It could be all the rain or the fact that it gets chilly and dark so early, but I’ve found myself really digging Tilda Swinton King Krule these last few months…

I quite enjoyed this online-exclusive interview from The Believer with Mindy Kaling, the whip-smart (and hilarious) executive producer, writer and co-star of The Office.

One of my favourite holiday traditions: Darlene Love performs Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) on the last Letterman before Christmas FOR THE 25TH YEAR IN A ROW! (…and sounds as amazing as ever!) Update: An hour after posting this, I noticed this link making the rounds on Twitter of CBS’s mash-up of all of her [...]

So glad and surprised that James Blake opted to give ‘A Case Of You‘- his Joni Mitchell cover – a video treatment since it’s not an official release from his album (one of my 2011 favourites.) A beautiful portrait of love, with Vicky Christina Barcelona‘s Rebecca Hall.

Advertising Age picks the Top Ten Magazine Covers of 2011, including the New Yorker’s brilliant take on Japan’s post-Tsunami nuclear crisis and the ‘eerie silence’ that permeated its coverage.

Had a fantastic moment yesterday while I was doing the dishes, of all things. I was listening to the NPR All Songs Considered podcast, which is one of my favourite things to do. It was the Year In Music edition, 90 minutes of excellence. I particularly like this episode every year because, not only do [...]

I began watching out of curiosity and was quickly hooked for the full 30 minutes on the New York Times’ 3-part feature on NHL tough guy Derek Boogaard (called Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer). It explores the role these guys play, the emotional effects and brain damage associated with hundreds [...]

No, we’re not trying to turn this into a Black Keys blog, but their new album ‘El Camino’ comes out tomorrow. Best to acquaint yourself with it quick and enjoy it while you can, because if it’s anything like Brothers, you’ll still be hearing it cycled in every restaurant and bar a year from now. [...]

I have a penchant this time of year for songs that sound like they could be holiday songs, but actually aren’t. Lanterns On The Lake‘s ‘I Will Lay You Down’ has been on constant rotation for me as of late. They’re certainly not reinventing the wheel and I’m sure there’s inevitable comparisons to Mazzy Star‘s Hope Sandoval, [...]

The competition is now closed, but there’s some pretty cool concepts that have been entered to re:CONNECT, the City of Vancouver’s call to re-imagine the space where the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts currently stand. Take a gander…

During the last few weeks I spent a good amount of time travelling along open, winding roads in Australia. Much of this time was spent listening to Triple J Radio, a staple for Australian music fans both home and abroad. Sometimes it seemed like every second song that played had me launching the Notepad on my [...]

On the 48th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Errol Morris explores the story behind the one man seen standing under an open black umbrella at the site. I loved this little clip from the NY Times Op-Docs about an intriguing story tied in with JFK’s assassination that I hadn’t heard before. [...]

One of the best parts of seeing Wilco live is when they perform ‘Via Chicago’, one of my favourite songs of theirs. No song illustrates ‘weathering the storm’ of life and love better than when the ‘storm’ passes through the song three times, punctuated by Glenn Kotche’s intense drumming and soothed all the way through [...]

Nice little Vancouver Sun initiative, presenting Canadian musicians of different stripes against various backdrops in The Gastown Sessions. (Love the Shad & Chin Injeti edition)

Clicking through BrainPickings.org today had me quickly dazzled, learning about The CitID Project, aiming to give a typeface to every city in the world. Love this Vancouver one.

The first trailer hits the web for The Raven with John Cusack as a gun-totin’ Edgar Allen Poe and directed by V is for Vendetta‘s James McTeigue. If it’s anywhere near as good as its poster, we could be in for a treat….

I have absolutely no commentary to do them justice. This photography series by Katrien Vermeire of fireflies in the forest, time-lapsed, is simply breathtaking.

Our pal Ben is working on this very commendable, charitable project to aid women’s literacy efforts in Deheishe, Palestine. We thought it’s pretty darn cool and wanted to pass along the scoop… “Many of the women and children living in Deheishe have never known life outside of a refugee camp and have limited —if any [...]

A friend told me how when he first walked into Joe Beef, the famous Montreal eatery, a few weeks back, the owners tried to kick him out because he looked too much like a hipster. They later befriended him and he didn’t end up paying a penny for his meal (a meal which he said [...]

Pretty much recognised as the best newspaper in the world, The Guardian has crossed the Atlantic and launched a U.S. homepage (with no paywall!) to be followed by the opening of a New York desk: As well as launching the new homepage, we’re hiring a new US team of writers, technologists and editors to work [...]

I encountered these beautifully simple screen prints of Brooklyn and Manhattan framed and propped up in a Greenwich Village shop window last week. I assumed they were reprints of an old poster, yet they are actually produced by a company called Ork Posters. They’ve done similar neighbourhood maps for nearly 20 North American cities including [...]

Being exposed to unique, incredible art like this amazing photo series by Ignacio Torres is yet another example of why TheMorningNews.org continues to be one of my favourite websites around…

(Purchase here.) Of course I remember where I was that morning, ten years ago today. We were just waking up as part of a just another ‘normal’ day as the phone rang. It was my Mom calling from my childhood home in Winnipeg, already watching the news – both towers and the Pentagon had been [...]

Clicking through The Atlantic’s Fall Books Preview, it looks like I’m gonna have a pretty full wish list, from the latest offerings of Chuck Klosterman and Jeffrey Eugenides to some awesome looking newer fare, like the first book by The Office’s Mindy Kaling and The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnick’s study on the roots of America’s [...]