The Savages
What would you do you if your estranged and incontinent father, suffering from dementia, was suddenly launched back into your life? The Savage children, superbly played by Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, decide on a nursing home, and this gritty reality is superbly handled. It begins in Arizona, the repetitious and mundane nature of existence nicely shot, giving a vivid picture of people waiting to die and the young who tolerate them for a pay check. Also wonderfully depicted is the discomfort of bystanders when faced with an elderly person unable to look after their own basic human functions. The nursing home is shown with surprisingly balance, so while we are presented with a stark, depressing environment, it is not without positives and it seems an appropriate place for people close to the end of their lives. The film falls a little flat as we wait for their father to die, but then the resolutions reached by the son and daughter at the end are brilliantly honest. A fable for modern times.
Tagged: American movie, Phillip Seymour Hoffman
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A new idea has emerged in Norway that we think could be the precursor to things to come in the way our societies interact and develop. The general gradual demise of traditional gathering places such as town halls, community centers and churches has seemingly gone in hand with a generational shift and sharp increase in online virtual communities. However, humans still need to rub shoulders at some point to get things done, until, say, we perfect the sensitive hologram. Read more
Ok, so I kind of get the whole dog grooming thing, though I think the pooches secretly resent being made to look like puffed up dandies. But pigeon grooming? Really?! These are photos of the 2010 Salt Lake City Grand National Champions. Bird-brained, indeed. Read more
Says Van She bassist and vocalist Matt Van Schie about the Bush Tetras track — Too Many Creeps — from 1982: ‘I LOOOVE this tune. It opens with a perfect snare roll, and then the counter bass and guitar rhythms make it so cool. The lyrics are even more valid today. They’re one of my favourite bands of all time, and so many people try to do what they did for real. What a time! I wish I was born back then in New York, hanging out with these kids. Ahhhh!!’
There’s a shop on Smith Street in Melbourne where all young designers go to live. In.cube8r supports all things craft and handmade in Melbourne, running like a long-term market, with the gallery divided into different areas that the artists lease for a tiny cost. There are more than 75 of Melbourne’s top crafters on show and the gallery is always looking for new designers.
The Big Picture’s photo essays are some of the best around: insightful, timely and often confronting in the way great photo essays are. Complementing The Big Picture is The Big Caption, a parody site ‘wherein jokes and statements are made using typography’. Sometimes insightful and always snarky, it pairs poignant photography with blunt observations using a thread of hostility. Read more
I stumbled across the Hello, Blue Roses track, My Shadow Falls, the other week and it set my ears alight, this subtle but beautiful song and its cascading melodic line which will at once ingrain yourself in your inner-ear iPod and then disappear out the other end, leaving only the sweetest of memories. Read more
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A little infectious lollipop rock anyone? Feel free to embarrass yourself singing along at the stoplight. If the other drivers give you that look, roll down the windows and spread the love.
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Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more

Honest Food Preparation Instructions
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Pitched as ‘Ulterior Motives in Contemporary Art’, Disorder Disorder is running until November 14 at Penrith Regional Gallery. It’ll be well worth the trip out west of Sydney: the Australian, Japanese, American and European cast reads like a warriors of street art roundup and includes Mike Giant, Ed Templeton, Anthony Lister [artwork above], Ozzie Wright, and Jonathan Zawada. Read more

Matthew Dear’s Black City album totem
Our friends at Ghostly International are releasing Matthew Dear’s Black City album as a limited edition ‘totem’. A what? A totem – a limited edition metal bar used to access a private music chamber. Cool! Read more
Now this is fun. This 3D watch dial actually jumps to life. The dial is a modern version of the 19th century art form of lithophanes: carved porcelain sheets that, when lit, deliver astoundingly detailed images. When the pusher is activated, the dial springs to life in 3D, with an LED light and afterglow effect. Read more
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