Coincidental Happenings

Brussels Express

by Gerlin on May 13, 2012 • No comments

Below you can find a short documentary on cycling, traffic, bike messengers and more in Brussels. This is something that’s always struck me every time I visit our capital: how so few people cycle, how there are hardly any bikes around and how there’s no infrastructure to support them. It makes for a stressful, agressive and polluted environment that you’ll notice whether you’re a cyclist, pedestrian or using public transport. And that’s a real shame cause Brussels has so much to offer!
I know Brussels is not alone in this when it comes to capitals and I know Copenhagen is almost a sort of utopia but their mayor makes some really good points in this.

Above all though, the documentary’s beautifully made and there’s some really interesting points throughout. And clocking in at just under 20 minutes, it won’t exactly be a waste of time either.

(watch fullscreen please)

We Promised III: the DIY issue!

by Gerlin on May 1, 2012 • 1 Comment

Is out now! We had our release party yesterday and it was a lot of fun but I didn’t stay too late cause I was so exhausted/unable to form grammatically correct sentences from 5 days of tape recording and poster folding. All worth it though! So proud of our third edition. Definitely my favourite yet.
Featured artists are Street Gnar, Islet, Bleached, Novella, PINS, U.S Girls, John Maus vs. Molly Nilsson, Girlseeker, Flamingods, Sean Nicholas Savage and NZCA/LINES! And there are articles on Slumberland Records and Belmont Bookings!

Once I’ve been able to put this edition online in a way I’ll make sure to update this and include it but for now, here are some bad Photobooth pictures!

(it’s a poster!)

(it’s a folded poster with tape!)

(it’s a zine!)

(it’s just a tape!)

(it’s all of that and more!)

Hanging Rock Comics rule

by Gerlin on Apr 27, 2012 • No comments

Thanks to the ever awesome Marisa Meltzer (check out her books on the riot grrrl movement and Sassy Magazine!) and her Tumblr, I found out about Hanging Rock Comics. Though it’s surprising I didn’t know about 17 year old Taylor-Ruth‘s work before as it’s been popping up just about everywhere.

Most of these comics very much reflect Taylor-Ruth’s age and the emotions that go with it and though I’m past that stage, I thoroughly enjoy them. She has a very specific outlook on life and is also very, very funny. It’s clear that her work is to be taken with a pinch of salt – yet there’s always some raw emotion at the core of it.

What more can I say? Take a look for yourself.

Small Hands and Weighed Sin

by Gerlin on Apr 16, 2012 • No comments

Two random, completely beautiful in their own way, videos I’ve been watching a lot lately.
The first one by Keaton Henson not just for the song, but for the stunning, heart wrenching stop motion animation. Never thought stuffed puppets could translate this much emotion and be a metaphor for life itself. The song is equally haunting.
(thanks to Jacoba for this)

Next up is the amazing Chad VanGaalen who’s pretty much a hero to me and one of te nicest people I’ve ever met. Here he does a live rendition of Weighed Sin, off a split with Xiu Xiu. So much raw emotion in his voice, stunning to watch. Beautiful beyond words.

Brussels, Ghent and Hamburg through my eyes

by Gerlin on Apr 3, 2012 • 3 Comments

Just like the title says…

Among these my MJ suitcase in Brussels, snow in Ghent, a sleeping Daniel / Ital, wigs in Hamburg and lots of the botanical garden in Hamburg (recommended!).

Drawing The Pictures

by Gerlin on Apr 2, 2012 • 2 Comments

I’ve been careful mentioning this project to anyone but I think the time’s come for me to reveal it to you all.

Ever since finding out about zine culture I’ve wanted to make zines myself. I never thought I could do it though, until we started We Promised. And though I love doing that, it already feels a little too professional/serious for me to have fun with. Which is fine, but I recently started thinking of doing something of my own. And so I came up with the idea of doing a zine about film because I love the medium. But how to make that interesting… I thought of all the people I know that I think are so talented and whose work I admire and how it’d be great if they could participate.

And so I thought of those people creating a representation of their favourite film. From a sketch over a collage to a photo: it’s all in there! I’d tell a little bit about them and they then also had to reveal what was their favourite and why. I named the whole thing Drawing The Pictures (get the pun? Yeah I love puns).
I was super lucky that everyone I got in touch with was enthusiastic from the start, though not everyone could participate due to time constraints and/or being busy with other projects.

I don’t wanna give all participants away yet but let me just tell you that I’m extremely happy and enthusiastic about all of them. To name a few though: Chad VanGaalen, Nick Helderman, Yelena Bryksenkova, Danica van de Velde and lots more.
As a taster I thought I’d show you what my friend Anika came up with.

Anyhow, I haven’t gotten everything together just yet but it won’t be long. I’m not planning on uploading the zine anywhere online as I want it to be strictly physical but if you want a copy, please get in touch around the time. I’d like to send them all around the world!

My album of the week: Terry Malts

by Gerlin on Mar 30, 2012 • No comments

Terry Malts‘ debut Killing Time has been ruling my world for the past week and so it only seemed fair to share that with all of you. This blog is mostly about music, after all.

Anyway, I don’t wanna spoil it with too many words but Terry Malts are the kind of punk (or chainsaw pop as they describe themselves) band that actually sound decent. It’s pretty gritty and loud but with catchy melodies and most of all: the best lyrics. No one’s ever expressed why I’m not a Christian in better words than they do (in No Sir, I’m Not A Christian): “No Sir, I’m not a Christian. The Good Book’s just a work of fiction. Church is simply too boring for me, can’t you see?”. GENIUS.

So yeah, basically, I love what these dudes do and I’ve been cruising around on my bike listening to the record a lot. Thanks, Slumberland, for yet another great release!

Terry Malts – Nauseous [mp3]
Terry Malts – Waiting Room [mp3]

I love coincidence (and BIG THINGS)

by Gerlin on Mar 24, 2012 • No comments

I do. A lot. As you can read in the about section of this blog: my life is like a sequence of lucky coincidental happenings. I have so many things to thank coincidence for. My life has constantly taken surrealistic turns thanks to coincidence (and being a little too spontaneous might’ve helped too).

Now, several months ago I bookmarked a website called Big Big Big Things cause it featured an interview with Amy from Pikaland – my go to website when it comes to illustration. The other week I was going through all my bookmarks and didn’t remember what BIG BIG BIG was so clicked it and then I spent the whole rest of the day gleefully going through so many of the posts on there.
And THEN I realised I recognized the lady behind it from somewhere. Oh yes, I’d seen photos from her pad over at Refinery 29 several months before and had completely fallen in love with it. So much colour! So bright! So happy! So creative! SO MUCH FUN! Just like her website!!!

Basically, Big Big Big Things celebrates the awesome things in life and organizes stuff and sells stuff and is super amazing at all of it. I have a major girl crush on Rebecca and am already hoping to visit the store she works in (in SF) sometime in the future. We seem to have a bit of a similar style going on with loads of colour and trying out pretty much everything. And she’s really enthusiastic too.

(an introduction to the lady herself, so awesome!)

Basically: bookmark Big Big Big Things too and especially make sure to check out Big Things Ahead! Over and out.

Boîte aux Lettres

by Gerlin on Mar 9, 2012 • No comments

Last week I went to the opening of Boîte aux Lettres at the completely wonderful Bar Leon. Boîte aux Lettres is all about the lost art of letter writing and package sending. Not that it’s a lost art in my world, I still send lots of post to friends all over the world. So of course, I had to be there! The whole idea was to gather there and write letters to friends whilst admiring the post inspired art adorning the walls.
My favourites were Mayken, Hermine and Gilles but I loved what everyone had done! I also loved the overall friendly, concentrated atmosphere there and the stuff the organisers were selling – especially what Chris and Annelies had come up with.

Here are a couple of images so you can get an idea:

(flyer)

(part of Mayken’s creation)

(goodies!)

(the mailbox)

All in all, I had a lovely time (also largely due to Nel who accompanied me) and am glad I finally got to see Bar Leon. It’s well worth the visit, such a great place! And I hope that, with this project, people will start appreciating real post again. It’s in my top 5 favourite things in the world.

Photos by Our Strange Nature and Hermine

Never forgotten

by Gerlin on Mar 7, 2012 • No comments

It’s been two weeks and a day now since I found out the news and I still can’t quite grasp it. My friend Chris Reimer passed away in his sleep on February 21st at the age of 26. Not only was he way too young, he was also way too nice to go. Chris played in a band called Women (and most recently had joined The Dodos live) and they forever remain my favourites. Always up for fun I had many many good times with them, and Rob.

(bad photo but such good memories, thank you Phara)

The news hit hard and it took almost a day for me to realise he’s really gone. Chris was an amazing and very special person, which is once again proven by the countless anecdotes, photos, videos and goodbyes on this website (to which I also contributed) founded by his sister Nikki. I didn’t know him that well but had started to get to know him better and I’ll miss him a bunch. I still think about him a lot and I’m glad there are so many photos to remember him by.

Instead of posting a Women song, I’m gifting you with this live rendition of Don’t Drink The Water by Idiot Glee, backed up by Women (with Chris on drums). So good.
Idiot Glee – Don’t Drink the Water (ft. Women) [mp3]
And I feel this classic by Elliott Smith sums up my feelings, kind of. It’s a beautiful song, anyhow.
Elliott Smith – Waltz #2 (XO) [mp3]

Rainbros forever.