New Illustration (ZOMBAYS)

Here's an illustration of KickAss Annie I did for Annie Koyama of Koyama Press. (I've obviously caught The Walking Dead fever. Sorry guys, but it looks like zombies are BACK! Can't wait to see the TV show!) She's responsible for putting out comics by a lot of really amazing artists like Michael DeForge and Christopher Hutsul.

Comic updates coming soon.

The Unusual Baobab Trees (10 pics)

The Unusual Baobab Trees
Baobab or Upside-Down Tree grows in Africa and Australia. The legend says that after it was planted by God it kept moving, so God replanted it upside down. These trees can reach heights of 5 to 30 metres (16 to 98 ft) and have trunk diameters of 7 to 11 metres (23 to 36 ft).

Baobab tree is famous for its unusual proportions. This is one of the thickest tree in the world - with an average circumference of the trunk 10.9 meters, height of 18-25 m (in the "Guinness Book of Records" for 1991 describes the baobab tree, which had a 54.5 m in circumference). At the top of the trunk is divided into thick, almost horizontal branches forming a large, up to 38 m in diameter, crown. In the dry season in winter, when the baobab clears leaves, he takes a curious form of the tree roots growing up. Life expectancy of the baobab is controversial - they do not tree rings, which can reliably calculate the age. Performed by the method of radiocarbon analysis (14C) counts showed more than 5500 years for a tree with a diameter of 4,5 m, although more conservative estimates baobabs live "only" 1000 years.(source)

Oh Hallowed Ween

In honor of Halloween, here is an illustration I did a couple days ago of a scene from one of my favourite movies - Ginger Snaps 2 - Unleashed.

I've been doing a few illustrations of this nature, so I'll do a post with them all soonish.

I've decided to recall a time when Halloween, thus horror, held true magic for me: puberty.
As an ode to my pubescent years, here are a few things that made me what I am today. If you ever had any shred of doubt about how uncool I am, kiss it goodbye.
(Couldn't find the photo of me as a dead cheerleader for Halloween, so here's me going through the My So-Called Life phase, aged 13 or 14):

MY TOP FIVE GODS AS A PRE-TEEN/TEEN:

R.L. Stine: I kinda ditched Stine as soon as my pubic hair started sprouting (that's a lie), however his books are what I cut my teeth on, and gave me a taste for blood. I think I inhaled every single book in his Fear Street series. I used to wait every month for a new book to come out at the local bookstore (or it seemed they came out that often). I think the first one I read may have been The Baby-Sitter. I had a really terrible habit of reading the last chapter first with these books, no idea why. I couldn't take the painful suspense maybe?

Between Stine and Pike, I think pretty much every single concept for any kind of horror movie involving teenagers has already been covered. I wish my dad hadn't given all my old books away. Sigh, nostalgia.

Christopher Pike: Where did you go? Legions of modern teens are being deprived. As a teenager I always thought he was the thinking man's R.L. Stine (which actually just translated to longer books, smaller font, and more nudity). So while everyone was still reading Stine I was feeling pretty smart. The first book of his I ever read was Witch. We moved when I was in grade eight, everyone at school hated me, so I used to read his books in the library during lunch hour. Bittersweet memories I suppose.

Also worth mentioning is THIRTEEN (13), which contained short stories by both above authors. It was the seminal collection of teen scares in the early 90s, in my humble opinion.

Stephen King: I devoured anything and everything Stephen King. I think I discovered his books in grade 7. Instantly became obsessed. I'm pretty sure I've read everything he's ever written pre-1998. But I also remember some of his best work being his non-horror stories; most notably The Body.

Joss Whedon: When Buffy aired on TV in 1997, I stopped needing friends.

Dean Koontz: Horror AND two page sex scenes per book. Need I say more? I remember being convinced Dragon Tears was the best thing I had ever read when I was in grade eight. I believe it was about a cop, a homeless woman, a man made of rats, and maybe something about freezing time.

MY FIRST FIVE HORROR MOVIES:

Cujo: It was my eleventh birthday party, and I was allowed to rent one movie "of my choice". This was the movie. I also remember we put water balloons in our training bras because we thought some boys were going to come. None did. But we were crawling up the walls and hiding in the bathroom this movie scared us so badly.

Bram Stoker's Dracula: My best friend turned twelve and was allowed to rent BOTH Dracula AND Mikey (unbelievable!). I loved Dracula so much (cuz of the werewolf-who's-really-a-vampire sex scene, obvs) that I got up super early in the morning to watch it again.

Mikey: I haven't seen this since that first time, all I remember was some kid kept getting adopted and torching/knifing his folks. Luckily because the kid was the monster, it didn't leave any lasting scars.

The Evil Dead(but I can't remember which one): I was in grade seven at a friend's house, and it was the middle of winter. Not only did I have nightmares for weeks after watching this, but her dad drove us out on his Ski-Doo to somewhere in their expansive forest (90 acres) when it was dark, then pretended the Ski-Doo broke down, told us to get off, and left us there. The whole long walk back I cried and screamed at every bunny-hop, while she maintained Patrick Batemen-level cool. My parents soon after stopped letting me hang out at her house. But not before my tiny eyes were traumatized by:

It: I was just so relieved that Jonathan Brandis didn't get eaten by an alien glow-spider.

This photo was taken over a week ago. Dinner and a movie (Army of Darkness). Much like what I do every night since moving to Montreal. Definitely not complaining.

Antilla - The Billion Dollar House (6 pics)

Antilla - The Billion Dollar House
Antilla Mukesh Ambani or Antilia Mukesh Ambani House Mumbai World’s first Billion Dollar home. Antilia is a twenty-seven floor (560 ft or 173 m) building completed in Mumbai for Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries. This Antilla House is Mumbai largest home in the world. The family will occupy about 400,000 square feet. The Melbourne-based construction company Leighton Holdings began constructing Antilla but Antilia has been finished by another company. The construction is inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Antilla is situated on a 4,532 square metres (48,780 sq ft) plot at Altamount Road on the famed Cumballa Hill South Mumbai, India, where land prices are upward of US$10,000 per square meter.

There will be 600 full-time members staff to maintain the Antilia building. Antilla is named after the mythical island in the Atlantic, Antillia. It is designed by Chicago architects, Perkins & Will. The Antilia Mukesh Ambani House building is equipped with amenities such as a health spa, and small theatre with a seating capacity for 50 on the eighth floor. Other features include multiple swimming pools, three floors of hanging gardens and a ballroom.

Included in the tower are six floors of parking – the seventh floor is for in-house vehicle maintenance. It has been reported in the media to have cost between US$1 billion and $2 billion, making Antilia the most expensive residential building in the world. Reliance, however, said it cost U$50-70 million.(source)

Rose McGowan Candids at Melrose Avenue in Hollywood (12 pics)

Rose McGowan Candids at Melrose Avenue in Hollywood

Rose McGowan goes for shopping making a long-awaited appearance strutting her beauty down Melrose Avenue in Hollywood on October 13th 2010. She is wearing lingerie in broad daylight and she looks freaking hot in it, and that goes for her tight jeans as well. Enjoy the Beauty of Rose McGowan.

A Unique Sideways Bike by Michael Killian (5 pics)

A Unique Sideways Bike by Michael Killian
Unlike ordinary bicycle, the model Michael Killian's direction of movement of each wheel controlled independently, and the seat perpendicular to the direction of travel. This design gives the bike a functional similarity to the snowboard. The main characteristics of the bicycle as an efficient and simple means of transport stored, and at the same time, the model is very different from anything we've seen before.

This unique Sideways Bike by Michael Killian comes from Ireland and is one of the design entries from more than 3000 participants in the Designboom competition '

The sideways bike is a two wheel steering bicycle with independently steerable wheels that travels sideways. this steering arrangement affords a unique and distinct motion that is both entertaining and graceful; much like the motion of a snowboard. the sideways bike is an instrument of fun and play and is best suited for children from age 7 and up the sideways bike is recognizably a bicycle, but it is recognizably different.

Amazing Architecture Turned Upside Down (13 pics)

Amazing Architecture Turned Upside Down
These House Inverted Against itself Stands Just Fine—We’ve all seen pics of artistic prank houses built totally upside down—but all on these just get a look one of this perfect example: Even the toilet brushes, potted plants and fruit bowls are in place. It’s a dizzying set of photos—I bet that walking through would lay you flat on your arse, but on the ceiling. No word if they’re selling this thing or not, but if you buy it, I’d ask for seatbelts (and maybe airbags too).