Falling in want

When i first saw this imagine. I stood agape for 20 minutes, feeling a strange sense of immense joy and calm. I craned my neck, stepped close and savoured the delicious details.

Falling August (2006)

So taken by the image, i asked the bespectacled, silver maned volunteer manning the door of the Grafton Regional Art Gallery, how much the picture was selling for.

"Not for sale" she murmured "But if it were, the asking price would be $18000 i suppose." She then leaned across her desk and in a conspiratorial whisper said "The horse isn't falling you know... A farmer came in once and told me that the horse was rolling, which they do to ease the irritation of drying sweat"

And so was my introduction to the marvelous Michael Zavros.

The deft touch of an Australian maestro

Temple of Love (2007)

Yves Saint Laurent Le Smoking/Bay (2006)

Flight (2002)

Black Breasted Silver Onagadori Twins

Debaser/Polka Dot (2010)

Michael Zavros by Cherry Hood (2010 Archibald finalist)

Lights Out Wonderland

DBC Pierre was a literary sensation when he took out the Man Booker with his debut novel - Vernon God Little.

It's been a few years since i've read it, yet i can still vividly remember the descriptions of the oppressive heat of suspicion fired upon Vernon from the citizens of a small backwash town in Texas.

He's releasing his third book next month

Taking in London, Tokyo, Berlin and the Galapagos Islands, Lights Out In Wonderland documents Gabriel Brockwell's remarkable global odyssey. Committed to the pursuit of pleasure and in search of the Bacchanal to obliterate all previous parties, Gabriel's adventure takes in a spell in rehab, a near-death experience with fugu ovaries, a sexual encounter with an octopus, and finally an orgiastic feast in the bowels of Berlin's majestic Tempelhof Airport. Along the way we see a character disintegrate and re-shape before our eyes.

If you can't catch him doing a reading at OAF tomorrow night, you can hear [and see] a snippet of the book here. Or if you're like me and have an aversion to audio books you can get ahead of the posse and read the opening pages of the book here. Sweet.

Happy Mondays

A more perfect day couldn't be found, even if you looked under the couch cushions.

Yes i will gloat, as doesn't that just put the icing on the cake that is called life?

- A bout of boisterous dancing to Cee Lo Green's new song "F%$^ you" during a cardio kickbox workout

I may be jumping the gun here, but i'dput money on it taking out the number one spot in the Hottest 100

- Breakfast of creamy Rice porridge topped with pear, blueberries and sour cherries

- Finding unticketed parking in Rozelle

- Adriano Zumbo's sweet french bread Berry, almond, custard pastry for morning tea

- Finding brand new pale blue, distressed skinny Country Road jeans for $25 at the Red Cross Store - booyah! Preventing landfill, charitable donations and cheap jeans in one fall swoop

- Befriending a beautiful cardigan to wear at a wedding on the weekend

- Coffee and Pear & Blueberry buttercake for lunch at Bourke Street Bakery

- Lastly its Monday and i didn't have to slip into the weary role of gainfully employed and productive citizen for the day...thank golly gosh for ADO's

Friends? Friends!

I have a habit of "befriending" inanimate objects and fictional characters - i will lovingly hug a treasured book, fondle a tea bag and refer to the cast of Green Wing as part of my posse.

Fortunately my gesture of friendship towards cosy two sets and retro cardigans is reciprocated by the Melbournites - Friends of Couture.

Check out their blog, for a visual feast of inspiration behind their new spring collection.

O Book of mine

I've previously made mention my beliefs that cigarettes are Satan's handmaiden.

However i can't deny that this is an ingenisouly cute idea. Tank Books have taken the flip-top cigarette pack and re-realease classics such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Ernest Hemingway’s The Undefeated and The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Indie German Publishing house - Automatenverlag - has taken the idea one step further and have started dispensing books, graphic novels, children's cookbook, travel guides and collections of poetry in vintage cigarette machines in and around Hamburg.

At only 4 euros a pop - the books are cheaper than a pack of cigarettes and instead of shrinking your brain you're pumping it up, ooooo feel the literary burn.

My Body's a Zombie for you

I had a fleeting notion at the fifties fair i that could and most certaintly would live out the rest of my days as a 1950's caricature.

However as a liberated woman [ie stuck working 9 to 5] high heels, hairspray and cherry red lipstick won't be practical. The more i thought about it, i won't want to commit to just one era as what self respecting woman of the 1950's would have pranced around as the undead to the luscious lurching tones of Mr Ryan Gosling's band of misfits

Instead of convulsing with happiness to the unrelentingly heavy organ, bellowing bass and thump of the drums, the 1950's dopplganer me would have struck the pose below

I much rather dance with the children of the corn.

Which is what i plan to do right now.

Now where did i put that black lipstick...

Slice of Sydney. Piece of Paris

I've got plans.

Big plans.

Travel plans.

A year of travel equates to a year of scrimping, saving, selective sky larking and weekends of penniless Tom Foolery.Unfortunately i haven't been strict on myself as i stimulate the economy essential purchases of magnetic fishing toys, mini Putt-putt putters, cheesecake and sparkling white wine.

With my "to read" book pile breaching occupational health and safety standards, as it perches precariously close to avalanche proportions - i've "unfortunately" stumbled across a treasure trove of delicious books at The Little Bookroom, with it's deft selection of travel guides claiming to capture the character of a city.

My heart pounds at the thought of purchasing

Luckily for me i've found one such way of scratching the travel itch and keeping the purse strings tied - that's by finding out the true character of my home town - Sydney.

As a creature of habit i've stuck to the same parts of Sydney for the past 20 odd years. It's time to branch out and shameless copy Louise's idea of 52 Suburbs and explore new parts of Sydney

Though i'm much lazier than Louise and won't even pretend that i'll attempt to visit a new suburb a week, so maybe i'll just buy the book...

Weekend DeLorean

The Flux capacitor has been topped up with plutonium, kindly "borrowed" from a group of Libyan terrorists.

Space has been cleared to allow for speeds of 88miles/hour to be reached.

That's right i'm going back in time this weekend!

Saturday night it's a hop, skip and jump back to the 1500's, as i celebrate the last week of a dear friend's singledom at a medieval court themed restaurant.

Then it's a tip, toe, tap and i'll be in the 1950's for the annual 1950's fair.

If the prospect of a finding a costume is stopping you from attending the 1950's fair - fear not! The makers of the deliciously stylish HBO show Mad Men are having a 10 day charity ebay auction, hocking off furniture, walk on bit parts and costumes, with all money raised going towards cancer research.

Stand up

The biggest natural disaster of our lifetime happened four weeks ago.

So far twenty million people have been affected by the floods in Pakistan. The waterlogged area stretches hundreds of kilometres and roughly equates to the size of the UK.

The weather bureau predicts that torrential rain will continue to pour down on Pakistan for the next three weeks.

Currently only 60% of the required $490million to kick start the relief effort has been collected. There are a number of reasons blamed for this

- Donation fatigue with a calamity of natural disasters occurring in the last few years [2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti Earthquake]

- The fear of terrorism and the misappropriation of funds

- The lack of mainstream media attention

ABC radio including triple j are doing their bit tomorrow to raise funds and awareness. Tune in. Donate. Make a difference.

Invention: The breakfast club

Some mornings no matter how much caffine you gobble down or how much high cardio exercise you punish yourself with, your mind reminds tucked up in bed and you mope around as apathetic as a teenager.

Israeli industrial designer Shay Carmon's quirky take on breakfast, can "kick start" anyone out the Monday morning blues with her defibrillator toaster.

Tea for two, or two for tea?

Nothing beats morning wake up rituals.

Fumbling through the haze of sleep to flick the switch of the kettle. The rumble of anticipate as the water bounces and bubbles rapidly. The treasured china mug and tea bag on the ready. Neuronal synapses misfiring in want of caffeine as steam slowly curls out of the spout.

However rituals evolve with the ebb and flow of time. So i won't say no to the gift of new tea accessories...

And a canister of Black Rose to toast the new ritualistic implements...

A bright and wonderfully bold fruity infusion of flavours. Keemun provides a floral orchid base on which tropical mango and papaya play with juicy currants. Silky smooth with a decadent velvety finish filled with blooming roses. A beautiful brew that continues to blossom in the cup and makes a sweet summer refresher when served iced with orange and lemon slices.

Yummy.

Do i HAVE to?

Sometimes if people avoid things long enough they thwart the system.

Instead of being shunned for their "lazy" behaviour they are rewarded for their incredible skills of circumventing circumstances or their ability to eschew reality and responsibility. Accolades are bestowed upon them, studio audiences gasp in unison and murmur in approval, as a greasy haired television host interviews the subject on prime time television. Books and blogs are concieved to ensure that these people are forever entrenched in the matrix of human history.

Avoiding Taxes

Avoiding Cleaning

World's Longest Ear Hair

I've successfully avoided buying a phone.

Until now.

I'm at the end of my rope, i've adopted all the obsolete phones floating around the family home. Each one pushed past their expiration date by me. I've been bequeathed bricks from my Mother, brother, sister, the dodgy phone left on the street corner, my uncle..

Instead of being praised for my innovative thriftiness and ingenuity of sapping the most out of each phone, people are getting pissed off. Sort of makes sense as my current phone has a ravishing appetite for chewing up text messages and then dying at the most inopportune moments.

Hot damn, this isn't going to be fun.s

Finally Friday

ahhh the weekend is finally here! With baking, craft and flower arranging planned i feel like a granny - i'll balance it out with martial arts and heading out to a gig tonight. Yay for the weekend!