Move Along.

Nothing to see here, people....

... a little bit 'meh' about the blogging thing at the moment, as you could probably tell from my lack of posts.

I may come back to this later, but at the moment I have nothing to say or write or post.

Carry on...

Meredith

So, I found this rumoured lineup on the internet - courtesy of Elyce's blog... Really, really hope this is true. Looks awesome as always.

Animal Collective (USA)
Band Of Horses (USA)
Jarvis Cocker
The Oh Sees (USA)
Afrika Bambaataa (USA)
St Helens
Kitty Daisy & Lewis (UK)
The Bang Gang Deejays
Why? (USA)
The Fearless Vampire Killers
Gang Gang Dance (USA)
Patrick Wolf (UK)
Tim Sweeney (USA)
Knightlife
Paul Kelly
Combo La Revelacion
The Vaselines (UK)
Jebediah
Love Of Diagrams
Ooga Boogas
Hey Rosetta! (Can)
Cloud Control

Meredith Music Festival is my favourite time of the year. Can't wait for the lineup announcement, and hope it's really similar to this!

Ooooooooohhh

Lou is talented and makes nice things. Check it out. x

Uninspired.

Quite a lot has happened in the last fornight.

Some fantastic, a lot of it, not so much. Most of all, I'm feeling rather 'Meh' about a lot at the moment. So I'm trying to recapture my motivation and passion...

Some of the things still inspiring me in the world...



Nature. Walking along the creek next to my house has been quite literally a breath of fresh air, and a great way to keep my mind off of things.



Romance. It's out there.



My fantastic friends. Especially this one. She's about to open a new stylist/florist business in Bendigo, and I love her to pieces.



Music. Especially the live type. There is some fantastic live and local music happening in Ballarat at the moment, most of it completely under the radar, raw and real. Plus old tunes like those from Mr Cash and Dylan always continue to have an effect on me, no matter what.



Future plans. Working with children - their innocence and unbridled passion and creativity has made me realise that I'm making the right choice for my career plans, even if I'm not 100% sure how that will all plan out.



Happy times are just a hop, skip and a jump away.

This weekend.

Things to do in Ballarat this weekend (apart from just snuggling up out of the cold...) :

SATURDAY :


Great Collections
A Museum and Galleries NSW Touring Exhibition
Art Gallery of Ballarat, Free Entry.


SATURDAY NIGHT :



Ratstock : Ballarat musicians showcase
Peter Lalor Hotel, Corner Mair/Armstrong St, Ballarat
6pm onwards / $12

IMMACULATA / CHASE NATION / VITAMIN K / X’s & O’s / MONTH OF SUNDAYS / PATRICK MC CABE / MICK DOG


SUNDAY :

Pleasant St Markets
10 am - 2pm, Pleasant St Primary School, Lake Wendouree, Ballarat.

Selling a diverse range of unique art, craft, fresh produce and fantastic food... live music... live art....workshops for kids...face painting...circus performance and community groups. They have snack food, sausage sizzle, Indian food and Dutch pancakes.
There is a playground and jumping castle for the kids. The market has been running for 20 years. Home made, home grown, home sewn. Over 130 market stalls, raising money for school improvements.

-----

Sure to be a lovely weekend.

Heart.

Oh, Zooey.

I can't wait for this one.

UPDATE :

Thanks to Marcus and Kiri-Joy, I had a look at the movie poster.... <3

Busy Bee.

My life is pretty erratic at the moment. One week of no work followed by a week of 9-5 all day and nights at Her Majesty's. The good thing about this is that I get an intense rush of craziness followed by a rest / catchup week. And tonight is the first night of my catchup... good meal with my boyfriend, Masterchef on TV, Freelance work and hopefully a good nights sleep.

Oh, and updating my badly neglected blog.

The best thing about my jobs (I'm working for City of Ballarat in three different places) is that they're all in pretty rad places. I'm very lucky to work at Art Gallery of Ballarat, Eureka Centre, and Her Majesty's Theatre. All are pretty cruisy work overall, with fantastic people. It also means that I get to see a lot of cool things while I'm at work, and get paid for it!




First up is the fantastic Hans Heysen exhibition at the Art Gallery. Beautiful landscapes mostly, with impressive depictions of the Australian bush and gums. I'm not a huge fan of Heysen's work, but I can appreciate the beauty, espeically in his depictions of light shining through the trees or reflecting in water. It's an impressive exhibition - and for the price of a gold coin entry, well worth a visit.

While you're there, have a look at the pretty cool Urban Art Agenda exhibition, with a focus on stencil graffiti.

From the Art Gallery website :
Inspired by New York graffiti of the 1980s, stencil art is a form of street art, or urban art as it is often called, which has sprung up all over the globe in the last two decades. Now a respected art movement and refined art-form, it has long moved off the streets and into galleries and art spaces.Urban Art Agenda brings together some of the most prolific artists from around the world in a unique showcase. Featured are David Soukup (Chicago), Kenji Nakayama (Boston), Skran (Lisboa), M-City (Warsaw), XOOOOX (Berlin), Jana and JS (Salzburg), Jef Aerosol (Lille), Ozi (São Paulo), Kostar (Liège), Orticanoodles (Milan), Mandarina Brausewetter (Vienna), Penny (London), El Moocho (Melbourne), ELK (Canberra), KidZoom (Sydney).

It's a really cool thing that in our one gallery you walk through this exhbition on graffiti art to a very traditional exhibition like the Heysen.

Looking foward to the Great Collections exhibtion, starting on July 25th, amazing huge travelling exhibition from Museums & Galleries NSW. Had a sneaky peak at two Brett Whiteley works that are being hung at the moment, going to be brilliant!


I also worked two shows at Her Majesty's Theatre this week : The Dancer's Company Ballet - ushering and getting to watch beautiful ballerinas all night - and The Kursk, a fantastic drama about a Russian submarine tragedy.



The Dancer's Company is The Australian Ballet's regional touring group, comprising guest artists of The Australian Ballet alongside graduating students from The Australian Ballet School, and was pretty amazing. Three acts, with the final act from The Nutcracker (The Gift of A Dream, Act Two).



Act One was by far my favourite, costumes and dance from the 1920's. Beautiful. From The Australian Ballet website:

Choreographer Robert Ray, inspired by several poems of Sir John Betjeman, has created a translation of the spoken word into beautiful dance. Set in England in the 1920s, Ray's work is one of graceful ballet, of wit and uncluttered style that suits both the period and sentiment of the poems.

I'm pretty lucky to be involved in such magnificent performances and exhibitions. Makes work worth going to.

And now for my week of rest and catching up... Freelance and Thaw design mostly!

Hottest 100...

I don't know how anyone can narrow their favourite songs down to a list of only 10! I find it hard enough to list my top 10 artists, or top 10 albums, let alone only top 10 songs.

I've attempted to narrow my top 10 albums of all time, whilst listening to the top 100 of all time on triple J. There is so much that can be said about that countdown : I wish it was the top 100 of this decade, or of the 90's or something. Of all time, voted by Triple J listeners, makes me really annoyed.

So, my top ten albums (as of today, anyway)

---

Jeff Buckley - Grace

Neil Young - Harvest

Pixies - Doolittle

Radiohead - OK Computer

The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album)

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

Ryan Adams - Cold Roses

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

Arcade Fire - Funeral

---

Oh, so hard. Some close calls :

My Morning Jacket - Z // Any Beatles album, and quite a few Bob Dylan albums. Same with Radiohead, Ryan Adams and The Rolling Stones. // Air - Moon Safari // Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir // Quite a few Nirvana albums // The Avalanches - Since I left you // The Drones - Gala Mill // Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty // Bloc Party - Silent Alarm // Coldplay - A Rush of Blood To The Head // David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust // Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild // Elliot Smith - Figure 8 // Gomez - Bring It On // Led Zeppelin (I can't chose just one!) // Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News // Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory // Miles Davis - Some Kind Of Blue

God, this list could go on forever... and now to listen to the rest of the countdown ( #31 Metallica - Enter Sandman, playing at the moment).

What would be in your top 10 favourite albums of all time?

Developing..

from FFFOUND.

Music of Love.

Last Saturday night I saw Jack Ladder at Karova, with support by Kid Sam.

Both bands completely blew me away, Kid Sam in particular was absolutely mesmerizing. Best moment of the night : when Mr Jack Ladder ate a banana on stage. haha.

Give these two a listen :

Wow.

Uh... ok...

Found via awesome design blog, Swiss Miss.

More Football...

This Sunday just gone, I met my Mum, Dad, younger brother, Aunt and Uncle in Melbourne, and saw the MIGHTY SAINT KILDA beat the Geelong Cats! A fantastic game - I'm already dreaming of wearing Red, White and Black on that one day in September... I've been a saints fan all my life - didn't really have any choice with my Dad being a bit of a fanatic - and am enjoying seeing them win at the moment! Hope the momentum keeps up, and at the end of the year if all goes to plan, I might have to take my Dad up on the pact that we would get some sort of tattoo to commemorate their win... God, how bogan and sad am I?



Saying that, there isn't too many things that I find more enjoyment from in life than a fantastic evening at the football with my family, eating a meatpie at half time and cheering along madly to a close game with a thrilling finish.

Catch-ups

Ok, so I've been useless with the blog lately, so thought I'd do a massive catch-up post of what i've been upto the past two weeks.

First up : my boyfriend and I spent a lovely weekend in Bendigo, and saw the Archibald exhibition at their gallery (which, in my biased opinion, is not as good as my Ballarat gallery... hehe).


Vincent Fantauzzo
Brandon
Archibald Prize entrant 2009

It was an interesting exhibition : I'm always interested to see what artworks are chosen in terms of technical skill and artistic merit, and ones which may have been chosen with the subject of the portrait in mind. I guess it would be hard to find balance, and an immense task to undertake putting the exhibition together. I don't like to compare year to year this exhibition, as it is so unique, but I just don't know if I was impacted as much by this collection as the previous year's entrants.



The Cherry Hood portrait of David Helfgott (pictured above) was one of my favourites, huge and confronting, but with lovely soft paint dripping and forming a lovely painting. Hood is a favourite artist of mine, her paintings of children are beautiful and haunting. I'm looking forward to seeing David Helfgott play at Her Majesty's Theatre in Ballarat soon.

We also managed to catch the 'A Camera On The Somme' exhibiton (which had lovely WWI photgraphs, highly recommended) and have some of the always-delicious woodfire pizza from GPO, yum! Funny, I never went there when I was living in Bendigo, but everytime we are in Bendigo now it's almost a tradition that we go there.

Topped off by a purchase of night in with scrabble challenges, all round a fantastic day.

workaholic

Jobs that I have worked in my life (up to now) :

1. Basketball Umpire
2. Canteen Retail
3. Toyworld "Fun time expert"
4. Tomato packer/sorter
5. Visual Merchandiser
6. Bartender
7. Waitress
8. Abbotoir Employee
9. Graphic Designer
10. Photo Editor
11. Medical Receptionist
12. Usher
13. Optical Dispenser
14. Barista
15. Information Service Officer
16. Gallery Customer Service Officer
17. Usher
18. Data Entry
19. Babysitter
20. Face-painter
21. Tutor
22. Freelance Designer

22 Jobs in 22 years.

Time for a new one to add to that list... staying with Gallery/Eureka Centre/Her Majesty's, but looking for part time work to fill the gaps between that and freelance design. Phew.

And now I can't get Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" out of my head...

MJ.

I'm not really saying much on this issue.

As much as I love Michael Jackson's music, I think a few issues have been kinda glossed over. For someone who has most likely molested children, he's being hailed as a God. This clip however, shows a man who's still a little boy. Very strange.

A weird day.

Cute Clip.

New song from Sarah Blasko, with illustrations and animation by Melbourne based artist Celeste Potter. Sweet.

Crisp and Clean.

I'm desperate for a wardrobe upgrade, and am after a simple, classic starchy mens-style white button up shirt. Having trouble finding one in Ballarat! Timeless and instant style... gah. I need one of these!

Got the Blues.

Chills, Cold and Comfort.

Mix tape.

My housemate Helly and I made the most amazing mix tape for a friend last night, and I felt like sharing. Not all of these songs are on these artist's myspace profiles, but you'll get the idea.

1. Run Run Run - Phoenix

2. Phantom Other - Department of Eagles

3. Out the Airlock - Paul Dempsey

4. Blood - The Middle East

5. Babys - Bon Iver

6. All You Do Is Talk - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

7. Impossible Germany - Wilco

8. Sunrise - Yeasayer

9. I've Got Friends - Manchester Orchestra

10. The Minotaur - The Drones

11. Furr - Blitzen Trapper

12. Second Chance - Liam Finn

13. The Funeral - Band of Horses

14. Best Kept Secret - Jack Ladder

15. Rain on the Vein - Clinkerfield

16. Mystery Talks - Jim Ward

17. Place to Be - Nick Drake

18. Brother - Little Birdy

All are on high rotation on my ipod / computer at the moment!

Something to do..

Questionnaire stolen from Meg and J. I should really op-shop more. With my bank balance as it is at the moment, this is mildly depressing, haha.

---

What colour/s do you have far too much of?
Black for sure. I just can't seem to stay away from it, and while I was working hospitality and at the Art Gallery so much, it was versatile enough to wear pretty much all the time. I still can't stay away from a little black dress purchase.

What colour/s do you wish you had more of?
I'd love a red coat at the moment. Some more electric blue, perhaps (my favourite colour), and more cute floral prints.

What was the last thrifted thing you purchased?
Haven't been for a little while, possibly my new bag, pure leather and in perfect condition, from the Church oppy in Dana St.



Oh, and I managed to find a cream perfect length trench, complete with tags with original pricing of over $200, great buttons and fully lined... for only $5 from the Vinnies in Bridge Mall.

The last store purchase?
A pair of $2 earrings from Diva today. Wood and with a nice flower pattern, too cute and cheap to pass up!

The last swap?
Haven't done that in a while... my best mate and I swapped tops a little while back.

Do you buy clothes only when you have spare money, or do you put yourself into night terror debt to own the clothes you love?
A bit of both, really. Sometimes can't resist the impulse buy, but not working much at the moment makes me think about my purchases a bit more! I'm lucky enough though to not ever really spend too much on clothes, so when I do splurge, it doesn't hurt the bank balance as much.

What's you favorite colour combination?
Black and black, ha. I'm a fan of neutrals (creams, pinks, greys) with black at the moment. Oh, and navy and white is a classic.

A colour combination you'd never wear?
Orange and Red. With my colour hair, I'd end up looking so ranga people would have to wear sunglasses to shield their eyes from me.

Name five pieces of clothing in your wardrobe you wouldn't be without.
Black tights, Navy jeans, Winter boots, Converse high-tops and my black-any-occasion dress.

Name five pieces you've made it your mission in life to own.
A pair of black skinny leg jeans that make my legs look amazing, a red duffle coat, a classic white starchy shirt (actually on a mission at the moment to find one of these... any suggestions?), perfect tuxedo jacket and a white wedding dress made to perfection ;-) hehe.

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Footy Fun.

Tim Rogers and his daughter, Ruby, courtesy of The Herald Sun website.

Sunday I had such a fun day at the Community Cup in Melbourne, watching the Espy Rockdogs win in a close match against the RRR Megahurtz. A day of beers, lots of kids and dogs running around, Kick-to-Kick, fun live sets from Kram and the Cosmic Psychos at Half-time, and lots of laughter. Musos trying to play sport was hilarious! Elsternwick Park was a great location for a huge crowd of supporters, and all for a good cause.


Tim Rogers and Kram - who played a set before the match, too.

From the organisers of the event : "We hoped for four or five (thousand people), and to get 6000 to 7000 in the middle of winter in Melbourne really showed what the Community Cup meant to Melburnians."


The Megahurtz cheerleaders. Too cute.

Fun times, reminded me so much of country footy matches from my home area.

Mmmmmm....

My Friends Teagan and Cat and I hit up the new Main Bar on Saturday night for delicious drinks and pizza. Such a lovely venue, all cosy and snug, with amazing vintage decor. The booths were really comfy, and I loved the chairs hanging from the roof! Definetly a great place to share drinks and food and conversation.



Pumpkin and Salami pizzas... yum!



Will be going back for sure....

Girl Crush.

Alexa Chung is pretty.

Sunshine.

My lack of posting over the past few days has been due to me actually getting some work - and upping the job hunt, without sacrificing my soul for the sake of a few shifts.

I'm dreaming of this at the moment :




Roadtrips, beaches, summer tunes, friends, cute flowers in hair and warmth and sunshine!

Little Joy are one of my favourite bands at the moment, so sweet and lovely.

As much as I love winter layers and red wine, I am already looking forward to the warmer months...

- Sophie

Warmth and Wonder

Heat and Heartache. The Chills and Calm. Rose and Ric Rac.

To my dearest...

My lovely Nanna, who lives in South Australia, has recently moved from her family home and into a nursing home, and I have been lucky enough to be given some treasures from her house. Among some of the beautiful old bits and pieces are an amazing collection of postcards and old family photographs.

This cigarette tin and album are full of the most beautiful, delicate notecards and photographs, the detail in them are amazing. I'm fascinated by the precise handwriting and illustrations, and the fact that this was the way that people kept in contact.

They're so precious, I feel so lucky to be looking after them. What a wonderful source of inspiration.

Book to Movie.

The Time Traveller's Wife movie trailer, based on the original book by Audrey Niffenegger. One of my favourite books of all time, made into a movie. Eric Bana looks like a good fit for my beloved Henry.

Anyone else read this one?

Sunday Wanderings.

Melbourne : Ok, so not so sunny.

Yesterday I had the lovely opportunity to spend the day wandering around Melbourne by myself in the sunshine. I had such a wonderful day, visiting a few galleries and generally soaking up all as much inspiration as possible in one day.

First up (after an epic train/bus/tram trek from my friend's house, and coffee and croissants on the way) was a look at a free exhibition at the State Library of Victoria


24 April 2009 - 25 October 2009

The Independent Type: Books and Writing in Victoria is a free exhibition that celebrates Victoria's rich and diverse written culture, highlighting the stories, the voices and the spirit of independence that have made our literature unique.

The exhibition examines a diversity of 'literatures' – the printed book, electronic media, the spoken word and even a possum-skin cloak. It looks into Victoria's thriving literary niches, including poetry, theatre, literary journals and 'zines, and children's literature from I Can Jump Puddles to Animalia. It explores every aspect of the world of books and writing, from booksellers and publishers to literary awards and festivals. It tells the stories of passionate and enterprising figures such as State Library founder Sir Redmond Barry, the eccentric EW Cole and his Book Arcade, independent publishers McPhee Gribble, and Lonely Planet founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler.

Fantastic exhibition, well worth it, and I really recommend doing the free ipod tour (either download off the website, or hire when you are there). I had fun trying to listen in to an education group going through (in a non-creepy way), cute kids talking about art and literature. Definitely what I want to be doing - how much fun would it be being an education officer/guide at a gallery or library?


ENGLAND, Dress c. 1816 (detail), cotton muslin, metal
145.0 cm (centre back); 80.0 cm (sleeve length)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, The Schofield Collection
Purchased with the assistance of a special grant from the Government of Victoria, 1974

After the state library it was off to NGV International... I had every intention of going to see the Dali exhibition, but as the line was about an hour and a half long (opening weekend and all) I thought I'd save it for another day. Went and visited some of my favourite works, and spent a lot of time in the exhibition - beautiful dresses!


John Brack , Australia 1920–1999
Latin American Grand Final 1969
oil on canvas, 167.5 x 205.0 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Purchased, 1981 © Helen Brack

After a bit of a wander around Federation Square and the Design Markets, I made my way to NGV Australia - The Ian Potter Gallery, and saw the Top Arts VCE exhibition (really impressive works from year 12 kids!) and the John Brack exhibition, which I had really been looking forward to. Well worth the price of admission, I didn't realise that his later works were such a deviation from his earlier style, and how extensive the retrospective would be. I tagged around with a tour group for a while, which was really informative, but as the space was so busy, I did my own thing for a while and tried to avoid the crowds.

All in all a fantastic, inspiring day. I've got to get down to galleries more often! Lucky that I work at one, so at least I get to see art on a regular basis, but days like yesterday make me wish that I had the opportunity to see exhibitions more often.