meanwhile, on the other side of the tasman...

This is a review / overview of the journey taken so far by a little concept called 'The Everyday Beautiful'.

THE BACKGROUND: Over 540 days, two pals obsessed with the idea of capturing beautiful moments from everyday scenes have logged countless hours of digicam footage, watched small blue progress lines advance, and skillfully manipulated only 3 iMovie filters to create - 7 short films.

What all this means is that Jonathan Nalder and Nicholas Landbeck put on a party (finally) to launch this little project to a wider world. The Everyday Beautiful began as a concept among friends in early 2006 - flickr was making image sharing and collaboration possible and amidst constant terror warnings followed by tv ads to make you feel better, the idea of stopping at various moments thru-out the day to seek out the world's unnoticed beauty had a certain appeal.

A flickr group was started with certain rules - everyday beautiful images must not be photoshopped or adjusted beyond some brightness, contrast and slight colour correction. They must not feature people as their main focus. And the group grew - today it has over 90 members and 1000 images creating an amazing online gallery.

Taking the concept to a new dimension (the third actually!) the boys began using short videos to capture these moments also - be it weird shadows or clouds, or the striking movement of people thru a train station.

THE EVENT: So on 20th July, 30 friends gathered to watch some of the short films, eat, drink and catch up. The night featured 7 screens displaying films and slideshows - one even showing all 1000 online flickr pictures. Another screen featured the 'other beautiful' - a collection of images/videos that we have been inspired by that follow a similar theme (including works by Intraspace founder Andrew Killick).

NOW: Check out the group website at www.everydaybeautiful.info for a timelapse recording of one room from the party, or order a DVD if you dare...

by jnxyz

the book thief

the book thief, by markus zusak

i can't remember when or where this book first caught my eye, but i always thought i would like it. it is the story of a german girl living near munich during WW2. as the title suggests, she has a knack for stealing books.

finally i got hold of a copy when anna found it in the library at the school where she teaches. when i got it in my hands, it immediately disrupted my reading schedule and pushed other books that were more established in my reading queue further down the line.

i don't know why i thought i would like it, but i was right. i compare it to the book by andrei makine that i read earlier this year ('the earth and sky of jacques dorme'). both books have an alternative view of WW2 and are told in beautifully poetic ways with children in the foreground.

i find it hard to review fiction, because you always seem to have to give away part of the plot in the process. i don't want to do that, because it would be much better to let other people discover it for themselves.

the story unfolds in a wonderful way, making use of asides, definitions, and even some cartoons (you have to see it to really understand what i'm talking about). it's tragic, with moments of humour - the tragedy never overpowers the book or the reader but it never loses its significance either. surprisingly, markus zusak is an australian - so i guess that makes this book australian fiction but it is very european. the copy i read is beautifully designed inside and out - i think this is the australian and new zealand edition. it has been released with a different cover now (see below) which is nowhere near as good - i wonder if they have changed the inside as well. it would be a shame if they have.

i recommend this book very highly and wish everyone would read it. and i will return this copy to the library, but i really want to keep it.

warandpeace-o-meter: 669/981 (volIII, bookXI, chapI)

our sunshine

our sunshine, by robert drewe

this, apparently, is the book that the film 'ned kelly' was based on. as is often the case though, i didn't notice too many similarities other than the fact that both were about ned kelly.

i picked this up as a quick read - a book that anna got at an op shop i think. it turned out to be quite good. the narrative style is almost a stream-of-consciousness approach - it has a poetic quality to it.

i think there is a connection here between the bush balladry of the likes of banjo patterson ('the man from snowy river' etc) - not that it reads like a ballad, but there is a connection in the atmosphere and feeling. perhaps this connection is merely a result of the australian setting, but either way, i think this is a very australian book.

the book presents the thoughts of ned kelly himself in a way that is almost dream-like and the narrative unfolds through recollections. despite the methodology, the narrative becomes coherent, and i think that this is the true skill of robert drewe in writing this book.

the main setting and climax of the book is the final showdown between the kelly gang and the police, and this climax is where the dream-like quality of the book comes to the fore.

drewe has used a lot of imaginative license with the story, but notes at the end of the book that this is fitting for a main character who is mostly known through legend.

good book, worth reading.

warandpeace-o-meter: 437/981 (volII, bookVIII, chapI)