About 40 minutes ago, I found out that one of the most amazing designers I've observed during my short lived life has passed away. Lee Alexander McQueen has been the source of many the inspiration and my general appreciation of fashion. Not just his designs, but his art have served a huge inspiration to many. All my love and admiration goes out to him. Thank you for the light you have shone through with your contribution to the beauty and wonderfulness to moments of life and art.
In their Spring/Summer 2010 range, Louis Vuitton introduces their new Raindrop Besace purses, essentially made up of coated canvas with leather handles. For 1960.00 USD you can pull the drawstrings on your own reusable Louis Vuitton trash bag.
This is a lie. iPhone photography is something I’m a little bit addicted to. The main appeal of using the iPhone as a camera is owed to the ease of the device. When I was over in New York a couple of months ago my iPhone provided me with a easy-and inconspicuous way of snapping my memories. The quality of the iPhone camera also surprised me in this time and so by the end of the trip I had quite a few amazing snaps to remember my time in the beautiful city. I only wish that I was aware of some of the brilliant apps that are available.
My new favourite thing is to browse the iPhone App store for all the exciting camera apps. There are many out there, including ones that mimic the effects of analog photography. Amongst the fiery arena of the digital/analog debate I believe that digital photography and new ways of capturing images should be embraced. It excites me that some of the appealing features of both digital and analog photography are available in a compact telecommunication device that travels with you in your pocket, ready for any photo opportunity as they may appear. Affordability is yet another great feature. Although iPhones are not the cheapest gadget, the price in a photographers perspective is surely a small one!
The iShakeitphoto app is one of my favourites. It simulates a Polaroid photo being taken (complete with the development time!) and adjusts the colours and tone of the shot. Here are a couple taken in only the first week of having the app:
iPhonePhoto is A site exhibiting some great iPhone captured shots. You can also browse more iPhone shots on Flickr.
I have a 'friend' on Twitter; we tweet to each other quite often. We have never met - I don't think.... we just have mutual friends. She has just commented under one of our mutual friends statuses which I had also commented on (her and I are not Facebook friends). I then commented back and all of a sudden, we had embarked on Facebook conversation. This is not someone that I met in a chatroom or some weird stamp-exchange forum. She obviously decided to follow me one day when she read my collection of witty, intelligent posts (perhaps she was a fan of my modesty?). Anyway, all I can say from this experience is that in this day and age, no one can complain of being lonely and no one should die without friends. There's no excuse! When we are old people we will meet our friends over the internet on some virtual world, and drink virtual teas with them, rather than meeting at the bowls club. Hell, I'm doing it now. And to my Twitter friend, if you're following me on Tumblr, or read my Blogspot, hiiii! I hope we embark on future virtual teas (or virtual gin and juice, either/or).
I found some interesting photos of acrylic prints on board/canvas as well as gallery exhibitions while lolling around on Tumblr. The images linked me back to this great blog ihavethepowerart.blogspot.com, which provided me with some brilliant afternoon art inspiration and generally made my day that little bit more interesting.
The following photos are from 'Under the Influence - Masters of the Universe Tribute Show' an in-gallery installation of Castle Greyskull. This installation in particular made me happy -
Brett Manning "Sorceress" with ink and colored pencil on paper.
Ash Stymest is one of those models that people can't get enough of, or that they see and grunt in disgust. The tattooed, London-grunge look is not appreciated by everyone as being acceptable in the high fashion world. However the latest Marni Fall 2010 lookbook shows off Ash's good looks in a slightly less 'heroin chic' and a little more of an...angelic manner. Below are a few of my favourites -
THE HAZARDS OF SWIMMING NAKED are a 7 piece band based in Far-North Queensland. I first discovered this band one night at Brisbane venue the Lofly Hangar sometime in late 2008. I remember walking into the wonderful yet dilapidating warehouse style venue with their set as the sound track. These guys were playing in front of stack of broken old school televisions to a crowd of twenty-somethings sitting around on the concrete ground, drinking out of goon sacks and tallies. It was a great night and their tunes had really struck a chord in me somewhere because I think I sent about 5 emails to different friends ranting about how I had discovered this "awesome band from the middle of nowhere" and how I was "blown away by their instrumentals". Their sound is diverse with heavy instrumentals and doesn't feature any vocals apart from some electronic vocal samples (remind me a bit of Air). some tracks start out very smooth and chilled before breaking into some dramatic guitar riffs and drums. Some of their stuff is sad (in a lay on your bed and stare at the white ceiling kind of way), and some of it makes you want to turn to the person next to you and make out with them.
To my surprise I randomly read that they were set to play at the Hi Fi in West End on Friday night. I dragged my best friend along after I convinced her that we should do something else on a Friday night (other then knocking back G&T's on my deck). I think she was more interested in discovering what the "ambient shoegaze" genre sounded like (rather than breaking our usual habits) but she agreed which was great as they played a good set and I finally have a copy of their debut album Our Lines Are Down produced and mixed by band-members Kirk Harmer & Adrian Diery. The 10 track album is surprisingly very well packaged and the sound quality is pretty good considering the type of budget they would be on.
Here's a clip I stole from their MYSPACE page. And be sure to have a listen to my favourite track And A Whole Assortment Of Uppers.
Anyway to finish this reviewSLASHrant, THE HAZARDS OF SWIMMING NAKED are brilliant and more people should know about them.
There's a heap of amazing remixes that are out there at the moment. One of my favourite ways to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon is to hit up The Hype Machine (www.hypem.com) for the latest remixes posted across music blogs. Today, I'm loving THIS Florence and the Machine remix by The xx. Both Florence and the Machine and The xx will be playing at St Jeromes Laneway Festival across Australia alongside DANIEL JOHNSTON, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN, my favourite Sydney band DAPPLED CITIES and BLACK LIPS among others. I'm either going to max out my credit card and buy a ticket in the next couple of days or hope to god my pay packet is big enough because this is a line-up not to be missed. Check out this clip of the Black Lips playing at Heaven Club in London and you'll know exactly what I mean:
A sneak peak of the new Balenciaga Spring-Summer 2010 Womens Ad Campaign. The contrast in size between the models, teamed with the misdirection of their placement in the ad creates an interesting concept. I look forward to seeing what other shots are released.
