NATALIA M.P JEWELLERY

by AnJi B
Natalia works from the famously kookie Art Deco Nicholas Building in Melbourne, where various artists toil away in their studios. Up five flights of stairs into the ‘Get Smart’ lift, through some glass doors and into a little space overlooking the city centre, I reach Natalia’s ‘workshop’ which she shares with another artist. Her pieces of jewellery are refreshingly organic in theme. Much of her necklaces remind me of blossoming gum nut babies and native australian flora with alien-like features. Every option is unique and appointments can be made to see her jewellery and commissioned pieces are welcome by emailing her on natalia925@gmail.com

No apologies from AA

by AnJi B
Unashamedly sexy, celebrity free, sweat-shop free, no frills apparel.
Billboards spilled across the United States advertising scantily clad nubile models with legs spread to high heaven and an invisible line drawing the viewers eye straight down to pandora’s crotch. Bulls eye!

Makes you want to buy spandex right? Or threaten to write a letter to consumer affairs in the event that this may have some influence on what advertising you and your children should be exposed to on a daily basis.
Well forget about it. This is nothing new in the seamy world of advertising for the clothing brand American Apparel. They’ve done it again. Remember the billboard campaign which used the perfect pin-up boy for sex, Woody Allen, eating dinner in full Hasidic garb? Allen ended up slapping AA with a $5 million lawsuit for using his image without permission, even though it is considered an act of ‘artistic speech’ rather than ‘commercial speech’ and has no grounds for a lawsuit in America. Either way it doesn’t matter if you don’t remember the details as the chances are many of you remembered the name American Apparel and walked into your local store to find out what all the fuss was about.

Woody Allen originally sued the company for $10 million for detriment to his ‘reputation.’ Ironically American Apparel’s argument was, thanks to many of Woody Allen’s own sex scandals in the media, his image is not worth that much anyway. He eventually settled for half. The interesting and most psychological aspect of advertising is not only is this a cheap means of advertising but even if the case continues American Apparel will stand to profit more from this than a miserly $10 million.

Just another whore mongering, tragically hip, new wave fashion chain to jump on the ’sweat-shop free’ bandwagon? Maybe. But you have got to give it to AA CEO Dov Charney responsible for the new ’spread ‘em’ campaign. In this case the old adage rings true once again: ‘Bad publicity is good publicity.’

But please universe, when will someone come up with an original idea for once that doesn’t entail spreading your legs for breakfast? Yawn.

 

“Mum, where does SPAM come from?”

by AnJi B
It is her first ever written and illustrated children’s book and it has already caused quite a stir in the literary world. Ruby Roth’s That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians and all Living Things is a candid account of the emotional lives of animals and the effect that eating animals has on the environment and endangered species.
Many haters believe the subject matter and beautifully constructed illustrations may be too dark and haunting for its puerile readers. I think it is a wonderful opportunity to start educating these future revolutionists about conscious consumerism and have the CEO’s of the meat and dairy industry shaking in their oversized, overpaid booties.

Pushka

by AnJi B
It smells like Pushka with an r. One of many of Melbourne’s hidden little hobbit lands within its many laneways within the city. Pass junkie territory, rubbish bin scapes and various hobbit doors and you will find this hole in the wall espresso bar staring out at you from a great beam of light, and the intoxicating smell of India, bagels and really good coffee penetrate your nostrils like a bombay sapphire hangover.
Try the bagel with thick lashings of avocado and vegemite with a fresh off the press latte presented with a kitschy spoon that could have been stolen from your grandmas spoon collection.
This place has got some cred and also functions as a bar and art space with cheap beer!
20 Presgrave Place, Melbourne 0408 173 892
Get there from Howie Place running between Collins and Little Collins Street

The Dirty Thirties

by AnJi B

There is a smell in the air. The smell of coming-of-age and un-certainty. The off, hot stale breathe of old peeps, coupled with the responsibility of having a mortgage and 2.1 children, linger over my shoulder ascertaining its predominance in my life for the next 50 years to come.

Society has reprimanded me for life now that I have hit that unforgiving age of 20-10, and I should make haste with baby making and put forth the seeds that were sown in my twenties and harvest them into the successful wife, mother, daughter and career making woman with a suit and shoulder pads that I have been bred to be. It is time to renounce the once bare-foot child who ate snails from the backyard and take risks on the stock market not risks of the heart.

Is this what we really want?

The 30’s should be a time to reassess the past 10 years of hormonal and alcohol-induced chaos, and regain a sense of originality and Zen. There shouldn’t be this mass induced hysteria towards becoming a ‘serious’ citizen of society whilst losing sight of our wildest childhood dreams of becoming a rock star. It will pass. Every 29.5 years Saturn will return back to the same position it was in at the time of your birth. Astrologists call this Saturn Return

So everything you considered important in your twenties has actually turned out to be complete superfluous bollocks and it’s time to embrace that person you lost in transit so long ago. Turning 30 is about making time to rid ourselves of outdated ideas and initiate spiritual growth and prosperity.

Yes, this is the year I turn 30 and I cannot tell you how relieved I am to see the back of some of the most tumultuous years of my life (and some of the best times mind you.) There is a sense of wonderment in knowing that this is just the beginning of a truly amazing voyage.
So in celebration of my ‘rite of passage,’ here are 10 things to do AFTER your big Dirty Thirty:

1: Travel to different countries in search of the ultimate festival. Celebrate the colour of the Day of the Dead festival all over Mexico and the States during November, or volunteer at the Burning Man
Festival in the Nevada desert during August/September.
2: Go dumpster diving for some treasure and make friends while you do it
3: Catalogue your life into a coffee table book
4: Make “High Fidelity” mix tapes with your own personal choice of bad 80s rock ballads and send them to all your friends
5: Go on a naturist holiday! What better way to celebrate the new you by getting nude in public!
6: Learn a language like Icelandic or Mongolian and drop it into conversations with your friends. They will be amazed!
7: Volunteer locally or abroad and help someone else to help yourself
8: Read The Dice Man. It could change the way you live your life.
9: Enlighten your being and join an ashram
10: Never say never.