EVERYTHING ROOF.

Good grief this is fantastic. If one of your new years resolutions was to a) get involved with AMAZING things, or b) start donating to very worthy causes. Then good news! You can kill two birds with one stone by heading over to over to our The Aboutface Collective's IndieGoGo and help them make the Everything Roof a reality.

I am so proud to be able to say such awesome ladies are pals. Sometimes the ridicuclous going ons in Toronto's city hall, makes one get so downhearted - But then, things like this remind me why I love this city so unbelievably much. And why I actively choose this to be my home.

Community really is everything. And despite what some people might say, Toronto has such a big heart. And some damn fine ideas... like the everything roof!

Meatless Mondays

Eating a plant based diet can be tres good for your body, your wallet (lentils are cheap!), and the planet. While we were occupying Bushwick, the Nigthshades ate largely vegetarian, mainly because it was the cheapest way to eat healthy. One dinner I feed 10 people on $8 dollars worth of groceries with this amazing curry.

If anyone out there trains as an athlete, The Thrive Diet should be your bible, and Bicycle Magazine has this good article to read. (Although they didn't mention that white beans in pasta is pretty amazing, and that nutritional yeast is your best friend...)

Now I am not saying you need to go Vegan at this very moment (because I didn't do that myself), but I would like to recommend for hard-core meat eaters to try out the Meatless Monday trend. If you search on the internet, there are thousands of websites offering tasty recipes that will make your mouth happy, your wallet sing, and your poop be fantastic.

I found this one today for Mushroom and Lentil Pot Pie with Gouda Biscuit Toppings. OMG!!!

Or you can always go eco/ethical with your meat. My brother is the Manager at Hills Foods in the Greater Vancouver area. I eat only "Luxury Meat" myself, which with my budget is a rare occasion, but worth the wait. Kangaroo anyone?

Pretty Girl on a Bicycle

Sea foam without extra charge.



From the West-Coast Touring Club.

Does anyone know where this snippet first came from?

ICYCLE 2012 IS COMING!

It's nearly that time of year again! Everyone's favourite annual ice race at Dufferin Grove... ICYCLE! So stud out those tires and we'll see you on the ice or on the sidelines being rowdy either way. The event this year is going down on Feb 18th. It's $5 to sit in the box (all proceeds going to Charlie's Freewheels), or FREE to watch from everywhere else. Afterparty at Bike Pirates.

And with the way this ridiculous snow free & mild (minus yesterday) winter is going, it's probably going to be a pretty nice night for the race. Fingers crossed....

(photo by Nana Arbova)

MALEONN.

Gorgeous. Maleonn circa 2008.

BIKES ON WHEELS & THE MINI DROME!

What's with all this october content finding its way onto the web now? Not complaining though, this new commercial from Toronto's Bikes on Wheels shows footage from the Red Bull Mini Drome at the Brickworks last Thanksgiving weekend, and sports a lot of familiar faces.

LEESIDE MAYHEM.

One of many reasons to love Vancouver (the others obviously being west coast shades & mountains). But, I only feel okay on missing out on this, cause we were running around Brooklyn dressed at David Bowies (plural) that night. For some reason this video makes me super happy. Good job Zenga pals.

OMG GLITTER!!!!

All That Glitters: The History of Shiny Things from Etsy on Vimeo.

So glitter was created as a way to re-purpose waste? Let's get back on that trend shall we!

So DNS has some interesting Glitter stories...

The first Nuit Blanche DNS (The Deadly Nightshades) set out to have some fun. It was the night I was officially initiated into the gang in a series of trials and feats of strength and wit. Shortly after the photo bellow was taken somewhere around 7am, Namtron, Big Red and I came across a drag-queen on Queen Street West giving palm readings. She told us we'd be famous and influence the world, then COVERED us in magenta sparkles. For years afterwards we'd find sparkles in our houses... for me they were always reminders to stay focused on STEP #3.



Namtron and I found this shirt in an open arts-fair in San Fransisco when we visited for SF Bike Expo in 2010. It's funny 'cause it's true on so many levels. Remember to practice safe crafting kids.



Then last spring my friends Emily and Linnea threw this fun alley cat scavenger hunt, called ChinaTown Hustle! So Namtron and our awesome bike-polo killing it friend Gena joined us and we became three Ninjas biking around Vancouver in glitter paint faces, golden glitter bombing unsuspecting commuters on the sea-wall, whilst drinking a saved-for-a-special occasion original Four Loco Gena had saved from her stint in NYC. We improvised the game by adding "do a tequila shot at a dive bar in Gastown" and "hey other team, you get extra points if you lick this glitter off the ground."




Photobucket lets you do some pretty awful things to photos. I may be addicted.

So Etsy, thank you for doing this video that made me squeal for joy, and take a trip down memory lane.

Hey, maybe DNS should have an Etsy? What do you think Internet?

Irene Stickney is a change-making babe

PROOF.

Fierce Bambi demonstrates the DNS mantra of "ENFORCE AWESOME" in her seafoam coloured sewing studio, The Make Den. xo

YOU.

So, so good. Been back on a TV on the Radio kick lately. Also, we're determined to throw a Nightshades party in that closed roller rink on Coney Island if it ever re-opens... or we figure out a way in...

SNOW SNOW SNOW.

Today we got our first snowfall. Now that it's officially winter in Toronto, I was reminded of these pics I took back in Brooklyn in October.... ie. the last time we biked in lots of snow during Bike Kill 8. What an awesome horrible disgustingly wet day (and still creeped out by Thomas of Horse Cycles' get up). Bring it on winter.

SWAP ITEMS!

So Much good stuff for all! Here is a taste:

100% Silk Baby!


WHAT!!??? A Pendleton?


Size 7!


Stay WARM.

SWAP SWAP SWAP!

The Deadly Nightshades think it's time to empty out those closets & get a new wardrobe for a new year!

Bring clothes, accessories, shoes and fabric or craft supplies you haven't used! Stylish men welcome too!

$5 to swap & bring 3 items (in good condition) to throw into the mix!

If you don't want to swap, forget the five bucks and come by for a drink or a bite to eat!

MegO heads back to Van on the 17th, so come say hello or goodbye!

Check out Fountain Bar here!:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fountain/236050883104637

**Proceeds of the swap are going towards purchasing a DNS state-of-the-art camcorder so we can better amuse you with our antics**

THE GENTEEL COVERS DNS!

Yesterday, The Genteel posted a great article about what we're about and what we've been up to lately! It's a great blog in general with an international array of contributers, and myriad of interesting finds. It was nice to see our Style Spins hashed out a little more than usual, as we're already excitedly brainstorming for another season of sunshine and sneak peaks once winter is out of the way.

Coincidentally, we recently unearthed some awesome gems on BlogTO's facebook, of a Style Spin last August. I forgot how awesome (and comfortable) those neon onsies were... and how glorious summertime is!

(photos by Natta Summerky)

TCA love and some Crafty Manliness!

Have you checked out Toronto Craft Alert lately? It is a digital mecca of inspiration, crafty big ups, meet ups, swaps, tours and has one of the most extensive lists of DIY links I've ever seen... The sites founder, Jen Anisef has been digging deep - and I do mean deep - into everything crafty since 2006 - she even wrote her Masters Thesis on Indie Craft Culture. Amazing.

She recently had this to say about the "Make it for your Mate" workshop:

Finding handmade stuff for men is an ongoing challenge, even in this crafty mecca we call Toronto. So kudos to The Make Den for putting together this series of workshops to create objects that will warm your dude (or leather loving lady)’s heart on Valentine’s Day.

You rule Jen! Thanks for Keeping it Crafty!

NEW YEAR CLOSET DETOX!

We think it's time to empty out those closets, and get a brand new wardrobe for a brand new year! So come on out to the DNS New Year Closet Detox and swap to your heart's content.

Bring clothes, accessories, shoes, fabric, or unused craft supplies!

$5 to swap, & bring 3 items (in good condition) to throw into the mix!

WHEN: Saturday, January 14th, 6-9pm

WHERE: Fountain, 1261 Dundas Street West, Toronto

WHY?: Beause who needs to buy new clothes, when we all secretly just want to wear our friends clothes anyway?!

Stylish men welcome too! Everyone! All the time!

bad ass road riding babes

Lets be honest, road riding is kinda a guys thing. The whole industry is about dudes & for dudes, they get most of the sponsorship money & all the attention. So how cool is it that this band of female riders get a team all there own? Pretty ground breaking.

Just before the holidays I had the awesome opportunity to go and hang out with these girls at their training camp in California. They are all crazy-elite-amazing-riders, not to mention babes. It was inspiring (and really intimidating) getting to hang with some of the best lady riders in the world. But they still need style help, so of course we needed to keep their kit sexy!

Keep your eyes on this team at the olympics in London and at the ladies tour de france. YOU GO GIRLS!!!

nam

Like, No Hard Feelings, Eh?

We had some pretty stiff competition in the Chrome McKenzie Brother's competition, mainly in the form of the 2011 World Hardcore Bike Polo Champions, The Crazy Canucks!

They are made out of 3 amazing players from EastVan. They are also really nice men in general, I have shared a cider with them and cheered them on on the sidelines in VanCity. So, no hard feelings guys, it was 3 against 7, and in general the men in the bike world tend to be a little, you know, objective of women, so we used it to our advantage this time and showed a bit of leg. It's not exactly really PC, but neither is boys showing up at the Women's Army last year with "coach" on their shirts. Oh, the sexual politics of bikes and polo...

Kenny from Northern Standard put together this great video to celebrate their victorious season!

Crazy Canucks - Bike Polo World Champions! from Ken Regehr on Vimeo.

The Crazy Canucks entered the contest to raise funds to go to the WHBPC next this year in Europe. I highly recommend to ANY company out there to sponsor them to help them get there. Great guys, lots of visibility, real passion for the sport. Hattrick!!!

BONUS VIDEO:

Metal to the Pedal - East Van Crown from Ken Regehr on Vimeo.

The Rules

Recently, we've been interviewed a fair bit, and everyone wants to know how the the Deadly Nightshades started. Well, after Venus's blood gave birth to us on Mt. Olympus, we largely bonded out of saying "F YOUR RULES". 'Cause know what? We can rock up to fashion week and glam parties on our bikes. We can create amazing fashion without hurting the environment or using semi-slave labour. We can have a design collective slash bike gang. Why not? Hello, it's the millennium!

So when my friend Brady (amazing founder of the Projecting Change Film Festival) sent me this link from Brain Pickings on a Lists of Don'ts for Women Cyclists circa 1895 that was published in the New York World, I laughed and laughed and laughed. Here are some examples of "The Rules":

• Don't faint on the road
  
• Don't boast of your long legs
• Don't cultivate a "Bicycle Face"
  
• Don't chew gum. Exercise your jaws in private.
  
• Don't scratch a match on the seat of your bloomers.
  

Oh, and it gets better. I suggest you young lady cyclists out there read up on it. I am so grateful to all the women cyclists before me who broke barriers and helped create a better world for women on the road. I pledge to help in every way I can to make sure bicycles are not just for boys.



On the other hand, DNS was also largely formed out of having rules- moral rules that is.

Amisha Ghadiali's and Joana Casaca Lemos collaborated on 12 Rules to Dress By, an amazing visual lists to inspire and help everyone have a more sustainable wardrobe. I support their goal that 2012 will Be The Year Of The Sustainable Wardrobe. When you go to their website, they have the checklist in French, Jurjati, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Turkish, and much more with more languages to come. Making this information accessible in more languages is a very challenging step to undertake, but it shows a forceful commitment to equality and global change.



Congratulations Amisha and Joana. Happy 2012 World! With so many amazing people in the world making changes, I am so excited for what humans are going to be writing about us in a century.

Lovelovelove,

Your Present & Future Self

Happy 2012!

It's resolution time, and while DNS has been gathering we've all been talking about next year and what we plan on doing. Some of our resolutions involve laughing less while telling jokes, using less exclamation points in emails, blinding less people with the dazzling brilliance of DNS and getting more into yoga. Some of us make resolutions everyday to live by.

So when I found this video today I thought I should share. TED talks like this can be long, so it's a good video to watch whilst cleaning, editing photos or some jazz like that. Listening to TED talks instead of watching Sailor Moon re-runs is an awesome resolution for your brain. (Meg resolution 2010.)



I feel that this talk and it's concepts really relates to environmentalism and how we view the space in which we all live. Sustainability can be defined as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future." So, looking at the modern trend attitudes towards ourselves and living in the present at the cost of our future (overspending, over eating, binge drinking, fast fashion, toxic chemical products, etc), we can see common trends on how society is treating our world as a whole. Are we sacrificing our future happiness and needs so we can be happy today? Does our consumption even make us "happy" and if not why do we do it? Do we really need all those products and chemicals and toxins to be satisfied if it's being proven it's going to kill our future selves? Could our society be rationalizing what feels comfortable to can keep the status quo? How are we defining our happiness for our future selves?



Those are a lot of questions, but it seems like a good enough time of year to think them. It will kick start your brain after all the feasting and festivals of the holidaze.

I hope we can all make a resolution to work for the best future for our future selves, so we can help shift society's attitude towards the future world.

Happy New Year everybody!!! Let's make 2012 the best yet.

Love, Love, Love...

EXTREME BIKE LOVE

As winter biking is becoming part of a Toronto cyclist's everyday (I guess its ok, it is January), remember it's not your beautiful babies fault its cold, so love her right, get her tuned before winter beats her up and remember... LAYER LAYER LAYER... Stay warm!

NEW YEARS 2012!

With everyone back in Toronto for the holidays we sent off 2011, and brought in 2012 with a bang. From sauna feats of strength & wintery wrestling to seafoam slumber parties.... from back yard beards & charcoal bbqs to kitchen dance offs.... it really is hilarious trouble when we're all (rarely) in one place.

DNS wishes you a super happy magical love filled new year! May 2012 be full of beauty & bicycles.

love,

the nightshades

xo!

all photos by John Lee! yay!