Art by Olivos

For last week’s What’s Up Wednesday, we celebrated Canada Day. This week, turn our attention to the worlds of art and entertainment. I’ve compiled a series of blog posts that are all about keeping ourselves entertained and soaking in a little bit of culture along the way.

The weekly speedlink that I do here is my little way of giving back to the blogosphere. If you want to be featured in a future speedlink, be sure to follow me on Twitter and look for my shoutout for submissions. I typically ask for what you have to offer on Tuesday evenigns, but feel free to send them to me before that too.

Are you looking for a simple way to express yourself? Maybe you want to make a personal gift but you don’t feel you have much of an artistic gift? Claudia and Sergio Olivos have just the ticket with their tutorial on how to make a fun and easy sculpture. The picture above depicts the eventual result, but as with so many other things in life, the process is just as important as the final product here.

I’ve long since said that international travel is one of the best ways to spend your money. At long last, Tyler Cruz has agreed, taking a long overdue vacation in the Philippines. Check out some of the initial pictures (and video) that he took from his lola’s house. He’ll be gladly enjoying the tropical paradise for the next little while, sipping on fresh coconut milk and soaking in the sun. Try to get in a little bit of sleep too, Tyler.

Writing is my livelihood, but it is also a means for personal expression. Larry Brooks approaches a very interesting, trying to determine whether writing is an art or a craft. In the end, writing is very much like architecture. You can consider the craftsmanship of a home, looking at the build quality, but you can also look at any artistic expression that was infused into that building as well. It’s an art and a craft.

Attending rap and rock concerts is one thing, but Jeremy Lim took in a wholly different experience when he went to the Commodore Ballroom to catch Infected Mushroom. Electronica doesn’t really lend itself to being much of a “performance,” but Jeremy exclaims that this was “one of the most twisted, unrelenting shows I’ve ever seen.” For more of a look at the show, check out the photo set on Flickr.

Video games are very much a viable form of entertainment and Lisa Bettany saw that first hand from the Nintendo office in the Vancouver area. Located in Richmond, the Nintendo office played host to “Mostly Lisa” as she played some of the newer games announced during E3 Expo 2009 last month. She even got into a Wii Sports Resort Lightsaber Swordplay battle with Matt Ryan!