Fake Empire

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Beautiful, delicate, fragile, a little bit collage, a little bit sketchfull. This is the work of Kelly Smith. Combining several mediums in a collaborative expose between pencil, paint and print to create timeless works of elegant splendour, it is easy to compare Smith’s works to the last snowflake of winter, fleeting but real, avoiding the brash bright mercantile world for the prettier climes of illustrative pleasure. Smith has a twelve-day exhibition on at the 696 Space in Brunswick, Melbourne, opening November 14.

WE'RE WEARING

Is it just me, or is fake beards on girls becoming a more pronounced part of our zeitgeist? Anyway, Erin Dollar has made some pretty sweet ones that she’ll sell to you via Etsy.

WE'RE READING

George Lois is the god of good ideas, or at least one of them. When I am stuck on ideas, I pray to George the God, or look through his works in hope of doing something one hundredth as good as his work. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

I love how illustrator and artist Wesley Allsbrook colors her work with pulsating acid-like washes and varied textures, setting off her gorgeous animated line work just beautifully. Read more

The Australian film collective behind the sci-fi spoof, The Time That Time Forgot, perfectly capture the look and feel of awkward, low-budget rip-offs from the ’70s — the psychedelic lighting, bad dubbing, and amazing hair. One almost wishes Italian Spiderman was for real. [more about Italian Spiderman]

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Sydney is not as well known for its great bars as other Australian cities. The city centre is dominated by over-priced style bars, while the suburbs are ruled by beer barns overflowing with terrible music, pokies, and sports. Nestled in the back streets of Surry Hills, surprisingly close to the city, The Cricketer’s Arms bucks the trend, with an open fire-place, great contemporary music selection, comfortable couches, a cosy outdoor area, decent food, free board games, and the laidback vibe that’s now all too rare in Sydney. [pic via Time Out Sydney]

WE'RE LISTENING TO

If you ever happen to find yourself riding across the mid-west on horseback with an iPod jangling about in your holster, be sure to let Calexico soundtrack the experience. They’re cleverly fusing a range of genres, mixing some good old country with US indie, a bit of jazz and even, in 2003’s Feast of Wire, some smatterings of electronica. Lead singer Joey Burns gives a healthy amount of cowboy twang and the soaring orchestral background and sweet country guitar licks add a real atmosphere to the music.

Listen to the Calexico song, Convict Pool.

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