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!