Making Friends With The Neighbours

No ideas where this image is from, but I got it in an email today from my buddys at Brisbane Boardriders .

My friend pointed this poster out to me in a a Brisbane shopping centre the other day. It was sitting in the window of a picture-framing store. Ah, pop culture. How I love you. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) [R2-D2 and Chewbacca are playing the holographic game aboard the Millennium Falcon] Chewbacca: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!  C-3PO: He made a fair move. Screaming about it can't help you.  Han Solo: Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee.  C-3PO: But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid.  Han Solo: That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that.  Chewbacca: Grrf.  C-3PO: I see your point, sir.

I have been following Brian Ferry's blog, The Blue Hour , for some time now. I turn to his images in the middle of a busy day, or when I'm feeling stuck indoors. They're green and warm and cosy, and there is something calm about them - a quality that I don't naturally possess and need to locate elsewhere! These few really struck me this evening, so I was stoked when Brian gave me the okay to re-post them here. You can see more at The Blue Hour , but I recommend looking through his portfolio as well.

Hello out there, Can someone please organise some nice swell in Noosa for this coming weekend? I'll be up there for the weekend and I've been looking at the forecast which is pretty uninspiring/frustrating, so if someone could change it, that would be great. Nothing major - I'm not asking for all-time conditions or anything - just some nice little waves to play around on. Oh, and sunshine. Sincere thanks in advance, Rebecca Jane Olive

(Alternative title;  'Oh Yeah. Sexism! I'd forgotten about that...': Reload ) There have been a number of stories involving women's bodies circulating in the news over the last 24 hours, and most of them are fairly upsetting. Two in particular have sparked controversy, which is frustrating, because these statements aren't 'controversial' - they're wrong. And sexist. And damaging. And scary. The first concerns the comments of Republican Senate candidate, Todd Akin. Let's see what all the fuss is about (via BrisbaneTimes ); Republicans have moved quickly to distance themselves from Todd Akin, the Republican candidate for the Senate in Missouri, after his comments that women's bodies can prevent them from getting pregnant from "legitimate" rape, obviating the need for an abortion. "Legitimate" rape prevents pregnancy? Um, what? Like, what? I'm assuming this has something to do with Todd Akin being a staunch and unwaver...

My friend, Ollie Nicholson, has just returned from a year or so living in south america. He is a prolific and clever photographer, so in order to share his beautiful images he has organised a tumblr that trickles them to us, one at a time. The site is called Hello Friend... and you should check it out.

How I think about the beach is so often in terms of ruggedness, being alone, wind-swept open spaces and risk. These associations reflect the beach I grew up on, which so many people shunned in preference of the more glamorous and user-friendly beaches in town. As a teenager, I could go down to the beach and be the only person for, literally, kilometres. That's rarely the case any longer, but that was what it could be like. These days, my time on the beach - on the sand - is quite limited. Beaches have become places I cross to get to the surf. I spend enough time in the harsh Australian sun, so I rarely linger pre- or post-surf in an effort to minimise any further exposure. I no longer own a beach umbrella, large, soft towels to lay on, or minuscule bikinis for sun-bathing. I no longer partake in beach culture outside of its connections to actually going surfing, which is kind of weird, when you think about it. Surfing has become my main experience of the coastal culture, whi...

You can check even more of Lia Melia's beautiful work at her website . (Images via  but does it float? )

Deadline, 28th September!

Yesterday afternoon, I took myself along to see El Mar, Mi Alma , a film I have been hearing about for some time now. El Mar, Mi Alma from Rebel Waltz Films on Vimeo . From the El Mar, Mi Alma , website ; With a long and diverse coastline Chile is a country not only shaped by its geography; the sea occupies a mystical and poetic conscious and unconscious place within the cultural fabris of the nation. The film is a visual tone poem, a blend of images and music featuring cinematic surfing sequences, coastal landscapes, insightful commentary and the movements of the cast on a unique surfing journey. With environmental themes and political undercurrent, the film paints a picture of Chile's beauty and association with the sea, centered around the intimate act of surfing. It was funny to read that this film is a 'visual poem' in the 'About' from the website this morning, because as I watched it that was the thing that kept popping into my head. There was no cle...

As previously described at EBNY

In the more than four years that I have lived in Brisbane, I have never once overheard a conversation between strangers that was about surfing. But this morning, at the inner-city markets, I was stood next to two women at the 'I Love Sprouts' stall who were chatting about the surf (Note: I was waiting for coffee at the stall next door. Not for sprouts. Not that I have anything against sprouts [except alfalfa, ugh], I'm just saying that I wasn't buying them is all). The conversation went on and on - they were talking about water temperature and what wetsuits they were wearing and waves and all the things that I never fail to overhear in conversations when I'm by the coast. But in Brisbane! This was an oddity. And then there's the sky from Thursday.    I think the city is might be trying to make a subtle suggestion... *A nod to NYC .

Sometimes I read an online story about women and surfing that is so stupid and pointless and obviously sexist that I don't point it out or talk about it, because to highlight it only brings it traffic. But this morning I read one that is even more irritating than usual, because it's written by a woman and published on a website that situates itself as being for 'thinking surfers' and as promoting diversity.* So the sexist story? This morning I clicked on a link to The Inertia , which was promoting an article called 'Shit Surfer Girls Say' . This article was one of four highlighted in their regular bulk-email promotion, so the editor (or someone) had chosen it to be included. I guess they had decided it would draw traffic to their site (which is why I don't usually re-post this stuff). The article was a suggested script for one of those 'Shit _ Say' videos that were so popular following the 'Shit Girls Say' ones, which were, by the way hi...

As it plays, try to imagine how many times I have watched this clip since my friend, Katie, sent it to me...

So I was recently made aware of this film, 'First Point', by Richard Phillips and Taylor Steele. (You can find more and varied clips here at Richard Phillips's vimeo channel .) The director labels the film 'surf noir' in that it pushes against the usually upbeat and positive vibe of most surf films - an interesting idea. The film also stars Lindsay Lohan, who is something of a muse for Phillips. But beyond that, and despite my attempts at finding more information, there is little I understand about this film - I don't know what it's trying to do or say. And while I  in no way think that art always has to say something, I really like work that does . I like it when art makes me think, and unfortunately, the celebrity-induced preconceptions I have around Lohan are ultimately distracting. Maybe that's the point? Maybe I'm getting confused and this film is actually about celebrity. Some of the first links that are offered through a google search a...

Yesterday, I was walking home across the William Jolly Bridge from West End to Paddington. The bridge spans the Brisbane River, linking the north and south banks and walking across it gives lovely views of the city skyline, the Gallery of Modern Art and back across the green hills to the west. It was very late afternoon and rush-hour traffic meant that cars were moving slowly. As I crossed the bridge I thought about the new/old car I'm picking up on the weekend. It's a hatchback, so I was imagining how my longboard is going to look strapped to the roof! Could be amusing. As I neared the north end of the bridge, I looked at the road cutting underneath me. Immediately I noticed a small, white car with a single-fin log in a home-made cover on the roof. I'm used to seeing boards on cars in my small home-town, but the sight of a log on any car in Brisbane - let alone a familiar white Mirage - always stands out. I recognised the board-cover immediately - Huon! The traffic ...