Mr. Potato Who?

So I’ve noticed a rash of new Mr. Potato Head dolls lately (and by "rash" I mean "two") and I thought I’d look in to it. Here are the results of my exhaustive research:

Darth Tater


Optimash Prime


Artoo-Potatoo

Spider Spud

As a result of this self-imposed research assignment, I have come up with two professional suggestions for Hasbro, makers of Mr. Potato Head:

1. Continue with lame-but-funny potato-related doll names. They amuse me.
2. Expand Mr. Potato Head brand to include the following characters:

• Cartman
• Stewie
• Dalek (but only two, one for Crissy and one for Adam)
• Napoleon Dynamite
• Harry Potter
• Paula Abdul
  

Unlucky Charms

OK so I 'm pretty sure I want to get the t-shirt Marshmallow Factory from Threadless but I'm a little hung up on the gross factor. As my brother said, "poo is not for eating." No truer words have ever been spoken, however there is no denying the awesomeness of this shirt. I mean, look how constipated that unicorn looks. Or maybe he's just really disturbed that those whatever-the-hells are eating his poop. And look at how happy those whatever-the-hells are! I mean, that's sheer ecstasy right there. That's it, I'm getting it. Thank you for helping me work that out.

Won't You Take Me To Ninjatown?

From the people who brought you Shawnimals, those little nondescript designer plush toys, comes Ninjatown. A spinoff off the Wee Ninja Shawnimal character, Ninjatown, is, well, I actually have no idea what it is. From what I gather it’s a bunch of cute little ninjas living in a town:

Ninjatown is similar to any small town or village, with corner stores, parks, and houses, except with a few key differences. First, by and large everyone in Ninjatown is a ninja, each with a unique set of skills. Second, there are only a few types of structures: A ninja hut, a training dojo and a Stealthscraper where Business Ninjas and Ninja Consultants work.

Characters include Anti-Ninja, White Ninja, Ninja Dropping (“just when you thought it was safe to walk around in Ninjatown barefoot, Ninja Dropping appears out of nowhere and makes you very unhappy”) and Ninja Consultant (“he’ll show you ways to make your business process more efficient by using side steps, smoke bombs and stealth hugs”), amongst others.

And as if that weren’t enough, Ninjatown will soon be a videogame for the Nintendo DS! Woo! Here’s the trailer:

AMG. I feel like someone just pummeled me with a cute stick. I wants it. And the music is pretty awesome too.

Via Notcot.com.

Shoud Have Done This

This is one of those great ideas that makes me wish I had thought of it first. Like YouTube. Or Facebook. Or, uh, Google. Well maybe not quite like that, but a great idea nonetheless. But alas I’m nothing more than a lowly blogger. I don’t come up with great ideas, I just write about them. From the fine people over at Robot Co-op who brought you 43 Things, 43 Places and 43 People comes Should Do This, a site where anyone can offer a suggestion on how to improve, well, anything. From products to services to websites to people, you name it. You can browse and search posted suggestions and choose to agree or disagree with them. Some of the suggestions are good ideas and would probably be useful. Others are just funny. Here are some interesting ones I’ve come across:

• Apple should add internet radio to Apple TV
• Peter Jackson should direct Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• My Bloody Valentine should reunite
• Everyone should use the services of a public library
• Picasa should allow uploads to Flickr
• Dunder Mifflin should make better paper

Via Fimoculous.

I Guess I'm Just Adjusting

You know, that last post got me thinking. When I first started this blog over two years ago I really struggled to find a good title for it. I eventually settled on I Guess We’ll Just Have To Adjust mostly because it’s a lyric from the Arcade Fire song Wake Up that I had been listening to pretty much non-stop at the time. And I couldn’t come up with anything better. But I didn’t really think it would stick. I just chose it because I needed something right away but I felt like it was too long and difficult to remember and it didn’t roll off the tongue as nicely as I would have liked. I never changed the name because a) I couldn’t come up with anything else, b) people started to get used to it and, most importantly (and here’s the point of this seemingly irrelevant post), c) the name started to make sense (at least to me) in terms of the things I was writing about. What the eff am I talking about? Well we live in a strange world and in writing this blog I’ve realized that people do a lot of weird things but that might just be their way of coping or dealing with – or adjusting to, if you will – this wacky place we live in. I think that all the weird things I blog about are just methods people seem to have developed for themselves to help them get by. Some people read self-help books, others make miniature motorcycles out of watch parts. Some fall into the depths of addiction, others make pretty creatures out of bendy straws. Me, I write this here blog you’re reading. I guess that’s just how we have to adjust.

Pulp Photo

Thomas Allen is a photographer with a wacky knack for cutting up, folding and positioning the covers of vintage paperbacks to create these really neat, mini self-contained pulp fiction scenes. And then he takes pictures of them. And then he exhibited those pictures at the Foley Gallery. And then he got a book deal, put all his photographs together and came out with Uncovered. So crazy! I live (and blog) for this kind of thing. Wee!




Via Notcot.org.

I Guess We'll Just Have To Tumble

Sometimes when I post on my blog I find that the link or picture or subject I’m writing about does not warrant any kind of elaborate editorial commentary. Sometimes it’s self-explanatory. Sometimes it’s really simple. And sometimes it just is what it is. So for the past few days I’ve been toying around with the idea of a tumblelog (or tumble blog) which is kind of like, as veteran tumblelogger Jason Kottke put it, “a quick and dirty stream of consciousness”, or an ongoing collection of the miscellaneous bits and blasts that I come by in my everyday online meanderings. So I made my way over to Tumblr, a pretty little tumblelog application with an easy to use and clean-looking UI. The application supports a number of categories of posts like text, photos, videos, links, IM conversations and quotes. I'm really liking the haphazard, random qualities of this kind of blog. So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to I Guess We’ll Just Have to Tumble. What will you find there? Well it's still in its infancy but I gather it'll be things like movie trailers, interesting Wikipedia entries, funny Urban Dictionary definitions, some quotes, miscellaneous links, that sort of thing. If I’m too lazy to post it here, I’ll post it there. I hope you make your way over there cause I'm really interested to hear what you think.

Minimoto

Jose Geraldo Reis Pfau uses old watch parts to make mini motorcycle figurines. And really, can you blame him?

Via OKfuture.

Ad It Again

About a year ago a wrote a few posts (here, here and here) about a new breed of advertising that integrates and often plays off of its environment (which I now realize is called “outdoor ambient advertising - I'm a smart girl). I thought I’d revisit the idea after seeing a bunch of new ads on Amazing Illusions. Now it’s not that I particularly enjoy seeing ads covering everything but I just want to acknowledge that some of them are pretty clever, so don’t go getting all anti-consumerism on my ass, mmkay? Thanks.

Shopping bags with ads by Stop ‘n Grow.

Towels as a marketing tool for Axe Bodyspray.

Ads for Mondo Pasta on ships in Hamberg, Germany.

Nationwide Insurance x-treme! billboard (via Billboardom).

Bloggermelon Steak

So looks like watermelon steak is all the rage amongst bloggers these days. Pan seared with salt and pepper seasoning according to this recipe that ran in the Boston Globe. Not really sure how tasty it would be but, like any good blogger, if it sounds funny and it's accompanied by a pretty picture, I'll post about it here!

I Love You, Whaleboy

So a couple of days ago I was walking on Bloor St. in the Annex past what used to be Second Spin (RIP) and what is now, to my pleasant surprise, The Labyrinth, a great little shop chock full of graphic novels, anime, illustration books, artist sketch books and tons of other great stuff.


I was lucky enough to chat with Jessica - she and her husband have been specializing in this business for over 19 years traveling to schools and trade shows until they finally opened their first storefront a few months ago. Check out their blog for lots of updates on upcoming releases and special events. The store is super fun to browse through and they take special pride in showcasing the work of local (Toronto) artists. I myself picked up this fantastic print of Whaleboy by Toronto artist Bobby Chiu (which is actually Bobby's take on a character by LA artist Patrick Morgan).


Isn't he cute? I just could resist his little face! Next I might go back for some work by Deanna Marsigliese:


So if you're in the neighborhood be sure to drop by and say hello to Jessica (and her cute little baby).

Distracting Distraction

The Distraction Game is pretty awesome.


What? You wanted a novel about it?

Via The In-Sect.

Tasteful Flashers

The nice people over at Web Designer Wall have taken the time to scour the internet to bring you 30 of the most brilliant Flash sites they could find. And now I've taken the time to scour that one blog post and look at those thirty sites to bring you the cream of the crop. Us bloggers, we do all the thinking for you, see? All you gotta do is sit back and look at the pretty pictures.


Formshape
Róth Anikó


Own Your C

Via Web Designer Wall via Tech Bee.

Le Daft Punked

So I went to a Daft Punk show on Sunday night and they totally kicked my ass. By far one of the best concerts I've ever been to. A huge part of what made it so good was the extravagant light show they put on. This was unlike anything I'd ever seen before: requisite strobe and spot lights, twenty-foot tall (that's my very rough estimate) illuminated latticework, and a huge pyramid composed of four LCD screens from inside which Les Punks worked their magic decked out in full robot regalia. Totally sweet. Plenty of video and pictures from the tour available online but I wanted to share my very own (low-quality camera-phone) pictures with all of you.

Only Three Words

Memes are lame. Here's a meme:

1. Where is your cell phone? Next to me.
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend? Likes robot music.
3. Your hair? Very badly behaved.
4. Where is your father? Close to mother.
5. Your favorite thing to do? Contingent on mood.
6. Your dream last night? Vague, incomprehensible mess.
7. Your dream car? I don’t care.
8. The room you're in? There’s only one.
9. Who did you hang out with last night? Robot music lover.
10. Your fears? An unhappy future.
11. What aren’t you good at? Peeling apples properly. OR Life in general.
12. Muffins? I prefer doughnuts.
13. One of your wish list items? Weeds: Season Two.
14. The last thing you did? Answered number 13.
15. Your computer? Thank you brother.
16. Your pet? Cutest imaginary puppy.
17. You are wearing? Heart on sleeve.
18. Your life? State of flux.
19. Your mood? OMG! WTF? LOL!
20. Missing? Plan for future.
21. Your car? Subway, streetcar, bus.
22. What are you thinking about now? What's for dinner?
23. Your work? Aspiring professional blogger.
24. Your summer? Filled with newness.
25. Your relationship status? Smells like vanilla.
26. Your favorite color(s)? Deep sea turquoise.
27. When is the last time you cried? On the train.
28. When was the last time you laughed? Too long ago.
29. School? Out for summer.
30. Favorite 90’s group? Color Me Badd

See? Wasn't that fun? OK now you. Off you go...

If My Blog Looked This Good...

Not only does artist/illustrator/musician Aaron Jasinski create some good tunes and some refreshingly lovely, playful and surreal paintings (describing visual art has never been my strong suit but I love love love his work), but he also has a clean, creative and extremely well-designed website to showcase all his work. The menus are beautifully designed and the animation looks smooth and effortless. Makes you want to click-clickety-click everywhere!

Via Fubiz.