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I am tempted to book a trip to India for next year to partake in the celebration of Holi, the Festival of Colors (Also celebrated in large Hindu populations). Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month. It would be my inner 5-year-old wish to be covered in a wash of soft rainbow colours.

                                   
 
Eco- designing has graduated from bush talk to coffee shop gossip in the last few years, with sustainability becoming the trend that over rides all trends. It has it bags and high heels and now thanks to its new queen, Rachael Cassar it has semi-couture style garments with serious design edge. Rachael’s dramatic cuts and sharp details create form-flattering columns with a strikingly empowered nature. The materials of old characteristic garments have the life breathed back into them. They are cut, shredded, layered, altered and re-constructed to create unified harmonies. Their intricate details are re-sculpted into a new imaginative aesthetic and equally innovative shape that swathe the body in the new style of elegance, Eco friendly elegance.
Rachael’s inspired idea of “Up-Cycling” saw her take home the premiere prize at Italy’s prestigious Mittelmoda competition in 2007 and the global trend analysis and forecasting resource nominated her as one of the 12 new designers to watch. Rachael is on her way to a success that is as sustainable as her designs and here at Yen we are privileged to be unveiling her latest collection, Ruby.
Ruby is brimming with dark romance and overflowing with fantastical mystery. The environmental deign concept was mirrored by the designers unique inspiration, a crow that frequents Rachael’s balcony, “I became really interested in this creature as I was quite scared of it, but intrigued by its beauty.” The loss of a family member and discovery of the myth that accompanies these macabre creatures, a crow is a loved one watching over you, saw Rachael stick a massive image of a crow on her studio wall and design a collection of stylistic garments personified with memories of Rachael’s Great Aunt Ruby and stamped with creature like features. Obsolete outfits from markets, op-shops, antique and vintage shops and auctions are sculpted into embellished treasures with a timeless aesthetic that over-rides everyday trends and mingles on the border of artistic couture. Layers of beads and sequins embellish dark silhouettes creating a sense of scintillating nostalgia for decades gone by while draping shredding, knotting and hap-hazard feathering denote the mystical forms and rituals of nature. Ruby is a story of black divinity framed by an essential sense of individual spirit and mystery. It whispers of secrets untold, worlds unseen and ghosts unforgotten. Rachael Cassar is lining the fashion world with poignant textile stories of imaginative re-creation that sustain not only the environment but their own timeless entity.

http://www.rachaelcassar.com/

Whatever you think of his outlandish parenting antics there's no denying that Michael Jackson has been the musical talking point of our generation. There is just nobody else out there writing gems like Thriller while simultaneously holding their babies out hotel windows. So prolific, so many killer songs, so goddamn out there! I hope he enjoys his big theme park in the sky. Ow!

  Palestinian protesters take cover behind an olive tree. World Press Photo General News: 3rd Prize singles. Kevin Frayer/AP

Today I visited the World Press Photo 09 traveling exhibition at the Brisbane Powerhouse. It is a compelling celebration of quality international photojournalism, but also a powerful reminder of recent events. Conflicts, scandals and tragedies burst into our reality, but fade just as quickly. Right now I'm closely following Iranian elections, North Korea's itchy finger and psuedo-gangs in Melbourne, but for how long? Another week? How quickly I have forgotten a mini-war in South Ossetia, escalating violence in Gaza and Olympics-mania. Are we so fickle that we eat up world events as rabidly as celebrity gossip? I'd prefer to think not. Let's just blame our ever-connected, 24hour news lives and promise to do better. Lest we forget? The exhibition runs until this Sunday (and it's free!). Or check out the gallery of winners online.

Dust off your chef's cat (err hat) for the RSPCA's Cupcake Day. Its on Monday 17th August and whether you want to be an RSPCA Cupcake cook or a RSPCA Cupcake eater - all you have to do is register to recieve you cupcake kit  ... Woof to that!

Fleur Audet takes photographs as pretty as her name. Her nostalgic images of cherry blossoms, empty swimming pools and afternoon tea evoke imagined memories of an idyllic childhood. She managed to catch the eye of the people over at Google and has been shortlisted as one of only 36 artists from thousands in the Google Photography Prize. She’s the only Aussie to make it, so get behind Australian art and help Fleur become one of the final six by voting for her today (polls close tomorrow),

Flight of the Conchords? Yep. But it's not Bret nor Jemaine (cute as they are in animal jumpers and big specs). It's Rhys Darby, the dude behind the hilariously awkward Murray, the bumbling manager of the band. On the HBO gem, Murray may play second fiddle to the quirky melodic observations of Bret and Jemaine ... but on stage he an absolute master of physical comedy.

Shifting flawlessly from playing the dorky teenager sans walkman to a holidayer having sex with a mythical mermaid, Darby's realisations on stage are enough to make you leave the theatre clutching those abs. He'll be taking his show "It's Rhys Darby Night" to the Edinburgh Fringe this year... so expect him to start making regular appearances on your comic radar soon.