Friday, December 26, 2008

got $5? help save This American Life's podcast!


hey everybody. i normally don't do this but i feel this is really for a good cause and the solution is cheap cheap cheap...

i know many of you listen to This American Life, recount the stories to other people, laugh at it, laugh with it, get all excited when there's a new episode. of course, not living in the US, the only way we can get the podcast is via the internet, and it turns out the cost of streaming the TAL podcast is huge. NPR is a non-profit and the recession is hitting the organization really hard. they may have to cancel the podcast if they don't raise 150 000 bucks. they've already laid off people. things seem kinda bleak.

apparently, there are close to 200 000 listeners to TAL, and next to none of them give any money. if each of them gave $1 (ONE DOLLAR!! THAT'S IT!) this whole bandwidth situation would be solved. i really, really, love this show and i think it's worth it to toss them some dough around christmastime. the amount can be anything, there's a fill-in-your own amount slot at the donation page. if you can spare even $5, please consider giving it to TAL so we can continue listening to Ira Glass and Johnathan Goldstein and David Rakoff and David Sedaris and Starlee Klien and the host of other folks who have kept us company on the radio for the past while. there's nothing else like TAL out there, so please please please help keep it going!

giving dosh to TAL is easy, just click on this link and use your credit card. the next time you find yourself doubled up laughing at something david sedaris just said, you'll be thanking yourself, and i'll be thanking YOU.

https://secure2.convio.net/wbez/site/Donation2?2740.donation=form1&df_id=2740&JServSessionIdr006=vyehe48z35.app20a

xoxo
vikki
(see below for NPR's email to me)


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ira Glass adio.org>
Date: Fri, Dec 26, 2008 at 3:54 PM
Subject: This American Life's podcast
To: vikki@veekee.ca


This American Life Store: conf_signature_image

Hello,

Ira Glass here. I hope you'll forgive this mass email. I'm writing to you because you've donated money to This American Life in the past, and I'm hoping that you might do it again today. As I've been mentioning on our podcasts, our home station, Chicago Public Radio, like all non-profits, is struggling in the current economy. It faces a $1.5 million dollar deficit. A dozen of our colleagues were laid off.

Which brings me to our podcast. It costs Chicago Public Radio over $150,000 each year just for the Internet bandwidth to get you our free podcast and free streaming of our show. They don't need to make a profit on the podcast but they can't afford to have it cost them money. It would be horrible if they had to lay off more of our friends and co-workers so we could have a free podcast. So I'm turning to you again to ask for your help in covering that cost. Whatever you can afford, $1, $5, or if you're still doing well in this economy, $20 or $100. Here's the link to do that.

Or - even better - if you know someone who listens all the time to our show but who - unlike you - has never donated, get them to pitch in for the first time. I know it's kind of lousy that I'm coming to you for a second donation when most people who hear our show never give anything at all. Let's fix that! Forward this email to them. If we can get more people to donate, we won't need to turn to you as often.

Thanks,

Ira

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

punk rock christmas present!

edmonton, here are your instructions to receive your punk rock christmas present:
1) put on 30 layers of clothing, one layer for every negative degree in the -30 air
2) go to your local friendly Vue Weekly box
4) take out a copy of the Dec 25th Les Tabernacles edition
5) open to the centre spread
6) follow some local punk rock history. rejoice!
7) amazing illustrations by the illustrious Kirsten McCrea
8) words by mr. bryan birtles
9) design by yours truly
10) i just realized we three all went to high school together
11) HAPPY HOLIDAZE!

- veekee.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

"stop designing, start playing"



There's a really great interview over at design:related with book designer Coralie Bickford-Smith. Her philosophy of "stop designing, start playing" rings really true. She says:

"It was a way to get the students to free up their creative processes and really explore as widely as possible around a brief before focusing in on a particular solution. The temptation is always to take the constraints of the end product as a starting point as well as an end point. That shuts off so many avenues of exploration."

Indeed. Now go play!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

veekee in designsponge and uppercase!


wow wow wow, thanks so much to design*sponge and uppercase for featuring the veekee agendas in the last couple of days! i've received some wonderful repsonses and i'm so grateful and inspired!

there's a few agendas left over on etsy. now, never fear, this is an annual project, so i'll be making a whole new set of agendas for next year and onwards basically until my fingers become arthritic and no one uses paper anymore (which will be never, i hope!).

also, stay tuned for more projects in the new year, post san fran inspiration blitz.

love,
veekee.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

I <3 SF


I'm heading to San Francisco this new year's for a well-deserved break. Lucky me! Now if only I can find the time to plan my trip or even just read a guidebook I'll be set.

So this is where you come in - I've got a google map here in which I've been pinpointing my points of interest. I'd love your help in pointing out great places in SF. Bonus points for stuff not in the guidebooks. Anything goes - neat streets, great cafes, a nice place for a walk, etc. Just click on the google map link above, search and address or name, and save the point to the map....I promise to take tons of pictures in exchange!

Nikki McClure


Maybe Nikki McClure's painstaking exacto-cut-out illustrations are no secret to everyone else but they pretty much hit me over the head yesterday as I was scouting out neat places to visit on my upcoming trip to San Francisco. I'm dazzled! Tongue-tied! There's really something about the graphic simplicity of her images coupled with the precision and detail in creating them that's really refereshing in this digital, edit>undo, 10-second-epic world we're working in these days . I particularly appreciate the interrelation of her subject matter and the labour-intensive way she works.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

early century arts and crafts, where are you?

It has long been my hope that the venerable Arts and Crafts movement would return and slay the evil factories, terrible working conditions and shoddily made mass produced products of the Industrial Revolu----wait wait wait. Sound familiar? Yeah. I say it's time for Art and Crafts v. 2.0. Let's get a new William Morris and a new Josef Hofmann, but maybe they could, like, be chicks or something.

[RIVA Handkerchief by Josef Hofmann, c. 1910]

Monday, December 8, 2008

The Red Shoes - Sun Young Yoo



Hanging out at Audrey's Books this Sunday, I came across The Red Shoes, a beautifully re-imagined version of the Hans Christian Anderson tale. Sun Young Yoo's drawings feel so close to my own style I felt a little bit like my brain has been stolen! All graphic, all black and white, and all lines, all the time. Those genius designers over at AMMO even used Mrs. Eaves - swoon! Thought I'd share.

ps: in my continuing effort to spend time and support my own community, I've gotta commend Audreys for being open on a Sunday for all those downtown folks who would like to hang out in their own neighbourhood. cheers.