The Devil Made Me...

Walking into my office at Circle this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find this Halloween Treat on my desk (thanks Carol!)... ;)

In case you're from another planet, it's Halloween this weekend, which means you should be extra cautious, and on the lookout for the munchkins in costume darting about the city streets, prowling zombies/vampires, and costumed party-goers on pedestrian sidewalks.


If you haven't filled your weekend schedules yet, you may be interested in checking out the Winnipeg Comic-con, on this weekend at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. I'm planning to attend at least once.

Next week, on November 4th, GDC Manitoba will be hosting their resurrected, 'Tales from the Darkside' event - which is always a 'treat'. More information about the event from GDC Manitoba, here - don't forget to register (members must login to receive the discount)!

Have yourselves a safe and Happy Halloween - cheers!

Recommended Viewing | My ThreeA Toys Collection - Photosets on Flickr...

I've posted about my infatuation with Ashley Wood/3A toys previously on MUHSASHUM, here. Well, needless to say, my collection is continuing to expand. ;) I've finally taken some time to photograph some of the latest arrivals... above is the Adventure Kartel - Boiler Zombie... this guy is ridiculously photogenic. ;P


From Ashley Wood's Popbot Universe - Tomorrow King (TK) Hideo.


WWR Square - Rothchild Lunar Defense model...


...note the WARNING on the box! ;D


DIY Bambaboss (still have to commit to a design before I start hacking away at this DIY vinyl beauty)...


Black Bertie freight container. Contents - one black 3A T-shirt size medium. Rock on! Additional photos can be found on Flickr, check out my collections, here - enjoy!

For those of you who are interested in learning more about Ashley Wood/ThreeA toys, check out the following sites:
http://www.threeaonline.com/
http://threeaproduction.blogspot.com/
http://3atoys.hyperboards.com/
http://ashleybambaland.blogspot.com/
http://www.bambalandstore.com/ **

**Start your collection today (you won't regret it)! WWRp Bertie MK2 goes on sale today at http://www.bambalandstore.com/ - don't say I didn't tell you.

COOL! ThreeA Toys...

Well, it's no secret that I'm a fan of Ashley Wood. I've blogged about his work and toys on MUHSASHUM previously, here. Anyhow, as I had hinted, I've joined the 3A Legion - a forum/hyperboard for fans of everything ThreeA. This would be the first forum that I've joined in recent memory... where the members are all equally crazy (crazy fans of ThreeA that is). The forum has interesting contests for art and photos, which gives me a legitimate reason to 'play' with my toys (they're not really toys IMO, but serious pieces of functional art and design). ;D


Here is an image of my Ashley Wood book collection... it's constantly expanding. I think the lot of it is here... some may still be hidden amongst the other books on my shelves. ;P If you don't know who Ashley Wood is... shame on you! Go visit his blog now!


Finally, here is the image that I've entered into the 3A Legion's July Photo Contest - 'Dirty Deeds = Dirty Shadows?' I originally entered the group photo at the top of this post, but decided to go with this more humorous pic...

No Photoshop was used in post production, just for the crop. A whole lot of time was spent trying to get DDB's hands just right though... hopefully, you can see the same end result as Nom.

I'm looking forward to posting more photos and artwork to the forum and interacting with the members. Did I mention that Ashley Wood (the man himself!) also posts/interacts with members on this forum? Now, HOW COOL IS THAT? ;D

Cheers!

COOL! Canada Post Recording Artists Stamps...

It's not very often that I blog about the work I do at Circle - for reasons of security, confidentiality, etc... but I'm making an exception with this post. ;)

Today, Canada Post released the second set of the Canadian Recording Artists stamps. Circle designed the previous series a few years back, which was a great success. I'm very proud to say that I had the privilege of working on this series. Featured artists include Robert Charlebois, Édith Butler, Bryan Adams and Stompin' Tom Connors...


...the stamp series was featured in the latest edition of Details magazine, Canada Post's quarterly publication for stamp collectors. You can view some pix of the article on my Flickr, here - or even better, read it online, here - enjoy!

Additional information regarding the project can be found on Circle's News+ section of the website, here.

Here are some additional links to stories in the media regarding the release:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/arts-and-letters-and-stamps/article1202400/

http://www.radio-canada.ca/arts-spectacles/musique/2009/06/29/001-timbre-charlebois-butler.asp

http://www.spinner.ca/2009/06/23/bryan-adams-honored-with-his-own-stamp/

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Canada-Post-1012337.html

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/putting-its-stamp-on-canada-49922632.html

WICKED! Nokia N96 + Bruce Lee...

A very cool bit of video editing here... in this commercial for the Nokia N96 - Bruce Lee Limited Edition (I wouldn't mind having this phone). Watch the embedded video above or via YouTube, here - enjoy!

Via swissmiss - cheers!

COOL! Book Cover Archive...

A very cool and handy website to share, www.bookcoverarchive.com - is a website dedicated to the appreciation and categorization of excellence in book cover design (all covers are the copyright of their respective publishers).

Browse covers via designer, book title, genre, etc., - go and check it out for yourself at http://www.bookcoverarchive.com/ - enjoy!

Thanks to Ian MacCausland and Rob Peters for the link! Cheers!

Antique Road Trip...

This past Saturday, I attempted to go see the Marilyn Monroe: Life as a Legend exhibition at the WAG with good friends, James, Doug and Raelene. Unfortunately for us, we were a bit late in arriving, and opted to visit the Forks Market instead.

For those of you who are familiar with Winnipeg and the Forks, you can see in the picture above, the river walk is completely invisible, covered by a thick (and rising) layer of ice. Flood worries are definitely running high as the ice 'jams and dams.'


We ended up exploring the Antique Mall located on the lower level of the Johnston Terminal. It's quite an interesting place to say the least...


I've always enjoyed classic pop bottles... for nostalgic reasons perhaps? I wonder what Snow White pop actually was? I'm guessing cream soda? I wonder if it was actually white like Calpis or Calpico (a Japanese beverage).


James offered $10 to anyone who would drink this (after signing a waiver of liability that is)... ;)


Doug aka The Orange Kid, posing with his Elvis shades amongst the Elvis antiques(?)...


One of the more interesting finds was this creepy, Colonel Sanders statue/bank (enhanced creepiness via Photoshop). It was immediately dubbed the 'Why so serious?' Colonel (ala Dark Knight - Joker).

View the rest of the pics from my antique road trip on my Flickr, here - enjoy! Cheers!

Recommended Viewing | The American Package Museum...

If you're a fan of nostalgia or packaging, I highly recommend that you take the time to visit The American Package Museum... where curator, Ian House has taken his personal collection of early 20th century packages and created an online gallery/archive to share with everyone.


There are some really neat old packages in this gallery, it's interesting to recognize some familiar brands and see how they've evolved... check it out at http://www.packagemuseum.com/ - cheers!

WWR Photoshoot...

Spurred by both, the comment from James left on my blog, and some of the cool/fun fan photos on the WWR Flickr Group pool, I went out and shot some pix with Nom and Dirty. These two shots have been tweaked in Photoshop (I've got plans to tweak some more of them down the road, so stay tuned!)...


If you're interested, you can see the rest of the shots I took during my WWR photoshoot on my WWR Bertie Flickr set, here - enjoy!

Ashley Wood's Nom de Plume...

Ashley Wood's Nom de Plum has arrived... albeit a little worn from the overseas travel. It's really unfortunate that the shipping label was stickered onto the other side of the box (it hid/destroyed the duplicate Nom box art).


First impression of the Nom box art is rather meh... a crude description could be a sticker wrapped over a plain white cardboard gift box (which truly pales in comparison to the awesome packages that my Berties arrived in).



...42/50. Lucky! Included with Nom was a size XXL ThreeA t-shirt (guess I'll just have to shrink it... twice [or maybe three times], if I ever plan to wear it).



Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Nom de Plume...


Nom de Plume with my Bertie 'assault platoon'...


Nom de Plume and Dirty Deeds... ready to deploy! You can view the rest of my Nom de Plume un-boxing pics on my WWR Bertie Flickr set here - cheers! ;)

Ashley Wood's Dirty Deeds Bertie... DEPLOYED!

Guess who arrived last night [cue evil laughter]? After what seemed like an eternity of waiting (considering how long I've had Desert Rat), Ashley Wood's Dirty Deeds Bertie has arrived! Dirty Deeds arrived in the same shipping box as Desert Rat (which featured the same wicked Ashley Wood artwork).



As I continue to open the packaging, I come across this envelope (with a cool threezero sticker)...



containing the limited edition (73 of 80) giclee print (in case you're wondering, I got them for being one of the first to purchase the Berties)... it's the same as the one I received with Desert Rat.





...first impression from the Dirty Deeds box art is COOL!


This is not a toy. ;)




Dirty Deeds and his tools of the trade...



The paint, build and attention to detail is second to none... as can only be expected based off of my previous experience with Desert Rat.



Ashley Wood's Dirty Deeds Bertie deployed! You can check out the rest of my Dirty Deeds un-boxing pics on my WWR Bertie Flickr set here.