FOR WEEKLY INSPIRATION Why

November 11, 2008 | New Art | by Derrick Stembridge |

Hailing from The Netherlands, Chris Berens works predominantly with ink, varnish and acrylic. Although, by his own admission, his paintings are not made with a particular message in mind, he works from recollection to create his very personal and intimate images. ‘I treat every painting as I would a diary’, he says, ‘in which I paint my thoughts and feelings’.

November 11, 2008 | New Products | by Derrick Stembridge |

Are you into wide angles? Then you might want to check out the new Paul Smith limited edition Fisheye No2 camera. Paul Smith collaborated with Lomography cameras to make this special item, which has a 180 degree wide-angle view and amazing fish-eye barrel distortion. Included is a bulb setting for long exposures and a switch for multiple exposures on the same frame. You also have the ability to use hotshoe flash or the built in flash. The body of the camera is attractive in a fashion sense with its metal accents and the Paul Smith signature multi-colored stripes.

November 4, 2008 | New Products | by Derrick Stembridge |

Here’s one for all you tech savvy fashionistas. Outfit your iPhone 3G in form-fit style with a case from Speck. The lightweight, snap-together design lets you instantly make your iPhone 3G a fashion statement, while the soft fabric provides added comfort and extra grip in hand. Personally, I’m digging the plaid. But maybe that’s just because it’s getting chilly outside.

November 4, 2008 | New Design | by Derrick Stembridge |

The Fun Camera by designer Jian Guan features a 16mm mirrored lens, which can also be replaced with standard lenses. Guan took his inspiration for the design from a magnifying glass. It’s a great concept and  would be a lot of fun to use.

November 3, 2008 | New Music | There's audio in this post. by Derrick Stembridge |

Arriving two years after their debut, Settle Down City, Old Wounds completes Young Widows’ transformation into a top-shelf rock band firing on all cylinders. Forging the best parts of Nirvana, The Jesus Lizard, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Fugazi and The Melvins, Old Wounds is a series of dynamic, thoughtful tunes anchored by cavernous grooves that will certainly push most speakers to their breaking point. Read more

September 29, 2008 | New Products | by Derrick Stembridge |

AirCurve is a cleverly-designed acoustic amplifier that turns your iPhone into a no-power-drain alarm clock on your nightstand, or a mini sound system that never needs batteries or adapters. AirCurve looks like a simple, elegantly minimal stand for your iPhone. But inside is a cleverly designed coiled waveguide that collects the sound from the built-in speaker of your iPhone, amplifies it, and projects it into the room.

September 20, 2008 | New Music | by Derrick Stembridge |

It’s only fitting a band of Canadian rootsters like this would tap a mythical figure of folklore for their namesake. Indeed, Ottawa’s The John Henrys understand the power of the familiar. Read more

September 13, 2008 | New Products | by Derrick Stembridge |

The revolutionary Gibson Robot Les Paul Studio Limited Electric Guitar has some groundbreaking controls at your disposal. At first glance, the four control knobs seem to be indistinguishable from those on other Les Paul guitars. But look again. While the knobs do provide the standard tone and volume controls for each of the two pickups, the Multi-Control Knob (MCK) — the one with the illuminated top — serves as the master control for all aspects of the Robot Les Paul Studio Limited’s amazing self-tuning system. Which is kinda fun when you think about it.

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September 11, 2008 | New Events | by Derrick Stembridge |

Artsprojekt is a fun curated platform that empowers emerging and established artists and brands to connect, collaborate, and showcase original art, designs and ideas with consumers.

September 8, 2008 | New Music | There's audio in this post. by Derrick Stembridge |

Released in 2008, Why Are We Not Perfect? presents three Jesu tracks originally issued on a split EP with the ambient act Eluvium during the previous year. As with the Silver and Lifeline EPs, Why Are We Not Perfect? finds Jesu mastermind Justin Broadrick pushing his heavy aesthetic further into more melodic territory with their track Farewell, in particular, marked by epic synth washes and the title song carried largely by soft vocals and a lopping drum track. Read more

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  • jesu

September 8, 2008 | New Trends | by Derrick Stembridge |

Slovenian domestic appliance brand Gorenje has developed a fridge-freezer with a built-in iPod docking station and speakers. Launched at the IFA 2008 consumer electronics fair in Berlin, the fridge allows users to listen to music while cooking, browsing online recipes, or watching cookery videos.

September 8, 2008 | Cool Websites | by Derrick Stembridge |

Songsterr solves problems by creating tabs you can play back and along with in real time. As the song progresses, Songsterr indicates where you should be in the tab. Just what us guitar hacks needed. Now, where the hell is my Guitar Hero axe?

September 7, 2008 | New Film | There's video in this post. by Derrick Stembridge |

Scott Prendergast wrote, directed, and starred in the movie Kabluey, which he referred to as a ‘melancomedy’ about Salman, an awkward but well-intentioned man, and his sister-in-law, Leslie (played by Lisa Kudrow), who are thrown together amidst an array of personal difficulties. While Leslie’s husband is away at war, Salman steps in to serve as a live-in nanny to his two young nephews, who are struggling with anger issues of their own.

September 7, 2008 | New Trends | by Derrick Stembridge |

Cappuccino is an open source application framework for developing applications that look and feel like the desktop software users are familiar with. It is built on top of standard web technologies like JavaScript, and it implements most of the familiar APIs from GNUstep and Apple’s Cocoa frameworks. When you program in Cappuccino, you don’t need to concern yourself with the complexities of traditional web technologies like HTML, CSS, or even the DOM. The unpleasantries of building complex cross browser applications are abstracted away for you.

September 7, 2008 | Cool Websites | by Derrick Stembridge |

PleaseDressMe is a classic example of scratching ones own itch. AJ, Gary, and Joe love finding great new tees, but finding the tees wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. Rather than sifting through multiple websites, they figured why not just go to one website that makes searching for t-shirts easy? Once they came to that conclusion, Joe went to coding and after a few calculated keystrokes he brought in Chris to make it pretty. And it is. PleaseDressMe indeed.

 

British artist Stephen Wiltshire is known as the ‘human camera’ for being able to render images of entire cityscapes in uncanny detail after only viewing the real scenes once. Wiltshire’s abilities stem from his autism, but his pieces are no less stunning. Perhaps Wiltshire’s condition isn’t truly a disability, merely evidence that our species is still evolving. Read more


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Mexican architecture firm Senosiain Arquitectos recently designed a shell-shaped dwelling for a Mexico City couple. The owners are already living in their new abode with their two very happy children. The structure is maintenance-free and earthquake proof, and is full of soothing greenery and smooth, rounded surfaces. Read more

The current economic crisis has got us missing our frivolous spending past. But we need to be strong and resist fashionable purchases, right? Wrong. We’ve just got to get a little more creative with our rationalisation. And that’s why we don’t just want a hand-made one of a kind silk scarf from label Trust Fun. We actually need it. Started by Sydney-based graphic designer, Jonathan Zawada, this label’s signature scarves support our justify-it-to-buy-it philosophy with their multi-purpose versatility. Soft sheer silk in amazing one-off colour combinations just don’t go out of style, and with more uses than we can list, they’re one piece you can validate. It’s the rescue purchase we’ve been waiting for.


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Project Squadt’s latest skull-masked collectible figure is already sold out, but it’s worth taking a look at their site to be ready when they unveil the next one. I’m not much of a toy-freak, but these are still pretty nifty.

Why is it that perusing the creative projects at ReadyMade always makes you wish you had more time? Read more

Heavy metal and hip-hop are perhaps the most popular forms of rebellion for kids the world over. In Malaysia, metal — particularly black metal — has taken such a strong hold that the Fatwa Council there banned it, fearing that the music would compel listeners to rebel against religion. Contrary to the council’s intentions, black metal is as popular as ever in Malaysia, and is a recognizable cultural touchstone there, as indicated by the above clip from the 2005 film Filem Rock.

The sound New Zealand band The Brunettes make is Hallmark card pop — naïve sincerity mixed with low-fi, casual kitsch. Says chief songwriter, Jonathan Bree: ‘You’ll find us somewhere between US punk and just before classic 60s romps’. And so we will.

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WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST

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Cardboard shoes

With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more

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Creative cupcake design

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

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Charlie Immer

Charlie Immer’s pastel-pallete sometimes obfuscates the gory violence in his surreal images. At other times, it heightens the gut-wrenching and visceral effect of his work. Read more

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Creative advertising packaging

Despite the intentions of many, it’s not so often that advertising — as an industry — truly thinks outside the box. Yet, when executed well, clever eye-catching advertising actually works. It does. As these examples will attest to. Read more

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Celebrity PunchOut

Our celebrity-saturated culture makes many of us irrationally hateful of the faces we see on our TV screens and magazine pages. Good thing there’s Celebrity PunchOut to let off some of that steam.


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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

From an artist selection of t-shirts comes this limited edition David Bray illustrated silkscreened tee, distributed in a vinyl sleeve with a biography of the artist on the back of the sleeve. Every t-shirt is numbered and signed by the artist, and comes in organic American Apparel cotton. We like! Read more

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