Toronto Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2012

View of Old City Hall from Nathan Phillips Square.

The Vampire and I took our yearly trip to Nuit Blanche on September 29th... and were sadly disappointed this time around. It wasn't as well organized as previous years, and it seems that Torontonians (at least the younger set) completely missed the point. We saw more teenagers passed out on the street -or writhing in their own vomit- than exhibits... and I don't exaggerate. I think it's awesome to go out and have fun with your friends (and goodness knows a little intoxication never hurt anyone), but the immersive vibe was sorely absent. I don't know whether to blame the system for failing to cultivate creativity and artistic appreciation in kids from the iGeneration, or the organizers for moving what's supposed to be a street party mainly indoors. This latter point was truly an unfortunate feature of the evening... The majority of exhibits were indoors this year - including 4 of the main exhibits located in the bowels of the Nathan Phillips Square parking garage. 90+ minutes is much too long to wait to see an exhibit that is open to the public for less that 12 hours, especially when nothing much else was going on along the routes. In my opinion, restricting people from interacting with these exhibits completely defeats the purpose of having Nuit Blanche in the first place since it is meant to be an organic and participatory event. I really hope next year will be better. It's sad to admit that Toronto -a place that is filled with so much talent and creative energy- does not seem able to adequately showcase its artistic abilities. As a proud Torontonian, I am quite frankly embarrassed by this.

All that being said, I would like to end this post by highlighting some of the positive features and enjoyable experiences we had during the night. Firstly, the tiff Bell Lightbox had some amazing film installations. The Vamp and I only got to see one: "Cent une tueries de zombies" (by Mike Lane and Colin Geddes), but it was well worth it. The pamphlet for this cinematic event described it like this: "Zombies have overrun pop culture and are feasting on our collective consciousness. Seek vengeance: watch 101 zombie death scenes on the big screen." It was well edited and delightfully gruesome... Watching the film re-ignited my passion for zombie movies, so you can guess what I'll be spending my time doing in the next little while.

Other noteworthy installations included "Green Invaders, 2012" (a light installation inspired by the iconic 80s 'Space Invaders' video game), "Outsiders2012, 2012" (an interaction installation featuring life-sized human forms appearing to be made out of saran wrap that were passed around the city all night), "Tower of Progress, 2004 & 2012" (a 16-foot sculpture by Laurent Gagnon built from parts of discarded machines), and a very cool video light installation in Nathan Phillips Square that featured interwoven clips of jellyfish, galaxies, and atomic bombs.

To finish off our evening, The Vamp and I headed to our fav midtown watering hole: The 3 Brewers. We had some delicious nachos and a pitcher of their *exceptional* tasting (and reasonably priced) home-brewed amber ale. If you haven't visited The 3 Brewers yet, we highly recommend that you do!!!

Please enjoy these photos of our Nuit Blanche 2012 escapades (below). :-)

"Green Invaders, 2012" by Yves Caizergues (Lyon, France).

        

Lady Gaga window display at the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC).

Close-up of Lady Gaga display at HBC.

Old City Hall at night. 

UFO landing pad, a.k.a. New City Hall at night.

Video light installation in Nathan Phillips Square.

Another view of Old City Hall from Nathan Phillips Square. 

Brewing equipment @The 3 Brewers (Yonge & Dundas).

Display @The 3 Brewers showing artifacts found during site excavation.

Zombie Bed Sheets - Made in Ontario!!!

Zombie Bed Sheets by Melissa Christie

Check out these awesome linens, designed by Canada's very own Melissa Christie. Her shop is located in Hamilton, Ontario. Great to see a local contribution to the zombie effort!!! :-D

[Link to Melissa Christie on tumblr]

Matt Webb, Zombie Pirate

The Vampire's favourite Zombie Pirate.  The scissors make him look especially attractive. ;-)

[Link to Matt Webb's Twitter]

[Link to Marianas Trench's website]

Zombie Royals

Holiday Shopping

Disclaimer: I apologise in advance for the long post, but there are so many goodies to share.

Still looking for that perfect gift for the one you love (or hate)? ThinkGeek has a multitude of innovative gift ideas for the geek in everyone. Here are some examples...

Kitchenware

"Knife" Block

"Chillin' at home or the office" gear

Skull 'n' Crossbones Slanket

Human Organ Lunch Bag

Bathroom gear

Blood Bag Shower Gel

Ominous Visitor Shower Curtain

Horror movie shower curtain and bath mat

Zombie Gear

Zombie Plushes

Dismember Me Zombie Plush

Garden Zombie

Zombie glassware

Zombie boardgame

Zombie book

Zombie romance novel

Zombie filming guide

Zombie high-school memorabilia yearbook

Hit the link below and find all those hard-to-get items for those hard-to-buy-for people. Happy Shopping!

[Link to ThinkGeek]

World's Largest Pumpkin, Carved Into Zombies!!!

Since we're on a pumpkin kick, I thought I'd up the ante by posting pics of the LARGEST - if not most epic - pumpkin ever carved. It weighs in at a massive 1, 818.5 lbs. and was sculpted by master food carver Ray Villafane. And what better subject matter than zombies - misspulga's favorite? I'm loving the pumpkin guts dripping off of everything.

Check out the link for more pics, and a video of Ray carving the pumpkin.

[Link to pics of World's Largest Carved Pumpkin]

[via Damn Cool Pictures]

Who is Rick Genest?

Lady Gaga's "Born This Way"

Lady Gaga Remix for Mugler Fashion Show

Well, he's Canadian... that's for starters. Born and raised in Quebec, Rick started his tattoo journey at the age of 16. Now 26, he's spent $17,000 (and counting) on his body art, which now covers more than 80% of his body. His friends nick-named him "Zombie Boy" for obvious reasons.

In January 2011, Lady Gaga's personal stylist - and the creative director of famed Paris fashion house Thierry Mugler - Nicole Formichetti, came across a photo of Rick on the interwebz and the rest is history. She flew him out to Paris to model in the Mugler men's fashion show, and offered him a cameo spot in Lady Gaga's music video for "Born This Way".

Since then, Rick was awarded the Guinness Book of World Records for "the most insects tattooed on the human body (178)" and "the most bones inked on a human body (138)".

He is currently enjoying a bit of a cult following, but according to his website he has "very little desire for material wealth". Instead, he "believes in maintaining his strong relationships and hopes that one day he will be able to give back to his friends back home all that they have given him." Sounds like a decent bloke. :-) Check out Rick's website after the jump.

[Link to Rick Genest's website]

It's Spooktacular!

Sideshow Toy's 2011 Spooktacular event runs 24 hours a day from October 24th through to Halloween. It is an annual event that has fun, free stuff, offers, contests and the opportunity to converse with people who also like movie characters, monsters, and collectibles. At the time of this writing, there is 24 days left until it starts. Bookmark the link below and check back regularly for updates.

In addition, Sideshow Toys offers a Spooktacular readyness kit each year, containing a variety of goodies, usually at a vastly reduced price. This year's kit contains: a coffee mug, coffee, wristband, tote bag, calendar, gift card, and a Mort zombie plushie!!

The 2011 Spooktacular Readyness Kit

Sleep is for the Weak!

[Link to Spooktacular countdown]

[Link to Spooktacular Readyness Kit]

Zombie Balls!

Zombie Bowling Heads by Jung von Matt.

We seem to be on a zombie kick lately (:-D), so I thought I'd offer up something too.

Behold... Zombie Balls! No, not that kind!!! To be anatomically correct, they are actually "Zombie Bowling Heads".

Sadly not for sale, these functional works of art work were created by German designer Jung von Matt to promote a new sci-fi/horror TV channel in Germany called "13th Street". Follow the link below to see more pics and a video.

And yes... heads will roll.

[Link to video and pictures]

[via Über Review]

These shoes also rule!

Zombie Stomper Platforms

Shoes for misspulga. Zombie shoes!! These glow in the dark!!! They come in so many rad colours. I also thought it would be fitting to sandwich the Kelly video with shoes that rule! These heels are designed by Iron Fist, and they have many more awesome shoes on their website. Let's get 'em, indeed!

[Link to Iron Fist website - shoes]

These brains...Need more flavour...

Sammy and Seymour

Zombie salt and pepper shakers! And yes, they have names. Created by Undead Ed, on Etsy! Undead Ed's shop has all kinds of zombie-inspired items, from housewares, to toys, piggy banks, jewelry, and yes, even light-switch plates! Mmmm...braaaains.

[Link to Undead Ed's shop]

[via Etsy]

The Tale of Marianas Trench and The Vampire

Josh: Where am I? How did I get in this cage? Why are there zombies everywhere? This is not good...not good at all.

Josh: Oh, hang on...this cage isn't locked! Maybe I'm not as screwed as I thought I was. And I can totally out-run these walking corpses!! Or out-dance them...using my moves from the Shaketramp music video! Yeah, that's a good plan.

Mike: ~Lurches forward, leading with hook-handed arm failing about~ Raaaaamsaaayyyy...
Matt: ~Looking somewhat mummified, staggering towards Josh~ Brraaaaaaaiiiinnnss...

Ian: ~Completes the trio~ Mmmm....orrrrrgannnnss....

Josh: Uhh...guys? You're not looking so hot... ~Shudder~ Why do I get the feeling I'm never getting out of here? It's so dark. Can someone direct me to the exit?

The Vampire: ~Appears out of nowhere~ Hello there, Josh. I am The Vampire. Welcome to my humble abode. I'm glad you were able to find the address. How do you like my friends?

Josh: Oh! Hey there, Vampire. Yeah, uh...it's not really my kind of crowd. And just to get it out there, I don't think you'd want to suck my blood either...it probably tastes like Coke Zero because that's pretty much all I drink. So, catch you later? Maybe without zombies?

The Vampire: I'd like my Marianas Trench quartet to be complete....You're mine, Ramsay!

Josh: Aaaaahhhhh! Don't eat me, seriously!!! I've still gotta finish the new record, Ever After!

~And as The Vampire ordered, all the zombies converge upon Josh, his fate to be decided later~

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Alright, so The Vampire on this blog is a bit of a Marianas Trench fan. The Vampire in Marianas Trench's new video for their latest single "Haven't Had Enough" is actually played by Darla Taylor, and I don't think she's meant to be a vampire; perhaps a Zombie Queen? This section about zombies is actually only a fraction of the video; the rest contains bits about the band's adventures in Paris, Egypt, on a Pirate Ship, and in Toy Land. You can check out the video on either of the links below! Full credit to Marianas Trench for all the awesome ideas for the video and so forth. Zombie Pirates are the best!!!!!

[Link to music video for Haven't Had Enough]

[Link to Marianas Trench's Official Website]