Is there anyone in the online world of blogs and user sites who gives a damn about the fact that we are losing not only half the punctuation marks available to the English language, but also our capacity for careful reading? Is it ok? Does it matter? I was talking to a mate the other day about how writing and reading on screen means that we are constantly surfing over the surface of huge amounts of information, but rarely pausing to go down into shafts, where it’s dark, a bit scary but where the real business of being human can be discovered - and examined, slowly, carefully, maybe not successfully. As we gear up here at mapvillage to talk to anyone in Brisbane who cares to listen and take part, the last thing on our minds, I guess, is whether or not we have the apostrophe in the right place. But, you know, I reckon it shows a disrespect for people you would hope may read what you offer up, on a screen as much as on paper, if you don’t at least try to get it right. I’m fed up with reading responses to blogs that are so poorly put together that it’s as though the writer couldn’t give a stuff about the fact that this is an act of communication, and worth a little care. Yep: old-fashioned and probably spitting in the wind. But the human quality of consideration for others (which counteracts the pug-ugliness of solipsism) is so lovely and wondrous, I can’t imagine why we’d want to discount it, just because we have this remarkable invention called the internet. Whatever…talk’s cheap
Monthly Archive for January, 2007
an other reality
What would you do with your last 24 hours? And how does a violin help when you’re consumed by a giant ball of string? For some answers to these weighty questions, head to Raw Space Galleries in South Brisbane before 13 February to see ‘An Other Reality’, an exhibition of photographic and animation works. The artist-run gallery has just been renovated to make the space more versatile for artists and the adjacent cafe and bar more impressive for patrons. The current exhibition is presented by three recent Queensland College of Art graduates - Kate Bernauer, Charlotte Svedrup and Michael Gordon Hill. They impressed Raw Space Galleries’ director, Robb Kelly, at their graduating show with their takes on how other worlds might look through a different lens. Keep an eye out for artists from Paris’ Palais de Tokyo gallery exhibiting at Raw Space Galleries in 2007.
When seeking the latest trends and hippest brands, you could do it the old-fashioned way and pound the endless pavements or, if you’re really smart, you’d jump on your trusty steed Solomon, the prize Billygoat and discover a whole new world. In this new (some might say perfect) world you can jump from Sydney’s Bourke Street, to the infamous Oxford Street and then onto Melbourne’s heavenly Chapel Street, before stopping in at Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, with a click of your mouse and a (gentle) kick in Solomon’s side. In Fatland you’ll find the most coveted brands such as Ksubi, Lover, Sass & Bide and Nudie but before you begin exploring you’ll be asked to choose a character (or alias) as well as a prize steed. Once you are saddled up, you can explore, or shop, until your heart’s content. But be warned, Fatland IS addictive so make sure you check back with the real world every now and then.
In a time when rain is welcomed with open arms and subsidised rain tanks, I’m happy to have discovered The Cloudspotter’s Guide, written by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society. Gavin started the Society in England in 2004 and triggered a flood of support from mutually appreciative cloud spotters around the globe. Inundated with cloud facts, stories, statistics, poems and images by members keen to share their passion and respect for the cloud family, Gavin collected the material and published it as the Guide in 2006. Its pages offer a timely reminder to contemplate the simple beauty of one of nature’s most precious and life sustaining gifts. A read of this book will have you looking up more to appreciate the moody molecules collecting above. They each tell a tale, if you’re listening.
If you prefer classic, simple and stylish fashions that feel as good as they look then Skin and Threads range of wardrobe staples will definitely please. With an emphasis on clean, soft silhouettes that can be worn as separates or layered for a more unconventional look, the gorgeous Skin and Threads brand is also ethically produced. An understanding of organic and natural fabrics has led Skin and Threads to create edgy designer basics that allow women to not only look but to feel beautiful in their clothes. Skin and Threads aims to educate consumers about the fabrics they wear so that being fashionable is not seen as mutually exclusive to being environmentally and ethically aware. Brisbane stockists of this fab brand include Akuti, Bessie Head, Bianca Palmier and Lotus.
Philippe Legrain is heading to Australia to talk about his new book, Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them (Little, Brown). At just 33, this writer has extraordinary confidence and experience, and the book tends to sweep its arms very wide to gather in the great flux of peripatetic humanity in order to make a case not just for tolerance of immigrants, but also for active encouragement. The book is kind of Richard Florida without the slickness; where Florida made the case for educated, highly skilled migrants, Legrain reckons it’s the desperate and needy that must be “let in” to countries that currently see them as something to fear. The best thing about Legrain’s book, I think, is the way it tells stories about people who simply have no option but to try to find somewhere other than where they were born to make a life. Continue reading ‘the migrant’s friend’
It’s been estimated that women put more than 200 different kinds of chemicals on their skin every day under the guise of skincare and beauty regimes. Jo Wood, wife of Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, is passionate about organics and her belief in working with nature, not against it, has prompted her to create her own line of truly natural skincare products and fragrances. Jo Wood Organics was started one year ago with the aim of creating something organic that’s also exquisitely beautiful. Jo’s sensual fragrances, soaps, bath oils, body oils and lotions are all available online, as is her first book, Naturally - How to Look and Feel Healthy, Energetic and Radiant the Organic Way.
Get those green thumbs ready to fumble their way through the new Green Pages directory, Australia’s first national directory dedicated to eco-friendly products and services. This guide will hopefully one day be dropped on front lawns and doorsteps of every Australian household, but for the moment you’ll need to pay for it online (unless you can still find a copy in a local newsagency). Products and services cover everything from recycling waste, to eco-friendly paints, hemp baby nappies, organic make-up, bamboo blankets and eco-resorts. There’s a version for everyday lifestyle choices and one for business, so whether you run a small office at home or are building an empire you can find the earth friendly way to recycle, buy office furniture, travel, and find clients and contractors that also see through green coloured glasses.
If you are feeling in the mood, Play Dead a photographic exhibition by Alex Chomicz will be on display at the Queensland Centre for Photography in Bulimba from Feb 10 - Mar 4. Apparently Baz Luhrmann loved the pieces and bought one for his collection. The Queensland Centre for Photography (QCP) is a non-profit organization that facilitates connections between audience and art practitioners. Local audiences are invited to extend their interest in photography by learning about the medium, its practitioners and the surrounding theoretical debates. Definitely worth a visit.
Before Emma Magenta’s illustrations and words were published, she entertained customers at the Paddington bookstore she worked at in Sydney by sticky-taping her drawings to the shop window. Her scratches and musings about life found more permanent homes in her two wistful little books, The Peril of Magnificent Love, and the recently published, A Gorgeous Sense of Hope. In these fables about love, Emma Magenta tries to make sense of ‘magnificent love’ - the love that makes you want to buy new undies and swing naked from chandeliers. She also grapples with how to tell a real love interest from a jester on a quest to hoodwink her, and whether dancing the Canadian three-step will help a broken heart. Her drawings in red, black and white are simple and true to the soul.
This video confirms the energy movement is well under way! The fact that Pink Floyd have given permission for the first ever remix of one of their songs absolutely rocks! More businesses, artists, media, individuals should jump on board and get the ball rolling. Whether your a multinational or local business, there is no difference in the conscious action of supporting the fight against global warming. It all adds up when it comes to solving global warming and this is what is needed to reach the critical mass and tipping point to save the planet.
w opens in the maldives
One of my favourite hotels chains is the W Hotels from Starwood. They have put back the comfort in designer luxury hotels with a range of boutique W Hotels across the world. A new addition to the group is the W Retreat & Spa ? Maldives - a private island and luxury playground, where style flirts with soul in a wonderland of white-sand beaches, turquoise lagoons and breathtaking reefs. At over US$1200 a night, it comes at price! A lot of detail has been put into your stay with Bi-level beachfront and over-water retreats allowing the indoor and outdoor to mingle; roofs with views of the sky and glass-paneled floors that reveal the lagoon below. Mmmm and it’s only January!
wallpaper* editor does it again
Tyler Br’l’, the iconic-magazine-Wallpaper* founder and Financial Times columnist has conceived a new magazine, Monacle, that is due out in February 2007. His story goes something like this… In 1996 a 25-year-old journalist saw a gap in the market for a magazine that targeted an untapped global audience and merged architecture, interior design, fashion and food. Mesmerising in its unswerving internationalist style and dry, provocative wit, Wallpaper* swiftly became an adjective in its own right. At the vanguard of the last decade’s design renaissance, Wallpaper* established a blueprint for a new breed of magazine and defined a new, single edition publishing concept. Ten years, thirteen magazine awards, an FT column and the creation of design agency Winkreative later, Wallpaper* founder Tyler Br’l’ is set to launch the second ground-breaking publication of his career. Created for an audience that existing media models currently ignore, Monocle is a global media brand that combines print, web and broadcast components. I’m looking forward to the results.
Starbucks are fighting a battle against tradition and their opponent is formidable: Chinese culture. Jonathan Watts reported in the Guardian newspaper that the Starbucks coffee shop, inside the walls of the majestic Forbidden City, the emperor’s palace, on the edge of Tiananmen Square, is being told to get out. Not by the authorities, yet, but by a rear-guard action led by a tv-star, Rui Chenggang. Starbucks say the shop is discreet and that tourists like it (although 70% of people responding to a survey said they think it’s wrong that it’s there). Rui Chenggang says it’s totally out of character with this monument to Chinese imperialism. They’re probably both right, but it will be interesting to see if commerce has a bigger say than culture. Can’t think of too many instances when culture wins. There’d probably be a coffee shop at the base of Uluru if the passing trade was more regular.
The Girder Bar has been voted ‘best new bar 2006′ in the map village eat drink awards 2006. Located at 36 Vernon Terrace, Teneriffe, this intimate wine bar is the perfect place for a glass of wine. The wine list is stunning, let alone the food and ambience. A Glass-topped iron girder table, imported light fixtures and a stunning pop art mural add to the overall feel of the bar, making it one of Brisbane’s newest and most popular haunts. As you wander the streets of Brisbane look out for the round stickers of the winners and runners up of the awards. Check it out next time you feel like some tempting tapas and a glass of red.
world’s first carbon neutral airline
Via Silverjet: From 25 January 2007, a new exclusively business class British airline, Silverjet, is to radicalise transatlantic travel by becoming the world’s first carbon neutral airline, including a mandatory carbon contribution within its fares to offset its total emissions. Silverjet will offer customers a private jet experience from London Luton Airport to Newark International Liberty Airport. From ‘999 return, customers can enjoy a 30 minute check in at the airline’s private air terminal, plus an award-winning flat bed on board. Intercontinental firsts for Silverjet include dedicated security and a separate ladies bathroom. On night flights, lights stay off from take off to landing, overhead lights and irritating call bells have been removed and optional breakfast is served on tip toes. Minimal announcements are made and all trolleys have been removed from Silverjet’s aircraft to ensure maximum quietness. Jackets and coats are returned on leaving the aircraft, not an hour before landing. For those who want a lie in, Silverjet has devised a ‘Breakfast Express’ option so customers can have their breakfast ‘on the go’ and leave the plane with a steaming cup of coffee.
When next in London, try Canteen. British society magazine Tatler has listed Canteen in its 2007 restaurant guide, listing the best places to eat in the U.K - “American diner meets Fifties air terminal meets Dotheboys Hall. Canteen is a fabulous look - sleek, postmodern, functional - and the reworked British classics are superb” According to Canteen, it is committed to providing honest food, nationally sourced, skillfully prepared and reasonably priced. They believe in good produce and their meat is additive free sourced directly from producers practising good animal husbandry with fish delivered fresh from day boats on the south coast. All dishes are cooked to order and the menu changes seasonally to accommodate the best and freshest national produce.
I chanced upon some Mt Zero Chick Peas at Vitality on the weekend. Known for their excellent produce, Mount Zero Olives’ products are found in many fine food outlets across Australia. Their success has even extended to a healthy export market, including London’s Harvey Nicholls. A family owned business on the Northern edge of the Grampians National Park, Mount Zero Olives’ success is due to an uncompromising commitment to sustainable organic/biodynamic agriculture, quality locally grown produce and fine food, and simplicity and integrity of product. Planted in 1953, the Mount Zero Olive Grove is one of the oldest olive groves in Australia, with a total of 6000 Spanish Manzanilla and Gordal olive trees. Organic Kabuli Chick Peas are relatively small and cook more quickly than others. They are perfect for salads and hummus, and work well with spiced meat dishes.
Without reading too much into the use of the Australian flag to intimidate and bully patrons at a rock concert, what a pity the issue wasn’t discussed thoroughly and thoughtfully. It was clearly such an emotive beat-up, and it’s unfortunate that both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition thought it appropriate to weigh in with hand-on-heart statements about the sanctity of the flag as a symbol of nationhood. It wasn’t about that, and both these men knew it, but the rule of thumb for politicians is, never let an opportunity to jack up your patriotic stakes go by. What would have been really good is if the politicians saw in these demonstrations of bullying in the name of nationalism the seriously worrying signs of the thuggish end of group behaviours, the kind that intimidates people into going along with a violent crowd. Big Day Out organizers, keen to keep a neutral atmosphere at their event, were made to feel like they, not the bullies, were in the wrong. Using a flag as a weapon is ugly. Saying to people, don’t bring weapons to a music event is fair enough. And a calm, mature society would understand that, and protect the dignity of its national flag against such misuse.
As cool as the eco-friendly Green Bags from Coles and Woolworths are, they’ve become quite ubiquitous of late, making it hard to maintain that individual sense of style. Luckily, Queensland-based company, Envirosax, has taken the concept of environmentally friendly reusable grocery bags and added a little bit of glamour. Whether you’re into graphic retro prints, bright florals or a more organic aesthetic, there’s a bag for all tastes. The trendy totes are now making acclaimed appearances at design and trade fairs throughout the world, and are available both individually and in sets of five. And best thing, besides helping save the environment, is that you won’t be seeing them on the arm of every other shopper in Brisbane. Well, at least not yet.
