
Old style, new class at Sydney’s Bar Cleveland
For some reason, over the last decade nearly every pub in Sydney has been systematically destroyed. I’m not sure who’s doing it, or why, but a someone is ripping out every ounce of character, replacing it with bright lights, flat screens, garish colours and emotionless interiors. Bar Cleveland on Cleveland St in Surry Hills seems to be one venue that has so far escaped. It could easily be just another big pub, but it’s not. Recent renovations have faithfully rendered an art-deco inspired interior to surround the impressive centrepiece, the large original bar. The interior is kept dim, the couches are comfortable, the beer is cold and the food is decent.
Tagged: Bar Cleveland, Sydney bars
Also by XAVIER TOBY
Valentino: The Last Emperor — Fashion documentary
A documentary about one of the world’s most famous fashion designers? Hmm. Not a film I’d ever choose to see, but sometimes we do what we don’t want to in order to make friends happy. It’s called compromise apparently, and the experience reminded me that any material, if well structured and presented, can make a decent film. The filmmakers follow the over-tanned Valentino Garavani and his long-term lover and business partner Giancarlo Giammetti. Read more
Larry David plays a slight variation on his Curb Your Enthusiasm incarnation, spouting some of the most articulate rants on humanity in Woody Allen’s new comedy. I enjoyed last year’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but this is definitely better. It’s a spectacularly executed comedy farce, with the action constantly escalating along the way, adhering to the old comedy formula of putting the characters through hell for big laughs. Read more
Black Dynamite blaxploitation movie trailer
One very angry and unstoppable man wages war against drugs and malt liquor. A take-off of the old blaxploitation films, this is parody at its best, with many knowing nods to camera and hilarious moments involving clichés taken to their extremes. There’s the Asian kung-fu master, pimps and orphans hooked on heroin. It all begins with Black Dynamite being spurned on his quest for blood after his brother’s brutal murder, and then pushed further for the love of a good woman. There are hoes and guns, along with catchphrases and great one-liners. See it.
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Iraqi-American artist Wafaa Bilal spent an entire month living in a Chicago art gallery where he had rigged a webcam and remote controlled paintball gun which visitors online or at the actual gallery could use to shoot at him. The piece highlighted the danger everyday Iraqi citizens face both in terms of actual violence and the vitriol generated by the controversial and geopolitically convoluted war. The experience re-triggered the post-traumatic stress disorder that Bilal had acquired in his home country. The installation as well as his life as an activist, artist, and refugee are documented in his book, Shoot An Iraqi: Art, Life and Resistance Under the Gun.
Mozzarella is the new sushi in New York since the opening of Obikà (pronounced Oh-bee-KA), Manhattan’s first mozzarella bar, at 590 Madison Avenue. Read more
These vegan designer bags from Matt & Nat are made out of anywhere between 15 and 55 recycled plastic bottles. It also uses no leather, which is a big plus given that according to the UN, raising cattle generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.
Cubed is a fun little game where you strategically manipulate various cubes to capture a flag posted on each level. It gets hard, don’t let the first couple levels fool you.
Whenever I begin to take life too seriously, I head over to Indexed for a little humor treat. Never have math, formulas and graphs been so clever and witty. The creator of the site started it as a way to make fun of some things, sense of others. Somehow her little formula worked. She is now listed in TIME Magazine’s Top Blogs of 2008. And now Jessica Hagy is a published author. Enjoy exploring the inner-workings of her mind. It is simply delightful.
Oh man, this is good. If Jamie Lidell was born in any earlier era, he would have soul brother number one plastered all over his birth certificate.
There’s no shortage of bands channeling the surf rock and psych of the 1960s, but the Super Vacations’ sloppy vocals, drunken guitar riffs, and blown out production give them a knowing swagger that has as much in common with Beat Happening and Thee Headcoats as with the Pyramids. They seem to take pride in how bad they are live, but their debut record shows a lot of potential.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST

There is not a medium that UK illustrator Lizzy Stewart cannot wrap around her little finger to make the most beautiful, whimsical images. Read more

Yum, yum, cupcakes are fun. These creations are so clever, so arty, so damn bizarre that it would almost be a shame to eat them. Almost! Read more

Hong Kong-based illustrator Man-Tsun draws dark and beautiful painterly images that look like they are straight off a high-end Japanese animated film. Read more

Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.

I live the upbeat, feel good tempo of the new single — A Hundred Hearts — from Philly group, The Swimmers. Off their latest album, People Are Soft, this song is a strangely fitting anthem for the blustery day outside.
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
New York-based designer Ryan Sullivan’s shirts are printed in his studio in low runs. His latest batch works with geometric space on silky cotton poly blend shirts. Read more
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