Celebrate Kylie Minogue’s Birthday!

Threadless.com Touring Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane…

THE PORTABLE FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS THREADLESS.COM IN CONVERSATION

Threadless.com is one of the world’s strongest and most profitable online design communities. Launched in Chicago in early 2000, the company has over one million registered users and continues to shape and influence designers and illustrators internationally.

This May, Ross Zietz, Art Director for Threadless, touches down in Australia to share his knowledge of the online design community, advice for upcoming and established online businesses, and the latest in social networking and online trends. Ross Zietz will make appearances in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Places are limited so book online now.

WHAT IS THE PORTABLE SYMPOSIUM SERIES?
The Portable Symposium Series brings groundbreaking international cross media practitioners to the Australian and Asia Pacific creative communities. In an intimate and open conversation, these events promote innovation, risk taking and dialogue between creative communities throughout the region.

Touring all major cities of Australia, as well as Singapore and New Zealand, the Portable Symposium Series attracts an audience of technology minded professionals, filmmakers and creative industry practitioners interested in trends and innovation in online video and content. Portable Film Festival® has previously toured the makers of online serial hit LonelyGirl15, which has over 100 million viewers, to Australia. In 2008, the festival produced an Asia-Pacific tour with Ezra Cooperstein, VP of User Generated Content from Al Gore’s Current TV network.

WHAT IS THE PORTABLE FILM FESTIVAL®?
The Portable Film Festival® is Australia’s premier online film channel, offering audiences the chance to download an entire international film and video program for free to their iPods, mobile phones and laptops. Now in its fourth year, the festival works to liberate the film viewing and filmmaking process, making story accessible to everyone regardless of his or her experience, location, or technical proficiency.

MELBOURNE
Tuesday 26th of May
Village Roadshow Theatrette
State Library of Victoria
(Enter on Latrobe Street)
6:00pm

BRISBANE
Wednesday 27th of May
State Library of Queensland
(By invitation only)

SYDNEY
Thursday 28th of May
Museum of Sydney
Corner of Bridge & Phillip Streets
6:00pm

HOW MUCH ARE TICKETS?
$45 Adult
$30 Concession

HOW CAN I BUY TICKETS?
Tickets will be available online for purchase at the Portable Film Festival® website www.portablefilmfestival.com/symposium.php

Facebook gets a Creative Commons App

The intent of this application is to help you choose a license that will identify to your friends and the public how you want your work to be used in the world. Once you answer the couple of questions on our page, we’ll recommend one of our six licenses and you’ll have the opportunity to place it directly on your Facebook profile.

http://apps.facebook.com/creativecommons/

There Goes the Neighbourhood – Arts and City Politics

An exhibition -featuring local and international artists -about spatial politics- from Redfern with global parallels. Including the Redfern/Waterloo Tour of Beauty, a boxing game shot at Mundine’s gym, opinion polls about public sculptures, a ghost train and more!

Rabble rousing legend, Gary Foley will launch a new book and give the opening speech!

Bring It On!

There’s also a bunch of public programs and more info on the website: http://www.theregoestheneighbourhood.org/

“There Goes the Neighbourhood is an exhibition, residency, discussion and publishing project for May 2009. The central element of this project will be an exploration of the politics of urban space, with a focus on Redfern, Sydney. The project will examine the complex life of cities and how the phenomenon of gentrification is altering the relationship between democracy and demography around the world. While urban change itself is not always a bad thing, gentrification often happens at an accelerated rate, out pricing the lower income and marginalized communities from the neighbourhood and dislocating them from their existing connections to urban space. The project brings togther artists from Australia and around the world whose work addresses these issues”.

Friday, May 22, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Performance Space @ CarriageWorks
Street: 245 Wilson Street, REDFERN
City/Town: Sydney, Australia

‘I’m Glad It Wasn’t MY Penis’

“In our hysterics over the evils of rugby league we forget that the sport is merely the sum of its parts. Bob Dumpling has a close look at the ingredients in this poo sandwich.

Rugby league has always thrived on controversy.

But if controversy is league’s oxygen, there’s been a bit of methane added in recent weeks as a dirty secret, buried in 2002, has made its way to the surface. Perhaps finally the stink of the modern game will have sickened and disturbed enough people that we’ll have reached a tipping point. But I doubt it.

It’s been observed before that league players are not paid to think, but the randomness and idiocy surrounding the game extend much further.

The clearest message from this appalling incident and every other sexual assault, act of aggravated violence and other “misbehaviour” before then and ever since is this: a significant number of people involved in the NRL are incapable of making good decisions.”

More from Matilda

Where do penguins go to Dance?

Polar Eyes, is an interactive new children’s book about Antarctica from CSIRO.

The book illustrates author Tanya Patrick’s journey through the scenes and science of one of the most fascinating parts of the planet.

Featured hands-on-activities will bring Antarctic science to your kitchen or classroom. They vary from the tempting: making an edible Antarctica, to the serious: surviving in a white out. The whole family will be kept busy building everything from weather stations to mini-biospheres, all from objects we often throw out in the recycling.

It’s also packed with odd facts to entertain young minds, such as bugs that can be freeze-dried and brought back to life, and how Antarctic scientists have to pollinate cucumber flowers with paintbrushes in their insect-free hydroponic gardens.

Polar Eyes is available for $24.95 through CSIRO at: www.csiroshop.com

Give the gift of Flying F*CK!

Rather than telling someone you don’t care a rats ass about them, you can let them know you respect them enough to give a flying f*ck.

Product Features

• R/C Helicopter looks like a giant flying F*CK
• Two channel control means the copter always move forward slowly. You control the hover and right and left turns.
• Dual counter-rotating blades give incredible hovering and stability
• Helicopter Charges from Remote
• 7 Minute fly time, 10 minute charge time
• Requires 6 AA batteries, not included 

Source: Think Geek

Man Flu

This is one of the funniest videos I have ever seen. You really have to watch it, hopefully it’s not contagious x

Japanese Gay Art new blog and Melbourne exhibit

Masahiko Takagi has started a Japanese gay art blog, www.japanesegayart.com. It’s fairly new but they have already uploaded an interview with Jiraiya, well known erotic artist.

Also exhibiting some works in Melbourne at Hares & Hyenas queer bookshop in Fitzroy, from Saturday May 16th. The bookshop has just added a new café, and is having an opening party for the café Sunday the 17th, from 3pm. The address is 63 Johnston Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia.

Other plans for exhibits in 2010, include events for Midsumma in Melbourne and Mardis Gras in Sydney.

Brian Eno – Luminous

I suspect we might all have genuis fatigue. What with everyone being a genuis these days who qualifies for this illustrious title? Well get with the program people it would have to be Brian Eno! Although even Eno is on to the tricks of mainstream verbiage and has recast the the word genuis with scenius.

How many people realise that he is the father of ambient music, not to mention that bloody annoying Microsoft music sting heard each time PC user’s boot up or shut down their computers, if they haven’t disabled it

I was blown away to still be able to get tickets to his keynote address on May 29th, 2009. Yes, I’ll even go interstate to see him! But for peeps who are just oh so tired of everything brilliant and paying for it. Guess what –2 free and very spectacular events are yours for the seeing.

Lighting the Sails: In a major artwork by Eno, LUMINOUS launches with the lighting of the Sydney Opera House sails. Like a freeform painting, Utzon’s masterpiece will glow with rich, continuously changing configurations of colour. Presented in association with Smart Light, the sails will remain lit for the three weeks of LUMINOUS.