Craig fesses up: Original Notes From Chris

   A couple of weeks ago I wrote about some strange posters appearing around Melbourne inviting people to meet up with someone named Craig. (See Craig’s Other List) Well, it turns out that Craig’s notes were, um, inspired by a New York project by writer/director/maker, Todd Lamb entitled Notes From Chris. Todd describes the project [...]

Is this the coolest business card ever?

I love business card design. I think there’s something about the size constraints of the card that make people think a little bit more creatively about how they represent themselves and their business. In the most memorable cards, it’s the combination of typeface, colour, text and images with texture, material, shape and size that give [...]

Craig’s other list: Guerrilla graffiti brings humour to the streets

Bizarre notices have been popping up on lampposts around Melbourne. On the surface they seem like legitimate notices you’d see on community noticeboards: items for sale, lost and found, and invitations to join groups with those who have similar interests. But once you start reading them, you realise that something is amiss. The item for [...]

Joss Whedon’s new series, Dollhouse: Yeah or meh?

Oh dear. As I watched the first episode of Joss Whedon’s new series, Dollhouse, a sinking feeling came over me.       Joss Whedon is the creator of cult tv series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly. His work is regarded as some of the cleverest, wittiest and engaging tv of the last [...]

Want to publish a book? Become a passionate expert

When I was a bookseller I was always being asked the insider’s tips for getting published. I’m not sure why they asked me. I wasn’t a publisher. But I suppose I knew what was being published, what the publishers liked and I often knew the backstories to a bestseller’s success. Of all those books with [...]

What next? A lesbian Prime Minister?

Why, yes, actually. While the rest of us are still shaking our heads, amazed that the US actually has a black president, Iceland is pushing the social engineering envelope with the world’s first openly-gay Prime Minister being sworn in this week. According to The Independent, “former air hostess”, Johanna Sigurdardottir, will take the reigns of [...]

What breakthrough discoveries will we see in our lifetimes?

That international club of provocative thinkers, The Edge, released its 2009 Question earlier this month at its World Question Centre. 150 of the sharpest pencils in the, um, pencil-case of contemporary thought were asked:

WHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING?

“What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?”

Cool activism for hot times

    Hot enough for ya? I can’t believe how many “climate change doesn’t exist” bits n pieces I’ve read in the last few days. I put it down to buying the local paper (and then making the mistake of reading it), but I wonder if it’s just the last hurrah of the climate change [...]

Vale Bettie Page: 1923 – 2008

It’s hard to imagine fetish culture without the iconic 1950s photos of Bettie Page. In a time when women were most commonly seen bending over a new kitchen appliance, Ms Page was demonstrating a, um, different kind of horizontal posture. I’m not sure if her modelling days were a totally empowering experience, but Bettie Page’s [...]

Goodbye Kaftan. Hello Slanket!

Okay, it’s hot and humid here in the mountains today but I must admit I had a twinge of “must have” when I saw a picture for the “best blanket ever – The Slanket“. Or maybe it was because I just couldn’t stop laughing at the blankie that strangely resembles all my childhood nativity costumes. [...]