Gingham is the symbol of Montreal's foremost Casual Crew.
18th March, 2012 (Montreal) The Mile End Crucial Crew turned up in force at yesterday's home opener as Montreal Impact hosted the Chicago Fire. Gingham abounds as the soccer fans from across the city swelled the stadium at the rafters to the tune of 59,912.
The Crucial Crew were everywhere:
Mile End Crucial Crew start with a Mile End Crucial Brew.
Hangin' Tuff: P.M.T. for the Mile End Crucial Crew
Want to join the Crucial Crew and stand and sing at Montreal Impact matches? Join the club. Got Gingham? Send it to gotgingham@gmail.com
Today's caption "It's about to Kick-off" is brought to you from les Ultras de l'Impact de Montreal and the many people who have muttered this expression just before something EXPLODES.
Coming later this week: Montreal street-styler Rob, Jinda-lee and the rock band Sloane.
Got an All Girl Rock Band? Better get some Gingham (photo lifted from Californication, season 3).
8th March, Twenty-Twelve (Montreal) It's International Woman's Day here at Got Gingham so we decided we had better do something about it. Rather than put some guy in drag and be done with it, we sourced real women for today's edition. Why do we need International Woman's Day, you might ask? Haven't we come a long way, baby?
Perhaps you've heard of the Bechtel Test? In order for a Hollywood Movie to pass this test [see here], there must be at some point in the script where two of the female characters have dialog that doesn't have anything to do with the other male characters nor can there be a male character in the scene. In this year's Oscars, only The Help, Bridesmaids and Midnight in Paris passed the test. Think about it... many of us don't even realize how mainstream culture presents women to us. In the case of Hollywood, it seems we only ever see women portrayed as those who care about the deadbeats and players with whom they are sharing screen time.
Or perhaps you like art. OK, name four world famous household-name male painters off the top of your head. No problem... I can think of Gauguin, Picasso, Renoir and Blake and that was as easy as being asked to name four letters in the alphabet.
Now name four world famous household-name female painters off the top of your head. Easy... Georgia O'Keefe, Emily Carr, that Frida person, you know--the woman who married what's his name, the Mexican guy Rivera... and then... and then... See? Who is the fourth most famous female painter in the world?
So yeah, we may have come a long way, baby, and although there is a lot of Gingham being shared equally between the sexes and the genders and the gerunds, we've still got a long way to go, mister.
Girls gotta ROCK! And They Rock in Gingham:
"I know, it's only Montreal but I like it, like it like it..."
Gingham is your ticket to Rock Camp immortality.
Madeleine Martin can rock out all she likes in Gingham for TEEVEE, but Rock Camp for Girls [see here] is doing the real thing. And they ain't talking about their boyfriends during the tune-ups. (Thanks to Jenny at Fashionmademefunky [see here] for the terrific Rock Camp for Girl's photos)
March of the springtime Gingham cont...
International Gingham's Day is everyday.
Female and wondering around Afghanistan? Protect yourself in Gingham (Photo: Clayton Esteton).
She's whispering to her friend "Let's go bicycle fishing in our Gingham." (Photo: Denis Vignault)
Take you're blinders off, certainly. But keeping your ears warm is another matter entirely:
Fashion Fact: Avenue Mont-Royal in Montreal is where you go to buy Three-eyed Newt earmuffs, if that's what you're into.
GINGHAM FOODIES STILL AHEAD OF THE TASTEMAKERS
"I'm having what she's havin'."
Check out our friend waiting for his woman to meet him for breakfast. Is he worried? Will he be stood-up? Is she backing out of the LTR they got going on? Is there trouble in paradise? Has he been treating her the way a woman needs to be treated? Like, you know, with respect, empathy and understanding. Is he like, say, a good listener? Does he, you know, give her the space she needs and does he take her seriously? Do they have, what-d'you-call it, an equal voice in the rello? Who knows? Nobody asked the guy. All we really know for sure, is that he's Got Gingham. However, that's a great sign.
Today's caption "Equality and Respect" has been brought to you by the National Organization of Women and the lips of Abraham Lincoln. Got any R-E-S-P-E-C-T? Has it got Gingham? Send it to gotgingtham@gmail.com
Breaking the fourth wall to pieces... Found Art's Got Gingham from 12 years ago.
Gingham makes you warm and fuzzy.
1st March, Twenty-Twelve (Montreal) Now that Found Art[see here] and its adherents have well-and-truly entered the mainstream it's about time we unearth some of it's roots. For sure it has a lot in common with Folk Art [see here] and Outsider Art[see here] and the lines of demarcation get blurry when artists employ original materials in a combination with found articles (and then use words like 'demarcation'). However, some of the legitimization of the Found Art Movement must surely have come, in part, from the army of elementary school teachers out there in the trenches egging on their students to recycle cartons, toilet paper rolls, carpet off-cuts, Popsicle sticks and chicken-wire into sculptures. Usually these sculptures are of rather abstract shapes that might, with a heavy squint, look like something recognizable.
Got Gingham is full of art teachers champing at the bit to get in front of the kiddies of the world and encourage them to do delve into this great thing called Found Art.
Meanwhile it seems these days just about every Street Artist, Calligrapher, Spoken Wordsmith and anybody who knows how to hold a drum in one hand are able to dream up some kind of 'workshop' and thus get themselves into schools in order to grab the imagination of the next generation of up-and-comers...
Not a week goes by without receiving some press release about the great inroads some of these artists are making into the realms of Service Learning [see here] within the modern education system, so why not all us here at Got Gingham? No need--take a look at these gorgeous efforts from the young'uns of Montreal on display atLe Biodôme de Montréal: FOUND ART... it's Got GINGHAM!
So if you can read this, and you've got Gingham, thank a teacher.
More Biodome action:
This guy's on the metro readying to go to work...
...for his job as poster boy at the Biodome.
The Streets are full of Winter Gingham...
Shopping with your girl? Totally bearable if you've Got Gingham.
Takin' your lame-ass friend out for coffee because he's broke?
Perfectly agreeable diversion, as long as you've Got Gingham.
Trying to get rid of last year's artwork at Expozine? No problem if you've Got Gingham.
Trying to raise the price of your artwork at Expozine? Got Gingham and you can make 'em pay.
Bored while out shopping with your friends? No problem, just stare out the window.
Pulling off a heist and don't have the right driver? We've got your man, and he's Got Gingham.
Life just one big hot potato? Not if you've Got your Gingham Mits about you.
Who says winter isn't colourful? Sure, if you ain't Got no Gingham.
And finally, Montreal Street Aritist Allison Gonsalves snapped for us this masterpiece from where else, but Place des Arts in Montreal. Lo and behold, here she has lovingly captured one of Montreal's least-known style icons, waiting for the Number 80 bus. Not too many people can pull this look off. Not too many people can grab a Gingham Get like this without ruffling a few feathers, so chapeau Allison. You got gumption, you got gall, but best of all, you Got us some Gingham.
Today's caption: "That's not all, folks."is a rip-off from a popular Hollywood dream factory, hoping you see how Gingham seeps into every aspect of the living universe and hopefully plays into your new appreciation for Found Art and a renewed use for garbage. It is brought to us by the Coalition to Save the Arboreal Rain Forests and a guy at the back of the Number 80 Bus in Montreal.
Found any art? Has it Got Gingham? Send it to gotgingham@gmail.com
"Riding on the Metro of Love..."--Berlin, circa 1985
14th February, Twenty-Twelve (Montreal) Thanks to our anonymous admirer for sending in some Gingham today. Otherwise, we're loving it up. More tomorrow!
Got Gingham? Send it to gotgingham@gmail.com
Today's caption: A Way of Public Transport was brought to you by the International Fare Dodgers Alliance.
Capping off a lovely winter's day vandalizing the streets of Montreal with Gingham.
Goin' for the Yankees or the Reste this year?
7th February, Twenty-Twelve (Montreal) Street Art is becoming more and more legitimized as the public and private world join in its acceptance. OK, so we've seen the rise of Banksy and Under Pressure in Montreal, but we mustn't forget the artists and writers who plug away, trying to break new ground or new snow, as is the case today. Expanding the art form so that Graffiti is now painted on bodies [see here] and ball caps [see here], of course Montreal Graf Crews are going to be making hay while the sun shines and putting temporary bombs on the snow banks of the city. This is all very cool and legit, and all, but what's the point if you're just hanging around in some ordinary balaclava or other such face-mask to cover your I.D. from the cops? A total waste of time, paint and snow, we say. Specially if somebody's going to the actual trouble of filming it in time-delay. That's why we bring you our man (who wishes to remain, um, anon.) putting candy-coating colours on the mythical winter carpet while sporting a ball cap not coated in graf, but you got it: Gingham. The streets are full of life, and the life is in the streets, and where there is life, you'll find Gingham.
Got Gingham in the Underground:
"OK. Win, you're looking great, keep going... Ignore that weird dood beside you."
"Ok. Take Three Hundred and Fifty-seven."
Last week in the underground city of Montreal we caught a rock vid being filmed. Some happnin' big star singing his song, echoing down the halls, we thought it was a busker but then noticed the film crew. Boy did we give them a weird-out as we followed them in sync, camera not pointed at the famous-here-in-Quebec superstar song writer, but the cameraman. Best crew in town. They decided we'd messed up the take so had to re-shoot. Not Got Gingham's problem! That's show bizness, guys.
Street Art in Montreal's Got Gingham!
Here is a doc by some Concordia University students which follows some of the Street Art occurring in Montreal. It's not till the 8:48 mark you will see the Gingham, but it is never-the-less a charming look at the streets of Mile-End and has interviews with several local characters of renown who have made some great contributions to the life in the streets of the city. That somebody can be a PhD candidate in the study of "Yarn Bombing" proves that one day Gingham is surely going to find its way into the great marble halls of academe. So far, as this vid proves, we've been able to operate on stealth. One day we'll be getting an entire faculty devoted to us. We figure an honourary Ph.D might help to kick things off, but then that would mean all of a sudden we've joined the dreaded 'Establishment,' and there so goes all our street-cred in three painted letters.
How much is that Gingham in the Window?
Some of you might figure out where this is by the reflection in the window. It might still be there tomorrow. Otherwise, forget about it.
Chris Ellul--drummer for THE HEAVY'S GOT GINGHAM!
Proof it wasn't a one-off rim shot.
OK. Check out the vid of The Heavy playing "Sixteen." It's nice to do away with the drum machine and bring in a real person once in a while, and The Heavy epitomize the human aspect of what makes great pop. But what's the point in having a cool drummer if he ain't Got Gingham? Best line in the song: "Sixteen year old acting like a forty year old."
He don't wanna work, just wears his Gingham all day.
Valentines Day Special!
Our friends over at Go Gingham [see here] are going all out this Valentines. Or is that All-in? Who knows. As long as Gingham is in the air or out in the open...
This Valentines, don't let us down, take to the streets and proclaim your love for Gingham.
Four Graf writers can't all be wrong at the same time.
Got Graf? Got Gingham? Send it to gotgingham@gmail.com
Today's caption: "A form of Street Protest" was brought to you by the masses of people who have down the ages, fought for change, and left their mark.
31st January, Twenty-Twelve, (Montreal) Quantum physics is one of our favourite topics here at Got Gingham. Specially when brave new worlders like Lawrence Krauss talk about it. Who said Gingham wasn't a science? At last, by way of this video which appeared on our favourite science report, The Wright Show over there at bloggingheads.tv. You probably never thought scientists could be cool and interesting and snazzy, did you? Well Lawrence Krauss [see here] sure knows how to keep a crowd tuned in. My God, (who Dr. Krauss surely wouldn't believe in) there is also news of parallel universes and pretty much a certainty that there is Gingham in other directions. This is surely one of the most mind-blowing science conversations you will overhear this year: they talk of dark matter, dark energy, energy versus gravity and all sorts of other sciencey stuff, like atoms and electrons and how the universe could have actually been made for 'us.' The biggest question is, WHO KNEW it could be this interesting? Who knew PhD's had this much personality? Actually, we don't really care, we're just glad Lawrence Krauss decided to celebrate his appearance on the New York Times Best Sellers' List by putting on some Gingham! Thanks Lazza, see you in heaven.
More Gets from last year we couldn't squeeze into last week's HOT 100
Phillie-style Drop Shadow Gingham on the streets of Montreal.
Folks, it will soon be this hot again. Luckily for us, Gingham is hot right NOW.
Thunder Bay-style Gingham is popular with Montreal cyclists.
No point being called a Gingham-hipster, if you don't show your hips.
Michelle Williams in Take This Waltz Got Gingham:
Another guy dressed as a skateboarder next to a stunning example of Eighth Wave Gingham.
Got any more Gingham? Send your gets to gotgingham@gmail.com
Today's caption "A Parallel Universe" has been sent to us by the Got Gingham crew, from the Universe parallel to us.
