…on when to take his name out of the door. Funny and eternally inspirational.

Leo Burnett “When to take my name off the door” from Lobo on Vimeo.

The notion of true love made possible by a conspiracy of strange and unknown forces is not unfamiliar ground for Murakami, who earlier explored this same idea from a philosophical perspective in ‘On Seeing The 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning’ (from the short story collectionThe Elephant Vanishes): “What a wonderful thing it is,” he writes, “to find and be found by your 100% perfect other; it’s a miracle, a cosmic miracle.” With 1Q84, Murakami conjures up this ‘miracle’, complete with wild and fantastical other-realities, spun through his signature all-kooky cast of characters.

Set in a weird parallel universe, 1Q84 is a journey of suspenseful twists sometimes disturbing turns with Murakami’s endearing style of converging subplots gathering into a mad momentum as we race to the finish. Not since Dance, Dance, Dance and Kafka on the Shore have we seen more sinister villains and sexier heroines crossing paths with the writer’s always solo underdog-hero. Many will find Murakami’s fearsome three-book epic pushing a dangerous boundary with1Q84 but I’d say this might well be his most romantic yet.

(This review was published online by Readings Books Australia)

If you are in Australia, you can purchase this from Readings.

Or here on Amazon: 1Q84

Is art entering into it’s next greatest renaissance or facing it’s worst cultural wipeout?
Watch this full length documentary about hope, fear and digital culture.

PressPausePlay from House of Radon on Vimeo.

Great documentary piece on one of my favourite fashion designers Mr Tom Ford,
produced by Oprah’s OWN Network

Since after my appointment as Creative Director at Nourish Brands (Melbourne, Australia) this site which has once served as my portfolio for freelance work and job-seeking will now see itself more proactive in the ongoing conversation about my experiences, opinions, inspirations with all things creative. I plan to now include anything from food to book reviews. It all comes down to this really: that our work as creative professionals are only going to be as good as what gets put into our minds and hearts from everything and everyone outside the four walls of our desks and desktops. So I shall begin my first proper blogpost here with this thought-starting clip from Fast Company, about how the new creative manifesto should be. Join me now in watching this and say no to nepotism, cronyism and crowdsourcing.

Big smile when I got this. For those of you who don’t have a clue who David Shanks is: David was the Creative Director I worked with on my first job at Pounds Shanks Jordan Advertising and whose ‘never say die (even if you’re careening off a speeding taxi)’ manifesto I have carried with me all through the past 15 years in the creative industry. As a newbie then, no one could have asked for a better mentor as a “creative troublemaker”: “I’ll only fire you the day you stop giving me ideas and not anything else,” I recall him telling us. Today he still pushes the creative envelope with his agency Clear in the UK and he continues to inspire me and his legion of fans from Asia to America with his humour and ideas.