Hey there, !

TBH this number newsletter kind of makes me wish I waited a few more weeks before doing a birthday post cos it's 330 but alas the stars don't always align.

Anyway!

1. Okay so as I said before, I'm a legally registered marriage celebrant now (@vowsbyvince) SO TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS who need to get married :D It's a reality now, I've accepted jobs, I'm getting a pipeline - it's all happening! I have to work on my marketing, setting up a website, going and getting listed on directories etc. so there's a lot of work ahead but that's fine...such is small biz life. I was extremely honoured to conduct my first ceremony (well, as a proto-celebrant anyway) for my friends Danny and Seo:

   

   I'm being really hilarious here, promise! Honestly one of my favourite positive-loop kind of experiences where everything that I like to do came together - being in charge of the ceremony, making people laugh, helping someone through their ceremony, putting on a performance - and getting very good feedback about it!

2. On that note, I went to a wedding vendor event - EastMeetsWed - which has a focus on culture and community with mainly Asian wedding vendors, and it was quite fun! Networking events don't have to be boring, and there were a lot of people here who pitched in to design absolutely BEAUTIFUL experiences. Shoutout to Mona and NT who organized the whole thing - and to all the vendors who contributed to an amazing night. Let me know if you want some recs!

   

3. The 100 Chairs exhibit at the Abbotsford Convent was a collection of chairs made by a whole host of Australian designers - some weird, some wonderful, some just plain silly. But here's a few I liked for various reasons:

   

   This is just a cool looking side-table type chair - the Japanese designs make it very elegant looking.

   

   My favourite chair of the whole exhibition - the DEMON CHAIR that looks like something I'd sit in as a DM for DND.

   

   This was my pick for 'chair I'd bring home' because it looks so cool and designer-y and furry and beautiful.

   

   It's a fold-up chair! But...different.

   

   It looks like the most shiatsu massage type chair...no wait, reflexology? But for your back!

   

   Sleeping bag chair but it looks weird in this format.

   

   LOOK such a cool mirrored finish on this chair!

4. It's safari time soon! There's so much to get ready for - I've had 3 vaccines in the last two weeks (not including flu and covid), I have to get anti-malarials, I've been looking at binoculars and cameras and the right clothing to get, there's a whole bunch of actual USD cash to transfer, the two South African cities we're going to apparently are scary places to be, there's so much to pack and AHHH. But it's going to be fun cos we'll see the Lion King in real life so:

   

   I'm pretty sure it looks like this.

5. Last but never least, Gandalf, obviously, looking so handsome in every photo! He sleeps on my lap when I'm watching TV after work so there's lots of him kinda sleepy-looking wrapped up in a blanket hehe

   

Chat soon :)

(P.S. If you've got any feedback for the newsletter, just hit the reply button!)

✔️Real Life Recommendations

1. Obsession - 4.25 stars - it reminded me a lot of Get Out, for many thematic reasons, but was also just a really well told story all round I think. Lots of interesting character web things and secrets that unfold over the movie, but also a really persistent dread / terror vibe rather than all out gore or violence. The lighting does SO much work to make the movie a success, but also, Inda Navarette is a WONDERFUL actress who I hope will have a very good future ahead - her facial expressions and weird body movement is just so satisfyingly disorienting. I heard the director wants to make this an anthology series (in terms of making your 'one wish') and see what happens to others - I would LOVE to see that. Highly recommended!

2. Spider-Noir - I've been watching some noir films and when I saw this had come out I was intrigued - mostly because the way you can watch it is in both a colour and a noir / black and white version. You can switch between versions during the episode, and that's really fun to do. I love noir because when you only have black and white and grayscale to use, the way that you use light is extremely important; but to be able to see that, and then ALSO plan the right colours and contrasts with a colour version AND STILL have it look coherent is really impressive. Nicolas Cage also gives an INSANE performance and by that I mean his accent is weird, his physicality is weird, his line delivery is weird, and it ALL WORKS REALLY WELL. Another highly recommended one.

🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway

1. Why I'm Skeptical About Efforts to Revolutionise Schooling - I liked this article because though I like reading about new ways that people are approaching edtech, this one is much more well-researched about 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

2. Samurai City - a really interesting breakdown of how the Tokugawa shogunate was able to keep a bunch of armed nobles in line for nearly two centuries.

3. We let four AIs run radio stations. Here's what happened. - interesting AI experiments!