REBEL8

rebel8-sydney
Hosted on the 6th floor of the MCA as part of VIVID Sydney.

haters
Fuck the haters.

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Living legends.

Last night I caught a talk by Mike Giant and Joshy D of REBEL8 at the MCA. I’ve been pretty excited about this, like all talks they can go either way, either super inspirational or super boring but I’m glad to say that last night’s talk got me so fired up about Zen and the path I’m on that I talked Jess‘ ear off at dinner, and have been high ever since!

Mike (REBEL8’s head artist) kicked off the talk, the guy swears every third word and just a few minutes in he confessed that he’s moved to Colorado because they’ve legalised weed, which is what he loves to do, that and creating art, riding, skating, practising meditation (he’s quite into Buddhism) and being blessed as he generally gets to do whatever he wants to do in life.

Joshy D took the stage for the 2nd half. He’s the sole owner of REBEL8, which he started with $500 in 2003 and struggled for 3+ years before he started to make it (11 years strong now!). The guy’s a beast, and has worn every single hat in the business (and continues to do much more than just one person’s work).

The talk geed me up so hard as it had everything to do with Zen. Maintaining authenticity within a brand while growing, consistency was a massive topic of discussion, so too credibility and original content.

End of the day these guys hustle, hard and after hearing them out I have an overwhelming sense of confirmation that I’m on the right path. I feel armed and fired up about Zen’s future!

Visit: http://rebel8.com

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The last nail in the coffin

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Some light bedside reading, thanks to my bro-in-law Richie who convinced me that it’s a worthy read!

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GF1 Viewfinder

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Mounted to the hot shoe.

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You can flip the viewfinder up so you can look down into your camera as well.

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Whatever date you had on your screen is now in the viewfinder (I always use grid lines to help me compose photos).

Today I got this Panasonic Viewfinder for my GF1. It comes in a sexy little pouch and mounts onto the hot shoe. It works really well, will force me to shoot old school styles when using the GF1 (as opposed to crazy new school styles with the GF6, shooting and focussing by touching the screen and shit) and will save a lot of battery juice too as I can operate the GF1 without using the screen from now on.

PS: Somebody stop me. Looks like I’ve got a new obsession?!

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Monday Fundays

tree

mkv

drive

darlingharbour

walk

silhouette

city

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MCA Zine Fair

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Gotta love self-publishing!

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Some great art for purchase too.

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That’s Terry Richardson, without skin!

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My purchases! Needed new cushions, impulse bought Mr Al-Qaeda! The poster is a massive James Jirat which I hope to get framed ASAP.

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Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken

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hotstar_chicken

Walked past this hole in the wall on Liverpool Street a week ago and have been craving it ever since. Finally had an opportunity to try it and it didn’t disappoint! Inspired by chicken found at the Taipei night markets the chicken is big, flat, crispy and super tender. What’s more fun is you get a bag when you order it, and when your number’s called out they get you to present your bag so they can just shove the chicken right in!

Visit: http://hotstarchicken.com.au

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Sir Anthony Mason Chambers

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Elevators opened up to a foyer and the boardroom + view.

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The view.

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Nanami unpacking her pieces.

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Looking back into the foyer from the boardroom.

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Food was amazing, company was amazing too (I admit, a little unexpected… but totally accepted!).

Nanami’s been invited to be a resident artist at the Sir Anthony Mason Chambers in Sydney CBD and today we got a whole lot of framed artwork over there, ready for hanging. The guys treated us to a really lovely lunch too (great wine choice as well!), and so what started out as a simple drop off ended up being an all day hang with some big gun lawyers!

PS: Find more of Nanami’s work on her web site.

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Semi-Permanent Sydney 2014

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Andrew and Murray have done so well. Really proud of both guys.

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Semi’s now held at CARRIAGEWORKS, which is a much more suitable home than the old Darling Harbour Convention Centre.

Ved and I hit Semi-Permanent today to catch Tony Hawk speak. Tony was so chill, modest but really proud as well. His theory, that if you’re doing something you love you’re already winning, rings true in relation to Zen and the future. Big time!

I’ll be at Semi over the next few days. Conferences are funny beasts. To get the most out of them you really need to sit through every single presentation, because it’s usually the speakers you least expect that blow your mind and change your life forever.

Having said that I won’t be attending all the talks this year, but intend to get as much out of the talks I see as I can.

PS: I had a mate ask why the hell I wasn’t the one speaking at one of these events, to which I replied I have spoken at Semi-Permanent, in front of 3,000 people no less and yes, I’m damn proud of it!!!

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Samyang 7.5mm Fisheye Lens

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It’s built really well, all metal. Feels great.

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Looks the part on the GF1 too.

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Just a quick test shot.

Another B’Day gift to myself. I’ve always wanted a fisheye lens and I’ve never bought one because I’ve always doubted how much I’d actually use one. There are heaps of cheap fisheye lenses on eBay, many going for under $50, but after doing much research I found this Samyang lens, which cost more than the GF1 it’s living on, but it’s a quality pice of gear and I’m looking forward to having a bit of fun with it.

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Bose SoundLink III Bluetooth Speaker

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I’d gotten sick of my old Bose sound dock not charging my old iPhone (which I only have music on) and not accepting my new iPhone, and lately I’ve been paying music from the Zen Tumblr off my laptop with some external Bose speakers plugged in. It was all just getting too messy so I splashed out on my B’Day and bought myself this little bluetooth speaker.

There were many options out there, most of which were way cheaper but at $400 I still think this is a steal in comparison to how much I once used to have to pay for great sound. Within minutes I had my iPhone and laptop connected, streaming Rob’s Soundcloud. Sounds amazing, as expected. Very happy!

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