SAFETY COMES IN A SMALLER PACKAGE

StashKit is an award-winning helmet made by Hatpac Ltd. This multi-sport helmet can be easily folded for quick storage when not in use. The sides of the helmet fold inward making it more compact. In 2007, StashKit won the Eurobike award for its innovative design. It retails for about $90 CDN.

Click here to visit the StashKit website.

UN-ART RELATED POST

I usually blog about art and design, but I'm making an exception to post this photo of my new nephew. He's the first baby in our family and we're all very excited. This is the little guy at 2 days old.

PEOPLE ARE INSTALLING

My buddy Karim, from back in the good ol' art school days, sent me this link to post on my blog. I don't know what to be more excited about...posting this cool link or the fact that there are people actually reading my blog.

Click here to check out more photos and videos of Mark Jenkins' thought provoking street installations worldwide.

LE BEANOCK

What's more comfortable a beanbag chair or a hammock? Le Beanock!

Designer Tracie Herrtage took these two nap-worthy ideas and combined them into a trendy piece of furniture. It's more of a loft, attic, or outdoor piece in my opinion though. I'd imagine it would look a bit frumpy in a space with low ceilings. In any case, it's an invention to incite the masses to bring back nap time, so I'm in.

SMART RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES

I was cruising some random websites today and came across this cool rechargeable USB battery by Moixa Energy Ltd. It works much like any other rechargeable on the market except you can plug it in to any computer via USB port to charge. That's right- no more fishing around for some bulky charger you likely had to pay extra for.

Here's a fun fact: more than 15 billion batteries are chucked each year!

We (myself included) are a horrible society filled with remote control junkies who pretend to be green. Now make amends by buying yourself some of these bad boys.

Wait a sec....does calling people wasteful and then advising them to buy more make me a hypocrite? Oh right, this blog is about art and design so no one cares!

BRAZEN-LICIOUS BLING

Anyone that has seen me in the past 6 months has likely spotted my Brazen bling. My long cutout leaf necklace from Brazen has been the staple of my accessory wardrobe since I got it. That says a lot coming from someone who designed jewelry for 4 years (with co-brain Shermine Sawalha).

The girl behind the magic is Rachel Rachna Dhawan, a dear friend of mine from back in the Concordia/FASA/Art Matters days. Her pieces are handmade, trendy, and in a word- fabulous.

To get your own, visit Brazen's Website.

MORE POP, LESS POOP

Vote now for the SIRIUS Fan Choice award for the Pop Montreal Festival (October 1-5). The top 3 artists with the most favorable pop-to-poop ratio (more pop, less poop) will be playing the SIRIUS Satellite Radio stage during the festival.

MUSIC MAKES YOU LOSE CONTROL

I hope Montreal is ready to heed Missy Elliot's advice (see post title) and get crazy because there is an insane amount of talent gracing our fair city in the fall. As if Osheaga, Radiohead, Francofolie, the Jazz Festival, and the Montreal Chamber Music Festival
weren't enough to get your fix this summer, there are some equally exciting concerts coming in the fall. Here's a quick list of great stuff to come:

Montreal band The Stills will be at Cabaret on September 27.

Keep an eye out for So Called at Pop Montreal in October. I caught them at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival in May with Bell Orchestre (tid bit: 2 of the members from Bell are also in Arcade Fire). They've got a really interesting sound worth checking out. Hell, they made singing in Yiddish cool.

Sing along with the occasionally explicit lyrics of Jason Collett on October 2 at Petit Campus. I will likely be attending this one.

Also on October 2 is Australian musician Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.

A new personal favorite, Jamie Lidell will be at Le National on October 10. I wouldn't miss this one. He puts on a great show you can dance your pants off to and his band is full of presence and talent as well. I'm in love.

October 16 Bedouin Soundclash is back at Metropolis.

November 5 Feist is going big at the Bell Centre. As much as I dig Feist, I'd rather see her at a more intimate venue.

There are way too many shows to list, these are just my personal tops.

JACK DYLAN, FAMOUS ARTIST

I crossed paths this past weekend with artist Jack Dylan who was selling posters at Osheaga. After making some tough decisions, I bought a few including one of his Pop Montreal posters; a self-portrait Spiderman (image above). Check out his website http://jackdylan.ca to see more of his amazing illustrations or live at Pop Montreal in October. Two thumbs up for great local art.