Iconoclastic Australian publisher Going Down Swinging even do launches differently to everyone else. Instead of a boring bookshop speech with bad wine, they’re putting on a huge Melbourne warehouse party with live tunes from Joelistics and Florelie Escano.

Drinks, late-night dancing, and a bit of literature on the side? Seems a good balance. Plus you get their new issue No. 34 and a free Bulmers cider with your $15 entry.

18 Dawson Street, Brunswick, from 8pm, Friday April 26.

Pre-book now or buy on the door.

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Andrea Melcangi is a Milan based photographer, who demonstrates his passion for art through humourous, surreal advertising images. While we don’t expect to see them in Time Magazine anytime soon, the cheeky approach to catching your attention works for us.

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Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a disease affecting 1 in 3,500 children, with 99% of those being boys, and is the biggest genetic killer of boys in the world. The muscle degenerating condition means children are unable to run, jump, play, or write. To support a petition, The Most Powerful Arm Ever Invented was created to physically sign a petition on behalf of Australian children with DMD, asking for governments to match money raised by charity to begin clinical trials in Australia.

To join in, visit TheMostPowerfulArm.com, click connect, and your details are sent through to the arm to sign. It all happens in real time – and you can even watch it sign your name live via a good quality stream. If there’s a delay due to popularity, the counter on the website will tell you how long until it does sign for you.

Lost At E Minor and I have joined the petition: check out the images of the robot signing us as one of the first on the ledger.

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The style might be identical to Banksy’s, and in Norway there is this guy who calls himself DOLK. This, however, was made by Skurktur, an art collective based in Trondheim, Norway. Skurktur’s street art is teeming with social commentary and satire, which is in keeping with the M.O. of the great Banksy himself.

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Lost At E Minor were on hand in Sydney this week to examine and review the new LG ‘superphone’, the Optimus G. With a name that makes you wonder if you’re actually holding a tiny Transformer Autobot in your hand, the Optimus G is LG’s newly released response to Samsung’s Galaxy Note II and Sony’s Xperia Z.

We were invited along to an exclusive top-secret mission located in LG’s bunker (read: Bar 100 in The Rocks, Sydney), where we had the chance to road test some of the phone’s amazing features, solving some clues and puzzles along the way.

Choosing to accept our mission, we headed over to the event and put on our Sherlock Holmes hats (metaphorically speaking, unfortunately there were no actual fancy hats…) and met the LG crew. Equipped with the Optimus G, Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 were off on their secret mission: to check out what the phone has to offer, all the special features and what it can do for you that other phones can’t.

In this Lost At E Minor Tech special, we’ve compared the Optimus G to other phones on the market to bring you our initial thoughts.

For the techies out there, we were using a 4G LTE model, and the specs you need to know are: a stunning 4.7″ display, light 145g weight, 1.5GHz Quad-core processor, with a nice glass back and front. That’s the basics, the easily comparable parts.

The first thing we noticed was the size of the screen; it’s much bigger than previous generations of phones, but remains comfortable in hand with a super slim, lightweight body. The size quickly becomes ‘normal’ as you adjust – it’s only when you go back to an iPhone or similar generation ‘small’ phone that you find out how small the iPhone is – even the new 5.

The screen resolution is amazing – it uses IPS, a technology for LCD display, and we can vouch that it does provide more realistic and natural colors than Super-AMOLED, found in the Samsung.

We love the 13MP camera too, which is not only great for those day-to-day shots, but has some fun features like Time Catch Shot which allows you to take a series of photos and pick the best one, so you’ll never miss a high speed moment ever again. There’s also a fun little feature that triggers the camera to take a photo by a variety of spoken phrases, like ‘cheese’, ‘smile!’ and even ‘whisky!’.

Battery life is good – we were able to use for a full day on 4G under heavy use, which matters when on the hop.

In short, LG are back – this slick smartphone has real potential to sway dedicated Apple fans to switch over to Android. The downsides? We’ve seen the LG Optimus Pro G being reviewed and released at MWC 2013. It’s more of a ‘phablet’, and may be worth waiting for if you’re keen for serious screensize.

(Editor’s note: Image taken of the LG Optimus screen in comparison to the Galaxy Note II (L) and iPhone 4 (R) in the lead image is not truly indicative of how the phone’s screen appears in real life – the camera used attenuates the display to some degree)

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Have you ever seen something look so uncomfortable and adorable at the same time? These cute baby giraffe pictures seem like the perfect time to bring you this fun fact: adult giraffes also have incredibly low sleep needs, with most sleeping between just a few minutes to an hour a day. Most nap standing up, and lie down for a longer, deeper sleep.

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All over Innsbruck, Austria, a mysterious man is taking photos with a lampshade on his head to, well, brighten your day. Who is he? Well, it’s not quite a Banksy mystery, but the mystery man is putting more on Facebook each week.

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Melbourne’s Hatton Hotel is one of the most comfortable, inviting and restorative places to stay in one of our favourite cities. It’s a boutique hotel done right – simple elegance and quiet luxury, set in ideal location, close to the city, but far enough away to still retain a sense of peacefulness.

The Hatton has 20 rooms, each with their own touches of modern necessity and antique luxury. The bedrooms are well-appointed and comfortable and the bath is big enough to enjoy a long soak in on a cool night.

The building, dating from the early 1900s, is from a time when grand buildings were done right, set with thick walls and an art-deco feel, and recently restored back to glory.

During our stay, the staff were relaxed and inviting, keen to share inside knowledge and happy to put their Melbourne preferences forward for your consideration.

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Wellington is famous for many reasons: wind (the city once recorded a gust of 248km/hr), having the most cafes per head of anywhere in the world, being the home of Peter Jackson and his stunning movies which include The Lord Of The Rings epics, The Hobbit, Avatar (and more) and also for their hip slice of urban bohemia. The hub of this is Cuba Street, a diverse and intriguing stretch of shops, cafes, culture, and restaurants, which brings the city together to meet, eat, greet, busk and shop.

Although not originally named for the Caribbean island, the street has taken on a dose of Cuban fever with a mix of brands, independent labels, kitsch, vintage and boutique shops, and more.

The graffiti-filled alleyways and kinetic Bucket Fountain give Cuba a sense of fun, and by night, the street turns colourful, just a little bit edgy.

One of my favourites places in New Zealand, I can’t wait to go back with a loaded credit card… or, erm, someone else’s?

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St Jerome’s 2013 Laneway Festival in Sydney posed a number of questions for the young, hip crowd in attendance to one of the big festivals that sits just off the edge of mainstream. Would it rain on the festival goers? Could gumboots be risked as possible fashionable items anyway? Who would hit it off with the energetic audience? Just what exactly was the strange cat logo? And who is St Jerome?

With a long line-up of up-and-coming acts, plus some big names, Laneway delivered. Of Monsters And Men stole the show, with their feel-good Icelandic folk-rock charming a deep crowd who had voted their best song number two in the world’s biggest music vote – Triple J’s Hottest 100.

Number three on that same list featured Alt-J (∆), who played a low-key set that reverberated around the crowd, while number four and festival-essential Flume made the ground jump with his punchy remixes and vibrant beats.

Our favourites were Brooklyn-based Yeasayer, who ripped up the festival with huge energy and tunes dripping with catchy rhythm, while final act of the night Bats For Lashes proved she is a live star, belting out her best to woo the gentlemen (and ladies) of the crowd.

Who you must not miss at Laneway 2013 (or on the radio, Spotify, Pandora, CD, whatever!):
Yeasayer
Bats For Lashes
Flume
Of Monsters And Men
MS MR
Alpine
Kings Of Convenience

[Photos by Elise Boyd]

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Living on the tiny uninhabited island of Big Major Cay in the Bahamas, these wild pigs swim in the tropical waters, happy to show off their piggy-paddlin’ skills to amazed tourists who regularly visit. The pigs swim out to yachts and boats in the hope of finding a free lunch and are surprisingly adept in the clear salty water. (Let no one mention salty bacon at all)

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Wellington’s stunning Museum Art Hotel is one of Lost At E Minor’s favourite hotels – and not just for the luxury, comfort and setting. It comes with an underlying vibe of cheeky fun. Take this example: the beautiful motorbikes on display in the lobby/gallery are regularly taken out for a quick spin by owner, Chris Parkin.

The nine-storey hotel, with a swanky restaurant known as Hippopotamus, a day-spa, and lap-pool, is his vision. As an avid collector of contemporary and local art, it comes off with aplomb, and is rated as one of the top 10 art hotels in the world. When A-Listers come to town – as they do, to shoot movies in ‘Wellywood’, this is where they stay. It’s also the best place in Wellington to base yourself to check out the Middle of Middle Earth, and capture what makes the Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit so special.

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Christopher Boffoli takes wonderfully creative and constructed photos of miniature scenes, with each telling a tiny, often humorous, story. The models, from railroad sets, are so good we’re convinced that artist makes a small fortune.

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Te Papa, in Wellington, is New Zealand’s innovative national museum, a modern monument to indigenous Maori culture and Kiwi heritage after the country was settled by Europeans. On a recent visit, we particularly enjoyed the array of art and design, along with the interactive components, and were (pleasantly) grossed out by the giant squid on display, while the geeky Game Master exhibition, featuring more than 100 playable video games from the world’s most influential game designers, spoke to our inner gamer.

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To celebrate the official release of Peter Jackson’s latest J.R.R. Tolkien fable, The Hobbit, lucky competition winners were given a trip to Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, to be turned into fiercesome and brutal Orcs from the movie.

The make-up artists from the award-winning Weta Workshops carefully applied detailed prosthetics and make-up to the faces of the female winners, spending between three and four hours carefully reshaping their appearance with a mix of stuck-on prosthetics, make-up, jewellery, paint, hair, and battle-ready costume. Replete with axes, swords and armour, the Orcs set upon the city.

Known as the “middle of Middle Earth”, due to Jackson setting up his production base there, Wellington hosted the three Orcs on a beautiful summer’s day as they toured Mount Victoria, including some film locations where the Lord of The Rings was shot, beach areas, and Te Papa, the national museum.

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Photographer Wes Naman has captured a series of faces that have been unapologetically distorted by sticky tape. Similar to a series by Douglas Gordon, and as seen in Jim Carrey’s Yes Man, all we can say is the tape in the hair and beard won’t be fun to remove.

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Lost At E Minor had the chance last week to re-visit Wellington (nb… the two founders of the site are originally from Wellington), the picturesque capital of New Zealand, and as more people are finding out, it’s not exactly one of those stuffy, pretentious capitals full of cold monuments. No. It’s far cooler than that.

Wellington is set on a beautiful deep-water harbour with a hilly countryside into which the city is embedded. While it’s known for being a little breezy (understatement), we had a bout of stunning summer weather, blue skies and warm days on our visit there.

In recent years, Wellington has become a hub for arts, culture (with Peter Jackson filming the Lord of the Rings movie fable around the city, and more recently, the three-part epic Hobbit series), and live music.

We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Jackson’s new production by touring ‘Wellywood’ and the award-winning Weta Workshops, where Jackson’s movies literally come to life.

Wellington also has more cafes per head of population than New York City. We did our best to discover the best of them (and all that caffeine came in very handy when navigating the many hills in the city). We toured scenic Mount Victoria, explored the very cool, chic and eclectic Cuba St, visited the stunning Te Papa museum, traversed Oriental Bay, and much more.

Stay tuned for more updates from our Wellington trip over the next few weeks.

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22-year old Ben used to be a glassy in Kings Cross in Sydney, living the life of a student in the city’s coolest spot. Binge drinking took over his life and he lost everything – literally. Watch Ben’s story as he takes us down his path and see how binge drinking can affect your life and the lives around you.

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We’ve been tracking our favourites entrants to Sapporo’s Snow Festival in Japan competition, where entrants were asked to shoot a weekly theme, using Instagram, relating to the fine Japanese beer. Kris Lombardi’s winning image was announced today at midday, with the blazing festival snap winning over the judges.

Judge Gary Sheppard said it best when he wrote in his judging notes: “The word ‘photography’ means ‘writing with light’ and as the fire illuminates the crowd and the sparks fly across the black sky this shot writes a story of noisy excitement and celebration. You can almost hear the crowd screaming their approval as the flames burst and crackle into the night.”

Kris Lombardi is a 25 year old with a passion for all things related to art, music and design, who says: “I get a no greater thrill than really diving into the experiences of a new culture I have yet to explore whether through food, traditions, behaviours, film etc. as I believe it is essential to develop a real flavour for life by trying to see it through the beliefs and characteristics of others.”

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The Landing Bar hosted Lost At E Minor’s Newcastle based team for a craft beer session to sample the best of the Little Creatures range. Originally a small boutique brewer in Western Australia, Little Creatures has grown into one of Australia’s most successful craft brewers. We talked beer with the White Rabbit brewers and enjoyed the very best that the single batch Puffing Billy had to throw at us.

The Landing Bar has recently opened on the Honeysuckle stretch of waterfront in Newcastle. A well-appointed re-fit has opened up the bar to the vista of the working harbour in front of it. With a fresh emphasis on beer and wine quality, the staff were focused on all the right things. And they clearly know their boutique beers!

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