Random Thoughts For Sh*t Someone Says Tuesday January 31, 2012

Alright, I’m sure everyone has seen the Shit Someone Says meme. If you haven’t well, I’m just sorry for you. It’s been all over the internet.

But unlike many people, who are completely burning out on the meme, I personally love it. And the main reason I enjoy it is, that unlike other image based meme where all you need is MS Paint or Photoshop. To create a really good SPS video, you’ve got to put some real time and energy into it. Film it yourself and then edit it perfectly.

Sorta like my favourite example, the Sh!t DC People Say video below.

BTW, have you heard? That place has got an amazing brunch.

First – Hey! Speaking of memes, how about a little Silicon Valley Ryan Gosling. Girl, I know you want to.

Second – Prometheus essentially looks like Ridley Scott’s Alien 2.0… but it still looks freaking stunning.

Three – One of our favourite spots in DC/VA is Northside Social Coffee House. It’s a quaint little coffeeshop that we frequent quite regularly. One of the things they do is promote local artists, by adorning their walls with art. Over the past few months, they’ve had the paintings of local Arlington artist, Chris Bishop all over their walls.

There’s something about his work that I just adore. The combination of the aesthetic and bright colours, catches my eyes everytime we walk. Anyways, it’s one of my favourite local artists and I’m hoping to pick up a print before we leave the district.

Fourth – If you haven’t heard, Twitter is now going to work with governments to block and censor some select tweets and accounts. While on the face value it’s a some what daunting development, here’s an interesting read on why it’s not that bad of a policy.

Fifth – I’ve been holding on to this for quite sometime, but this article from Eric Francis is just another example of why he’s a hack writer. I understand the hatred for this kid, but it’s clear that Francis knows nothing about Ovi… nothing… nothing.

Sixth – A couple of weeks ago, Kanye West crawled out of his online fortress of solitude to embark on one of the most talked about Twitter rants in recent history. Luckily for everyone, the sports blog Grantland has transcribed the entire rants.

Seventh – Did you know that Dungeons and Dragons is being redone? No, not the horrible Jeremy Irons movie. I mean the actual ten-side dice, playing with little figurines board game. Yeah and it’s being built through crowdsourcing. Please insert ten sided dice joke … here

Eighth – Awesome overload, AT-AT Dog eating a birthday Treat.

Ninth – A full retro-redesign of all 32 NFL logos. (via @Brennancreative)

(Even though I still despise Teebow, I’ve got to say Denver has the best redesign.)

Tenth – An interesting essay on how PRINT design, yes I just said print design, is going to be the future of the internet.

I feel dirty just agreeing with that statement.

Eleventh – Remember my little post on the Calgary food scene? No! Well then, scroll down a bit.

Anyways, it turns out that it got featured in Calgary Open file last month.

Twelfth – Reason #224 why Obama is going to win re-election in 2012, he looks far cooler as the incredible Hulk than Mitt or Newt.

Thirteenth – I’ll say this once and I’ll say this again, Detroit is easily one of the most facinating places on earth at the moment. Delapitated, desolate and depressed… Hell and that’s only the Pistons current record.

Okay, okay. Here is what looks to be a fascinating documentary on the dystopia that is Detroit

Categories: The-Random, The-Blogosphere, The ArtWorld, The Calgary Vibe, The D.C. vibe, The Football, The Humourous, The Inane, The Pop-Culture, The Ravens, The Redskins, The Social Media, The Southern Neighbours

Calgary, Oh Calgary, When Did You Get So Fabulous: Food Edition Friday January 13, 2012

A couple of years ago, when I departed to Washington, Calgary had a pretty decent and growing food culture. There were the obvious staples such as Tubby Dog, Crave Cupcakes, Peter’s Drive In, Muse, The Ship Burger and of course a few other well established places. But over the past two years, the city’s food culture has really… well… matured.

Alright, matured is an odd word, but it really is the best word I can think of. (I’m honestly not trying to be condescending)

And let me preface this post by saying, that I in no way consider myself a professional foodie. I also understand that Calgary still has a way to go to rival a Philadelphia (which I’m told is the foodie place on the eastern seaboard) or even elements of DC (albeit, I’ll take a Tubby Dog over the average dogs in DC). But since leaving my beloved hometown, I’ve had the opportunity to watch and marvel at the city’s food culture from a distance.

There’s a bunch of different factors that have probably ignited this change. Obviously, one of the most overstated initiatives was the Mayor’s move to get The Food Truck concept off the ground. But a dramatic change in demographics, with a younger population benefiting from above average levels of disposable income has to be one of the strongest reasons for this growth. But what I’ve noticed is that over the past few years the number of must see eating establishments in the city has tripled. Clearly a city as young and as vibrant as Calgary is ripe for an influx of innovative new restaurants. Something that hasn’t been lost on the city’s entrepreneurs.

Since coming back in mid-December, I’ve spent most of my time back in Calgary seeking out some of the new places that I’ve heard so much about. Which is in stark contrast to last year’s trip, which was more of a reunion tour than a exploration tour.

Since arriving back home, my wife and I have had the pleasure of devouring heaps of heaven at Diner Deluxe (which I understand is really only new to me) and gorging on delicious Gluten-Free wings at the newly renovated VooDoo Lounge. During my own work-related trips into the core, I’ve had the pleasure of sampling some of Calgary’s freshly minted Food Trucks with Charcut’s Alley Burger and Perogy Boyz Food Trucks. I’ve also spent far too much time sharing conversations with old friends and downing far too many cups of divine coffee at the various Phil & Sebastian locations. Not to mention spending far too much time salivating and stocking up at the racks of spices at the Silk Road.

And the worst part about this trip back, is that I haven’t even had the chance to check out some of the other places on my predetermined hit list. Such as the donuts at Jelly Modern, the Bavarian sausage platters at WURST, the thin crust pizza at UNA or even the gluten-free menu at Milk Tiger Lounge. And that of course doesn’t even cover some of the legendary staples like the A-Bomb at Tubby Dawg (Albeit, I did have the Yukon Cornelius with my niece), the buckets of maple bacon at The District, a chocolate-orange milk shake at Peter’s or the currys that I grew up on at The Radjoot. Hell, I could go on and on and on about all the places I love in this so-called redneck town.

As I said earlier, I’m definitely no foodie. I’m more of a what’s going to clog my arteries connoisseur. If you want a real foodie’s opinion of Calgary’s scene, check out Ugonnaeatthat.com or Avenue’s Food Blog. But what I do have is the pleasure of a) distance b) separation and c) a limited time.

There’s nothing in the world more motivating than a list of places you want to try and a tight time line. (Yes, I acknowledge a month seams long, but it really isn’t). Calgary’s food scene has grown leaps and bounds in the two years I’ve been away – this trip really confirmed it. There are dozens of places that are really intriguing in this city. But what this specific trip back to Calgary has taught me, is that rather than spending time just trying to relieve old memories, it’s better to take advantage of the growing food culture in the city. Sure there are mandatory staples, but there is some far more interesting place to eat popping up in this city. It really seams like each up and coming area of the city sprouts even more unique and enjoyable treasures.

For all of you living in this fair city, take some time to enjoy some of the places hidden in the different regions of the city. You’ll be surprised what’s lingering in your back yard.

Categories: The-Calgary-Vibe, The-Food,

The Adventures 2011 Friday December 30, 2011

Oh hello there. You probably thought I had forgotten about playing another edition of The Adventures. I know, I know, I’ve been out of it for a while

So without further delay, welcome to the sixth edition of The Adventures Post! As with the past 6 years, The Adventures Post is where I lists the cities I’ve spent one or more nights in over the past year. The idea is completely stolen borrowed from kottke.org and has been a bit of a staple on the old c.t.overdrive.

And yes, I understand that flaunting the cities I’ve traveled to is a bit egotistical, as I know travel is something of a luxury for many. But it’s also a good way to look at the year in retrospective. And for once, my Adventures are actually quite lame this year, which only goes to show the ebb and flow of travel.

• Calgary, AB
• Arlington, VA/Washington, DC
• Topsail, NC
• Raliegh, NC
• Arlington, VA/Washington, DC
• Ottawa, ON
• Back to Arlington, VA
• Calgary, AB

Needless to say, although relatively quiet on the adventures front, 2011 was an interesting year. In our new adopted second home, we survived Thundersnow, A mini-snowpocalypse, an Earthquake, and a Hurricane. We also had the pleasure of being in Washington when the news that Osama Bin Laden was killed broke, saw the Egyptian, Tunsian and Lybian revolutions unfold, watched three congressional dramas push the US to the brink, watched Anthony Weiner torpedoed his career by tweeting his weiner and witnessed the Occupy Wall Street movement explode right in our own backyard. It’s been an incredible year and easily one that I’ll never forget.

But 2012 calls kids and more changes are in store for the overdrives… onwards and upwards.

Categories: The-Adventures, the-dc, The Inane, The Political World, The World

Happy Christmas To You And Yours - 2011 Friday December 23, 2011

Another year, and another Happy Christmas to everyone out there. And like last year, what better way to celebrate the season than with the immortal Fairytale of New York from the lovely Pogues and Kristy McColl.

P.S. The kicker of the whole video has to be Matt Dillon at the beginning of the video.

Anyways, a very, very Happy Christmas from the overdrive family.

Categories: The-Site, The-HomeLand,

Random Thoughts For The Mother of All Random Thoughts Monday December 19, 2011

See, here’s the thing, as a freelancer/business owner December and late November are the worst times of the year. Sorry, scratch that August and July are the worst times of the year. December and late November are the busiest times of the year.

Hence, the lack of Random Thought updates… or for that matter any sort of update on c.t.overdrive.

But that changes today… So for your Christmas week enjoyment, here is the Mother of all Random Thoughts.

First – Music-critic.ca, the site that Armadillo has maintained for a few years now, has launched it’s Annual Top 5 Records of 2011 feature. (And of course, one day later this month I’ll talk about my picks for 2011… I promise)

Second – Um… A Steampunk Cobra Commander T-Shirt. I must have it. This I command.

Third – The Baltimore Orioles have redesigned their branding with the retro comicbook bird symbol. Thus reestablishing him as the coolest corporate branding bird over that annoying thing they call the Fruit Loops parrot. (Thanks to Cam Hoff for the link)

Fourth – Have a web designer on your Christmas gift giving list? No? Well, good lord, what is wrong with you.

For those of you that do have a Web Designer on your list, here is the definitive list of 25 books for Web Designers and Developers. It’s okay, you can thank me later.

Fifth – In Calgary in January? Want to join in on a killer party in the middle of a snowstorm? Then High Performance Rodeo’s Snowblower Festival is where you need to be.

And don’t give me that, but c.t.o, I hate dance music. Yes, you don’t have to be a base head to enjoy a sprawling three block dance party in the middle of the Canadian Winter.

Sixth – A creepy compilation of some classic death scenes in a wide variety of video games from the 80s and 90s… all set to a digitized version of Mad, Mad World.

Seventh – It wouldn’t be a Random Thoughts without an infographic, so check out this massive depiction of our overlord Walmart’s ever growing power from Fast Company.

Eighth – The intriguing story of one of my favourite sites on the web, Vimeo, and how it forged it’s own niche within the clustered online video market.

Ninth – Speaking of Vimeo, Sleigh Bells has released a preview clip for their upcoming album. That new record is going to be called Reign of Terror , or as I will refer to it finally a new record that doesn’t sound like the soundtrack to a damn Wes Anderson movie! (Thanks to Jim Bones for the link)

Tenth – Have a kindle? Or better yet have the Kindle app on your iPhone or iPad? Then go and down load Julien Smith’s new e-book Flinch. Long time readers, will know how much admire Julien Smith and his brand of in your face motivation, so do yourself a favor and download this fantastic book.

Eleventh – The Conference board of Canada just released an interesting report detailing the potential for 11 CFL teams. To all my American friends, the CFL stands for the Canadian Football League it really does exist.

To all my Canadian readers, the only disappointing information in this report, is that it doesn’t delve into the details of how many of those franchises will be named the Roughriders.

Twelfth – The geniuses behind Obama’s 2012 re-election team are already understanding how important visual design is to the motivation of the youth vote in America. In prep for the next election cycle in November, team Barrack is already crafting contests to get print designers and graphic designers involved in getting the ball rolling.

Thirteenth – Indie game developers, Super Giant Games have released Bastion for the Chrome Web Browser. If you’ve followed the site for a while, you’ll understand my love for this game, so it goes without saying that having this game playable through your browser is an absolutely incredible feat.

Don’t believe me. Check out the trailer.

Yes, you can now play this game … in … your … browser.

Fourteenth – Speaking of indie game developers, if you think it’s easy to launch and create a simple iPhone game and become the next Angry Birds… well think again. Local calgarian game developer, Bulletproof Outlaws, has an incredible run down of what it takes to market and launch an iPhone app.

Yeah, not as easy as you think.

Fifteenth – Chris Brett is a fantastic up and coming artist from Vancouver. And earlier this month he released a little time-lapsed video of the creative process for one of his pieces of work. If you’ve got some time, definitely check it out.

Sixteenth – Thanks to Mr. Rennie for this one.

Seventeenth – A small Canadian (actually Albertan) board game developer has broken records on KickStarter for funding of their new cooperative board game D-Day.

A couple things which makes this such incredible news. For one thing, any small Canadian company to break records on Kickstarter is a pretty incredible feat, but to do it for a dice board game in this techno-centric society… That right there, is a feat to be proud of.

Very well done guys.

Eighteenth – I was going to post the trailer for The Expendables Two, as I thought that would be the most 80s inspired sequel of all time… but then I saw the sequel for the 2nd G.I.Joe movie.

Alright, it’s rare that a movie that was such an epic (and by proxy hilarious) disaster turns into a sequel in which I can’t wait to see. I know, the director’s pedigree is Step Up 3D and The Justin Beiber Doc, but come on, it has Bruce Willis. Everyone knows that Bruce Willis is pure gold..

Well except for that whole Hudson Hawk thing in the late 90s.

Nineteenth – Speaking of Obama and print design, Shepard Fairey, the genius behind the Hope poster and one of my personal graphic design idols, was commissioned to do the TIME 2011 person of the year cover.

Twentieth – By the way, do you want to know the track in that G.I.Joe trailer? It’s Glitch Mob’s Seven Nation Army Remix.

The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army (The Glitch Mob Remix) by The Glitch Mob

Categories: The-Random, The-Site, The ArtWorld, The Blogosphere, The Books, The Calgary Vibe, The Canada Vibe, The Comrades, The Craziness, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The Nationals, The Political World, The Pop-Culture, The Soapbox, The Southern Neighbours, The T-Shirts, The VideoGames, The World, Want To Be A Web Designer