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ENJOY YOURSELF...
TAKE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED FROM IT.



No words, photographs drawings or videos could really describe these past few weeks, but I'll give you bits of all to lead you in a direction. Its beautiful how indescribable it all is, thank god these atmospheres are intangible and cannot be pinpointed by any object or gesture. You've just gotta believe, cause its magic ya know.




We took a break from the studio for a few minutes to check out the Ed Fella Exhibition a few blocks away from the studio at The Narrows. Ed is holding the Ed poster in front of Ed's posters... Tin is looking ominous in the background.




We were just about to leave when Isobel showed up. Moments earlier she had hit a pot-hole and crashed her bike, she was pretty shaken, and needed some medical attention, so we trammed it to the Dental Hospital.




I can imagine that the Dental Hospital is pretty high on a lot of peoples most-feared lists. I'd say they've taken that into consideration by having beautiful displays of these macabre-looking ancient dental tools as you first enter the lobby. On top of this, we got up to the waiting room to find some doctor show playing on the televisions, depicting a man in scrubs, yanking his tooth out with pliers.




These are more utensils used for dental work, strategically placed to be one of the first things you see upon entrance.




The following weekend was our trip to Sydney to meet up with all the Allen cousins. Here I am, standing on either side of the Hume Highway, the traffic was pretty bad, so I woke up, got out, Rachel snapped this picture of me, Then I got back in, and went back to sleep.




When I woke up again, we were in Gundagai, the Premier Horse Town. We got out, ate lunch amongst a bunch of cows (they were grazing just steps from us). Gundgagai is fairly famous, considering its tiny size.





This is the Dog on the Tuckerbox. This monument comes from Jack Moses' Poem, Dog on the Tuckerbox, and resides as the song says, [roughly] five miles from Gundagai.




Sweet sign, at the Dog on the Tuckerbox monument.




When we finally got to Sydney, we had the most beautiful view, the Harbor Bridge, the Opera House and an enormous ship.




Lilly and Alison arrived and we had some food and drink. Pictured above from left to right are: Tim, Rachel, Lilly, Michael (my Grandfather's brother #1) Alison, and Kim (my Grandfather's brother #2). Also, as much as this photograph looks staged, or posed or like I am using a strobe, or its a funny freeze frame from a family film, it really isn't.




Following the reunion, I hopped a train to Gordon station, where I met up with this fine looking chap Travis Cornell and his family, for his 18th birthday. We ate at an amazing resautrant called: Ribs & Rumps. Please take note of Trav's little picture on his cake, quite adorable.




After dinner, Trav, Luke, Lou & I walked to Oxford Street for Trav's first legal night on the Town. I found this stencil, and thought it was rad, really rad.





I also found this sign, I also thought this was rad.




The first bar we went to, had a live band upstairs and a DJ downstairs. They also had these pieces of paper and paint, and people were encouraged to do whatever they wanted on them, as you can see, this was perhaps not the most artistic bar... or it was getting late, or both. Regardless I did approve of the colors.




When I came home, this was the beautiful sight I saw, Luna Park, in all its nighttime glory. Unfortunately my camera battery died shortly after this, and I was unable to photograph for much of the rest of the journey. However I do have some treats to share (snow! 105 year olds! fun!) over the next few days... stay tuned & stay moist (as Stebie C always says).

MONTY PYTHON'S: THE MEANING OF LIFE

IS (PERHAPS) THE GREATEST COMEDY OF ALL TIME.
10 supporting points

10.


Perfectly placed, immediately after "THE MIDDLE OF THE FILM" This gloriously absurd, and tremendously funny sketch introduces the best half of the film, and reminds you that the Pythons that are Monty, are masters of numerous forms of comedy.



9 & 8.
"Oh what a frightfully witty song" indeed, that song, (the number 9 reason) acts as the perfect segway to one of my favorite scenes in the whole film. I realized while watching it, that this is possibly where my adoration and appreciation for the hilarity that is vomit stemmed from.




7.
One of the most famous numbers from this comedy/musical masterpiece, this song is gold through and through, and the cherry on top is the little conversation at the end, amongst the "fiercely proud Protestant couple".




6.
Towards the end (naturally) we are graced with this scene; there is something magical about watching this as one of the only yanks in a crowd of at least 40 people, but the crowning moment of this scene is undoubtedly the wry smile from a cross dressing Michael Palin at about 5:13 when he thinks he has stumped the Grim Reaper. A fun piece of trivia I picked up from Russell while watching this: Palin's little aside at the end, claiming that he didn't eat the salmon was an improvisation.




5. & 4.
The animation in this film is not only beautiful, and original, but it too seems to have had a fair influence on our contemporary scene. I would argue that, everyone's favorite genre of illustration and installation, Post-postmodernism draws heavily from the aesthetic of Minneapolis' Own Terry Gilliam. So the beautiful animation, and its influence on Post-postmodernism, comprise reasons 4 & 5. (The above example is not the best, just do yourself a YouTube (anyone ever heard of this sweet site?!) search of Terry Gilliam Animation) and see what he is capable of.



3.
Mariam said that she would get the 3D gridded woman giving birth tattooed on her, I think that my next drawing will be of that, and I'd like to make a bunch of drawings/pieces based on this movie, but this part is just amazing. The whole song is just too incredible for words, its wit, accuracy, commentary, and honesty and educational value; you really must appreciate this one.

2.



I can't say for certain that present day comedy wouldn't be anything like it is without this film, but I can say that for as heavily as Family Guy has borrowed from The Simpsons, everyone has borrowed from Monty Python. It has birthed (see the 3-D gridded birth scene from the film to have a visual of what this entails) nearly every endorphin-enducing film since the mid 70's (even though this film came out in 1983, MP has been nailing comedy since the late 60's)

1.



Primary Colored, topless women in proper safety gear, chasing a man off of a cliff, fulfilling his wishes in execution method. Ah-men.

–

There is nothing like re-watching a film and discovering that it is still everything you remember, and much much more, I have always said this is my favorite MP flick, and I stand firm that this one has it all.

NO USB//MY NEW FRIENDS

Because my USB port is not registering my card reader, I will not be uploading any of my new photos for a few days, which is frustrating to me, as I've got golden ones of the Ed Fella exhibition, Sydney, and perhaps a few surprises as well.

So instead of continuing my narcissistic blogging trend, I will show you some work by the people surrounding me here in Melbourne, because they are doing some very fun & intriguing things, and because I think you might enjoy the fun & intriguing things that they are doing.

AARON MOODIE




Aaron Moodie sits next to me in the studio, he shares a space with T & E and he is a very friendly, very hardworking (if not frequently vacationing) individual. Shown above is his Typeface: "Walrus" which is a lovely little geometric wonder, which I believe he uses on his business card & very effectively. I have always been a fan of these sorts irregular geometric faces that seem to combine Herb Lubalin's Avant Garde & Milton Glaser's Baby Teeth (which he turned into a full typeface after the Dylan Album cover). They actually probably all stem from some Russian Constructivist face, but now we're getting off topic. Check out his work, and pay some attention to his blog TEMPORIZE which is well worth a good long peruse.


HAMMER & TONG



Hammer & Tong also share a building with T & E, their (his?) studio is a few floors down but within their caverns are created some of Melbourne's finest typographic compositions. Such as those displayed in the free (to those in AUS, but available for purchase worldwide) publication WON magazine. I will be bringing WON back with me because it is full of fantastic interviews, writings, collages & type. Hammer & Tong also create a fantastically beautiful magazine known as A Fine Line which, to those who are a fan of Fantastic Man,will present a similarly beautiful look with a more accessible range of articles.

RIK LEE






Rik has a few things going for him, first of all he has a sweet name, like he should probably be in (AWESOME!!!)* a kung-fu movie or something, second he has a most excellent portfolio, and third he is a very kind, easy-to-talk-to roommate of Ed's. A personal website is in the works, but clicking that portfolio link will take you to 33 images hosted by the Jacky Winter site, who represents him (and Tin & Ed as well). If your like me, then you read Girlfriend, Vibe & Nylon pretty religiously, and were familiar with his work long before you knew his name; now we all know both, and that is better isn't it?





*THE CAFE I'M IN JUST STARTED PLAYING CURTIS: "(DON'T WORRY) IF THER'S A HELL BELOW WE'RE ALL GOING TO GO")!!

SHOW & TELL

This is the train station where I catch my train into the city every morning (or afternoon, depending on how late we stay)




This is the Nicholas Building on Swanston St It is a Greek Revival Building designed by Harry Norris and constructed in 1925-1926 with an extension that was built in 1939-1940. It is home to some of the most affordable artist studios in Melbourne, and the last two lift operators in Melbourne, they are lovely and go by Dimitri & Jane.



I cut into the Cathedral Arcade to catch the lift to the 8th floor.




Two right turns later I am here. That is Aaron (he shares studio space with T & E) in the far left corner, then its my spot (empty) then Tin's spot (also empty) and then there is Ed in the right corner.




Ed & an ampersand.




This is a bit of the view from my desk, the big mustard building is Flinders Street Station, where I catch my ride to and from the City.



When we get hungry, we take a trot downstairs, sometimes we see street performers (pictures of them later, there are some amazing ones) sometimes we see other entertaining things, like security vehicles with boots.



This is where we most commonly go to get coffee and eats, it is called the Centerplace laneway and it is a lovely, often packed little alley filled with coffee shops, delis, a diamond & gold exchange place, boutiques and other quasi-European treats. Melbourne is full of these laneways that would be deserted avenues, home to big rats, litter and a random junkie in most cities I'm used to seeing. This is a much more desirable use of the space.



We work late into the night and my view of the Flinders Street station begins to look like this, sometimes I get distracted watching people cross the street where all the cars are lined up, all the headlights shining forward and the legs walking across create these amazing, long, flickering shadows that dance down the street for a few chaotic seconds. It is quite mesmerizing, and when I figure out how to use my new camera* I will take video of it.




After a long hard week, we like to unwind and go out. We went to a bumpin' warehouse party last weekend, it was fun to see Liz dancing on the shelf in the background, but I was worried she might fall.




I have said this a million times, and I will probably continue to say it, but Melbourne bears a striking resemblance to Minneapolis, and that has been very fun, and comforting, of course it is vastly different, but the little things, such as ending a big night out with an early morning dance party are the warm, familiar hugs that make me love this city even more. Here (from left to right) are Jay, a girls whose name I cannot remember, Cath, Tin & I, if you must know we were singing All4One's "I will be right here waiting for you" but it looks like we are singing something waaay more epic. It was pretty fantastic.




*I found this camera in the gutter as we walked up to the warehouse party, I spent the next few hours feeling very guilty and asking if anyone had lost a camera. Tin and I began looking through the pictures on the camera and were horrified/giddy/relieved to see that the previous owner was... well he seemed to be a sleazy womanizer who liked to purse his lips and pose with an ever changing cast of girls at the bar... I almost want to upload one of the pictures of the guy, but I don't have his permission, so I really shouldn't.



Rest assured though, if we can find the proper owner, they'll have their camera back, if not though, this little point and shoot gem that I've been after for ages, is mine. So if you know this guy, and can show me other pictures of him, and the other people on this camera, let me know, so you (or whoever this belongs to) can have their shooter back.

Marshalite

WE SHOULD USE THIS AGAIN



The Marshalite, used primarily in Australia, was invented in 1936 by Charles Marshall, it was used from the 1940's through the 70's and seems to me a better alternative to our current traffic lights. Of course there would need to be updates (perhaps some back lighting) but because of the rotary system, one can know when green will turn to yellow and act accordingly. The colors remain in a uniform pattern to account for color blindness, and I would assume less energy is needed to power the dial than to power three individual lights. Unfortunately I don't see this coming back, especially given that the above image is from The Melbourne Museum... how often to objects come out of historical museums to be put back into use?