West End Twilight Markets

As of yesterday, I am no longer an undergraduate student. To celebrate and unwind from four years of torturing my brain, it was with the greatest excitement that I ventured to have a look-see at the West End Twilight Markets, a brand-spanking-new event that only started last week.

The venue was a small hangar on Boundary Street, a short walk away from the Gunshop Cafe or the Three Monkeys Cafe (incidentally also a great place for almond biscotti cake and lattes), as knowledgable locals would find convenient.

Having arrived unfashionably early (as I am prone to do), the first thing I noticed was the somewhat food-centric-ness of the market. Notably a mint-green Volkswagen Bus was parked outside, serving vintage softdrinks (with red-and-white swirly straws!), and a pizza stall complete with baking kiln. Within, the smell of baked goods pervaded the air - macaroons (oh but the ginger nut caramel was heavenly), pumpkin bread, mini baugettes, cupcakes, etc. - almost every species of saccharine and non-saccharine carbohydrates you could crave for, stacked tastefully in hampers and baskets and cake-stands. There was also a "bar" comprised of what seemed to be folding tables and stools, though I did not pay it much attention, not being especially inclined to beer.

There were, of course, also clothes stalls and knick-knack stalls, as with every vintage market. I spotted a few darling tea-sets and even a magnificent fuchsia Remington typewriter (which was way beyond my means, alas). Other goods included homeware, books, stationery, snips and swathes of pretty fabric, hats, accessories, and a tarot reading table and an ukulele class stall (where the owner was actually playing the fiddle), if you would like your fortune told or learn how to play an unusual instrument.

Personally I am glad that the WETM offers something slightly different to the generic vintage market (if such a thing exists). While Finders Keepers is more stationery-centric, and vintage retail stores and op shops offer ample supply of threads, WETM is an interesting blend of food, music, fashion and culture. The fact it runs from 4pm-9pm is also considerate for those who need to work on weekends - you poor things - but would still like to immerse in some fun and sights.

The West End Twilight Market runs on Saturday evenings from 4-9pm

Location: 113 Boundary Street (or Cnr Boundary and Wilson St)

SX-70 + Impossible Project Silver Shade (Emulsion Lift TBA)

Guess what came in the mail today?

Isn't it just gorgeous? The fact that this compact foldable beauty was made in the 70s just takes my breath away. I was barely able to contain my excitement as I skipped up Queen St. Mall to blow $80 on two packs of Impossible Film.

Now, I know that Impossible Film is notorious for its temperamentality, and hence anticipated the learning curve, the warp-speed light shielding and obsessive-compulsive temperature monitoring. What I didn't expect, though, was that one 2-minute car trip in my mom's stifling dyfunctional 80's Peugeot would ruin all of the film.

As you can see, they turned a murky orangey-brown. Which is still pretty in a different way, but I expected a crisp, luminant black-and-white. See this Flickr group for the "supposed" effects of Silver Shade.

Nonetheless I still had a lot of fun shooting these 8 photos. I got 2 that were semi-acceptable, but seeing as to how this is my first time using the SX-70 and Impossible Film, that's to be expected.

I'm soaking one of those photos right now to create an emulsion lift. Hopefully it will turn out alright, and I will update later about how it goes.

The Blogspot Dictionary of Jovie Entry #2: Crunj

Crunj [kr-un-jeh]

1. [n.] A mess-up, a freak accident
e.g. "That is a total crunj."

2. [adj.] An exclamation of frustration, annoyance, & c.
e.g. "Oh crunj!"

3. [v.] In past tense - Crunj'd. To make a stupid mistake.
e.g. "I crunj'd."

Origin: Misspelling of the word "drunk" in iPhone message conversation, subsequently legitimized in joviality.

I daresay we have surpassed ourselves again, J.

Mermaid Blues

This hue caught my eye as it's radical but pretty at the same time. It doesn't remind me of anything sentimental and I don't have anything poignant to say about it. I was just bored and it was a spur of the moment whim.


I love it, so naturally my father hates it. But what's life without a bit of spontaneity?

Oh. There you go. I managed to fit in something profound after all. :)

Hana Rosa - Paddington

Last Saturday afternoon, a good friend and I decided to visit one of our favourite Paddington shops. Feeling slightly peckish as we stepped off the bus, we dropped into a cafe that seemed to be the only one open for miles around (not an uncommon occurence in Brisbane).


It was a hot October day and we were both inordinately relieved by the shade provided. After we ordered our refreshements we ventured to look around, and was pleasantly surprised by the comfortably-sized space, furnished simply yet gracefully. The natural lighting was especially divine.

Our yoghurt cup and mango smoothie arrived at an acceptable timing. The quality was also surprisingly good, although the mango-ness of my smoothie wasn't too prominent, I guess mango season isn't in full swing yet.

I had a look around online and apparently they also serve quite good coffee. I'm more of a tea drinker myself, but coffee drinkers are welcome to provide their verdict in the comments.

Address
16 Latrobe Terrace
Paddington, Brisbane,
Queensland, Australia, 4064

Sixties November

Our wonderful dance teacher Mr M. showed us this dance last night, and now I can't get the song out of my head. Perfect for cheering up myself during thunderstorm season.

100 Years of Fashion: Fast Forwarded

A little something I found a while ago (sheez, I just realised I have a huge backlog of cool stuff to share)...

Loved the 60s, and the hippie flower girl dress had me giggling like an insane person.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Hard-back-ing a Paperback

I came across this adorable website a while ago, just before the thesis rush period. The idea of renovating old paperbacks into pretty fabric-encased hardback was immediately appealing in every aspect; but for limited time and resources I had to postpone this marvelous project and set my nose to the grindstone.

Once I'd handed in the 12,000 word monstrosity on neurocognitive behaviour in attentional inhibition, there really was no more excuse to put this off. That and a good friend's birthday provided a perfect opportunity to indulge myself in all the cutting, embroidering, gluing and stamping I have yearned for in the past fourteen months.

It's not perfect, as I have very limited experience in bookbinding and the like, but I had tremendous fun working on this project. Five star reccomendation for anyone who has a bit of spare time on weekends!

The Blogspot Dictionary of Jovie Entry #1: Shakebab

Language is a constantly evolving and developing construct. Old words become obsolete as tools, techniques and ideologies fall out of fashion, and new words come into being as technology and human knowledge advances.

This phenomenon is apparently also emergent within peer interactions. As a close friend and I have observed, we have already forged some new words that outsiders would doubtlessly find difficult to decipher, and perhaps in some cases downright amusing. However, it will only do good for us to record these processes now, either for the purpose of our future remeniscence, your entertainment, or something bigger than both of those that underlies the growth of human Germanic Anglo-Saxon language.

Shakebab [Shaa-kee-baab]

[n.] A mutant portmanteau of "Shakespeare" and "kebab". First used in conversation set in a world where Justin Bieber is cast as Romeo and Rebecca Black as Juliet, which would cause Shakespeare to turn in his grave at a constant speed throughout the entire season, not entirely unlike one well-known Middle Eastern cuisine.

Initially only applied to events and situations pertaining to the Bard, this term may now be used across contexts that would cause unrest with any of the dearly departed. Alas, poor Yorick.

Image from http://wiki.punahou.edu/groups/learninglogs8zenglish/weblog/76c32/March_Through_Visuals.html

Small Distances

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am currently bound by chain to this city for another four months at least. Hence my adventures will be limited to those geographically possible, that is, within a few kilometres of the Brisbane CBD.

That is not to say life is dull and monotonous, however; once you find your tastes and know how to feed them, it's easy to enjoy yourself. Brisbane is no great metropolitan, unlike my hometown, but it is a confident and bustling place filled with individualistic little nooks and crannies, and places that charm you with its nostalgia and blatant disregard for kistch. This sunny (and occasionally tempestuous) city has grown much over the years, and I admit that I have become rather fond of it despite its shortcomings, which I will not talk about. Brisbane has nourished my personality for a total of six years, after all.



This is a blog about those places. You can expect to see photos, reviews and maybe drawings of ambient cafes, restaurants, shops, markets, buildings, fashion, "knick-knacks" (as my old British housemistress used to call them), stationery and food. You cannot expect, on the other hand, constant updates or tolerance towards words of bad taste.

That's it for tonight. I hope to return soon with something I can actually share.

Pip-pip, tally-ho.