I Miss Snow

December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse from Michael Black on Vimeo.
I know many people all over the world are getting covered in it right now, but my first winter away from home in a place with no snow is kind of depressing.

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Baker Gang

I wonder what kind of social activity the "Crew Buns" have on their agenda?

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Coco Monkey

I just finished this little sketch of the Coco Monkey.  This particular version of the monkey has a bit of a ferocious spin and his clothes are based off my Coco Monkey toy pictured in the top right.

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Crazy Divers

This video of a continuous loop of divers is hypnotic, cool, and makes me feel uneasy.  Diving that close to each other can't be safe.

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Merry Christmas and Stuff!

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of the fine people who read this blog.  I've decided to take a few days off of blogging so I can relax and enjoy whatever it is Santa plans on bringing me.  You should probably do the same yourself.

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Merry Christmas

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New Sketch

Just finished this sketch based on a statue of a Greek thinker.

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New Bathroom Just Added

I just posted a new bathroom to the bathrooms I've been to map.  This particular bathroom, although not impressive by any standards, was greatly appreciated due to my misjudgment of water consumption at a restaurant about an hour before.

Click here to check out the map.

CC

Some New Dino Doodles

Here are a couple of dinosaur doodles I've done in the last week or so.  This one is loosely based on a T-Rex skull.

This one is based on a Triceratops.  Both are done with charcoal and pastel.

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Athens Has Some Great Christmas Bling

I was so worried about missing the Christmas bling of Canada here in Athens, but frankly I have to say they hold their own.  In fact I'd say in a certain way I prefer the bling here in Athens.  It's a little more old school and it's a lot more chaotic (that's a good thing).  The only thing that would take this bling over the edge would be about 3 inches of snow.

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Spray On Lights

It's as if the person that put the lights on this tree had some kind of silly string like applicator.  I think more things in this world should be applied using compressed air in a can.

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When I Was a Kid I Used To Get Mad At Objects

When I was a kid and something didn't work I would sometimes direct my anger at an object.  If a pencil broke at the wrong time, a battery would die at a bad moment, or a toy just didn't want to do what it was supposed to do, I'd get mad at it.  I'd even been known to tell objects off.  As I got older I learned to control my anger, and direct it in other directions.  When my pencil breaks I blame myself for pushing too hard, when a battery dies I blame the company for not putting enough juice in their batteries, when a toy doesn't do what I want it to do I look for another toy.  It makes me sad to think about this, it tells me that I've lost my imagination.

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Last Week It Snowed In Athens

Apparently it only happens about once every 3 or 4 years.  I'm pretty sure that the rest of the country is going to blame Canada for this, and I'm sure they have reason.

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Latest Doodle

I've been sketching a bit with charcoal and pastels.  It reminds me of college a little and it makes me happy.

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Paja-what?

What's a "Foot Dancer"?

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I've Decided to Write to Google... regularly.

They provide me with so many free products so I figure I can give them 10 minutes a week of my time.  Here's the first note I just sent off:


Dear fine folks at Google,

I've decided for the next little while that I will send you a weekly note telling you about my more recent google experiences.  I've become a big fan of many of your products and use them regularly.  Occasionally I get frustrated with some things, and often I become overjoyed with them.  I find it difficult to complain and give praise via choices on a web site so I've decided to be a little more personal about it instead.

For this first e-mail I would like to tell you how excited I am at the prospects of Chrome OS.  It sounds nifty.  I myself am not really a tech savvy fellow in most respects so I'm a little intimidated at the change, but you guys have done some nice stuff so I look forward to it as well.  I was hopping I could try and beta test it for you guys with the nifty giveaway thingy, but my living situation is complicated.  I live with my wife in one country while technically we are still residents in another (if you respond I can explain a little further, I assure you it's all very legal).

Well I've got to go now.  Please let me assure you that I am not crazy or a stalker, I just figured it would be an interesting experiment.

Chris

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The Happy Trash Bin

The happy trash bin eats all of you garbage.
It makes him happy when you throw stuff away.
It makes him happier if your garbage is a little stinky.
He must have just eaten something really rank.

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Ottawa Panorama

I'd never thought about selling this as a poster until today but hey why not.

Ottawa by candycritic
Browse Ottawa Posters

Dirk Gently

I'm either really, really, really, happy about this or being set up for a huge disappointment.

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Christmas Bling

Makes me smile.

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What I'm Working On Now

Here's a little sample of my latest photo project.

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Signs I Like

Apparently this is the house that likes to burger.

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Yet Even Another Gummy Bear T-shirt Now Available.

I designed the two latest t-shirts in Japan last summer, but I just now got them up for sale.

If Gummy Bears Could Dream by candycritic
See other Gummies T-Shirts

Personal Elevators

One of the things I've come across in many of the homes here in Athens is a personal elevator.  In North America at least, the idea of this is really only for the super rich, but I've heard of at least two houses with them here in Athens.  One of such elevators can be found at my friend Lenny's place.

For the most part when I visit him, I play it cool and take the stairs like he does, however the other night I couldn't resist.

The reason I would want a personal elevator has less to do with the convenience and more to do with the crazy things I want to do in it.  If I had a personal elevator the first thing I'd do is ride in it naked.  I'm sure I'd spend the whole ride praying to god that it doesn't break down as well.  The second thing I'd like to do is play Aerosmiths "Love in an Elevator" really loud while ridding it.  After that and maybe after a few elevator races (you know with people, and Slinkies taking the stairs) I'd probably get pretty bored with it and wish I had some other kind of large mechanical contraption.

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Doodles

Moleskine sketch from advertisement.

Puddle jumping robot.

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More Greek Garbage

It appears the garbage strike is over here in Athens, however it's still taking a long time to pick up all the piles that have built up.  So I'm still finding fun and strange things in these piles.  Today I came across a log without any bark.  Now I could understand why someone might want to throw away such an item, but I can't figure out why someone would need to throw it away during the garbage strike.  Why not hang onto it till things thin out a little, maybe if you keep it around the house you might find a new use for it.  It would make a wonderful front room stool, or a decorative drink holder for the garden.

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I'm Listening To Daft Punk Because Of My Friend Dane

He mentioned on his Facebook status that he had just listened to the new "Tron" soundtrack and it was spectacular.   Made me crave a little Daft Punk.  I decided to check out the video for around the world and it's still just as strange as I remembered.

Man I'd love to have one of those bike helmets with antennae coming out of it.

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Latest Art Piece

I just finished my latest photography/mixed media art piece.  I haven't given it a name yet but I might go with my original concept name "For Aaron".

The inspiration of the piece is a look at how art can be more than just visual and often people think that you need eyes to enjoy it.  In this case those with sight are at a disadvantage.

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Reason I Like Greece

I like Greece because sometimes they leave the stems on Olives.  It creates a nice little handle and also looks really cool.

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I just Made a New T-shirt.

It's been a while since I designed my last gummy bear t-shirt but I think it's worth the wait.

Gummy Bear Weight Loss by candycritic
See more Gummies T-Shirts

Kevin Bacon

After watching this commercial I realized that I feel the same way about Don Knotts.

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I Kicked Dog Poop Today...

I think someone saw me do it, but I played it off like I might have just kicked a clump of dirt or something.  I then wondered if I should feel so bad about kicking dog poop (that I had nothing to do with leaving behind) that I should create lies in my own head to strangers around me.

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Trash Strike

Here in Athens we are under the grip of an interesting and smelly strike.  The local garbage collectors have decided not to pick up any trash, and it's started to pile up all over the place.  Now I could complain about the rank smell that reminds me a little of a really old cheese, or I could make a game of it.  As you would imagine I've done a little of both.  The game is simple, check out some of the strange things people have chucked out to the curb. This radiator is one, although not really strange, it is a little odd that it's out just before winter.

But if you want strange, this bag that appears to be a postal bag from China could be considered a little odd.  Strangely I found three more in this particular garbage pile.  I also found a large plastic jug containing a yellow liquid, but I figured documenting it would be a little tasteless.

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Blinging It Up... Athens Style

One of the things I thought I'd miss about Ottawa and Canada in general, is the amazing amount of Christmas bling that can be found on houses all over the place.  I figured since there really is no winter (it's 23 degrees outside right now) that maybe no one would decorate heavily.  Sure I expected a few lights and the stores to be decked out, but I never expected this.

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Google Translate Trick... and a Trick of My Own

I'm sure if you've been around this Internet thing for the past little while you've checked out Google Translate.  It's also possible that you've heard about the German Beat Boxing trick you can do with Google translate(click here if you haven't).  It's pretty neat, basically you put in a series of consenents into Google translate and tell it to translate German to German, then listen to the results.  Well I decided that I wanted to take this idea a step further.  I entered part of the recipe for chicken soup and translated it from English to Swedish.  To my disapointment it sounded nothing like the Swedish Chef.

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Monkey Doodles

Here are some more monkey doodles.

Moleskine sketch with watercolour.

Moleskine.

Moleskine.

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How I Feel About Crowds

Crowds are a strange thing.  Sometimes there's nothing better than to be in a crowd feeling the love and getting all the good vibes, other times I'm in a crowd and all I want to do is get out.  The thing is you never know what kind of crowd it's going to be until you step inside it.

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Signs I Like

The low self esteem DJ robot is impressed.

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I'm The Luckiest Guy Alive

This morning I went out for my Friday market shop, only to forget that this morning the elevator in my building was going to be under repair.  This is a problem since I usually buy a lot of stuff at the market.  It was only made worse because I did actually remember about it, only I was at the market and at that point could only dread the walk up the stairs with all my stuff.  Well I got to my front door after my shop and there was a guy standing there (I think he was going to be working on the elevator).  I was filled with dread at first, but then the guy looked at me, and smiled.  He then went to the elevator, opened the door for me, and on the way up I took this photo.  The sign says that the elevator will be under repair between 9:30 and 1:30, the watch says I'm dam lucky that people in Greece aren't very punctual.

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New Photo of Multimedia Piece

I've been trying to get a photo that properly explains my latest multimedia piece and I think this might be the best I can come up with.  I guess you'll just have to wait till I get it up at a show.

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Beware The Cheese Photos Are Coming Back Online

Due to the move to Greece I was forced to shut down any photo sales on bewarethecheese.com until I could get things sorted out with distribution.  Well I've started to get things up and running, with the addition of new format for the prints (posters).  I've also decided to feature a print each week on this blog, just in case you feel the need to buy a poster, 8x10 limited print, or greeting card you can always click here.

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Something I'm Working On

Here's a sketch for a painting I'm working on.

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Dog poo, I'm not a big fan.

Birdy stuff that hits my feet,
Boy I think it's really neat.
Doggy Doo makes me slip and slide,
It's hard not to fall, believe me I've tried.
Horse stuff is kinda green,
I saw a sheep make a brown jelly bean.
This here poem ain't worth spit,
That's it for my poem about sh...

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Doodles

I've decided to post a few doodles now and again on this blog.... Enjoy!

Blue gorilla, 2 by 3 feet ink and watercolour.

Moleskine sketch.

Moleskine skecth.

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Pigs Are Always Happy

Isn't it strange that no matter what happens to a pig they always look happy.  I wonder if that's why bacon tastes so good.

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Biz, Jeff, and Jimmy.

This was so beyond awesome I had to watch it 3 times.

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Cool Kleenex Box

I wonder if the tissues smell like oranges?

On another note does anybody else have a reoccurring dream where there mouths are filled with tissues and they can't get them out no matter how much you dig?

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Newest Mixed Media Piece

Just finished my latest mixed media piece called "Don't walk out of the frame.

Here's a head on shot so you get the idea of the piece.

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The Perfect Ornament for the Cigar Smoker in Your Family

I always think it's important that Christmas ornaments not only create a fun atmosphere, but they should also represent the people in the family a little bit.  This little box of shinny cigars is perfect for the movie star/mob boss in any household.

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