Dancing Words Coming to a Screen Near Me

I often find myself peering over J's shoulder to see what's happening on his computer screen. Sometimes, I find it filled with designs for anything from chocolate to pitas to dog treats. Other times, I might get a glimpse of a travel company's brochure, signage for a gala event or even a dubstep video.

The last few days have been filled with dancing words for the Bach Festival in Montreal. I maybe biased but I love the idea and the execution. (Watch it full scren and turn up your sound to enjoy)

Montreal Bach Festival 09, English version from Jonathan Howells on Vimeo.

Stella Artois Ad Rips off Retro CBC Logo

CBC Logo Rip OFF
Originally uploaded by praguelondon

Last weekend we spotted this poster in the Tube for Stella Artois. As an aside, I never drink Stella Artois as I was once told that it was rated the worst in blind taste tests. However, the purpose of this post is not to discuss its virtues rather this poster.

The ad as you can see is eye-catchingly retro. It even features a suave French gentleman who definitely pleases my eyes. However, that is not what grabbed our attention. Surprisingly, it wasn't even the classic car for J.

No, it was the old CBC logo that was included in the poster that got our tongues wagging. We just couldn't figure it out. Why would they take an old logo and cut it in to pieces and include it here.



It is the CBC logo isn't it? (here's the 70's logo). Am I missing the idea of the ad? Is it supposed to be recycling old logos? I doubt it. Who in the UK even knows what the CBC is. Any ideas about this ad? Anyone?

Be A Maestro in B Flat

I think the moment this is posted, I'll realize I am about 6 months behind its discovery, but I don't care. I LOVE it.

A bit of background. I work in an office that loves to share. We share commentary (on anything and everything), jokes, websites, technology, DVDs, books, advice, opinions and everything else you can think of. Most days I ignore what is being passed from in-box to in-box. However, tonight I happened to click on what one of my colleagues (who rarely shares) sent around. There was no commentary associated with this link but I clicked anyway.


The link led to a page filled with YouTube video screens. There was a line of text which read "play these together, some or all, start them at any time, in any order" So, I did. And, I loved what happened. I started with 3 screens and then quickly added another and another and another. Wow, I'm a conductor, DJ, producer all in one. So, not only did I get that good feeling of creating, it also gave me something to write about here which I haven't done in a LOOONG time (YYZ-LHR and the MOO Cryptic Quiz have been keeping me busy)

By the way this brilliant idea was conceived by Darren Solomen.
Could someone now break it to me and tell me how out of touch I am with this find.

Better than I remembered

The summer before I started university, I worked at Lincoln Motor Inn in Niagara Falls, Ontario. This was 22 years ago (eek!), so I was rather excited to see that 1) Lincoln Motor Inn still existed and 2) it has a website. They've come a long way!

Having grown up close by and then working in Niagara Falls one summer, I've visited Niagara Falls probably 100s of times and I know I took them for granted. They are pretty impressive when you get up real close.

It's just that when people especially from the UK find out that I lived 15 minutes from Niagara Falls, they always seem in awe. Little do they know that after you spend 20 minutes looking at the Falls you then have to spend the next few hours in amusement hell on Clifton Hill surrounded by thousands of toursits. That's probably why I don't always think so kindly on The Falls.

So, when I saw this post today on Fubiz, my first thought was why would a cool site like Fubiz feature Niagara Falls on their site. Well I think the video shows that even amusement hell can be beautiful.

Niagara Falls in Motion from Matthew Wartman on Vimeo.

A Day Out at the Seaside

A few weeks back J and I decided to do something we had been talking about for ages. We decided to be spontaneous and take a day trip down to the seaside. We've lived here 4 years and have never gone for a day on the beach. We felt it was high time we found out what the fuss was all about. We jumped on a train to Brighton and spent the day down relaxing on the stoney beach and checking out the fun and games of the pier. And of course a lot of great people watching. Here's a few shots that capture our day:

A great shot of the deck chairs we didn't rent. We went for the slightly cheaper option of our portable beach blanket which we purchased in the post Xmas sales and have been waiting to use.

Merry Go Rounds and Pier Shot (oh, and some woman in the foreground)

We had a few hour rest on the beach. Ahhh bliss.

Brighton Boogie on the Boardwalk. Seeing these dancers made me a bit depressed that we have failed with our Swing Dancing lessons. We'll have to get back on that horse again.
We helped another couple take their requisite postcard Brighton shot so they volunteered to help us. We had to oblige.
We tried our luck at the penny arcade. Of course I lost more than I won, but did cut myself off at £2. As always J was attracted to the Star Wars connection.


We took a short break after our try at gambling sitting in the *free* deck chairs (introduced in '84) on the Pier overlooking the big blue sea. The Pier was built in 1899 and is the second most visited leisure facility (hmmm interesting term) in the UK according to the Pier's website. If you want to get a real sense of tacky fun the Pier has to offer, visit their website and make sure you have your speakers on.



We checked out all the crazy rides on the Pier. However, we didn't partake.


We found a cute little oyster bar along one of *the Lanes* for a glass of champagne and early dinner. We loved the communal marble tables, dripping candle wax and of course the fish. What a perfect end to the perfect Brighton Day!

Fish decor inside Riddle & Finns.



And finally, the sunglass pose to prove it is sunny in England (sometimes - not as I type this post)

More photos from the day at the Seaside.

I definitely recommend being spontaneous!

London Taxi ALMOST on the Move

When I first started writing this blog, the first posts I did mentioned a documentary J was starting to develop. It was about 4 young women (my Mother was one of them) who traveled Europe in an old London taxi cab. Here is a reminder of the story from the depths of the internet (circa 2005) and my first post EVER.

Now I'm happy to introduce you to J's current Taxi endeavour - Alfred and Jakobine - the documentary. Here is the trailer for the movie or you can read more about the project over here.

A Recipe for Joy

This may be a slightly misleading title. Decide for yourself after reading this post and the recipe itself.

The title refers to a recipe especially developed for Ms. Joy T. She was our HR manager in London MOO offices up until she moved backed to the US in February. It was a sad, joyless day when she left. (we love our puns at MOO).

As a going away present we all contributed (except me) our favourite recipe for Joy's cook book. Now if you know me, you will understand why that has taken a few months for me to complete. I just don't cook and I wasn't about to put a recipe in there for peanut butter and banana toast. Also, when I do attempt to cook I follow the recipe to every last pinch of salt. I never stray as I'm worried what will happen if I do. I couldn't very well plagiarize a recipe for dear Joy.

Now, a funny thing happened on Saturday....

J and I decided to have Nick (J's cousin) and Mark (our Filmmaker/Musician friend - also Canadian) over for a BBQ. It was forecast to be nice weather and I was keen to eat outside. I was in charge of the table and ambiance (I think I did quite well on that front). You'll see I kept it low key but funky with our map placements, chinese lanterns and cool new coasters brought to me from Boris of Prague.

I realized while J had a perfect meal we needed some low key appies. After looking through the aforementioned cook books I found what looked like a good recipe for guacamole.

Now, what happened next was created completely by accident. I soon realized we were missing a few key ingredients so I improvised. The results were scrumptious and I declared I had a recipe for Joy! All of you (my millions of readers) can try it out here but Joy you'll get it printed and ready to insert in your MOO cookbook when I come to Providence next month.

Sweet Joy Guacamole*
2-3 avocadoes (make sure they are ripe)
2 tomatoes seeded and diced
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1/2 red onion - chopped finely
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp fresh cilantro or coriander (depending on what continent you live in)
2-3 drops of Tabasco sauce
2 tbsps Mandarin Yogurt**
pinch of salt and pepper

*Joy is one of the sunniest people I have encountered so I think it is fitting this guacamole is actually sweet
**The mandarin yogurt add the sweetness and creaminess to the guacamole

Basically you crush/mush up the avocadoes, then add the garlic, onion and tomatoes. Stir in the Yoghurt, the tobasco, cilantro and a bit of salt and pepper. Yum Yum Yum. This is really a sweet spin on typical guacamole. EnJOY!

Ooooooo soooo good.You can see from Nick's face how enjoyable the guac is.

The guac was a sweet start to an all and all enjoyable evening. Here are a few more photos from the evening on my flickr account.