Author: Joey deVilla

Categories
Uncategorized

A Visit to Malabar

We’re planning on attending a couple of Halloween parties, and we didn’t want just any old costume. Luckily, there’s a place I’ve been going to since the 1980s, and it’s also one of our favourite stores in Accordion City:

01

Malabar! Located at 14 McCaul Street, just north of Queen and just south of OCAD, it’s where you go when you want costumes, from the cheap and disposable, to something that’s ready for stage or screen.

The room by the main entrance has the stuff for sale, and if you need a quick costume, they’ve got plenty, and they’ve got a bigger variety than you’ll find at your local department store or Walmart.

I had no idea that there were commercially-made Napoleon Dynamite character costumes:

02

You’re just a kit away from turning into Jake or Elwood Blues (black jacket not included):

03

As the photo on the packaging shown below indicates, even a reject from Jersey Shore can become Aragorn with this sword! You can even use it to keep the “grenades” at bay!

04

Want to be “V” from V for Vendetta for Halloween (or take part in an anti-Scientology demonstration)?  No prob – they’ve got the hat, cape and Guy Fawkes mask here, along with Princess Leia hair buns, Batman utility belts, Jason Voorhees’ goalie mask and machete and accessories to turn into into just about any pop culture character.

05

They’ve got a nice selection of costume hats. They’re cheaper than the real thing, and while probably not durable enough for everyday wear, they’re perfect for those costume occasions.

06

They’ve got wigs aplenty, too!

07

And a wide array of glasses, from the ordinary to the way-out:

08

Off to the side is the rental room, which has a big assortment of more substantial costumes:

09

They come in all sorts of genres, shapes and sizes:

10

I rented the steampunk costume that I wore to Cory Doctorow’s wedding here!

They have all sorts of costumes, including animal mascots:

12[3]

Have you always dreamed of going as Doctor Zoidberg from Futurama for Halloween? You can – when I was there on Saturday, the lobster head hadn’t been booked yet. Pair it with a lab coat, surgical scrubs and a pair of orange oven mitts and you’re good to go!

11

As for the costumes we got? I’ll save that for a later blog entry.

Categories
Uncategorized

Also Seen at the Bookstore Last Night

In addition to Screw Calm and Get Angry, I also saw this at the Book City in Bloor West Village:

Sign on table of books: "It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it"

Nice sentiment, but it scans better when the lines are broken up like this:

It is what you read
when you don’t have to
that determines
what you will be
when you can’t help it

Categories
Uncategorized

Seen at “Book City” in Bloor West Village

Yet another variation on the “Keep Calm and Carry On” meme:

screw calm and get angry

Categories
Uncategorized

A Box Full o’ Ugly

Seen at Starbucks on Thursday:

box full of ugly

What would go into a Starbucks box whose contents label reads “UGLY” in large black letters? My guess is that it’s the “toffee” that goes into the Toffee Mochas. Those things taste terrible and led to me to quip that “toffee” must be some kind of Seattle slang for “ass”.

Categories
Uncategorized

The Headhunter Approves

this or this

Nick “Ask the Headhunter” Corcodilos wrote this about my recent come-work-for-Microsoft piece, Developer Evangelist. Toronto Area. Now Hiring. Maybe You?:

I still think the best way to find great people to hire is to go where they hang out and talk to them.

But if you’re gonna post something online to tell people about your organization and to get them interested… Joey deVilla over at Microsoft Canada has a good idea.

Just tell people about your business.

…

This ain’t rocket science. Here’s why deVilla scores major points with me. This is a guy talking about a job he loves doing himself. He’s telling you what gets him up in the morning, about his boss, about the cool gear you’d get to work with, about the team’s philosophy, and much more. The sort of stuff you wouldn’t ordinarily find out til you showed up for an interview.

And that’s the point. deVilla is telling you up front what this gig is really like. Yah, he makes it look great — there’s definitely some selling going on here. But lordy, there’s no selling at all going on in that other document. If deVilla’s posting makes it look like working with his team is a party, that HR word pile up above makes it look like life in a straitjacket!

Thanks, Nick!

Categories
Uncategorized

Yeah, They’re Like That

Robot telling a joke: "Three humans, of three different ethnic groups, walk into a bar. Two make statements that are intelligent and to the point. The third human says something that is to the point, but it is illogical and obviously unintelligent. His error, therefore, embarrasses his entire enthnic group."

Categories
Uncategorized

It Might Have Been

I saw this hand-made poster taped to a parking meter on College Street near Caplansky’s yesterday and had to take a photo:

i wish i had kissed you

As John Greenleaf Whittier wrote:

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: “It might have been!"

All too true. The stuff I really regret – thankfully, there’s very little of that — is what I didn’t do.

Thanks to the ambiguity introduced by the word “just”, the author of the message might be expressing regret that the act had escalated beyond kissing and into serious “viewer discretion is advised” territory, which is probably something you shouldn’t be doing in a friend’s kitchen.