Wandering aimlessly around Williamsburg the other night I stumbled across a garage that had been converted into a mini-venue. A classic Brooklyn makeshift space. A heavy wooded table was strewn with roasted peanuts and cheap beer and whisky. People were loose to the Blue Grass band. A slice of mountain Hicksville in an industrial street in Brooklyn. The guy on the washboard was blowing my mind.

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My new solo exhibition is on view from now until October 2 at Causey Contemporary in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The show will feature BAR 1-9, a massive, 32 foot long abstract mural in blood and resin; a 16 foot tall work of blood-soaked gauze preserved on plexiglass; a series created with outdoor sun-drying techniques of the blood; and copper-and-blood mixtures on black acrylic boxes.

It’s hip to be a nerd, at least in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, home of the awesome Twenty Sided Store. Focusing on board games, Magic: the Gathering, and RPGs, the store hosts gaming nights sure to make your geek toes curl.

Ladies and gentlemen of the (Williamsburg) jury, we have some news that’ll cheer up your morning latte. UseHipster are hiring, and they’re offering a barrage of perks to help find the right people. Kinda like the Hipster Trap, but without the nasty bite.

The Idea behind my recent show, Exhibit B, was simple: I really wanted to pay homage to Guy Bourdin while putting my own spin on what he’s done and how he’s influenced and inspired me. I think we share a similar sense of humor.

It’s a dry British humour that deconstructs what are really seen as regular elements of composition in photography: the chopping of body parts out of the frame, the unfinished narratives and ‘fashion’ images that in my mind are bigger than fashion images and secretly have nothing to do with fashion at all. There are no apologies offered in the work and I respect that.

The concept of this body of work was born in my head before I thought of making it a Guy Bourdin tribute. I wanted to do a leg story, really, just for fun. Legs speak to me and can be really expressive. There are a few girls I know that have amazing legs who I really wanted to photograph.

My friend Nadja has a beautiful space in Williamsburg called Rouge 58 and we wanted to do a show together at her space for a while. It just so happens that she wanted to schedule my show to open just as New York Fashion Week started. This is the moment when the concept went from fun weekend with friends and a camera, to a real life photography exhibition that had the potential to be something tangible and big.

The show itself was amazing and far exceeded any expectations I had. I was flattered to have some of my heroes in the art world come through and grace the space with their presence. Artists such as Eric Haze and Dust La Rock came through, as did the likes of photographer Phil Knott, amongst others.

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This captivating tattoo was on the back of the girl in front of me while was standing in the short queue at the Williamsburg coffee shop Oslo on Saturday. It’s a nice motto to carry through these balmy months in New York.

Many summers past, when my hair was longer and my waistline slimmer, I became the unofficial trainer for an aspiring whistler, who just happened to be one of my housemates in the spacious Williamsburg loft I was living in. He since went on to place twelfth in the annual World Whistling Convention last year, and will heading across to China to compete again this year. In the interim, Tim Eggert is under consideration to whistle the National Anthem before an Orlando Magic home game and also in the running to whistle the anthem for Collective Soul’s upcoming outdoor concert. The fans vote, so we’ve gotta get the word out and get this guy whistling, as John Lennon would say, all the way to the toppermost of the poppermost. Vote for Tim Eggert now!

When I first moved to New York in 2006, I lived in a shared loft space in Williamsburg with four others. It was quite an introduction to inner-city living, especially given that I’d literally shifted across from the beaches and sunshine of Bondi, Sydney. As such, it was a dizzying period, full of discovery. Rufus Wainwright’s epic, broodingly lush album Want Two was the soundtrack to it all. I had it on my iTunes collection at the time, without even knowing it, until it magically burst into my headphones one day whilst tapping away frenetically on my laptop. Oh man! What an album, what a voice, and what a beautifully composed and arranged selection of songs, a favorite amongst them being the rolling piano ballad, This Love Affair.

On those rare occasions when I feel the need to treat myself to an absolutely mind (and wallet) blowing meal, I love to come here. The restaurant is housed in an old diner (the old trailer style diners) which makes for some fun ambiance. Plus, the menu changes every week, so there’s never a written menu. The waiter comes out with a pen and writes the entire menu down on the butcher paper covering your table. Aside from all that, the food is absolutely unbelievable!

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For anyone living in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn area, you may already be familiar with Maho Kino’s passel of peanuts engaged in everything from ballet to riding dogs to playing the congas. Kino’s peanuts appear on a range of items including her beautiful etchings and her kitschy tea sets. What’s not to like about these peanuts?

Summertime at McCarren Park in Williamsburg is picturesque. It’s often filled with a mix of people, old and young, picnicking or sitting in the shade, running along the track or playing soccer (or football, depending on where you’re from). It’s also connected to a now defunct McCarren (swimming) pool which transforms into an outdoor concert space on Sundays during the summer. In the past, performers such as Leslie Feist, M.I.A., The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Broken Social Scene have performed. Diagonally across from the park is Enids, a simple diner and a popular brunch spot on Sundays. Grab a bite there before heading to the park. Brunch at Enid’s has become somewhat of a right of passage for many who live in Brooklyn. Oftentimes sitting outside to wait for a seat becomes an almost mandatory, but pleasantly interesting gadabout prior to eating. Serve yourself a complimentary cup of coffee that is located at the entranceway, and then people-watch until the host is ready to seat you.

Disregard the buzz that surrounds those other cupcake shops in New York City. Cheeks Bakery in Williamsburg houses the best cupcakes that I’ve eaten. The clean and understated decor extends to the menu, where being fancy doesn’t rule on the cupcake shelves. Cheeks offers, simply, vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with either vanilla or chocolate cream. But if you do want more, Cheeks has that as well, a limited selection of pies and cakes.