Even Books #7 … no-one belongs here more than you
Even Books is a regular night that combines literature, music, art, theatre and booze to be one of the most unusual book clubs around. Each night is themed around a different book, and last week’s theme was Miranda July’s collection of short stories, “No-one Belongs Here More Than You“.
The vibe was kinda like a chilled house party, with some activities and live music thrown in.
There were interactive projects, based on Miranda’s writing and web art.


Sui Zhen, Daisy M. Tulley (Bridezilla) and The Maple Trail played some folk tunes for the gathering.





The “positive message table”.


Sui Zhen even made a diorama inspired by Miranda July, especially for the night.

Sydney Opera House
I’ve been seeing a lot of Sydney’s famous landmark lately - a few weeks ago I came down for the Dappled Cities show at the Spiegeltent on the forecourt, last week was the SMAC Awards, and then on friday night we went to dinner at Guillaume at Bennelong, the flagship restaurant. Each time I’ve been down, I haven’t been able to resist snapping off a few shots. I’m very aware that there is an oversaturation of photographs of this building, but what the hell - here’s a few more to add to the pile.




Holy Fuck
Holy Fuck, performing at the Annandale Hotel, Sydney. 12.12.08.
To be honest, I was really only there to hear “Lovely Allen”, the standout tune from their self-titled album, but I was pretty blown away by how good the show was overall.


The evening was made even more enjoyable by the support of Melbourne’s terrific Mountains In The Sky.


The SMAC Awards
The winners of the inaugural SMAC Awards (Sydney Music, Arts & Culture) were unveiled to the world on sunday night, at a party held down at the Sydney Opera House. The awards, presented by Timeout Sydney & FBi 94.5, were thought up as a way to honour Sydney’s cultural innovators with traditional categories such as “Best Music Performance” mixed in with other more unusual ones, such as the “Remix the City” Award, rewarding the person or team who have used the city’s space in the most creative way.
Fergus Linehan took out the SMAC of the Year Award, for his sterling work directing the lineup of the annual Sydney Festival for the last three years.
- SMAC OF THE YEAR AWARD - FERGUS LINEHAN
- SMAC REMIX THE CITY AWARD - BIENNALE AT COCKATOO ISLAND
- SMAC IN YOUR FACE AWARD - RAISE THE BAR
- BEST MUSIC EVENT - SYDNEY FESTIVAL BECKS BAR/SPIEGELTENT
- BEST MUSIC PERFORMANCE - DAPPLED CITIES
- RECORD OF THE YEAR - THE PRESETS Apocalypso
- BEST MUSIC NEWCOMER - CLOUD CONTROL
- BEST ARTS EVENT - UNDERBELLY PUBLIC ARTS LAB AND FESTIVAL
- BEST VISUAL ARTIST - KILL PIXIE
- BEST ACTOR/ PERFORMER - BRENDAN COWELL – Hamlet
- BEST ARTS NEWCOMER - GREEDY HEN































Dappled Cities @ The Famous Spiegeltent
Here are a few shots from last week’s Dappled Cities show for FBi 94.5 supporters at the Famous Spiegeltent. It was one of the band’s last shows for the year before heading off overseas again, and they played almost exclusively from their just-finished new album.
The Spiegeltent only has a small capacity, so it was an intimate show. It’s in town for a short season at the moment as part of its worldwide tour, hosting shows for various festivals and events. It’s currently set up on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House.
The Presets @ the Apple Store
The Presets played a free show last night down at the Apple Store in the Sydney CBD.
The store has a limited capacity, so I didn’t fancy my chances of getting in when I turned up around an hour and half before the show, and the line to get in was stretching right around the corner.
Sure enough, I was about 50 people behind the last people admitted - so I ended up watching from the street, which was pretty entertaining in itself, even if we could only barely hear the music through the soundproof glass. The mood among the crowd was a mixture of drunken excitement, disappointment, resentment towards security and the lucky peeps inside, and a manic determined urge to enjoy the less-than-ideal situation as much as possible.
Analog Spaces
These are some shots I’ve taken in the last couple of days with my new Canon AE-1 Program 35mm film SLR that I picked up on ebay.
Apart from some messing about with a lomo lca+, my original entry into the world of photography was completely digital, so it’s been an interesting experience learning about film, the intricacies of a vintage camera that’s pretty much devoid of bells and whistles, and also not having the instant gratification of the large Canon EOS 40D viewscreen.
I’m hoping this will help improve my shooting style - I’ve been making a conscious effort to think a bit more about what I’m trying to achieve before I click the button, and not taking multiple frames to make sure that I get the shot (well, not more than two anyway).
A rehearsal studio in Marrickville.
Bronte beach.
The stairwell of my building.
A recently-gutted shop at Bondi Junction.
Random tree.
Sculpture By The Sea 2008
Early this morning I checked out this year’s Sculpture By The Sea - an annual event on the small strip of Sydney coastline connecting Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte beaches featuring sculpture work from artists the world over.
Generally speaking, I can take or leave sculpture as an artform, but seeing it framed against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean is always pretty damn spectacular.
The exhibition runs until November 2nd.
Photo Booth
When your birthday rolls around and it’s not one of the big ones like a 21st or 30th, you generally don’t expect there to be much of a fuss, present-wise.
So, I was completely floored last month when I received the most amazing birthday gift from my girlfriend, LTL - it’s a book, created using Blurb, containing a whole bunch of photos I’ve taken over the last year or two, intermixed with beautifully-written notes from my friends.
The feeling of opening this book for the first time and seeing how much effort had gone into making it, is something that I’ll never forget. A huge thank you to Chris, Andy, Paul, Daniel, and Kate… and an extra-special thank you to LTL, you are truly amazing.















































































