Team Willow

Team Willow featuring Germans

2006-05-12T10:23:00.000-03:00

Jana Euler, Elisabeth Jugert and Anna Schütte: Three Photographs Sent By Airmail From Germany To Nova Scotia And Luckily They Arrived On Time For The Show
May 8 - June 2, 2006

This show is comprised, just as it's title implies, of three photographs and one text-based work, created by three hot young german artists - and curated by ex-member of Team Willow, Tamara Henderson. It was a long, email-ridden process, but it's here, and it's from across the ocean. Come see.

Larissa Muzzy at GDG Monday 3 April 2006

2006-04-03T13:48:00.000-03:00

"This Will Hurt For But A Moment" by Larissa Muzzy
Opens Monday 3 April 2006, 7-10pm. To till 28 April 2006

"This room is like climbing into a cloud, just above how people live a regular life. It is soft and breezy and all around you. There is lots of light and it is loud and quiet at the same time - like sitting in an airplane and seeing everything moving about but being unable to understand what is happening just outside the window."

--
GALLERY DELUXE GALLERY
Located directly above 6015 Willow Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
email: gallerydeluxegallery@gmail.com
web: www.gallerydeluxegallery.com

66 Polaroids That Never Existed

2006-03-03T19:27:00.000-04:00

Opening this Monday, March 6th at Gallery Deluxe Gallery
"66 Polaroids That Never Existed" by Julien Pacaud

Julien Pacaud's "66 Polaroids That Never Existed" series is an abstract, yet oddly photorealistic look into an impossible world of illusions and fantasmagories. By using a polaroid frame, Pacaud confuses our pop-culture sensibilities into thinking that the world could exist, somehow, since polaroids are known for capturing a realistic, instantaneous moment in time. This collision of reality and surreality, plus Pacaud's innate sense of black humor and his affinity for lists and collections, were the inspirations for this series.

Opening Reception: Monday, March 6th, 7-10pm
Show runs until March 31st, 2006

GALLERY DELUXE GALLERY
Located directly above 6015 Willow Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia. B3K 1L8
tel: 902-425-0600
email: gallerydeluxegallery@gmail.com
web: http://www.gallerydeluxegallery.com

flicker halifax has a posse.

2005-11-23T10:14:00.000-04:00

meet me in the pocket.

2005-11-14T23:49:00.000-04:00

michael and i are proud parents! team willow acquired a new furry team member this weekend, courtesy of the good samaritianism of stephanie "the stolenest mink" johns. meet pocket, the tiniest, furriest monkey bear kitten i've ever seen.

also visit halicats!locals for more on pocket and other halicats.

thanks for the ridiculously cute picture, team member paul.

gallery deluxe gallery has a website now!

2005-10-10T17:19:00.000-03:00

paul built a nice little website for our nice little gallery.

www.gallerydeluxegallery.com

yep.

black and blue photographs

2005-09-14T14:46:00.000-03:00

opens monday 19 september 2005 at 6pm.

enough with the shit.

2005-09-05T18:39:00.000-03:00

Dear members of our North End neighborhood,

Please refrain from throwing your shit in our front yard. Even though our recycles get picked up by some of you before dusk even falls on Monday night, we don't appreciate your refuse piling up amongst our carefully tended weeds.

Thank you,

Team Willow

little pictures.

2005-08-26T00:14:00.000-03:00

BLOGGGGGallery Deluxe Gallery

2005-08-21T12:09:00.000-03:00

i have created a blog for gallery deluxe gallery. it has current and upcoming shows, installation pictures, profiles of our artists, and calls for submissions.

chchchcheck it.

http://gallerydeluxegallery.blogspot.com

we still exist.

2005-08-12T22:30:00.000-03:00

i was just checking the team willow blog stats and it said we have 49 posts, so i thought i'd make it an even 50 by just stopping in to say that we're all still alive, just..not posting here anymore lately. for one thing, paul and greg are out touring with the sharp like knifes. markblack is busy with his awesome new jobby and michael and i have our own blogs now. which obviously means we don't have time to update this one (even though i probably still will). team willow is still standing (good thing nothing fell into it during the last rain storm) and elliot has a few new tricks. the show in the gallery right now is totally fucking rad, so do try to stop by before the end of august to have a looksee. there is talk amongst the team willow higher-ups about a communal yard sale so we'll keep you updated. can you imagine how fucking radical a team willow et al yard sale will be come on seriously. imagine owning something that came out of team willow. it'll be like the little frog prince, right in your own home.

team willow has a posse.

2005-07-20T12:06:00.000-03:00

we have secret fairies who love us. namely, james hetfield.

Chippenpop

2005-07-14T14:25:00.000-03:00

While a much more modest affair than the first Soda Pops Explosion, last night's Chippenpop was a pretty good time. SWAC brought the moxie and my (and Francesca's) hairdresser. Stephan brought Guava soda from Clayton Park. It was nice, although today I feel like my insides want to be outsides.

Anybody else want to juice fast with me for a while?

i'm moving too.

2005-06-26T22:08:00.000-03:00

i, too, have my very own blog.

Dear Friends of Team Willow.

2005-06-25T14:47:00.000-03:00

I broke down. I have my own blog.

m.

may i present gallery deluxe gallery!

2005-06-11T22:13:00.000-03:00

team willow has broadened their entrepreneurial horizons with the opening of gallery deluxe gallery, which some of you might remember fondly as motel deluxe motel. our debut party was tuesday 7 june, but fear not, friends of the arts! the team willow show stays up until 30 june, and the gallery is open as long as someone (usually me) is home.

upcoming shows:

july        halifax photographer keeley mclean
august      halifax filmmaker elizabeth grant
september   san francisco illustrator leah brawley

2005-06-02T12:09:00.000-03:00

Item The First :

The man in the middle, Bill Lee flanked by Dom Dimaggio and Johnny Pesky, signed a baseball that I purchased on Ebay. Now I can't find the frigging thing. Has anyone seen it?

Most likely this ball is underneath my bed and it's simply a matter of cleaning my room, but in the unfortunate case that I left the item in the shared living quarters of 6015 Willow St I will need your help.

Update : The aforementionned ball was in my detergent box, it will now rest upon my new dresser.

Item The Second :

Best spring roll in town?

The competitors :

-Robie Food
-Just Spring Roll
-Kinh Do
-King Wah's

I propose a Summer Spring Roll Off

Item The Third :

Paul and I have been caught up in Aicha mania thanks to Laura Peek.

I found some sites last night :

Gelliman FAQ

Aicha remakes

I think we've discovered this summer's latest Willow St Dance Craze.
Goodbye My Future Girlfriend, Hello Gellieman!

what? where?

2005-06-01T18:15:00.000-03:00

i do TOO have roommates!

*sob*

things that happened yesterday:

2005-05-14T08:28:00.000-03:00

1) on a walk with kathy, we saw a broken robin's egg under a tree, which when i was a kid symbolised that spring was finally here! new baby birds, bursting out of their confined eggy home, chirping away their newfound freedom. it is may.

2) on a walk with michael, mark and jessica, we encountered a bit of a snowstorm, which when i was a kid symbolised that winter was finally here! fresh white snowflakes, bursting out of the clouds, flitting away their newfound freedom. it is may.

i have a cold.

a new life!

2005-05-11T11:07:00.000-03:00

i just looked out the bedroom window, having not yet been outside today, and noticed that there is a brand new tree just planted on our tiny little front lawn! i can't tell you how happy this makes me. it even has little green leaves on it.

the anti-update.

2005-04-30T19:25:00.000-03:00

i just wanted to apologise on behalf of my roommates for sucking at updating.

nothing's really going on:
i got a haircut;
the weather is driving me bananas;
i still don't have a job, but could have several if i were canadian;
i need a website, does someone want to design a pretty one for me for free?
there are projects on the horizon;
there are gross wet couches in front of our house;
there is a cat in a bag.

happy may! almost.

breakfast.

2005-04-17T11:47:00.000-03:00

i really like pistachio pudding. it's the color of glint!

back in the fax

2005-04-13T12:14:00.000-03:00

tour avec le holy shroud was awesome. some celebrity sitings:

amadeo from blonde redhead and vincent d'onofrio in NYC
andre 3000 in toronto
the holy shroud in waterloo
various other indie rock stars

michael's friend aidan can do some amazing things with a yo-yo. while on a skateboard. whoa man.

also, apparently i have dopplegangers all over the world. i wonder if they're all as short as me.

what was up with the snow yesterday? so NOT totally radical. it's supposed to be SPRING now.

IT left ME.

2005-03-15T03:22:00.000-04:00

being in my hometown gives me a really backward sense of nostalgia. it's not as much homesickness as it is a strange feeling of regret that some things might never have had the chance to become memories.

the REAL link

2005-03-11T13:34:00.000-04:00

i used the force and found a linky link that works for everyone, even sith. use it wisely.

remember that wax song?

2005-03-07T15:38:00.000-04:00

(pardon me for posting about the events of my life.)

my weekend in socal was super-radical. kira met me at lax and i was hoping i'd see some stars but alas. lax is not all it's cracked up to be. instead we went to the oc to go to this tubular vegan restaurant that kira found and i got to quell my craving for a BLT. it was awesome. after going to some unreasonably expensive stores we hightailed it back to san diego for the afternoon. that evening we went to san diego's version of first thursdays where a rock band was playing and some girls were doing some emotional performance art. there were terry winters paintings but the sort that neither i nor kira are huge fans of. he usually does natural, amoebic stuff like spores and molecules but it was more lines and geometric images that weren't very captivating. art openings/closings in san diego rival art openings/closings in san francisco and halifax for the amount of hipsters who all look alike. it's quite astonishing. we didn't stay long due to the fact that i was a total basket case and i went to bed at around 10. the next day i had scheduled an interview/portfolio review with an oc art/retail collective called the lab who contract artists out to do different types of jobs and art shows and such. the idea of networking myself and being bicoastal strikes me as a bit of a long shot but hopefully something will work out. coincidentally the lab is across the street from the campsite and they are sister organisations. and the campsite is where that awesome vegan restaurant is where we had lunch the day before so we went twice in a row. we met up with kira's boytoy erik who is awesome and he joined us for lunch. we went back to san diego after that and kira made me drink a wheatgrass. if you've never had wheatgrass which i had never despite numerous propositions and close calls it's essentially like drinking your lawn. it smells revolting but is actually really sweet and gives you a gnarly buzz. it makes you feel like the idea of eating a fruit or a vegetable is ridiculous. so after being sufficiently high off grass (heh heh) we went back to kira's rockin pad and watched an iranian movie called crimson gold. despite being "unwatchable teduim" i thought it was pretty good. my standards for movies are often remarkably low (see the time i watched "cursed" and enjoyed it, albeit for ironic reasons) but i thought it was well-shot and entertaining. it was sad. so it started pouring around 7 that evening just in time for us to meet up with my old friend emmy, go to the awesomest mexican restaurant south of san francisco and see her rock band play. it was definetly rockin. and people who smoke indoor public spaces ruin my life. don't do that. saturday was our day to drive all over southern california to go to art museums. our first stop was the pasadena museum of california art where there was a new mark ryden show, wondertoonel. i think his paintings are pretty and it was good that i had kira with me because a lot of them had russian words that i would never have been able to read, then i would have missed the entire meaning. the rest of the stuff there was so-so but there was a photo exhibit with century-old images of pasadena and then modern images of the same places, which i always find interesting. from there we drove to la, i really wanted to drive on mulholland drive because neither of us had ever done. so we drove out there and started out going the wrong end because it's really long and we drove up the dead end part. we tried finding another way but that way was also dead so we started from the beginning only to be cut off by roadblocks stating that mulholland was closed due to landslides and flooding from the ridiculous amount of rain that california has gotten in the past month. so my dreams were completely shattered. we went to the UCLA hammer museum after that. i forgot to mention that using my expired SFMOMA staff id got us in to both places for free. that's a handy little id to have around. my favorite thing at hammer was the airplanes. i thought it was brilliant. this part was my favorite, when the planes landed and took off. it was awesome. after that we drove to lake forest (isn't that a rad name for a town?) to have thai dinner with erik, during which i was a basket case again (i thought i was getting sick but it ended up being allergies i think, tons of tropical plants around) and again went to bed by 10. it was awesome and now i'm at home in san luis obispo and i promise the next time i post it won't be so comprehensive. today i watched 4 hours of x-files reruns and ate girl scout cookies.

it's not cali!

2005-03-06T01:29:00.000-04:00

the oc meets your expectations.

team willow: famouser and famouser

2005-02-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

team willow revealed its awesomeness on george stroumboulopoulos' show but none of us teamsters got to see it. if any of yous happened to catch it and also tape it or know where we can get us some of that let us know.

it's the little things v2.

2005-02-22T14:04:00.000-04:00

this is a tarsier. they are the smallest monkey in the world. i think they're pretty much the cutest things ever. michael thinks they're scary.

Come for the appetizers, stay for the Polaroids.

2005-02-18T10:13:00.000-04:00

it's the little things.

2005-02-16T15:25:00.000-04:00

this will never cease to entertain me.

"hi, team willow? this is the radio.do you have a valentine yet?"

2005-02-14T02:52:00.000-04:00

"This is Paul from Team Willow."

star date 3,548.97

2005-02-09T11:48:00.000-04:00

dear diary,

(it goes without saying that i feel as if i've adopted this blog as my own but please rest assured that the other members of team willow ARE alive and well, just don't have as much free time on their hands and/or have better things/blogs to do/update.)

i have a new list.

things i'm giving up for lent (i like to consider lent an extended deadline for new year's resolutions, not necessarily anything pertaining to any sort of religion); (also i try to give up my gave ups for as long as i can, not just until easter):

1. saying swears, except when reasonably appropriate;
2. consuming junk food ie: candy bars, soda pops, creamed ices, pies and cakes. i hereby bequeath my portions to michael catano, should he choose to accept them;
3. losing scrabble;
4. being lazy;
5. sleeping with my eyes open (i understand that this is most likely out of my control, but i'm planning on gaining the ability to do so whilst giving up said disconcerting habit);
6. occasionally spelling my own name wrong.

your friend,

francesca

conversations at team willlow

2005-02-01T16:19:00.000-04:00

the last few minutes of conversation between paul, greg, michael and francesca at team willow consisted thusly:

john george peppers
misty peppers
cheyenne
filabuster
lesley
victor
submarine
paracute

and the finale,

POPCORN!

(in no order)

it was more like "american reject"

2005-01-19T10:18:00.000-04:00

dear diary,

last night after i got home from yoga with nicole, i sat down and watched american idol for the first time in my life. i, even while being fully aware of the depravity of my own country, was totally shocked at how the judges responded to some of (albethem really, really embarrassingly horrible) the people auditioning. what's even more sad is that these people in question, the really really embarrassingly horrible ones, were completely convinced of their "talent." it was devastating to watch. mary roach, though, could probably rock the talkies playing nothing but schitzo roles. for the record, mary roach, mark mcgrath is NOT hot.

here she is! does she remind anyone else of anyone?

Team Willow

2005-01-07T23:49:00.000-04:00

I would like to point out that at this very moment, Paul and Francesca are doing sit-ups while Mark Black is getting his chin-up on.

2005: Jockercise.

m.

wanted: makers of potato leek soup

2005-01-05T15:43:00.000-04:00

a while back, i'd say before christmas, we (team willow) received a bounty at our doorstep. the bounty included 2 full tupperwares of steaming potato leek soup, right pretty soup i might add, it was white, green and red. the bounty also included a bag of tangerines or clementines or some other breed of small orange. team willow was collectively stoked and very hungry, so this was awesome.
i'm issuing a plea for information as to who made this bounty and delivered it, incognito/a, to our doorstep that chilly evening. i also wanted to add that we're going to blend it, maybe throw in another spice or two. hope you don't mind. and thanks!

we had to tunnel our way out

2004-12-28T23:08:00.000-04:00

so i know i'm the lamest for posting twice in a row, but fellow teamsters are busy updating their own, personal blogs, and i have not my own blog, so i'm adopting this one. hope that's cool, yo.

anyway, today, post blizzard, having not left the house yesterday for nary a snowflake upon the tongue, michael and i bundle up (5 layers each) for a trek in the early morning sunshine to chez catano. treading cautiously down our freezing, cavernous staircase and rounding the slight corner we find that the 1" gap between our front door and the jamb yeilds a pile of snow blown in from the blizzard, not yet a puddle of freezing water, and mocking us from the floor of our tiny foyer. opening the door after exclamations of shock we find that there is a snowdune of about a foot and a half stuck to the door. i proceed first into the dusty snow and promptly sink into it up to about my knees. neither our front steps nor our sidewalk have been shovelled. luckily there is a pathway beaten down by previous promenaders. during our walk i'm taken by the snow's pristine whiteness which all the sandy beaches in california cannot match and i even take pictures. i'm a nerd. michael practically books through the snow and i'm grabbing at anything within reach so i don't slip. when we get to chez catano i shovel snow! i clear a path! i help unearth the car! then my stylish-but-completely-useless boots create frostbite on my poor piggies and i wimp out. luckily michael, wearing a red sweatshirt and a red vest, creates a stunning picture whilst shovelling the driveway so my watching from the warm house wasn't for naught. afterwards we mistakenly think a trip to the mall for errands is a good idea. by the time we get home i'm thinking our landlord would have made it over to dig our house out. he has not. our next door neighbors have, however, shovelled the entire driveway and our backyard, thereby excavating our 2-week old bags of garbage. at least, i think it was them. i'm going over tomorrow to find out for sure. with baked goods.

if anyone wants to see the picture of me standing next to a snowbank that's taller than me, let me know.

cue charlie brown christmas music

2004-12-20T09:32:00.000-04:00

it's officially begun, the holiday season: team willow has a real,live christmas tree! it's stinking up our living room as we speak. now we as a family have to acquire ornaments. or at least lights.

my first nova scotian christmas tree! from nova scotia! yehaw!

Something Wicked Awesome This Way Comes.

2004-12-07T16:06:00.000-04:00

Team Willow is starting a rock band: Lightning Bolts Indicating Awesomeness.

Watch the eff out.

m.

etymology is not about bugs, guys.

2004-12-03T13:57:00.000-04:00

team willow is proud of its grammatical aces. we value punctuation and verb tense. we all mind our p's and q's, and i decided that i would get to the root of the issue, as it were.

Mind Your P's & Q's
The phrase dates to the late 18th century--at least 1779. The exact origin is unknown, but several competing hypotheses seem to be the most likely.

The first is that it derives from the phrase p and q which was an abbreviation for prime quality. This English dialectical term dates to the 17th century. So to mind your p's and q's would mean to be exacting in detail and ensure high quality.

The second is that it refers to difficulty children had in learning to distinguish between the letters p and q, being mirror images of one another. To learn one's p's and q's is a phrase meaning to learn one's letters is first recorded around 1830--somewhat later but not impossible as the origin. Often this explanation is identified with printers and distinguish between a p and a q in type, but the early use exclusively deals with children, not printing.

The third, first suggested by Farmer and Henley at the turn of the 20th century, is that the phrase comes from the practice of maintaining a tally in pubs and taverns. Marks under column P, for pint, or Q, for quart, would be made on a blackboard. To tell a bartender to mind his Ps and Qs would be to tell him to mind his own business and get back to work.

Another commonly suggested explanation is that it is a variation on mind your pleases and thank yous, a plea for gentility and manners. There is no evidence to support this, nor does the please and thank you phrase appear anywhere except in explanations of the Ps and Qs origin.

The last is from the world of printing. Typesetters had to be skilled in reading letters backward, as the blocks of type would have mirror images of the letters. The lower-case letters p and q were particularly difficult to distinguish because they are mirrors of one another and located in bins next to one another. Typesetters had to be particularly careful not to confuse the two.
Which is the correct one is anybody's guess (except the fourth which is certainly false). I favor the second explanation, but that is just a personal preference.

now that we all know whence p's and q's came, we will be that much more dilligent in minding them. i thought p's and q's had to do with truth tables from logic. i guess i was wrong.

Things are escalating.

2004-11-30T22:45:00.000-04:00

Blog rule #1: start with a tangentally-related, semi-obscure quote.

"It's been a really long time/ since I've seen you downtown" -Sammy.

It's true, I haven't posted anything here in a miniature forever. I don't have much to say, I guess... I don't really have a job or do much of anything these days, so it seems kind of mean spirited to subject people to the minutae of my life.

Blog rule #2: subject people to the minutae of your life, preferably in list form so as to save time.

1) Elliot has learned to play catch. No joke. It's friggin' adorable.

xo
m.

"I don't know anything, but I heard all the rumours in town"

2004-11-29T16:23:00.000-04:00

According to some gossip mongers, the residents of 6015 Willow Street are cokeheads.
Have you ever been to one of our parties? I haven't seen such a mixture of innocence and fun since my 5th birthday.

celebrating beverage diversity!

2004-11-22T14:55:00.000-04:00

On behalf of Team Willow, in conjunction with Optimuscrime.com, you are cordially invited to attend the very first Halifax Soda Pops Explosion! and Chip Fair. The Pops Explosion is an extension of the Pops Montreal Event pioneered earlier this month in Montreal by the ICRM and Optimuscrime. The event will take place this Saturday, November 27th at Willow Street Manor.

Please come and help us celebrate the wonderful, and sometimes bizarre diversity in the world of carbonated sodas. Guests are encouraged to bring one unusual type of soda to share with others. We will be reviewing 15 core soda pops, which will remain a surprise until the party. All guests will be asked to participate in our review-survey.

R.S.V.P. in order to secure a spot on the Review Panel. Official Reviewers will be responsible for reviewing in more detail, one pre-selected soda from the core 15. The results will be published in the next issue of the 6015 Explosion! and online at both OptimusCrime Halifax. and Team Willow Online.

Uncommon varieties of potato chips will also be available at this "Pop and Chips Party", though they will not be reviewed. Guests may also feel free to bring unusual chips to the party.

We hope to see you there.

well, there you have it.

2004-11-03T13:16:00.000-04:00

Dear Canada,

Do you mind if I hide out here for a while? I promise to behave.

Thanks,

Francesca Tallone

oh, and

2004-10-24T02:42:00.000-03:00

the joggers pretty much ROCKED my SOCKS!

"Col. Mustard killed Mr. Green with the candlestick in the salon.com"

2004-10-19T13:16:00.000-03:00

Jon Stewart won't be bestowing wicked pal status on Tucker Carlson any time soon.

After the 'debate' debacle on CNN's 'Crossfire' that had Stewart essentially questionning the integrity of the program and calling the bow attired Mephisto that is Tucker Carlson a dick, Carlson fired back a few days later calling Stewart 'sellout'.

I'm including this article because of the great picture of Tucker Carlson and also this great line :

"We don't elevate the debate, then he calls Tucker a vulgar name?" Begala said.

Begala didn't elevate the debate, but he did lead its descent into buffoonery :

BEGALA: We did promise naked pictures of the Supreme Court justices.

Celebrity feuds are awesome. I tried to ignite my own last night.

I wanted to link the articles back to http://www.salon.com but I don't know how everyone feels about 'pay' or 'ad' sites. Salon provides you with a day pass to its pay site provided you watch some pre-selected ad first. It's not a terrible price to pay as the content of Salon is pretty fantastic, but I'm sure it's not for everyone.

A Little Known Fact About Paul "Libraries Hate Me" Hammond:

2004-10-18T16:27:00.000-03:00

This fact is available only through the Team Willow weblog.

A bizarre prophecy must have been foretold sometime in the near-distant past, which has been time-proven to be 100% accurate in my last four years in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

I have never, not once, ever visited, or had to visit the Killam Library on a day that it wasn't pouring rain outside. That may not sound like much at first, but consider it:

In four whole years, I've visited that library numerous times. Not as much as I should, but having the NSCAD Library at my disposal, and in closer proximity, I've got my excuses. (Well, that, and copious amounts of television shows on DVD in my livingroom) Regardless, without fail, every last time, no matter what the season, no matter what the previous weather conditions that day, within half an hour of my deciding to go to the Killam Library, buckets of wet, wet rain will start to pour from the sky.

Although I can't seem to find a reasonable explanation for this strange phenomenon, I can attest that I have yet to see the formula fail. So accurate is it that today, at around 3:00pm, as I looked outside at the bright blue sky, and thought to myself "I really need to go to the library today" I thought also "This might be it. This might be the day that the curse is broken." I reveled in that idea for the better part of an hour, imagining myself waltzing up to the doors of the Killam Library, wearing nothing but a light fall jacket, dry as a bone.

But I was rash in my excitement. Now, just 10 minutes before I have to leave, to walk down Robie Street for twenty minutes to that ill-fated building, it's actually starting to rain. Not just rain. Pour.

~~And the prophecy grows ever stronger.~~

EDIT: My luck may just have changed. Not two minutes before I was out the door, the rain stopped. Entirely. I was understandably skeptical, bearing in mind my rainy-library history, but I remained dry the entire walk there. And equally dry on the walk home. Could the Library-Curse be... lifted?

Also: In light of his formidable library skills, and beloved 'wicked pal' status, I would like to hereby declare Mark 'Footbag' Black The Most Awesomest Ever! In case you didn't already know that.

This is unreal.

2004-10-17T11:16:00.000-03:00

I think the best kinds of satire are the kinds that push that whole "too true to be funny" thing to new levels of creepiness.

We had a 4/5ths Team Willow outing last night to see Team America: World Police. Amongst other things, the movie introduces the expression "cock fag" to the lexicon. Kudos.

xo
m.

oh, dear god

2004-10-16T18:39:00.000-03:00

in case yall weren't sure how fucked up some people in america are, check this shit out.

...And here it is, available for download!

2004-10-14T01:22:00.000-03:00

Now available for download, the 6015 Explosion! Issue #7 a whopping two pages (four sides) of Tantalizing News Items, Fantastic Anecdotes, Slanderous Libel, and much, much more! It also includes the highly anticipated Team Willow Halloween Colouring Contest! Enter! Win glorious prizes!

Click HERE to download it today!
Then print it. Set your 'fit to page' settings to OFF.

There you go, you bunch of babies.
(I mean babies, like beautiful newborns.)

Issue #7 of The 6015 Explosion is now available!

2004-10-13T17:30:00.000-03:00

Honestly, I think the title says it all.

xo
m.

In retrospect, we may have been hasty.

2004-10-12T10:47:00.000-03:00

It turns out that the heart-rending little cutie who we came to know and love as Dr. Abigail Von Batman-Sanchez III is actually a very well-loved cat with a happy home whose real name is Chameen.

In our haste to cast aspersions towards any of Chameen's theoretical neglectors (a haste which was, admittedly, amplified by our own sense of "doing good" by taking in the most hard-luck of all hard-luck kitties) we were a little neglectful ourselves; it didn't occur to us that someone else could possibly care about the little gal as much as we came to in a few short minutes. In our defence, you'd have to have a heart like a black hole and the emotions of a robot to not get a little protective of what turned out to be a 14-year old cat with a game leg and only half a colon. So on behalf of all of 6015 Willow Street, I'd like to extend a sincere apology to Kelly, who was stricken with panic and grief upon discovering that Chameen had escaped the backyard during her daily excercise session. Kelly is an excellent owner and looks after Chameen's multitude of health problems with diligence and love.

Although we will miss Chameen's measured demeanor, laconic pace and cute little mug in our house, we're all very relieved that she'll be returning to a happy home where she is well-cared for and can get the medication she needs.

Dear Chameen, we all hope you had a nice weekend adventure at our little apartment. Please know that you'll always be Dr. Abigail Von Batman-Sanchez III to us.

xo
m.

2004-10-11T21:39:00.000-03:00

i lately feel as though online journal posts can't be totally complete without some sort of disclaimer attached, so here's mine: this is another semi solipsistic post and has nothing to do with house business and everything to do with francesca business. not really, but almost.

so with today having been canada's thanksgiving, i can't help but get nostalgic about the onslaught of autumn and winter. in america, thanksgiving comes over a month later, at the end of november. it's smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, with halloween being the beginning and continuing, in ascending order of size and awesomeness, through thanksgiving and resulting with christmas and the new year. but here, with thanksgiving being before halloween it seems almost out of order. i don't mean any ill will towards canada for thanksgiving being before halloween and thus throwing my whole holiday season appreciation off balance, in fact for me right now it's having an exciting effect in that it is accelerating the appreciation process up a bit. another thing that i will give canada this time around concerning the feeling that autumn gives me is that halifax has the rad east coast thing going for it. meaning that autumn here smells like autumn and feels like autumn, like the quality of light is such that you can tell that the holidays are coming and that soon people will start putting lights up around their houses and trees and nighttime just generally looks different in autumn than in summer or spring. autumn in california isn't anything like autumn on the east coast. some leaves might start lackadaisically flitting down from some trees, like they can't really be bothered with seasonal changes. seasons in california are essentially non-existent. they run together with a particle board style hodgepodge of the bare minimum of what most season are. like, almost all seasons are foggy sometimes, and rainy sometimes and sunny sometimes and windy sometimes, and the temperature almost never dips below 50f (which is 10c). i'm not talking about the extreme desert or mountain regions of california, just the coast and couple hundred miles inland. so anyway while you might have a stereotypically conformist idea that all of california is what you see on Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, or more recently The OC, it is actually a generous maybe 30% of california that is depicted there. and if you think a bit more critically and exercise your conscientious understanding of what television, especially television from hollywood, is trying to depict, you'll probably even further realise that that isn't even really what california is. from about santa barbara and north up the rest of the state, california resembles more closely the pacific northwest: oregon, washington and canada's fine province, vancouver. i, for one, absolutely vehemently loathe southern california; i could see myself existing for the rest of my days in san francisco, which is awesome and not a thing like LA or the OC. for example, people who live in san francisco like to wear lots of clothes when the weather turns cold, and don't normally get botox injections as often as they might change their underwear. san francisco is also not run by hippies anymore, as some might be prone to believing. one thing that does unite california and all of its subregions, however, is the fact that the terminator is "running" the state.

that's not really exactly what i was going for with this entry, though. what i was trying to say was that the lack of real autumn weather is something that i don't miss about california right now. the last time i spent a substantial amount of time on the east coast during the autumn months was in 1986, when i was 7 years old and lived outside of boston with my family and our cat ernie. i missed the leaves turning and that general holiday feeling that starts right about now. i might be convinced to hang around for snow, but going back to california does have certain pas de niege perks that i can seriously get behind.

f!

Two Legs Good, (2x) Four Legs Better

2004-10-10T20:40:00.000-03:00

The following post concerns only humans and should be viewed by humans only. Not that we have anything to hide, why would we have anything to hide. This is simply humans only news.

The Doctor is indeed in, as Dr. Batman has now taken up residence at 6015 Willow Street. The irrepressible and indomitable Dr. Batman decided to shack up with us after hearing stories of our daring and cunning through the Feline Underground. Basically he heard this place was shit hot.

Dr. Batman should not be confused with Dr. Batmanghelidj of St Mary's Hospital Medical School of London University. Though the latter has uncovered the healing powers of water, we prefer our own feline Dr. Batman.

We would ask if you did not mention the presence of Dr. Batman to our other feline compatriot, E-L-L-I-O-T, at this time. We've got a feeling that out little feline bandito would not be overly enthusiased about having to share his pad with a grimalkin at this time. E-L-L-I-O-T is a wild and ka-razy guy, and he may view Dr. Batman as a usurper, but I'm pretty sure that ain't the swE-L-L-I-O-T we've all come to know and love.

Thusly, momentum was snuffed.

2004-10-10T13:57:00.000-03:00

If I may begin with a digression, I'd like to mention that any use of the word "momentum" immediately makes me think of that episode of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air where John Witherspoon is stuck in a tree with Will and keeps on saying "momenamum." That was gold.

Dear all,

I guess I'd like to apologise for the recent inactivity of the Team Willow blog. Although this admission of a problem should in no way be taken as an admission of culpability on my part, I can no longer keep from commenting. Clearly, what was exciting has become "exciting;" what was cool has become "cool;" what was current has become "not so current." Finger quotes abound, interest wanes, enthusiasm has petered out to the point that I am physically and mentally incapable of coming up with a clever and/or succinct conclusion to this paragraph. Alas...

The cause may be as simple as the fact that the rest of us 6015 Exploders have been having a heckuva time drumming up a suitable follow up to Greg "Boonie G" Boone's undeniably perplexing bit of soul-baring from the other day, or it might have something to do with the fact that Mark "Money" Black has yet to make an appearance and no one else wanted to jump queue, or it might have something to do with the fact that not much has been happening 'round these parts. Well, I'm here to unequivocally put that last possibility's cold, rotting corpse into a cold, shallow grave as A LOT HAS BEEN HAPPENING AROUND HERE.

To wit:

1) Elliot has taken to "showing the goods" at any opportunity. Sometimes "showing the goods" also involves "licking the goods." In my expert opinion, this behavior is clearly a reaction to his imminent neutering - his way, if you will, of screaming, "You dare rob me of these bountiful orbs of life?! Tremble at my fecundity!"[1]

2) Paul's family sent us an econo-sized Rice Krispies box overflowing with Hallowe'en candy.

3) Greg's band played in Cape breton, Mark's soon-to-be-ex-band played in the valley, and my band played in Toronto. Go bands.

4) Francesca has declared the Charlie Brown-Outkast video mash-up to be "the cutest ever." Let me tell you, that kind of talk doesn't come easy from "Tough As Nails" Tallone and when it does it usually involves non-tesicle-related-Elliot activity.

5) Two words: french toast.

That's just a glimpse into the neck-snappingly quick-paced world of 6015 Willow Street. There's so much more to be said about this rag-tag crew of salty dogs, but if all were to be revealed here there'd be no reason to get excited about the imminent return of THE 6015 EXPLOSION! Lock up your daughters! The Narcisisstic Little House Newsletter That Could™ is back for the attack like a beast from the east![2]

To those of you left breathless in suspense by my previous entry: it's short. Maybe a little too short.

Audi,
m!

[1] It should, of course, be noted that Michael "Damian" Catano imagines a world in which cats talk like an angry Walt Whitman.
[2] Something that merits TWO Dokken references has to be big friggin' news, right?

Oh My Gawd! :x

2004-10-07T17:38:00.000-03:00

today, weekend

I saw Nick smile today! oh my god he's so cute! :x

Saw Jeff come in. who's 2 feet behind him? Yes, Nick. Who decides to talk to Jeff anyways? Yes, me. So I go up to him and I lean in and go 'he's right behind you' and he just starts retelling me about what he said to nick anyways. and Jessica thought I was goin to talk to Nick so she's like "Alice, you loser!!' and she made Nick smile/laugh!

ok, anyways...more accurate version of what Jeff said to Nick *as well as I can remember*

Jeff: hey you know that girl Alice? she follows you around and gave you a note and told you your boxers were showing?
Nick: yeah, I still gotta write her back *mumbles*
Jeff: yeah, well shes pretty cool and shes pretty hot so you should hit that
Nick: haha ok

yes. he said that.

Nick mumbles a lot. Jeff and Nicki have noticed too.
I like him... a lot. :x i cant help it.

dude i got problems. I seriously dont know what I want to do. Im getting all this advice from everyone including stuff like 'follow your heart'; 'dont follow your heart cuz it gets you into trouble' I know I want to talk to him really bad but then again I kinda wanna leave him alone and wait for a reply, cuz you know, 'a watched pot never boils.' but God, I wanna talk to him. so bad. SO BAD

I think Im gonna try to chat with him tomorrow. I dont care. I'll ask him what hes up to for thewekend, what hes doin after the PSATs and maybe, JUST maybe, I'll ask him to hang out after the PSATs... whatcha think? :x

kinda makes me a little sad cuz I dont know what to do. I dont know what I want to do I dont know what I should do.

Also, he hasnt looked at me really since I gave him that note (except for that day I smiled at him)

I <3 him
_______________________________________________
anyways...
this weekend:

friday night: sleeping over Jessica's house
saturday: stayin at jessica's till about 3 ish
sunday: stuck home
_______________________________________________

now i can delete my other journal thingy

2004-10-07T11:18:00.000-03:00

as with all of my passive aggressive situations, i was looking for a good excuse to do that only because i don't have the courage to just do it of my own volition.

thanks, team willow, for helping support my tendencies!

also, in case any of you, like myself, failed to note upon first viewing the fact that the entry underneath mine here is the inagural online journal entry of mr. michael d. catano, please take a moment to fully comprehend what has just happened.

in other news, maybe i'll leave the house today.

f!

This is momentous.

2004-10-07T10:21:00.000-03:00

Witness: the first forray of the pulchritudinous Michael Damian Catano into the forboding corridors of mankind's darkest sub-basement... the harrowing jungle of THE BLOG!!

Ahem...

In any case, Team Willow enthusiasts may be interested to know that myself and fellow 6015 Exploder, Francesca E. Tallone, have photos on display as a part of the Lomowall in the "Unrecognizable Recognizables" exhibition currently showing at the Economy Shoe Shop on Argyle Street.

Before I sign off, I feel like this moment wouldn't be even close to complete without including a piece of the solipsistic minutae that seems to be the bread and butter of la monde du blog. So to that end, I'm getting my haircut today. Deal with it.

xo
m!

Team Willow Is Online!

2004-10-07T02:41:00.000-03:00

Team Willow announced excitedly this morning, that it has joined the online community. With the 6015willowstreet.org project well in the works, this inaugural post reportedly has fans dizzy with excitement! Lookout Halifax, Willow Street is going Global!