Candy vs. Medicine

Design School Homework

2010-08-28T15:28:00.002-04:00

See more at my Homework blog:

(click on link above!!!)

I Love My Computer

2010-08-27T09:09:00.000-04:00

via Julien David @ Andrea Crews Tokyo Workshop

Motherboard Leggings designed by Douglas Coupland via Roots

I Love My Computer by Bad Religion

Fall 2010

2010-08-24T18:39:00.005-04:00

Fall 2010 colors via Pantone

Tomorrow I officially start my first day of school (and will *hopefully* be posting my homeworks up on my new blog here >> not sure yet if it will replace my CvM blog...)

Vandalism & Wisdom

2010-08-16T17:36:00.001-04:00

via ...etc

FMDM Montreal Fashion Week!

2010-08-08T11:30:00.006-04:00

CEGEP Marie-Vicorin design student show @ Place Ville Marie

click here to see more of my photos from Montreal Fashion Week!!!

Merci a tous les participants au Festival de Mode et Design de Montreal!
photos by Erin

Goats x Style

2010-08-06T12:44:00.015-04:00

As Trivial Pursuit tells us, goats are the most useful animal for humans stranded on the moon. Human milk molecules resemble goat milk molecules more closely than it does cow milk, so we digest it super-easily. Not to mention their hides keep us warm, and their flesh keeps us fed (more goat meat is consumed world-wide than beef or chicken- it tastes like lamb, but stronger).
As pictured above, goats also make great friends and fashion-partners (my pet goat Snickers and I won 1st place wearing butterfly costumes @ the county fair).
But the rest of the beauty-world has also caught on: to produce Argan oil, which is used in many quality vanity products (like Moroccan hair oil), the argan nuts are passed through a goat to make them easier to crack. Yuck. Thank God for goats, and for the employees who fish through the goat poo to find the argan nuts.
(Argan nut info & image below via Bellasugar)

Montreal Fashion Week 2010

2010-08-05T23:21:00.010-04:00

I only got a few pics, hadn't checked camera-battery before hand.
Oh Montreal... Fall 2010 show, about 6 months after New York's Fall 2010 fashion week. Luckily in Mtl, front row-seating is not out-of-reach ;) But the DJ... um, he played the Jersey Shore theme song to the formal workplace styles below. And the evening-wear took to the stage with a base & fiddler!!! Co-ordinate, people!
ps. SATURDAY is the day to see, with students from Mtl & To fashion schools

DESIGN SCHOOL STARTS IN 20 DAYS!!!

2010-08-02T14:23:00.000-04:00

via Frenchgardenhouse

Children of the Earth and the Sun

2010-07-29T23:28:00.006-04:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

Sign from inside the Montreal Planetarium

high school film-editing

2010-07-27T02:29:00.001-04:00

Gina (pictured below) was the T.A. in my high school film-making class in Cambridge MA. She was def cool. One night in my junior year I ran into her in the subway, she was dressed totally different than she did for our classes. Like sorta gothic, but modern and badass.

THEN, sometime in the mid-00s, I found an article all about Gina's style in Bust magazine. Kinda crazy and awesome :) En plus the article states that she is now a forensic/medical photographer.
It's like proof that my memories are real.

ooooh- notice how the crumpled effect of this old magazine page matches the background of this blog

dear Girl Scouts

2010-07-26T09:22:00.000-04:00

please bring cookies to my neighborhood.
love.

via my new favorite blog: luxirare

United Arab Emirates to the United States

2010-07-25T14:48:00.000-04:00

above: "New York of the Middle East" (aka Dubai, UAE)

above: New York, NY

Concrete Jungle

2010-07-21T02:42:00.004-04:00

pics by Fei & myself :)

Ana Mish Fahem

2010-07-05T00:03:00.000-04:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

Fei @ Foufounes Electriques

Happy Independence Day

2010-07-04T23:04:00.006-04:00

oops... I forgot my country of birth.
Its hard to believe watching the Boston Pops on TV that I was there on the Charles last year
...and on that note, Happy Algerian Independence day for tomorrow also :)

Vive le Québec!

2010-07-04T17:52:00.006-04:00

WOODSTOCK EN BEAUCE 2010- Bad Religion & Anti-Flag out in the forest and about a trillion times better than Vans Warped Tour

From Candy vs. Medicine

vive le Québec 'sti!

the Roots

2010-07-01T01:09:00.005-04:00

@ Montreal Jazz Fest 2010

(btw this isn't my pic)
"I'm thinking outside the box, off your blocks
Outside your concept of time, off the clocks"

-Black Thought

Love Lies Bleeding

2010-06-28T22:04:00.004-04:00

Good news!!! The Alberta Ballet's production, Love Lies Bleeding got the OK from Sir Elton John to take the ballet on tour.
According to an article in the Globe and Mail, the first tour will concentrate on Canada, maybe opening in Toronto

YESSS! The show looks so good, I was really hoping for a tour. So far they've only preformed in Alberta, which is a terribly boring province, even on food per-diem and fancy hotel rooms...

and suddenly Europe sounds cool

2010-06-25T16:41:00.005-04:00

AESTHETICISM: (from Google)
The artists and writers of the Aesthetic movement tended to hold that the Arts should provide refined sensuous pleasure, rather than convey moral or sentimental messages.
(...)
they believed that Art did not have any didactic purpose; it need only be beautiful. The Aesthetes developed the cult of beauty, which they considered the basic factor in art. Life should copy Art, they asserted.

results: expected vs. experimental

2010-06-24T14:53:00.003-04:00

Adds from the McFuture

2010-06-04T13:25:00.006-04:00

hormones are chemicals too

2010-06-04T12:27:00.000-04:00

"One way or another, all our experiences are chemically conditioned, and if we imagine that some of them are purely 'spiritual,' purely 'intellectual,' purely 'aesthetic,' it is merely because we have never troubled to investigate the internal chemical environment at the moment of their occurrence."

-Aldous Huxley

Dans chaque enfant, il y a un artiste.

2010-05-30T16:13:00.010-04:00

"Dans chaque enfant, il y a un artiste. Le problème est de savoir comment rester un artiste en grandissant."
-Pablo Picasso

translation: "[In any every child, there is an artist. The problem is knowing how to stay an artist while growing up]"

South Korean photographer and art scholar Yeondoo Jung takes this challenge to heart:
(childrens' drawings artistically rendered into photography)

(photos found here and at the artist's website)

Professional painter Dave Devries brings childrens' paintings to the surReal World:

...

2010-05-23T14:23:00.007-04:00

"One cannot escape the feeling that these mathematical formulae have an independent existence and an intelligence of their own, that they are wiser than we are, wiser even than their discoverers, that we get more out of them than we originally put into them."

-Heinrich Hertz, on the subject of Maxwell's equations

sign of the times

2010-05-13T01:43:00.003-04:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

Inside are a bunch of fliers for GE health care, they're designed to look like gauze pads!!!
The packaging is so perfectly identical to the real thing (down to the texture of paper & the type of adhesive down the sides) that it still triggers the part of my brain that recognizes gauze pads instead of big corporate adds.
The flier was picked up @ healthcare seminar in the Montreal General Hospital

From Candy vs. Medicine

this one made me laugh and laugh too: CHIPS IN A BAG DECORATED WITH CHIPS!!!!!! (I hope you get it- computer chips...) OMG brilliant. Spice 2.0 is the name of the flavor.

There's also a grooming place on Monkland st. Mtl, it's called 'Snip Doggy Dogg'.
Now is a wild time, with animal spas named after rappers, and Digable Planets music in the laundry detergent adds on tv!
Hip hop is selling domesticity, hackers are selling food, GE is selling... everything.

Love You Mom

2010-05-09T13:50:00.015-04:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

I have some more really, really cool pix of my mom when we were babies, I hope I can locate them!
Man she was the BEST homemaker in the world- homemade granola bars, best BD parties, best homemade costumes ever (for children AND goats), best arts & crafts, - I can't possible enumerate everything. And now she's the best businesswoman ever, move over Martha :)
En plus her business is caring for animals, which makes her that much cooler- and makes me the envy of every 8-year-old girl in the city

ALSO a big up to my dear friend Steph (@ Drawing On Walls) cus she's so hardcore that she did an entire BSc while raising her beautiful daughter. For those who have not done a BSc, (or were awarded a BSc without overcoming Organic Chem 2!), just know that it's more blood sweat & tears than anything short of a real war. And Steph did both (um, I mean she rased a brilliant daughter AND got her BSc, not overcame a real war... but yes I appreciate how lucky we are in Canada to have Peace)

HAPPY MOTHERS & FATHERS DAY!

2010-04-29T20:13:00.029-04:00

This year I rolled both holidays into one and got tickets for my parents to come to the new Cirque du Soleil show, Totem.
They gave me tix to see Alegria at xmas, it was so beautiful, I'm excited to treat them now.

Totem is perfect: my parents are scientists, all of us have studied a lot of biology. This most-recently-unveiled Cirque show is about evolution, and I get the impression it's even a bit of an homage to Darwin (2009 was the 150th anniversary of his theory of evolution by natural selection)

Slowly, I'm able to afford gifts for them that begin to compare to everything they've given me... from my mini-saw/drill toolbench set I cried for at 12 years old, to the classes, laptops and most especially the clothing they have bestowed upon me...

Spring, Minus the Snow

2010-04-28T14:45:00.006-04:00

1. I'M OFFICIALLY A DESIGN STUDENT!
2. I have realized that my subconscious can play Mortal Kombat AND make sense of Shakespearean prose
3. For best results, serve coffee in this mug my brother gave me for xmas:

From Candy vs. Medicine

Ezekiel 25:17

2010-04-26T15:28:00.006-04:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

my adorable cat Ezekiel loves hot peppers

As they say, like mother like kitty

If I were an object I would be...

2010-04-25T21:34:00.002-04:00

This was a game we got to play when we went to see a film about object design @ Dawson College this winter.

From Candy vs. Medicine

Best answer: "My girlfriend's winter jacket" by Fahim :)

Dreams that have come true thus far

2010-04-24T12:12:00.005-04:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

Portfolio 2010

2010-04-22T01:01:00.005-04:00

don't have a ton for now, but here are a few pics of my application to Dawson College

From Candy vs. Medicine

& below is a sample of what it looks like on the inside

From Candy vs. Medicine

Nobody on the corner got hyacinths like us

2010-04-14T16:04:00.009-04:00

Today is April 14th, which is my father's birthday, Bengali New Years and really obviously spring here in Montreal, uncommon for April!

From Candy vs. Medicine

hyacinths were planted in 2007- the July we moved in- one of the first tennants and myself were landscapers. These were to be thrown out, so we salvaged them.

From Candy vs. Medicine

my lilac bush. I believe this year will be the year it will bloom. Will explain another time

From Candy vs. Medicine

first dandelion of 2010!

I have wanted to post these pics for a while. My garden is perennial and has not been touched in 3 years, except the occasional beer can and plastic wrap that falls from our balcony.
My neighbors are annoyed at our lack of care, they carefully manicure their garden every spring.
As you can see, mother nature has completely blessed our lack of garden attention.

Past & present portfolios

2010-04-09T12:07:00.003-04:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

I haven't blogged in forever cus I have been preparing my application to Dawson College.
But for now, here is the final piece of the porfolio :)

I think Keith Haring's Ghost lives in my boyfriend's building

2010-03-23T02:11:00.004-04:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

Check out the cool Haring Kids website

the It cookie

2010-03-22T00:54:00.004-04:00

Macarons are popping up everywhere from Gossip Girl to blogs to the rim of shot glasses filled with ginger soda (as I was treated to here at Chez L'Epicier no 311). And they're such pretty & photogenic cookies it's hard not to blog about them too... its always nice when a food makes it into pop cutlure-dom :)

From food

I found French macarons last week @ Cafe Europea in Montreal's Old Port (with another location on de la Montagne). Not exactly France, but perhaps the old port is the next best thing... and en plus it just costs 2$ to get there via métro.

The best, hands-down, were the chocolate-passionfruit, the coconut and the maple-sugar macarons. I was really surprised at how sweet & delicious the mojito one was, as well as the anise (which didn't get eaten til last, cus I assumed it tasted like vegetables, but it was actually really sweet!).
The almond macaron had too much honey, and I could barely stomach the watermelon or the violet...

Why...

2010-03-17T03:01:00.016-04:00

I seriously would have paid Karl Lagerfeld to interview Bruce LaBruce here (instead of the other way around, as did Vice Magazine). Excerpts from The Cut are really bad- I would imagine Snookie from Jersey Shore might have deeper insights about politics, gay marriage and adoption... but I guess Ill read the whole article in Vice Magazine in case its totally out-of-context...

Bruce LaBruce is this crazy T-dot filmmaker that academics just love to analyze. I had a chance to hear him speak in 2004 at McGill.
Lagerfeld is creative director & head designer for Chanel

Various & Gould EXPOSED

2010-03-15T20:02:00.004-04:00

Interns at Brooklynite Gallery managed to release this film today, against all odds (?)
These guys are being held captive, starved and subject to forced art. Someone needs to help them!!!! ;)

I WISH I could figure out how to embed it on Candy vs. Medicine, but for now check it out on NinjaVideo (if you have never used Ninja Video, you have to click the first line JUST below the video, where it says "click here to launch the NinjaVideo Helper Beta" and then load the video. Sooo cool.

H^2 Art

2010-03-10T17:08:00.004-05:00

art by Shepard Fairey via Harvard Square Blog

Y2K'10

2010-03-03T13:49:00.006-05:00

Salvador Dali, 1936

Lady Gaga, 2010 via the Cut

Sleep Calculations

2010-02-21T13:24:00.004-05:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

How DID this happen? I woke up with free body diagrams and additions imprinted on my arm, in my handwriting, that I DO NOT recognize. When I woke up I looked all around and there was no evidence of a pen or anything else to suggest me calculating things in my sleep...

From Candy vs. Medicine

(I inverted the middle photo to be able to make out the numbers. Again, this is totally my handwriting...)

COLD

2010-02-21T13:20:00.002-05:00

via the Sartorialist

Fish Wearing a Chicken Suit

2010-02-16T00:14:00.002-05:00

Best Valentines ever! My boyfriend surprised me with reservations at Chez L'Epicier no311 in the Old Port, so romantic and thoughtful! Like theatre for your mouth.

From food

The food was almost entirely sweet, buttery and perfect (with the exception of this weird meatball sent from the chef, that had the texture of tuna salad).

There was watermelon with avocado mousse, swordfish tataki, coconut ravioli, even fish baked in chicken skin & basil. C'est fou.
I keep craving the dessert all over again, baked white chocolate custard with a raspberry heart... (and our waiter was kind enough to give us some homemade marshmallows to take home!)

From food

Babar the Elephant's Stuffed Mushrooms

2010-02-13T15:34:00.006-05:00

From food

The first time I imagined stuffed mushrooms, I was probably around 5 years old, reading about Babar the Elephant cooking stuffed mushrooms and soufflé.

From food

*Big up to my boyfriend for taking these incredible photos*

After seeing it done many times on cooking shows, I remixed the original recipe and ended with something like this:
Stuffed Mushrooms

*measurements are EXTREMELY approximate. I do it slightly different each time :)
1 basket mushrooms
1 egg
1/2 c breadcrumbs
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c parmasan
1/2 c cheese- any kind. I love them with gouda, swiss, or just cheddar
mad garlic
basil and/or parsley
salt & peppa

First you snap the stems off the 'shrooms. Place mushrooms caps hollow-side up on a cookie tray. Sprinkle olive oil all over them.

Stuffing: Take ALL other ingredients (including mushroom stems) and either grind everything in food processor, or else chop really fine by knife and mix well.

Fill mushroom caps with mixture, and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes

The Best Kind of Contrast

2010-02-11T01:47:00.001-05:00

Viktor & Rolf via Behind the Seams

The Neuro Light

2010-02-10T20:35:00.008-05:00

Long time no post! La vida esta loca.
Here is something I made recently (found objects)

This lamp I found (in boyfriends laundry room) has a nice little clear plastic bubble, that used to contain yellow plastic flowers. I unscrewed everything and replaced the flowers with my pink and gray brains.

I was lucky enough to be a researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute throughout their 75th anniversary celebration this past November. I have to say, it was very cool to meet doctors who were performing brain surgery 70 years ago! The perks of working in hospitals are really super

From Candy vs. Medicine

The MNI has really, really cool brain decor. The lobby is filled with awesome brain decor- deco lamps that suggest spinal cords, there are brains carved into every visible wood surface, the ceilings are covered in paintings of neurons, even the brass radiators are crafted to resemble brain tissue.

No Source

2010-02-03T15:54:00.002-05:00

I have no idea where these are from. Definitely someone's blog. But I found them about a week ago, and just re-discovered them now. For the life of me I can't figure out where I found them. And between dental surgery and casting calls, I have been darn busy. So I don't have as much time to just surf. So if anyone happens know, please tell me!

Rage Against the Machine

2010-01-30T12:18:00.007-05:00

From Montreal Tickets

My autographed Evil Empire CD is likely one of my most prized possessions of all-time. Number one, CUS I MET TOM MORELLO, ZACH DE LA ROCHA, BRAD WILK & TIM (?) ! (I think it was 1999, and they were mad kind)
But more importantly two, because the day I got this CD autographed, I met Mike Ramos, my first real friend at Cambridge Rindge and Latin (my 4th high school). Mike had a baby right after high school. He was a really proud father. Recently, I found out that Mike had passed away from cancer.
I actually found out via facebook, when a girl posted 'RIP' on a photo of Mike with his brothers.
It's still a bit of a shock to me... but I plan on sewing a RATM patch onto a little sweatshirt one day and mailing it to his son :)

Meat & Co.

2010-01-30T09:17:00.006-05:00

From food

About 7 years ago, I came across Alton Brown's delicious version that you can find here.
It's a good starting point, and you can remix it as you please.

But, to make it more sweet, spicy and delicious, I like to alter the glaze just like this:

1/4 cup fig jam
1-2 Tbs honey
dash or 2 of hottest hot sauce in town
1/4 cup ketchup

Quoi?

2010-01-27T10:49:00.003-05:00

Tales of the Unexpected from More Soon on Vimeo.
enjoy!

Phylum Chordata

2010-01-25T17:35:00.007-05:00

Alexander McQueen Spring Add Campaign
via The Cut / House of Models

Forgot the Reusable Grocery Bags

2010-01-25T08:53:00.004-05:00


From food

whatever works!

1995 Digital Portfolio

2010-01-25T00:15:00.022-05:00

I'm suspecting that I have 'found myself' - now that I left my cushy & impressive neuro-sciencey future to pursue my dreams...
These pieces were made in '94-'95 with the Paint program from Windows 3. I was about 11-12 years old.

From

It seems like I had been on the right path my entire life, and then got derailed for the better part of a decade into the scientific realm. I am glad to know what I know, but am ever so thankful to my bf (himself a Design Technologist) for helping me re-discover this side of life!
If you want to see more, click here!
*******************************

At Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School, I moved on to Illustrator '96 (v.6) and- as a dear old friend recently reminded me- in '99 I even recreated an image of Christina Aguilera pixel-by-pixel in Paintbrush. TRAGICALLY the one CD containing all of my high school work went missing somewhere between 2005-2008.

But I still had all these print-outs of my pre-teen work:

From Digital Portfolio 1994-1995

Finding these images has really given me confidence- like, how did I get so caught up in science? I am REALLY happy epistemologically (that I know what I know), but how did I manage to forget so much of myself for so long?!?!!!!!!!

Just Like a Waving Flag

2010-01-24T14:05:00.002-05:00

From food

From Candy vs. Medicine

Little Algeria, Montreal
November 2009- when Algeria beat Egypt in the World Cup Africa qualifications

From food

my kitchen on Algerian Independence day, 2007
which just happens to be my boyfriend's birthday too

Algeria, North Africa

Grapes

2010-01-24T01:07:00.000-05:00

From food

leftovers

2010-01-24T00:34:00.006-05:00

From food

Sushi d'Asia
Pretty good maki- but def the best tempura!
NDG, Montreal

Fashion Inspired by Manual Labor

2010-01-23T20:33:00.022-05:00

Early one summer of my undergrad, I was planting mini boxwoods @ the Hotel St-Paul in the pouring rain.
.

The landscape company I worked for (Daccord-Webster at the time, I think) didn't supply rain gear, so I wore a black garbage bag as a skirt
That day, a fashion label was holding model auditions in the hotel. The doorman would hold up an umbrella and escort me, as he had been doing for the models and hotel guests, every time I moved a boxwood. I told everyone to watch out: garbage bag skirts would be in next month.

Sure enough, Vogue featured a garbage bag dress within two months.
True story. Must have been 2006.

I also like to sometimes wear my Gucci shades to keep flying pieces of grout & ceramic out of my eyes when bathroom-fixing gets crazy

The garbage-bag dress I found above is by Toni Maticevski via Prim. Supposedly the editor is 16 years old!?!!!

Carthought

2010-01-23T12:50:00.001-05:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

Drawing Tanks & SUVs

2010-01-23T09:47:00.006-05:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

DC

2010-01-22T18:07:00.001-05:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

photo by my boyfriend of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC

Funny TP

2010-01-22T13:09:00.003-05:00

drawings by Marc Johns via Fashion Nation

Triple Point of Water

2010-01-21T16:19:00.014-05:00

is 273.16 Kelvin. It is the temperature at which solid, liquid and gaseous phases of water co-exist in thermodynamic equilibrium.

From Candy vs. Medicine

My mom's former employee, Stephane Robert, left the veterinary clinic to become a professional sculptor (ice, sand & chocolate). These photos are from the Hôtel de Glace (Ice Hotel) in Quebec City.

Message in the Desert

2010-01-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

Splicing Sheep DNA With Technology

2010-01-19T12:23:00.001-05:00

Jean-Luc Cornec's telephone sheep from the Museum of Telecommunication in Frankfurt
via This Blog Rules

Emancipation Proclamation

2010-01-18T22:54:00.007-05:00

"Normal people dont challenge the law of the land- you have to be creatively maladjusted"

-Martin Luther King Jr.

An MLK Day gift for you: "Kicked Pushed", a video by K'naan that appeared on his mySpace a few years back. He is telling a story that ocured on tour in Sweden, over the beat of Lupe Fiasco's song. Pretty intense. Just to remind us that racism is live and kicking. Literally.

if you haven't heard of Toronto/Somali rapper K'naan yet, just wait til the World Cup Africa this summer. Waving Flag, was chosen as the official song of the World Cup

Goodnight Moon

2010-01-17T00:27:00.000-05:00

Goodnight light

Goodnight mittens

Goodnight clocks
Goodnight socks

Goodnight stars
Goodnight air

Goodnight noises everywhere

"Private Moon", 2005 by Russian artists Leonid Tishkov and Boris Bendikov via Studded Hearts

story from "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown

SugarMilkCoffee

2010-01-15T00:06:00.002-05:00

Here are some sketches for (& inspired by) my bf's site-in-progress, Sugarmilkcoffee. I got a bit carried away from his original request, in part thanks to my new Christmas coffee maker keeping me up too late

From Candy vs. Medicine

Fresh Olympic Gear

2010-01-13T23:16:00.007-05:00

I haven't been excited for the Olympics since like Nagano '98. This year it's pretty hard to miss since it's going to be here in Canada. If my brother (genius elite figure skater Eric Saucke-Lacelle) and his ice dancing partner Karen Routhier qualify at Nationals this week, I'll be all about the Olympics. But otherwise, I probably won't be paying much attention to the Olympic-craze in the coming month (s?)

That being said, I am at no loss of interest for design! In response to ejections of athletes from sports matches, industrial designer Elham Seyed Javad (Université de Montréal graduate) has designed the Resport Hijab. It's integrated into a sports shirt underneath. I can't imagine how much frustration & pins went into creating this effect at home before Seyed Javad's design. Really makes me even more interested in industrial design! via the The Star

ps. go ahead and google my brother's name, check out the beautifulness you'll see
(personal fave: Montreal Gazette journalist Marian Scott called him a "blond heartthrob". seriously.)

VIEW SKATE CANADA RESULTS

Local Yarn Bomber

2010-01-11T00:29:00.000-05:00

Some trees on 16th Street in Brooklyn get warm sweaters

I'm no hippie, but this is so cool!

Mad excited to go to New York

via IMBY: A Rear Window View of Brooklyn's South Slope

I love random acts of art around the city. A few years ago in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges & Snowdon areas, someone(s?) made pinwheels out of old federal election posters. So original!

via Spacing Montréal

Free Mini-Cookbook Download!

2010-01-10T00:28:00.001-05:00

I have compiled a bunch of Sweet Recipes from my blog into this convenient 3-Dimensional mini-cookbook. Basically I was just making use of the awesomely unique PocketMod website.

Download the awesome CandyvsMedicine 'Sweet Recipes'
LINK TO COOKBOOK
You need a printer, one sheet of paper, and scissors.

1. Click on link above, will take you to the cookbook in my Picassa
2. Chose 'Download' option from Picassa website menu
3. Print the image as is
4. The directions are printed on the back cover of the book. But just in case you need a little help, see the bottom of this post for the YouTube Instructional Video

Recipes include:

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Golden Honey Fries

Sugar Pie

Cupcakes

You can make your own at www.PocketMod.com

Chai Milkshake AKA Love Potion

2010-01-09T21:34:00.013-05:00

I used to get a delicious drink called 'Rusty Slide' at the Diesel Cafe in Davis Square (MA). On my last visit they didn't seem to serve it... but the cafe is still worth the visit!

However you can make it at home with a blender. You just need to find a good source for chai tea.
1 cup ice cream
2/3 cup chai tea
1/2 cup ice (optional)
BLEND. DRINK.

Chai Tea ♥'s Ice Cream

"Warm and Full of Light"

2010-01-07T17:12:00.013-05:00

Although many of the descriptions in Ralph Ellison's book The Invisible Man have stuck with me, my very favorite one remains: "My [home] is warm and full of light". He goes on to explain his fight with Monopolated Light & Power:

"I've wired the entire celing, every inch of it. And not with fluorescent bulbs, but with the older, more-expensive-to-operate kind, the filament type. An act of sabotage, you know. I've already begun to re-wire the wall."

1,369 lights, to be exact.

I am not sure if my preference for well-lit rooms originated before or after reading this book. Either way I have imagined it many times. This week, I was startled when I came across a photo of this very scene via this beautiful blog post:

Turn the Lights On « [via NYC Art Style]
(even if it's nothing like the room looks in my imagination!)

Ikea Film

2010-01-05T00:16:00.015-05:00

I saw this amazingly creative & hilarious film @ the Art Gallery of Alberta Edmonton this summer. From what I remember of the museum's description, the artist and his family (the actors) got kicked out of a good dozen of Ikea stores during the making of this film. Totally worth it.
by Guy Ben-Ner

He also made Moby Dick, using his daughter as actor and prop. You can watch now, or I may post it one day when I'm bored. It's genius.

art + science + food =

2010-01-04T11:26:00.003-05:00

Art, science and food are def my favorite topics, though not in that order. Most people wouldn't advise that you mix all three together, but if you just add a dash of Internet, you get some of the COOLEST STUFF:

Candy Biopsy Slides via ForkableBlog

see it really is candy; just like on Dexter

Mathematically Correct Breakfast
from amazing math-artist George Hart

seriously the bagels are attached this isn't photoshop or toothpicks

you can even find directions to print onto your own bagel ;)
ooobviously you need the special bagel-printer attachment.

Thanks everyone for the links!

Resolution Twenty-Ten

2010-01-02T00:24:00.022-05:00

Visit NYC before April 26th, 2010 to see the Tim Burton art exhibit at the MOMA

I don't often make New Years resolutions. Perhaps that's why I still bite my nails. This year, however, a sweet gift motivated me to make a resolution: an automatic coin-counting bank(!)

From Candy vs. Medicine

Upon our return to the city from holidays in the country, my bf & I rounded up all the change we had lying around. My handy money jar counted $24.37. By now has reached $30.98 and really, the jar is only one tenth of the way full

I am hoping that the spare change we save from making coffee at home will add up to enough for gas to New York. We have just over 3 months...

Tim Burton @ MOMA/ exhibit pictures from: Harmonized Illumination

HOT SH*T 2009

2009-12-31T18:05:00.000-05:00

oooh do I ever hope my blog is not obsolete/unattainable in 100 years. Its like one big time capsule, especially this post.

1. Aretha Franklin Inauguration Hat

what more can I say

2. 'Medical Isotopes' aka Radiopharmaceuticals
The whole nuclear power plant shutdown @ Chalk River made headlines all summer. Not to mention that the number of PET scanners in Canada is set to double in the next couple of years. The 18th International Symposium on Radiopharmaceutical Sciences was held in Edmonton this year. As for myself, I spent most of 2009 working on the 11-C Methylation of peptides (peptides I synthesized: Kimchi, Fimo, amongst others), for their use in medical imaging. All in all, radioactivity was certainly one of the hottest topics of 2009.

3. K'naan Troubador
ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2009 was by Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan. He replaced the African drums of previous record with famous hip hop artists. But for sure no rapper can top his combination of lyrics & skill. I predict that he will blow up in 2010 when his song 'Waving Flag' is the Official World Cup 2010 song (!!!!!!)

4. #iranelection
Once upon a time, adults thought that Facebook was a waste-of-time game. With the Obama elections, social networking gained some credibility. But in 2009, the world couldn't ignore the irreversible changes brought forth by the Internet. When coverage of the Iranian presidential election was muted by their government, political activism took a new life. Twitter became the only voice heard from the people of Iran. Everyone noticed from CNN to the UN. It was a use of social networking that had never been imagined. Historically, Twitter was THE hottest news source of 2009.
source: Queen Rania @ LeWeb, u can find the video HERE

*ps. It's a pretty incredible story also because it demonstrates the use that the Internet was specifically developed for. In the mid-1900s, the US military wanted a system to hold up communication in the event of a telephone/ground communication blackout. This lead to the government giving tons of resources to people who invented the first internet systems.

5. EQUALITY became more believable, with the first black president of the United States of America. I will never have to explain to my children why white men have always been the president of my home country. Change is a very, very good thing.

6. Tom Morello & Trent Reznor v. Guantánamo
It became known that US government employees were using really, really loud Rage Against the Machine & Nine Inch Nails music to torture prisoners @ Guantánamo bay.
A lot of RATM & NIN fans' parents probably think that they are being tortured when we blast the albums as loud as can be.
What many people might not know is that these bands, although loud, routinely direct their anger towards helping real, humanitarian causes. The artists have petitioned the government to give them information about how their music was used, and on whom. The Roots, Pearl Jam and R.E.M. have joined their cause.
source: Time Magazine

7. Google
thank you.

8. Michael Jackson
R.I.P.

9. Biochem font

From science

see more HERE

10. Lady Gaga
Miss Futuristic. I can't get enough of her style. Even though her music is so bad that my bf won't let me play it in his apartment ;)

This is for the people of the sun

2009-12-28T22:00:00.022-05:00

♥ I got tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's Alegria! Incroyable.
It first opened in 1994, and I have no idea how I came to be enamored with the soundtrack at 11 years old. No matter how it got there, it was one of my first CDs, along with Tupac & Boyz II Men.

The air was filled with paper confetti snowstorms, gymnast chalk powder, and buttery popcorn smells.
This girl pictured above was the queen of hoola-hoops, balancing 5 at once. And the costumes!!! Sparkly, iridescent, shiny... bodies flying through the air. It's absolutely amazing to have a circus with only humans. Humans who look like creatures, that move in a totally different way from us. It really reminded me of our portrayal of aliens on tv et. al

Just another reason I'm proud to be Québecoise!
ps. did you see Guy Laliberté in space with NASA this summer?!

shows: GEG & CirqueDuSoleil.com
THANKS for the amazing gift mom & dad ;)

Little Dipper, Big Shine

2009-12-26T22:20:00.012-05:00

From Candy vs. Medicine

This art installation by CBC Vancouver writer and broadcaster Bill Richardson has been over since December 21st- Winter Solstice. But I still really liked the photo and wanted to post it since it's so winter-y and holiday-y out there!

Go see more pics [via Ouno Design]

And happy holidays!

Quebec Graphic Design

2009-12-20T18:20:00.007-05:00

check the little SOLD sign out front of the cabane à sucre*!!!!!

Real estate advertisement found in URBANIA Magazine, (24) Automne 2009, while I was getting my hair did for the holidays.

I was blown away by the originality of this design. Remax real estate adds are much harder to design than one might think. I attempted to create one, once upon a time. I tried to make it minimalist, cus all Remax adds are so... crowded full of balloons, people and houses. In the end, the client was going for something a bit less subtle. That's ok, it's what I'm going to learn in arts school in the Fall.
*cabane à sucre= sugar shack

Biochemistry Font

2009-12-17T14:51:00.008-05:00

*warning! This font is not yet available for use. I am searching Montreal for a copy of FontLab! Or some other open-source font software.

From science

Coming soon to a poster near you! I have created a new display font based on amino acids, the building blocks of living organisms.

In the Science called Biochemistry, 20 amino acids are represented by 20 letters of the alphabet. So in this font, each letter of the alphabet has the stick-figure of the amino acid that it represents.

From science

PQFKPE is the sequence of amino acids in a protein found in pollen

*I have been plotting to stop by Dawson College's Graphic Design department, to see if they will let me sample their software...

Queen Rania of Jordan & Online Activism

2009-12-16T10:47:00.016-05:00

I once heard "Queen Rania is the Princess Diana of the technology age".

No matter what her title could be, Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan is aware of the power of her role in the public eye and she is adapting herself to - even embracing - the ever-evolving digital world

She was the keynote speaker at Le Web conference this week in Paris. I always liked her twitter because she is a very inspiring and intelligent mother and queen.

ps. the guy who introduces her is the Cheif Executive Blogger of France. Yes France has a cheif executive blogger.
I LOVE THE FUTURE!

in the original post I spelled 'technology' the french way. Sorry for the miss-spelling

Cookie Electrophoresis

2009-12-16T10:00:00.005-05:00

From science

OMG Science Cookies!!!!
Above: DNA separation technique: Gel Electrophoresis... COOKIES!

below: petri dish full of bacteria culture COOKIE!!!
unbelievable.

From science

[via not so humble pie]

Rock Candy Heaven (MSDS included)

2009-12-15T00:10:00.009-05:00

crazy exhibit called Seizure by Roger Hiorns

from www.artangel.org.uk :

"75,000 litres of copper sulphate solution were pumped into the council flat to create a strangely beautiful and somewhat menacing crystalline growth on the walls, floor, ceiling and bath of this abandoned dwelling."

I can't imagine that it smells very good in there, but then again, chemistry smells are kind of fun when novel.

about crystallization from Wikipedia:

"The entropy decrease due to the ordering of molecules within the system is overcompensated by the thermal randomization of the surroundings, due to the release of the heat of fusion; the entropy of the universe increases."

Santa meets the Sopranos

2009-12-14T21:32:00.006-05:00

New York's Moschino boutique holiday window display. I love pop culture

for more pics visit
Moschino Boutique Holiday Window

@ Chic Steals

Posted using ShareThis

FISH SKIN

2009-12-12T17:44:00.004-05:00

I'm mad busy working on a cool science-y font, but in the meantime I made a fish scale background tile.

Download free HERE!

it looks a bit like this:

Go to my Picassa to download the tile, then plug it in as your background and select 'Tile' mode. Your computer will make you crave sushi all day long.

*note: this pattern was inspired by the terrible movie Ninja Assassin. A child sleeping under a similar bedspread looked like a cute little fish with a human head. Need to get some bedspreads made now, and as my boyfriend pointed out it would make a great mermaid tail

speaking of fish, check out the beautiful Twitter Error Page art!
loove it- even though I can't log in...

GOLD

2009-12-04T11:10:00.005-05:00

Lovely gold +crystal shoes

From food

Here is a free wallpaper tile I made with Photoshop. was trying to create gold with a computer. Used a couple images of gold computer keys to achieve this effect. not bad, but needs some practice :) You can download the desktop background here and just plug it into "tile" mode

Gold cappuccino @ Al Mahara in the fabulous Burj Al Arab


From food album

Magazine recepies from the Middle East: honey fries cc
to see the ingredients more clearly click on the picture above

برج العرب

Gold elevator at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. By far the most impressive hotel in the world. I didn't have the heart to edit this pic with Photoshop. Its so surreal as is.

Christmas-altering experience

2009-12-01T18:33:00.002-05:00

As a habitante of northeastern USA/Canada, I am as politically correct as the next chick. My parents are of Christian descent, but reject organized religion in favor of scientific Gods.
In North America, everyone celebrates something different. Last year, working at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital, I noticed signs that read "Happy Holidays" in big gold letters, surrounded by smaller "Happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Eid, Kwanza".
But even with 10 years in Catholic schools under my belt, I've never seen such Christmas excitement as I did last year in Bahrain (an island off Saudi Arabia). Boston's Copley Square gingerbread houses don't hold a candle to the life-sized ones in the Middle East. While we were there, absolutely everyone wished us Merry Christmas.Straight up.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Anyways, to follow the blogging trend, here is my wish list Y2K9

pink Kitchen-Aid*.

*Its fine with me if it remains on my wish list until I buy a house.

One day we will be reunited, habibi.

I have been wanting to see Alegria since I was 12 years old.
They happen to be performing in Montreal through New Years.
Though instead of the usual Cirque du Soleil tent,
its in that giant hockey rink.

cashmere to get through the winter in a cozy fashion

Finally, who wouldn't want a pink iron.

Domestic fulfillment as it matches

my pink cell phone, pillowcases, knives and laptop

pumpkin cheesecake

2009-11-29T20:53:00.000-05:00

I was introduced to pumpkin cheesecake by my old roommate. Last I heard, she became a forest ranger out in Western Canada!

From food

*Note: if you can, keep whipping cream on hand. Its good straight, or you can add the cream to melted butter/sugar mixture to make caramel sauce

keep reading for recipe...

this recipe can easily be modified in almost any way.

crust:

flaky, graham, wafer or none (also try in muffin tin for pumpkin cheesecupcakes)

filling:

1 or 2 packages of cream cheese (depending how much is available to you. More cheese= richer cake)
1/3 cup of sugar, up to 1 cup if you like it sweet
1 egg
3/4 cup cooked or canned pumpkin
dash cinnamon & nutmeg

Whip cream cheese (fork will do). Beat in the sugar, then the egg. Add pumpkin, and finally spices. Mix well, pour into pie crust. Cook at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 50 minutes. Cool for a while

Sick Pottery

2009-11-26T10:33:00.012-05:00

We finally got out to the Gallery Commissaires
on St-Laurent yesterday evening.

I read about the show in the Montreal Gazette earlier this month. Medical Heirlooms are apothecary jars designed by British ceramist Tamsin van Essen.

These vases are mad eerie. Each one represent a different disease, from osteoporosis to uncontrolled cell division (cancer)

through acne, syphilis, sutures, scar tissue and psoriasis.
My pics are from the show on St-Laurent in Montreal.

The rest of these pics are from Tasmin van Essen's website

Nature and Other Anomalies

Commissaires

5226 Boulevard St-Laurent, Montreal

until 30th Nov

my first ♥ fashion post

2009-11-24T11:58:00.003-05:00

I really like her style. You can find more of her looks @ lookbook.nu > Denni ..

Some of the pics are amazing, and other are awful. That is a great compliment in my mind.

Love or hate.

What is no fun to be is so-so

Montreal Pad Thai

2009-11-23T01:47:00.009-05:00

I have beef with the quality of food in Montreal. One might blame it on the high rate of organized crime. Perhaps it is on account of the low income/education level. Whatever the sociological raison d'être, here is my experience surviving in a city with a low level of decent Pad Thai.
Read on of you care

out of *****

Soba et Sushi***

8-10$

bad: don't give enough limes, no matter how many you ask for.
good: quantity & quality are surprisingly good for a Montreal restaurant

Thai Express **

7-9$

bad: too much soy sauce. too little flavor. too much ♥burn. Tofu is shriveled and tough.

good: take-out Sirracha. all-you-can-eat limes

Bangkok Cuisine (Faubourg, downtown) *
cheap, like 7$
bad: my experience was that this tasted the way dog food smells. I don't get the popularity of this place amongst Montrealers. I have no clue what is wrong with them. Do they simply have bad taste? Or have they been sheltered from good food for too long?
good: absolutely nothing

Two-dollar noodle place on St-Laurent****

not actual pad thai. but by far the best valued noodles in the city. so well worth the mention.

bad: the only reason this place didnt get 5 stars is because the food is actually disgusting. Warm peanut butter straight from the jar over noodles.

good: You only get it at 3am when anything tastes great, so you dont know how bad it really is until you wake up and see the leftovers next to your bed. Which makes this dish, at 2 Canadian dollars, the best value, not only for noodles, but for all take-out food, Montreal-wide.

Sweets...

2009-11-17T17:32:00.006-05:00

Both the burrito & coffee are real cakes made by Cakeheart. She put cake with frosting inside a plastic coffee cup with a straw. Most of the details you see are made of fondant.
Gourmet, inspiring, brilliant!

... vs. Medicine

2009-11-17T17:31:00.009-05:00

click here for SLIDE SHOW

subject: 11-C Methylation of Peptides in a Single Step. From the 238th ACS National Meeting & Exposition in Washington, DC, August 2009. perhaps video to follow

I ♥ U

2009-11-13T18:40:00.004-05:00

sprinkles

2009-11-12T19:09:00.026-05:00

electron micrograph of Obama carbon nanotubes

science vs. art [via Boston.com]

this pic somehow reminds me of sushi.

Some scientists made carbon nanotubes based on an image by the always incredible Shepard Fairey. The little Obama faces are 500 microns wide, thats like the width of 5 human hairs.

my roommate said

2009-11-08T19:13:00.003-05:00

"Martha Stewart is like the Jay-Z of homemaking"

Jellybeans, Neuro style

2009-11-05T23:55:00.009-05:00

Today @ the MNI, the Montreal Chronic Pain Support Group was doing an info session in conjunction with National Pain Awareness Week. They filled bags with empty pill jars and had a contest to guess how many in the bag. Amazingly cute & creative

UPDATE!!! - 07/NOV/09

turns out I won (a gift certificate to a pharmacy)!!! they called to tell me. My guess was 1000 pill jars. best day ever!

American History

2009-11-04T17:57:00.007-05:00

My mom got this book for me, and it turns out that the inner cover of the book is lined with personal stationary autographed by Queen Martha herself!!!!

...more candy

2009-11-02T14:36:00.002-05:00

Check out these pretty pieces @ Saveur.com if you didn't get enough over the weekend!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:14:00.004-04:00

reminded me of this week's Ugly Betty.
[via .dirtyflaws.]