observations

Have you ever noticed that somedays stand out from others due to extremes. Yesterday we had ice winds but beaming sunshine, Heavy rain but Rainbows, I got my car fixed after someone slammed into it and on the way to the beaters slammed into another car, and finally because of said car was feeling down when I received an email from my friend Kathleen that she was coming over for a visit so started the day bad and ended very happy.

Semi Permanent 2008

Ok so its that time of year again when the heavy weights of Graphic design descend upon Auckland for the annual conference. This year it was held over two days so I was able to see three speakers on Friday and six on Saturday. Below are my thoughts on them.

Marian Bantjes - www.bantjes.com
What a horrid thing being the first speaker of the conference but she was great - good pace, a mixture of serious and some funny anecdotes and superb work to back it all up. She also started what would prove to be the unofficial theme of the weekend. Mid design life crisis that one needs to do probono or self driven work funded by commercial stuff to keep the balance and sanity in their careers. Also loved the fac that someone who creates just poetic, feminine and intricate work would chose a khaki mens jacket as her favourite clothing item.

Design by Pidgeon - www.pidgeon.com.au
this guy did the most wonderful work full of creative ways to do the unusual with small budgets and how amazingly he could cross over into fine arts, hospitality and architecture. but his speaking was extremely monotonous so hard to focus.

Joel Gethin Lewis - www.joelgethinlewis.com
As much of a fire ball as last year but with the background of watching him last year knew what to expect so wasn't quite as wowed as previously. Still his work on the Christmas lights was such a nice idea and for a christmas junky like me an added bonus.

Collider - www.collider.co.au
didn't actually get to see his speech but ended up having lunch with him on Saturday where we all compared client horror stories and also some tricks of the trade. Turned out he was born in South Africa bred in Invercargill and Napier prior to being based in Sydney. So needless to say an interesting lunch.

Derek Henderson - www.derekhenderson.net
Really enjoyed his talk and the answers to some of the questions he was asked - What is your most stimulating subject matter? - Naked girls What conditioner do you use? - why what is wrong with my hair I thought it was looking pretty good he reminds me of other fav photographers of mine like Bill Henson and Robin Morrison look forward to seeing his book when it comes out.

Sea Design - www.seadesign.co.uk
this guy for me was the most boring as his work seemed to be good based on the calibre of clients and budgets as opposed to the ideas. They did do a funny project though asking for people in the public to come in and art direct their own naked photo shoot which brought about some funny results.

Dumbo Feather - www.dumbofeather.com
Such a cute pixie of a lady in her black tutu and bare feet. She had a nice message which was don't be ordinary as there is too much of that already. Walk your own path and the scarier the better. I have since brought a subscription to her mag so will let you all know what its like in future when I receive the first copy.

Debaser - www.debaser.com.au
two guys with loads of energy and very hands on and inventive at getting visually rich results for their clients. I loved the video Bernard Fanning did and it was great to learn it was based on the 2d design they worked on. Also loved the fact that they took strange requests from their clients and made it work like combining film noir with Mexican day of the dead art. These two in terms of their work would be the stuff I would probably most likely collect and display.

Danny Yount - www.dannyyount.com
Its always a nice surprise when without even knowing it you find you were a fan of one persons work as so many of the title designs for films I love have been made by this guy. In particular one of my all time favourite shows Six feet under. As you all know I adore film and was just so cool to hear a talk from a hollywood biggun who I think quite nicely was from Kansas maybe he is the wizard of LA.

his show reel on you tube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oeLzw1fGiE

Stefan Sagmeister - www.stefansagmeister.com www.thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com
Well this man is called the rockstar of designers and I have seen him before and loved that talk but this time I came away with a bad taste in my mouth as he said a few things I didn't agree with and he seemed to come across as just so unbelievably arrogant. making fun of the sign language interpreter (by making him sign blow job blow job blow job over and over again) then criticised one of the other speakers and then landed his colleagues in a situation with the authorities in the USA and leaving them to deal with his mess. I admit due to baby sitting duties I had to run out at 6:10 before he had finished so maybe he might have redeemed himself for me during that time it just seemed to me that all the rules for life he was teaching didn't seem to reflect the way he lived his life. I don't think he is aware of how lucky he is that he has such a big profile that people do so much for him that they would never dream of doing for most.

wanted to see others thoughts on the weekend but haven't found any posts yet so if anyone sees any let me know.

All in all I had a good time and found a bit of inspiration.

Lady Marmalade

Nivin at work brought some grapefruits in so I took this opportunity to have a go at making preserves. It was not as hard as I thought but the bottling is a pain all the sterilising and pouring of hot liquids into small pots gets messy. However in the end my dad who loves Marmalade tried some and deemed it successful so worth it.

Holy Melancholy

Went to Curvy and Miseries opening nigh at Webbs gallery. Just love her work reminds me so much of the imaginings of my childhood. One day will hopefully have enough cash to buy one.

08.08.08

love that google can turn their logo into into anything - be it art or celebration. makes their corporate face almost like a person. Their artists are very creative. Also love the date today and am looking forward to the opening ceremony to the olympics as that and the closing are generally all I watch - predictable for me as I am into arts not sport.

bugger!

How funny is it to look out your office window and see a man who's car is illegally parked on the grass and because of rain is stuck in the mud and then tries desperately to get out - in doing so sprays mud all over the cars parked next to it. Glad my car was inside.

mmmmm finger lickin good

I had a much needed break on Friday and went to the annual food show with my mums friend Rosalie. It was great. I got to try lots of yummy food and drinks, talk to some celebrity chefs, watch them in action and then try their creations and so on. I enjoyed it so much went again on Sunday with my sister and her partner. all in all spent 10 hours over two days there. Oh and bought lots and lots of stuff like dripping gorgonzola cheese from Italy and beautiful silk bagged tea from america can't wait for next years.

bowling and brewbar

we had our usual fun team event on Thursday at Newmarket tenpin bowling and then the very posh Nuffield Macs Brewbar - I was ranked 12th out of 15 so not very good but not the worst either.

the attached is a photo of one of the gruesome anti smoking campaign pictures - I am not pro smoking but I say either make them illegal or let people who choose to smoke live with it there is no need to make them vomit - imagine if every chocolate bar or pound of butter had pictures of obese problems.

wild and windy weekend

Well apparently Auckland had the worst cyclone in years hit in a bomb type formation but have to say me in my little apartment didn't notice a thing apart from the usual rainy windy winter day. On Monday though when I saw reports of the damage realised it was pretty severe as several roads were flooded, loads of areas were without power and so on - I guess one good thing about being up high is flooding isn't usually an issue.

Due to the weather I had another weekend in doors.
Friday saw Samuel Flynn Scott live at the Whammy bar which was fun his lyrics are so off the wall. Not sure what to call his style as sometimes he sounds like the pogues others like cats stevens and others almost country. I guess if I had to choose a word reflective as all his sounds make you think of something else from your memories.

Then Saturday had a chick flicks day with my sister can you believe 5 in a row. Blonde Ambition, The Bucket List, The Golden Compass, 27 Dresses and Suburban Girl. Quite exhausting.

Sunday more movies - Respect yourself the story of Stax records - very interesting as had heard the motown story but not stax. Then Get Smart which I loved so funny I even snorted I was laughing so hard. Finally The romance of Astrea and Celadon - worst pic of my fest movies and by a french master no less really struggled not to walk out.

Oh and saw mamma mia - for a plunkett fundraiser and not expecting anything as I'm not the biggest abba fan but loved it almost felt like getting up and dancing and singing along alot like I do with grease and sound of music.

Needless to say once I have seen Dark night I might chill on the movie front as even for me this was a bit of an overload. Time to pick up the books again.

Auckland International Film Festival

Anyone who knows me well knows that no matter how many I see or how old I get there is something still inherently magical to me about being told a story on the big screen. This year I am the poorest I have ever been but I still managed to save and spoil myself with 6 films at the festival. So below are the first few I have seen and my thoughts.

1. The Savages
Was a bit let down on this one as with Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman two actors I rather admire I thought it had to be good but I felt it tried too hard to be the typical quiet overcome tragic childhood drama didn't really move me.

2. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr Hunter S. Thompson. I have loved this man since my early twenties when I first read his book fear and loathing in las vegas. He had such a different way of looking at the world around him. He made me feel like I wasn't alone in my way of imagining oddities. Sadly though like so many of us who deeply hold the pain of the worlds wrongs on our shoulders he eventually couldn't take it and I believe gave up or gave in. Another loss to the world of the different and another win for the banal and mainstream. check out this website for the amazing illustrations of hunter www.ralphsteadman.com

"For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled."

3. Mongol - Indulging my fascination with history and trying to figure out the massive legacy of people before me that have shaped the world I now live in I went to this film about the life of Ghengis Khan. It was a fantastic movie and so beautiful to see the ever changing landscape but in the theme of the movies I have been watching of late shows that humans haven't learnt much in thousands of years as we are still fighting over love, land and power and it seems for every great leader for the good of humanity there are many more bad ones waiting in line to ruin their hard work.

"Do not scorn a weak cub,He may become a brutal tiger."

4. Patti Smith - this was the last for this weekend and yet not the least it had a profound effect on me I laughed – I cried and I came away deep in thought and feeling part of a larger consciousness of people saddened by the pain in the world and trying to do their part to change it. It reminded me why I always try not to ignore the forgotten people the people outside our walls. She spent ten years making this auto biography and it was just simply superb.

"When time, blissfully awry, spreads milky arms across the black expanse, to sleep, of what does time dream. And, thus unraveled, of where does time long.

In the wake of such delicious oblivion who presides over the edges of our sleep and the parting star and the hour under glass... "

So highly recommend all bar one of the films I saw. Just hope the remaining two are as inspiring.

Party in Bombay

Well considering the price of petrol at the moment a party in Pukekohe the last stop south on your way out of Auckland was a long way to go but I am glad I made the journey as was able to have some very intereste=ing conversations with a man who has lived all around the world but spent 12 years in Israel an area I am becoming more interested in as I get older. I also got to dance like a teenager to all my favourite songs from when I was that age too like madonna and Cindi Lauper. So thanks Steve for turning 45 and inviting me to help you celebrate.

Burns and Horns

Well last night I managed to burn all the fingers on my right hand at 250 after catching a falling oven door - freak accident I know. It took a massive 5 hours at A&E to get the heat out, I had never known what an amazing insulator skin was once the heat is in there it doesn't want to come out. Anyway the nurses did an amazing job and you can barely tell I was burned (I think the fact that I melted all the frozen things in my fridge and applied loads of lavender oil helped.

This morning after a crap night I was woken to a symphony of horns as all the trucks began their protest on petrol taxes conveniently all round my block - sometimes being in the heart of it is not so fun. Lets hope they were successful.

A night at Sky City

Last night I organised 40 women to come along to Gold Class in Skycity to have a great night out and watch the new Sex and the City movie. It was a great night with lots of glamorous outfits and I got to do my favourite thing in the world which is spoil friends. The best dressed award went to a lady in a stunning jade green dress and bejeweled necklace. The quizz proved too challenging so top score was 4 out of 10.

Anyway has made me want to organise more girls only events so watch this space could be another on the way.

For those that didn't get to come below is the recipe for a cosmopolitan so you can have one and feel like you were there.

Thanks to everyone who attended I had a wonderful night - oh and loved the movie

Weather madness

OK so I was just saying on the weekend how much I missed being able to wear gloves and hats and coats as the weather is just not cold enough here in Auckland. And then mother nature decided to have a freak out yesterday and today have had on off, hail, rain, thunder, and a chilly wind - makes working in a nice air conditioned office all the sweeter.

currently we have blue skies and rainbows - what next?

Tanya the gallery gal

OK so my lucky sis and her partner headed off with her boss Jenny to see the Sydney Biennale of art which meant there was no one left to hold the fort at the gallery so I was enrolled and given screeds of homework to go through making me very nervous as it has been 12 years since I did my partial art history degree at Auckland Uni so very rusty to say the least. However in the end I had a great time it was such a nice change from my usual job and so lovely to talk to fellow art lovers about an artist who I luckily loved. Megan Jenkinson who had done the most amazing lentricular works about the mirages and lights of Antarctica.

Womenz Night out

Well this entry is a little retrospective but I promised so will endeavor to write something. This was the second of these nights I have been to and as such I had high hopes as the first had moved me so much unfortunately it failed as there was a large choral group singing who were a bit naf for want of a better word and the third speaker proceeded to talk about cosmetic surgery and how the ravages of age effect us all. One can't help but compare her analogies of wrinkles and blemishes etc... to their own issues and when listed seem so much worse than they really are.

never too old to protect your turf

My families cat Buddy is now about 17 years old and still going strong but has always kept all the cats at bay in our neighbourhood. That is until a new cat came to town who is a fighter and sunk his teeth into my poor cats tail so badly it swelled up something awful. Hopefully after a long visit at the vets he will feel better soon.

alarms

Last night the first night I had to myself to relax in ages was not meant to be as at 11:30pm our buildings fire alarm went off, not due to fire though but water leaking through the ceiling and where well just outside my door of course. I for some reason on evacuation was the only one in a dressing gown everyone else was dressed — quite funny. On the upside got to perve at the ever so cute fireman and there were quite alot one good thing of living opposite the station. Glad I put the firemans calendar at work though as when they came in to check if the water was coming from my bathroom would have been a bit embarrasing.

Cool Confident Basic Skills

MMMMMMMMMM!

I finally did it and booked myself in for some professional cooking classes to learn the basics. So soon I will be cooking up a storm. The company is called Main Course and is held in the most beautiful old brick building with giant arched windows and the most incredible equipment.

So I now have knife skills (watch out enemies) and can make a great Chowder, flowered potaties and pear tart tatin. The course was really good and would recommend it to anyone. 4 more to go.

www.maincourse.co.nz

Doing my bit as NZ Ambassador

Thought of you Regan as last time I ventured down to Rotorua it was with you.

It was long weekend in NZ so after hearing that a Chinese girl called Kate who I work with had never been anywhere except Shanghai and Auckland I thought I had better show her some of NZ.

On the way I introduced her to the concept of backpacking, sleeping bags, swimming togs, reduced cream and onions soup dip, saunas and so on.

Our trip went from Auckland to Rotorua to Taupo to National Park to Waitomo to Otorohonga and back to Auckland.

Highlights for me were:
Treks backpackers in Rotorua amazingly cheap, clean and really stylish
Polynesia Spa as love a dip in hot water
The very spooky fog all the way on the trip
All the gold and amber trees
Snow falling over Ruapehu
Meeting a lovely father daughter duo from Israel
zooming down the hill on the luge
and finally the magical glow worms still as wonderful as ever.