The Happiness Project is a wonderful concept album created by Charles Spearin (of Broken Social Scene and Do May Say Think fame). Recordings of his family and neighbours are transformed into songs that examine the melody and meaning of ordinary speech in a unique and beautiful way. Chelsee turned me onto this album the other day and I just can’t stop listening!

Peep this video for a more in depth look at the history and concept behind the project.

More on the project at happiness-project.ca

Choose a few of these tags and Boffin will play a selection of music based on your tag choices. It shares a similar concept to iTune’s Genius minus all the “Genius is Unavailable for this song” suckage. In the end you’re essentially getting a local last.fm station.

Usually when software has to load a large number of files you are presented with a progress bar that seems to go on forever. Boffin went for something more unique and interesting. Photos of artists gently float across the player’s window as their songs are analyzed by last.fm. This is a wonderful way of decreasing the perception of loading time and keeping a user interested. Here’s 15 seconds of the analyzing experience to give you an idea:

Another neat little trick Boffin offers is the ability to turn your tag cloud into a wordle cloud. Here’s mine:

Boffin is, as stated by Last.fm a tech demo/eexperiment. They are looking for input on the software and also offer up the source code for the project. If you are interested in following along and having your say in how the software evolves check out this thread.

Last but not least, if you’re on a mac and finding the Boffin icon a little chunky, I recommend the red vinyl icon from this set.

I’d like to officially welcome ourselves to 2009 and apologize for the lack of updates. As I write this most of my life is sitting in boxes at my new place and Chelsee is finishing up a class that goes well into the night.

What I’m trying to say is that we haven’t forgotten about you internet, real life has just been getting in the way.

As life simmers down a little Chelsee and I will be getting back into our groove and posting more often. To get the ball rolling I’d like to spread a little link love and show you some of the exciting things our friends have been up to during our brief hiatus.

Flume Studios

Two very talented young women have opened their own delightful design studio here in Calgary. I’ve had the pleasure of working with them for the last half year and look forward to the amazing work they will be pumping out. If you need design work, these are your go to girls.

Uppercase Magazine

The always wonderful Uppercase Gallery decided that running a store, publishing books and having great shows wasn’t quite enough. They will now also be publishing a quarterly magazine that looks to be gorgeous. I got my subscription the other day and I highly suggest you get yours right now!

Calgary Twestival

Calgary has garnered a pretty solid twitter community (check out the #yyc hashtag). A few of the local twits put on organizing hats and are putting on a twestival to raise money for Charity: water on February 17th along with 175+ other cities. There will be live music, a silent auction and a panel about social media.

This is only some of the awesome stuff going on. It’s been a great start to the year!

Pamela Klaffke is a 38 year old photographer from Calgary, Alberta. She uses an assortment of toy cameras to create her colourful and often eerie photographs.

Are you solely an artist or do you have another career?

I was a journalist for 15 years; I was one of the founding editors of FFWD, was associate editor at Avenue and was the literary editor at the Calgary herald. I wrote a book about the cultural history of shopping called, Spree, that was published in 2003. the only work I do as a journalist now is as the consumer columnist for cbc radio one’s The Point. Now, I only work as a novelist and photographer. My first novel, Snapped, will be published Jan. 2010, and the second, Every Little Thing, in Jan. 2011.

When and how did you first get into photography?

I worked on and off as a stylist for photo and music videos for many years and was always around photographers. I worked with my photographer friend Clint Adam Smyth (who’s now based in Toronto) on a photography series in the 1990s. he would shoot; I would design the clothes and we would co-art direct. I also produced a lot of fashion shoots when I was an editor, so I think I must have absorbed something by osmosis. After I left journalism, I wanted to do something visual and I really missed the look of film, so I figured I’d start shooting on my own with analogue cameras.

What inspires you?

Old children’s stories, props, costumes, vintage everything.

What is your favourite subject to photograph?

My daughter is great. She’s 7 and loves playing all the different characters I create.

It appears that you use a lot of ‘toy cameras’, how did you first get into this type of photography? What intrigues you about it? Which are your favourite cameras to use?

I was really sick of looking at over produced and digitally manipulated images. It had gotten pretty boring. I missed the look of film and wanted to strip everything down to its most basic, so the toy camera thing seemed a good way to go. I had produced a shoot about 10 years ago for Avenue in which the photographer used a Diana and I was always fascinated by the light leaks and texture and ethereal feel you can get from using the cheapest camera. It’s more of a challenge, too. Not so much of the “fix it after” attitude. Because of the cost of processing, I tend to plan my shots out carefully and shoot as few frames as possible – and I do all my effects in-camera or using alternative processing. As for cameras, I’m a total holga girl. I have 2 medium format cameras and a 35mm, plus all kind of filters and masks and flashes. My favourite is the ring flash for the medium format cameras. I also shoot with other plastic cameras sometimes, like my vivitar ic101 panorama camera and a bunch of no-name “trashcams.” And I use my pentax k-1000 35mm slr quite a bit as well. It’s totally manual and almost indestructible. I use it a lot to shoot miniature animal dioramas.

Is its unpredictability ever frustrating?

Not really. That’s part of the fun. I know my cameras well and can usually predict how it’s going to react with certain film under specific conditions. I’ve been lucky in the sense that any bizarre leaks or damage has worked to my advantage.

You can see more of Pamela’s work on her Flickr or her personal site - pamelaklaffke.com

Every Friday internet jogging features an artist, series or something special Chelsee finds while scouring the white, pink and blue treasure trove. We call this the Friday Flickr Feature.

This week’s Friday Flickr is themed, the theme is trees! A nice picture of a tree is a wonderful thing. The one above is by Silvia.

by #9 dream

by Michelle Arcila

by Nancy S

by Debbie Carlos

by Kai

by Luke Gregory

by Salva López

by Bryan Lear

by Thomas Macker

Every Friday internet jogging features an artist, series or something special Chelsee finds while scouring the white, pink and blue treasure trove. We call this the Friday Flickr Feature.

Tai Snaith is a 28 year old artist from Melbourne, Australia, who utilizes books as a canvas for painting lovely animals.
Do you have any ideas as to where you’ll be taking your artwork?

Well I finished art school a few years ago and now I take my artwork lots of places. Next year I have a residency in Japan which is exciting. I also send my artwork via post to lots of different places and swap with or sell it to lots of people so it travels beyond just me. Othwerwise, more figuratively speaking, I can see myself taking my work further in installation and exhibitions and maybe making an
actual book (instead of just drawing on them) in the next couple of years.

How long have you been creating artwork on books?

I have been doing it onto book covers for the past year, but using books in general (like the insides) since before I can remember. I just really love that books have so much character. I love to imagine someone dragging it around in their life, reading it in the park and on the tram or maybe with a cup of tea in their special chair every afternoon. As objects, hardcover books are very sentimental. I
like to add another layer to this and play with ideas of personal history, found history and misplaced narratives.

Where do you find the books you use as canvas?

I recently inherited a whole shed of them from my Nanna. Most of them belonged to my great grandmother and father and some even older. There was a bible in there from 1825 (which is a long time ago for white
Australians!). I also find them in op shops and garage sales.

Why do you mainly use animals as your subjects?

I love the raw emotion in animals and the idea of instinct (ie. fight or flight). I also really love the tradition of anthropomorphizing animals; ie. making them do things like humans. This used to happen a
lot in old fairy tales and kids books. I also grew up on a farm with lots of animals and feel very close to them.

What inspires you?

I am inspired by found bits and pieces usually; old books, found letters, bits of paper, images of animals, animal documentaries. I also find a lot of inspiration in hearing stories of other peoples
lives, especially women. At the moment I am trying to bring the two inspirations together- researching how animals are used as symbols in human religion (like shinto) and also how people and animals might
share similar instincts and ideas in times of trouble, like how we might deal with the end of the world.

You can find more of Tai’s work on her personal site - taisnaith.com or on her Flickr.

Every Friday internet jogging features an artist, series or something special Chelsee finds while scouring the white, pink and blue treasure trove. We call this the Friday Flickr Feature.

Mike Stimpson has recreated famous photographs using a collection of Lego. The image above is Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Behind the Gare Saint Lazare.

via magnum photos

Richard Avedon Boyd Fortin, Thirteen Years Old, Sweetwater Texas, 1979

via masters of fine art photography

Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin 1967 Film Footage of Bigfoot

via about

Marc Riboud 1967 photograph taken at an anti-Vietnam protest in Washington

via magnum photos

W. Eugene Smith The Walk to Paradise Garden

via artnet

View the rest of the collection on Mike Stimpson’s Flickr.

Every Friday internet jogging features an artist, series or something special Chelsee finds while scouring the white, pink and blue treasure trove. We call this the Friday Flickr Feature.

I miss Muxtape dearly. It was a clever site that made sharing music easy as pie. Muxtape has repurposed itself as a service for bands to promote their music and since this announcement I haven’t heard much about it at all.

So when WePCTV brought to my attention a short interview they did with Justin Ouellette, the creator of Muxtape, I thought I’d share it here:

Also if you haven’t read the full Muxtape saga hit Muxtape.com and learn all about Justin’s very interesting journey.

Anya Jasbär is a 22 year old photographer/student living in Venice, Italy. I’ve been an admirer of her calm, cool photographs for awhile and it was wonderful to get the chance to ask her a few questions about them.How long have you been creating photographs?

I’ve always taken picture of my family, since I was very young. Not professionally, but I really liked it. My grandfather was a passionate about photography; he has taken a lot of great pictures of his family, especially of my grandmother.
I officially started seriously about two years ago.

What inspires you and your photographs?

I’m really curious to discover more about human experience, and to understand psychological processes. My photographs help me to know more about feelings, relationships, family, quiet moment in every day life. Step by step, I’m becoming more able to remember my emotions and feelings. Photography also gives me the opportunity to be conscious of myself and of what is happening in my life.

Are you solely an artist, or do you have another occupation?

I’m concluding my Bachelor studies, so I’m still a student that pretends to be an artist. I don’t know what will happen next. Although jobs or studies, yes, the occupation of my heart is photography.

Who is the reoccurring boy in many of your images?

He’s Daniel Augschöll. He’s a good photographer. You can see his work on our website welovehotwaffles.com. It’s not easy for me to talk about us.

What is your favorite part of taking pictures?

I really love taking portraits. I’m fascinated of capturing that moment, that specific moment when people start to reveal their identity, their own personality.

You can see more of Anya’s work on her Flickr or on her and Daniel Augschöll’s shared site, welovehotwaffles.com.

Every Friday internet jogging features an artist, series or something special Chelsee finds while scouring the white, pink and blue treasure trove. We call this the Friday Flickr Feature.

via Alison Scarpulla

Happy Halloween! Here are some very scary photographs to get you in a spooky mood for tonight.

via synesthesio

via Alison Scarpulla

via Jon Edwards

via Pamela Klaffke

Clones? via Marie Ek

via Nina Hartmann

via Pamela Klaffke

via Lucy

via Jon Edwards

via Rebecca Kasner

via Lucy

via sleeb

via Hanna Dryland

via colonelkern

via me!

via colin!

Every Friday internet jogging features an artist, series or something special Chelsee finds while scouring the white, pink and blue treasure trove. We call this the Friday Flickr Feature.