Stilgherrian » newtown

Links for 06 May 2008

del.icio.us — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:01:59 +0000

Here are the web links I’ve found for 06 May 2008, posted automatically.

Detroit Digital Vinyl | Submerge Digital E-store: Classic Detroit techno vinyl converted to 320kps MP3 with (generally) no DRM protection. Detroit Digital vinyl started out as collaboration between legendary Techno label Submerge, Underground Resistance and Electrofunk Records.
Latest T-Shirts | Royaltech by Benn Glazier: If you like techno, real techno, you may well like these t-shirts.
Tony Abbott - Friend of the Long Nosed Bandicoot | First Dog on the Moon: One of the funniest cartoons ever from First Dog, though you do have to know who Tony Abbott is. (He's an Australian politician.)
Alison Young BarCamp Twitter Talk | SlideShare: "What the heck is this Twitter thing about? The why & how for max fun." Alison Young's presentation from BarCampSydney, April 2008. Eight slides, real quick.
Chips, gravy & cheese FTW! | BrightKite: So this is the future? "Here's what I had for lunch." With a location map. This WILL become normal.
Mark Pesce's "The Nuclear Option" | YouTube: "Our social networks, now so accelerated by hyperconnectivity, allow the perfect meeting of message and audience. Oh, and some stuff about how cool Twitter is! From the Walkley Public Affairs Conference on Social Media, Sydney, 5 May 2008."
Bill Bailey Kraftwerk Tribute | YouTube: The Hokey Kokey sung live in the style of Kraftwerk.
Enterprise 2.0 - What is it good for? | CIO: "A 12-step guide to getting the most out of Web 2.0 tools and making it safe-for-purpose." excellent sound bits from Stephen Collins.

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Newtown Sunset, one month ago

Stilgherrian — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:42:03 +0000

Too long since I posted a photo. I thought of taking a quick snap of the street but after 12 days of rain King Street looks bleak. Instead, here’s the glorious sunset scene from 26 March. Enjoy.

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Metal Pole Critter

Stilgherrian — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:00:06 +0000

This happy little chap was found on a lamppost near ’Pong’s favourite tunnel under the railway in Newtown, Sydney. There are others in the vicinity, and I may seek them out for your enjoyment.

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Quote of the Day, 29 January 2008

Stilgherrian — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:51:24 +0000

Overheard in a pub on King Street, Newtown earlier today: “I’m not afraid of mental institutions any more. It’s a free holiday. Free food, free cigarettes — free DRUGS!”

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Fiddlers at Kelly’s

Stilgherrian — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 08:27:59 +0000

’Pong and I are having dinner at Kelly’s on King, and voilá, there are musicians at our table. It almost makes up for the free Wi-Fi running out at 7pm and having to roll our our Internet connectivity via my phone (which also took the picture).

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Petitions might finally make a difference

Stilgherrian — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:43:13 +0000

Maybe those annoying socialists on King Street will finally achieve something with their endless petition-signing. Chairman Rudd will require parliament to formally consider and report on all petitions.

More than a million Australians signed 900+ petitions during Howard’s final three-year term. A grand total of 2 were responded to in some way. The other 99.8% were tabled and ignored.

My local MP Anthony Albanese, the “manager of government business” in parliament, says petitions won’t need to be sponsored by an MP any more. He reckons citizens have a basic right to petition parliament. And they’ll look into electronic petitions too.

That, and Julia Gillard’s announcement that NGOs receiving government funds would no longer be prevented from making political statements, are clear sings that maybe Kevin Rudd actually means what he says about strengthening the parliamentary system.

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It’s worth eating at Kelly’s on King now

Stilgherrian — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:15:08 +0000

Yesterday’s experimental lunch at Kelly’s on King, the Irish theme pub at 285 King Street, Newtown, was a success.

Previously, Kelly’s got their food from Cafe C next door. Recent renovations added their own kitchen, so I figured it was worth a try.

“I’d better start thinking like a backpacker then,” snarked the Snarky Platypus. And yes, like most pretend-Irish pubs, late at night Kelly’s is full of loud, drunken arseholes. Avoid. But during the day it’s quiet, perfect for a cleansing ale and watching the world. A newspaper and conversation pub, if you like.

We had a perfectly adequate chicken penne (pictured) and a “Portuguese” chicken with rocket, sun-dried tomatoes and a few well-made potato wedges — the latter a not-too-fattening serving size. Great presentation.

The wine list is minimal — only four whites, for example. An Irish pub is about beer and whiskey. However with two decent sauvignon blancs that’s acceptable.

The Platypus and I have added Kelly’s on King to our regular rotation.

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Memory Gap

Stilgherrian — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 11:36:37 +0000

Overheard at a King Street, Newtown pub this afternoon:

Chap #1: So how rat-arsed should we get tonight?

Chap #2: I reckon about 10 drinks now, then 5 pills, and then cocktails after that.

Chap #1: Excellent. I’ll be a memory gap to remember!

I don’t think I could match that stamina.

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Luv ur dirigible

Stilgherrian — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:01:59 +0000

Stencil art spotted in Mary Street, Newtown, on Sunday afternoon. Gotta love anyone who can use the word dirigible. See more stencil art.

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Polite!

Stilgherrian — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:03:59 +0000

The food is laid out, ready to eat, but everyone’s waiting for someone else to make the first move.

This photo was taken at the close of the Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize exhibition on Sunday. Eventually the woman in the blue top sliced into the cheese — and suddenly the spell was broken!

’Pong tells me that in Thai, the very last piece on a plate is called “the polite piece” — the piece everyone is too polite to take.

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Contemporary art for sardines

Stilgherrian — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 01:58:22 +0000

“Just how many people can you pack into one tiny art gallery,” I wondered as I squeezed through At The Vanishing Point’s winding displays to find a drink.

The launch of the inaugural Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize was an upbeat but slightly chaotic affair last night, with 61 works packed into a narrow gallery space and probably every contemporary artist in the village jammed into a narrow corridor trying to reach the dodgy chardonnay and too-few spring rolls being served in the back yard.

’Pong’s Red Sofa didn’t win anything, but it was interesting to note how many of the winners were video installations and ceramic and mixed media works rather than “straight” paintings, photographs or sculptures.

I also thought most of the higher-ranked works tended to pack more Big Concepts into one piece, trying to tell a lot of stories all at once, rather than the clear exposition of one thought. Perhaps that’s just my preference for visual minimalism.

The exhibition continues until 23 September at At The Vanishing Point, 565 King Street, Newtown and Don’t Look Experimental Art Gallery, 419 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill. ’Pong’s Red Sofa is at the latter.

And the winners are…

Open Award

First Prize: Lucas Ihlein, MAP
Highly Commended: Michaela Gleave, Cloud Machine; Billy Gruner, Floor Structure (Box Fold); Tanya Richards, Her Mother Craved Rumpion; Somchai Charoen, Out of Service
Commended: Mark Wotherspoon, Smoker’s Please; Bronwyn Tuohy, Possession — White Trash Series; Chris Gallagher (title TBA); Amy Prcevich, You were so R.E.C.K, I was so L.E.S.S; Graham Chalcroft, Weight Watchers Series

Student Award

First Prize: Matthew Rochford, Dulwich Hill DayZZte PhayZze 2
Highly Commended: Jemima Aitschison, Suspended Animation
Commended: Cheyne McGill, Fluorescent Connection; Rohan Carter, Ten Years This Year

Non-English Speaking Background Award

First Prize: Shuhei Nishiyama, SHOT — Sabotage Syndrome
Highly Commended: Nicole Barakat, Coming Home Story; Somchai Charoen, Out of Service
Commended: Goran Tomic, “The Anatomy of the Possessed” (x-ray of the artist possessed by the spirit of Joseph Beuys); Pierre Cavalan, We are more similar than we are different

Director’s Choice

Acquisition Award: Lucas Ihlein, MAP.
Highly Commended: Gav Barbey, The blood flow’th…, Gustavo Böke, West; Louise Brissenden, Only Child; Nicole Barakat, Coming Home Story; Loris Quantock, 33 degrees South, 151 degrees East; Amanda Hills, [Recycled] carp.

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Red Sofa shortlisted

Stilgherrian — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:14:50 +0000

’Pong’s photograph Red Sofa (left) has been shortlisted for the Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize 2007.

The Award Presentation and Launch is tonight at At The Vanishing Point gallery, 565 King Street, Newtown from 6pm to 9pm.

However the exhibition is spread across two galleries, with the rest the works on display at the Don’t Look Experimental Art Gallery, 419 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill. That half is launched tomorrow night from 6pm.

Sadly ’Pong won’t be able to make the award presentation tonight, though I’ll try to be there. However we’ll both be at tomorrow’s launch in Dulwich Hill. Join us?

The exhibition runs at both galleries until 23 September.

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Newtown Coven

Stilgherrian — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:32:59 +0000

Last night this curious little coven of witch’s hats caught my eye.

This photo was taken on Enmore Road, Newtown in Sydney — as usual with my trusty Nokia N80 pimple-cam.

Some time — when I get the time! — I’ll set up the workflow so I can post this sort of thing directly from the phone.

The N80, like the rest of the Nseries, actually has single-timeline video editing software built in, which means I should be able to make video podcasts directly from the phone.

I know it’s “easy”, but it’s still one more thing to do…

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John Winston Howard, a new view?

Stilgherrian — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:49:58 +0000

Politics has dominated my writing these last few weeks — understandable given the Mohammed Haneef saga and the simple fact that it’s an election year. Last month wasn’t quite so politics-heavy. And a year before that things were much more personal — though I didn’t have time to write much.

But I’m sure the political threads will continue a while, because I’ve just started reading John Winston Howard by Wayne Errington and Peter van Onselen.

Three immediate observations:

JWH and I share a Methodist background and strict parents — how did we turn out so different?
After just one chapter, I’ve already gained a richer view of the man. I still don’t know that I like him, but I can see now why the late Janine Haines slapped me for being overly-critical. Perhaps linking to Anthony Albanese’s vitriolic anti-Howard rant from 9 years ago was a bit tough. (Then again, maybe not.)
Reading a book about JWH in Sydney’s inner west means that people give you funny looks. As I explained to one of them, though, “Hey, if I were reading a book about oncology, it wouldn’t mean I wanted to get lung cancer.”

I’ll write a proper review in due course — though I do like the irony of JWH’s childhood home now being a KFC outlet.

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Quote of the Day, 31 July 2007

Stilgherrian — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:35:10 +0000

Overheard on King Street South, Newtown, on Sunday afternoon: “No, they’re not lesbians, they’re just two fat chicks.”