not ANOTHER MAGAZINE.

cheque savings or credit?

pin or sign?

manual or automatic?

inside or outside?

smoking? non-smoking?

small, medium, or large?

ribbed, studded or extra slim?

HOW MANY FUCKING OPTIONS ARE THERE THESE DAYS!?

This issue is of no exception to the crazy amounts of magazines available to today’s society, and the major question that needs answering is "which one should we choose?"

Well, with nothing else to do after abandoning my career as an academic, I have put my newly appreciated stack of time into researching the best magazines (the cream of the crop) under the most important topics. 

...BUT, as I went into Borders one day to pick up my beloved KINGBROWN magazine, I couldn't help but stare at the people who were spending too much time trying to choose a magazine... and, I decided right then and there to save the planet one step at a time, and alleviate some heavy pressure imposed on us all when faced with the masses of excellent magazines on offer.

ART:

Art World

SOCIETY:

KINGBROWN

FASHION:

Oyster

INDIE:

YEN Magazine

TRAVEL:

Conde Nast Traveller

FOOD:

Gourmet Traveller

MUSIC:

MOJO Magazine

FILM:

Film Comment

CULTURE:

Interview Magazine

TRASH:

Grazia 

ENVIRONMENT:

Green Magazine

ARCHITECTURE:

Curve

INTERIOR DESIGN:

InDesign

ALL ROUNDER:

Time Magazine

NB: There are many other excellent magazines out there which unfortunately could not make the extremely strict cut this list exposes. However, i do encourage you all to do your own research and find the magazine that suits you best.

August 'Top 10'

The name's  Nathalie... not Natalie. It's french.

1. Velvet Underground - pale blue eyes 
2. Jeff Buckley - hallelujah 
3. Bob Dylan - dont think twice 
4. George Harrison - while my guitar gently weeps 
5. Oasis - Champagne Supernova
6. Supertramp - bloody well right 

7. Elliott Smith - memory lane 
8. Pink Floyd - money
9. The Eagles - hotel california 
10. The Killers - glamorous indie rock n roll 

A born and bred Sydney-sider, Nath is just as eccentric as her taste in music. 

Claiming that it took her 50 times to get the list right, Nath has chosen songs that are "a bit mainstream" but "old school" ...so, "good mainstream".

Nath is into taking trips down "memory lane".

Real Blood is for SUCKERS.

I know, I know... I'm running a little late on this fixation.

... In fact, I'm running approximately 17 episodes and an entire season late.

But, this TV series is just too tasty to pass up.

Created by Alan Ball, True Blood tells the tall of co-existence between vampires and humans after a synthetic blood drink is created in Japan, replacing a vampires need for human blood. Set in the fictional town of Bon Temps, in the American South, it follows the story of Sookie Stackhouse, a telepath, who meets a 173 year-old vampire named Bill Compton (and inevitably falls madly in love with him). 

BUT HOLD IT BOYS!

... Enter, a handful of other mythical creatures such as shape-shifters and werewolves, and you've got yourself a spellbinding cast with a hell of a bite. In fact, this series is less about love, and more about murder, sex, racial conflict and violence.

... done tastefully of course.

So go check out True Blood on Showcase (available on Cable TV) Tuesdays at 8:30pm. 

And if the vampires in the show don't dazzle you, then the kick ass cinematography and story-line will.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Brother Baba Budan is a quaint and exceptionally tiny cafe serving some of Melbourne's top coffee to the office types and everyday passers-by.   

Situated on 359 Little burke St, Brother Baba Budan boasts an impressive selection of coffee blends, and the baristas serving are all too happy to attend to any prerequisite you may have.

Although wooden chairs line the ceilings, finding a seat can be likened to finding a needle in a haystack. However, with blends named Mr Miles and Gypsy, the effort is well worth the unique coffee experience that surely follows.

Candida Höfer

Candida Höfer likes to hang out in libraries. 

...Further to this, she likes to photograph them too.

"The library... must be easy to access and its doors must be open to all the members of the community who will be able to make free use of it without distinction of race, colour, nationality, age, sex, religion, language, civil status or cultural level" 

... This is the modus operandi that most believe a library to follow.

The modus operandi of Candida Höfer, however, is somewhat different. 

Picking up a camera in 1973, and studying under the photography master Bernd Becher, Höfer's body of work explores large vicinities, from public spaces to private libraries. 

The vastness of Höfer's images resonates within its viewers by presenting a seemingly simple landscape, that exploits the loneliness and incredible beauty of a space left bare. 

Little Lanes and Pink Floral Teacups

Children yet, the tale to hear,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Lovingly shall nestle near

In a Wonderland they lie,

Dreaming as the days go by,

Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream,

Lingering in the golden gleam,

Life, what is it but a dream?

July 'Top 10'

Samson Adams' name sounds like a super-hero's. Samson Adams is awesome. Samson Adams studies Arts. Samson Adams studies people and the things they do, under his Arts degree. Samson Adams has provided this months 'Top 10' music list:

1.     Tiny Vipers- Dreamer
2.     The Smith Westerns- Be My Girl
3.     Terry Riely- In C
4.     Madvillain- Great Day (Four Tet Remix)
5.     Philip Glass- Knee 5
6.     Low- Word
7.     Grouper- Invisible
8.     Leonard Cohen- The Partisan
9.     Serge Gainsbourg- Melody 

10.   Why?- A Sky for Shoeing Horses Under

Samson Adams describes himself as "not too much".

I feel fine, and so do approx. 11,482,671 others too.

Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar are farmers,

... and their job is to harvest millions of human emotions.

Every 10 minutes, 'a data collection engine automatically scours the internet' and harvests human feelings from a large number of blogs such as LiveJournal, MSN Spaces, MySpace, Blogger, Flickr, Technorati, Feedster, Ice Rocket and Google.

"We Feel Fine scans blog posts for occurrences of the phrases "I feel" and "I am feeling"... Once a sentence containing "I feel" or "I am feeling" is found, the system looks backward to the beginning of the sentence, and forward to the end of the sentence, and then saves the full sentence in a database."

... So, if you are feeling a little lonely, head to http://www.wefeelfine.org/index.html to see how many people are feeling lonely at that time too. Its a quick smart way to grab some life affirmation.

I've got a Sixth Sense

When the words ‘sixth sense’ are uttered from anyone’s mouth it immediately evokes a visual of Bruce Willis trying desperately to communicate with his wife, only to learn he is, in fact, dead.

However, the sixth sense that follows is not quite as devastatingly tragic, and has nothing to do with the ability to communicate with ‘the other side’.

Prepare to be confused, concerned and completely bewildered by the genius and sci-fi forward thinking that is exposed in the video provided:

To view more free lectures on a whole range of interesting (and most likely BORING as hell) topics, visit TED Lectures @ http://www.ted.com/

They might be Small but they're pretty Tough

Image courtesy of Michael Ross Photography

Small Tough is made up of five young rockers who have a lot to say and a heap of ambition to live up to. If you're traipsing around the streets of Melbourne and happen to stumble upon one of their live gigs, you'll see that these boys are nothing short of explosive. Mixing the classic combination of guitar, bass, percussion and vocals with the new addition of synth gives this band a fresh flavour that will leave the creamiest taste in your mouth. 

With Ben Efrat on lead vocals, Jarred Hofman on guitar, Ilan Waincymer on drums, Elia Mazor on bass and Dan Rutman on synth, Small Tough promises a night of aggressive musical pleasure that will have your ears screaming for more.

Check out their next show (details provided in image below)

View their myspace and facebook pages at; 

http://www.myspace.com/smalltough 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Small-Tough/59138243645?ref=ts