Christine Stoner

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Lala Ladcani is part of the Argentinean art scene and works across illustration, multimedia collages, accessories and photography.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

An archaeologist at Stanford, Michael Shanks, has completed an interesting study of the ‘prodigious amount of thought’ given to the design and layout of a casino’s gambling floor, such as the pictured Las Vegas Venetian. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

With the recent financial qualms, a moment of reflection takes over as we begin to wonder how we all became so out of touch with reality. Somehow Luxury lost its way and mistook itself for decadence, joining the Bling-Bling parade and gravitating towards the streets of self-indulgence. Yet, the true essence of Luxury, as the divine Coco Chanel states ‘is not in the richness and ornateness, but in the absence of vulgarity’. Bravo, I say! Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Our online store has been kicking along nicely for a while now, featuring prints by Andy Smith [pictured], tees by Das Monk and jewellery by This Charming Man to name a few. We have visitors from all across the globe and some of our pieces have been racing out the virtual door faster than we imagined possible. Aw, shucks! Now it’s your turn. If you design, create, or distribute products and artwork that fits with our style, and you’d like to see your goodies stocked on our shelves in time for Christmas, drop us a note introducing yourself and we’ll take it from there. Psst … we’re planning some Christmas gift ideas and subscriber offers too. We reckon you’ll like them.

WE'RE READING

We invited Greg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, who aside from being the DJ of the moment is also the remix whiz behind tracks from Beck, Tokyo Police Club, and Grizzly Bear, to give us a rundown on the songs he’s wearing out right now for our sister site, My Secret Playlist. He started off by propping Beyonce’s anthemic single, Single Ladies [listen below]. Go figure! ‘This is one of my favorite Beyonce tracks ever. It has so much energy, and the chorus gets dark in a great way. The clapping never stops. The video is a flawless execution of a performance style clip. It’s perfect’. Read the rest of Girl Talk’s Secret Playlist.

Having originally sprung from the Shaky Isles (otherwise known as New Zealand), I can appreciate the humour in the New Zealand cartoon series, Bro Town, the first homegrown animated series to screen during local prime time. It’s simply brilliant, a real play on the ‘thuck’ accent and small town ways of our Kiwi brethren.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

I don’t do yoga. I have nothing against it, but it just seems a little too new agey for me. However, if I do eventually try it, I’d like the instructor to put on Fabio Orsi’s moody, ambient, drone experiments. Using piano, guitar, percussion, field recordings, and various sampled elements, Orsi creates some beautiful, meditative pieces that, while undeniably fruity, are still weird enough to hold my interest.