"MO" is Aussie slang for moustache...

Today is the last day of the 2011 MOVEMBER campaign.  I had never heard of this movement until I saw the poster below while touring the Moment Factory studio last week.   What's it about?  Well, every year, men around the world commit to growing and sporting a moustache during the 30 days in November to bring awareness, and raise research funds for the cruel reality of prostate cancer.  
As it turns out,  this is a global movement  launched in 2003 by some guys in Melbourne, Australia. I'm very impressed by the alluring style of the campaign. The MANLY HUNTER visual strategy is hysterical and genius!  I also love the The Craft and The Pride video series. Bravo for promoting the craft behind the man, it's just as important as health in my book! 
This is Canada's 5th Movember campaign and it grows bigger every year.  It's funny, at the beginning of the month, I though it was the latest dandy trend among Montreal hommes. . .sorry to say that it doesn't suit all men . . . Désolé! BUT I LOVE THE PLAYFUL DEVOTION!


Photos borrowed from the official site, click here.  
Also, check out the YouTube videos from The Craft and The Pride series, here...absolutely stunning production. 

The beautiful shots below were taken at a barber shop in København, Denmark in honor of the Danish Movember Campaign. Borrowed from here.

En algún lugar de China...

"Someplace in China"

Recently, I've been tempted to start a book collection of children's books.  Many are  so beautifully illustrated and well written, that it almost seems like they're designed more for the parents than for the young ones...or for book lovers like me with no kids, but who admire unique illustrations.  Bravo to those adventurous publishers!

I share with you a few images I stumbled upon last week belonging to the book, En algún lugar de China. It's part of a project launched by the author, Ana Folgueira and the illustrator, Emilio Amade. (Founders of Syllabus Ediciones). The book describes, in an illusory manner, how children are adopted from an orphanage in China with the help of magical birds. It's designed to bring awareness and funding for the many orphaned children living in China today.  I believe the book only exists in Spanish at the moment. . .but just look at those colorful pages!  A great gift for any child. . .no matter what language they speak.

For more info, visit the official site here.  (Get a friend to translate it for you if you don't speak/read Spanish!)

Part One: Moment Factory. . .10 years of working hard and playing harder!

A couple of days ago, I put on the "journalist hat" and had the privilege of visiting Moment Factory's creative think tank. I took some behind-the-scenes shots of the insanely radical entertainment, currently under construction, for their upcoming 10 year anniversary party taking place this Saturday at L'Espace Griffintown, located in one of my favorite industrial corners of Montreal.  
The all-night celebration is open to the public, so if you live in Montreal, I highly recommend you come celebrate a decade of hard work and ingenious vision. I can't wait! I will be taking many pictures between boozing and dancing for those of you reading from far far away.  
Hmm. . .what do you wear to an event that is sure to lure the Cirque du Soleil artists, the local hot designers & trendy architects of Montreal? (Where is my friend Kelly when I need her!)

A special thanks to Julie Armstrong-Boileau, Oliver Beaudoin, Pierre-Guilhem Roudet and Adam Hummell for their time. 

Pierre-Guilhem Roudet (left) and his sketches + Adam Hummell (right) 

+ Not familiar with Moment Factory's body of work? Well stay tuned, I have more "backstage" shots to show you from my visit.  In the meantime, explore their portfolio here. 

my first snow...

I promise not to turn this blog into a dog journal, but I just had to share with you this shot of Bohème's sprinkled face taken this morning.  
Oh, those simple little moments. . .Yes, winter has officially arrived in Montreal.

Breakfast anyone?

There should be an entire blog dedicated to breakfasts from around the world, honoring  cultural richness with appetizing photographs like the ones shot below by Angus Fergusson for enRoute Air Canada magazine.  Let's all dream together and pretend we're having brunch in . . . 
(from top to bottom) St. John’s, Newfoundland * Frankfurt, Germany * São Paulo, Brazil or Beijing, China. . .bon appétit!


Images borrowed from enRoute, Air Canada.

silencio...

Ever time I watch the trailer for this upcoming film, the Artist, I nostalgically sigh, it highlights breathtaking scenes!  
Hollywood in the late 1920's when silent films begin to transition into films with audible dialogue . . . yes please. 

The last movie that left me speechless was La Môme (La Vie En Rose) where Marion Cotillard's portrayal of Édith Piaf was peerless.  The leading lady in the Artist is Argentinian born French actress, Bérénice Bejo, who happens to be married to the French director of the film, Michel Hazanavicius, hmmm...stunning wardrobe!  Isn't the image below surrealistically yummy?  


Photos borrowed from the official French site, click here.

The haute bohémienne...Loulou de la Falaise (4 May 1948 - 5 November 2011)

I used last weekend's copy of the Financial Times as a base-membrane inside Babas Bohème's cage earlier this week, and this morning, as I was cleaning the shredded remnants, she highlighted a story I had somehow missed titled, The haute bohémienne with an innate approach to fashion. It was an obituary for Loulou de la Falaise, (model, muse and jewelry designer) who passed away Saturday, November 5, 2011 at the age of 63. Now, I must admit that I had no idea who she was before this morning...how? I don't know...but what a family tree. . .Thank you Babas!

Quote under picture of Loulou with YSL, 

Legend has it that she was baptized not with water but with Schiaparelli's famous perfume, "Shocking".

Here are a few fast facts about Loulou. . .but warning, there are so many more.

> She was born Louise Vava Lucia Henriette Le Bailly de la Falaise. WOW!
> Her father was Alain de la Falaise, a French aristocrat and her mother was Maxime de la Falaise, 
   a model and fashion muse herself for Elsa Schiaparelli and an Andy Warhol socialite.
> Loulou de la Falaise was a friend and inspirational muse to Yves Saint Laurent.
> Her first marriage in 1966 (AT THE AGE OF 18!) was to Desmond FitzGerald, the Irish Knight of Glin.
> Her second marriage in 1977 was to Thadée Klossowski de Rola, son of the French artist Balthus.

I feel like a need to read a book about her life...too many incredible details.  the guardian published an informative obituary, read here.
Image below of Loulou by photographer, Richard Avedon, 1970.

when I was a child...

It's difficult to ignore the influence LOCATION has on what we create and who we become. . .don't you agree? I often wonder who or what I would have become if I had not been relocated to Los Angeles, California when I was a child.  I also reflect on, what I will be creating 20 years from now, as a result of my recent relocation to Montreal?. . . I have been thinking a lot about this lately, so much so that I've started a new ambitious project.  I'm still working out the details, but the drawing below is a preview.


Even though I am French, I cannot think of one of these pictures being painted in France. Every one of these pictures is American, from New York.  I love this city, its clean-cut look, its sky, its buildings, its scientific, cruel, romantic quality. 
Louise Bourgeois from the book, Louise Bourgeois, La famille; pg 70

© Viviana de Loera. 
This drawing was inspired by a childhood picture of the French-American artist, Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), when she was 11 years old.  

Some have mentioned that I really drew myself...

Solitary confinement...

Oh yes, my petite Labernois, Babas Bohème, is getting bigger and stronger.  She puts quite a performance when she sleeps and when she wakes up.  It breaks my heart to incarcerate her, but it's a necessary evil when I absolutely need to get something done without interruption or when I must leave the house.  Most of the time she falls asleep, but if she wakes up before I get home, well her cage is a mess.  
After her solitary confinement episodes, she often leaves behind inspirational compositions. . .hence the picture above.  (Hmm, maybe there is a book idea here). Oh how frustratingly rewarding it must feel to shred that newspaper!  Poor Mr. Porter, somehow he survived unharmed, this time! 

A lullaby to Hollywood...

Lana del Rey's song "Video Games" seems to be everywhere...my favorite indie station, KCRW, plays it at least 5 times a day.  
Do I like it?...hmm...I'm not sure yet.  The video is a bit bizarre! It's so Valley of the Dolls meets Blade Runner (Blade Runner because of the opening inferno shot) meets Dogtown and Z Boys. Well, I guess Hollywood itself is an outlandish reality for many.  Where did "Lana del Rey" come from?  What do you think, is she singing to the I want to be famous crowd or is it a love song? I think it's a lullaby to Hollywood...


Watching the video, click here...hmm, I can't believe I'm going to admit this, but I think I miss palm trees. . .Montreal doesn't have any!

Café de flore...

If the film, Café de flore, (by the Québécois director, Jean-Marc Vallée) comes to your local theater, I strongly recommend you go see it. I recently made time to watch this film and Vanessa Paradis completely blew me away.  The film has two parallel stories; one takes place in present-day Montreal and the other in 1969 Paris.  To be honest, I wish Vallée had just focused on the Paris script, because even though the Montreal scenes were beautifully shot, they are distracting.  BUT, Vanessa Paradis's performance makes the film completely worth it and unforgettable.  She plays, Jacqueline, a mother who is wholly devoted to her son with down-syndrome. . .an intense and cathartic mother-son relationship. WOW! 

Undermän

. . . is the Swedish term for the base in pair acrobatics. The base, usually a man, is the one who lifts and supports, overshadowed by his partner’s acrobatic skills. Under in Swedish also means wonder or miracle. Quote from Cirkus Cirkör.


I've been obsessed with Cirkus Cirkör (a contemporary circus company from Sweden) ever since I stumbled upon their website a couple of years ago. I'm dying to see them perform in person.  Oh, if they only came to Montreal! Can anyone reading this post make it happen? Undermän is their latest production currently touring in Sweden.  The whole lumberjack look cracks-me up! Check out the video below. . .the triadic melancholic storyline is uniquely fabulous and real.


Image below borrowed from here.

. . .Undermän is a documentary contemporary circus show that does not only share spectacular acts and the stories of missing what once was. It is a performance where the artists stand in front us, here and now, as themselves, and give everything they've got to reach their dream of letting go, having fun, throwing themselves into the unknown and trusting life to catch them. . .Quote from the director, Olle Strandberg


ENSEMBLE: Mattias Andersson + Peter Åberg + Matias Salmenaho

MUSIC BY: Andreas Tengblad . . . the "troubadour" of the story?

Idea and direction: Olle Strandberg Producer: Lisen Boalt Technical producer: Stefan Karlström Lighting design: Eero Auvinen Lighting technician: Kamilla Hultman Sound technician: Felicia Hamberg Tour manager: Emma Therkelson Photography: Mats Bäcker

Food is a costly antidepressant!

I would love nothing more than to spend an entire day with Maira Kalman just chitchatting about nothing and anything.  I should invite her to come to Montreal, but perhaps not during the winter season, hmm.  I have a feeling she would find the Québécois as hysterical as I do.  (FYI, I mean this with love!)

She recently illustrated Michael Pollan's popular book, Food Rules an eater's manual, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.  Kalman's colorful contributions are priceless, but kudos to Pollan for the obviously enlightening quotes.  A few excerpts below...

Place a Bouquet of Flowers on the Table and Everything Will Taste Twice as Good.

Cook.

Eat When You Are Hungry, Not When You Are Bored.

I wonder if this book will cure my uncontrollable potato chips fetish.  Are they really horrible?. . .even if they're the Natural Reduced Fat Sea Salted Potato Chips by RUFFLES?

Mark LOVES sweets and I've been hooked on the salty-sour stuff since birth.  Mmm, I blame those spicy Mexican candies from my lovely childhood!

**Maira Kalman illustrations borrowed from here.