The CURVY crew hit Brisbane last Thursday night to celebrate the launch of the fifth edition. In keeping with the low-maintenance, no-attitude fashionista style that the Brissie peeps embody, the launch of YEN's all-girl annual art book, CURVY, was hosted at Blonde Venus (a treasure trove full of all the latest and edgiest designer labels). The gallery space was chokers all night, resulting in a constant stream of earnest art folk who queued to view what CURVY 5 had to offer this year. But in true YEN style we kept everyone's toes tapping to tunes from DJ Matt and drinks courtesy of V and Singha Beer.

I watched a film that aired on the ABC last Thursday night and it had me in great pain both physically and emotionally. The film, The Oasis, takes a look at the homeless youth of Sydney and the daily horrors they have to face. From a young age the youth in this film have gone through unspeakable traumas and have been abandoned by their families; leaving them to turn to the streets, crime, drugs and alcohol. The only hope these teens and young adults seem to have comes in the form of Oasis Youth Support Network run by Captain Paul Moulds (pictured above) - he is one truly amazing human being. You've gotta watch this film. Head to the Oasis site so you can learn how you can help these kids and the other 22,000 teenagers that are homeless across Australia every night. If you need help or know of someone who needs help contact Lifeline 24 Hour Counselling - 13 11 14.

YEN was asked to donate a bunch of YEN magazines as a fashion media source for first year students at Whitehouse Institute of Design. The school offers students a three-year bachelor degree of design and they can major in design, interior design, styling or fashion design. Some of the more well known students that have graduated and gone on to be highly successful in the Australian and International fashion markets are Camilla & Mark and Daniel Avakian. We wish the new students all the best with their studies!!

It's international women's day today so of course on my daily sojourn around cyber space I was bound to come across an inspiring woman – in fact one of the most creative women in the world. Just when I was content with her current CV, which lists her as the front women of Sonic Youth and actress in art films like Gus Van Sant’s, Last Days, Kim Gordon has my inspiration meter going off the Richter scale. I discover that she’s also been a visual artist since she left art school in LA. Her current exhibition looks at the relationship between the performer and the audience and it’s on from March 8 - April 9 at Kerry Schuss' gallery in New York - if you’re in the area it’s worth checking out.

We sent one of our trusty Melbourne interns, Jessica Friedman to the Melbourne Laneway Festival to spread some YEN love. Here's what she had to report: Waves of sound skim across an ocean of skinny-legged hipsters, and the festival has begun. We're running late, dressed in YEN T-shirts and brandishing lollipops as though they can protect us against the rampaging hordes. For the most part, they do. Even whisper-thin indie kids need a sugar high occasionally.
The crowd is high, on life, sugar and maybe surreptitious vodka shots. My feet hurt and I realise that this was not the day to break in new shoes. The light riggers and so forth keep stealing lollipops – Broken Social Scene and Clap Your Hands tear up the stage. Twilight falls and the trams rattle past. Sunburned, feet blistered, out of lollipops, we turn to Feist, and her sweet lullaby of a voice sings us all the way home.

We're on the lookout for YEN TESTING GIRLS for some of YEN's upcoming eco-features. Testers can be from any part of Australia and should be willing to review a service or product and have a photo of themselves appear in YEN.  The testing features will be similar in style to Turn Your Lights Down Low (Issue 31), and Organic Compulsive Disorder (Issue 30). If you're interested in testing a new product, action or event for us please contact Kristy or Fiona.

On Wednesday March 12 the 2008 MOVIE EXTRA FILMINK Awards will transform Sydney’s iconic State Theatre into a glamorous red carpet affair with flashing bulbs, buzzing media and movie stars walking the red carpet. YEN, in conjunction with Filmink magazine, has five double passes to this premiere event to give away. So if you fancy being part of the action simply email us who you would want to walk the red carpet with and why.