Take a walk on the wild side!
I thought it would be cool to highlight some of my fave photos I have taken over the course of the past week. So every Thursday, or thereabouts, I’ll share some of my faves right here on this blog. If you wanna see more of my stuff, I’m pretty prolific on Flickr so see you there…
Centre Place, Melbourne
More info here.
Cathedral Arcade, Melbourne
More info here.
Flinders Street Station, Melbourne
More info here.
Higson Lane, Melbourne
More info here.
A Possum eats
More info here.
Hard to believe, but Dogmatic is 5 years old today. Who woulda thunk that after half a decade, this thing would still be going? But here we are. Five years on.
There have been many different stylistic versions of the blog but in terms of content - it has always simply been anything and everything that tickles my fancy. And that usually means content that is a little bit out there and a little on the sinister side! Just like me!
Its been fun and I can’t see it ending any time soon so to all the visitors and friends I have made through this online phenom (heh!) known as Dogmatic… thanks for all your comments, emails, feedback et al et al.
Here’s to another 5 big ones!
Universal has released a huge batch of new photos from Hellboy II: The Golden Army, in anticipation of the new trailer which will be released (presumably) tomorrow. Check out the photos after the jump.
Continue reading ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’
I had been looking forward to the Circa Nocturna event all week and today was the day. I have never been to a catwalk or fashion show - or ever had any interest, but this one caught my attention as it was Goth themed and very left of center. The dark aspect totally appealed to me and I did not want to miss out.
Sam and I got to Fitzroy Town Hall a little after 8pm when the event was scheduled to start. Unfortunately, it seemed a little disorganized at this point in time and we were left standing in the stairs leading up to the Town Hall with all manner of goths and spooky kids. We decided to head across the road to our fave pub the Napier to grab a drink and a meal and then head back when all the commotion had died down.
Unfortunately, this meant we missed the first half of the show but we made it in during intermission - and still had to pay full price to get in. (Fuckers!)
Still, it proved to be a great night and a ton of fun. It was hard to shoot tho as I didn’t have a suitable lens but I tried my best nonetheless.
Circa Nocturna started off as a concept that was very quickly met with acceptance and great amounts of enthusiasm. As Melbourne has such a large group of gothic/alternative dark themed designers, why isn’t there a fashion show that highlights their talents? And thus the Circa Nocturna annual event sprang to life.
Underground Melbourne says: "…Circa Nocturna showcases alternative designers from the very gothic and florid to more alternative-streetwear stylings featuring designers of clothing and/or accessories. It’s up to a third year and has grown increasingly popular each year, leading me to believe that tickets this year may be difficult to come by closer to the night…"
More here…
I was recently interviewed about my photography by Frame Lines magazine. (No, that’s not me on the cover!)
Frame Lines aims to be ‘Melbourne’s largest ‘free’ independent arts, lifestyle and culture magazine’. You can read more about them over at their official website.
The article on yours truly and my photographs appear under the Melbourne’s Characters section. It was great fun contributing and being part of something young and vibrant. It made me feel all tingly inside it did!
You can download a copy of the magazine in PDF format right here.
Day 1 - The Eagle Has Landed
It’s proven to be a long day but after all the planning and all the chaos of finding a decent place to stay at over New Year’s Eve - we finally arrived in Sydney.
It’s close to 2am in the morning and I am too wound up to go to sleep yet. Even if, as stated, it has been a long day.
First of all, we had to make our way to Kilmore for Boxing Day lunch with Sam’s family. Took us a while to get there and we could only stay for a short while, as we had a flight to catch at 6.15.
After our stop over in Kilmore, it was back on the road as we headed to Melbourne Airport.
I wanted to be there nice and early as in June when we went to Tasmania, we barely caught our flight and I made a promise to myself, not to go through such a stressful time like that again.
I detest flying with a passion. It terrifies me. But thankfully, our flight today was just perfect.
Once we landed in Sydney, we caught the train into the City and then checked into our hotel. We are in the absolute heart of the City and close to everything we want to do and see. Really, couldn’t ask for a better room or hotel and I’m really pleased with what we got. Five Star all the way and I really have to thank Sam for her diligence in hunting us out a really cool hotel over the next week of our stay.
After settling in, we realized it was close to 10pm and we hadn’t had a thing to eat since lunch. We went to a Spanish restaurant, just outside our hotel and after dinner we decided to hit the pavement and see what Sydney nightlife has to offer. (sorry, but when it comes to nightlife, cafes, bars and restaurants - ole Sydneytown just cannot even begin to compete with Melbourne!)
One thing that struck me, the streets here are filthy and there is not a sign of street art or cool graffiti anywhere. I mean, it’s so friggn dull! But, I am sure we will stumble on some over the next few days… just too spoilt by the color and brilliant work that can be seen in Melbourne’s alleyways and the like.
So, we’re in Sydney for the next week. Looking forward to a ton of fun and action.
I posted this photo on my flickr set earlier today after my lunch break at work and called it ‘Guardian Angel’. This is clearly a wonderful piece of street-art on Sackville Street, Fitzroy - but it wasn’t until later tonight that I realized just how prophetic this photo’s title really was.
As I was driving home from my girlfriend’s place tonight, there was a car driving on the wrong side of the road… heading head on - straight for me!
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and this fleeting instant seemed to last forever. In the space of a split second I look in my rear-view mirror and saw that no one was to my left, so I swerved my car to get out of this lunatics way. In the process, I flashed my high beams at them to get their attention. They swerved out of the way and proceeded to head off at a ridiculous speed.
I felt an overwhelming shot of adrenaline pierce the base of my head and run down the length of my spine down my back. In a weird way, it felt orgasmic. Now, a couple of hours later, I can still feel this cold, eerie sensation permeating my spinal cord! So cold!
I was nearly killed - and lived to tell the tale.
Holy fuck!
I can’t believe what just happened. Tonight, I lost one of my nine lives, that is for sure…
Today marked the 7 month anniversary for Sam and I. Proof positive that we are not like other couples in love is the fact that on this special day - rather than spend it with wine & roses - we found ourselves trawling through underground stormwater drains.
After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at finding the whereabouts of the Hawthorn drains, I shot an email off to one of Melbourne’s premiere street-artists and he kindly gave us directions.
I loaded the directions onto our iPod and off we went in search of the elusive drains.
Last week, we struggled to find them but this week with directions in tow - we got to them easily enough.
Here we were, a couple of 30-somethings (ahem!) trawling through hidden holes in fences and climbing down precarious metal rungs to an underground drain network that seemed to run for quite a distance in both directions.
Gawd it was fun! We explored some of the art and graffiti on the walls and took photos of some of the better ones.
Highlight of the day would definitely have been when we climbed out of them onto a suburban quiet Hawthorn street. Sam squeezed through a hole in the fence, yours truly feeling less adventurous - climbed over the fence and barely missed a protruding rusty nailed which nearly impaled my ass!
We then trekked back to the car after walking into a local Milk Bar where I bought a lemonade and Sam some candy! That scene alone made me laugh out loud and I said to Sam "Look at us! We really should know better than this…"
I felt like a kid again. She has this effect on me time and time again.
Bottom line, we had a great time. And the past seven months have been nothing short of some of the best times of my life… here’s to you babe! Thanks for coming into my life!
p.s. cheers to Happy for the directions!
Yours truly and my girlfriend Sam at a bookstore in the city
Had an absolutely kick ass day today. The weather was nice and sunny and Sam and I decided to not waste the day in bed (!) but to head out and enjoy as much of this beautiful Sunday as we could.
We stopped off at the Everfresh Gallery thinking there was an exhibition on today but we soon discovered there was nothing on.
Next stop was the Abbotsford Convent which had a market on today. I’ve never had the chance to visit the convent properly - but I have always wanted to. It is such a historic and somewhat sinister looking structure.
I was hoping to open a door to a nun sponsored Satanic orgy featuring nuns masturbating with crucifix’ over a blood drawn pentagram scribbled on the floor beneath them.
Methinks I really should stop watching so many horror movies.
Still, I tried desperately to find any sorta doorway that would lead to any catacombs or underground passages - but I wasn’t able to! heh!
We met this really cool character called Steve who ran a cafe there. He certainly was full of tall tales and posed for a great photo!
Told him all about flickr and the pics we took of him would be posted here - so Steve, if you’re reading this hiya!
Spent some time wandering through the Collingwood Children’s Farm as well - which is always cute and warms the cockles of one’s heart by being so in tune with nature and all she has to offer in the heart of this great city of ours!
After our fling with Mother Nature, it was time to get it urbanized again so we trekked to the Tic Tac Ho exhibition currently happening at the wonderful Per Square Metre gallery.
I bought a wonderful piece of urban art by female artist Poise and I cannot wait to hang this on the wall. Poise has an amazing style which translates wonderfully well on canvas or on the walls and alleyways of the Melbourne Street Art scene.
The day was capped off by some really cool indian cuisine. Actually, it was anything but cool and my butter-chicken tasted suspiciously too much like rogan-josh!
I have a confession to make. I’m a magazine junkie! I love ‘em! I buy too many. I barely have time to read them and much to my girlfriend’s chagrin - I just can’t help myself.
I trawl through newsagencies, comic-book stores and Borders like a man possessed. It’s really bad at the start of the month when all those lovely, luscious new issues are released.
I pounce on ‘em!
Wired, Metal Hammer, Decibel, Revolver, Desktop, Digital Camera, Monster Children, Kerrang! To name a few! They hit the shelves and subsequently hit my pocket.
There’s no better feeling than sitting back, preferably in bed on a Sunday morning, - with a glass of ice-coffee (beautifully prepared by my gal and delivered in typical grumpy style whilst I listen to her dulcet tones bellow out… "when are you gonna bring me breakfast in bed?") - and flicking through the pages of the latest ish! Ahhh! Bliss!
And even if it is really hard to find the time to read the mag of the moment, I still buy ‘em. I still collect. It never ends!
And now, there’s a new one to add to the monthly list. Geek. Now five issues old, I resisted for a long, long time on buying this one. But yesterday, I surrendered and bought all 4 issues. (Issue 2 was sold out! Grrr!)
Geek Monthly Magazine is the brainchild of Mark Gottwald and Mark Altman, publisher of CFQ Magazine (as well as writer/producer of Free Enterprise and other cult films). Geek is dedicated to anything and everything that geeks obsess about; like the latest Toys, Anime, TV shows, Movies, Games and DVDs.
Anyway, this mag looks really promising and its content is something I wanted to produce myself a few years ago.
I still have aspirations for some sort of Melbourne-Counterculture magazine simmering in my head. I have several ideas… just need someone with a like minded vision to jump on board so that together we can take over ze world!!!
Today was a fun day. With so much on offer in the city of Melbourne, it seems every weekend proves to be a ton of fun enjoying all that this incredible city has to offer.
We kicked things off by attending the Melbourne Design Market at Federation Square. The Melbourne Design Market features emerging and established designers, design retailers, businesses and design institutions. Products for sale range from jewelery to graphic art products, homewares to fashion, and much more.
Held at Federation Square under cover car park, the experience is complete with fine foods and coffee for all to enjoy, plus the wonderful products and ambiance that have made this event such a popular success.
After the market, we caught the tram to Docklands and endevoured to find the Urban Art Agenda exhibition. This proved to be very elusive. The event has been poorly advertised and promoted and is very hard to find. We eventually trekked down Wharf 4 to find it all… even if some of the literature stated it was in wharf 14. No wonder when we actually got to it, there was hardly anyone in attendance. Such a shame as the exhibition features work by some of the scene’s finest artists. Unfortunately, there was a no photos policy but I did take a few shots before I knew this. This event will be on for the coming week so do go here for further information.
My colleagues at work have resorted to calling me the Man In Black. Really, an honor to be bestowed with as far as I am concerned. But, I always correct them and tell them, no, I am the Man In Black (Two). My penchant for dressing in black - all the time(!) and listening to Johnny Cash on iTunes seems to have gotten me a new nickname. 
All levity aside, I had my surgical procedure done on my temple a week and a bit ago.
It was a nervous wait for the biopsy the results of which I received last Friday night. It wasn’t just a cyst that was removed, but a benign blood tumor. Just hearing the word tumor freaked me out a little but I was assured it was nothing major.
What is major though, is the doctor has messed up some nerve endings which is REALLY freaking me out. When I rub just below the wound above my right eye - it feels as if someone is pulling at my hair above my head. The harder I push the wound, the more the top of my head hurts. It is the weirdest thing I have ever experienced.
When I confronted the doctor about it last week, he quickly changed the subject and next thing I knew - I was talking football with him!
I’m not sure what I should do about this, but something needs to be done… methinks!
Today turned out to be a wonderful day. Playing it very much by ear, Sam and I decided to spend the afternoon in Williamstown. After some lunch and a walk around this beautiful city by the bay, we ended up back in the city and thought it would be cool to check out the Eureka Tower Observation Deck - Skydeck 88. (88 ‘cos it is on the 88th floor).
The magnificent Eureka Tower stands 300 metres and 92 storeys tall - currently taller than any other apartment building in the world.
To say that Sam and I were blown away by the views is an understatement! We were very lucky to get there a little before sunset, so we experienced both a day and night view of Melbourne.
It was a surreal feeling looking down onto the streets that the pair of us know so well… the amount of kilometres we have walked through the streets and alleys of Melbourne, only our Doc Marten’s know for sure, yet now we were looking at it all from way above.
I felt at peace up here. Listening to the hum and drone of the city was almost soothing and musical at the same time. Seeing the look on my girlfriend’s face marvelling at all before her was also such a special and priceless moment for me. It felt so good to share this moment with her and it made me reflect on the past 6 months of our amazing relationship… looking back at all the wonderful things we seem to get up to together. Never a dull moment. No sireee!
We sat on the edge, only a sheet of glass between us and this great height and watched day diminish into night. As if on cue, the sun descended away and the city lights began to flicker and illuminate the vastness below us.
It feels so good to be alive…
Vox Populi
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