Welcome to Featherston

This is the up and coming township of Featherston, New Zealand.



Ever the canny investors, Rosie and I have snapped up this house. We are here making it really awesome so some lucky people can rent it.



This smart horse lives in a field over the road from our house.



The house is a diamond in the rough. Peggy, the lady who used to live there, was an enthusiastic smoker.



Renovatin'.



We take short breaks from renovatin' to visit the many sights of 'Feathers'. This is the 'top of the' lake.



The hills. I could hardly believe this was real.



The Rose of Featherston



This is me on the day I used a wet broom to clean all the nicotine tar off the ceiling in the hallway. The dirty water ran down my arm and gathered in the well of my armpit.



This is the pohutukawa tree we have now planted in the front yard. It served as a makeshift xmas tree of sorts.



I'm very proud of this hallway. The carpet is by Ksubi (fashion joke).



Jake and Gen live over the road in their own house. We go over there for the basics: coffee, cake, internet and encouraging words. We are staying down the road with Helen and Bailey.



The Rose of Featherston.



We went to Wellington on xmas day.



Sam made an epic breakfast - I made the blurry toast.



Will, perhaps dreaming wistfully of Japan.



Jessica on the tramp.



Ralph



Renovator



Tom



I spotted these crazy things from the road and we stopped to take a look. I suppose people build them for fun. Two birds were very unhappy we were there and complained loudly the entire time. You can see one in the picture.




Rosie in her rock nest



Xmas afternoon walk up the hill with Jake



Helen and Bailey.



That's it for now. Drop by if you're in the area - we can go over to Jake and Gen's for a coffee. 

Things

I always think Jason looks like he's dancing when he skates. Could have something to do with the fact he's usually dancing when he's not skating, too.



It was halloween the other day. We were prepared for Bonnie, Tyke, Ari, Fia and Milo to visit, so Rosie stocked up on treats. But even before they arrived, a few gangs of ghoul kids dropped by to loot us. I was a bit spooked and didn't want to photograph them so as not to appear creepy (in the bad way), but did get a photo of this balloon Rosie decorated. It's supposed to be Frankenstein's monster, but came out looking like Lou Reed (quite apt - RIP). However, Ed thought it was a portrait of me!



The weather has been uncommonly pleasant. Tess and I hit the beach the other day, it was bloody lovely.



We drove to Daylesford on the weekend so Rosie could look at a house she might be working on.



It's a nice wild spot.



I've been doing some stuff with the Independent Photography Festival, which is running here this week. This is the chap behind it all - Joe Miranda. He's reading a piece in The Age I did with Ben Clement, one of the exhibiting photographers.



Here's Joe with another top name in photography and the subject of the film I made a month or so ago - Sean Fennessy. I think I nailed this shot. Design Files, I'm available!



Penny and I hosted a slideshow/talk thing on Sunday with Sean, Tim Hillier, Lauren Bamford and an American chap named Clint Woodside. Penny and I also wrote essays that were included in a zine they made as part of a workshop day, which I look forward to seeing in the flesh soon. I felt important and part of something good.



Here's Clint showing a showreel type thing from his photography 'crew' called the Deadbeat Club, which includes amongst its number Ed and Deanna Templeton. Miles and Ed look on.



And here's Ed a bit later, before we had a nice dinner for Conor's birthday.

update

My good friend Dave Quirk has been over in Europe performing his comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival and in London, as well as appearing on the same bill as Stewart Lee and impressive stuff like that.



He's back now and we are all very glad.



What else? Lots. For starters, Tyke and Ari put on a spontaneous performance in the hallway the other night.





Rosie has curated a pretty amazing show at an abandoned brothel in Collingwood. It's a fascinating place and the stuff she and her team have done is great. I'll try and put up some more photos soon, but here's one from when we first visited the site, and click here for more details on the show.



It was my birthday a few weeks ago and we had a great afternoon picnic and skate at Clifton Hill. I was a bit overwhelmed and busy blowing out candles to take photos, but here's one of my old pal Liege.

Nicely Exposed

As you may or may not be aware, I've a long-held ambition to be a talk-show host. Spurred on by dreams of emulating my idols (Partridge, McClure, Smiley, The Frog), I have slowly circled the vocation for decades and now am closing in for the kill.
Here is the first in what I hope to be a continuing series of Nicely Exposed; an in-depth interview with professional photographer Sean Fennessy, in conjunction with my friends at the upcoming Independent Photography Festival.

The golden hour

Inspired by Conor's latest exhibition, I set out this afternoon to take some photos of the late afternoon light.



Although the photos in the show are drawn from Conor's back catalogue, I liked how most of them were linked by the golden light, or light in general. Here's Tess, with the shadow of her master.



Conor's photos hang alongside some cool portraits by an artist named James Clayden. I liked how the two energies played off each other, making Conor's work feel a little more playful and Clayden's feel like a part of the real world.



The sun had gone behind the clouds on our way home, but I still like this picture.



Upon our return, there was an impromptu round of crazy chase in the front yard. Cranking up the shutter speed gave this portrait of Tess an unintended Bill Henson appeal.



She moves so quick, it's hard to lock a focus on her. The beetle however - no problem.



Got her!



Quick breather/weird tongue move.



Happiness



Time to head inside?



Yep.

Melbourne Spring Fashion Week (MSFW)

We went skating on Saturday at Rose Hill and Laverton skateparks to celebrate Melbourne Spring Fashion Week (MSFW). The former was crowded, the latter deserted, but both offered enjoyment in their own way. The main highlight was the return of Riley and his devilish smile. Just look at him.



Tim, was on hand, sporting his signature orange jacket and jaunty beanie.



Jason's house had been broken into the night before, so he added a certain world-weary cool to proceedings. Loving the all blue ensemble, and it looks like someone's been beard farming.



 Speaking of beards and world-weariness, here's Dion!



The session at Laverton devolved into a fireworks festival, which led to an extended youtube comedy session. All the while, I was struggling with a new trick and screaming at the three local kids who dared to roll their scooters within five metres of me while attempting said trick.



All in all, another enjoyable Saturday and a fitting conclusion to Melbourne Spring Fashion Week (MSFW).

Another afternoon down the drain

To celebrate a hard day of work at home (I mean it!), I celebrated by going for a skate. But halfway to the skatepark, I thought why don't I go for a wander at the drains instead?



I was there with my trusty sidekick Tess. She was loving it just as much, if not a tiny bit more than me.



We had to clamber up the sides through some parts when it got a bit wet, then we'd run down the banks and start skating/skittering along on four legs.



Interesting bridges. It's a different world down there!



A dark hole. On the way back walked on the other side and I nearly slipped over going past this hole on the mossy wet concrete. Tess slipped over a couple of times: hilarious.



More dark holes. As we followed the drains further north, the skate-friendly concrete banks were replaced by charming cobbled ones.



As the houses and bike paths disappeared, the vistas reminded me of lovely impressionist paintings, but with a gritty urban edge.



Without much warning, the drain ended. Well, the water continued, but there was no more concrete or track. And it suddenly started feeling sinister, like someone was watching me. I took a photo of this cactus and turned back.



I noticed lots of debris hanging off branches and things on the way back. A reminder of how much water can appear down there, I suppose - and the wastefulness of our society. I liked the look of this silver paper though, and stopped to take a photo of it. Then my camera battery went dead. So you may as well forget about the rest of the walk.

Hangin' at Hanging Rock

The car works again so we thought we'd take a little sojourn out to Hanging Rock. It was cold and rainy, but we were like 'what the hell'



There is a track around the base of the rock that you're allowed to walk your dog 'on a lead'. Tess was in heaven.



Mossy rock with Rosie looking odd up the top there



This photo was taken moments before Tess chased a rabbit into the bush and disappeared for what seemed like hours. It would have been only about 10 minutes, but it freaked us out good and proper.



Then she just rocked up. We had been walking around through the bracken like fools calling her name, sort of like the movie.



Speaking of rocking up, we decided that since we had broken the rules already, we should just climb up the rock. Tess was on the lead this time.



It's a very surreal place. I think it was nice to go up there when it was all misty and rainy, because it felt even more otherworldly.



Back at the car, Rosie spotted some kangaroos having a go on the nearby racecourse.





Back at home, Tess tried to apologise for the whole thing with the rabbit



Actually she just wanted one of the pistacchios I was eating