The wait is almost over for the release of the instant classic. Here are HEAPS of spectacular visuals to help whet the appetite. You know that we are extremely excited and now we hope that you are too.

And of course we cannot forget about the root of our fanaticism, Maurice Sendak’s genius…

Thanks for providing our favourite videos for the month of October (the clips after the cut):

1. The awesome video for Danny & Armi’s hit from the 70’s, ‘I Wanna Love You Tender’
2. An even better version – synched to Ozzy’s ‘Crazy Train’

Download free wallpapers here for your computer or here for your iphone.

The NBA Fantasy Basketball season is upon us and we had our live draft on the weekend. It was a super nerdy way for 20 grown men to spend a Sunday afternoon. Unlike most fantasy sports enthusiasts, we aren’t closet players. We play year in, year out, mostly unashamedly. It is the natural progression for any hoops fanatic who realises that the dream of one day becoming a professional player in the NBA is slowly fading and must to look to alternative basketball-themed successes instead. It is also a positive outlet for all of the invested time spent following results, boxscores, news, articles and the many soap operas of the basketball world that would otherwise be redundant.

The Good Life Fantasy League is a yearly competition where friends and colleagues/clients of The Good Life who share similar basketball passion are invited to flex their basketball knowledge and team management saavy. The season ends with an eventual champion who is awarded the title and handsome prize money. We have been playing through the dynamic ESPN interface for our third year straight. It comes highly recommended and it is completely free to setup your own custom league. Ante’s and my draft results below.

Ante’s Team
Point Guard – Beno Udrih, SAC
Shooting Guard – Kevin Martin, SAC
Guard – JR Smith, DEN
Small Forward – Rashard Lewis, OLD
Power Forward – David Lee, NYK
Forward – Kevin Love, MIN
Center 1 – Joel Przybilla, POR
Center 2 – Josh Boone, NJN
Utility 1 – Lamar Odom, LAL
Utility 2 –  Tayshaun Prince, DET
Bench 1 – Anders Nocioni, SAC
Bench 2 – Carlos Delfino, MIL
Bench 3 – Ty Lawson, DEN
Manager – Ante Zupan, TGL

Nate’s Team
Point Guard – Steve Nash, PHO
Shooting Guard – Nate Robinson, NYK
Guard – Jose Calderone, TOR
Small Forward – Yi Jianlian, NJN
Power Forward – David West, NOH
Forward – Jason Thompson, SAC
Center 1 – Al Jefferson, MIN
Center 2 – Antonio McDyess, SAS
Utility 1 – Brandon Rush, IND
Utility 2 - Ronny Turiaf
Bench 1 – Kyle Lowry, HOU
Bench 2 – Chuck Hayes, HOU
Bench 3 – Ike Diogu, NOH
Manager – Nathan Lee, TGL

If you are a little bit confused as to what we are addressing in this post, this is what fantasy basketball is all about. Fantasy is a big deal! Check out how deep this stuff can get on the Fantasy Focus Basketball Preview (video) at ESPN.

Charming hand-drawn title sequence by Geoff McFetridge. Nice in still, great in motion. Maurice would surely approve.

Cool vinyl figures for Where The Wild Things Are. Detail pics after the cut. Buy here.

Fun and outstanding artistic execution from our favourite Opening Ceremony. Obviously these are products strictly for the nerdy fan-base. In our case, we are super fans of both partners, which makes for a dreamy collab. Whether you deem this collection wearable or not, it is a creative masterpiece. Heaps of pics after the cut…

The WTWTA OST was written by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Listen to snippets here. The Soundtrack will be released in Australia later in the month.

In breaking news SMH reveals that at the end of the month Sydney gets it first Topshop via Incu. No word on Topman yet.

The marketing campaign for Vampire Weekend’s new album is building up steam towards it’s release date, which is NEXT YEAR! I guess there’s no such thing as too early when it comes to hype machines. It better be a good album. The link lives here.

I first heard about this via Opening Ceremony on the back of their opening ceremony. They posted the below pic with nothing but a silly link (HTTP://WWW.ITHINKURACONTRA.COM/)…

Some nice soulful hip hop from Othello & DJ Vajra. I’ve been finding it extremely hard to find any hip hop that’s a real ‘keeper’ over the last few years. Then magically, this afternoon Stephanie from A-Side emailed this over. Have a listen below, you’ll be pleased!!! Active Balanced (ready for download on iTunes) also features our guy-of-the-moment Mayer Hawthorne on the hook.

Listen: Othello & DJ Vajra – Active Balanced

Emcee Othello (Lightheaded Crew) connects with turntablist DJ Vajra for this 12″ which showcases Mayer Hawthorne aka Haircut and his group Now On (Jackson Perry, IX Lives, Haircut). This is the first single off the upcoming album ‘The Required Taste.’

On the flip-side, Theory Hazit makes an appearance with “Same Team Suckas.” Instrumentals and accapellas available for both tracks!

Artist: Othello & DJ Vajra
Song: Active Balanced feat. Mayer Hawthorne and Now On (Terry Cole Remix)
Label: Colemine Records
Year: 2009

The Good Life created these business cards for sports uniform manufacturer Bigtyme Sportswear. We felt like the concept was a good fit for the client, being the perfect medium to showcase the product samples, novel collateral idea which would help with generating awareness for a reasonably unknown brand, deliver the basketball culture message, have a strong emotional effect on the target consumer and most of all, be a physical metaphor for ‘custom’ and ‘genuine’ (2 key product ideals). Being a basketball head and avid card collector in the past, this was a design concept that we felt strongly about and couldn’t wait to get off our chest. It’s done now and we feel good about it.

The concept of a business card mimicking a basketball card creates a sense of value that an ordinary contact card never possesses. Don’t bend or fray the edges!!! It almost becomes a collector card of sorts and probably be a favourite business card, possibly claiming permanent real estate in the owner’s wallet. It also can be a talking piece in casual conversation, occasionally pulled out for show-and-tell, and therefore creates a second life or second exposure for the collateral piece (which is a tactic we feel strongly about). The novelty of coarse also helps the brand to be memorable.

A lot of care was taken to recreate all of the nuances of a collector card. From the design aspects and photographic treatments through to the print finishes. The card series that we referenced were Fleer 91-92 (back design), Upper Deck 93-94 and Skybox Premium 92-93. Retro heaven!

The ‘The Magic Lives On’ campaign for the Queen Victoria Building is well under way around Sydney CBD and I’m not sure to what extent the general public have taken notice, but I am a really big fan. PDC Creative are the agency that developed the marketing campaign which I feel is exceptional. Credit when credit is due, and you can always count on us design nerds to appreciate these kinds of little things (plus the fact that I’m a a follower of the renovators, Ipoh, who are named after the little Malaysian city where my dad is from).

From a visual standpoint the photography, styling, typography and design is beautiful. It’s impossible to fault.

But aside from the execution, the whole concept and timing for the campaign is brilliant. For the longest time I have felt that the QVB was an unappreciated, underrated, underused and misunderstood shopping destination. It has not been much more than a bus stop, a meeting spot (near the fountain) or a thoroughfare from Town Hall Station to the commercial centre of Sydney over the years. And because of the redevelopment of Pitt Street Mall coupled with the ‘financial crisis’, the majority of Sydney’s mainstream shoppers are left without a natural go-to-move. It’s about time the QVB took the throne as Sydney’s shopping mecca. It’s got the perfect locality, infrastructure, beautiful architecture, easily-recognised brand, ties to prestige and undeniable charm. It already houses all the big brands, although at the moment it feels more like their spaces are more of a status thing or a mere billboard for George St and York St traffic.

When taking all this into account the finished artwork for the campaign is marked with an A++. It visually communicates all of the messages that the QVB needed to pronounce. The bridge between historical elegance and contemporary classic is made with a dream-like approach. The communication is very strong, yet without the usual clutter and ‘dumb-down’ ellaborations. And above all, everything has been done with a whisper.

Housemate Mitchell Orr was featured in The Sydney Magazine (SMH) yesterday in a FP spread. The ‘Watch This Face’ feature on page 28 outlines Mitch’s background, experiences and food philosophies. The exposure just keeps rolling in since being anointed Young Chef of the Year last week.

On another note, how good is the logo for the Special Food Issue? Very nice for a single-use mark.

According to ESPN, New York cult heroes David Lee and Nate Robinson have decided to stay with the Knicks for at least one more season. That means one more year of fun for basketball fans watching them run with Coach D’Antoni’s system.