if you haven't got a (de) clieu

today i ventured down gertrude st to get some coffee from de clieu, seven seeds' fitzroy franchise

threethousand told me that there is a "a faintly nautical theme harking back to the café's namesake, a sailor in Napoleon's army who chose to use his own drinking water rations to nurture stolen coffee plants."

this had me thinking PIRATES, but no, gabriel de clieu was no pirate but a naval officer and later a governor of guadaloupe (thank you wikipedia; apparently, too, de clieu's descendants are getting together, via facebook for heaven's sake, to set up a museum in de clieu's home town of dieppe)

pretty industrio-lights, courtesy of 6 degrees design aesthetic

side bar - clever cute names like de clieu

recycling, yet another thing

oh, i laughed when i saw this,

i have written much the same thing ... nothing makes me more furious than incorrect recycling! how ridiculous of me

f*ck a d*ck

i've never been a huge fan of mandarina duck but today strolling along at lunchtime (always a dangerous time) i saw a lovely bag before me,

this has started me on a search for this bag

searching for pre-loved mandarinas... but without knowing the style/model there's not much point.

i did find this one, though ...

and a blog about messenger bags

and another thing ...

my brother-in-law used to laugh whenever i raved on about something. he'd parody me with and ANOTHER thing ...

an article in today's age/smh raised my "and ANOTHER thing ..." hackles
can we afford to continue funding private schools (18 feb 2011)
i say, emphatically, no
recently i overheard a conversation on the tram, a man was telling a colleague that his daughter was leaving her state primary school to start grade 4 at a private primary school
the conversation went something like this ...
woman: oh, and was she wearing a hat?
man: yes, yes, she was
w: oh, how adorable
m: yes, we thought it was time ... she needed the change w: oh yes, well, it gives them better opportunities, doesn't it?
m: ... yes, we would have kept her at her old school but ...
w: well, if they were properly funded ...

precisely! exactly!! proper funding.

why oh why, do private schools get additional commonwealth funding, when it's their state school compatriots who need the extra help?
i like this from today's article
Simon Marginson, Academic: Once the public purse is used to fund private benefits enjoyed by a few — benefits that gain value from the fact that they are exclusive — we are on a slippery slope.
There is no end to possible private claims on the public purse. The practical question is whether we continue to provide money from the common pool of taxation for exclusive school communities. Australia is a low-tax country and resources for education are scarce. We can't afford to fund choices only some families can make — more so given that fostering exclusive education has weakened the standing of the public schools open to all, and eroded their educational quality.

other recent articles on the same subject

• Do we have fairness in funding for Australian schools? (14 feb 2011)
• Can we afford to continue funding private schools? (12 feb 2011)

where the wild things are

the wild animal graffiti of ROA, in mexico, unurth

photos of 'hyena men' by pieter hugo
an extract from the article,
These photographs came about after a friend emailed me an image taken on a cellphone through a car window in Lagos, Nigeria, which depicted a group of men walking down the street with a hyena in chains. A few days later I saw the image reproduced in a South African newspaper with the caption ‘The Streets of Lagos’. Nigerian newspapers reported that these men were bank robbers, bodyguards, drug dealers, debt collectors. Myths surrounded them...

It turned out that they were a group of itinerant minstrels, performers who used the animals to entertain crowds and sell traditional medicines. The animal handlers were all related to each other and were practising a tradition passed down from generation to generation.
...
Many animal-rights groups also contacted me, wanting to intervene (however, the keepers have permits from the Nigerian government). When I asked Nigerians, “How do you feel about the way they treat animals?”, the question confused people. Their responses always involved issues of economic survival. Seldom did anyone express strong concern for the well-being of the creatures. Europeans invariably only ask about the welfare of the animals but this question misses the point. Instead, perhaps, we could ask why these performers need to catch wild animals to make a living. Or why they are economically marginalised. Or why Nigeria, the world’s sixth largest exporter of oil, is in such a state of disarray.


i remember when i was watching spike jonze's where the wild things are i was struck that the "alien landscape" of the wild things was my backyard,
southern and central victoria,
the beach scenes are around the corner from cape schanck, an hour and a half from melbourne and 30 minutes from where my mum lives

the difference between wild and civilised can be so slight, a difference of where you put the accent, the emphasis

if this isn't happiness i don't know what is

some images from a tumblr site called this isn't happiness
-- art photography design & disappointment

ahoy

a while ago, i found a stripey top in an army supply store, and bought it for my love

it looks a bit like a breton shirt
(i sea stripes, breton shirt tribute site)

circa 1900 photo of French sailors wearing marinières

he was wearing it when we went to visit my mum who immediately identified it as a soviet/russian sailor's shirt (a telnyashka, Тельняшка).

so, i send this to him on v-day

another artist and his breton shirt
1. at his feet

2. self portrait with muse
2. self portrait with muse
2. self portrait with muse
2. self portrait with muse
2. self portrait with muse
2. self portrait with muse

2. self p2. 2. self portrait with muse


buy one here >>

a stray word

i was reading on the train this morning, my universities by gorky
a stray word, Rybnoryadsky Street, sent straight back to memories of my grandmother
and her words of affection for us,
rybka, little fish,
zaba, frog

i had to wipe my eyes
i miss my grandmother,
dear bunia, i love you
14 april 1914-15 december 2008

sartorial solipsism

this morning on the way into work i saw three outfits i loved

i only thought to snap a photo (sartorialist style) on the third outfit

the first was a chick riding her bike, stopped at the light. i only saw her from the back

plain black top (i think, or didn't think to notice)

a beige-mushroom shade cotton skirt with broidery anglaise-like patterning

teamed with black dense-lace knee-highs and black sandals

very cool!
(her helmet also had eyes stuck on it)

the second was a woman wearing a navy sleeveless dress, i think cotton again, with red piping at the neck, and a red belt across the waist

(these dresses only approximate it)

finally, this outfit, snapped so i don't have to struggle with describing it

(actually i also saw a woman wearing a clingy leopard print dress, while stylishly cycling along gertrude street)

you have been here some time

it wasn't until after she had died that i realised that my grandmother, a wonderful cook, almost defined in my world by her wonderful cooking, didn't begin to cook in earnest until she was almost 50.

louise bourgeois, too, did not come into her own, or at least did not exhibit her works publicly until she was past 50.

i just recently read that a collection of interviews given by louise bourgeois was chosen by david john, you have been here some time, as the book that most inspired him

Louise Bourgeois Destruction of the Father, Reconstruction of the Father - Writings and Interviews 1923 - 1997

Louise Bourgeois' writings and interviews have given me more insight than perhaps any other designer/artist. On my down days, I can open the yellowed pages and sink into her explanations and defenses of why she created work for 70 plus years . Every time, I'm instantly grounded.

i found this book in the library by chance last week. i was looking at books about sustainable house design and dealing with architects, and another library user has tucked louise bourgeois into this company.

would i have borrowed it if i hadn't read john's piece? can't say, but i like the chance of it.

i am 41. it is not too late. it is never too late.

"you have been here some time" is no reason to think there is not much more time to spend.

there is still time to be brave

louise bourgeois, I Do. I Undo. I Redo (text

written on 28 february 2000 concerning a sculpture of the same name commissioned by tate modern)

I do is an active state. It's a positive affirmation. I am in control, and I move forward, toward a goal or a wish or a desire. There is no fear. In terms of a relationship, things are fine and peaceful ... It is the "I Love You" no matter what.

The Undo is the unravelling. The torment that things are not right and the anxiety of not knowing what to do. There can be total destruction in the attempt to find an answer, and there can be terrific violence that descends into depression. One is immobile in the wake of the fear. It is the view from the bottom of the well. In terms of a relationship to others, it's a total rejection and destruction. It is the return of the repressed ... One retreats into one's lair to strategise, recover and regroup.

The Redo means that a solution is found to the problem. It may not be the final answer, but there is an attempt to go forward. You get clearer in your thinking. You are active again. You have confidence again. In terms of relationships to others, the reparation and reconciliation have been achieved. Things are back to normal. There is hope and love again.