Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 100 - Mar/Apr 2021 i frankie Magazine

The polygraph machine (aka the lie detector). Laughing Cow cheese (a classic lunchbox treat). The word ‘robot’ (from the Old Czech rabota, or ‘servitude’). Not to mention, having ‘flake’ with your fish and chips (apparently, old-time Aussies weren’t so keen on the idea of scoffing straight-up shark). Though it hasn’t quite been a century since frankie came to be, we’re rather chuffed to have reached another massive milestone: 100 issues. Hip-hip-hooray! That’s 100 magazines sharing curious and eye-opening real-life reads; 100 oddball road tests, from toilet paper to dog breeds; 100 opportunities to uncover fresh art and design; and 100 papery vessels for clever new voices. We’ve talked baking, blooms and awesome oldies with ardent enthusiasm – plus rad lady rockers, head-scratching facts and loads of Twin Peaks, of course.…

Julia Mooney wore the same dress for 100 days. “Did you wash it?” That’s the first thing people usually ask Julia Mooney when they hear she wore the same dress for 100 days. The New Jersey schoolteacher and artist donned one grey, button-down frock day in, day out to make a wider point about consumerism and sustainability – and yes, she did wash it regularly. “Everyone wants to think I’m a stinky hippie!” Julia exclaims. “But I shower, I wear make-up. I’d wear something else to bed, and if I needed to, I’d hand-wash or spot-clean the dress, and it was good as new.” Julia’s experiment kicked off in 2018. She’d spent the summer holidays relaxing with her family, barely thinking about what to wear each morning and whether or…

Do you aspire to be the kind of person who forages for their food? Who can grab a bucket, head into the wild and return a few hours later with the makings of a hearty meal? Mushrooms are a crowd-pleaser for both meat-eaters and vegos alike, and they’re sprouting all around us, if you know where to look (and when to walk away). First things first, it’s essential to embrace the mushroom hunter’s mantra: if in doubt, go without. While there are plenty of tasty morsels ready to be cooked in an omelette or boiled in a stew, not all fungi are edible, and in fact, some could land you in the emergency room. The basic rule is if you’re not 100 per cent sure of a mushroom’s ID, you…

We like to think of our brains as whisper-quiet quantum computers, humming smoothly in some state-of-the-art, temperature-controlled data centre while Swiss dudes in lab coats watch over them. But that’s not really the case. Your brain is more like that dodgy laptop you had in high school, with the pop-ups and limited RAM and the spacebar key that got stuck for no reason. Our minds do some pretty weird and wacky stuff. And there’s no way to take the cartridge out, blow on it, then put it back in again. Humans are hard-wired little odd bods – just check out these very common (and very strange) psychological phenomena for evidence. DÉJÀ VU The feeling starts to creep over you: you’ve been here before. But that’s impossible, right? You’re pretty sure…

By Chris Harrigan - Hard to believe, but in the early ’90s the absolute coolest thing a person could do was strap a pair of neon-coloured rollerblades to their feet and scoot around town shouting inscrutable phrases like “eat my shorts!” and “booyah!” I know this because I was 10 in 1995, and despite the fact I could barely ride a bike, let alone get anywhere in one piece with eight wheels bound to the bottom of my gangly, fawn-like legs, I wanted nothing more than a pair of blades to call my own. Such was the power of the rollerblading craze – even people who never left their bedrooms wanted to do it. Of course, wanting to rollerblade and being able to rollerblade are two different things – a…

Running a small business is many things, but soothing and restful it ain’t. If you’re putting the ‘dead’ in deadlines and your brain feels like a pot of spaghetti on full boil, step away from the numbers and read this instead. It might help. We sat down with a few savvy experts to bring you some mental-health tips for small-business owners. SET FIRM BOUNDARIES No one gets into small business because they want a worse work-life balance, but you’d be amazed how quickly life’s see-saw can tip the wrong way. Rebecca Gravestock, Director of People and Performance at Xero, says the trick is to divide your day into units, then split those units between work and regular human-type stuff (exercise, showering, walking the dog). It’s about recognising that work and…

A few years back, someone I worked with said there was a lady upstairs who was from somewhere in the UK. She didn’t own or rent a house in Australia – she’d been able to house-sit her way around Brisbane for 10 years. I thought it must be a bit of a thing, so I googled house-sitting and TrustedHousesitters was the first website that came up. My first house- and cat-sit was in December 2017. Earlier that year, I went on a trip to America with a friend and we stayed in San Francisco for three nights. I really liked San Francisco, but we didn’t get enough time to see everything. So, when I saw a sit available there, it seemed like a perfect opportunity. At the time, I didn’t…

CLEAN YOUR HOUSE Ready to give paper towel the old heave-ho? Run out of tatty rags? Found yourself with a surplus of slightly worn or odd socks? If you answered yes to those (many) questions, I have some good news: you’re in an excellent position to do some eco-friendly cleaning. The great thing about old socks is that they fit right over your hand, making dusting furniture, shutters and blinds, and other crevices a breeze. Whack some polish onto a particularly soft sock and you can shine and buff your shoes or car, as well. When you’re done, simply give it a rinse and throw it in the washing machine. MAKE A PUPPET Speaking of slipping a rogue foot-warmer over your hand: the good old sock puppet is a time-honoured,…

Hello! Who is April’s Baker? I started the business in London back in November 2019 after deciding to pursue my dream of running my own bespoke cake business. Since then, April’s Baker (given that name because I was born in April) has evolved into a sister-run business, with Corinne Mankoo becoming co-director. How did you get started making such fancy cakes? I initially trained as a pastry chef at Le Cordon Bleu, then took on roles as a specialist cake baker and decorator in bakeries across London and New York. I felt like I’d found my calling in cake-making, and wanted to develop my own signature style. From what I could see, no one in London was really doing the OTT, fanciful, Marie Antoinette aesthetic, which I love. I knew…

Tronco al cioccolato is a popular cake found all along the Tuscan coast. Tronco literally means ‘log’ or ‘trunk’, and it’s almost always stained pink with Alchermes – a type of Italian liquor – and filled with a rich chocolate cream, or even chocolate-hazelnut spread. INGREDIENTS 2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar 125ml (1/2 cup) Alchermes icing sugar, for dusting For the chocolate pastry cream: 100g (2/3 cup) dark chocolate (70% cocoa) 2 egg yolks 60g caster (superfine) sugar 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch), sifted 250ml (1 cup) warm milk For the sponge: 50g cornflour (cornstarch) or potato starch 50g (1/3 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour 3 eggs, separated 100g caster (superfine) sugar METHOD To make the pastry cream, melt the dark chocolate either in a microwave or over a bain-marie. Then, use…

Tell us a bit about NORTH, please. NORTH exists as a vessel to celebrate, support and broaden the exposure of textile design by Indigenous artists living remotely on their Country. We’re not an Aboriginal-owned business, we’re a not-for-profit organisation governed by Indigenous and non-Indigenous board members. We work with remote community artists and art centres to develop beautiful products featuring their designs and carrying their stories. How does the not-for-profit model work here? Revenue from sales is directed back into the development of creative opportunities – responsive to the ideas and requests of the artists we collaborate with. Last year our profits were used to fund the first community-driven Warlu publication, with a dynamic young Warlpiri woman, Samara, taking the lead as editor. This year, we hope to find grant…

headsup.org.au | An ace site from Beyond Blue featuring business templates, advice and mental-health tips. aheadforbusiness.org.au | A digital hub for check-ups, peer support and handy action plans. coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au | A free support service for anyone struggling with the pandemic (business owner or not). mycompass.org.au | A personalised toolkit for mental health from the guys at the Black Dog Institute. sisterscout.studio | A directory of folks who can help with your business, from bookkeepers to brand strategists, copywriters and counsellors. xero.com/au/behindsmallbusiness | Practical, achievable tips and advice to help move your small business forward.…

MINNA GILLIGAN ARTIST 2020 was a real blur. With no milestones or events to mark occasions, April seemed the same as August. I was lucky enough to be employed throughout and was extremely productive in my home studio. I got into routines and worked solidly, gravitating intensely towards my art practice, as it was the one thing I had control over. I had a solo exhibition with no opening night anxiety, because there wasn’t one! I had to hang the show via FaceTime and never saw it in real life. Looking ahead, I’m completely open to 2021 and what it may bring. I’d like to think I’ll be more inclined to say “yes!” rather than “no thanks”, as now I know what it’s like to not have the option. Perhaps…

salter day dresses If your fashion vibe is somewhere between ‘sister wife goes wandering through a meadow’ and ‘Victorian ghost haunts country manor’, you’ll probably find Salter House day dresses quite up your alley. They’re made with super-comfy Japanese cotton that will withstand all kinds of wear and tear (including lugging around clanking chains), and for that little extra somethin’-somethin’, they’re finished with antique mother-of-pearl buttons. Pop over to salter.house to see more. bush bloom Sound the alarm: the moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived! Colourful Adelaide maker Julie White has released a new range of silky scarves and socks, and it sure doesn’t disappoint. Called From Memory, the hand-painted collection draws from natural spots Julie visited once upon a time – and we’re rather chuffed to have one…

When I was in grade 2, we went on an excursion to the Australian Museum. Somewhere near the end they took us into this little room full of specimens and taxidermy, and things you could actually pick up and play with. You could pat a sleeping feral cat or a tiny saltwater crocodile, and I was like, “This is just unreal!” I ran home and picked up my cat and was like, “When you die, this is what’s going to happen.” Of course, 18 years later, when she finally did die, I had no taxidermy skills. I looked into places I could learn, and called up a bunch of commercial taxidermists. They said, “Latch onto a taxidermist and volunteer as an apprentice – that's really the only way.” I was…

Lend me your ears, but never your books. Really, never your books. I am a dog-earer, an underliner, a messy eater. I will destroy your precious paperbacks. Reading a book takes forever and I simply can’t be clean for more than 10 minutes a day. What am I supposed to do, read the book in micro-instalments? To salvage my relationships with friends and family, I just buy my own reading material. A borrowed book is one that needs to be treated specially and read with museum archivist gloves on. I often imagine that people who keep their books pristine also wrap their furniture in protective plastic, have boring sex with virgins and keep that hygiene gusset sticker in their swimwear. Just as I don’t understand how they can bear the…

OMELETTE // What is an omelette? Humans have been asking that exact question since the very first caveman accidentally dropped a pterodactyl egg onto a hot stone that happened to be housing a mushroom, tomato and pinch of chives. Despite 100 years (?) passing since then, we still have no answer, so I must define an omelette based solely on my cooking experience: a confusing blob of egg that’s often accompanied by other foodstuffs such as ham, spinach and cheese. To truly master an omelette it must somehow contain both undercooked and overcooked egg, and zero symmetry. It must look and taste like a bunch of ingredients were dropped into a pan and handled by a stressed raccoon. Some say there’s an art to it, and when cooked properly, an…

I’ve been collecting ephemera since I was 15 years old, but my biggest collection is made up of unique scrapbooks created by other people between 1840 and 1940. I found my first one in 2007 while antique shopping with my mum – it was a 1930s scrapbook made with a large wallpaper sample book. Before that, I had no idea they even existed. And now I have around 500 scrapbooks, diaries and letters all up. Scrapbooking has a long history dating back hundreds of years. Styles evolved over time – for instance, by the 1870s it became popular to collect colourful advertisements made possible by innovations in printing technology. 1890s scrapbooks have advertisements and floral scraps with little pieces of personal information or handwriting. On the other hand, 1930s scrapbooks…

Favourite childhood memory: When I was around four, my family and I lived in Bangalow – this gorgeous little town just inland from Byron Bay. When the weather turned, we’d see these incredible lightning storms. My mother and I would sit and watch the sky fill up with different coloured lightning bolts. We didn’t have a lot of times like that after we moved, so I cherish that place and the memories of being covered in mud and dirt and being careless. Favourite part of the album-making process: I like sampling things from my general expeditions. I use my phone, then I come back to the studio and my producer and I will listen and start exploring the world we’re creating together. There’s so much more to the songs than…

Hello, Nina! How would you describe your art? A humorous reflection on self-image. I try to explore themes lots of people can identify with and to highlight just how much us humans have in common with each other, whether it’s our insecurities, our comforts, our silliness or our humour. I often draw a recurring ‘girl’ character who acts as a kind of vehicle for these ideas and my own personal narratives. What kinds of things inspire your work? People and stories! I believe there’s a story in everything and everyone is their own character. When you make work based on identity and everyday life, you can never run out of ideas, and I’m constantly thinking of themes to explore and share. Does noting down your day-to-day observations help you process…