[willreichelt]

Bloc Party, performing at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney. 25.11.08.

Even Books is a regular night that combines literature, music, art, theatre and booze to be one of the most unusual book clubs around. Each night is themed around a different book, and last week’s theme was Miranda July’s collection of short stories, “No-one Belongs Here More Than You“.

The vibe was kinda like a chilled house party, with some activities and live music thrown in.

There were interactive projects, based on Miranda’s writing and web art.

Sui Zhen, Daisy M. Tulley (Bridezilla) and The Maple Trail played some folk tunes for the gathering.

The “positive message table”.

Sui Zhen even made a diorama inspired by Miranda July, especially for the night.

I’ve been seeing a lot of Sydney’s famous landmark lately – a few weeks ago I came down for the Dappled Cities show at the Spiegeltent on the forecourt, last week was the SMAC Awards, and then on friday night we went to dinner at Guillaume at Bennelong, the flagship restaurant. Each time I’ve been down, I haven’t been able to resist snapping off a few shots. I’m very aware that there is an oversaturation of photographs of this building, but what the hell – here’s a few more to add to the pile.

Holy Fuck, performing at the Annandale Hotel, Sydney. 12.12.08.

To be honest, I was really only there to hear “Lovely Allen”, the standout tune from their self-titled album, but I was pretty blown away by how good the show was overall.

The evening was made even more enjoyable by the support of Melbourne’s terrific Mountains In The Sky.

The winners of the inaugural SMAC Awards (Sydney Music, Arts & Culture) were unveiled to the world on sunday night, at a party held down at the Sydney Opera House. The awards, presented by Timeout Sydney & FBi 94.5, were thought up as a way to honour Sydney’s cultural innovators with traditional categories such as “Best Music Performance” mixed in with other more unusual ones, such as the “Remix the City” Award, rewarding the person or team who have used the city’s space in the most creative way.

Fergus Linehan took out the SMAC of the Year Award, for his sterling work directing the lineup of the annual Sydney Festival for the last three years.

• SMAC OF THE YEAR AWARD – FERGUS LINEHAN
• SMAC REMIX THE CITY AWARD – BIENNALE AT COCKATOO ISLAND
• SMAC IN YOUR FACE AWARD – RAISE THE BAR
• BEST MUSIC EVENT – SYDNEY FESTIVAL BECKS BAR/SPIEGELTENT
• BEST MUSIC PERFORMANCE – DAPPLED CITIES
• RECORD OF THE YEAR – THE PRESETS Apocalypso
• BEST MUSIC NEWCOMER – CLOUD CONTROL
• BEST ARTS EVENT – UNDERBELLY PUBLIC ARTS LAB AND FESTIVAL
• BEST VISUAL ARTIST – KILL PIXIE
• BEST ACTOR/ PERFORMER – BRENDAN COWELL – Hamlet
• BEST ARTS NEWCOMER – GREEDY HEN

The Ruby Suns, performing at Spectrum, Sydney. 05.12.08.

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