Rather be a bandit than a lover

A Perfect Day Elise

 

Tereza Vlčková

See you on a dark night

Bombay - El Guincho

Mike Joos

"I worry, primarily, about whether there are nightclubs in Heaven."

- Tom Waits

Musician Tom Waits in a classic 1979 Australian television interview.  Rumoured to be Heath Ledger's inspiration for the Joker in Batman.

Hold your heart with two hands

 

Mother Nature’s sun

A colleague recently returned from Tibet with some incredibly beautiful photographs.  I will never cease to be astounded by the pure beauty of nature.

 

Sunrise at Mount Everest base camp

 

Lake Namtso

Sunday morning Bluebells

Brice Bischoff

I can smile about it now...

But at the time it was terrible.

Shrigley is my saviour.

Train heave on to Euston

 Self described visual poet, 

Austrian artist Anatlo Knotek creates art with the alphabet. 

Through the Looking Glass

Glass with son in Nova Scotia

Last night I got to enjoy the truly inspiring documentary GLASS: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (2007) as part of the SLVs outside-in cinema program.  Directed by Scott Hicks the film covered all of my favourite bases: Film making (cameos with other favourites Martin Scorsese & Woody Allen), Art making (Chuck Close is one of his best friends), brilliant writing friends (Allen Ginsberg), collaborations (one with my other life hero – David Bowie), SoHo in the 70s, spectacular coastlines (Nova Scotia), a pervading interest in the soul and spirit and the brilliant way in which this great man has learned his guts out (Juilliard as a teenager no less), mentors like legendary Nadia Boulanger and sitar star Ravi Shankar, practiced like all get out and is living out his own dreams.

Also to my original life hero – 

Happy Birthday HST, your genius is missed x  

 

MIFF 2012

Here's my MIFF hit list - shaping up to be a pretty grand festival methinks.  Also hoping cutting down on the number of films jammed into the festival this year might reduce the exhaustion of last years MIFF extravaganza...

Shut Up And Play The Hits

Searching For Sugar Man

The Ambassador

Crazy Horse

Faust

Bad Brains: A Band In Dc

Sleepless Night

The House I Live In

Gainsbourg By Gainsbourg: An Intimate Self-Portrait

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap

Caesar Must Die

Beware Of Mr. Baker

Damsels In Distress

Marina Abramovic : The Artist Is Present

The Fortune

“Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.”
― Susan Sontag

ph: Sasha Kurmaz

 

 

Mondaze

Come on Monday

There's more to life than books you know

But not much more.

As Kansas City appreciates.

Part of the revitalization project for the downtown precinct, the facade for the new library's car park is clad in iconic book bindings as voted on by local residents, celebrating literature in it's physical form, this lovely literary homage was designed by Dimensional Innovations.

We create worlds from words

Last week I was lucky enough (thanks Jess!) to catch Roland Schimmelpfennig's deconstructed play The Golden Dragon at the MTC Lawler Studio theatre (as translated by David Tushingham).  Reading every word of the play – short pause – numerous plot lines were developed in a series of vignettes as actors jumped frantically from scene to scene in Andrew Bailey's brilliant abstract set.

 

It must be said that this set truly enhanced the production - a closed shipping container that is unpacked in the opening scene, the stage shifts from apartment, to restaurant, to kitchen and back.  Through deft lighting cues and clever design, this singular structure adapted as the actors brought each character and thus story to life in the space. 

 
The only disappointment was having to watch the actors pack it all up at the end...

Alison Croggon’s review.
An interview with Andrew Bailey.

Concepts create idols

 

Concepts create idols -

only wonder understands anything

- Gregory of Nyssa