Playgroup

Current Happenings

2008-02-24T21:16:00.003+11:00

I haven't visited the Playgroup site in an age, I see that people are still using it, occasionally!
So what has happened to it? is it still alive in some way? or did it die a very premature death? If nothing is happening can it be revived? Maybe as we all start to move beyond uni (some, I see, already have!) it could be utilised in a new way????
Also Liam in response to that last post which wasn't so long ago - I use RSS feeds, they are so useful for info gathering.

P.S
FYI to all, I have changed my blog - I got rid of the blogspot one and I am now over at wordpress!
http://endsig.wordpress.com
although I haven't used it in a while I am planning to attempt to get something happening with it this year.

hey

2008-01-29T01:20:00.001+11:00

so, who uses RSS feeds? anyone? anyone? bueller?

Exhibition

2006-11-12T10:56:00.000+11:00

Hey guys,

Congratulations for hanging in the last semester and doing some amazing work, the exhibition truly reflected this. It was great to see everyone's work and how other studio's operated.
For those of you who still have work to submit, i wish you all the best, and for those who have finished...WOO, time for some sleep.

Liam is going to the netherlands

2006-08-19T21:57:00.000+10:00

come and play with us!!!

2006-07-09T22:15:00.000+10:00

come and play with us for the second time!!!!?!!?!!?!?

cinémathèque...

2006-07-04T02:31:00.000+10:00

do you like watching films?
'ID Cinémathèque'!!!

something for you to do.

2006-06-27T13:35:00.000+10:00

lab.3000 would like to invite you to attend the Portable Content Forum.

Time: Thursday 29 June 2006, 5.30 - 7.30pm
Venue: Experimedia, State Library Victoria, Swanston Street, Melbourne

Speakers
Andrew Apostola / Simon Goodrich - International Portable Film Festival
Adrian Bruch - School of Communication and Creative Arts Deakin University
David Rood - Education Editor, The Age Newspaper
Nick Gee - Commercial Manager, Sensis

Covering a broad range of topics from portable media, education, design, and new trends in web communities and technology, this forum will provide an overview of the current landscape and provide insight into this emerging area. This forum will also explore the impact of mobile / portable technologies within business and education arenas and the challenges for teachers to allow students to integrate these technologies into their teaching and learning.

Presented by lab.3000 in association with Experimedia.

Registrations:
Ticket Price: FREE

The next playgroup session

2006-06-24T20:51:00.000+10:00

Ok everyone how does this Thursday sound for people if we hold a meeting this week? I am going away for a few days so Thursday and Friday are the only days I am free. Post up if you think you can make it so I know what to bring along. Or if I need to make it another day next week, hope everybody is having a good holiday.

Reborn again…

2006-06-15T15:12:00.000+10:00

I was thinking that we should run playgroup over the holidays; I really liked our drawing madness class in the crumpet studio so was thinking of bringing a whole lot of art stuff in and we can draw things out and be a bit creative. I know Kate’s overseas but I feel it’s the last chance of making it work again before we get to busy, we can also discuss things coming up for next semester like studios and stuff. Drawing for me is another way to express out ideas and I have a few books and things to bring along. What do people think would you like to come along for a day of creativity?

playgroupers

2006-05-18T16:17:00.000+10:00

Hi and hello to all.

I am currently working on something in flash about design studies. Basically it is supposed to describe the essence of design studies to both the initiated (those who have studied/studying it) and the uninitiated (never heard of it before).

Anyway I would like to add some thoughts/opinions from students regarding the subject.
-good and bad aspects of it
-why you like/dislike it
- if you think/find it a valuable subject
etc

If you have something to say go here
Be open and honest. If you hate it, be as scathing as you please.
-B

2006-04-12T15:41:00.000+10:00

i would say that people inspire me more then objects,

Too Busy

2006-04-08T15:29:00.000+10:00

Well since everybody seemed too busy for playgroup last Friday, we didn’t end up starting the next project of coming up with ideas for level 5 so I am hoping to do it again sometime soon. Meanwhile if you have any ideas just post them up. Since Friday seems the best day for people to come along I guess we wont hold the next playgroup until after Easter, so I hope everybody has a good holiday. Maybe we could all bring in one image of something that inspires us for the wall.

mario style puzzle blocks- or- video games as real life

2006-04-02T15:24:00.000+10:00

this link is to a webpage detailing groups of people recreating parts of the nintendo game mario in public areas. apparently a group of girls was arrested yesterday on suspicion of terrorism for doing it (america!!) anyway, this is sort of public art stuff for a younger generation. hopefully some of you find it interesting

http://www.qwantz.com/posterchild/

Our next project!

2006-04-01T15:32:00.000+11:00

Ok I have decide that we are holding playgroup on Friday, as us second years are heading for a stressful week and need something to look forward to and clear our heads, so that’s official this Friday 7th of April we will hold playgroup hope to see you all there! It will be good.

What’s planned well not too much but I have our next project http://3dlevel5.blogspot.com/
I am sure we can come up with a few fun ideas, and then we can appreciate them everyday! So what do people think? Post up if you want to come then I can decide what room to put us all in. Kate it would be great if you could come along, you too Liam!

new ideas...

2006-03-23T15:43:00.000+11:00

We've been talking in research Methods about Droog Design, www.droogdesign.nl/ and design as research. I've just been watching a video about contemporary artists, and was very overjoyed by the work of Gabriel Orozco http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/orozco/index.html . Ceri from Public Art is keen to hang out with Playgroup too. I haven't been to any sessions lately, and tomorrow will be no different, since I'm helping build a car out of wood... BUT I would like to explore creativity in objects, not just brain-space. Making, manipulating, re-visiting, surprising ourselves, space interventions... As another thing to explore, I'm struggling to keep up with my work, and I'd like to use PG as a place to be to stay focussed sometimes too. I propose that we have random meetings as well as scheduled sessions, and I propose we have a swarm list of mobile numbers to be able to make a PG space with anyone who's around at a moment in time.
Seriously, read the droog philosophy and projects, they're really fascinating and playful. It reminds me a lot of what we're trying to do in PG. I was talking to my Sculpture lecturer yesterday, and he reminded me that art is just done for its own sake. The art and design I have seen in the last few days make me smile, spontaneous and unexpected, sometimes they make me very uncomfortable. I'd like to explore that. Would anyone else?

Balderdash, now that's a great word

2006-03-21T19:10:00.000+11:00

Last Friday afternoon a playgroup was held. I'd like to thank Haley for bringing "ABSOLUTE BALDERDASH" Can't say it's a game I've played before, but it was fun and interesting seeing how other people went about answering questions for this absurd game.
2 thumbs up Hales

Ok I’ll bring in the game tomorrow so all can play!

2006-03-16T20:23:00.000+11:00

Well even though not too many people have said anything we shall have playgroup tomorrow… Hopefully people turn up otherwise it will be entertaining watching me play by myself. The more people that come the better so hope to see you there. I think that maybe a brief idea or something fun is needed to kick start playgroup each week we'll see how a slightly planned playgroup goes.

whats next... a game!

2006-03-13T11:55:00.000+11:00

Well it seems that everyone has being quite busy, or there wasn’t enough time to view the last playgroup post as only Ben made it to the playgroup on the lawn. People are wanting to know what we are going to do so I hope no one minds if I make the next decision, I will bring in one of the games at home that I see as being creative and fun, we will hold it in the student lounge, as there are a lot of cards involved in the game and I don’t want to lose them, (plus I got sunburnt last Friday.)

The purpose of the game is to just get us thinking in a relaxing way so come along if you can, not sure if it should be this Friday or leave it to the next depending on how many comments of people coming, I will decide later in the week. The time will be the same time 12.30-2.30, and you can bring along your lunch cause we can eat and play at the same time.

Playgroup going mobile.

2006-03-08T17:48:00.000+11:00

Ok so it seems that Friday is ok for most people to hold playgroup, and we have decided that since our room is being used by a class that it’s time to go mobile…Starting with the State Library lawns for this Friday. We (as in 2nd years) still have a two hour break between studies class and lecture so that should be enough time. I think that we’ll used the student lounge as a meeting spot only if there are new people wanting to join and might not recognise us. So bring along your lunch and we’ll see you on the lawn.

2006-02-24T21:15:00.000+11:00

So is there going to be any playgroup sessions in the coming weeks? anyone interested.....

Creative Cities - free lecture

2006-02-20T12:27:00.000+11:00

Melbourne Conversations - What makes a city creative?
An outstanding panel, with an international perspective, considers how cities can best address creativity. What works for cities around the world? What are the pre-conditions or new directions that can make a difference? Is it possible to manufacture a creative city? With Joel Kotkin – US Author and Historian; Professor Frederick Mendelsohn – Director of Howard Florey Institute; Focus: The Brain And Creativity - Stimulating creative societies by fostering greater individual creativity; Andrew Bleby – Executive Producer, Performing Arts Melbourne 2006 Cultural Festival Office of Commonwealth Games Coordination; Shane Maloney – Writer
2-4pm, 21 February 2006
BMW Edge -
Free
Enquiries: (03) 9646 9615
courtesy of www.whitehat.com.au

Working bee

2006-02-07T10:49:00.000+11:00

WORKING BEE
when ; wednesday, thursday and friday (8th-9th & 10th of Feb)
where ; Levels 4 and 5 Building 87
why? because we all deserve a better work space.

And it is a nice way to start the year.

refreshments provided.
10am - until it is finished

(For those of you who have not received/read the email from Liam Fenessy)

koto

2006-02-05T21:08:00.000+11:00

hey guys, sorry this is a bit off the topic, but where i am doesnt letme comment on the blogs, or view themfor that matter.
this is for you kate... i went to the koto restaurant today in hanoi. the place was really new, and heavily frequented by tourists which is strange because it is not on the normal tourist trail. apparently its mentioned in a coupleof guidebooks, though not my one - its 2 years old...
from what i could gather the tuition is in allhospitality skills for disadvantaged and streetkids fromhanoi and surrounding area. the food was about half half western and traditional vietnamese, which i was dissapointed in- i thought it would be mostly vietnamese. but there is was a aussie burger on the menu. i guess they're trying to get the chefs expertise in all cuisines - and it probably brings the tourists in too.
the service was good, and mimicked that of reallyhigh class restaurants with the left hand flush against the smallof the back, always serve fromthe left etc. there was lotsof frienlyness, but it was a bit sterile as well, as if they were just imitating western waiters and trying to be that and only that. a lot of the charmof the place was lost i think. though it sounds like a great cause.
so there you go,sounds like a great place tovolunteer, i'd be happy to tell you more about it in person or when i dont havea sticky keyboard....
b

oh yeah, she was taking us over, oh yeah, it was the start of the summer

2006-02-05T18:35:00.000+11:00

well ppvw is taking me over and it's actually the end of the summer, but song lyrics in posts never go astray. umm, it's even harder doing this workshop and working then it was doing uni and working, but it's heaps of fun. everyone should check out the website and maybe come down for an hour or two later this week or next week.

i suggested a while ago on my blog that we should have some sort of communal graffiti system going to decorate the corridors, maybe pint by numbers or something. well, i've come up with a not paint by numbers system. the idea is to just basically cover the walls in paint of various colours, so it looks crazy and clashes, and is totally random, everyone could bring old leftover paint from home to do it. then we make patterns on the wall with masking tape, lines and stuff. we then paint over everything in white, and peel off the tape, revealing rainbow coloured lines and pictures. it means that we bring the input of a whole bunch of people while still retaining the final say as to what looks good. its like in kindy when you colour in a sheet of paper with rainbow pencils and then cover it wih black crayon and scratch pictures into it. i was thinking maybe the lift doors on level 5. what do you people think???

The joy of holiday threats.

2006-02-04T13:12:00.000+11:00

I have decided that I am going camping for the week and won’t be back until Friday, so if there are any playgroup meetings or painting I can’t make it unless it’s on Friday. Oh and the joy of interesting threats has started and the deadline has been given so if I don’t go for my licence and get it before uni starts literally all hell will break lose, and it wont be a very good year at all. So I have until uni starts to get my licence and it that doesn’t happen I don’t want to know my future... So if there are no posts up on my blog about me starting to get my act together I ask of you to kindy remind me how fast time is running out… I hope that everybody else has a good week.

Next Catch-Up?

2006-01-30T14:14:00.000+11:00

ok, so i told Soumitri that "“Playgroup” is a collective which was inspired by the possibility, raised in Kya Hai, of privileging creativity without agenda. It exists to allow its participants to use creativity and brainstorming techniques to investigate anything they are interested in exploring or revising."
I quite like that description.
The first day of PPVW was lots of fun, and there have been questions about PG and what we do, so i was wondering if you'd like another session, maybe Wednesday afternoon? There are PPVW free lectures in the evening, i was thinking of meeting at 3pm?

????

2006-01-29T19:58:00.000+11:00

Hi Kate,I was wondering if you would like to mobilize a group of studnets intohelping us finish off the gallery (4-87). all that really needs to bedone now is painting and a bit of sanding.Next week I am away. So it would be greatif you could help out with this new student resource.Let me know how you are placed. We could do it on a weekend or at night.It may clash with Micks Bike workshop though.thanksLiam FennessyDesign Studies CoordinatorRMIT Industrial Design

No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

2006-01-21T12:57:00.000+11:00

Well, they don't. Rarely, at the best.

But that aside . . . .

Happy new year and all that guff to everyone out there. Sorry I missed the first playgroup back, what with working like a bastard and whatnot. But hey. I'm ditching work this week because I'm so thoroughly sick of it and hate it a great deal.

I wanna get back to uni! Itching to do so, in fact. Doing nothing but working and sleeping and spending money is phenomenonly unsatisfying, and I'm tired of doing so. Bring on playgroup! Intellectual stimulation!

In short, I'm eager for the next one. Do we have a plan yet?

Hope everyone's having a better holiday than me,

- a

Games

2006-01-19T22:30:00.000+11:00

I have been thinking about some interesting games that I might bring along to playgroup… since my sister has been collecting them while she was over in NZ. So far I have balderdash don’t know if you have played that it can be quite creative as well as fun and educational in some abstract way. (Just put the educational bit in so it sounds good hehe just a whole lot of typical useless stuff you learn and then immediately forget.) Also found an intrusting one titled anti-monopoly though never played it before so might bring one in if I can be bothered lugging it all the way in. Plus games sound like a good emergency substitute if we can’t be bothered with much might find a few card games to put into the kits to get our minds going…

Official Merchandise - playgroup kits

2006-01-18T17:17:00.000+11:00

we also started working out what might actually BE in these elusive PG kits that we've been dreaming of for months. Our kits should definitely all be different, so that you don't always have the same stuff to work with, depending on who comes to a meeting. So far we have:

letterboxes
musical instruments - optional, should be saliva- and blood-free
chalk
crayons
pencils
pens
paints
tea and nibblies
paper
toy cars
skipping rope
blocks (wood, lego tm etc)
headbands for celebrity head tm-style techniques
wire
string
material
glue
sculpey
plasticine
(more) playdoh tm

we also need cases for them that can be locked down, locked together, hidden away, whatever. so we don't have to take them home every time, and also there's no point have letterboxes on them if no-one can leave you a note. the idea of locking them together was to configure them so they're too big to fit out through the door when they're all together.

So for the next meeting, start putting your kit together and playing with ideas for storing it!

tbc

They came and saw that it was good

2006-01-18T17:03:00.000+11:00

Another playgroup, another afternoon where i'm so exhausted from laughing that i'm having to type and correct everything twice.
We talked about how we'd like playgroup to be this year, what we think works and how much structure we want to avoid.

avoid competitions as projects: it increased the stakes and having a deadline turned it into a group project rather than organic discussion
avoid deadlines where possible
we're a great ready-made source/support group, we can rely on each other
it's a place to air/investigate problems or issues, uni-based or not
avoid setting meeting lengths, unless we're all really busy. we can just drift off when we have to
if there's something you want to Playgroup, post it on the blog to initiate discussion, or bring it up on the day
write or identify at the beginning of the meeting if there's something you want to talk about, so it doesn't get missed
not too worried about recruiting this year, we're happy for people to come along as they hear about it.
We're not an official elective, or performing seals, and we enjoy hanging out and doing stuff with no pre-determined need for an outcome. WYSIWYG
if there's a technique we're planning to do that might be interesting to people, for example "banana smoothie" when we're all brain-dead in, oh say, week 8, we'll announce it on posters etc
as always, anyone is welcome

that's it so far, what do you think?

New Year's evolutions

2006-01-11T19:51:00.000+11:00

Right well, the hibernation is over, for me at least! Hey yourself, Liam. I was thinking, and dreaming, and wondering who wants to come and play again?
I wonder if some of the amazing techniques on the various sites could be loosely grouped into categories and explored in a more coherent way. Perhaps they have things in common, like their best applications, or whether they're a structured technique, or if they're good for starting ideas, maybe some are better for polishing ideas. I shall have a look, and see if it's possible.
Happy New Year!

2006-01-11T18:25:00.000+11:00

HEY!!!

another thing to play with

2005-12-06T16:52:00.000+11:00

hey guys, i thought this might be fun to look at too, especially as our homeless don't seem to have as much of a shopping cart thing happening as they do in America. Pffft, sissies. Omigod did i say "fun" and "homeless" in the same sentence??? oops.
http://www.designboom.com/cart_shelter.html

I'm free on Thursday at some point if anyone would like a last hurrah before Xmas, i think I'll have one day off a week after this but not too sure that I'll be creative. There's only so much in me. Someone pls text me if you want to play, cos I probably won't get to a computer again before Thurs am. And you know how good i am at getting out of bed early.

is playgroup interested?

2005-11-30T20:37:00.000+11:00

Wednesday, 30 November 2005
PopUp at the Melbourne Design Festival
From 6-16 July, the 2006 Melbourne Design Festival will radiate across Melbourne - with glow as its theme.
This is your opportunity to help make it shine.
We invite you to create an event for the Festival’s inaugural PopUps program.
As the name suggests, PopUps will ‘pop-up’ across Melbourne during the Festival, and can take any form – an exhibition or installation, a launch or presentation, a competition, or any other event of your creation. Your PopUp will be designed and managed by you, with assistance from us, and will be fully-credited in the 2006 Melbourne Design Festival program.
PopUps provides an opportunity for designers, professional design bodies, universities and design-led companies to present their own design credentials to a broad audience. To help reach that audience, events selected for PopUps will link in with escorted tours on foot and by bus, with activities along the way and prizes on offer.
We welcome events of any scale, and welcome the opportunity to support you with venues, bookings, promotion and more from the Festival office at the National Design Centre, Federation Square.
To find out more about the 2006 Melbourne Design Festival PopUps program, click here.

The next playgroup is tomorrow

2005-11-29T19:09:00.000+11:00

Thought I would make a new post to tell you all that Playgroup will be tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1.30pm, there might not be to many of us but if worse comes to worse we can go Christmas shopping hehe. But hopefully that wont happen. I wonder if it’s going to be sunny, then we might move it outside somewhere. Well hope you have a great week Liam.

Quick post

2005-11-27T22:38:00.000+11:00

Ok so the next playgroup meeting I was thinking early in the week dose that suit everyone? So either Tuesday or Wednesday, maybe at 1.30pm again as people seem to find it easier to get to (or like to sleep in.) From memory the interviews also start soon so I think we should avoid holding playgroup then don’t want to scare them all so what do you think? Oh yeah and check out Kate’s blog for some of the techniques, it’s very good. A special thank you to Kate and Liam for volunteering for the graduate exhibition manning the bar and not to mention the promoting of playgroup on the t-shirts.

Playgroup today!

2005-11-24T20:51:00.000+11:00

Just thought I would write up a quick playgroup for the people who missed it. (mainly for Ben) We kind of looked into the lack of motivation, within each of us and just discussed Hermes a bit as that is due next week. I think we decided that there would be individual submissions and we haven’t gotten further within it in play group. We also have a nice surprise for tomorrow’s catering more shall be revealed later. So not missing out on to much but nearing the end we had achieved a higher level of motivation, which is good. So it seems where hitting a bit of a busy patch of the year but we all agreed it doesn’t matter if we need to stop for a bit depending on people playgroup wont die! (that last bit was for Liam ;)

woe is us - next meeting, Marvin?

2005-11-22T16:42:00.000+11:00

Ok, well it looks like 1:30 pm is good for everyone? Poor Haley, come on and don't stop breathing, ok? Well, I suggest that we Playgroup "motivation" - do we need to be motivated all the time? Can we forgive ourselves for "doing nothing"? Who do we know that is always BUSY and ACHIEVING - and do we want to be like them? How do we find our own way or path or style of balance between doing and being, and feel comfortable with it? Bring whatever you have, and if that's you and the clothes you're wearing, that's enough, ok? See you Thursday :) I hear it's going to be rainy - but if it's not we could sit outside!

Just a quick update

2005-11-21T16:09:00.000+11:00

Ok how about we have playgroup on Thursday? Dose that suit people, not sure about the time either 10am if people want it in the morning or 1.30pm if people want it in the afternoon. Thanks to all the people who are helping out with the catering we have been promised that we can take breaks, so we’ll get the chance to look and chat.

A request from Dana

2005-11-16T18:10:00.000+11:00

As you know about the catering for the exhibition night, they are desperately looking for people to help out. I also know that we had enough catering fun at the with the delight project at the mid semester exhibition but I think we could at least put us down as emergency people so they don’t have to freak out and wonder who’s going to do it. Because as it turns out (surprise) there’s not a strong interest from the 1st and 2nd years. Dana thinking how enthusiastic people (as we are doing playgroup in the holiday’s) have a good community spirit would help out. I am going to even though it’s with much resentment, but apparently we push around trolleys which will help put an end to that sore arm from caring stuff. So please put your name down and I’ll email him back saying that we are emergency people and that he’s welcome to fill up all the places before us. Thanks

tuesday meeting

2005-11-16T16:43:00.000+11:00

on tuesday we had a big turnout. four (4) people. but we were very productive.

we used 2 techniques- brain swarming and mind bottling

we can go over them at the next meeting.

Last Tuesday

2005-11-10T15:40:00.000+11:00

Well a short update on last Tuesday’s meeting, Andrew invited along some of his friends whom he said where interested but only one could stay so there where a total of for of us. We tested out the laddering technique where we start with one thing then ladder up then down. It was quite a good technique. We didn’t use it on Hermes as with one of Braden’s last comments we where kind of tiring of it, and we did seem to have so interesting conversations and discussions that sprung form know where, I think that it was a success of the leader thing where there’s a tad more direction. So for the next meeting when do people want to hold it? Early next week sometime or there is tomorrow but I do feel that’s way too late to organize something.

Not using the air of Paris theme was good as it doesn’t work when there’s not the same people there each week, just something to consider. But I don’t mind the idea of working on it all together maybe just not all the time.

Apologies

2005-11-07T09:09:00.000+11:00

Sorry guys, I won't see you tomorrow, I'm working in the shop. Let me know how it goes, though, and when the next meeting is? I'm not working again till Sunday, so am pretty flexible.

Playgroup Goals, as at 02/11/05

2005-11-05T16:49:00.000+11:00

have a conch/talking ball
sharpen our brains
air ideas and problems
world domination
air paris
listen to & help each other
learn as individuals and as a group
keep our minds active over the holidays
keep a creative mindspace
talk to & hang out with people that i like
bounce ideas off others
not just be isolated/individuals over the holidays
experiment with new ways of thinking
step outside comfort zone
learn to listen
learn how to take over the world
create enduring community separate from uni
develop connections with other people, not just id
create a playbox with techniques and tools
also have mobile playkits
identify and use divergent and convergent techniques

Next Meeting!

2005-11-05T16:44:00.000+11:00

Well hello! So the next meeting will be on tuesday at 3pm, Haley will run the first hour and Ben will take the second, each providing a technique and a situation. Haley isn't totally sure that she can make it on Tuesday - and I still don't know my roster - so who knows what Tuesday may bring?? Still bring your toys and ideas and suggestions though, if you like!

shameless blogvertising

2005-11-05T15:52:00.000+11:00

hey folks. sorry to abuse the priveledge for sad plugging, but i'm working on a coffee table design at the moment and the folks within this group have opinions i've love to hear.

it's sitting over at knowhere, or here if you prefer.

thanks folks.

- a

questions from the slow poke.

2005-11-01T21:42:00.000+11:00

A little behind the 8 ball here. What time is the play group tommorrow? what shall i bring?

Cherry Split

2005-11-01T18:53:00.000+11:00

I just wanted to get a record started of the techniques we try out and our opinions of them. It seem like this is a good place to do that! I really enjoyed Cherry Split, even though the outcomes might not be immediately obvious. It's certainly a tool that could be used again and again on the same topic, to stretch it further, kind of like a piece of dough getting thinner and bigger.

collusion

2005-11-01T18:39:00.000+11:00

well, i have a couple of friends hopefully coming along tomorrow. one from software engineering ar rmit (though he's just graduated) and one from primary teaching at deakin. even odds on whether they turn up, but i am hopeful.

see you folks there.

- a

p.s. - tee hee. toy cars are fun.

flow

2005-10-31T22:59:00.000+11:00

my pdf isnt working at the moment, but i'll spend more time another day and bring it wednesday to check it out...

a project for playgroup

2005-10-31T21:22:00.000+11:00

following feedback appraisal this has now been placed upon the shelf of things to do later.

Hoppy's seen better days

2005-10-31T20:38:00.000+11:00

Well here it is Ben, the cane toad I was talking about in playgroup today. its only a small one, they apparently can get much larger than this one. He's seen better days though - he came off the woodbase he was on when i picked him up outta the box and he's soooo dusty. i think i'll name him hoppy. go hoppy be free, free of your cardboard prison.

Wednesday's Meeting

2005-10-31T20:06:00.000+11:00

So I'll see you guys for the next Hermes meeting on Wednesday at 2pm. I propose that we get rid of this democracy which slows us down, and elect a dictator!

Alright not really, but I do think we need a moderator for the sessions to keep us motivated, to know when to change direction or have a break, and to have written the agenda for the session. I suggest that we take it in turns to be the moderator. This will give us all a chance to explore our management skills and have a clear shot at getting accross our own ideas on how to run a playgroup. It seems to me that this will allow us to learn about ourselves and our communication styles. We can also choose which methods we want to experiment with. I suspect that this will allow us to develop our own Playgroup creativity games, as each of us will work better with some tools than others. I think we might find it easier to develop our own games if we know which aspects of existing ones fit ourselves best, and can speak for components of the tools that we value.

If this was something you wanted to do, who would like to be the moderator on Wednesday?

French sociologist

2005-10-30T21:15:00.000+11:00

I asked Soumitri about the classifications guy you mentioned in Playgroup the other day - Pierre Bourdieu. Tres interessante. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Bourdieu
:)

problem solving

2005-10-29T19:40:00.000+10:00

as part of a mobile playgroup kit, could we take qualities form different problem solving techniques, and mould all the best ones into a technique that we use and write down as our own technique or theory. It would be similar to creating corporation games, but we would already know the best ways of solving problems - or at least the ones which work for us.
i think the more sessions we have the more we will know which ones work for us.
just a thought

actor network theory

2005-10-29T17:28:00.000+10:00

heres a bit from wikipedia on what the actor network theory is about. from what i can understand its a bit like role playing int he problem, where every item (person and object) is played by a problem solver, and they argue solutions form that perspective.

Just turned on word verification

2005-10-29T14:35:00.000+10:00

Hope no one minds just turned on word verification after our first dose of spam. I like the poster you made for playgroup at the exhibition. I have only heard a little about this Walton group but I am up for anything. Apparently playgroup is going to run an activity or something for the first year camp. That sound really great, I am looking forward to next year.

Some links to creativity tools etc...

2005-10-28T22:19:00.000+10:00

thought that people might like to have alook at some of these, alright check out these links for some creativity tools and techniques.
http://www.mycoted.com/creativity/techniques/index.php
http://www.jcu.edu.au/studying/services/studyskills/mindmap/howto.html
http://www.makemark.com/graphic_facilitation/services/
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm

I think that the first link has several that we could possibly use in playgroup, i will spend sometime pulling some techniques out that we could use, but browse through and see what you can find.

Hello!

2005-10-28T16:32:00.000+10:00

Hey, love this new blog, and yeah the fish photo is awesome. I think increased mobility would be a great thing, too. Soumitri wonders if we would like to do a Playgroup for the Walton group? I think that could be a great start to our outreach stuff. I'm working on putting all our creativity tools into a reference format, which needs to be done anyway for Kya HAi. So anything you think needs to be included, mention it here! I would really like to kick Hermes into overdrive. Who's up for a Playgroup on Monday?

2005-10-27T20:48:00.000+10:00

Ummm haley where did the links on the side u added go ?

Slates, Chisels & hammers

2005-10-27T20:37:00.000+10:00

Well i just though i would add some stuff to this young blog. I really enjoyed playgroup today and i really like the idea of this mobile toolkit for playgroup so that we can get out and about, yet another thing that need to be thought about, oh the possibilites - i still think we should all start using slate and chisels and very large hammers - although possibly not very portable. Anyway...i was thinking during my long bus trip of stuff for herpes oops i mean hermes thing which is a merging of the old cliche paris with the real paris, real being the spit and traffic etc etc , not really developed yet just a thought, will post later and try and expand ideas on it when it comes to me. and I realised that there was something i fogot to add to the list today - smoke & smokers - when i visited paris there were smokers every where, it was especially evident in resturants ugh i hate smoke when i am eating - i really hated it - i spose that is another cliche though cause when i think of paris i think of a frog in a hat thing and a stripy shirt smoking one of those long thin cigarettes. well enough of my ramblings.

Welcome to the play group blog

2005-10-27T19:27:00.000+10:00

Yay our own little blog hopefully this can make communication of ideas much easier, and makes Kate’s blog a little less like a notice board. I am glad that more people are turning up to playgroup and that whole idea of a travelling white board would be interesting, letting the playgroup become mobile. Hopefully this blog means that we can all continue to have playgroup no matter where we are. The Hermes window display project sounds quite exciting with all these ideas, everyone should keep on going and bring in sketches and ideas for next week. Hope you like the fishy photo.