unsolicited opinions on random things
Mr and Mrs Globe Trot is a blog following Seattle-based photographers as they travel through Europe on their 6-month (!) honeymoon. That’s their travel plan up there at the top, and a few of my favourite shots from their blog. They’re both professional photographers, so it’s no wonder the photos on this website are stunning.
Much has been said of Mad Men‘s design, but I haven’t seen anything so fun and playful as Mad Men: The Illustrated World. Illustrator Dyna Moe drew a scene from every episode of the first 3 seasons of the show (like the Betty Draper one above). You can see all the drawings on her Flickr page. (And if the style looks familiar, it’s because Dyna Moe also created the popular “Mad Men Yourself” avatar on Facebook)
In addition to the scene illustrations, the book also includes quirky features about 1960s office culture, icons and fads, along with recipes and drink menus (including Sally Draper’s cocktail menu). My favourite is these Joan Holloway paper dolls (above).
Read more about the book on Penguin’s website.
[via ColourLovers]
Need a quick break at work? Wanna look at something other than the report/file/design/blank screen you’re working on? Check out Globe Genie. Select which continents you’d like to explore, click “transport me”, and be taken to a totally random Google Street View shot of a location. Globe Genie has been described as “Chatroulette for Google Street View” (I guess because of the random results). Seriously, this is a complete waste of time and has absolutely no purpose, other than to delight you with the random joy in discovering new scenery. Which is worth a few seconds of my time, for sure.
[via Design.Work.Life]
Do you miss Domino magazine as much as I do? I read other quirky lifestyle/design magazines online and in print, but none of them seem to fill the void left by Domino. I have a few issues that I saved, but definitely not all of them, so I was thrilled to read that you can find 25 great Domino articles archived online on the Brides.com website. Click here to see the list of available articles.
Did you see Logorama, the Oscar-award winning short film? If not, give yourself 16 minutes and enjoy.
[via kottke.org]
On Saturday, Ian and I took Isabel to Bluffers Park in Scarborough. It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but the water is crystal clear. Isabel enjoyed romping in the lake, while Ian threw sticks for her to fetch. There’s a marina and a few restaurants there too, and over on the other side of the park is a huge sandy beach. It’s only a 20-minute drive from our place, and a nice spot to spend an afternoon.
I first visited Gigapan last year, after President Obama’s Inauguration Speech. The website featured an extremely high resolution photo, where you can zoom in with amazing clarity on small sections of the image. It’s a massive shot of the whole crowd, but you can zoom in on individual faces. So cool.
I was reminded of Gigapan after reading this roundup of Amazing High Resolution Photography on the Inspiredology blog. Eager to procrastinate from doing real work, I checked out the Gigapan site again, and was amazed to see so many different panoramic shots. I like the one of Machu Picchu, the view from a rooftop in Bath, England, and the Austrian ski resort. So many things to zoom in on!
Do you love Mad Men as much as I do? Then you might enjoy these on-set and behind-the-scenes photos of the show, courtesy of Rolling Stone. Enjoy!
[via Applied Arts Wire]
What a great idea for a cafe – don’t offer WiFi, ban computers, and encourage your patrons to play board games! Next time I’m in the Annex, I’m going to check out Snakes and Lattes, a board-game cafe featuring over 1500 different games. Sounds like a great way to spend a lazy afternoon.
[image via Torontoist]
It’s the last weekend of summer folks, so make it count! Here’s a good roundup of “16 Things To Do in Toronto Before Summer’s Over”, courtesy of Toronto Life. One thing I’d like to do is check out Sugar Beach (pictured above) – the new tiny public park next to the giant Redpath Sugar Factory. I don’t recommend the hedge maze on Centre Island – Ansley and I took our cousin Jennifer through it back in July, and we got lost and dizzy. I still think it’s cool that there’s a maze there at all though.
Whatever you do this weekend, enjoy!
[Sugar Beach photo via blogTO]