On this day in 1953...

On this day, May 29th in 1953 the first (documented) successful ascent of Mt. Everest was completed by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (along with their expedition crew). An amazing feat to say the least, given the climbing technology and gear available to them at that time. Since then, numerous attempts have been made to reach the summit of this formidable mountain... not all have been successful and not everyone comes back alive... just thinking about it, makes me yearn to throw on the ol' climbing harness and hit the rocks/local climbing gym.

You can read more about Mt. Everest, the attempted ascents and more on Wikipedia, here. Check out a 3D panoramic view from the top here (you'll need the latest Flash Player version installed in order to view it) - enjoy!

The above image is from Wikipedia and is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License. Photo by Pavel Novak - cheers!

Recommended Viewing | Bryan Scott's Winnipeg: Love/Hate Blog...

It's been a while since I last blogged about Bryan Scott's Winnipeg: Love/Hate blog... anyhow, I was cruising through the other day and I must say, Bryan has been busy busy!

Go check out some of his amazing pictures of Winnipeg on his blog at http://winnipeglovehate.blogspot.com/ - enjoy!

You can see more of Bryan's amazing photos on his Flickr account here (it's a must see for any fan of HDR images). Keep up the amazing work Bryan - cheers!

Happy Birthday Rob & Sam!

Well... not only is it the birthday of our own, and very dear, Robert L. Peters (FGDC, Design Director and Principal at Circle), but it's also the birthday of his cousin Sam W. Reimer!

In celebration of their mutual birthdays, and the recent 'birth' of the poet, Sam W. Reimer's book, Gray Matter Graffitti, Rob is in beautiful B.C. (visiting Sam, likely atop a mountain or at some other scenic point) and enjoying the Canadian outdoors. As we're all busy plucking away at Circle's office today, our thoughts go out to both him and Sam for the most joyous of birthdays! Cheers to you both (click on our thoughts)!

Recommended | HOT OFF THE PRESS! Sam W. Reimer's – Gray Matter Graffitti...

Poetry fans take note... Sam W. Reimer's, Gray Matter Graffitti has finally come off the press! After an approximate two year gestation period, and a number of 'hiccups' in the production, I can't even begin to describe how exciting it is to see this labour of love come to light! It was a pleasure (and struggle at times) to work on this book. The book designed by Circle, is a compilation of poems written by Sam W. Reimer, and edited by Robert L. Peters. Here's an excerpt about the book's author by the editor from the back cover:

Draft-dodger, Jesus-freak, “conditional pacifist,” prolific writer, devoted father, “tactical anarchist & strategic monarchist,” unwavering romantic, bohemian bard, “ecstatic depressive,” gregarious hermit… this rollicking collection of some 200 original works draws from thousands of poems penned over the course of four decades—inspired ruminations by Sam W. Reimer, an (hitherto) unsung gem of a poet.

This book (IMO) should belong on any poetry fan's bookshelf... a truly diverse, treasure trove of prose, sure to delight! I'm not sure how you can obtain a copy of the book at this point in time, but I'll keep you all posted! FYI, the book ISBN 978-1-55383-196-9

Bertie, Bertie, Bertie... BERTIE!

Call me crazy... call me whatever. I bit the bullet (smashed the piggy bank, called in all debts owed) and ordered myself a WWR Bertie... actually, make that two. I couldn't decide between the Desert Rat Bertie or the Dirty Deeds Bertie... so instead of stressing over which one (and then regretting not getting the other - 43 points of articulation at 14 inches tall), I decided to get them both. For those of you who aren't familiar with Bertie... well, you may be familiar with his creator (or at least recognize some his work), excerpt from his blog:

Ashley Wood is an internationally acclaimed, commercial illustrator, concept designer and comic book artist. He lives with his wife, soon to be three children and two cats in Australia. Ashley has been a professional illustrator for fifteen years and has worked for most major publishing and entertainment companies... (continue reading on his blog)

Anyhow, I'm SUPER pumped and really looking forward to receiving this package when it arrives in the mail... you can learn more about the WWR Bertie here, see more images of Bertie (from the New York Comic Con) here and read other news about Bertie here - enjoy!

Visit Ashley Wood's blog at http://ashleybambaland.blogspot.com/ - cheers!

COOL! Flight of Fusion Man...

If you've watched the recently released movie Iron Man (I highly recommend you go watch it if you haven't yet), then you'll have an idea as to how cool it could be to fly. That being said, have you seen this yet? The flight of fusion man (Yves Rossy) video above, documents Yves' test flight over the Swiss Alps... you have to see it to believe it. Watch the video on YouTube here - enjoy!


Learn more about Fusion Man on his website at http://www.fusionman.ch/ - cheers!

An Afternoon at the Races...

Well, it's another beautiful spring day in Manitoba today, as we Canadians continue to enjoy the Victoria Day long weekend. This afternoon was spent with some friends, lazing around at the Assiniboine Downs, Manitoba's home to live thoroughbred racing action, with a history of over 50 years.


These few pictures were taken with my new Canon Powershot SD850 IS. Although, I'm sad to have to give my Sony Cybershot DSC-W100 an early retirement, I'm looking forward to using some of the new features on this camera. Such as, more experiments with the 'stitch assist' to create neat panoramic shots... my first attempt (a combination of 4 images - you can see the seams) is shown above. Next time, I'll be sure to use a tripod, and be a bit more weary of moving objects... like my ghost horses? ;)


I have to say, it never ceases to amaze me at how diverse the track audience tends to be... anyhow, a good time was had by all, I actually won my quinella with the two horses (4 and 9) shown above! Hope you're all continuing to enjoy the weekend - cheers!

Shot of the Day...

It's a beautiful spring day in Manitoba today (albeit with the occasional shower, and rather gusty/cool winds), anyhow I hope you're all enjoying the Victoria Day long weekend (at least, so far)!


I had the opportunity to get in a quick round of 9-holes this afternoon with some friends from back in college. The shot above (taken after teeing off on the 8th hole), is not staged in anyway, that's how the ball actually landed... stuck in the tree. It deserved to be photographed.


The 'shot of the day' honors goes to Raelene Hanna, friend (rookie golfer), fellow designer and the current GDC Manitoba Education Chair. For being a good sport and posing for this shot, we decided to not make her play the ball from where it lies. ;)


Check out Raelene's Typographic Book project (in PDF form) from college (the Avenir spread from the book is shown above), which recently resurfaced as a result of the Frutiger posting here - enjoy!

Happy 80th Birthday, Mr. Adrian Frutiger!

One May 24th 2008, one of the most well known, and ground-breaking typographers of the twentieth century, Mr. Adrian Frutiger, turns 80! For those of you who aren't familiar with the man himself, you're likely to have come across something in design that has used one of the many typefaces he has designed, such as Frutiger, Univers, and Avenir to name a few...

Anyhow, in celebration of the man's great contributions to type design, Linotype has initiated a call for personal birthday wishes, which includes the option of attaching an image... feeling up to the challenge of creating a typographic 'birthday card' for a type legend? ;) Check out the Linotype website for more information about Mr. Frutiger, his typefaces, and their personal birthday wish initiative, visit www.linotype.com - cheers!

Wicked! Blu's Muto...

Kevin Guenther, MGDC is one of the designers which I'm very fortunate to be working with at Circle. The other day he sent me this link to Muto - an ambiguous animation painted on public walls. I cannot even begin to describe how crazy/ambitious this project must have been to complete... you truly have to watch it yourself.


You should check out the rest of the website too, some very cool stuff if you're into 'graffiti art'. Visit http://www.blublu.org/ - enjoy!

Happy Birthday Manitoba!

Well, aside from it being a rainy Monday in Manitoba, it's also this province's birthday today! Happy Birthday Manitoba!

From the Government of Manitoba website: May 12 is Manitoba's birthday. On that day in 1870, The Manitoba Act was passed by the Canadian Government, and Manitoba officially entered Confederation as a province. The Act was proclaimed on July 15, 1870, Manitoba's other birthday. Since the 1960s, Manitoba has promoted May 12th as the province's birthday.

Manitoba truly is a beautiful place (at least when were not complaining about the weather, bugs, crime, etc.) with much to explore... to learn more, visit the Manitoba Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport website at http://www.manitoba.ca/chc/index.html.

COOL! G.I. Joe Movie Snake Eyes...

This is beyond cool. I didn't even know that there was a live action G.I. Joe movie in production... it's scheduled for release in 2009. I must say, after seeing this 'first look' at Ray Park (Darth Maul from Star Wars) as Snake Eyes, I have high hopes for the feature film. I have fond childhood memories of watching G.I. Joe cartoons, as well as playing with the toys with my younger brother (he enlightened me with this link). Hopefully it lives up to our expectations. You can see more 'first look' pictures of other characters here - enjoy!

Recommended | Free Rice... for the UN World Food Program

With the many recent natural disasters and war(s) making the news headlines on a daily basis, it's refreshing to see something online which could potentially make a real difference. www.freerice.com is a website which combines vocabulary training with the giving of rice.

The concept is simple, for every word that you get right, they'll donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program... to date, 31,214,178,130 grains (over 31 billion grains) of rice have been donated. I have to say that the game itself is rather addicting, and you could easily spend an afternoon expanding your vocabulary while donating to a worthy cause. I suggest you give it a try for yourself... I'm sure that you'll manage to donate at least 20 grains of rice! Visit http://www.freerice.com/ - enjoy!

Thanks to Rick Strong for posting this link to the GDC Listserve - cheers!

COOL! Same Sky, Different Places...

Friend, Michael Surtees a multi-talented designer, prolific blogger (visit DesignNotes) and self-confessed Flickr addict has spun off his wildly popular New York City Colour Study into a Flickr Group called Same Sky, Different Places. The concept is simple, here's an excerpt from his blog post:

...the image shouldn’t have any buildings or other objects in view, and that you should only place one image per day. In the description field it should mention the day, time, city and country...

It sounds like fun, I'm planning to take part whenever I can... it will be interesting to see how this is further developed down the road... anyhow, you can read Michael's blog post here. Check out all the Same Sky, Different Places photos on Flickr here - enjoy!

Thanks for inviting me to join Michael - Cheers!

A Sign of Spring...

Last night after returning home from the Red River College Creative Arts Open House, I was pleasantly greeted by the first tulip bulbs to break through the surface in my front yard. A sure sign of spring and the warmer weather to come... can't wait!

Congratulations to the RRC graduating class of 2008. Cheers!

It's a Boy!

Congratulations! It's a boy! My friend and design colleague at Circle, Susan McWatt FitzGerald and her husband, Ryan are the proud (new) parents of a baby boy, August McWatt FitzGerald. August was born yesterday evening (April 30th), weighed almost 9 lbs and apparently has a head full of red hair! In lieu of flowers, Rob and I compiled a framed keepsake on behalf of all at Circle, read more about it here. Way to go Sue!

So... we'll expect to see you back in the office on Monday... just kidding! Congratulations to both parents once again! Cheers!