Culture Hole is a humor blog by Joel Friesen, web and graphic designer from Victoria BC. Please visit joelf.com to view his professional work in graphic and webdesign, as well as ways to contact Joel.


You might be looking for these:

by joelf

April 7th, 2008

Hey everyone. I’m adding in all my links for the old blog into this shiny new “wordpress” thing. In the mean time…

It’s likely that you came here looking for one of these things:

Why You Should Continue to Date Me; a Series of Charts and Graphs

A magical journey of flirting using PowerPoint. A set of charts and graphs I created to convince a girl in Toronto to date me. Now a book with a PowerPoint presentation included!

Live Action Scotland Yard (LASY)

A giant game of Hide and Seek in Toronto. Live action Scotland Yard was a giant game of hide and seek I invented and organized, based on the classic board game “Scotland Yard”. I thought it was fun. I hope you think it’s fun too!

Ninja Bake Sale

Dressing up as Ninja, selling cake. Selling cookies in the shape of throwing stars, cakes with the Japanese word for “Poison” on it… All in a days work for the fund raising ninja.

Toronto Zombie Walk

The 2005 Toronto Zombie Walk. I helped organize the 2005 Toronto Zombie Walk, and it was MEGA. Hundreds of zombies, a giant grave yard, marching through the Biggest Mall in Toronto, the chief of police!

Interview with George Lucas

by joelf

October 5th, 2004

George Lucas and Joel FriesenWow. I am stunned. No, shocked that this has happened.

Through some connections with a friend of a friend who works a Lucas ILM, and my uncanny ability to impersonate just about anyone I please, I was granted an email interview with George Lucas! (more…)

The Subway

by joelf

October 3rd, 2004

When I first moved to Toronto last April, I got to see the subway for the first time. I’ll admit, I didn’t know what to make of it, or what to expect. To be honest I was a bit afraid it was an evil lair of thieves and muggers, I thought I could easily loose my wallet on the subway. After hearing stories about New York’s subway, like the roving gangs of Mexican organ traders, you could understand my apprehension.

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Deep Sea Fish!

by joelf

September 9th, 2004

An Australian - New Zealand team of scientists have been studying deep sea fish. From May to June they have been dredging the bottom of the ocean to report on the “nature and potential vulnerability of these unique habitats and their biodiversity”.

I’m completely fascinated by these things. The Rat Fish has a drum machine in it’s swim bladder to attract a mate. The fish on the right is a Humpback Anglerfish. It can’t swim, her mate’s the size of a jellybean, and she can eat anything up to three times her size because of an inflatable stomach. The Fangtooth’s teeth are so large, when it’s mouth is closed they actually sit inside it’s head, straddling it’s brain.
There are lots of other fish squid crabs and ’things’ in the hard to navigate creature feature. I have found that by clicking the link then going back and clicking a new link is the best way to go through it. All the images are large, but have been shrunken down by HTML. If you want to see them, drag the photo into IE’s address bar and it will bring it up full-size.

Crazy Puppet Art

by joelf

August 27th, 2004

Like something from a dark nightmare; these are the puppets that Satan would use if he liked hosting little girl’s birthday parties while reenacting scenes from dawn of the dead. Scott makes scary puppets, but his skills aren’t limited to tethered homunculus’. He also enjoys long walks on the beach and carving out life sized nudes in the earth itself.
Listing influences from Edward Gorey, Tim Burton, to the Brothers Quay. He’s pretty much nailed down his artistic style. It seems to me that an obvious inclusion would have been Brian Froud who has also designed puppets, but maybe that’s just a given.

Shag’s World of Art

by joelf

August 24th, 2004

Sitting near Coop and Frank Kozik in popularity Josh “Shag” Agle has carved out a niche in the world of fine art by working hard and never loosing sight of his style.
Starting out in small galleries catering to low brow & west coast art, he has worked hard at marketing his work so that now, legitimate galleries and serious art collectors are buying his work with increasing diligence.

Oozing with style that is inspired from mid 50 to 60’s commercial illustrations, his paintings often have a humorous and cartoonish look. Shag sites his inspirations from some fairly interesting sources; Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Mark Ryden and Robert Williams. Also mentioned as a source of inspiration, according to this article, is his dead grandfather. You may soon see his work on modern furniture or clothing,
as he has done some work with another monkey artist Paul Frank.

Joel Friesen - Unusually Large Human

by joelf

August 10th, 2004

Good Morning

TallJoelMy name is Joel Friesen and I am 7’ 6″ tall at 379 lbs. I am writing to you today because I feel I could be a great service to your business because of the advantage of my large frame. I’m sure a large company such as yours has often had the need for some one of my gigantic stature. I can reach for things on the high shelves and screw in light bulbs without the assistance of a large step ladder. This alone could save you hundreds of dollars in man hours each year, and reduce large bills for ladders and tall reaching devices.

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Talking Dog Seeks Employment

by joelf

August 7th, 2004

Dear Denise,

talking.jpgAllow me the pleasure of introducing myself to you. I am Joel the Talking Dog. Though I am not actually a real talking dog, (Like a Labrador or a pit-bull) but am in fact a professional entertainer that dresses in a dog suit and answers questions posed from the audience in a manor that would be expected from the likes of a dog that talks. (more…)

English Translatoring Seek Workeds

by joelf

August 6th, 2004

Bonjour. Je suis une masculin. Je suis appliqué pour le monsuir de langue du travail english/french. Mes qualifications dans la langue de l’amour sont grandes sous le soleil chaud, ma langue française fait cuire au four pour un crumpet chaud de traduction.

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Child Prodigy Seeks Criminal Lawyer Position

by joelf

August 4th, 2004

me-in-2003.jpgHello, my name is Joel Friesen, I am a professional criminal lawyer despite the fact I am only 14 years old.

After graduating high school at 8 and attending Yale school of Law until 12 I am now seeking legal employment with a forward thinking firm, bold enough to understand my contributions as a criminal lawyer.

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