I've been in a bit of a USA bubble the past month or so. So you'll have to take my apologies in advance for a very States-centric list. I love the idea of lists by the way. I grew up with music magazine Top 10s, Nick Hornby; god, even The Commitments. And I was just reading about Amazon's Listmania, which is weirdly terrific.
Grace Paley
I'm a short story fanatic. I guess I love how Raymond Carver, Chekhov and the rest pack so much into so few pages. Fire your imagination, leave you guessing. Grace Paley is much more personal than those guys. Less bleak, still very real. She described herself as a "cooperative anarchist", which I like. Art was too long, and life was too short, she said. She wrote only four slim books in 50 years.
Eduardo Sarabia
I saw Sarabia's work at Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement, a show at the Hammer museum in LA. I'd never seen his paintings before. 'Painted Memories', 'Tainted Memories', and 'Tetris King and Queen of the Monarch Butterflies' - the paintings I saw - are beautifully rendered landscapes or portraits that he's daubed with big smudges, splashes of colour that obscure or completely deface the subjects. You'd expect that to be a kind of Sex Pistols-esque nullification, but instead it charges the canvas with life. Truly fantastic.
The New Yorker magazine
I'm in love with NYC. There, I said it. And being able to get The New Yorker from the newstand for a decent price, the week it's published, and peruse its listings with the possibility of getting to the gigs, book readings, performances - so great. I like The Monthly - Australia's answer to The New Yorker - and I've especially been enjoying Alice Pung's sketches, but it's not quite the same. Maybe because Robert Manne's pieces get on my nerves.
Kings Lane Sandwiches
Best chicken sandwiches in Sydney. Not much else to say. Kings Lane Sandwiches, 28 Kings Lane, Darlinghurst NSW (02) 9360 8007.
City of Sound
Dan Hill blogs on his two fascinations: music and urban design, though it's weighted to the latter. He was design boss at Monocle, and before that the BBC; he's now with urban developers/consultants Arup. For someone with that kind of CV, he devotes a lot of time to blogging. His posts are well-researched, informative and extremely informed, packed with ideas, and fascinating to read. Recent favourites include long pieces on 'seamfulness' in train ticketing, music scenes unlocking the dynamics of broader creative shifts and the Sydney record shop Title.
Matt Levinson is a blogger, writer, radio presenter, DJ, perfect dinner guest and all-round thoughtful person. He hosts Canvas on FBI 94.5FM in Sydney and has a very funny story about scaling mountains in Japan.
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