Cultural Mulch

If you’ve landed here…

mulcher — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 22:42:55 +0000

… you’ll notice not much has happened for some time.
But stuff is happening on Turnstile’s blog so please make your way there.

The Cleo and Hermes Divide

mulcher — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:01:32 +0000

I was flipping through the November 2009 issue of Cleo—an Australian magazine aimed at women between the ages of 18 and 25 or thereabouts. I was interested in an editorial mention of a Hermes domino set valued at $635, it seemed out of place. A luxury item well out of reach of Cleo’s readership. I decided to check Cleo’s readership figures—downloaded from their publisher’s website ACP on January 2, 2010. I found an interesting statistic that jars with the placement of Hermes product in Cleo: a large percentage of Cleo’s readership is unemployed, 38.3% in fact.

Why? Why Not?

mulcher — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:10:38 +0000

I’ve been ill recently, a perfect time to endure the nonsense of commercial television in Australia. The title of this post is from an antagonistic question posed by Gerry Harvey, owner of Harvey Norman, a large electronics and furniture chain in Australia, with stores in New Zealand, Slovenia, Malaysia and Ireland. Towards the end of an advertisement advertising electronic goods, many I’m guessing manufactured in Asia, Harvey rants something along the lines of “Are you buying Australian? Why? Why not?” It’s a little aggressive for my liking, I’m uncomfortable with hypocritical nationalism. If you’re going to rant and rave about being Aussie—quite possibly different from being Australian—then be consistent and practice what you preach. Are your electronics and other goods sourced and manufactured in Australia Harvey?

While writing this post I discovered this quote in the November 20, 2008 issue of the Brisbane Times: Mr Harvey said giving money to people who “are not putting anything back into the community” is like “helping a whole heap of no-hopers to survive for no good reason”. You would think that someone with personal wealth of over $1.5 billion dollars could find something for those doing it tough. I don’t believe footballers give much back to the community, they certainly don’t provide strong role models for young men given the violent and sexual antics of some. I wonder how much Harvey is giving back to the community? How big is his carbon footprint? How large are the debts of consumers?

The (New) Australian

mulcher — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:07:43 +0000

Last weekend The Australian newspaper launched what it touted as a new format and design. What they meant to say was that while Review and The Weekend Australian Magazine got facelifts, the paper itself really only got new headings. The format and size remains the same: large and cumbersome.

The body of the paper is a confusing mess of incoherent headline styles and several sections start from the back of a section. This results in articles making no sense. I was reading the Business section yesterday which merged into the Media section. I read an article about advertising on coffee cups, the beginning of which I had not yet read as I had not reached the front page of Media even though I was reading the paper from front to back. Before I got to the start of the coffee article I would see a cartoon about coffee advertising which didn’t make much sense, but may have if I had read the article first. It is poor design. Why can’t the media section start directly after the Business section and end with a pithy back page?

It is a shame that News Limited could not have been more daring as the Guardian has been in the UK. As a reader of newspapers I don’t like to follow links to pages further in, I want to read a story in one place and I like fewer sections, it makes the reading experience less fidgety. I also prefer a compact size for a variety of reasons: less paper consumption; less waste; reduced transport costs; can be read anywhere, in bed or slouching on a lounge for example. I was hoping the new A Plus section was going to be in a tabloid format. It isn’t, disappointing. Rumour has it that The Sydney Morning Herald is going to revamp. Hopefully it will get it right, a slimmer format and size, clean design geared to readers rather than advertisers, and a paper that truly reflects the city with fewer inserts. It can only b an improvement on its current guise.

Leave Them All Behind III

mulcher — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:52:43 +0000

At first I wasn’t sure about the third Leave Them All Behind. It didn’t seem to have the raw energy of the first one, the tracks seemed to merge. I wondered whether it may be not quite up to scratch of the second release even. But my fears have waned. A lot. It’s a fabulously mixed, bright and energetic selection of tracks that is bang up to date. It channels disco and Divine—the late star of several of John Waters’ films and accomplished pop star—the eighties and the seventies, it’s a bit pop and a little bit sleaze. It’s a floor stomper. Among the highlights are Den Haan’s Release the Beast, MGMT’s Of Moons, Birds and Monsters, One Day by the Juan Maclean—check out Happy House elsewhere—and Simian Mobile Disco’s Audacity of Huge. I want to throw a party and dance. Get it and get up.

Can Alan Ball do no wrong?

mulcher — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:47:07 +0000

I’m three episodes into the first series of True Blood, Alan Ball’s take on the vampire craze. I have to admit that when my friend Kate mentioned it, I was dubious as I’m not really into gore or vampires. Of course, as soon as I saw that it was an Alan Ball production, I was hooked. Trademark opening credits, astounding shots, challenging scenes and intelligent, wryly observed dialogue was again available. It may come as no surprise that I am a great fan of the work of Alan Ball. American Beauty never lost my attention, its sheer elegance and edge was captivating from the opening scene. Equally Six Feet Under was a television masterpiece dealing with the subject we all wish we could ignore, mortality. I readily admit to tears while watching it, the pain endured the characters at various points in their life was so delicately handled, and as it is with life, problems and issues often went unresolved. The closing scene of Six Feet Under and the perfectly chosen track Breathe Me by Sia again bought tears of sadness and joy simultaneously. A truly glorious moment. Ball’s recent film Towelhead was also exquisite. Ball’s images fill my head, long after viewing. I’m so excited to be watching True Blood, thanks Kate.

Short & sweet on Accidents Happen

mulcher — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:36:12 +0000

Starring Geena Davis, Accidents Happen is a dark—often humourous and sometimes sad—film experience. Tears welled in my eyes more than a few times at very small and beautiful moments. Sometimes the tears were of sheer joy, those tears that come with intense love for someone very special. Set in the 80s the story revolves around the mistakes and accidents that one family experiences. I’m sure it will get a general release, and when it does be sure to step out and see it.

Last day of the month

mulcher — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:39:16 +0000

It’s been a busy month, hence why I’ve written absolutely nothing even though I’ve seen a great deal including a man walking down King St Newtown with a snake writhing on his arm. For the purposes of this post I’m going to give a very brief run down of some of the highlights with maybe just a few low points put in for balance.

The Australian Centre for Photography’s Nollywood was an eye opener, a show that has stayed the distance. Stills had some beautiful work by Stephanie Valentin and some fun work by William Lamson along with a new show with new work by Anne Ferran and Ricky Maynard—enjoyable and interesting however more attention could have been paid to the cleanliness of the frames, a small thing that makes a big statement. Steven Cavanagh showed work in the Doctors surgery gallery in Darlinghurst and had his masters exhibition at the National Art School, both of which rewarded. Nothing else art wise stands out.

On the music front I was just a little disappointed by the Little Boots CD Hands which has been the darling of the UK music scene. While there are some great tracks, it just wasn’t as great as promised. That said I really do love her mix tapes and wish for more. The gorgeous Sophie Ellis Bextor has a corker of a track in Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer with The Freemasons, the Hercules & Love Affair album featuring Antony & the Johnsons is a great little treat and I want to hear more of Nose, a quirky French outfit with an eclectic sound. I picked up The All Seeing I (from 2003 I think) in an op shop that includes a great track featuring Phil Oakey of Human League fame, 1st Man in Space and The Glimmers produced a fab little mix CD for DJ magazine with a great version of Olivia Newton-John’s Physical. Not much else I can think of that passed by me.

As for general things, life shifted gear, the car was unwell, still pondering how worthwhile being an artist is and wondering whether I will ever make it. That said I am excited about having a new studio to work from and getting into my Reading Room project along with making things… The question now is will I be better at post writing in August?

Bye Michael

mulcher — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:15:22 +0000

Today is another one of those “Where were you days?” Michael Jackson is dead, and as Channel Nine has intimated ‘a day as shocking as when Princess Diana died.’ The subject of this post is not so much about Michael, but about media. I’ll admit now that, while I admire Jackson’s legacy, I’ve never been a fan. After an exhausting week of work I’ve lobbed home to catch Channel Nine’s coverage. I find it comedic, the ‘Wacko’ phrase has popped up enough times for me to lose count, and I’ve endured an edited version of an interview with Michael by an earnest Barbara Walters. In that interview Jackson was upset about the use of the ‘Whacko Jacko’ term yet Channel Nine continued to reference it on the day of his death all the while fawning sadness. I found out later that Channel Nine almost devoted its entire broadcast to MJ for the day.

As expected, media coverage was surreal. Channel Nine’s news team went to Virgin’s music store in Sydney showing us the sold out Michael Jackson section. The Sydney Morning Herald’s website’s headline was “Jackson used drugs.” Is that the best they can do? Lame, but then again the paper is a messy, poor excuse for reporting. No wonder I stopped buying it years and years ago. I sometimes look at the website but usually navigate away without clicking to other pages to avoid its tabloid nature. Elsewhere pages and pages were full of news. In the following week all the weekly trash mags will no doubt come out with their tributes, probably one of the few times in recent history where weekly sales will be respectable.

I’m not sure what I’m on about here, I guess I’m interested in how his death will be reported. It seems to be a freak show, something the mainstream loves. However, if you’re looking for a succinct response to Jackson’s death, then you could do worse than read Germaine‘s piece for The Guardian, as ever Germaine is on the money.

Adtravaganza TV

mulcher — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:06:03 +0000

Finally, a day at home. Too exhausted to do too much at all I embarked on an afternoon of television and reading magazines. After watching the end of Days of our Lives—amazing that the show is still running and that Marlene and John/Roman are still in it—I was treated to New Idea TV, a spin-off show from the waning-in-popularity magazine New Idea. The show was as uninteresting as I was expecting it to be. Host Rachel Friend and her odd top introduced stories which were from the current issue of the magazine along with cooking from resident cook Barbara Northwood. I also learnt about eyebrow plucking—pluck for the shape of your face—and paint disposing. However, the main thing that I took away from the show was how television stations can air a program that really is a lengthy advertisement, itself punctuated by advertisements and sponsor messages, so a double dose of ads. Astounding.