juno is fun...

i know i'm meant to be writing my blog but i'm watching tv instead, because sunday is for the god fearing, or something like that. anyway juno is on tv and it's a great film... i suppose i can do two things at once!! maybe... i went to a market today and i really didn't enjoy it so much. especially when i almost got chased off the site because, well, i run another market. i was there with my daughter to buy a birthday present, really, and it's kind of comical how serious market business has become!!! i fell into this game by default; a direct result of returning to my childhood city which has no industry whatsoever from my previous incarnation as a filmmmaker. the whole red lantern lead-up has had me thinking about film, a lot, so maybe once it's all finished i may start thinking of a little film festival or something. maybe there are some filmmakers out there that may want to come to red lantern and show their film or project it on a building or down one of the alleyways??? just to have a little bit of a film presence... a little bit like this image below. you're welcome to... so contact me if you want to come and we'll sort something out. so happy halloween everyone. hopefully your children are all off the walls by now or if you're a big kid, without any kids, have a nice night. zaijian!!!

tired tired tired with a capital t!!!!

i feel like i've been racing all around the joint today!! it's coming together but the pieces feel a little like they're wizzing around my head! it's not such a big town and i ran into people left right and centre today. 'miss fancypants' was on her lovely dutch bicycle on darby street and kept me company while i put up posters. coffee at one 'penny black' where i saw miss marni from 'renew newcastle' impeccable as ever. i visited a new stallholder in her fancy terrace on the hill and managed to stop for a sec and look down upon the harbour..... i really do love the harbour and think i have to take a breath and walk out along the breakwall this weekend and take in the salt air. it's funny how much good will there is about red lantern, and how community events like this, do give people the opportunity to try on a new hat. connections are made and sometimes you have no idea just where you might end up... but i'm starting to get cryptic and perhaps it's time to call it a night. before i do another stallholder... drum roll!!! the love zoe tjanavaras from oscar & matilda. zoe makes gorgeous resin jewellery some of which look good enough to eat. she is another one of the many talented woman in newcastle who really do astound me with the amazing creativity they harness and how it is often across many different disciplines. zoe is one of those women so come and see what she can do.....

have you met miss fancypants????

i've been a little slack haven't i??!! it's time to start introducing you to more of the creative people who will be at red lantern this year. one of our stallholders from last year is trish from 'miss fancypants'. trish is a very talented lady, with a fantastic sense of style, and is gorgeous to boot! 'missfancypants' has had a cracker of a year and is growing from strength to strength. any of you ladies out there who haven't seen her fabulous vintage inspired swimwear should come down to red lantern and check out the new styles 'miss fancypants' has whipped up for this summer. or if you are one of those sensitive boys, who wants to get in the good books, then i'm sure your lady friend won't mind....

leung wai kee buddhist craft and joss stick shop

so, sydney was really fun as i was saying. the noodle market was massive and an example of what you can do with a serious wad of cashola up your sleeves!!!! oh well... it was a funny experience. lots and lots of people but i think i enjoyed the asian night market in wellington n.z earlier in the year more. wellington had such a bustling vibe and you were forced to walk through a sea of people to buy food. sydney was very ordered and a somewhat anglo in comparison... not to be negative but sometimes i think our whole litigious society gets in the way of a good event... anyway, it was a beautiful night and hyde park is a gorgeous setting and the sea of lanterns was really beautiful. it would be fantastic to have as many asian food stalls in newcastle.. perhaps if i burn enough incense!!! i was slightly dreading and also looking forward to buying the lanterns for this years market. chinatown, without any knowledge of mandarin or cantonese, is not the best option when going to haggle for an event with a limited budget. last year i had a great time in a little shop where i knew i got ripped off but didn't really care. this year i went to the shop that the 'little shop' bought from. 'leung wai kee buddhist craft & joss stick shop' is on george st in haymarket. i love it in there!!! this is the place to go if you are wanting to burn anything paper for the after life! i'm not totally up on the complexities of the custom but at 'leung wai kee' you can buy paper everything for the spirit world and ancestors: business suits, briefcases, money, clothing... it's all rather surreal but very cool all the same! as well as a whole floor dedicated to such things there are serious amounts of red lanterns to be found!! i think i did ok! the whole back of my station wagon is now full of lanterns so hunter st will be very pretty sometime soon! at the end of my time at 'leung wai kee' i felt very special when sam, the lovely man who served me, allowed my to drive around to the lane behind the store and ring a 'secret' bell to pick up my purchases. i could have spent a long time in that storeroom...

only time for a few pictures tonight...

red lanterns at...

the noodle night market...

in hyde park 

sydney...

sorry but they...

are mobile uploads.....

because i forgot....

my camera!!!!!!

all things chinatown...

mother chu's taiwanese gourmet....

back from life in the big smoke! i really enjoyed being in sydney and it is starting to feel quiet normal to spend most of my time in chinatown. i spent a good decade living down the road in glebe and rarely visited chinatown. not sure why really???  i think in my youth i thought it was a bit tired but i knid of like that about it now!! anyway, over the last twelve months, since the idea of red lantern came upon us, i've stayed in chinatown four times and really enjoy hanging out there. my favourite quick place to eat is 'mother chu's taiwanese gourmet' in dixon street. once you get the hang of the menu, or copy the person next to you, the food is fantastic and the way the ladies make noodles, dumplings  and wantons is something to be seen. my first time there i ended up sharing the table with a young couple. she was korean, he was chinese, and their common language was english. they gave me the heads up on some really simple and yummy food that i wouldn't have known to order otherwise. so now i feel really comfortable plonking myself down and ordering a small table full of plates. the setting is fairly basic but it has the obligatory red lanterns, lots of bustle and noise which is how i like. mother chu's is in a small arcade full of funny little shops that always leave me wondering how they survive. one shop sells only bras and underpants that look like they came from communist china in the fifties. none of the lovely young ladies i see in china town would wear them although one never knows....but i'm getting distracted. i think i'll actually leave it there for tonight and write more on sydney later. i'm off for a little operation tomorrow and i need my beauty sleep. i'll fill you in on the noodle market and lantern shopping tomorrow.... zaijian/bye bye....

off to sydney tomorrow

off to sydney tomorrow to check out the the noodle market in hyde park. it's part of the sydney international food festival....tired tired tired tonight. not many words to say. i'll pull some special little thing out though! otherwise what's the point! so, i'm really excited that at the middle red lantern local band 'birdsandbelles' will be playing. shanna the lead singer makes my morning coffee most days at rolador in hamilton. she makes a great coffee and her singing is even better... i don't want to sound cheesy so thats all i'll say! birdsandbelles will play in morgan lane near 'one penny black'. times will be posted early november... night...

dancing in the streets at red lantern

a little bit of programming! the first 'red lantern night market' this year will be held on the 20th and november and we will be collaborating with 'livesites' who will produce an evening of 'dancing in the streets'.... dancing in the hunter st mall- what a nice idea! the dancing will be just outside david jones which means the whole of hunter st mall will be full of people, colour, music, performance and dance which will be amazing. i hope as many people as possible will come along and that we will all be bumping shoulders with each other... i'm sitting down tomorrow to put the finishing touches on the 'red lantern' postcard which will be sent out to little pockets all around town. if one happens to land in your letterbox stick it on your fridge so you don't forget! thats enough blatant advertising....good news for the second market! birds and belles, a fantastic indie group from newcastle, will be playing as well as novokasatria javanese gamelan orchestra and shaddow puppet performance. more on all of that later...

it's time to get down to business....

elizabeth chev rollet roger

I've been watching films for inspiration, walked around the mall like i'm slightly 'touched' while i'm thinking of possibilities and talk, talk, talking. so now down to the nitty gritty.... i have a lot to do and 33 days to make it happen. the liquid mercury is rolling in the right directions..  my postbox has been full of nice thick envelopes. but still.... oh well!! so, i'll put my hand into the hat and pull out a name and tell you a little about that stallholder. drum-roll.....elizabeth chev rollet roger... yes, it's a delicious mouth full, i know!! well she is one of the creative girls at makespace, a fantastic renew newcastle project, opposite david jones in wolfe st. it is a colourful blast of creativity in there and you should check it out... back to elizabeth. she makes fantastic bags out of all sorts of materials and has just started working with cane toad leather!!! it's actually rather lovely and very soft! anyway, she also makes funky little fascinators, hair pieces and upholsters lots of great stuff.  i haven't seen her in action but she also partakes in rollerderby!! a true renaissance lady all round! anyway she will be at red lantern... more later... enjoy your evening!

is this my lady...

I think i've found out the name of the lady in this years red lantern poster! if i'm right her name was hu die and she was a film star from china in the 1930's. the time when shanghai was know as the paris of the orient.... hu die was the most famous film star of the time and trained as an actress at the china film school, as opposed to most actors, who came from traveling acting troupes.... i posted this years red lantern poster on the blog today and i hope everyone likes it! the artwork was done by the lovely gwena levasseur who has done a fab job. this week i'll start telling you a bit more about the market and introduce you to some of the stallholders. until then...

the red tape that could rap the world like christo...

today the day was meant to be sunny! instead the emails could have wrapped a small suburbs in code... sometimes i crave the chaos of italy. my dear friend lives in sicily and often in her town of catania people have 'happenings'... called this, i suppose, because things just, well, happen! i went to a disco in the middle of a cactus farm. another was in the middle of an orange grove where a japanese dj played fantastic music and an impromptu installation had wooden bloats full of burning candles floating around in a dam....anyway... sometimes a bit of chaos would be good for us anglo types. so tonight, on this path to red lantern night market, i decide to take on the shape of a warrior woman. like in crouching tiger hidden dragon.... it is year of the tiger of course. an indian friend told me that tomorrow there is an indian community celebration on at the ethnic communities council. i'd like to go and enjoy some indian culture and perhaps find some indian food stallholders for red lantern. i think it is on from 4-8pm at the ecc.... til tomorrow.

tonight the lanterns are black and white

too much thinking today..... everything becomes very small when your mind is too tight. perhaps sleep is the answer? i'm sure tomorrow will be more colourful. don't you think? just so you know, the lady from yesterday and today is anna mae wong. i'm sure she is long gone but i think i'm her new fan. strange too she was in a film with a red lantern in the title way back in the olden days. i'll find out more and let you know tomorrow. night.

some days are just like that...

it's been one of those days that didn't go so well. for one my photographs keep disappearing off my blog and being new to this whole game i really have no idea how to rectify the situation. so if you are out there in this strange virtual world and you know what to do please let me know!! so much about me is visual that when the pictures disappear I get disconcerted.... so maybe i'll concentrate on something else. you might like to know there will be some very fine stalls featuring at red lantern. newcastle really does have some very talented people and it gets exciting when a group of them can come together in one place. this happens in many different ways and red lantern will be one of those occasions! you see beautiful things all around when you actually look so i'm concentrating hard on the space where the market will operate. the laneways around hunter st mall are really cute and looked fantastic last year when they were full of people and great art & design stalls... a few weeks ago newcastle hosted the 'tina' festival- which is fantastic if you have never been. they have a great zine market each year which was run this year by miss suzy pow. great name! during that festival a partnership took place between 'tina' and 'gpt/hso' where graffiti artists did some fantastic work in morgan lane. this is right next to where the market will take place and people should check out the great work. i don't know the artists name so i'll publish when i find out.. i'll add some pics and i hope they stay this time! i'm out of steam tonight so more tomorrow...

morgan lane graffiti...

morgan lane graffiti...

morgan lane graffiti...

HELP!!!

hi everyone! my photographs keep disappearing from my posts??!! can someone in the know perhaps suggest what might be happening or tell me what to do. please!!!! because it looks really disappointing with the big white boxes with the ? thank-you!

indonesian music

today i talked to efendi jaenudin a lovely Indonesian musician who will play at red lantern with his ensemble on november 20th. i was really inspired earlier this year when i visited wellington, new zealand, and went to that gorgeous city's asian night market. it was a really fantastic market as was wellington really. in many ways it reminded me of newcastle and we could really try and emulate some of what is going on in windy wellington- although it wasn't for the week i spent there. anyway, it was the week of the international arts festival and the market was held on the harbor. there were lots of fantastic elements and i'll add a few photos from there today. wellington has a large international student population and many asian students. the festival was great in that it really included the student population as well as the many asian communities that call wellington home. in no way can i hope to pull off the same type of festival this time around, it would take at least a year in the making, but my aim down the track is to do just that. that said this year i really do want, and aim, for red lantern to have more of an asian flare than our first year did. so anyone out there who has contacts in local chinese, indonesian, thai, singaporean, malaysian, vietnamese and Indian communities i would love to hear from you. as well as all the other asian communities i've left out... back to efendi though! he played at the last olive tree market and i'm excited to hear and see his ensemble play at red lantern. more later... by the way, i keep putting photos up that then disappear and leave only a ? any ideas on that??? i've lots more from wellington that keep disappearing as did my one from old newcastle of the chinese community??

red lantern

a different image... as mine keeps disappearing

today I have been thinking all things asian. chinese really. It's had me wondering about the history of newcastle's chinese community... I haven't been able to find out a great deal but will contact the chinese association tomorrow. they are just down the road in lovely wickham. i searched the online photographic catalogue from newcastle library without much luck. except for the one below which I think is quite beautiful. who were the people i wonder? it seems to be taken in front of a church. i think i'm about to embark on my own private film festival as inspiration for red lantern. last night i watched memories of a geisha. which isn't a favourite but had some lovely costumes. i'm more interested in re-watching the films of hong kong filmmaker wong kar whai. particularly, in the mood for love, which is a visually sumptuous film and very beautiful... lots of scenes at markets where the main character have take away 1960's hong kong style. i saw that film at the lyrique/showcase which is no more.... if you haven't seen it make sure you do. the cinematographer is the amazingly talented australian cameraman christopher doyle.  he is an interesting subject himself.... but i'm veering off track, again.

sunday......

it was so nice and quiet in hunter st today! coffee at one penny black. movie at the remaining cinema that is still hanging in there...do people remember the old lyrique cinema before it became the showcase? I do and I loved it. cute little ticket box. like in the old days when your ticket was a different colour each session.  the entrance was at the bottom of lovely steps. when it was closed it was a nice place to kiss a boy... I did once anyway. i saw my first projection room at the lyrique and it was there I decided i'd quiet like to be a projectionist. i still love the memories of being in the projection room. the sound of film running through the projector. looking through the glass down into the dark cinema. the dialogue over and over again. i still can remember lines from films many years ago and can sing a little of a song in mandarin from the movie shanghai triad. my daughter likes me to sing it to her. gong li was the beautiful actress from the film. she was in raise the red lantern as well. but im getting distracted....I can't wait to see all the red lanterns up again at this years red lantern night market....

a quiet day...

a small post. because I said I would... a quiet day. without much colour. doing the small things. counting the numbers and seeing what needs to be done. i suppose some days are just like that. not very visual. but important none the less. so today i started putting the expression of interest poster up around town. hoping that all those small gems are taking their time and waiting to the last moment to put up their hands. i hope so anyway.

today in the city of newcastle

today I just walked around the city for a while. thinking..... wondering what was possible and looking around me. I ran into a girl Rose who I'd met once before. She looked lovely and was going on a 'lady date'. Then I looked across the road and saw a sign for a different type of lady.... There are lots of great signs around town and I took photos of a few. There are so many stories just below the surface in this city. Some times you just have to stand still or look up instead of down....  It never grows old listening to the sounds of the ships entering or leaving the harbour. That deep sound that is full of romance. I ran into a friend with his three kids and looked in on another in her fabulous new cafe. Down the other end of Hunter St. In ''The Mall''. The girl rose was there too.... Then I just sat and stared and wondered what was possible....

so here goes...

so here goes... Day 1. I never intended on blogging but I'm thinking the only chance I have of reaching all the people I want to reach is by jumping into the wormhole. I've got six weeks, 44 days actually, to pull this years Red Lantern Night Market together. If I actually concentrate on that number I start to squirm. So instead I'm going to jump into the deep end of the deep end and see what I can come up with. At the end of those 44 days will be the first of three night markets. Last years market was massive: art and design market stalls, street performance, percussion groups, and beautiful red lanterns and people. The number of people who visited the market was amazing- posts on The Herald website suggested that the images had been photoshopped. Not true. Anyway, people took it upon themselves and blocked off the street and had a big party. This year I hope it will be even bigger. The call out now is for all you creative types to get in contact if you're interested in having a stall. Or if you would like to be involved as a performer for that matter. If not you then pass on the news to all the creative people you may know.  So.... lets see what happens in the next 44 days! Thanks!