GOODS has two meanings. Firstly, it is our guide to innovative objects from Melbourne and around the world, and secondly, GOODS can't be bad. A resource for gift buyers, home-makers, scene-stealers, trend-watchers and possibly even shoplifters, GOODS isn't about making your credit card cry, it's about setting your standards high.
Do you ever wonder what happened to your trusty old cassette tapes after you binned them at first sight of a delicious silvery Compact Disc? Sonic Fabric know, because they've got them. Driven by an ethos of upcycling and repurposing - as well as maintaining cutting edge style and a good dose of experimentalism - this NY-based fashion brand take the long strands of magnetic tape out of our old cassettes and, through a process I can only deem as magic, weave them into scarves, neckties, and other modern accessories and fabric.
Possibly the most polite war in the history of wars is the Atomic war, for the hearts and minds of people who love a particular coffee machine designed in the late '40s by Giordano Robbiati. Weirdly, this international war is happening mostly in Australia, between Sorrentina, Bon, and Otto.
It's remaining polite for a few reasons I think; firstly because of the way people love this machine.
It's an annoying day when you have to explain to your mum why you have a cigarette lighter in a secret hiding spot between your desk and the wall. Your answer is nervous and stuttered, and you don't even question why she is looking back there. You try to explain that it is just a lighter and you have an interest in small flames, but she isn't buying it.
The winter months have been a two and a half out of ten at best. At every turn Murphy's law was kicking my ass - I was rained on the few days I was umbrella-less, I was thunder-stormed when I had no kite, I had ten thousand spoons when all I needed was a knife.
As the days grew darker my skin got lighter and all I could do for my tan was turn up the screen brightness on my laptop.
I started riding these surf mats during a residency in Byron Bay this Feb. They are handmade by Paul Gross in California. Paul has been shaping boards and writing on and photographing surfing for decades...he wrote the screenplay for the cult skate classic Animal Chin.
The awesome thing about the mat is its portability as a surf craft - its speed, and the how close it brings you to the wave face when you are trimming down the line.
During my third stint in the pen I learnt two things: to respect my body, to utilise profanities and to count. I miss the days of abusing the tattooed inmates who tried to barter with tobacco for a ‘go' of my peach-scented soap. "Fuck that," I used to say. When a guy got shived in the shower, I used to shout for the screw, "This is fucking urgent.
Being organised is the latest in an ever-growing list of stuff that used to be totally uncool, along with suit jackets, having a job and, er, growing up. Seems if you know where and when you want to go, you might actually get there. This is a frightening concept, especially for those of us whose closest experience to office politics is getting kicked out of skate spots.
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