Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2018 i frankie Magazine

most tales of overcoming obstacles involve genuine, deep-rooted hardships; this one involves dress-ups and a plastic bowl. It was medieval day at school (a spin-off of our year 9 history studies), and a sea of students came decked out like folks from the Middle Ages: fair maidens, court jesters, a regal Pope. I’d been assigned the role of medieval minstrel, responsible for the nobility’s musical entertainment throughout the day – weeks of rehearsal with my fellow musos had prepared me for this. A feast was held in the school hall, complete with lavish banquet (roast chicken and veggies) and endless spirits (apple juice and water). Performers took their turns between courses, until it was time for the main event: an elaborate maypole dance, accompanied by a rousing drum solo. This…

It took me ages to get my driver’s licence. I mean ages – if you’re one of the hundreds of people who gave me a lift to a party between the years 2010 and 2015, thanks for letting me drink in the back seat and sorry about all the terrible music I insisted on playing via aux cable. When I finally passed my test and bought a sensible secondhand hatchback that was nothing like the 1970s Datsun I actually wanted, I realised what I’d been missing out on. Driving rules. It’s the only hallmark of adulthood that actually lives up to expectation, maybe even surpasses it. (Having a credit card? Messy. Working full-time? A cruel, cruel joke. Cooking your own meals? Occasionally fun, except you’re broke and tired due to…

We are, it seems, in the midst of a severe global playtime drought. A 2016 study showed that the average child in the UK spent less time outside than a maximum security prisoner. One-in-nine children hasn’t set foot in a park in at least a year, and a third have never played in mud. In general, kids spend less than half the time their parents did outdoors, and when they do escape, it’s to closely supervised playgrounds where the range of imaginative play is severely constrained. In developing nations, the problem is even worse. Underfunded schools rely almost exclusively on rote-learning, while impoverished communities lack the space and time for children to explore, play and be themselves. For Marcus Veerman, founder and CEO of not-for-profit Playground Ideas, the evaporation of…

Who doesn’t love a good ditty? A song to make you happy, or to soothe a wounded soul when you’re feeling down. We make mixtapes for crushes and have sing-alongs on road trips. Some songs are guilty pleasures, others prompt memories of good times gone by. But not all songs are what they seem. For every sweet serenade full of touching sentiment, there’s a tune with a hidden whiff of sinister intent. What is it about a catchy chorus that makes us forgive the fact some lyrics are creepy as fuck? I read somewhere that music ‘back in the day’ was ‘nicer’ and less offensive. However, after taking a closer look, I’m not so sure. While The Beatles sang about wanting to hold your hand, Freddie Mercury confessed to first-degree…

On the list of random happenstances that can ruin a perfectly good day, running into an ex is right up there with getting a catastrophic haircut; locking yourself out of your house; or getting bitten by a werewolf. One minute you’re going about your business, feeling OK about your life and choices, the next – bam. When there’s no option to dissolve your body into a puddle of unobtrusive liquid, how do you handle this rude imposition? RUN A few years ago I was browsing in the supermarket, innocently comparison-shopping different brands of jelly crystals, when I glimpsed an ex through the gaps in the shelves. I froze like a hunted deer. As soon as he turned around, I dropped my basket and sprinted out of the building. Propelled by…

EMELDO IN A SENTENCE: Like a good friend, Emeldo is welcoming to all, with fun jewels to suit everyone // WHAT WE SELL: Rope necklaces, perspex and acrylic earrings, and lots of jewellery featuring tassels // PRICE POINT: From $20 to $60 // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: As a one-woman show, I put so much time and effort into running my shop, from managing the online store to making products and helping out our lovely customers. I also stock a selection of other brands on my website // FIND US: Online at emeldo.com PLUME CLOTHING IN A SENTENCE: An independent womenswear label based in Melbourne // WHAT WE SELL: Cute and fun women’s clothing with a focus on natural fibres, timeless silhouettes and quality construction // PRICE POINT: From…

Where is it? 2/33 McLean Street, Coolangatta, Gold Coast. Nine Lives Bazaar in one sentence? Rose Madden: Colourful threads inspired by the golden eras of freedom, expression and good times. How did the label come to be? Vanessa Cave: Rose and I have always been op shop addicts. We started an Etsy shop selling epic op shop finds, then, with no design experience, we winged it in Microsoft Paint, drawing pieces we wanted to create, then flying over to Bali to hunt for fabric. We started selling our wares at the Village Markets in Burleigh Heads, and after a few years, we’ve been lucky to pick up a tribe of like-minded, loyal Bazaar babes who froth on what we bring to life! Is there a story behind the name? VC:…

Dearest frankie, I’d been living in London for nine months. I thought I was settling in, but the last few weeks had been tough. Bad news from home, on more than one front, meant I’d lost my best friend and another close one – a death and a misunderstanding. A new job was coming up, but I had a period of lonely non-action and was starting to wonder if it was all a mistake. Until I picked up the stack of magazines my sister had collected and sent to me. Back-dated to issue 82, I started reading, and my small sharehouse began to feel more like home. You’ll always be my favourite. Love Beck Frankie, frankie, frankie... Thank you for putting all my heroes in your recent edition, hand-drawn and…

In the music video for Christine and the Queens’ song “5 Dollars”, Héloïse Letissier hypnotically rolls the muscles in her spine, applies face cream with a slap, and ponders her outfit for the day. She settles on an intimidating leather harness, strapped over her tiny chest and hidden behind a boxy suit. She leaves the room, and we’re left wondering what – or maybe who – she’s about to conquer. She has transformed once again. Héloïse grew up a wildly shy kid. Her parents – Mum a French and Latin teacher and Dad a professor of Victorian-era literature – encouraged her to live an internal life in the company of book characters. Following a break-up and spiral into depression in her early 20s, she wandered into a London drag club.…

MATERIALS paper / soft lead pencil / ezy cut printing block or artist’s linoleum block / linoleum cutters / piece of glass or plastic inking plate / a brayer (a roller made for printmaking) / printmaking ink (we used black and yellow ochre) / printmaking paper / baren or wooden spoon HOW TO Start by drawing your design onto a piece of paper with a soft lead pencil. Your drawing should be the same size you want your final print to be. (We used an 18x18cm circle.) Once your drawing is complete, lay it pencil-side down onto your lino or ezy cut block. Then, carefully rub your fingers across the back of the paper to transfer the drawing to the block. (A soft lead pencil and dark lines help the…

Time is a fickle mistress. I picture her as an ageing hippy – thick silver hair, bare feet and long patchwork skirts with dirty hems. She messes with me a lot, speeding up and slowing down as she pleases. She never slows when I’m eating ice-cream, though – rather, she moves so fast that the human eye can’t see the cone fly from the cashier to my hand, to my mouth. Bystanders only spot my pupils dilating as a brain freeze hits. Then, there are the situations when she throws on the brakes, bends in the middle, flips back on herself, and taunts me by agonisingly dragging her feet. If you’re puzzled and thinking, “She’s making this shit up, time is consistent,” let me be clear about two things: 1.…

Hello! Tell us a little about yourself. Hi there! I’m a visual artist from Oshawa, a suburb of Toronto, Canada. I’m originally from Italy, but I’ve been in Canada since 1984 and loved every minute of it. What kind of art do you make? My art practice currently focuses on painting and drawing, but I dabble in small-scale sculpture and large-scale installation from time to time. What are your favourite mediums to work with, and why? I tend to work mostly with oils, graphite and watercolours. For my drawings, I’ll either use regular lead pencils or graphite powder. I apply the latter as if it were pastels, using my fingers or a sponge-tipped applicator (and sometimes even make-up pads or whatever else might do the job). I like my paintings…

I love talking about parasites – that moment when an audience gasps, that sense of tension when you can feel them shrinking in their seats, and the release when they laugh. But if anyone told me 10 years ago that I’d have a comedy show based on the parasites I’d picked up while working in public health, I wouldn’t have believed them. I come from a long line of teachers, so there was a bit of an expectation that I would be one too, but the greater world beckoned. It took a while to find my path: my first degree was in history, and I thought I was going to go into nuclear policy. I was enrolled in a masters in international security studies, and shortlisted for a scholarship, but…

CROSSWORDS I adore crosswords. I don’t do the print ones as much as I’d like to, because all the good ones are in conservative newspapers and I don’t really want to support them. There are a few online that I like to do, though – they aren’t too easy or too hard. Finding the right words is really important to the kind of songs I write; sometimes I’ll stress for days over a phrase just to get it perfect. I like to think that doing little things like crosswords keeps my vocabulary up and makes it easier for me to say what I mean. MY GUITAR The guitar I play is a black Danelectro that was given to me as a surprise birthday gift at a time when I didn’t…

sage x clare Normally rumours make us feel a bit on edge, like we might stumble across some damning information we don’t know what to do with. On the other hand, the latest collection from Melbourne homeware aficionados Sage x Clare, Rumah, makes us feel snuggly and warm and rather trouble-free. ‘Rumah’, in this case, means ‘home’ in Indonesian, which is quite fitting, because we’d like to add their goodies to our own abodes ASAP. If you feel the same way, simply head on over to sageandclare.com and have a looksee. bottoms up We were always quite enamoured with the Land of Topsy-Turvy at the top of Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree, and we have to wonder whether Norwegian designer Ingrid Aspen feels the same. After all, her Bottoms Up glassware…

Hello, everyone. My name is Michelle. And I’m a cheapskate. It’s remarkable that it’s taken me so long to admit this – the signs have always been there. Just ask any of my childhood friends who rudely refused my requests to shove their pockets full of free bread samples any time we passed a Baker’s Delight; or any boyfriend who’s waited patiently on a bench while I spent hours in a dollar store, only to emerge empty-handed because “nothing was on sale”. Have a rummage through either of my two bags (I have more bags, but they were expensive and are therefore kept in storage, to be used only for special occasions like my wedding day or funeral) and you’ll find them filled with fistfuls of serviettes from McDonald’s, or…

Whether you’re feeling mildly stabby or in a full-on Hulk rage, psychologists reckon there are three basic reasons to get angry: when expectations aren’t met (the last Freddo you thought was in the fridge is no longer there); when something is seen as a threat (that tailgating arsehole on the freeway who doesn’t understand safe braking distance); or when attempting to hide other emotions (I’m not crying, I can’t let anyone else see I have the sads!). Studies out of the University of Massachusetts show most of us get angry at least several times a week, if not several times a day. Which is maybe not surprising, when there’s so much to get the irrits about. Adults, apparently, get most stroppy when they’re feeling out of control, while kids will…

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT If you’re asked in an interview which team you bat for, whether you have kids, or big plans for your reproductive bits any time soon, that’s not just awkward chit-chat, it’s also illegal. “Our Anti-Discrimination Act states that a person can’t be discriminated against for a job on the basis of age, race, sexuality, parenthood status or any other thing that has nothing to do with the actual tasks they’d be responsible for,” Keelia says. “Legally, an employer isn’t allowed to ask about any of these things, in relation to your application or your employment in general.” That first interview can also help you suss out the vibe about a place, so keep your eye out for any warning signs. Does your interviewer look about as inspired…

Forty-three years ago, at a pub in Brisbane, Merle Thornton chained her ankle to the bar and kickstarted a movement. Now known as the Regatta Pub Chain-In, this action was in protest of the Queensland law prohibiting women from drinking in public bars. When a minister laughed them out of his office the day before, Merle and her friend Rosalie Bogner took matters into their own hands. And feet. “That was the first time Australian women took a militant action by being confrontational and risking arrest – it was inspired by what the British suffragettes had done,” explains Catherine Dwyer, a Melbourne-based documentary filmmaker whose debut feature, Brazen Hussies, will explore a decade of formative action in Australia’s women’s liberation and feminist movements. And it all begins with that Brisbane…

For adults with an intellectual disability, the prospect of finding a job can be a daunting one. In Australia, the rate of unemployment for those with a mild intellectual disability is around 35 per cent; for the rest of the community, it’s 5.4 per cent. Those who fail to find employment not only lack financial independence, but are also starved of the additional benefits of heading to work: community, intellectual engagement and a sense of worth. Yet, an increasing amount of research suggests that the assumptions underpinning these dismal employment figures are misguided. Employees with intellectual disabilities are motivated and eager to learn, creating a positive impact on businesses by encouraging creative and unbiased thinking. Employers who bring on intellectually disabled workers almost universally say they’d do it again. On…

A few years ago, I was looking for more ways to get involved in the queer community. I’d recently come out, and was looking for spaces to volunteer and meet new people. Switchboard appealed to me because it was all about connection. Currently I sit on the board and am chair of community engagement, so I’m taking a break from the phones while I do that work. The Switchboard phone line is operated by people who identify as LGBTQI – you don’t have to have formal counselling qualifications to do it. What Switchboard is about is connecting with people with shared experiences. It may not be the exact experience that you have – for example, we may have a trans caller and I don’t identify as trans, but I do…

The thing I first noticed: After a winding, hectic drive up from Venice through fairly rugged terrain, we came round a blind mountain corner to see a neon aqua lake beaming right up from the centre of the Auronzo valley. For the next two weeks, I looked out our apartment window multiple times a day, just to catch glittering glimpses of that aqua. The thing about the locals: There was a laidback feel about the people of Auronzo. Most would nod and greet you as you passed by, and it seemed like they were making the best of being outdoors in the warm summer weather, sunbathing in beach chairs or hiking in the mountains. One day there was a lively group playing cards next to the lake, and they made…

ITALY: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME // Why are filmmakers so obsessed with Italy? Is it the ancient monuments that somehow, through war and weather, have managed to stay standing? Is it the dark, cobbled streets that lead to crystal blue waters? The sing-song language, full of emotion? The delectable food that makes you want to cry because it’s so darn good? (Sorry, projecting a bit there.) Whatever it is, it’s hard to go past Call Me By Your Name as the quintessential ‘Italy’ film. Apart from giving us a touching love story that will make you cry a thousand tears, director Luca Guadagnino also inspires deep travel envy with his lavish shots of bike paths winding through green hills; glittering, secluded lakes; towering villas; and vast town squares complete…

Hi, Penny! Tell us a bit about yourself please. I’m an illustration-and craft-based designer. Making ceramics is a bit like 3D illustration, and that bleeds into doing textile design as well. I always say my work is like a mystery animal disco. How did Min Pin come about? I’d just moved cities from Perth to Melbourne. I put stuff on Etsy and started getting websites together, and I made a whole bunch of shrink plastic! Little badges and things – I had a lot of fun with that – and I was also doing illustrations and making jewellery and selling prints. Oh, I did the NEIS program as well. I found that really got the business side of my head more on track. What’s your illustration process like? I usually…

MISERY BY STEPHEN KING // Every decade has been good to King, but the ’80s were really his time to shine. After all, his visions of horror and psychological torture fit so perfectly with the coked-out decadence of the age. In Misery, we meet Paul Sheldon, a romance writer rescued from a car crash by a fan named Annie Wilkes. If you thought Taylor Swift fans were intense, think again – Annie is so upset when she learns what Paul has in store for her favourite character, Misery Chastain, that she holds him hostage, forcing him to rewrite the tale. The climax is a litany of violent acts, schlock, psychological horrors, and all the terror you need for a month’s worth of sleepless nights. THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES BY…