Red Fire Dog Year

Happy Chinese New Year! I've got high hopes for this year. I have a feeling it will be more positive than recent times. 2005 was a great year for me because I became a dad, my good friends from China visited us and B&F grew steadily...otherwise it was bit ordinary...onward!

On trying to do too much...

I've spent the week so far assembling an exhibition of work from 2005's cohort of students. The Tweed River Gallery is an awesome space in an awesome location, so it has been an intense, but pleasurable experience working with the really talented staff there. Thanks guys. I'll post some images after the show opens on Friday evening.

The design side of the show [called 'Connected'] is so much better than the same show last year. The work in that show was excellent but the presentation was average...not enough scale and too in-house in terms of production values. This show is more professonal. It has a bigger impact by far.

The visual arts/ceramics/glass part of the exhibition "Qualia" is better than I had anticipated actually so I am also pleasantly surprised by that. I had visions of going out on a really bad note...I am happy at how the show looks at any rate...Friday evening will test the public and professional reaction. At least the gallery are pleased and the response has already been some good feedback from people from Lismore.

So that's the first thing...then there's the move [ulp! 1 month!], Felix and the usual exhaustion associated with working, broken sleep, and too much time behind the wheel. That's one thing I will not miss in the move to Sydney...much less time spent in our car. I'm over it. I really felt a sense of liberation in the time we spent in China. Not having a car is a cool thing if you can do that. In Australia the trouble is the great geographic distance and the way everything is set up for private cars. We are woefully car-ccentric as a culture...not very progressive...oh well. I'll keep my old VW [it's cost me too much to ditch at this point...I was considering selling it in the move...may still happen...].

I'm now in production of the next B&F newsletter. the cover graphic has turned out well and - am I seeing a certain "freshness" emerge with just the hint of change in the air? I hope so :)

Trying to do too much? Yeah!

ciao.

A quiet place out in the country

Well, I always said i wanted to try it...living in the country. Byron is not quite the country - but it is surrounded by it. I've found that it is quite parochial and sure that's fine if you are into it - but for me the whole notion of a "seachange" has not worked out. Don't get me wrong - the place is fine, and it has been an excellent location to have a baby. Felix is the best thing that happened here - by far! If nothing else it was worth it for that. He is awesome.

However the prospect of relocating to the city fills me with anticipation. I know I will enjoy Sydney a lot. the new role I am going to take on will challenge me and will expose me to a really creative community. I cannot wait.

This is a quiet corner of the web where I can express myself about these things in a manner relatively under the wire. If you are reading this you have stumbled across it by accident or I have told you about the links to Choncey langford that are featured in the previous post.

Sure the new job at COFA is a risk but it is one I am prepared to take on. I feel that it holds great promise and so we will go for it. OUtta here!!!!

Onward!

A new venue for more general musings on design music and life...

Although I have not alluded to it in my main blog at www.aiffhead.blogspot.com there is another passion that has bubbled away under the radar [so to speak for most people] for a period dating back to around 1981.

The most visible manifestation of my experiments in sonics and sound design are located at aiffhead systems. I'm having problems accessing the server I work from in Shanghai recently so it remains for me to update people about recent activities here.

I was recently really ecstatic to have Seattle/LA based producer/dj/electronic composer Choncey Langford sample aiffhead beats for his album "The Enthusiast" out on Woodson Lateral Records.

It's a great work that is reciving a lot of attention globally including on this podcast at Grooves Magazine...check it out!

Choncey also has some tracks for listening to here on his myspace page...enjoy!