agIdeas International Design Forum – Day 1

What a day it was, eh? It’s a good sign when the logo’s not a poorly finished, pixelated graphic.

Stefan Sagmeister opened up.
Garson Yu finished. It was 6:30pm.

I’ll get round to adding more juicy details later…

Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day Mmm, it was that time of the year again on the first Saturday of May. When we celebrate all that is good and nerdy—FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, YAY. I and my good mate Andrew went traipsing around north-west and inner Melbourne devouring any freebie in our wake. Victoria only has 2 participating stores: Trading Cards Australia in Moonee Ponds and Classic Comics in Bourke St, City.

Free Comic Book Day Free Comic Book Day Free Comic Book Day Free Comic Book Day Free Comic Book Day

I finally caved and bought a Rorschach action figure—the cheapest I could find was at the Moonee Ponds store. Will photograph close-ups when I next find spare time. They definitely have the action figures and most comics cheaper there… Good grief, why do I keep going to Minotaur (Then again, prices differ for various things. It pays to shop around)? Also got Catwoman #27 and an X-MEN: First Class special issue dirt cheap. Very pleased with my self-restraint. *cough*

Am curious to read more Green Lantern after the reading a good preview of Chuck Dixon’s newest take on the Emerald Guardian. At least, I think it was Chuck Dixon. I can’t remember at top of my head, but it was good! And that’s the most important part! ‘Sides, Green Lantern is HOT. I dunno, there’s something about Hal that reminds me of Bruce … Plus Chris Pine (of new Star Trek fame) is said to play Green Lantern in new film soon to be in production in Australia. Huzzah!

It’s also agIdeas Design Week, but I’m going to be attending the agIdeas Design Conference, which kicks off tomorrow for 3 days. 3 days non-stop of design! With the likes of Stefan Sagmeister and Tobias Frere-Jones speaking, will I live through it all from sheer awesomeness? Watch my blog for posts in the next few days.

It took a while but I got there

Yes. After 6 years (and probably 10 years of waiting), today I finally completed my Frasier DVD collection! I was quite devastated that Big W had run out, but a chance entrance into JB Hifi mollified my disappointment. I am quite simply ecstatic!

Complete Frasier!

I’ve grown up with Frasier. I was the odd kid out in high school—with the exception of one other well cultured friend who incidentally loved Star Trek, Star Wars and Harry Potter in addition—who adored it and quoted it, while everyone waxed lyrical about that other asinine and not that funny comedy about a certain group of “friends” (OK, that’s not fair; it occasionally has good moments!) I just see a bit of myself in every character, and the jokes are so wry, ironic and witty. I inadvertently find myself appropriating the dialogue in my own voice sometimes. It’s amazing how influenced you become simply from watching this show hundreds of times.

I watched ‘Something Borrowed, Something Blue’ (the last episode of season 7) today for the first time in a couple of years, and as always I bawl at the end when Niles finally tells Daphne he loves her. Even though the quality of the show’s writing definitely took a bad turn after this whole development (although to be honest I think it started as early as after season 4), I can’t help but still be happy that they got their HEA. Even at the expense of a few good laughs; they are just so adorable together. Probably one of the most dynamic, funny and loveable TV couples ever, even if their relationship should have stayed platonic. Plus, Niles is the best TV comic character. EVER.

This video sums up Niles and Daphne’s relationship very well:

And for even more laughs—some bloopers:

Finally, one of my favourite performances in Frasier:

Well, at least now I’ll be able to watch the rest of the the Frasier eps I haven’t seen in sequence, thank you very much Channel 9 for screwing up the schedule all those years…

Please help an indecisive design student by filling out this poll

Yes, Jen is alive, struggling to keep afloat but alive. And she would love for you to help her fill this poll so she can find some direction in her life. TRULY!

OK enough with the third person, I will tell you now that the current brief for my studio folio is packaging (both primary and secondary, ie. the bottle and its container) for a leisure pack for 4 wine PET bottles (No glass, I know, it’s a preposterous thought!), targeted to Generation Y (so, that’s the 18-30 year old market). I’ve got most of the technical considerations done, but now I’m struggling with choosing a brand name—hypothetical, of course. ;)

Which wine would you want to buy, judging by the name only? Keep in mind the target market is Gen-Y (2 votes max).*

  • Excès (43%, 6 Votes)
  • Defusion (29%, 4 Votes)
  • Trifle (29%, 4 Votes)
  • Naught (21%, 3 Votes)
  • Plethora (14%, 2 Votes)
  • Zilch (14%, 2 Votes)
  • Loot (14%, 2 Votes)
  • Water Down (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Doctor Up (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Zippo (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 14

Loading ... Loading ...

*I will tell you also that this wine of mine is non-alcoholic, so purely 0% alcohol. Would your opinion have changed if you knew it was non-alcoholic? (Although considering they’d be placed in the aisle next to the soft drinks in the supermarkets, you’d think you would know, wouldn’t you? Don’t think too much on it!)

Would appreciate your comments/opinions! Or just tell me I’ve gone batshit crazy! If I don’t get enough responses or there are too many ties, I will probably follow up with a second poll to narrow answers down. Thanks so much! :)

A “brief” hiatus for now

Well it’s probably obvious that I haven’t updated this in a long time. I’m wondering what I should do with this blog because I mostly post at my Livejournal. But I don’t want to abandon this to the winds either. So I shall be taking a longer break and coming up with something that will keep me interested in continuing this blog. Adieu for now, chickies~

Of vigilantes and hot, sweaty man-hugging

The SpiritI saw The Spirit at the Jam Factory this morning with Sylv. Since we went to the very first session of the day we had the whole theatre to ourselves! That was great. The movie—not so great, but still entertaining albeit on a superficial level. The excitement died down the instant we left the cinema.

Essentially the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) is former rookie cop Denny Colt, brought back into the world to rid Central City of the bad guys, namely the Octopus (Samuel L Jackson). He has the begrudging blessings of the Chief Commisioner Dolan (Clearly Commissioner Gordon and Batman have a far healthier work relationship than Dolan and Spirit ever had…) who doesn’t exactly approve of the Spirit’s methods. Well, shock horror there.

I’ve always thought that Frank Miller is a mad genius but lately his work has been nothing short of confusing, bizarre and way beyond the post-post-post-post-modern. And yes, his misogyny and sexism is duly noted (Selina Kyle the whore much?). But in spite of all this, I still enjoy most of his new stuff since he dares to push his audiences to the limit. The only work of his I simply could not handle was The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Completely unnecessary and ultimately infuriating.

I have not read any of Will Eisner’s work (yet), so I guess my opinion on the film adaptation could have been much worse. Miller’s brash over-the-top style oozes long-winded, unintentionally hilarious monologues, gratuitous violence, obscure references to other comics and femme fetales sporting bizarre outfits and kinks. Did not expect (and yet not surprised) to see a Nazi homage/spoof in the film, with Samuel L. Jackson playing the mad Josef Mengele-like “experimenter” and Scarlett Johansson sporting a prissy dominatrix get-up a la camp!SS- she-wolf. Was rolling my eyes at this spectacle the whole time. It reminded me painfully of Miller’s fascist villains in All Star Batman and Robin series and The Dark Knight Returns. Eva Mendes’ character Sand Saref (which in my mind was sans-serif, go figure that) is painfully irritating even for a femme fatale, while Sarah Paulson’s Ellen Dolan is the “resilient” down-to-earth lady in the sideline. A scarlet woman and an innocent damsel for our swashbuckling superhero. Hoo-hah.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (I’d give it more like 2.85)

What was way more awesome was watching the X-MEN Origins: Wolverine and Watchmen trailers back to back beforehand. Bloody brilliant. I truly cannot wait! That said, I intend to purchase the Watchmen graphic novel, but am not sure whether I want the paperback or the hardback. There are so many newly released books related to the film. Talk about marketing for the weak-willed masses.

And breaking news: apparently a Dark Knight sequel may be set for release in 2011, as hinted by the film’s executive producer himself, Michael E. Uslan (also responsible for pretty much every Batman production in motion picture). I think I may be warming a bit more to this idea now…

Have spent nearly half of my pay in one day on comics/books:

  • Over and Over: A Catalogue of Hand Drawn Patterns – Michael Perry
  • The Perils of Pleasure – Julie Anne Long
  • Batman: The Long Halloween – Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale
  • Batman: Private Casebook – Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen
  • Batman #685 – Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen
  • Amazing Spiderman #853 Variant Third Printing (the Obama issue, lolz) – Mark Waid, Phil Jimenez

Geebus, I don’t know how to save money…

Anyhow, some weeks ago I had applied for a web designer job at Lincraft, and had forgotten about it following my project with a new client, but I got a rejection email today. Ah, well. C’est la vie. I can’t travel to Clayton regularly anyway…

You know, after last night’s epic Australian Open men’s singles final, I am totally shipping Federer/Nadal. They are so awesome and so lovely! :D Can’t they both be number 1 together? :(

Nadal and Federer

TENNIS-OPEN-AUS-NADAL

Australia Tennis Open

When cultures collide

So by some divine providence we are blessed today with both Chinese New Year and Australia Day. Let it be known this may only happen once in a hundred years. Now you might be thinking (or rather, I might be thinking too deeply) how do you go about celebrating both? Which holds more precedence over the other? The answer isn’t all that clear-cut to me, although one friend on Facebook promptly replied it’s all in the “red and gold envelope, baby!” True. Money is a very nice incentive for well, anything. I haven’t had lucky money since I turned 18, but today mum presented me with a red envelope! :D And in it was … a $20 note, that is, in American dollars. So that’s about $30 Australian. Not that I’m going to use it since I’ve never even seen an American $20 note. I’m glad to say that I think Australia’s note system works better, at least with the colours and the texture of each note’s design. And don’t forget those ‘windows’!

Money aside, I spent my Australia Day listening to the audio of We Can Be Heroes and cleaning my room and organising my visual diaries. I’ve accumulated eleven A3 journals this holiday just to paste in inspirational material, hee! Yes, very fitting indeed. Would it have been more fitting to go out and watch Australia again? Maybe. Not. Although I did find out in the Herald that ACMI was letting people go into the Setting the Scene exhibition for FREE today. FREE(!!!!!!). I paid $10! And it wasn’t even that fantastic to begin with. Anyway, for the REAL (albeit satirical) Australia, you seriously have to watch We Can Be Heroes (now that’s playing with stereotypes):

If you had a naked Chinese man and a naked Aborginal man, they would be exactly the same except the naked Chinese man would have a slightly smaller penis.

Oh Chris Lilley, why you so awesome?

Australia Day at Dunt with Daniel and Nathan, and don’t miss Ja’mie’s rendition of our national anthem—Advance Australia Fair:

Year of the Ox 2009

Chinese New Year was a slightly more eventful affair. Last night, watched the annual Spring Festival Gala on CCTV (that is, China Central Television, essentially the Communist Party’s puppet station) up to the point when my eyes couldn’t stay open anymore. It was a much better effort from last year’s dismal performance. The stage was friggin’ ENORMOUS. Obviously the set designers have taken a cue from the epic scale of the Beijing Olympics Ceremonies, but I’m impressed with the way they utilised the actual small space to make it look endless with light projection and perspective in the background graphics:

2009 CCTV Spring Festival Gala

The most bizarre performance I saw was one with Jay Chou, with this amazing little kid, and finally a surprise entrance from Song Zuying:

Song Zuying and Jay Chou

Dinner tonight at Footscray (probably one of the better Chinese restaurants, if that’s possible) with my folks and my aunt.

Anyhow, thoughts on my nationality colliding with my ethnicity aside, it’s been a busy week for me. I’m still having weekly driving lessons (and my growing frustration at not being able to park properly is inversely proportionate to my instructor’s patience with me—amazing! Dad would have combusted out of fury the first time round…) , and I have a new client who has the potential to make me big(ger), and really expand my portfolio. I’m beside myself with anxiety but I am excited that I’ll be able to be flex my creative muscle since I’ve been whining about having nothing to do for so long (no excuses on my part though).

Slumdog MillionaireI went to Laura’s house last night and we watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Next Doctor, on the ABC (not the first time for me though, hehe) and afterwards Slumdog Millionaire, which I liked, but I wasn’t that “affected” by the story as the media/Golden Globe hype may suggest. Don’t think I’m a cold, heartless bitch though—it’s just another one of those rags-to-riches, Cinderella-esque fanfare types, and well, really, they get kind of old, not to mention the image portraying Mumbai is sort of feeding the preconceived notions of unsuspecting, ignorant viewers. But the protagonist is kind of amusing what with his vacuous expression 60% of the time. And I liked the originality of the plot that explained “how” he proved he wasn’t cheating in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. You’ve got to watch the film to see. ;D The soundtrack was pretty ace, and the editing was superlative too. The ending is rather Bollywood-esque as well which is sweet. :)

Rating: ★★★½☆

I Believe in Barack Obama

Yeah, I know I know, I’ve been MIA from eveninghour for a time. I just didn’t have much to say… That and have been feeling a little down in the dumps lately.

Anyhow! Yesterday I went to an ol’ high school chum’s place for a sleepover—and caught up with a lot of girls whom I haven’t seen since like, graduation—although I was the only one who stayed back the whole night (honestly, I wouldn’t be heading home at 4am, even if I had a car). We watched I am Sam, Kiss the Girls (lolz LUCIUS FOX) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. All in all, an eclectic mix of tears, fear and romance.

So, who here’s staying up to watch Obama’s inaguration? I, who never really cared for Australian politics (but that doesn’t mean I’m not up-to-date), much less American (which I have to say is way more interesting). Like so many, I’ve been swept up in the ocean of hope for good change ahead. All our free-to-air stations will be showing it “live” at different times (ironic) between 1:30–6am. Will be so pleased to see the back of George W. Bush, and only sorry for the tremendous, irresponsible mess he’s leaving behind for the President-elect.

The power of image and typography:

obama-hope

Funnily I keep thinking to the time in The Dark Knight when Bruce held a fundraiser for Harvey Dent: “I believe in Harvey Dent”. So will Obama be our White Knight? Time will tell. Just hope no psychopathic Joker-type will be out to destroy him. ¬¬;; I saw a feature on Obama’s lucky trinkets in TIME magazine the other day. He does in fact have a few lucky coins on him! Should we be worried? :P

(Yeah, trust me to make a vague reference to Batman. I could be talking about toilets and still segue back to Batman)