11th Japanese Film Festival 2007 - Nov 29-Dec 8

The 11th Japanese Film Festival will be on in Sydney starting November 29th. For more infomrmation about the films that will be showing at the George St cinemas, go to the website.

W: http://11thjff.jpf-sydney.org/

Asimo's Australian tour

Asimo is the humainoid robot developed by Honda. He's currently touring Australia. He's at Darling Harbour today and then he goes onto Parramatta, then onto Brisbane.

In the performance, Asimo shows some of the things he can do including shaking someone's hand, kicking a soccer ball, carry a drinks tray and putting it down on a table, mimicking some dance moves, and talk.

W: http://www.asimo.com.au

How should I vote? - Federal election Nov 24

GetUp have put together a questionaire to help you figure out which candidates most match your stance on various issues in the upcoming election.

"Enter your postcode and dive straight in to our quick twenty question quiz. It will match YOUR answers to the candidates in YOUR electorate and produce YOUR own unique personalised how-to-vote card based on which candidates are most like YOU!

How does it work?
We've asked every candidate in each electorate to answer twenty questions that cover a wide range of issues that are of interest to voters. Now you can answer the same quiz and compare your views to the people you are considering voting for. "

W: http://howshouldivote.com.au/

Interesting South conference - Nov 22 Bondi

"This conference is not about brands, advertising, blogging or twitter but a wide variety of interesting, unexpected, original things. We've found 19 fascinating people and asked them speak for 3 or 10 minutes about something they care about. We want to replicate the experience of clicking from one really good blog to another, ranging across sciences, arts, music, jokes and whatever. The idea is to be informal and fast paced."

The line-up of speakers and topics sounds really interesting. Tickets are $25.

When and where: Thursday, 22nd November 2007. From 6.00pm - 9:30pm, Bondi Pavilion Theatre Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Beach.

W: http://interestingsouth.com/

Florence Broadhurst doco on SBS tonight - Nov 18

SBS are screening 'Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst' tonight at 9.00-10.30pm.

"In this spirited and highly original documentary, acclaimed director Gillian Armstrong reveals the many lives of one larger-than-life woman - flamboyant design pioneer, Florence Broadhurst.

Born in outback Australia in 1899, she was a singer and dancer in Shanghai in the '20s and ran her own fashion boutique in London in the '30s before sweeping into Sydney society as a painter and charity queen. But it was in her last incarnation that she really made her mark, shaking up conservative Australia with her bold, exotic wallpaper designs. Now, with her prints in huge demand internationally, the times have finally caught up with this glamorous, complicated, unconventional woman, whose brutal murder in 1977 has never been solved." Year: 2006.

Signature Prints sells Florence Broadhurst designs including fabrics, wallpapers, bags, cushions etc: http://www.signatureprints.com.au/aboutus/aboutus_flobro.html

ABC Commercial website: http://www.abc.net.au/abccontentsales/s1581658.htm

Growing Up Camper

Article in Metropolis magazine online on the Camper footwear brand.

"Spain’s family-run shoe manufacturer confronts the pains—and perks—of being a truly global brand.. For a brand of footwear built on heritage, Camper has shown a remarkable willingness to innovate and even, in a recent series of counterintuitive moves, to challenge its original business paradigm..."

W: http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2984

Generation C - Feb 1 to Mar 8, 2008

"Complex, contrary, creative: this exhibition showcases work by young photomedia artists from mainland China who reflect the ambivalence of their times. Born in the seventies they are the first 'me' generation - consumerist, connected and self-aware. They are vain yet vulnerable; wired yet lonely. They ride the rollercoaster of 'progress' while wistfully dreaming of the past. Abandoning any notion of the photograph as a document of the real each work is a performance, a visual fable that finds its truth in imaginative resonance rather than hard evidence.

Playful yet earnest, while some artists wield satire like a sword others evoke a quiet melancholy for lost tradition. Others still, weighed down by the burden of duty to family, ancestors, community, state and the competitiveness born of consumerism, simply imagine what it would be like to fade into another world or fly away like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis."

Saturday 1 February to 8 March 2008
Tue - Fri: 12.00 - 7.00pm, Sat & Sun 10.00am - 6.00pm
Gallery 1, 2 & Foyer
Australian Centre for Photography, 257 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW 2021
T: 02 9332 1455, F: 02 9331 6104

Curated by Alasdair Foster

IMAGE © Liu Lijie Another Episode 2006 Courtesy of Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York

W: http://exhibitions.acp.org.au/exhibitions/future.php

Forgot to Remember exhibition - opens Nov 21

"Jessica Porter, Fil Molitor, and Kate Beckingham are three Sydney creatives encouraging you to explore your Surroundings, past, and present.

If you're looking to take a trip through memories, personal experiences and the subconscious, then head to Somedays for Forgot to Remember, launching Wednesday 21st November.

Whether abstract or graphic is your bag, come and check out a mixture of ink, paint, and photography. The exhibition will get you in the mood with complimentary drinks and bangin' music."

Somedays Gallery: http://www.somedays.net.au/

W: http://myspace.com/forgottoparty

Roses Only story - Nov 29 Sydney

Last Thursday Club talk: How to build a business that outguns the rest

"This month, discover how to leave your competitors behind by building a business that outguns the rest! James Stevens will tell the story of how he founded Roses Only and built it into Australia’s #1 online flower business.

You’ll also learn one of the most powerful emerging tools of influence in business today—storytelling. Emotional selling needs story telling. Facts tell, stories sell. So how can you use stories? by Gabrielle Dolan & Yamini Naidu, Directors of One Thousand & One.

W: http://www.lastthursdayclub.net/

Welcome to the CBD: all arteries, no pulse

"Venture into the the heart of Sydney and you'll find it is lacking ticker. Urban Affairs Editor Catharine Munro launches a Herald investigation into what is wrong with the CBD..."

W: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/11/1194766506269.html

Cut & Paste tournament - Nov 17

"Hitting eleven cities worldwide this Fall 2007, we’re out to prove that immersive design is good cause for cultural gathering.

Watch as eight designers go head to head, Wacom to Wacom. For the crown, they’ll have to spin an idea with their own style in three, 15-minute rounds as projectors stream their living designs across the venue.

Each designer is equipped with an Apple® MacPro Workstation, Adobe® Creative Suite 3, and a Wacom® Cintiq® interactive pen display."

Try your own round at a workstation onsite for a shot at our Audience Design Contest. If you’re stuck at home, tune in via global webcast. Five all-star judges will make the call for the Jury Prize, but all will have the chance to vote for an Audience Prize online or by SMS."

Sydney Contestants:
Daryl Prondoso http://ieyeayelove.sacredpeanut.net
Dave Follett http://davidfollett.com/
Haline Ly http://symple.com.au/
Andrea Innocent http://otoshimono.org/
Matt Huynh http://stikmancomics.com/
Michael Birchall http://some-things.net/
Morten Rowley http://munkmotion.com
Oat Montien http://myspace.com/oatmontien

When: Saturday, November 17th, 2007
Doors open at 7PM, Competition from 8 - 11PM

Where: The Metro Theatre, 624 George St
+02 9550 3666, http://www.metrotheatre.com.au

General Admission: $10 presale / $15 on door, Must be 18+

W: http://www.cutandpaste.com/events/sydney.html

Glebe Street Fair - Nov 18

The Glebe Street Fair is on again this Sunday between 10am-5pm, on Glebe Point Rd, Glebe.

They'll be the Sydney Performers Challenge 2007, lots of food stalls and other market stalls.

W: http://www.glebestreetfair.com.au

Mag Nation - Melbourne

Mag Nation is a magazine store in Melbourne's CBD. It has over 4000 titles. It also encourages you to browse the magazines and have a coffee. If only there was such a store in Sydney..

Where: 88 Elizabeth St, Melbourne

W: http://www.magnation.com.au

Destfest - Nov 24, Dec 1, 8 - Sydney

"CarriageWorks, Sydney’s newest centre for contemporary arts, presents the inaugural Destination Film Festival. Three Saturday afternoons of film + talk, curated by Megan Spencer (Triple J, SBS’s The Movie Show). Launching on Saturday 24 November, each week will present a program of dynamic, unique films from everywhere - Australia, the rest of the world, and cyber-space. The films are followed by a panel discussion with film-junkies of all types from the yolk and fringe of Australia’s film industry.

DestFest is a showcase of new and old films, and the obsession with GOOD FILM. Spencer has uncovered cutting edge new films that are exploring and pushing the boundaries of contemporary film-making. There are also rare, lost and unseen shorts that have been liberated from garages and bottom drawers of the industry’s most innovative and creative film-makers...

The industry is changing, film-makers are evolving, and we will explore the new movement towards technologically advanced film-making and distribution methods, and how the film world is adapting with the times.

Dates: Saturday 24 November, Saturday 1 December, Saturday 8 December
Time: From 2pm
Where: CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson Street Eveleigh
Tickets: On sale through Moshtix www.moshtix.com.au

The site also has a blog with entries by Megan Spencer.

W: http://www.destfest.com/

Magazine city article in The Age

"Read all about it - in print. John Bailey reports on Melbourne's indie magazine boom... These days, the coolest kids don't play guitars: they start up magazines.

At least 10 indie magazines are produced in Melbourne alone, and it seems as if another one is launched every month. As Jamie Driver of Lifelounge puts it, "If you can't find the kind of magazine you want to buy, make it yourself" ..."

The article also gives a description of nine indie titles. These are:

Wooden Toy (2000 copies, $20)
Mess + Noise (10,000 copies, free)
Nerds Gone Wild! (6000 copies, free)
The Sex Mook (1500 copies, $16.95)
Is/Not (250 copies, $30)
A Cloth-covered Button (print run 800, $7)
Sneaker Freaker (print run 30,000, $10)
T-World (print run 5000, $15)
Lifelounge (25,000 copies, free)

W: http://www.theage.com.au/news/books/magazine-city/2007/10/11/1191696080835.html

Peter Stutchbury talk - November 15

"Stutchbury & Pape is emerging as one of the leaders of a new generation of Australian architecture firms.

Buildings designed by the firm have received numerous Australian architecture awards and have been widely published. Recent significant buildings include several houses around Sydney Harbour and the Northern Beaches, the 'Deepwater Woolshed' and new buildings on the University of Newcastle campus. Some of these include the Design Building, Nursing Building (with EJE Architecture), Life Sciences building (with Suters Architects) and 'Birabahn', the new Indigenous Centre (with Richard Leplastrier and Sue Harper)."

Where: Sydney Home Ideas Centre, 61 O’Riordan Street, (cnr Doody Street), Alexandria
When: Thursday 15th November 2007, 5.45pm refreshments, for 6.30pm Early Start!

For more info and to rsvp go to: http://www.buildingbookshop.com/store/Stutch-Talk%20Invitation.htm

Play - UWS Graduation exhibition - Nov 27-28

PLAY: The University of Western Sydney 2007 Bachelor of Design
(Visual Communication) Graduation Exhibition

Opening: Tuesday 27th November 6-9pm
Continuing: Wednesday 28th November 9am-2pm

Venue: doltone house
jones bay wharf, pyrmont, piers 19-21, upper deck, 26-32 pirrama rd, pyrmont point

W: http://www.commarts.uws.edu.au/bdes07/

The Rocks - Markets by Moonlight

"Every Friday in November The Rocks Markets by Moonlight will be heaving with party-goers enjoying the perfect start to the weekend – a warm Sydney night, a cold beer with friends at the outdoor bar, delicious food, FREE live music and a wander through the night markets.

This year’s event features some of Australia’s hottest live acts - more than a market, it’s one big outdoor music event. Wind down after work and kick-start your weekend at Sydney’s favourite street party."

Dates: 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30 November
Time: From 6pm to 10pm

Friday 16 November: Martinez and Deni Hines
Friday 23 November: Eran James and Jade MacRae
Friday 30 November: Pseudo Echo and Mental As Anything

W: http://www.therocks.com/

Girls Girls Girls Exhibition - till Oct 28

At the China Heights Gallery
Level 3, 16-28 Foster St, Surry Hills

Sydney Stencil Festival 07 - till 28 October

Where Have You Been by Joshua Smith

Horns and Buttons by Nem

Untitled by bfourb

Through the Cities, by Imok

© Melbourne Stencil Festival Inc. All rights reserved.

Went to the Stencil Festival exhibition in Chippendale last Saturday. Artists featured include: IMOK, Ape Seven, bfourb, Joshua Smith, Alison Telford, Reko Rennie-Guuybilla and others.

There is also a film night on Thursday 25th October showing Jisoe and Infamy, and a stencil art workshop from 12-3pm on Saturday 27th October and a few other things happening.

Where: Pine Street Creative Artist Centre, 64 Pine St, Chippendale. P: 02 9245 1503

For more info go to: http://www.stencilfestival.com/