Living For The City

I remember this one time I convinced the receptionist at work that my mom’s name was Peekaboo so that when my mom called in for me she’d call her Peekaboo… I don’t remember if she ever did or not, but it was pretty funny, anyway. Great story, Matt!

…I sure hope it’s not a train.

It’s been a big week at the house! I had a paintin’ party Thursday night; huge thanks to Spark, Rob, Alex, Andrew, Matt & Sean for coming out and pitching in big time! We only got one coat done in the end and I still have loads and loads of work to do but the place already looks 3000 times brighter / better!

I think I’ve replaced the last of the old / mostly tacky hardware in the place as well. Fancy.

Taylor swung by as I was setting up to paint the stairs (only two-tone while the paint dries, they’ll be all black eventually) and started to put some of the finishing touches on my front hall millwork. Fancy, as well.

A few iPhone Snaps… Nothing new, but just ’cause I like the way they look.

My tenants move into the lower unit tomorrow. Thanks to Hammell for setting me up with Wade & Lauren, they seem pretty rad; I think they’ll be a good fit for the place and hopefully I’ll be a good landlord! I think the place turned out really nicely so hopefully they’ll enjoy it…

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As the story goes; This man was witnessed allegedly stealing the rear wheel of a bicycle belonging to Torontoist reader Dean Perlmutter. According to the witness, when the man was asked if he was stealing the wheel that he just removed, he allegedly threatened the witness and rode off. Perlmutter continues:

Undeterred, our nameless hero got on his own bike and rode after the [alleged] thief and pulled out his iPhone. He tried to grab some shots of the villain as he rode, even managing to get in front of him. He finally got off a shot of the man’s face.

Looks like a pretty big dude so I might think twice before ‘don’t steal bikes, bro‘ing him if I saw him on the street but I’d liberate the fuck out of those wheels if I saw that bike locked up anywhere and pass them off to any number of poor souls I know who have had their wheels ‘misplaced’.

Via Torontoist

I spent the bulk of the weekend with my folks cleaning/painting/moving/fixing and got the rental unit below me pretty much polished off… I have another inspection this week (hopefully) at which point it will be move-in ready!

I hadn’t really decided what I wanted to do with the front / communal hallway but fortunately Kelso has good ideas which included hanging a super long mirror (which I scored on Craigslist for $50!) and stealing finding a little bench from the construction zone up the street which I hit with a couple coats of paint et voila! All of a sudden that long, boring hallway has a little bit of life and is a lot more functional.

The 3rd floor loft hasn’t changed all that much…

Now I’ve just got to do a major purge, make a bunch of returns for stuff we couldn’t use, install the doorbells, finish the millwork in the front entrance, paint/stain the stairs & railings, paint the entire top two floors (walls, trim & ceilings), frame & hang a bunch of art, get Aner to do some hand painting, sort out the cable, stain the deck, procure & install the barnboard on the back of the island, cut & install the spindled legs for the island and then I’ll turn my attention to the outside of the house. You know… no biggie.

Look for a big before & after post in the next month or so!

I may or may not have posted about this already but fuck it, Darkness Come Alive leaked this week and it’s got some real serious bangers aboard!

I’ve got it blasting through my headphones at an unreasonable volume right now. I will pay for that later; I’m sure of it.

Jealous God

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Come Alive

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If you haven’t checked him out already; the cover art is done by an amazing British artist/tattooist currently living and working in New York named Thomas Hooper.

Incidentally, I want to get tattooed by Mr. Hooper super badly!

My buddy Dan, who has done a couple of pieces on my leg, just launched a new website so you should go check it out and if you ever have the opportunity to get tattooed by him, you should. He’s good at it.

Watch Dan on LA Ink on TLC on Thursday nights… Or save yourself the hour and just watch him in this clip below.

God Bless Amurkuh.

I swung by the shop at lunch today to see the boys and was delighted to pick up the gift that my friend Andrew left for me before heading back to Vancouver.

I honestly can’t thank you enough! It’s so perfect, you don’t even know! I seriously love it so much and can’t wait to get home and find the perfect place to hang it!

Sucks we didn’t get to hang more while you were here… Next time, for sure! Life moves pretty fast. If I don’t stop and look around once in a while, I could miss it.

Update: Found the perfect spot. Now I get to look at this little guy before I start my day, every day. Thanks again Andrew!

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Totally related; my man Allie is in town from Chicago doing a couple weeks at New Tribe and left this for me on my bike seat this morning.

Folks! I may have some red in my beard but I am not a Ginger! Not a word, Kelsey! Don’t… Don’t.

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Also totally related / while I’m at it; these dudes have a bunch of really cool pieces that Andrew painted hanging in their place. It’s rad when you see your friend’s work in random places but it’s even radder when it turns up on a site like The Selby.

Congrats to Andrea & Scott on the wonderful little giant addition to their family, Charlotte “Thunderbolt” McClorie.

Check the custom onesie… Serious.

My good friend Dave was in town for the weekend before shipping off to New York for a little bit before heading back to The Rock. Mostly we just hung out and ate a lot, but that’s pretty much par for the course ’round hurr.

Dave was lucky enough to have his hands blessed by Bill Baker who seems to be tattooing more or less full time again.

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On an unrelated note; the kids are alright.

I love it when I get new / old things in the mail! This morning I had delivered a beautifully worn mid-40′s Marc Favre military watch (I hope no one did anything awful in it) that I scored last week for less than the cost of replacing the batteries in my current timepiece… which I found I’ve had to do once every year and a half or so.

I’ve spent the last 3 or 4 years with a 5 pound brick on my wrist so it’ll take a little bit to get used to what seems like a little baby watch. It might actually be too small, I can’t tell if it is or if I’m just used to something much more substantial.

I love how well worn it is and for something that is over 50 years old it keeps perfect time! Well, it has since 11:04 this morning anyway!

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Given the date and that Lemmy is an avid (and somewhat questionable) collector of WWII paraphernalia, I’ll leave you with this…

Motorhead / Girlschool: Emergency

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While we’re talking old stuff coming in the mail, on Friday both of these guys showed up!

Positively No profanity Or Dancing; This is supposed to be from the 1920′s and came from the Northern Bible Belt (Central PA) – I’m a little skeptical as it almost looks like a photocopy but who knows? It’s in a sealed frame and I’m not about to open it to check it out any time soon…

1940′s Hyde Park military watch – recently serviced & running perfectly as far as I can tell…

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t a fan of the dressy new band so I picked up a NOS Military Issue drab band which looks much nicer.

Congratulations to my very dear friends Sean & Aidan the proud new owners of the Kensington institution Bikes On Wheels.

I’d been biting my tongue, trying to keep a level head and waiting to see some of this footage before I said all that much about what happened last week to Darcy Allan Sheppard on Bloor.

Now I’ve seen it and I find myself at a loss for words. Heavy.

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Somewhat related;

via The World’s Best Ever

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Not really related but somehow relevant; I full recognize the hypocrisy of condemning one act of violence while condoning… hell, borderline endorsing another… but I’d be lying if I said that this video didn’t give me a sense of quiet satisfaction.

Sure, where crimes against property are apparent perhaps violence isn’t an appropriate response. And sure, two or three on one doesn’t sit all that well with me. And sure, hitting someone who won’t hit back isn’t exactly nice but the guy took a few well deserved lumps and as far as anyone who has come out to find their beloved bike missing is concerned, homie got off easy. These things aren’t black and white and the lines are very fine, but whatever, fuck a bike thief.

via Prolly

via ISO50

One of the best bookstores in the city, Swipe, had this Hunter Green Biomega Bonanza Bicycle stolen in a smash & grab this weekend. This isn’t one of those shops that can easily absorb a $2500 loss so please, please, if you see this thing on the street do or on Craigslist or eBay, please let the good folks @ Swipe know about it.

More info on the bicycle here.

Sorry about the title – it had to be done.