Angus Whines

Cities

Love these city guides from the 1970s, designed by George Tscherny.



Via Present & Correct

Fleurieu

Holiday time.



I hope you have a lovely Christmas and New Year.

Thank you for reading.  See you in January.

Sydney

Oh so true.



Thanks Mark

Glasses

How fabulous.





Via Misadventures with Andi

Hiatus

Apologies, I'm on the road again.  Back soon.

Zakka

I love that the Japanese have names for things like 'Zakka'.

From Wikipedia :

"Zakka (from the Japanese 'zak-ka'（雑貨）or 'many things') is a fashion and design phenomenon that ... refers to everything and anything that improves your home, life and appearance. It is often based on household items from the West that are regarded as kitsch in their countries of origin, but it can also be Japanese goods, mainly from the fifties, sixties, and seventies. The interest in Nordic design or Scandinavian design, both contemporary and past, is also part of this zakka movement. Zakka can also be contemporary handicraft.

"Zakka has also been described as "the art of seeing the savvy in the ordinary and mundane". The zakka boom could be recognized as merely another in a series of consumer fads, but it also touches issues of self-expression and spirituality. "Cute, corny and kitschy is not enough. To qualify as a zakka, a product must be attractive, sensitive, and laden with subtext.""

Zzzzz

It's true, everyone was sooooo sleepy on the Tokyo subway.





More fabulous photos of people pressed against fogged-up Tokyo subway windows here.  By Michael Wolf.

Grid

Iain's right, this piece of design genius looks invaluable when it comes to travel.

Places

Kiosk brings together culturally typical and interesting things from interesting places.  Useful and fascinating.



Image and link via Swiss Miss

Christmas Break

Relaxation time.  Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

Hello Sandwich

I have to say, Tokyo Sandwich has been my biggest inspiration while exploring this fabulous city.  Her guide to Tokyo has been invaluable and I'm confident that without it I wouldn't have even heard about amazing little suburbs like Shimokitazawa.



Some of the shops and cafes here are just sensational.  Who knew there were such cute and crafty places in Japan?

Kawaii

Hiatus time again.

Later today I'm off to the land of plastic food and Hello Kitty feet warmers for three weeks.  Tokyo, I cannot wait to meet you.



Posts will be sporadic, apologies.

Paris vs NYC

Loving this website, beautifully illustrating the differences between New York and Paris.

Relief

Oh, hey, today I'm off to Vietnam and Indonesia for two weeks, where I plan on eating a hell of a lot of amazing street food.  Things are likely to be very quiet on here until my return, apologies.

Back soon.



Photo by Bob

London Town

Bloody hell I miss that place.

The Scout

I recently stumbled across a fabulous site called The Scout - a lifestyle and design-conscious site about life in NYC.

"The Scout will feature reviews and articles by your intrepid team of culture-seekers who will weed out the mundane and the overly trendy to bring you the very best, the most unique, and the most inspiring that the city has to offer, with an eye to both the modern and the traditional, the high-end and the humble. Our writers and editors appreciate the craftsmanship of Danish modern furniture but still lust after a pair of limited-edition Nikes. We’ll scarf down a decadent deep-fried hot dog one night and indulge in a perfect chocolate souffle the next."

Brilliant.  Well worth a read.

Humble Vintage

Melbourne does some bloody cool things.

Take The Humble Vintage bike hire company, for example.  It's a bike hire service that provides gorgeous vintage bikes and fabulous printed maps for exploring the wonderfully creative and gastronomic nooks and crannies of Melbourne.  Sweet.

Locals and Tourists

These Geotaggers' World Atlas maps are stunning.



I love that in the Locals and Tourists set, someone has attempted to figure out whether the claim that they are 'tourism maps' is true or not. The blue points on the map are pictures taken by locals (taken over a range of a month or more) and the red points are pictures taken by (apparent) tourists.







Via Far Out Brussel Sprout

Stacked Houses

Jesus.  How fabulous does this hotel in Amsterdam look?





Via PSFK

Home

Things have been a little quiet on here of late, thanks to the fact that my beach-scape has finished and I've been pre-occupied with a move back to, well, my beach-city - Bondi Beach.  I'm fucking thrilled to be back.



Photo courtesy of the legendary Uge of Aquabumps - if you don't subscribe to his daily photography emails, you're missing out.  I need to buy one of his stunning prints to celebrate my return.

Lo-Fi London

This Is Naive has put together the most superb guide to London.  God I love that city.

Treechange

Despite the fact that I still absolutely love advertising and strategy, I've decided to move to the south east coast of South Australia for a while, where I can have a cold beer in the outside shower at our shack after an evening swim, chew the fat in the front bar of country pubs with old men and plan each dinner from what looks good at the local market.

Meaning the posts on this blog might change a little, in content and frequency.  Bear with me.

Camping

Fuck me, I'd love one of these.





Via Lost at E Minor

Taxi

I can't tell you the number of times I've come close to asking people in the taxi queue if they want to share a cab.  Taxi2 will hopefully help me avoid some awkward refusals.



Via Springwise

Norway

Stunning video.  I need to go there.



Via Astrid

Feet

I've found one of my people.  This guy takes fabulous photos of his (and his girlfriend's) feet, while they're travelling. 









>He also takes other, absolutely stunning, photographs of his adventures - well worth a look.

Via A Cup of Jo

Holiday

Off to Bali for a week.  Be good.

Holiday

I'm off travelling for two and a half weeks.  I'll post sporadically but for the most part will be re-connecting with a hell of a lot of legends and drinking a hell of a lot of beer.

If I get my replacement passport in time.  And if Heathrow immigration decides to treat me a little nicer this time...

AFL

I'm home.

Off travelling, back soon

Home

I'm here.

Tourism

I find it ironic that the only time I intensely dislike the UK is when I'm entering it.

I love this place.  I love living here.  And I hope to for a very long time.  To assist with that, I have a five year visa firmly, and legally, planted in my passport. 

And yet.  And yet.  I continue to be treated like a piece of shit every time I return to London after a trip away. 

To today's Customs man who talked to me like I was scum and interrogated me in some apparent attempt to make me crumble and confess that I'd illegally created my visa with my own scrapbooking kit at home and UHU-ed it in on the weekend (you got me!), you, and many of your colleagues, are a fucking disgrace to this beautiful nation.

Yes, I realise this happens in other countries.  Yes, I realise there are people who take the piss which make it harder for the rest of us.  But, if I have a visa from the UK government in my passport, surely I can be treated a little bit more nicely?

Also, HSBC?  Your Your View campaign?  Please.  I'm begging you.  For the love of god.  Move on.

/rant 

Hiatus

Oops. Without much prior warning I slipped away for a week to relax here...

and here...

to watch lots of these...

and do lots of this...

T'was heavenly.

I'm back now though.

Intermission

Time for a holiday. I'm off here...

Southern Spain. Can't wait.

See you in a week.

(photos courtesy of www.flickr.com, can't remember who, sorry...)

Next Stop: London

So, I finish up at E. Coli tomorrow. Monday I fly to Australia for two weeks. And, following that, I move to have a stint here:



To, in the words of one P. Colman, join "the planning department of one of London's big advertising agencies".

What can I say, he's my mentor, my role model. What he does, I do.

Goodbye E. Coli

The agency I work for has its offices in a beautiful building designed by Gustave Eiffel. Yes, that Eiffel. It used to be a subsidiary building of the main Printemps department store.





The reason they can afford this beautifully designed building is due to some extremely clever economies internally.

For example, there are no kitchens. So clever! We wash our mugs in the bathroom sink. Right next to the toilet.

Which is lovely, but still, I've resigned.

Appalling Language

One of the great things about being Australian is that you can say things like "fuck me dead it's cold out there" without people flinching. 

This does not, however, apply in Europe. 

That said, a flinch IS warming.

I'm normally not this cultured...

This weekend I've dined in the Museums Quartier in Vienna, stumbled tipsily past Stephansdom, stared in awe at the work of my friends Klimt and Schiele, downed thick hot chocolate at Demels, roamed the streets of the historic Marais, drunk French wine in the sun on a beautiful Parisian day and, thankfully, lest I get too arty, watched four episodes of Prison Break while gazing out at the Musee Picasso intermittently.

I need filth, vulgarity and trashiness. Urgently.

Alcohol Poisoning

We're what, a full forty four hours past that fateful moment when I first met up with Lebowski, Beeker, Paul, Will and Sophie, and I am STILL suffering.

Certainly I'm not as poorly as I was yesterday, but there's definitely some toxins still floating around in my system. Comfort food has been the major focus of today, now that I can actually stomach more than half a field mushroom. And mentally I'm still recovering from the nightmare that was my trip home. The Heathrow Express is fabulous, but needs beds for those foolish enough to travel hungover.

Despite that, I had a fabulous time in London, thank you so much guys. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you all and, moreso, share some special moments over calves heart. I can highly recommend St John in Spitalfield, if you've never been.

And my virgin visit to Coffee Morning was enjoyable too if a little overwhelming what with the crowd and all. Russell is a popular man, but extremely welcoming.

Tequila Jammer

'Home' again from Mexico City, on which I have two words:

- traffic
- margaritas

Oh, and wonderful people who care for their trees....

Lick, Sip, Suck

I'm off to Mexico City for the week tomorrow morning. Flying Aeromexico which, to be honest, doesn't fill me with joy. Or confidence. Anyone flown them? Please think good thoughts for me. Or at least hope that they serve tequila before take-off.

Bloody Hell

A fabulous insight into Australia in the following two videos, courtesy of The Jason Recliner:

As you may or may not know, the tagline caused a few issues, so they had to test some others...

Parisian Mornings

Going to work in Paris typically involves both this, which is of course heavenly:





and this, which is about as close to hell as I've come lately, that I know of:

Milano

I confess, pleasures such as these, slightly, atlhough sadly not fully, compensate for exceedingly tedious research when it's in Milan...

Morocco

Ahhh Morocco... how I wish I were still there....

iPlod

Here I go again... immortalised by the legends White Snake.

I'm off to Morocco, on holiday this time, for one blissful week. I feel a tad spoilt, having just had my time in Sydney, but that was work... okay, of sorts....

One thing that truly sucks the big one, more so than very bad kerning would you believe, is the fact that in the last four weeks I've both purchased a swanky new iPod video, and killed the said iPod video. Truly a disaster given I'm travelling alone and was looking forward to listening to a few tunes and watching a few shows while on long bus journeys. Ah well... c'est la vie, as many strange people around me would say.

Upon my return I must start writing more regularly, apparently.

"F***ing Loaded"

Courtesy of B&T

BACARDI BUYS 42° BELOW VODKA FOR $120M “We’re f***ing loaded,” was the reaction from New Zealand Vodka producer 42° Below, to the offer from Bacardi Limited to purchase the business for NZ$138m (A$120m).

Ah how I miss it down there... four days to go...

Dying

French bureaucracy is killing me. Literally. I wonder how death would actually come. Heart attack? Stroke? Fit?? Not sure. Will keep you posted. Or my family will.

Aussie Rules Genius

How to make yourself homesick on a Monday morning, as an Aussie that is....

Holiday

Off to Corsica for ten days.