Two incredibly inspiring street artists, Blu and David Ellis recently joined forces in a collision of largely improvised motion painting and public installation to create this piece (link below) on the streets of Italy:

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop)

They battled rain, mosquitoes and bored assistants over the gruelling week it took them to create it. It was created as part of the Fame Festival, Italy, and dubbed a materpiece by festival organisers.

An inspiration for thinking big and creating above and beyond contextual confines…

Beck’s Festival Bar w/ Music

Malian guitarist/singer/songwriter Vieux Farka Toure is the son of African music legend, the late Ali Farka Toure.  Drawing on Malian traditions and incorporating his father’s signature desert blues style, Vieux’s ear for the future also sees his music traversing reggae, funk, rock and RnB.

Playing no-frills blues rock, Sydney duo The Mess Hall are renowned for their raw, explosive live performances.

With a sound that is equal parts blues, soul and country, Dan Sultan’s songs showcase his knack for storytelling. DJ Russ Dewbury mixes up the heaviest Afro-soul sounds.

When: 8pm

Cost: $38

More Info: http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2010/Music/Vieux-Farka-Toure-The-Mess-Hall-Dan-Sultan/

Saturday 16 January

Circa 1979: Signal to Noise (A day of free talks)

From 1979 to 1985, parish halls, abandoned warehouses and run down apartments rumbled and screeched with new sounds during one of the most creative periods in Australia’s music history.  Avant garde, post-punk, new wave and early electronic styles of music cultivated a thriving underground scene, heard on Sydney-based labels M Squared and Volition. Circa 1979: Signal to Noise is a celebration of this unique and influential period.

(Excerpt from http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/)

Cost: FREE

Where: The Seymour Centre, Cnr City Road and Cleveland Street, Chippendale

More Info: http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2010/Talks/Circa-1979-Signal-to-Noise/

Sunday 17 January

Lynette Wallworth (Sensory Exhibition)

A little too real to be dream-like and a little too dream-like to be familiar, Wallworth’s environments are an exercise in unexpected concentration and unusual exploration, often involving wordless narratives that attempt to emotively fertilize a sense of intimacy and empathy between the moving image and the participants moving body. And although the Wallworth experience is usually no roller coaster ride, it may offer a moment of sensory gratification and some time for healthy reflection.

(Excerpt from http://concreteplayground.com.au/)

Where: CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh

More Info: http://concreteplayground.com.au/event/483/lynette-wallworth.htm

Monday 18 January

Joanna Newsom @ Sydney Opera House (Concert)

“This extraordinary harpist has a glorious, untamed voice and a sheaf of tricky song-poems…conjuring one startlingly vivid image after another.” – The New York Times

After beguiling audiences with her performance with the Sydney Symphony last year , California-based harp virtuoso Joanna Newsom makes a much anticipated return to Sydney Opera House for one Sydney show only.

Cost: $49-75

Where: Sydney Opera House

More Info: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/joanna_newsom_2010.aspx

Tuesday 19 January

Tot Mom

Steven Soderbergh has created Tot Mom – a compelling look into how a crime can come to grip an entire nation through intense media and public attention. Tot Mom seeks to hold up a mirror to our society, raising ethical questions about the way in which such a case is dealt with in the public domain.

(Excerpt from http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/)

Cost: FREE

Where: The Seymour Centre, Cnr City Road and Cleveland Street, Chippendale

More Info: http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2010/Talks/Circa-1979-Signal-to-Noise/

Wednesday 20 January

Where the Wild Things Are @ Moonlight Cinema
as recommended by our very own Siouxzi Mernagh

The highly anticipated adaptation by director Spike Jonze (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ADAPTATION) of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s story. When Max, a young boy acting out, is sent to bed without his supper, he creates his own world – a forest inhabited by ferocious wild creatures that crown Max as their ruler.

(Excerpt from www.moonlight.com.au)

Where: Belvedere Amphitheatre, Centennial Park

More Info: http://www.moonlight.com.au/main.php?location=Sydney

Thursday 21 January

Dark Matters (Dance)

Dark Matters is a haunting portrait of the unknown, a performance that pulls itself apart in an attempt to discover what it’s made of.

When: 8pm

Where: Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay

Cost: $55-$70

More Info: http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2010/Dance/Dark-Matters/

Ongoing Exhibition

Seen and Heard (Film Festival)

A free film festival that battles the celluloid ceiling, celebrating the diverse and extraordinary work of women filmmakers and their not-to-be-underestimated diverse and extraordinary audiences. Seen and Heard in 2010, its second year, will follow on from a showcase of questions on class, race, ability/disability, gender and sexuality.

(Excerpt from http://seenandheardfilms.com/)

When: 14 – 17 January

Where: Red Rattler, 6 Faversham St, Marrickville

More Info: http://seenandheardfilms.com/

A testament to how effective this interactive piece is from Intel is whether you feel like touching your computer screen when you’re watching it…

http://www.contagiousmagazine.com/2010/01/intel_1.php

Direct You Tube link:

Intel InfoScape Double HD Touchscreen Internet Experience

a message from ‘dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity’ 

http://dorkbot.org

I want to invite you all to an exciting event taking place at the Powerhouse Museum at the end of this month. Over the weekend of Jan 29-31 forty game designers, developers and artists will volunteer to be locked away in the basement of the PHM and not allowed out until they have made a game! 

That’s right: its Game Jam Sydney, part of the Global Game Jam that is
taking place simultaneously in over 100 locations around the world. It’s 48 hours of intensive game development with an aim to produce innovative and exciting new games. It’s also part of the Powerhouse’s “80’s Gamer Weekend”so there will also be talks and presentations by some veterans of the Australian game industry, and some up-and-coming indy designers.

To find out more, visit http://www.gamejamsydney.com/

Spread the word!

 

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: We will need some tech-savvy people to volunteer as network administration for the event. Do you have familiarity with running a LAN of 40-50 computers? We’d like to hear from you. Even if you can’t make the whole 48 hours, having you to help with setting/packing up or being on call for some of the time would be really valuable.

Contact: dorkbotsyd-blabber@dorkbot.org

Google and Apple both unveiled key mobile initiatives yesterday, underscoring the collision path the two companies are on, and how long-term, video is poised to benefit from their battle.

First, as you no doubt already know, Google introduced the Nexus One, an Android-powered smartphone that it is selling directly to consumers. It is Google’s first foray into consumer devices and many more products sure to follow. Meanwhile, Apple, in a rare significantly-sized deal, acquired Quattro Wireless, a mobile advertising company, for around $300 million. Quattro represents Apple’s first real push into advertising, an important shift from its traditional iTunes-driven paid media model.

With its own device, Google is primarily looking to compete against Apple’s iPhone, which has practically owned the U.S. smartphone market since its introduction 2 years ago. And Apple, with a toehold in the exploding mobile advertising market, is positioning itself to disrupt Google’s planned dominance of mobile advertising through its pending $750 million AdMob acquisition. If Apple were to make additional acquisitions, particularly in the online video advertising space, that would further strengthen its position.

Mobile video is poised to be a real winner in the Google vs. Apple face-off. At a minimum, the two companies’ considerable marketing spending (plus those of competitors Palm, RIM, Nokia and others) will mean smartphones in millions more consumers’ hands, dramatically expanding the video-ready universe. In addition, the experience of watching mobile video will just keep getting better. For example, the Nexus One’s screen resolution (480×800) surpasses the iPhone’s (320×480), which only means Apple will need to up the ante even further with its next generation. The range of video applications is sure to surge as more and more players stake out their ground.

Importantly, because there are no powerful incumbent distributors in mobile video – as there are in the living room, with cable/satellite/telco – I believe there is more flexibility in how premium video can be distributed to smartphones. Until recently mobile was an “on-deck” world where everything had to be approved and carried by the wireless carrier. But mobile is quickly evolving to take on open Internet-like characteristics, where applications and services are not gatekeeped by a distributor. In short, mobile looks to be more like online distribution than traditional video distribution. As power in mobile shifts to players like Apple and Google, it should also be a wake-up call to the FCC, whose planned wireless carrier-focused net neutrality paradigm already looks out of date.

While there have been recent rumbles about Apple doing something with subscription video for the living room, instead the company likely has more latitude in mobile to go well beyond the pay-per-use iTunes model, especially if it can also bring in advertising. Meanwhile, by having its own device and operating system, Google is optimizing the YouTube mobile experience. As this YouTube blog post points out, the Nexus One is an improved way to search, view and upload YouTube videos. With YouTube enjoying such benefits not just on Nexus One, but on all Android phones, YouTube becomes an even more valuable partner for premium content providers looking to generate mobile usage.

Google and Apple will be jousting for years to come in the mobile space. The opportunities for growth for both companies are sizable. I fully expect that video is a going to be an increasingly important part of the battle.

Siouxzi’s top three released recommendations are:

1. Where The Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, USA)

2. Beautiful Kate (Rachel Ward, Australia)

3. Last Ride (Glendyn Ivin, Australia)

Read the blog post here http://www.mattriviera.net/

Moby (Concert) – Tickets still on sale!

Renowned for his explosive live performances, Moby leaves audiences begging for more time after time. Musical virtuosity combined with an impressive and extensive back catalogue result in only one thing: unforgettable performances.

(Excerpt from sydneyoperahouse.com)

Where: Sydney Opera House

When: 8pm

Cost: $99.35

More Info: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/moby_2010.aspx

Tuesday 5 January

Emiliana Torrini (Concert)

Renowned for her soothing, ethereal vocals, as evidenced via her performance of “Gollum’s Song” on the Lord of The Ring’s soundtrack, & sublime, intimate songwriting (she co-wrote the Kylie Minogue hit “Slow”), Iceland’s Emiliana Torrini has made a very strong connection with Australian audiences

“Sweet, charming, effervescent, funny and delightfully honest; these are just some of the qualities that make Emiliana Torrini a natural entertainer.” – Faster Louder

(Excerpt from enmoretheatre.com.au)

Where: Enmore Theatre

When: 7.30pm

Cost: $58.50

More Info: http://www.enmoretheatre.com.au/events/2010/01/05/emiliana-torrini

Wednesday 6 January

One Potato Two Potato 1964 (Film Screening)

Examines interracial marriage in the 1960s and the prejudices of the era.

Where: Annandale Hotel, 17 Parramatta Rd, Annandale, NSW

When: 7.30pm for an 8pm start

Cost: $10

More Info: http://www.mumeson.org/content/view/140/171/

Thursday 7 January

Peter Helliar’s Dreamboat Tour

Have a night of laughs with one of Australia’s best loved comedians.

Where: Sydney Opera House

When: 7pm

Cost: $37.50

More Info: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=PETERHEL10&searchId=a2ef2c91-910b-4460-b092-f2cc45d92ec4

A few weeks back, white’s content division spent some time learning a thing or two about French kissing…with the result of scoring the #1 video on Fairfax’s THE VINE when it was posted on November 24.

Youtube views have been running pretty hotski.

It’s probably about now that we should mention the reason for all this French kissing business…white cut a kick-ass new trailer for Palace Films’ latest ‘The French Kissers’, the hit cult comedy at this year’s Cannes.

http://www.thefrenchkissers.com/trailer

You can catch ‘The French Kissers’ at Palace Verona and Palace Norton Street.

Lips are sealed on any further upcoming films white plans to get its sweaty hands on…..