And Another...

Over and out.

I've been wildly distracted by the shiny new promise of the Tumblr's, Posterouses, Pinterests, Memonics of the world which have sent my thoughts in a multitude of totally random and incoherent directions. 

As things get busier and I endevour to FINALLY follow through on a number of personal projects you can find my (useless) ramblings in a prettier package @ http://pinterest.com/katrina_w/

x

 

if you insist.

nerdboyfriend and nerdgirlfriend made me smile today.

that said, i would really appreciate it if people would stop coming up with smart ways to convince me i need more clothes... honestly.

 

 

although, as Harvey Nichols observantly points out, it would be a good excuse to avoid this:

 

count down.

this dancing advent calender beats chocolate any day.

@theartofdancing

social letterbox.

I attended a MTV Youth talk a few weeks back at which a panel of early twenty-somethings classed me as a 'geriatric gen y'. How observant. So it's no suprise that with my recent move overseas and hundreds of emails, messages, mms's later... that I've found myself lamenting the days of the old letterbox. Not the one you would eagerly await postcards by, but the one in which you would store highlighter-hued handwritten notes secretly slid between school tables... as rich and liberating as our social media lives are, how are we ever to rediscover, relive, or re-share those page-scrolling moments with others, let alone in a single, easy to access place? 

Facebook Timeline will certainly help, as well as computer to hard-copy solutions in the blurb's and pinhole press's of the world, not to mention the little app to paper solves like prinstagram and postagram.

And this genius creation by Berg Design Studio is also just brilliant, and for so many more reasons than to appease my nostalgic geriatric self... 

 

Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.

Make indecision your friend.

Oh so cleverly designed baking tin for indecisive 'why can't i have both' foodies like moi. 



via the always delicious swiss-miss

Newbies New York.

The very talented, very generous Katarina Urban (fellow Aussie in New York) has put together Newbies New York; a share and inform site packed with all the info you'll need when moving to NYC. It's genius. And outlines all the things I wish I had known when I moved over a couple of months ago.

Hence I've put together a quick post on a bunch of things you didn't know you wanted to know, when moving over... you know, 'cause it ain't enough of an invasion already.

 

The spoken word.

There's something very refreshing and quite liberating about a good ol' documentary and HBO's Brave New Voices is no exception to the rule. It follows the journey of some seriously talented youth, for whom poetry is their means to voice all the important stuff in the world.

I'm particularly taken aback by their bravery, to get on stage and bare all. And when you hear some of these stories, you'll likely redefine what it means to bare all. When a dancer on stage, there's a costume, a character, a tune for you to hide behind. As an actor, a script. And as a pianist, a score. Sure, you're revealing a part of yourself whilst doing so, but these guys are truly baring their souls (perhaps performing your own written song or script or choregraphed dance would be more comparable). In any case, it's intimate, revealing and slap-you-in-the-face confronting. 

There's some pretty heavy stuff like 'That Girl', some medium bodied stuff like 'Norma Jean', but here's something easier to swallow, for Sunday viewing... love it:

It's well worth watching some more if you can.

Especially for those Gen-Y-don't-give-a-damn believers. These kids will prove you wrong.

Rant over.

Helpful.

It's official. I'm packing my bags and moving to NYC (like the rest of Australia).

Many indulgent farewells and goodbyes mean I definitely would have benefited from a few of these babies.

Always classy Refinery29

 

 

Hotel. Bed. Food.

Chef Fergus Henderson and business partner Trevor Gulliver invite you to stay at the opulent St. John Hotel.

And what better way to emulate the entire experience than in the short film below? Not just a new menu, photoshopped decor or imagery of the getty-like guests that may pass through, but instead the simple use of stop motion leaving a hell of a lot to each and everyone's imagination... lovely.

Book me in please.

 

Thanks Nowness

The year of practical thinking.

There is a lot to be said for actually pausing and acknowledging new and otherwise fleeting thoughts and observations you make every day. There's a wealth of literature à la Buddhist and Anthony Robbins-style that endorse the benefits of noting them down. A sense of perspective, happiness, positivity, personal growth and a better connection to and grounding of oneself to name a few...

Social media has certianly had a role in inadvertently encouraging us to do so when we're not just posting of our whereabouts or meanderings.

Writer Giles Turnbull managed to do so for a whole year. Which should technically make him a very, very happy person (his last post is evidence of this, and particularly lovely).

Like so:

Thanks for the link Russell Davies

Repurposed.

The Grow Bottle is a lovely sustainable idea that uses completely recycled and re-purposed materials (i.e. old wine bottles) as a compact new home for your herbs. 

via thedieline

Antisocial media.

Dan Williams uses Foursquare inversely to determine when museums are the least busy to visit on his site When Should I Visit. Less people, better viewing pleasure.

Clever. Particularly if able to tap into Facebook places, twitter and the like.

via PSFK

B Flat.

In B Flat. A beautifully put together collaborative youtube effort combining music and the spoken word. Absolutely worth playing with. 

Thanks Presurfer

Happy love day etcetera.

I happen to share the 'cynical' view of this woman via @lucymcburney when it comes to Valentines Day.

But in the name of beautiful flowers (and a shrinking wallet), this is a lovely idea from Itunube.

via It's Nice That

Death by food.

I love food. In the kind of way that I'll be thinking about dinner (or a second lunch) while I'm eating (my first) lunch.

Jonathon Soma has done some brilliant work in the way of data and building collaborative platforms. Two of my favourite are his food-based inventions.

They're great examples of the way technology is facilitating self-empowered learning and giving people the inspiration and the guts to experiment more often.

1. Ice Cream Club. A bunch of passionate friends who meet every month to trade homemade, experimental ice-cream flavours, providing tips, inspiration and even membership and classes to those who want to learn... or just dig in.

2. Cooking Class In a Box. Hard-to-find ingredients shouldn't stop you from trying new things when it comes to cooking. The idea is to build you a cooking class based on an exotic cuisine (Thai, Indian, Korean, Ethiopian, etc) and ship you the ingredients, recipe in tail. Lovely.

500 billion words.

Google Lab's new Books Ngram Viewer is a brilliant tool to help put stats against broad cultural influences.

It graphs how frequently certain words or phrases have occurred in a multitude of books published between 1500 and 2008 in English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese and Russian.

A few I prepared earlier:

Icebreaker.

Simple but oh-so-useful workshop conversation starters.

For instance:

Conveniently print some here. Thanks swiss-miss.

Run to help.

The Good Gym encourages those already going for a run, to simultaneously run errands for those isolated and immobile in their neighbourhood. Whether it be for groceries, goods and/or just a pause for a friendly chat, it both motivates the runner and offers a helping hand for those who need it. Just brilliant.

via PSFK

Ready!

I've just returned from a seriously good trip to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, New York New York and a little Florida. The kind that makes you smile as you walk down the street.

Vomit-worthy? Yes. Exactly what I needed? Absolutely.

Twenty-eleven.. ahhh.

Volcano Pacaya, Guatemala, December 2010.

Too true.

... although arguably changing somewhat with the iPhone/androids and all those lovely photography apps. See... not just tragic hipster inventions.

 

via This is Indexed

The Green Pizza Box.

A genius idea from Eco Incorporated. Maximum use, minimum throw away.

via Core77

Happy.

Can't wait to see this documentary called 'Happy' on just that... a search for what really makes people happy in a world which director Roko Belic rightly describes as "screwed up in many, many ways". Belic combines interviews with leading scientists in happiness research and real life stories of people around the world from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata.

Happy Friday... 

Happy - A Documentary Trailer from Wadi Rum Productions on Vimeo.

via Swiss Miss

Observation.

 

From the persistently poignant Jessica Hagy

Rent the car next door.

WhipCar is a new service in the UK that lets you rent a car from people that live nearby, for as little as an hour to weeks (with insurance covered of course).

How eco-friendly. And a lovely way to get to know your neighbours too.

thanks nowincolour

Football hero.

Guitar hero meets Kasabian meets football.

"A clever link between football, music and video games to appeal to a segment which would appreciate each element and the skills involved..."

Nice.

via The Hidden Persuader

Nike Write the Future.

Would love to see the brief or the path the agency took to get to this idea. You can imagine how an 'insight' like "one single moment/every second of the game can decide the future" could have been easily dismissed as glaringly obvious and generic. Proof that an insight need not be shiny and new nor necessarily profound to be powerful. 

I won't go on about how brilliant it is.

But Gareth Kay has some interesting points about the campaign that aren't being talked about.

Wayne Rooney - What could happen after one wrong pass 

via W+K

Flip book.

Nice take on the old flip book.

parkour motion reel from saggyarmpit on Vimeo.

via Paul Isakson

Play me I'm yours.

I love this. 

Play or listen to someone play one of 30 pianos (complete with a location-inspired songbook) scattered around various cities (NYC, London, Sydney...) as part of a traveling art tour. Luke Jerram, the artist behind the project, has designed it as a catalyst for strangers who regularly occupy the same space, to talk and connect with one another.

via PSFK

Smories.

What a brilliant idea; a storytelling site with free original stories for kids, read by kids.

Members of the public submit their stories via the website with the fifty top stories selected each month recorded and read aloud by anonymous children.

 

via swissmiss

Balloon.

How lovely.

via seesaw