The profusion of pop-up and wine bars that have hit Sydney in the last 12 months is, frankly, brilliant (not to be overly-superlative). One of those newcomers is Doctor Pong in Darlinghurst, a place that combines booze, ping-pong and tapas, and deserves a sweet little pat on the behind because of it.

It’s a casual affair at Doctor Pong – there’s nothing pretentious or fussy about it so it never makes you feel like you just can’t be bothered. Thongs or heels; all are welcome to kick back amongst the polished concrete floors, converted barrels and squishy chesterfield couches from which to drink your beer, American-teen-red-plastic-cup-style. You never have to wait too long to get a spot at the table du pong and since it can’t soak up beer spills like the good ole pool table, you’re not left feeling like you’re back at uni sculling the last of the evening’s $2 pints. The irony that’s at play at Doctor Pong is definitely a trait for the grown-ups.

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Leading the fashion pages of Yen Magazine is a job suited only for those who are destined for greatness. Like Dave Bonney and Imogene Barron before her, Pip Vassett is the newest recruit to fit the criteria of innovation and precision that such a position entails, and she’s been fitting the shoes before her with ease – and has added her very own mark of distinction to them. Her staunch eye for detail throws together patterns and colours with an unpredictability that works like it should be in fashion’s book of rules, and her ability to make style seem effortless leaves the undoubted hours of selection and deliberation indiscernible to even the most critical eye. Within Pip’s editorial, style is innate. Exactly as it should be.

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As a whirlwind of hype continues to sweep up anything with long hair, skin-tight denim and fashion accessibility, Circle Pit boast no stifling pretensions or studied ideals. Instead they have carved a troublesome and often glorious niche in their own corner of the music scene, serving as a reminder that times certainly are changing for the better.

Since first entering our collective musical consciousness, Angela Bermuda and Jack Mannix have been just as notorious for their considerable on stage prowess as they have been for their blistering shameless rock and roll attitude and staggering work ethic. Originally both members of the now defunct Kiosk, it was the formation of Circle Pit that marked the true beginning of Angela and Jack’s creative partnership. “We always wanted to make music together and even though we’ve done a lot of stuff before, it was never really what we wanted to do,” says Jack.

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If heaven actually exists, then starting up a school in Africa is a surefire way to get there. There’s something about Gemma Sisia, though, that tells us that she did it with more than just the afterlife in mind. The kind of woman whose mere presence is a benefit to the greater good of humanity, Gemma is somewhat of a celebrity in the altruistic world. Her School of St Jude in Tanzania has granted her with an Order of Australia, a wide array of speaking engagements and even material for a book, which fast became a best seller when it was released in 2007. She’s in town for the Zonta International Woman’s Day Event, and will be speaking at Sydney’s Parliament House tonight… but first, she spoke to us.

Gemma Sisia

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When a magazine makes you want to sleep with it under your pillow and whisper it sweet nothings, you know something’s wrong – or, perhaps, terribly right. There are few which fit this criteria of published infatuation, which is probably a good thing, so as to not make you appear like a total freak. But when Wooden Toy is unleashed, beauty-lovers far and wide know it’s time to just give up. It’s not worth fighting. It is THERE to be loved. And so, keep it in your handbag, pet it when you’re so inclined and let people think you’ve joined the circus. It’s worth it.

The creator and self-confessed “arty farty guy” of Wooden Toy is Melbourne-bred, London-based Timba Smits. A creative director, publisher, curator, and exceptional artist in his own right, Timba is the Australian art world’s equivalent to the Olsen twins (I happen to quite like the Olsen twins, thank you very much). Wooden Toy showcases creatives in a visual splendour that augments their work to an even greater level, marking the pages that they sit on as separate artworks themselves. Timba’s illustrative work is everything that makes up Wooden Toy on single sheets of paper – varied in its style but always welcome with aesthetic arms. Playing with headlines has made Timba big on the typography scene, with his creation of texts and fonts making words stand out less as descriptive elements but rather, as elements to be described. So he’s got his own magazine, his own artwork and his own freelance clients, and he even co-founded Melbourne’s Gowker Gallery in 2008. He recently packed ship and moved to London, a relocation made all the easier with his British Council Realise Your Dream Award win, and he is taking Wooden Toy with him. He may be a little trigger-happy when it comes to putting himself under the pump, but it’s the passion he puts into everything he does that keeps him alive.

“It’s all relative, really. I just do what I love,” he says.
“All my friends say that all they ever see me do is working, but I never feel like I’m working.”

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photos: Lisa Zhu