Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Celebrity spotting becomes the norm!

There must be something in the water in Brisbane this week. Celebrities are turning up everywhere I go!

Attending a performance of Imaginery Theatre's Tashi at the Powerhouse at New Farm I was lucky enough to meet Tim Sharp - the talented creator of Laser Beak Man. A super hero for the modern age Laser Beak Man is a voice for the sharp edged humour of his creator, all delivered with bright and bold graphics. With a number of the works in the exhibition sporting red dots one can only give a thumbs up to Tim and his support crew. Book two of the adventures of Laser Beak Man is under development so expect big things in the future for this young man. A copy of Tim's first book was proudly donated to State Library and will join the collections of the Australian Library of Art.

Tim's website can be viewed at http://www.laserbeakman.com/

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Snippet of mosaic


I can't help myself, but every now and then I have to sneak in a little bit of mosaic. I can blame this on the fact that I was following up on my new found access to the Flickr site - and have now not only loaded iamges but have also organised "sets". The librarian in me loves these little tools for organising and sorting!


So, 3 or 4 "sets" later I have a number of images online. The link for those who are interested is:




In the interim thought I would show you the work I completed while I was on leave recently - Green Sea Turtle.

I am hoping to have it accepted for exhibtion in the Australian and NZ Mosaic Association 2009 Conference - Crusty Oceania exhibition. There are so few opportunities to exhibit mosaic art that you can only be excited by the potential. The piece is finished, now to tackle the paperwork and entry form, supply of correct documentation etc. Fingers crossed I get it sorted correctly and that the judging panel select it for exhbition. If successfull, should be on show at the BCC Central Library Sept/Oct 2009 in Brisbane. Will keep you posted re how I go.

Spot the Celebrity

I am one of those people who never knows anyone famous, never sees anyone famous, and is unlikely ever to be famous....and that is fine by me. Suffice to say I was pretty stunned when this week I have had not one, but three brushes with fame. Read on. After being haunted by the face of the guy from the Vicks Vapour drop advertisement currently screening on tv, and starting to sneak a peek at fellow bus passengers in the misguided belief that the face must be familiar because I had seen him on the bus previously....I finally put it all together at a meeting with colleagues from QTC when I realised that the Vicks guy is actually the QTC project coordinator for a forthcoming tour of our co-production Maxine Mellor Mystery Project. Obvious really!

Famous moment two came about when we were discussing the Brisbane Powerhouse's current production of Tashi. Turns out Thom who is working with us, played Tashi's best friend in an earlier production. Wow.

Heading off to a meeting back of house in Heritage Collections I was stunned to come across Tom of Master Chef fame. Yes its true - libraries must e hip and happening places because my eyes did not deveive me. Tom has a background in the Arts, Indigenous issues and the law and is utilising these skills working on curatorial content for a forthcoming exhibition. And he bakes a perfect fish! Double wow!

So, who would have thought it - State Library is a hive of activity and the best place in Brisbane to "spot the celebrity". Happy looking!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Another Good Read

I know I am behind the times, but I have only just read John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. This deceptively simple story can be read on a range of levels, but whichever way you choose to look at it, it really is a beautiful little book. From all reports, aimed at the young adult audience, it really is a book that stands up equally well to adult viewing.

"Listening" to Bruno is just like talking to my 10 year old nephew. The pattern of language, the focus for discussions, the things in his life that are meaningful - his friends, his family, his annoying older sister the hopeless case. All of it steps forward into another century and is relevant in the life of little boys everywhere.

I can only assume that there will be detractors to this book - seems to be par for the course for anything relating to the Holocaust, but sometimes the most hearfelt stories are those that tell the tale simply. There is no need to spell out the atrocities that occurred. The reader knows that this tale will never have a happy ending, and yet Boyne holds your attention all the way through. I may not have had tears on my face, but my heart was heavy...and yes, I remembered.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Time flies when you are having fun!


http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/index.cfm

Hard to believe it, but I am back from leave and in week two already. I am trying to work out where the last couple of weeks have gone. No rest for the wicked, so I must have been very bad in the last little while.
It's interesting, as you get into this Web 2 stuff more and more connections arise. An email from a colleague today invited me to sign on for a live tutorial to learn the "ins and outs" of the Good Reading magazine online. A fan of the hardcopy mag this got me thinking. Could I live without the hardcopy and learn to love the online version? Mmmm....and did I really need a tutorial to get me going? No and no - but lets give it a go anyway I decided. So, online I went. After getting side tracked checking out all of the best titles to read, yes, and going online to BCC Library site to place a hold on a couple - I returned to the task at hand. Yes, the site is easy to navigate and very intuitive. So simple in fact I am beginning to wonder what it is I missed. Perhaps I do need that online tutorial after all. That said, I still love a hardcopy. The look and feel are worth fighting for and you can bring it someones attention much more easily by shoving it under their nose than insisting that they walk over to your computer to "come have a look at this." As for the tutorial, perhaps if I can make the time - this is always the issue. Making the time should not be an episode in guilt management, but should be justifiable as professional development. Perhaps that is why the previous months issue of Good Reading is still sitting on my desk waiting to be read!