HUNTER

Time for...music talk! My band just released a new 4 song EP called Hunter. It's a pay-what-you-can download on our bandcamp site, which means that you can just enter 0 and get it for FREE, or stream it from the site directly. Free is the best price. We hope you download it!

I'm really happy with this little guy. It's exactly the small collection of songs we were aiming to make - less panicked (ok still kinda panicked), and more focused and moody. While I spend the least amount of my free time making music these days, releasing new music will always be my very favourite (and most intimate) thing to do.

So, thanks so much to our pals who've already downloaded this thing - it really does encourage us to keep writing songs, even if we do take our sweet time doing it. Yes!

Exclaim! post.
Magical Thinking video. 
Fine Lines video.

MAGICAL THINKING.

Something fun? My band has a new song called Magical Thinking and our pal Ryan Mounsey made us this wild new video for it. In his words: "In the Magical Metropolitan land of Chatham; the King's number one Wizard set's out on a journey of self discovery and self loathing." It's pretty fun to hand your music off to someone and see what they come up with. Thanks, Ryan!

This video features all kinds of weird stuff: our friend Corey as the King Of Chatham, a wizard on a mission, and some very Toronto-centric appearances by Rob Ford (our total train wreck of a mayor) and Zanta (remember him?). Moose run through the streets, there are ads for baby sunglasses, and public transportation prices skyrocket. Doesn't it sometimes feel like the escalator is always broken? GAME OVER.

SNEAK PEEKS, SONGS, SUPERIOR PINKS.

I adopted 3 new plants this week, and I'm hoping I can put the Great Spider Plant Tragedy of 2011 behind me with some healthy new plant life. Will tragedy (aka my inability to keep indoor plants alive) strike again? My house is really deficient in the natural light department, so it's really only a matter of time. Updates on the future Aloe Disaster of 2012 pending.

Falconwright leather all cut, lined up, and ready for printing. There are some bright new colours on this table, but the black and white keeps their secret for now...

Pattern printing time. Rinse and repeat! Lines, dashes, triangles, woven squares, art deco haystacks, slightly askew v's, and more. Deadweight is feeling jealous of all the time I've been spending with Falconwright. Deadweight needs to toughen up.

My new highly technical set up for burning screens. Dear Charlotte: the glamour of my home set up in full force! Old broom handle to hang bulbs from, crappy mint yoga mat to stand on while I print, paper all over the floor, vegetable oiled transparencies, etc.

Opening a fresh paint container for the first time is one of my favourite small pleasures in the print zone. They never unscrew as easily again. I recently decided to try out some Permaset inks, and this glow pink is far superior to Speedball's neon pink in almost every way (almost because it costs twice as much).

And lastly, while we're in black and white mode, my band recently made a video in our practice space. It's called Fine Lines and will appear on an upcoming EP release! New songs, forest murals, chicken lamps, calm boys, serious faces, deep breaths, frantic instruments - this video has it all (well, all of that).

ODDS & SODS.

My printing muscles have been getting a workout lately. I've also been posting a lot lately - I'll probably never blog as much as I will/have this past couple of weeks, ha. The time before Holiday shows can be a grind, but they definitely motivate me to make new things. And I really need that push, ya know? For you Toronto folks looking for handmade goods - A Handmade Holiday is Saturday Decemeber 3rd (this weekend!) and City of Craft runs December 10th and 11th! There will be a ton of excellent craftspeople in attendence at both of these events, and I'm definitely looking forward to picking up a few things I've had my eyes on...

I wanted to thank you for the kind, enthusiastic response to Danielle and I's new project: Falconwright. Thank you to Lemonade, Where The Lovely Things Are, Kylin Untitled, and The Shiny Squirrel for posting about it. And thank you for all the kind comments and interest regarding an eventual shop launch (we're so pleasantly surprised). I've been busy making us tags and bags and business cards, while Danielle has been making our stock of headbands and a few bangles (photos to come!).

Speaking of business cards, to ease up on some of my screen printing load I decided to get business cards printed up. These feature bits and pieces of an illustration (from a series) that you'll soon see in The Walrus (yeah!).

In other news, my band is currently recording new songs and making a couple of videos. But in the meantime, you can download (or stream) the album we put out last year via Bandcamp or Facebook for FREE. If you're not ready for Christmas carols, and you've been itching for some nervous, dramatic rock music in your life - look no further? Mostly loud jams on here, but there are a few quieter tracks too. Thanks to NXeW and our twittering Wavelength pals for helping to spread the word. For all the record lovers in the house, we still have this guy available on vinyl too.

Speaking of rabbit's feet - Charlotte sent me this lucky little foot in honour of the above mentioned album. Sweetheart, right?

And lastly, I finally cleaned up the backyard garden that I greatly neglected at the end of the season. Planted some garlic and and shut it down. I will treat you better next year, garden. We will spend more time together. I swear.

LATELY.

Random Moments From September (so far): 1. The giant, ravenous, popcorn eating fish of Canada's Wonderland. 2. My sister worked her shift in a bar, took a 3am Greyhound bus to Toronto from London, and then went to Canada's Wonderland in the morning. Her dedication to having a good time is impressive. Healthy breakfast choices for under-slept sisters? Funnel cake. 3. Prize winning country pumpkins. Other notable prize winning categories? Best Scarecrow, Best Darned Sock, Best Decorated T-Shirt, Biggest Carrot, etc. Note: My crew of babes did not agree with a lot of the judges calls. 4. Taking in a demolition derby on the steepest, bumpiest hill known to man. MC'd by a verbose, purple haired grandma. 5. Pink clouds. 6. Roadside tart shop scores (which were not long for this world). 7. Food and beer tickets. 8. I'm kind of in love with a weed smoking Australian man-dog. 9. The TGB Travelling Family Band. More here. & 10. The Port Hope Fall Fair Midway.

It would appear that when I'm not holed up on my computer these days, I'm at amusement parks and fairs. Sounds good to me.

COTTAGE LIFE.

This is the last of my August lake porn shots, I swear. Last weekend I went up to a cottage with my bandmates and a few of our favourite partners in crime. We listened to copious amounts of classic rock radio, floated in the lake, drank beers, played a rousing game of Apples to Apples, hypothesised about what the loud shirtless dudes at the cottage next to ours were doing, and lit up some marshmallows. There was a surprise fireworks show across the lake one night which seemed to happen shortly after discussing how much we wished we had brought fireworks - magic! And last but not least, on the morning of our departure we woke up to Nigel's note and accomplishment - somehow he managed to put together this snake cube brain teaser thing that tested the patience of a few of us over the course of the weekend. We looked it up online and watched a torso and hands put it together on youtube, only to have the end shot reveal a 12 year old boy. See ya next year, summer.