DUBSTEP IS HERE

With the help of promoters White Rhino and Dank Morass as well as the boys from 4zzz radio's Forcefed Fistfuls (Sundays 8pm), Brisbane's underground dub-step and grime scene has flourished this year with artists such as Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke and Joker taking over Barsoma and the Step Inn. And it won't die with 2008. The new year will see Flying Lotus swinging by the Moon Bar and London's The Bug and Warrior Queen (who was featured on Diplo's latest mixtape with Santogold) playing Step Inn on January 26.





Daring to be different, Laneway has again pushed its own boundaries by adding two more dub-step outfits to its bill. Hermitude and Rusko join robotic hip hop act Harmonic 313 and the African-techno inspired Portuguese Buraka Som Sistema, not to mention a plethora of electro-pop geniuses such as Stereolab (my personal favourite), Four Tet, Daedelus and newcomers Girl Talk and El Guincho. Laneway has indeed proved that it is ahead of its time and is well-placed to keep those wankers wearing nothing but boardshorts and the Australian flag well clear of the festival gates.


Yah! - Buraka Som Sistema feat. Petty

Hunter Happy

It only takes one fantastic Australian designer to prove that the the world's most exciting fashion isn't just found in Paris, Milan, New York, or even Sydney and Melbourne. In the case of Carly Hunter, you'll find it in Perth, a city most East-coasters cast off along with Adelaide as little better than Canberra. But Hunter's 'Temporary Shelters' collection has caught the attention of Brisbane's ever reliable fun fashion culprit the Outpost and its loyal customers. The collection is perfect for summer and can be added to in all number of different ways (I love the dad socks in the photos below). Hunter represents womanly elegance as hiding behind girly simplicity by contrasting alluring textures such as pure silk and lines that highlight womanly curves, with soft, natural colours, simple shapes and the odd cheeky tassle. Temporary Shelters is a manifestation of the youth, sass and creative style of the truly sexy Australian lady, and proudly shows that from little towns big things can grow.

This Year.

I have accomplished many things this year of which I am rightfully be proud of. I got a boyfriend who I'm crazy about and have managed to keep around for a whole year, a new job earning me sweet dollars and giving me a step up in my career, impressive uni results and a brand new house in which I am living away from my parents for the first time. Only a couple of shit things happened, our 20 year-old cat had to be put down, and the law school didn't approve my exchange because I hadn't completed a couple of core subjects. Shit happens. But one thing I'm dissappointed about is the fact that I have hardly been able to keep any decent friends. I'm not usually one for proclaiming the details of my personal life to the entire blogging community, but today I want to say something. I am finished with those individuals who claimed to be my 'friends' but who repeatedly excluded me from social gatherings because (a) they forgot about me, (b) I couldn't be reached via facebook event invitation or (c) they just didn't want me there. I'm finished with the friends who made bets about how long my boyfriend and I would last (whom I proved wrong). And I'm finished with the friends who were too self-indulgent and lazy to acknowledge my moving out of home, congratulate me on my new job, show some empathy when my cat died or when my exchange got knocked back, or to even call me for the occasional chat. I'm finished with kissing asses and feeling like I'm not good enough. I'm an awesome individual and it's my resolution to find some friends who actually share that view. Happy New Year!

Money money money

If you're like me and know almost nothing about economics or from where in hell this so-called 'financial crisis' has sprung, this article by Herman Daly might help you form a basic understanding, by using an analogy involving pigs.

Bombs, ect.

It seems silly to be writing about things like tea pots and china figurines when there's stuff like this going on.


Gone are the days in which 'terrorist' insurgents would only take a few officials hostage and carefully target government buildings to avoid civilian casualties. Today, passenger planes are shot down, olympic atheletes are murdered, entire villages are desecrated by suicide bombers and great buildings containing thousands of civilians are destroyed. The events in Mumbai are scary not only because they resulted in huge civilian losses but because they kept an entire city paralysed for days. I recently moved into a new house and the guy whose room I've taken (who is also a good friend of my brother's) flew to Mumbai a few days before the attacks. He was staying 100 metres from the Taj, and a tourist being chased by an insurgent with a gun ran into his hotel. His 'holiday' in India was sadly cut short, but he did make it out alive on a flight to Barcelona, so big up to John. Killing 200 people is such an unfortunate way to go about achieving change, especially considering India's past victories under Ghandi.

Meanwhile, the kids in yellow at Bangkok airport have shown themselves to be an example of the power of (mostly) non-violent resistance, not to mention how to piss off thousands of tourists. Thailand's Supreme Court recently ruled in their favour by deposing the country's corrupt Prime Minister.


On the home front, the Federal government is deliberating the introduction of a Bill of Rights for Australia. I think it's a great idea, seeing as we are pretty much the only country in the Western world that lacks one. But having gone through a semester of Public Law with Professor Jim Allen, I'm not going to spend another second of my life talking about the pros and cons of parliamentary sovereignty and judicial supremacy, and I hope anyone who has had his crazy Canadian views against bills of rights hammered into their brain stem will sympathise.
One thing I will talk about though are the discussions to exclude 'contentious' rights (like the right to abortion) in favour of more 'settled' rights like freedom of speech. Freedom of speech, the right to vote and other basic political rights are already enshrined in the Constitution, legislation and the common law. It would be unnecessary to simlpy restate them in a bill of rights, unless they form part of a document that incorporates rights never-before protected in Australia. Such a document would perform a more meaningful function if it included, for example, the right to abortion (which is unfairly and outdatedly unlawful in certain States) as well as other economic, social, environmental and cultural rights.

In lighter news, the Prodigy will be playing Riverstage on 20 January with Simian Mobile Disco and Hot Chip. I have also just discovered that Lick It have booked Metronomy for 16 January at Empire. It's been a while since I've been but I always have a good time at Empire. Boys Noize was especially fun.


I really want to go and see Swan Lake at QPAC. My mum used to take us every year at Christmas. I also want to see the Paris Opera Ballet perform La Bayadere next year in July.

Water, Dan Deacon, Karen Walker and Peggy Davies

Anna Bligh today announced that recycled water will indeed be incorporated into South-East Queensland's water supply once dam levels fall below 40%. I think this is a positive step forward for Queensland, a state that is behind most of the developed world in areas like water recycling and flouridatation, both of which have been around for a long time in the UK, parts of Europe and Singapore. Having been born and raised in the UK and still alive and kicking - and not having suffered from a serious illness in my life (apart from pneumonia, which I most likely picked up from an infested fountain while I was on holiday in Rome), I know that water recycling is a completely safe and a really good way to save water. The conservative-minded Queenslanders against this initiative need to open their eyes, get their facts straight and maybe do a little bit of research before flying off the handle.

In other other news, Dan Deacon (yay!) is playing at The Zoo on Friday 6 March with High Places. 2009 is definately looking up.




In other other news these cute owls designed by Karen Walker have a starting price of $75 NZ. Adorable but muy expensivo!


Lastly, check out these gorgeous Peggy Davies for Royal Albert china figurines. Quite unlike such Royal Albert traditional china patterns as Lady Carlyle and Old Country Roses Chintz, these Art-Deco inspired designs go well with the the Polka Rose cup and saucer pattern below as was popular in the 1930s. Yes, there are times that I miss working in the china section of a David Jones.

Not the only expensive thing referred to in this blog, these babies go for 195 pounds, yes POUNDS a pop.

My personal favourite:

Magazines

It's only last night since I did my last post, but I'm going through a glorious period of nothing to do at work-ness and I've been doing some browsing that has gotten me a little bit excited.

Bored on my lunch break, I wandered down to the News Agent's on George Street to look for a magazine of the interesting (not 'how to suck your boyfriend's cock properly') variety. Yen and Frankie are increasingly similar these days and I also find them both a tad tedious. I bought the latest issue of Oyster the other week and enjoyed it, but the intellectual stimulation gained from reading it is unsurprisingly low. Adamant, I wandered further and, to my delight, came across a pile of Monster Children back issues in the Entertainment section. Last time I was in Sydney we trekked our way up and around Oxford Street in the summer heat to visit the Monster Children Art Gallery only to find it closed. After a quick flick through, it's obvious that the Monster Children guys like art that incorporates boobs, but from what I saw overall I was pretty impressed.

Back at work I discovered a heap of cool mags online, including Amelia's Magazine from (yep, you guessed it) Amelia's apartment in London's Brick Lane, and Dumbo Feather Pass it On, which has on its website a funky little Ecard service.





A subscription to any of these cute little productions would make a fabulous Christmas gift (hint).

Hugh Jackman is not the sexiest man alive.

I watched 2001: Space Odyssey on Sunday night as part of Kubric Week on SBS. There is something so eerie about Space Odyssey that makes me feel uncomfortable every time I watch it. Every night since I've expected to awake suddenly, dying in my bed, a monolith towering over me, howling at me and turning me into a massive foetus the size of earth. Of course, it doesn't help that that my Dad (bless him) named our computer server after the HAL 9000 Computer. Now every time my computer slows down a little bit I worry that it's going to start singing 'Daisy' to me.

Christ, I haven't even seen the Shining yet!

I also saw Baby Mama last week. It was hilarious. I think I have a little tiny girl crush on Tina Fey. She's a genius, even more so since those Sarah Palin spoofs.

I'm going down to Sydney in February and I'm looking forward to checking out the works at the Art Gallery of New South Wales by artists depicting the Shining Prince in Japan's oldest novel 'The Tale of Genji'.


Also at the Gallery in February is 'Half Light: Portraits from Black Australia'. It will be refreshing to see some contemporary photography by Indigenous Australian artists.

Model speeders, droids and Chewbaccas in glass cases is also likely to be a laugh at the Star Wars Exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. Yay!



I'm sitting here listening to stupid Australian actors making an attempt at creating drama in the background and their whining is starting to get on my nerves, so I'm going to head to bed. But before I go I would like to say something about these sweet little docs - that they're cool az!

freedom ow

Studying law and journalism (but not enough journalism) full time and working almost full time makes for a very busy Robby. Having survived the academic year, it's high time to extract myself from exam notes and invest in something a little more colourful. I hope it's the beginning of a brilliant blogging career.

I recently had a birthday on which I was lucky enough to be given a whole pile of gorgeous jewellry by designers including Karen Walker, Princess Tina and Limedrop. I was also lucky enough to have in my bank account the funds to pay for the most expensive (although relatively cheap according to many a hipster's standards) item of clothing i have ever purchased - a dress from Carly Hunter's Temporary Shelters collection. I have always been a lover of vintage but I have recently developed a hunger for designer clothing and spend my new found spare time not reluctantly trawling through collections on the internet and starting passionate love affairs with brooches and skirts. Not my first love, but a love nonetheless, is Stretsis, or this sweet thang below.




I'm also excited to say that after quite a dry spell during which all I thought the end of good music was nigh, I have discovered some great albums including Flying Lotus' 'Los Angeles' and Cibo Matto's 'Viva! La Woman'. Also, thanks to the Laneway Fesitval, for which I am eternally grateful (especially after Parklife), I am loving Daedelus' 'Fairweather Friends' EP, Buraka Som Sistema's 'Black Diamond' and El Guincho's 'Alegranza'. I must also commend the SUPERB Laneway lineup that includes one of my all-time favourites STEREOLAB, as well as Four Tet, who's Everything Ecstatic album is keeping me sane on my train ride to work in the mornings.
I always want to talk about how much I love Laneway because it's the most charming, original, intelligent and eclectic festival I've ever been to. Its organisers seem to share all my favourites - having chosen Yo La Tengo to headline in 2006 and Broken Social Scene, who I regrettably missed, to headline in 2007. I definately can't wait until February.

I'm also going to Barsoma this weekend (15/11) to check out Hudson Mohawke. My brother (Prince Nod) is supporting, who is my hero for the week for playing the Cool Kids, MIA and Rye Rye within 20 minutes of each other on his Sunday night radio program on 4zzz. See you there!