Game boy

This SMH article talks about Shigeru Miyamoto who designed Mario, Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda and other games for Nintendo. The article says that Nintendo has sold over 300 million copies of Miyamoto's games worth billions of dollars.  Miyamoto says: "For me the question is not so much about looking realistic but creating games that when people play them, it feels real to them."

W: http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/28/1090694015937.html

Films, Politics and Learning

These nights aim:

- To bring together radical film-makers, radical film buffs, and radical educators.
- To inspire educators about ways they can use film in their work.
- To inspire film-makers about ways they might facilitate learning about politics.
- To foster discussion and advocacy about this field of practice.

We are seeking videos and films under 2 categories:

1. Agitprop: protest, guerrilla, activist, political, subversive short films /videos.
2. Participatory film-making: community films/videos as social intervention.

The nights will focus on short films and video fromartists, activists and educators from the international scene. Your work will be presented to anaudience of educators, activists and artists delegates from of the "Education and Social Action" international conference and the general film buffs interested in activism.

The nights are a non-profit event without competition. There are therefore no prizes and no pay involved, but of course you keep the rights.

There is no limitation of geographic origin butspeaking Films/Videos must be in English, or subtitled in English. Fiction, documentary, animation or experimental are accepted. Videos must be no more than 10 minutes.

The only format accepted is DVD.

Send copies with entry form to Celina McEwen, The Centre for Popular Education, UTS, PO Box 123, BROADWAY NSW 2007 AUSTRALIA. Entry copies will not be returned, so don't send originals. To confirm receipt your video/film, send a self-addressed stamped postcard.

Deadline for entries is September 30, 2004.

Individuals and organisations can submit unlimited number of films, but should complete a separate entry form for each film. All the films may be put on the same tape.

Entry forms can be downloaded from www.cpe.uts.edu.au/pdfs/FPLentry.pdf

For further information email Celina on (02) 9514 3847or celina.mcewen@uts.edu.au
Source: info forwarded from Lucas Ihlein 

Dotmov Festival 2004 - organised by Shift Magazine, Japan

DOTMOV Festival 2004 is a digital film festival with an aim to discover talented creators and provide them with an opportunity to show their work. Submitted works throughout the world will be screened at Soso Cafe which is produced by an online magazine Shift for a month, from November 1st to 30th. Last year's total submission was 351 works from 24 countries. All selected works for this year will be shown on Shift web site. During the festival, a lot of related audio & visual events will be held.

The deadline is on the 20th of September. Join this festival with your full of originality work!

W: http://www.shift.jp.org/mov/en.html
Source: first sighted on Jean Snow's site

Manifest 2004 - Aug 13, 14, 15 in Melbourne

The Melbourne Anime Festival is on in 2004. The dates are set as August 13, 14 and 15. We'll have screenings, cosplay, Anime Idol, traders, auctions, panels, karaoke, an art show, roleplaying games, a trading card game tournament, cel and model painting workshops, and lots of new stuff.  
For more info: http://www.manifest.org.au/

Animania 2004 - Oct 23 and 24, 2004

Animania started in 2002. This year's it's going to held at the Sydney Town Hall. They expect 5000 to 10000 people to attend this year.

For more details: http://animania.auroraevents.com.au

Citrus – The Ethnic Australian Icon

By Toni Salter - The Veggie Lady

"Just about every second property in Australia would have at least one citrus tree, albeit in a dubious state of vigour.  What a great legacy our early European-Australians brought for us all to enjoy.  Yet, their horticultural heritage has not necessarily been passed on down through the generations, with many of the “younger generation” pursuing academic and professional careers that their forefathers were not privileged to experience.  Meanwhile, we’ve lost some of that family know-how when it comes to looking after the rogue citrus tree that we discover with joy when we move into our newly purchased first home.

“What the heck am I going to do with this thing?” we ask after we taste the shrivelled, bitter and tough results of our neglect.

Don’t be put off!!! And don’t be tempted to dig it up to make room for the planned pergola or “outdoor extension”.

Citrus are really very easy to maintain.  And with a bit of work now you’ll have the best tasting oranges and lemons in the neighbourhood.  Guaranteed!  I remember transforming a 14 year old, fully neglected navel orange tree at the bottom of a garden in South Hurstville into the juiciest, sweetest orange I’ve ever tasted.  It was so laden with oranges that neighbours all about were able to enjoy its fruit as a goodwill gesture from its owner..."

Full article at: http://www.chaosgeneration.com/theveggielady/citrus.htm
Veggie Lady website: http://www.theveggielady.com/ 

Celestial Silks - 31 July - 24 October 2004, Art Gallery of NSW

Celestial Silks: Chinese religious and court textiles

Celestial Silks offers a rare opportunity to view over 70 visually spectacular and sumptuous Chinese religious and court textiles...

We are fortunate that three rare early robes, which are recent acquisitions to the Hall Collection, form part of the exhibition. They are exquisite, intact examples dating from the 5th and 6th centuries and, as far as we know, this is the first time that robes from this period have been exhibited outside China.

The religious textiles from China and Tibet demonstrate the extensive use of Chinese textiles in places of worship as decorative hangings and for creating and mounting tangkas (devotional icons). A set of four symbolic 18th century tangkas has spectacular iconography. Three feature imagery with a landscape including corpses, skulls and human bones. The fourth presents the western paradise of the Buddha Amitayus, which was the reward for those observing discipline and compassion in life.

The second section of this absorbing exhibition is dedicated to court robes and textiles of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Robes worn at the Ming Court for celebratory festivals such as the Moon Festival are included. To enhance our appreciation of the lavish style of the Chinese courts, there is a rare collection of Festival badges and minutely embroidered imperial robes, replete with the Emperor's symbols.

A spectacular dragon banner, which would have originally hung in one of the palaces of the Imperial Clan, will find a temporary home in the new Asian galleries for the duration of the exhibition.

The final section is dedicated to showing uncut yardage of beautiful silks before they are shaped into religious and court robes and hangings. An unmade dragon robe of aubergine coloured silk (c.1850), with the ground entirely worked in peacock feathers and the dragons couched in gold wrapped silk thread, is an outstanding example of such exquisite work. Few robes and textiles with this type of work have survived in good condition because of insect damage.

W: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/media/current/celestial_silks

Call for Visual Artists - 9 August 2004

"This is an invitation from northern beaches artist David Jenkins and 'small boat big sea' productions. They are inviting 15 visual artists to participation in an exhibition to be held at William Street Studios, Fairlight as part of the Manly Arts Festival 2004.

Works may be in any format: drawing, paint, multi-media, sculpture, installation, photography, etc.

'living room' exhibition
16 to 25 September 2004
William Street Studios
Fairlight NSW 2094
  
‘small boat big sea’ is proud to present ‘the living room’, a six day exhibition, between 16 - 25 September 2004 that focuses on an exploration of the essence of life.

The exhibition is a part of the Manly Arts Festival 2004 and will take place at the beautiful William Street Studios in Fairlight. Curated by Stephanie Powell and Lee Mangion, ‘the living room’ will be a mixed media exhibition combining works by both emerging and established artists.

Submitting artists should portray a representation of their ideas, beliefs, thoughts and understanding of the essence of life. The exhibition seeks to explore this theme through representations of either one, or combinations of, the themes: celebrations of life, grievances of life, and understandings of life. It seeks to explore the questions: Why do we exist? What makes us smile? Why do we cry? Is life beautiful? What is within?… It seeks to explore the topics of: spring, birth, renewal, ‘the heart’, laughter, spirit, sadness, spirituality…

For more information and an application form, visit artsConnect below:

http://www.artsconnect.com.au/news/july_smallboatbigsea.htm

Please feel free to pass this info onto other artists who may be interested is displaying their work.
  
Kind regards,

Teresa Charchalis
artsConnect
1/51-53 Manly Corso
Manly NSW 2095
Tel: 02 9976 5226
www.artsconnect.com.au"

Google duo worth $8bn each

Article in SMH reporting that Google will be worth as much as $US36 billion when it goes public next month. The founders are Sergey Brin 30, and Larry Page 31. They developed the search engine in 1998.

W: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/27/1090693963297.html

The Insider

Bought a copy of The Insider at the newsagent.  It's a new publication published by IF Media who put out Inside Film magazine. The magazine features actors, musicians, TV people etc. People featured in this issue include: Joel and Nash Edgerton, Rose Byrne, John Safran, Lewis Morley and more.

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

Carlos magazine

Bought a copy of Carlos magazine from the newsagents. It's the magazine 'Upper Class flyers' get when they fly Virgin Atlantic. It almost looks zine like in presentation, except a v. professional and graphically designed slick version of the traditional zine format. It uses 2 colours and has a number of illustrations in it. They also have one advertiser for each issue. The cover caught my attention. The dress and stars on the cover are actually a gold colour.

John Brown Citrus Publishing came up with the idea for Virgin Atlantic. You can read a brief outline of the Overview, Client Objectives, Strategic Approach and Creative Solutions at the JBCP website: http://www.jbcp.co.uk/html/our-clients/virgin_carlos_cs1.htm

Markets

Have always found markets really fun and interesting. Great community atmosphere. The Markets and Fairs website has a listing of markets around Australia.
W: http://www.marketsandfairs.com.au

Also want to check out Kirribilli markets some time. It's on the 4th Sat of the month except Dec where it's 1st and 3rd.
W: http://www.kncsydney.org/Markets.htm.

Found a couple of references to it having some cool designer finds: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/04/1083635124810.html and http://www.sydney.citysearch.com.au/profile?id=20868527

Secret stylists' business

This SMH article lists the places where fashion stylists go to find designer label clothing, vintage clothes and accessories. People SMH asked were:

Rachel Wayman, fashion director, Shop Til You Drop magazine
Judith Cook, style director, In Style Magazine
Ken Thompson, freelance stylist
Tali Shine, author of The Glam Girl's Guide to Sydney Shopping
Ella Argent, fashion director, New Woman Magazine

W: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/21/1090089208735.html

Stupid Creatures - cool stuffed toys

John Murphy from North Carolina creates these really cool stuffed beings out of socks. They're called 'Stupid Creatures'. He hand-makes each one and takes requests from customers on the specifications of their creature to be. They're just the coolest creations!

W: http://www.stupidcreatures.com/

In the Mind of the Architect - tonight

Sunday 25 July 2004, ABC, 11.35pm. Duration: 25mins
Episode: Keeping the Faith
"We cross the country to examine how architects use ideas to change the way we live and think. In this episode we look at a crematorium, a law court, a public hall and two private houses."

Crafty things

Thinking about crafty things. Remembered that I tried to knit a dark brown scarf for my dad once - when I was a young kid. It's probably about 1/3 done. Then stored it away.

Also remembering sewing used to be compulsory in the early years of high school. Don't know if that's still the case. It's kind of cool when you see people creating funky, beautiful bags, clothes, accessories etc to sell at the markets or online. Has an earthy, 'real' feel about it.   

Came across some of the following interesting links:

Felt artists
http://www.peak.org/~spark/felt_artist_links.htm

The Victorian Feltmakers Inc
http://www.vicfelt.org.au

Knitters Guild NSW
http://www.knittersguildnsw.org.au/
A new group has opened up in Glebe and they meet up at Glebe library

Sydney Community College
http://www.sydneycommunitycollege.com.au/
For courses on hand felting, sewing, fabric printing, knitting and more. Lots of these courses are already full!

Some designers who make hand-crafted goodies:
(if anyone out there knows of similar Australian sites, feel free to drop me an email)

Cut + Paste
http://www.cutxpaste.com/
Hand-crafted goodies from a range of designers. Jenny Kwok's, Brooklyn is behind the website

Polaire
http://www.polaire-online.com/
Hand-crafted goodies from Isara, Chicago
Also lists a number of other similar sites in the links section

Tiny Monkey
http://www.tinymonkey.com/
Hand-made velcro cards by Sandy Lee, California

Alison Rose
http://www.alisonrose.com
Hand-crafted goodies from Alison and Nicolas, U.S.

Ex Libris Anonymous
http://www.exlibrisanonymous.com/
Hand-made journals using old illustration, childrens books etc as covers and as pages interspersed throughout

Neuty
http://www.neuty.com/
Hand-crafted goodies from Doris Ho, NY

Checklist for Building the Ideal News Web Site

Suggestions include the scroll-less home page, better ad management, more user-generated content.  

W: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/stopthepresses_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000581290
 
Originally sighted on Paidcontent.org newsletter 21/7/04

Buying design magazines - Selectair

Selectair imports design magazines direct from a number of publishers in Australia and around the world. Titles include Big Magazine, Dutch, Processed, Self-Service and many more.

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

Getting Japanese magazine titles

Jean Snow who is based in Tokyo, is now offering to help you get Japanese design magazine titles. If you let him know which title you want, he'll tell you the cost of the magazine and the postal cost and it'll be an extra 400 yen (approx AUS $5) for time and materials (envelope cost, and PayPal transfer costs etc).  

W: http://jeansnow.net/2004/07/22/magazine-sales/

artsConnect

artsConnect is a website featuring Australian artists, designers, musicians, actors, writers and more. The site offers a free page for people to promote their work, and to connect with other creatives.
 
W: http://www.artsconnect.com.au

The Program

The Program is an Australia Council initiative managed by noise. The Program features design events, links to other art organisations' websites and more.

W: http://www.theprogram.net.au

Going Virtual - The Future of Work

The first Asia-Pacific Conference on Remote, Virtual Working
August 26 & 27th 2004, Brisbane Australia
 
GOING VIRTUAL - THE FUTURE OF WORK will be a major milestone in the exchange and consolidation of knowledge and experience about virtual remote working and virtual teaming. The conference will focus on

* Best practices and lessons learned
* Collaboration technologies
* Validated research findings
* Social and economic implications
* Future developments

Associated with the conference are two pre-conference workshops on virtual teaming in the business and education sectors.
 
http://www.knowab.co.uk/GoingVirtual04.html

How to audio blog

Three links on the Blogger site:
 
http://audioblogger.com/
http://audioblogger.com/faq.html
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=904
 
Would be cool to try this feature some time. 

Net threat to other ad media can only get bigger

SMH article about some companies like Ford realising that online advertising is proving to be a very cost effective medium for reaching their target audience. The article says last year, Ford purchased  "roadblock" ads on the major online US portals and it reached 40% of American men aged 25 to 54 in one day. Ford also found the online campaign was 10x more cost-effective than TV advertising in getting the same numbers.
 
Full article at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/21/1090089216261.html

Toys and things...

Came across these two sites that sell cool toys and other things:
 
Sweatyfrog.com: Innovative toy concepts and design
http://www.sweatyfrog.com
 
Giant Robot Store: It's also an Asian pop culture magazine
http://secure.giantrobot.com/

Copyright for Libraries, Architects, Designers etc...

The Australian Copyright Council is running a series of seminars on copyright issues.
 
Copyright training: Libraries
For librarians, info professionals etc... 
24 Aug 2004
Where: Metcalfe Auditorium, State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street, Sydney
Session 1: Copyright basics -  9:30am to 10:30am ($70)
Session 2: Library use of text & images - 11am to 1pm ($90)
Session 3: Library use of the Internet & digital licences - 2pm to 3:30pm ($80)
Session 4: Library use of films & sound recordings - 4pm to 5pm ($70)
More details and training dates for other States at: http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/OrderForms/S04Lib.pdf
 
Copyright training: Copyright Essentials, Moral Rights, Recent Developments
For architects, designers, publishers, filmmakers etc...
23 Aug 2004
Where: Dixson Room, State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street, Sydney
Session 1: Copyright essentials - 11am to 1pm ($90)
Session 2: Moral rights: protection & enforcement - 2pm to 3:30pm ($90)
Session 3: Recent developments in copyright - 4pm to 5:30pm ($90)
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/OrderForms/S04Mor.pdf
 
There are also publications to buy and other information available at the Australian Copyright Council website: http://www.copyright.org.au

Questions for Gawker Media Publisher Nick Denton

Nick Denton is featured/interviewed/referenced a lot in terms of blogs making money etc.

Here's a link to an interview that Clickz did with him on July 6, 2004: http://www.clickz.com/features/q_and_a/article.php/3377501

6 Steps to a Successful Online Auction Business - eBay

Was going through some things in my drawer the other day. Came across Donkey Kong and two other games with a panaorama screen called Donkey Kong Jr and Snoopy. Bought a couple of batteries and started to play with the games. Heaps of fun.

That prompted me to go onto eBay to see what other Game and Watch games there are out there. I saw references to a few Donkey Kongs, Oil Panic, Greenhouse, Octopussy etc. I remember playing all those.

Then came across an article titled: 6 Steps to a Successful Online Auction Business on Entrepeneur.com. It was written in 2002 but still provides a good intro.

W: http://entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,302886-1,00.html

Sent - photocam art exhibition, U.S.

"SENT will be the first major exhibit of phonecam art in the United States. We'll explore the camera phone's potential as a creative tool in two ways: through an online public dialogue in which amateur photographers and phonecam users around the world share mobile snapshots of their lives; and through an invitational exhibit in which professional photographers, artists, and public figures test the limits of creative possibilities offered by these hybrid devices.

Phonecams -- mobile phones that include tiny, built-in digital cameras -- are a relatively new gadget. They've only become widely available in the US in 2003, and their use is largely utilitarian: snap a photo of your baby, your sunset, your face; then, share it with friends or family. They're small and cheap. We use them to capture the mundane, the obvious, and the personal. Soon, we'll use them to capture and manipulate data: phonecams are becoming handheld barcode readers, and tools for a variety of new mobile commerce applications.

The images they produce are undeniably crude, but like Polaroids or snapshots from vintage or "toy" cameras, that lack of finesse lends a distinctive, awkward charm. And the fact that they fuse together the abilities to capture, view, and distribute what we see (through e-mail or online photo weblogs) makes them revolutionary. Phonecams are changing the way we see the world, and our place within it. They're an extension of urban eyes. They democratize, hack, and deconstruct photography. When everyone is both photographer and publisher, how will art change? How will human conversation change? What will be the difference between professional and amateur? Through SENT, we'll find out."

The exhibition is sponsored by Motorola.

Would be heaps better if they credited the photographs taken by the public as well, with a link to their websites or blogs etc if the individuals wanted that info published.

W: http://www.sentonline.com

July issue of Chaos Generation Zine now up on the web!

This issue features interviews with photographer Anthony Geernaert and blogger/online magazine publisher Jean Snow and... Go and read the interviews now :-)

Zine: http://www.chaosgeneration.com/zine

Measuring and promoting the effectiveness of your website - July 30

Friday July 30, 2004, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Maritime Museum, 2 Murray St, Darling Harbour, NSW, Australia

Hitwise will talk about about Competitive intelligence and measuring and interpreting your website traffic, and Glass Onion will talk about Email marketing and Search engine optimisation. Learn how to analyse your website traffic, what people are clicking on in your enewsletters, what you can do to serve your customers better, the new Spam Act and more.
W: http://www.archizine.com/webmarketing2004

Events page updated

The Events page has now been updated: http://www.chaosgeneration.com/events.htm.

LTC July 29: Dr Ken Hudson, Ph.D., High Performance Thinking

Speaker 1: Dr. Ken Hudson: Australia's leading expert on Innovation
Speaker 2: Chris Whitelaw, barrister

Ken will explore how you can 'Compete on Imagination':
* Are we entering a new era where imagination, not efficiency, drives business growth?
* What do most large organisations fear? They fear smaller brands (like you) with imagination!
* What is business imagination?
* If we can imagine it, we can build it (like mobile phones!)
* 'What a good idea!' the new consumer response?
* The 'Three Minds Model' (rational, emotional and imaginative)
* Imagination in action: work backwards not forwards...

Chris is a barrister, an accredited mediator and an expert in the field of arbitration and dispute resolution. He'll share his approach to minimising risk when extending credit to clients, and explain the steps you can take to ensure disputes are resolved quickly, efficiently and with as little ill feeling as possible.

Who: Creatives and marketers of all types, including writers, graphic designers, copywriters, web designers, film/TV, as well as the clients of these professions.
When: 6pm, Thursday 29 July. (FREE FOOD at 6.30pm; speakers start at 7pm)
Where: Upstairs at the Paddington RSL, 220 Oxford St, Paddington, Sydney (across from Paddington Town Hall)
Parking: Two levels of FREE undercover carparking - enter via County Ave or Weedon Ave.
How much? $30 (pay at door. Includes first drink free, and free quality finger food before and after event.
RSVP: http://www.writeanswers.com.au/last_thurs_club.htm

RAIA Seminar With Three Local Practices Talking About Recent Work - September 22

Practices include EJE Architecture, Jackson Teece and Spacecon, to speak about what the respective practices have been up to and recent works.

When: September 22
Organiser/Contact: The Royal Australian Institute of Architects P:4929 1833
E: sue.evans@raia.com.au
Cost: Sue Evans for registration.

Lecture by Glenn Murcutt - world renowned Australian architect - July 19

Glenn Murcutt will present this major public lecture as part of the 4th Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Masterclass, being held at the University of Sydney in July. Glenn will reflect upon his roots and early influences, and follow the evolution of his distinctive architecture of place, through to his on-going fight for relevant contemporary practice in the Australian context.
Organiser/Contact: Professor Tom Heneghan
When: July 19
Where: Eastern Avenue Auditorium, University of Sydney
Time: 6.00pm
Cost: Admission free

Exhibit 327 - Final year projects from Graduating Bachelor of Architecture students UNSW - July 15

Exhibit 327: Exhibition of the Final Year projects from Graduating Bachelor of Architecture Students from the University of New South Wales

When: July 15
Where: Global Gallery, 5 Comber Street Paddington NSW 2021
Time: 4pm till 9pm
Cost: Free
Organiser/Contact: Ben Pomroy Simon Markus P:0410614408 E:exhibit327@mail.com

The National Life Expectancy Test

Channel Seven showed a program called 'The National Life Expectancy Test' last night where you could answer a series of questions the hosts read out to find out your estimated life expectancy. You can also take the test online at: http://livinglonger.seven.com.au/

Thinking Outside The Cup

This article is about Howard Schultz continuing to push the growth of the Starbucks brand. He sees Starbucks as a 'people business' and so looks at ways of creating an experience for Starbucks customers. He has opened a range of Hear Music Coffeehouses where customers can enjoy their coffee and listen to music for free and burn tracks they like to a CD for a fee.

Article at: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/84/starbucks_1.html

ACME Label Maker

I remember making these labels as a kid and sticking them onto my lunchbox, my Donkey Kong Game and Watch and anything really. I think I used one of those Dyno ones where you turn the dial to the letter you want and then pushed some button to make that letter appear. Now you can make virtual labels.

Link sighted on the Fwak blog.
Link to ACME's label maker: http://www.acme.com/labelmaker/

Red Carpet Short Film Festival - July 18, Sydney

Join us 7.15pm SUNDAY, 18th July at the Valhalla Cinemas in Glebe

RED Carpet Night is proud to partner with Women in Film and Television NSW to present some brilliant short films by outstanding indigenous filmmakers from past WOW International Film Festivals.

All tickets are $13. No concessions. Call the WIFT Office on 9332 2408 to book your tickets.
18+ years old entry only.

The programme comprises of the following films:-

- Writer/director Erica Glynn's beautiful short film My Bed, Your Bed, produced by Penny McDonald and Chili Films;

- Writer/director Sally Riley's politically poignant Confessions Of A Headhunter, produced by Kath Shelper;

- Writer/director Lou Glover's moving personal coming out journey Black Sheep, produced by Penny McDonald and Chili Films;

-Writer/director Erica Glynn's award winning documentary on brilliant indigenous poet Romaine Moreton A Walk With Words, produced by Charlotte Seymour;

All proceeds of this RED Carpet Night go to Women In Film and Television NSW and Indigenous Screen Australia

SPAA Fringe 2004 - conference for emerging and low budget film makers

Australia's leading annual conference for emerging and low budget film and television producers SPAA FRINGE is coming to Brisbane this 5, 6 and 7 August at the Brisbane Powerhouse.

The Fringe Conference is an intensive and interactive 3 day course of informative and practical sessions aimed at emerging and low budget independent film and television makers.

Guest speakers and panellists this year include the team behind the Oscar winning Harvie Krumpet, Melanie Coombs and Adam Elliot, and Jan Chapman, Executive Producer and Anthony Anderson, Producer talk about "Somersault" which made it into Un Certain Regard at this year's Cannes Film Festival

Website: http://www.spaa.org.au/fringe_2004/

Bloggers come of age

The Age reports that "the blogger has become cutting edge media with a role to play even in the US presidential election race."

But says that bloggers feel that the campaign blogs are not authentic.

"They have no personality, they never talk about anything remotely interesting," said blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, whose website www.dailykos.com, receives an estimated 104,910 visits a day, according to weblog traffic ratings.

Article at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/08/1089000285844.html

Tropfest Signature Item announced

"We know that many of you have been eagerly anticipating the announcement of the 2005 Tropfest Signature Item (TSI).

A special thank you to the hundreds of people who sent in their suggestions.

We’re excited to announce that the TROPFEST SIGNATURE ITEM (TSI) for 2005 is UMBRELLA!

This TSI is designed firstly to show us that the film has been made specifically for Sony Tropfest but also to encourage production and stimulate ideas. As always you are encouraged to include this in any way you choose.

ENTRIES CLOSE THURSDAY 20 JANUARY 2005 AT 6PM.

Essential guidelines are as follows:

- Each film must be made specifically for Sony Tropfest 2005
- Sony Tropfest 2005 must be your film's first public screening
- Each film must be no longer than 7 minutes including titles and credits
- Each film must contain the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) for 2005 - UMBRELLA

Official entry forms will be made available soon. The official Call For Entries period will begin in November 2004 and entry forms will be made available at this time.

All festival and entry enquiries can be emailed to mail@tropfest.com.au or give us a call on +61 2 9368 0434

The Sony Tropfest Team"

To download entry guidelines go to:
http://www.tropfest.com/index.asp?path=/TropInc2003/filmmakers/entry_form.asp?site=Inc

Water Features - by Toni Salter

Water has always been a classic feature in garden design. The sound of trickling water immediately transforms a garden into a soothing and relaxing retreat, bringing a sense of peace and harmony to anyone who visits.

There are many ways you can bring water into the garden, from the smallest of water bowls in a shaded courtyard to an elaborate fountain in a formal garden setting or even a natural pond in a more eco-friendly permaculture garden. Whatever your choice, there are a few things to consider that will determine their effectiveness...

Full article at: http://www.chaosgeneration.com/theveggielady/water_features.htm

The Veggie Lady website: http://www.theveggielady.com

Hugh Ballantyne talk at the Art Gallery of NSW - July 14, 2004

Hugh's been featured on Chaos Generation: http://www.chaosgeneration.com/hugh_ballantyne.htm.

As a qualified Architect, published writer and photographer Hugh brings a range of influences, styles and techniques to his film work. Hugh will screen five short films and talk about this stage in his filmmaking career and offer insights into the creative and technical processes behind his approach to filmmaking.

The short films to be screened include STRANGE LOVE a subway encounter has life changing consequences for Andy Goldsworthy (St Kilda Film Festival 2004); PRIDE IN NEW YORK - a film diary on the 2001 Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade; PUBLIC ENEMY - an urban hate crime seen through the eyes of an 80 year old woman (Tropfest, best of the rest 2002); ME MYSELF AND I - a candid view of one man¹s perspective of the world (Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Film Festival 2004)

Event details:
When: Wednesday 14th July, 6-7pm
Where: Domain Theatre at the Art Gallery of NSW, The Domain, from 6-7pm.
Cost: $25, this includes drinks and canapes afterwards, from 7pm.
For bookings: http://www.artgallerysociety.org.au/newsletter-contempo.asp?id=176

NSW KM Forum 5 August meeting - Free event

Anne Hudson of Grouputer Solutions will talk on collaborative technologies.

The second speaker is Andrew Balmaks, with a talk entitled Practical KM: Turning Rhetoric to Reality

Knowledge management in many organisations is confined to academic debates by enthusiasts and/or a focus on information technology. Gaining tangible benefits from knowledge management is the major challenge for organisations that have a knowledge agenda. Two organisations that are taking active steps to achieve practical outcomes are the Department of Defence and the Department of Family and Community Services.

Andrew is a Principal with Noetic Solutions (www.noeticsolutions.com.au) has been involved in working with both organisations on gaining practical outcomes from their knowledge agenda. He will present two short case studies about this work to stimulate questions and discussion:

Valuing Intellectual Capital (Department of Defence)
Getting some quick wins from Knowledge Management (Department of Family and Community Services)
Andrew will identify:

* the problem and what the organisations were seeking to achieve
* the methodology used to address the problem
* the product of the work
* how the work impacted on the organisation
* the way ahead

When:
Turn up by 5:30pm, talks start at 6pm. Finish at 7:30pm. Then down the road for drinks and chats.

Where:
Standards Australia, Level 6 286 Sussex St (Corner of Bathurst St) Sydney NSW.
Latecomers, call James Digges on 0414 191 009 for access.

W: http://www.nsw-km-forum.org.au/wiki.pl?NextMeeting

Invite to submit stuff to Spinach7 magazine

Spinach 7 magazine [http://www.spinach7.com] is looking to invite new folks to write for its visual arts pages. If you don't know Spinach 7, it's a great, full colour glossy mag which focuses on politics, culture, technology, and has a specific Asia-Pacific focus.

The mag comes out about 4 times a year, has distribution thoughout Australia (and beyond??)
through newsagents and bookshops, and from now on will have a double page spread specifically for visual arts, (whatever they might be.)

Your contribution: could be anything - a short article about something amazing/ unmissable/ disastrous, a critique of an event or issue, a promo about an upcoming thingamajig, a piece of experimental writing, or.. As long as it broadly fits into the scope of visual arts the sky is the limit, mate.

Each issue will probably follow the following format - an 800 word feature article with accompanying colour images, plus 3 shorter (200 word) articles each with a colour image.

In addition, longer and especially fascinating articles might get a feature run on their own
elsewhere within the mag. Best to discuss these with me or the Spinach folks first tho, as you'd hate to write 10000 words and then find out there was no space eh?

Next issue is coming out late July, so its already at the designers. The NEXT issue will probably need to have content submitted in a month or so, so DO get in touch and lets get the ball rolling soon!(ps especially keen to have coverage of stuff happening outside of NSW/VIC and from our O/S
neighbours, and stuff that might not get coverage elsewhere.)

Cheers
Lucas Ihlein
bilateral@bigfoot.com
http://bilateral.blog-city.com/

True or False: "Dealing with Centrelink_is_working for the dole"...* - Melbourne

Footscray Community Arts Centre is running a project that involves making and distributing a zine (an independently- or self-published magazine) about 'Centrelink'. Are you interested in submitting work to this zine? If so, we'd love to hear from you. We're also running a series of free, self-publishing workshops, so if you're melbourne-based and interested in collaborating with other like-minded people, writing, collage (cut'n'paste, scissors'n'glue), photography,
comic art, and design, we'd love to see you at one or all of our workshops (see below for details).

1) SUBMITTING WORK

We're keen to receive your work. We're interested in all kinds of stuff, including:

* stories about experiences with Centrelink
* other personal writing (eg diary excerpts, rants, etc)
* interviews, articles, essays, manifestos, etc
* short stories, poetry, song lyrics, excerpts from novels and scripts, etc
* artwork (photos, comics, collage, etc)
* writing combined with artwork
* any other stuff you think could be good...

We're looking for a range of different views about Centrelink (a bit of balance, in this case).

Here are some other thoughts:

* You can submit your work anonymously or using a (mischievous?)pen-name if you like. But we will need to have your full contact details - address, phone number and email address (if you have one). We absolutely promise not to share your contact details with anyone
* You'll need to include a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your submission cos we'll need to let you know you about your submission. If you need us to return your work (just let us know),
please include sufficient postage
* Text pieces must be 2500 words maximum (sorry, but space considerations n all...). It'd be good if they were typed and double-spaced (with a legible font). But handwritten submissions are ok
as long as they're legible
* Please don't send us your only copy
* Please use plain paper
* All submissions, including artwork, must be no larger than A4 size
* Apart from maybe the front cover, the zine will be printed on a black and white photocopier so just bear that in mind (especially if you're submitting artwork)
* It will take us a month or two to get back to you about your work
* We will do our best to fit everything into the zine but this might not be possible
* We can be flexible about this stuff if required, so if you have a query about these guidelines, please contact us (see contact details at the end of this call out).

Send your work to:

Centrelink Zine Project
Institute for Zine Excellence
Footscray Community Arts Centre
45 Moreland Street
Footscray VIC 3011

You can also email your work to Natasha Cho (Writing Coord at Footscray Community Arts Centre) - writing@fcarts.org.au

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: THURSDAY 12 AUGUST 2004

2) MAYBE YOU'D LIKE TO COME TO A FREE WORKSHOP OR TWO...

Feel free to come to one or more of these free workshops. They'll be a great chance to meet other Centrelink zinesters and to further develop various skills (not that we're saying you've got to be
"learning or earning"...). The workshops will be facilitated by Craig Garrett, zinester, editor and maker of mischief.

All workshops are at Footscray Community Arts Centre, 45 Moreland St, Footscray (just 2 mins walk from Footscray Station - which is just a few stops out of the city).

The time for each workshop is the same - Thursdays, 6pm-8pm. Here are the dates and details:

24 June: Developing ideas for the zine. Also includes sharing initial work, if you want to do this
8 July: Getting further feedback on your work and revising your work
22 July: Collage. Time to get into some cut and paste fun, including artwork inspired 'remixing' Centrelink forms and brochures
12 August: Exploring ways to bring text and visual art together
9 Sept: Collating the zine. Photocopying and collating the zine + hatching plans for distributing it.

If you'd like to come along to any of these workshops, please let us know in advance if that's possible (see contact details below).

3) FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THIS WHOLE DEAL...

Contact Natasha Cho, Writing Coordinator, Footscray Community Arts Centre. Phone (03) 9362 8813 (Tues, Wed, Thurs) or writing@fcarts.org.au

* The line "Dealing with Centrelink IS working for the dole" was spray painted on the outside wall of Fitzroy Centrelink (Melbs) a few years ago (it's no longer there).

Info from: Lucas Ihlein bilateral@bigfoot.com

Position available as editor of Voiceworks

New Voiceworks Editor

* Are you passionate about literary and cultural issues?
* Meticulous with spelling, grammar and editing?
* An avid consumer of magazines, short stories, poetry, quality non-fiction, comics, illustrations and zines?
* If you're good under pressure, able to set and manage deadlines and provide support to a talented team of volunteers, we want you to apply for the role of Voiceworks editor.

Voiceworks is a national, quarterly magazine that publishes new writing and artwork by young Australian writers and artists under 25.

The editor is responsible for overseeing the philosophy, direction and production of Voiceworks magazine. This involves working alongside the artistic director and the general manager of Express Media, and the editorial committee, as well as volunteers to help carry out some administrative and editorial duties.

For position description email info@expressmedia.org.au
Applications close 5pm Wednesday 21 July
Editorial handover starts Monday 9 August

Kelly Chandler - Voiceworks Editor
Express Media
Publishers of Voiceworks Magazine
workshops * mentorship schemes * special projects

Info forwarded from Lucas.

W: http://www.expressmedia.org.au/voiceworks/index.html