Pretty Dolly..

This is what you get when good friends with talent get together.



Model: Jesi the Elder
Hair and Makeup By Karen Ellis
Styling by Kelly Henderson & Cat Essiambre
Photography by John Lee

How to land a Nightshade... (or at least Mego)

Oh yeah baby, talk green energy design and job creation policy to me.... purrrrr......



Was it good for you?

Van Jones is a incredible entrepreneur and writer, who started Green for All, a program that links sustainable design to sustainable economy. On a serious note, he has been a pioneer in adressesing the tricky issue of environmentalism, soscio-economics and ethnicity.

ICYCLE my BICYCLE

on saturday at dufferin grove park, many gathered to celebrate their canadian heritage with their bicycles on ice. yep. ICE RINK RACES. so amazing. all sorts of cyclists came out to test the strength of their physical constitution. here are some pictures for you.





























check out this bike.


..upon closer investigation, perhaps you will notice the fucking spikes on the tires.













then i spotted a group of messengers and asked if i could take a picture of them. they almost stabbed me, and i wondered where the hell the rest of the nightshades were. luckily my cunning saved me, and i ran off with blurry, underexposed photos. so here is only one picture.




















bikes on ice = genius. [probably]





























































.. i don't know who the man on the left is, but the one with the cowboy hat responded to "toast" and became my hero for the night.


























bikes rock. fin.

fotos by frank. check em out.

Bike Gang Instruction Manual: Lesson #331 - Staying Fit

If you are going to start a bike gang, there is one thing that you must do and that is stay fit. It is very important. Not only for gang morale and physical attractiveness, but also for better biking and other gang related purposes. Staying fit requires hard work, discipline and proper nutrition. REMEMBER: It is entirely possible that tribute bike gangs could pop up out of nowhere and you will have no choice but to challenge them to a beer drinking competition. And we all know that muscles absorb alcohol better than fat does, I know you know that - so start pumping iron NOW.



The Deadly Nightshades always stay fit. Notice Namtron's excellent form here as she works on her quadriceps. Keep your head up while you work this muscle.


Don't forget - it is also important to have a gym buddy. This will motivate you to go to the gym more often and keep you from becoming stale in your routine. Switch it up sometimes and try squats instead of deadlifts!!!

Bicycle Opera...

I don't even know if this is for real or not, but these guys claim they have written and produced the worlds first bicycle opera. I can't even handle how amazing this is...
From their site:
"Le Cyc is the story of a surreal bike-powered world where sweeping themes of power imbalances and popular revolution collide with carnivalesque images of dictators whose smart-talking parrots perch on impossibly long moustaches."

Critical Mass - Mumbai

This is amazing...

(Art+Environment+Kensignton/Market) Free =

ON THIN ICE exhibit.

I'm going to go check it out! So should you.

(If the link doesn't work--> http://www.wildlandsleague.org/display.aspx?pid=3&cid=413)

Thursday, February 26 - Wednesday, March 4
*Hotshot Gallery
181 Augusta Avenue
Toronto, ON

Open daily 11am - 7pm
Free Admission

fun

what.

BIKE LOVE at 401 Richmond

Janet Attard at 401 Richmond has opened up her studio for a few days to display bicycle artwork by Tao Jiang. Here are the details and a link to her flickr account for pics of what will be on sale:

Bike Love
401 Richmond St W
Studio S-26
Toronto, Canada

Tue Feb 17 2009.........noon to 6 pm
Fri Feb 20 2009........noon to 8 pm
Sat Feb 21 2009.......noon to 6 pm

Photo credit: Martin Reis

Slow Food, Slow Bikes...

So I just joined the "Slow Bicycle Movement Group" on Facebook! Their motto sounds kinda similar to ours and I think we might share biking philosophies. It's about style over speed and making biking a part of everyday life. Here's what is written on their Facebook page:

"It's about riding your bicycle. To work, to play. Casually, in a relaxed manner. With time to enjoy the self-propelled movement that you and you alone generate. And, of course, to look around and see the landscape - urban or not - that you pass by at your leisurely pace."

Back on the Ol' Inter-crack!!!

These are from a rad photoshoot that Nam and Mzungu and I did a couple of years ago in an abandoned meat locker in Kensington. It was totally impromptu and turned out about a million times better than we thought it would. I love the creepy rust stains on the wall behind them, and the reflection of the flash on the metal siding.

I made the jackets and bustles from these weird old victorian patterns. They had really exaggerated proportions - huge mutton sleeves that actually curved about 60 degrees at the elbow so you had to always keep your arm bent in them, and tiny, tiny waists of course. Then I painted them with black house paint, which made the cheap cotton I was working with get alot harder when it dried. It was too hard to sew with so I sanded them down until they were soft like suede, and sewed all over the holes with gold thread. The tire tracks on the back were from an actual tire that I ran over the jacket with, and the other one had embroidered golden guns on the back.

I love these pics.

love notes

dear gold spray paint,

I'm sorry that we haven't talked in awhile.... I've been busy, I moved, finished school, got a job.

But.... I miss you. I miss the way you way you smell, i miss holding you in my hand, i miss how beautiful you make everything.

And today, valentines day, i just can't get you out of my head. Perhaps you can find the time to hang out with me. I think it would be magic, again.

Petition

Hello!

In between the partying, tattooing, sewing, photo shooting and general awesomeness, some of us Nightshades like to sign online petitions to Obama and Harper asking them to opt-out of the Tar Sands, which is the dirtiest source of oil on the planet, and create a new energy future.

Dirty oil production might mean less partying in the future, therefore it must be stopped.

p.s. Yes We Can have really awesome sustainable purses. (Hint- Valentine's day presents...)

Nightshades behind the Bar at 69 Vintage

MV/EE played at 69 Buy the Pound on Saturday night!!! It was jumping and the band were amazing. Go check out their Myspace here. Cat and Laura were bartending while i took a million pictures, except for the ones with me in them, which Kealan took. I was jealous of Cat's new tattoo so i got Laura to give me one too. I think it's just as good as the original, don't you???

Matt and Erica (the band) had all this amazing gear with them. They've been touring around the US for the last three weeks in a station wagon, with their dog, Zuma. They're pretty much the greatest human beings ever. I asked them what the best place they've been to while they were touring and they said Ashville, North Carolina. I quote: "There's just all these hippies living in the mountains, and lots of rivers to swim in."
It was really funny seeing a band playing in the store. They rocked out right in front of my new Valentines wall.

We're in love.

DOUG;S BIG BDAY

RECENTLY IT WAS DOUG'S BIRTHDAY. WE PLANED AN AMBUSH. GIRL-BUSH + BRETT. BUT BEFORE THE ATTACK, PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT CAT. AND HOW CRAZY + COOL SHE IS. AND I LOVE HER.



YEP.

HAPPY BOILZDAY, DOUGIE-DOOM







CHECK OUT THAT LEAN,




NIAMH-DREAMS



THIS DANCING FLOWER BLEW OUR TINY MINDZ

YAY!

[F.A.T]

Dear FAT Applicant,

[FAT]’s programming committee has reviewed all submissions for the 2009 program.

Projects were selected based on space available, quality of work, clarity of application, suitability of work with the event, and relevance to the 2009 themes. Based on these criteria, we are pleased to announce that your proposal was accepted into this year’s programming.

We are excited to welcome you to the 2009 edition of [FAT] Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week.

The level of competition was very high this year. We received 70 Fashion Design submissions this year, and have selected 40 collections to showcase across four days of events for 2009.

We will contact you by phone in the upcoming weeks to discuss further details in regards to your participation.

The event will be taking place at the Distillery District in the Fermenting Cellar April 21-24, 2009.

I look forward to working with you.

King Regards,

Vanja Vasic

Executive Director
|FAT| Toronto Alternative Arts & Fashion Week

WWW.GETFAT.CA

It looks like we are going to be showcased on April 22nd, which is Earth Day. I hope Toronto and the world are ready for us.

Raymi and Sass

Okay. So I know this isn't Deadly Nightshades related but this DOES fall under the category of AWESOME so I figure it's legit enough. These two girls came into my store on Saturday and bought up pretty much the whole store so I obviously liked them - but I REALLY liked them when they told me their names were Raymi and Sass. Seriously. RAYMI and SASS. That puts like, every other name on the planet to shame. Add to that the fact that they picked out my very favorite cream-dream-green maxi dress AND the acid-plaid number and I was pretty much in love...

Anyways, Raymi has this awesome blog that she's kept since the beginning of the internet (since 2000 or something like that. Basically forever.) and she posted a tonne of Blog Love and pics of her and Sass at the store on it, which I appreciated so much that I have stolen them and posted them here...

She keeps a photo diary of her life, which is pretty uncensored/hilariously honest (I actually liked reading the older "pre-digital camera" entries more) and she's won like, a million 'Best Blog' awards. And as an aside, she kind of reminded me of a younger Tatum O'Neal. Go figure.

Anyways, go check it out and appreciate the awesomeness.
Thanks Raymi, you rule!!!