Guerrilla Knitting

Seen in Wilford Lane, Newtown.

Swine Flu

My father-in-law has a weekly ritual whereby every Friday he will either ring or write to a politician or Government Department to either complain, complement or offer a useful suggestion. As a long term pontificator and frequent letter writer to newspapers, I have started to do the same and it really is quite fun.

As Swine Flu is all the rage, I wondered if the government provided some sort of pension, for those who end up in quarantine. As a large part of the Australian population is now employed as a casual, its reasonable to assume that someone who has been placed in Quarantine, who has no sick pay and perhaps children to feed, would potentially lose any form of income. As society dictates they should be locked away for the greater good, isn't it in society's interest to see that they are justly compensated?

I rang the Health Department, who had no idea if there was some sort of pension. They suggested I call the Swine Flu Hotline. (yep - there really is a hotline). They also had no idea, and suggested I call Centrelink.

After assuring all these call center operators that no, I do not have Swine Flu and please stop tracing this call, I rang Centrelink. After navigating their automated menus and waiting on hold for another 10 minutes, I finally spoke to a human. I assured her that I didn't have Swine Flu and that this was just a general enquiry.

Anyway, the good news is that if one were to get Swine Flu, and be quarantined, they are eligible for a Sickness Allowance! Hooray! Its actually quite generous coming in at somewhere between $450 - $500.

My mum, never one to miss a trick, declared that that is more than she gets on the pension, and is now hoping to get Swine Flu.

So rest assured Australia - your Government is looking after you!

Car Park Camo

Sara Watson, a clever art student from the University of Central Lancashire, spent 3 weeks, painting this car to make it appear as if it was invisible, in the car park outside her studio. The car was donated by a recycling firm who was after a some publicity. {Via Lost at E Minor}

Theyyy'rrreee baaaackkkk!!!

So, I was shopping in one of those young person's shops the other day. You know, the ones that you frequented in your late teens, and occasionally wander into these days in the vain hope you'll be able to squeeze your arse into something, and then end up leaving in disgust after being aurally assaulted by something the foetus behind the counter explains to you is "music". She is, of course, unable to look at you while she's explaining this, as she is obviously getting paid to send inane texts to her equally moronic friends (a big hello to 75% of the shop assistants on Chapel Street!). Anyway, so I wandered into the shop, and hanging quite boldly on the rack was a relic from my past I never thought any fashion designer would be stupid enough to revisit, no matter how desperate for inspiration. It pains me to type this, but the BODYSUIT IS BACK.

One part-top, one-part leotard, and seven parts totally impractical, the Bodysuit enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the mid-to-late eighties, when, inspired by the shenanigans of the "Kids From Fame" and Jennifer Beals in "Flashdance", we all thought it would be handy to wear one under our jeans. You know, just in case we had to bust out a group dance in the street in New York City, or impress a stuffy panel at a ritzy dance school with the moves we learnt from our night-time gig at a strip joint.

If you've never had the pleasure of wearing a bodysuit, it's basically like those little one-sy suits that babies wear. It looks like a top on the top, but - and here's the thing - it snaps together with some little clasps right over your lady parts. Now, that's totally fine if you're under a year old. You're not terribly worried about where and when you do your toileting, and you've got a responsible adult to do it back up for you after you're done.

Not so if you're all grownup and you have to do it yourself. Of course, most of us mere mortals have a great deal of difficulty actually seeing between our legs. So doing one of those suckers up is hard work. It's like doing up a bra times one hundred. Add alcohol, and the degree of difficulty rises significantly, and god help you if you happen to "have the painters in". It's a recipe for disaster!

And another thing...they're damned uncomfortable. I should know, as I attempted to rock a white one for a few brief months in year ten. After a rather vigorous attempt at imitating Lady Miss Kier in the film clip for "Groove Is In The Heart", I thought I was gonna have to have the thing surgically removed. They. Are. Not. Fun.

I feel like grabbing kids as they hover towards the bodysuits, and shaking them and yelling "DON'T DO IT! I WAS ONCE LIKE YOU!". But they probably wouldn't hear me over the music.

will you be my contact?

I once joined Facebook for a day just to see what it was all about. Oh yeah, this is alright, I thought. I can root around other peoples private stuff! Cool!

The day turned into a week, and I started to get poked, prodded and given werewolf hugs by someone I had never heard of. Then there was the stress of the status update. What do I write? Is that funny?

I shut down my Facebook account exactly one week after I joined. I was happy. I knew what it was all about, and now I could mouth off my opinions about it whenever I wanted.

A year passed, and I started to not be invited places. "But we put it on a Facebook" they said. "I'm not on Facebook" I would reply.

So I decided to rejoin and wouldn't you know, all my old stuff was still there. I immedietly set about making it all private so only my "friends" could see my page. I was happy.

I now think of it as a whitepages for people. It is a good way to get in contact with people who you have lost. I think the reason people critisize it so much is the use of the word "Friends". I reckon change Friends to Contacts, and life would be good.

The End.

King Gimp and his Queen

King Gimp - The Wedding from Dino Lara on Vimeo.

Do yourself a favour and take the time to watch this video... it's a beautiful love story, captured by a talented photographer Dino Lara. { Grab the tissues, it's a tear jerker}. Thanks to RiRi for passing this on.

Mossy Goodness

Check out this Green Graffiti... via Green Upgrader.

Anna Garforth, a UK designer and illustrator, best known for her latest work 'Mossenger' where she creates street art, crafting type made out of moss. 

Another lovely moss artist to look out for is Edina Tokodi, who hails from Hungary... and is now adorning the streets of New York with cute mossy animals. Read more about her work at Inhabitat. {both are pictured above} 

They also give you easy instructions on how to get started in your own backyard. {Check out  instructables  for some more info too.}

yaMug !

How good is this... A fool proof way, to make the perfect cup of tea... every time. With help from Pantone Matching System - colour chip names like -  Builders Brew; Classic British, Just Tea and Milky. So Good !!

{ You can find this at Suck UK.}