The Australian pioneer of moulded plastic furniture Harry Sebel, passed on 18 September 2008 at 92.

In the early seventies the fabled wooded school chair was passed over for Sebel’s famed – Slim-n-Comfy Sidechair. Back at the time, 70s school children liken this new chair to something that ascended from space – with it’s organic shell and insect like legs. Since it’s inception this unassuming chair has been sold in the tens of millions and can be found on all corners of the earth.

Complicated solutions to any problem are fairly easy to come by, but it takes genius plus a fair amount of perspiration to arrive at a simple solution. Harry Sebel (24-10-1915 to 18-9-2008)

Amongst the many projects and products, Sebel also conceived and developed the Sebel Town House hotel complex in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney in 1963. Sebel created this lair to court and lure international rockstars, pop queens, the rich, the famous, hangers-on and want-a-bes in town. A place to loose one’s self, part with a little money, and potentially be immortalised in black & white on the bar’s dimly lit walls. Like many institutions in Sydney the famed Sebel of Elizabeth Bay has become appartments.

Visit Sebel Furniture here

The 2008 AGDA National Design Conference, in Adelaide, was the stage where 3 Deep Design shared their approach to the design process, during the “Love your enemy” presentation.

Inspired by Richard Gere’s looks and natural acting style; in the 1980 cult classic – American Gigilo, 3 Deep have shaped a design concern that is sophisticated, elegant and breath taking. Their presentation in Adelaide mirrored Gere’s verve, with a bounty of ideas, dreams and cinema grabs. A memorable video bight selected by 3 Deep was a line delivered by Gere amid his client service process – You are a very sexy lady… I am going to make you wet – the remarks left the audience convinced of 3 Deep’s commitment to providing a design product of the highest quality in any market they choose to operate within.

3 Deep Design are a very sexy studio, and made for a inspired and breathtaking design experience. David and Brett are without question the Tigers of design.

Visit 3 Deep Design here

In the past week the studio had the pleasure of speaking, convening and immersing itself in the the in’s and out’s of the design process at the 2008 AGDA National Conference, held in Adelaide themed Risk.

Apart from the battering that 3 Deep delivered to the studio and the vice versa, Adrian Shaughnessy delivered his plain speaking paradoxes of the potential in mind shift of the designer and their work. Then Carin Goldberg entered into a design conversation that thoroughly, frankly and irrelevantly revealed the who, what, where, where, why and how of her design career. In between former work colleague Linda Jukic developed a sketch of her world of risk, glass artist Tom Moore showed us all how to entertain and tell a creative story. John Ford from the One Centre made a statement about the future of branding services and Andrew Hoyne told an off the cuff told the story of the odyssey one encountered by changing one’s life by a change of location.

Hoyne concluded his presentation with the above animation, that he and his studio made to curiously avert the acceptance of jargon in the work place – or Wordflu as he puts it.

Visit Hoyne Design here

Radio National is a national Australian radio/media channel funded by Australia’s public broadcaster – Australian Broadcasting Commission. Radio National flies under the slogan – A world of ideas – a rich zone for people seeking access to intelligent, inspired and creative radio programming.

During the weekdays from 8.30am to 9am slot, Radio National run a series of reports exploring medical, law, religion, media and sport ideas and issues – wonderful and intelligent programming that is a great alternative to the morning radio chit chat.

This morning Stephen Crittenden announced that his programme – the Religion Report, and the other media and sports reports are being replaced the following week with more consumer friendly content. Alarm bells sound, particularly with the loss of the Religion Report.

Behind many of the major headlines, religion is factor that has a great influence, yet our society has little information exploring the machinations of religion, their people and their policies.  The Religion Report was devised to explore not convert, comment not preach, and its presence underlined society’s need for more programming that intelligently explores religion.

It is deeply concerning that the network with “a world of ideas” is focused upon becoming consumer friendly. Religion is the glue that binds our societies and it is important that it is reported in an informative and enriching format.

It is a sad day for a multicultural Australia – Stephen Crittenden and his team presented religion at its best, most interesting, most diverse and without fear or bias. Crittenden and his team put religion to the top of the big ideas that make up our culture, and made religion very listenable and empowering. A regular listener has the potential to discover the richness of religion, via the Religion Report, offering the potential of replacing ignorance with enlightenment.

It is a sad day for “a world of ideas”, because the ABC management have overlooked that the world of ideas are a rich mix of: prominent to minority, popular to fickle, creative to practical, and so on… sectors of our community. Shame on you ABC management, shame on you for daring to fly the banner of ”a world of ideas” and yet be servants of popularism.

Thank you to Stephen Crittenden and his team many religious, non religious, spiritual, non spiritual people will miss your exploration of one of our society’s big preoccupations.

In such days, downloading podcasts from the mass of international media choices is fast becoming an attractive alternative to public broadcasters emulating their commercial broadcasters.

This is a transcript of Crittenden’s opening comments on this morning’s, the last sadly, Religion Report programme, (source Eagle’s Nest Blog)

The Religion Report has been de-commissioned, along with The Media Report, The Sports Factor, The Ark, Perspective, In Conversation, Street Stories and Radio Eye. These programs are going in order to make room for (quote) ‘more inter-disciplinary work on the network’, and the 8.30 timeslot is being remodelled to give it (quote) ‘more consumer focus’.

The decision to axe one of this network’s most distinctive and important programs has been
approved by the Director of ABC Radio, Sue Howard, and it will condemn Radio National to even greater irrelevance.

The ABC’s specialist units have been under attack for years, but the decapitation of the flagship program of the Religion Department effectively spells the death of Religion at the ABC. That
such a decision has been taken in an era when Religion vies with Economics as a determinant of everything that is going on in the world almost beggars belief - but you have to remember that just a couple of years ago they axed the Environment program.

The Religion Report has always been fearless - and I don’t have to tell you that it has put many powerful noses out of joint. This is a signal to the churches that the ABC has decided to vacate the field. If you care about this program and what it represents, I suggest that you might consider writing to the ABC Board or the Managing Director, Mark Scott.

Visit the Religion Report here

Congratulations to the Australian film maker Jason van Genderen for winning the overall and people’s choice prize at the New York Tropfest – the worlds largest short film festival. 

“Mankind Is No Island” by Jason van Genderen is a film that makes a social comment on the plight of home less people in New York and Sydney. Shot entirely on the camera housed in your typical mobile phone, the text based dialogue told by vernacular street signing leads the viewer through a very moving journey.

Another example of communicating so much, with so little. It is wonderful to witness crude and available technology transcend their physical limitations to communicate with such clarity.