You’ve been an idea fountain since you were little, a beverage enthusiast since legally allowed, an avid bar hopper since you discovered disposable income and by now you’ve seen enough bars to know what makes a great one. But what would it take to make your dreams of creating and running your own bar become a reality?

Drambuie has just announced that they are going to give someone the opportunity to do just that, to create and run their own bar. They’re conducting a competition, the winner of which gets to take a space in central Sydney and realise their idea.
“We’re looking for a unique bar idea and one that can work commercially. Something interesting and imaginative that makes people take notice, something that fascinates us with possibilities,” says Rose Scott, General Manager of Marketing and Sales for Drambuie.
“A great idea needs to be matched by commercial savvy,” adds Ms Scott. “The Premise is all about recognising creativity and inspiration and giving the entrants the opportunity to channel their ambition and passion into creating a one of a kind bar.”
Entrants will be required to reference Drambuie in their bar idea but the point is for the reference to be clever, not a blatant ad for Drambuie.
“Bonnie Prince Charlie requested his royal apothecary make a powerful drink to invigorate his spirit and carry him through battle. That recipe was Drambuie and it has remained secret since 1745,” says Ms Scott. “Drambuie was the most treasured possession of royalty and we think it’s an incredible legacy but we’d like to see what the entrants take out of the story of Drambuie.”
With an expert panel of judges, professional mentoring along the way and a prize that includes a venue, staff, advertising and PR support, Drambuie is giving those with a dream, one chance to make it a reality.
The competition consists of two rounds of entries and finalists. Each round will result in ten finalists – the top seven highest ranked and three wild card entries selected by the judging panel.
The twenty chosen finalists will then be introduced to their renowned mentors who’ll help them spin their ideas into gold. From those polished submissions, the judges then choose a shortlist of five ideas.
The shortlisted finalists will be flown to Sydney for a final presentation in front of the judging panel. That night, one final winner will be announced, showered with praise and given access to the venue space that will soon become their own bar.
The winner will be given the opportunity to bring their vision to life. This will be a venue for approximately 120 revellers with everything needed to run it included – a bar manager, security, alcohol supplies, bar equipment, bar facilities, staff and fit-out costs.
The winner will help run the bar over nine nights of trading over a three week period beginning on 8 October, 2010.
Entries are now open at www.thepremise.com.au and the public can vote for their favourite bar until the deadline of 13 July 2010.

Everything about Sruli Recht’s (Df issue 13) work is impeccable; from his font, to his packaging, to the materials and techniques he employs … While they hark back to ages past, there’s nothing old hat about his creations – they’re the ultimate in luxury. Click on the image above to watch a video which provides a brief window his studio, equipment and techniques. Enjoy.

We’re writing a story for the next issue about working from home and would love to know your thoughts? If you do work from home, does it ‘work’ for you? What do you love about it, what’s tricky? If you don’t … do you wish you did? Why? Let us know by leaving a comment below … Thanks! Df

ps. there’s a great discussion going on on our facebook page if you’re interested in reading more people’s experiences

As many of you (those who subscribe to our email newsletter) already know, as of the 15th May we’re no longer going  to be selling back issues of Dumbo feather … several reasons, but mostly the storage and admin costs associated with keeping them have just become too much. So …

you’ve got this week ONLY to get your paws on as many back issues as you’ll possibly ever need/desire …

The specials we’ve got going are issues 1-4 for just $20 and the full set of all available back issues for $135, that’s 18 issues for the price of 15. Get collecting!!! They truly are a beautiful set. A woman wrote to us recently. She’d bought two sets, one for each of her sons … who are both still under ten years old!

Some beautiful little stores have opened up all over the country … and, as well as all manner of fine goods, they’re also stocking Dumbo feather. If you live in these parts, by all means pop into;

QLD – Reap N Sow – a new retail artspace in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast
VIC – Orlando & Ivy – Ming-Zhu has wonderful taste, and her store in North Melbourne is the perfect extension of it
VIC – New Leaves in Woodend, is owned by the lovely Claire who’ll help you find something special every time
WA – B&M Store – for ‘crafty bits & bobs’ in Fremantle
TAS – Hobart Bookshop – Tassie’s best bookstore
Wellington – Minerva – a haven for textile lovers … which also has a damn fine mag selection

Last year, Dumbo feather’s founder and editor, Kate Bezar, was asked to be part of a very special revolution, a revolution spear-headed by a very special man called Jono Fisher. Jono has made it his mission to bring together like-spirited people, to inspire them, to get them thinking and to get them doing … He calls it ‘Wake Up Sydney’. A couple of times a year Jono pulls together a fantastic evening with inspiring speakers and performers … wine, chocolate … seriously, who could want for more? Next month he’s holding another event, this time in the Sydney Town Hall. It’ll be very special, cross our hearts … All the details are on the Wake Up Sydney website.

Hey crew, we’ve got some great tickets to give away today to current Dumbo feather subscribers.

2 x double passes to the Sydney Theatre Company’s upcoming production ‘Stockholm‘
5 x double passes to the next major ACMI (in Melbourne) exhibition, ‘Tim Burton‘

Stockholm (17 March – 24 April) is performed by groundbreaking British physical theatre company, Frantic Assembly, and Sydney Theatre Company. It treads a fine line between fantasy and reality … a mesmerisingly powerful piece of dance-theatre which reveals a relationship that is founded on co-dependency, obsession and abuse. To win a double pass, be one of the first two to email comps@dumbofeather.com with Stockholm as the subject and the name of the person who wrote Stockholm.

From June to October 2010, ACMI will host a unique exhibition direct from The Museum of Modern Art, New York. An Australian exclusive, Tim Burton: The Exhibition is a landmark retrospective charting Burton’s creative vision and process from his earliest work to the spectacular Alice in Wonderland. To win a double pass, be one of the first five to email comps@dumbofeather.com with Burton as the subject and the name of the exhibtion’s curator.

[L is for Lover, not Loser]

To me the word ‘amateur’ has always had negative connotations. If I described someone as “such an amateur” I’d be implying that they didn’t really know what they were doing. But did you know, the word ‘amateur’ actually comes from the French meaning ‘lover of’? If you think about it, in sporting circles, ‘amateur’ is used to describe someone who plays for no pay ie. for the love of it. We should be amateurs with pride! What do you do ‘just for the love of it?

It’s rare that a press release makes us stop to think, or even laugh for that matter, but this morning we received one that did both. Here’s how it went;

“In the 1950s, novelist Kurt Vonnegut was fresh out of university. Wondering where his career was headed, he took a job at ‘Sports Illustrated’ magazine, where his first assignment was to write an article about a horse that had jumped a fence during a race in an attempt to escape. The story goes that after staring at the blank piece of paper in his typewriter all morning, Vonnegut wrote, “the horse jumped over the fucking fence” and then left the building. Disillusioned, and on the verge of abandoning his art altogether, Vonnegut took a teaching job at a writers’ workshop. During his time there, his thesis became a bestseller, and he began the novel ‘Slaughterhouse Five’, which would go on to become one of the most popular novels of all time.
Vonnegut’s story is dramatic, but not terribly unique. Many artists leaving university find themselves questioning their practice, their industry, their peers, and their professional identity. Each year, LAUNCH brings together a group of recent graduates whose work in part forms a response to these questions …”

Thanks Brunswick Arts, I’m sure the exhibition will be fantastic.

Some more Vonnegut-isms …

Our latest stockist is the best darn ‘corner’ store on Waiheke Island (just off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand). It’s called Waiheke Fruit & Veg, but generally goes by its nickname ‘The Top Shop’ and its owner Emily MacDonald is a pretty top lady herself. Not only is she still in her twenties (maybe even early twenties), but she’s transformed what used to be your pretty average shop into something really special. She stocks the best organic produce and gourmet goods (local if poss) like I love Pies, No. 29 Olive Oil and Cable Bay Wines, all the produce is labeled with its English AND Maori names and now it stocks Dumbo feather!

Waiheke Fruit & Veg is also the base for an incredible project Emily’s set up. Two years ago she visited the war-ravaged province of Gulu, Uganda and was inspired to do something to help the children there. In 2009, TheVillageProject raised over $60,000 from the sale of limited edition t-shirts and artworks. This year they’ve already raised half that again, this time by selling over 1,000 stainless steel water bottles too … Emily’s also on a mission to make the island plastic water-bottle free! You go girl.