are simple white on white, and depict various aristocrats who have suffered untimely deaths... Diana's mercedes, Marie Antoinette's decapitation, Elisabeth of Bavaria's bleeding heart (minus the corset).

'All dressed up and no place to go'... His New York Couture features a different fashion designer in each shot, each model blending or bleeding into the background. Lacroix is below.

Olaf's interview

Paradise the Club is a bunch of clowns in their lunacy. Frankly, I think clowns are freaks. I mean, seriously:

WTF??!?!!

However, I do like what Olaf has done in these shots. It's a big colourful collage of fetish. So if clowns are your thing, you might like this one.

A little taste from other groupings:

Chessman XXXII (Chessmen series)

Chanel (Fashion Victims series)

Cindy C. 75 (Mature series)

Check out his website for more in these series and the rest of his work... Or just watch the vid:

Historia Naturae, 1967

Jan Švankmajer is a surrealist artist/filmmaker from Czech... I adore his work. It's bizarre, and at times, horrific. He has been a huge influence to Tim Burton and the Quay Brothers. Historia Naturae is an amusing piece. The music (by Zdeněk Liška) is hilariously perfect for it.

And the end of natural history is death...



"In the old magicians’ books, they say that if we wish to exorcise a demon or a ghost, then we have to give them a name… and I think that is precisely the method I use to get rid of my anxieties and fears. I give them a name in my films." - Jan Švankmajer

Defining Beauty: A Reminder

The image of Lizzie Miller is from the September issue of Glamour magazine. There's been some hype about it, because it's not a picture of your everyday size 2 magazine model. She's size 12-14 and weighs *gasp* 180lbs. But tell me, does she not look fabulous? I think so.

I'm glad we're getting some more representation on the varying shapes & sizes of women out there. We need a shift in the way we think, and how we measure what is beautiful, acceptable, or desired. We need to redefine 'Beauty', for all its sizes.

This is the kind of image that I would assume many women can relate to. Someone real. Someone happy and confident in her own body, despite it's 'imperfections'. Which really, in the big scheme of things, are so small they are not even worth thinking about. Obviously, she doesn't. It's the rest of us, that have been suckered into this belief that women should have teenie tiny waists, flat as a wall abs, perfect breasts, and wrinkle-free, dimple-free smooth flawless skin...but every woman should feel beautiful in her own skin, whether size 2 or size 14, and not be measured by the single standard:


The reality is: we come in different shapes and sizes. What is a healthy size for one woman, might be different than the next. Eventually all skin wrinkles, tits sag and gravity takes its toll. We all have imperfections. The question is: who really cares? Let's get on with the things that matter and love ourselves for who we are. Beauty, flaws, and all...