frankie and beans

Posted by charmedquark | July 10th, 2008

Frankie Frankie is an almost-A4 sized glossy Australian magazine printed with aesthetically pleasing, brightly coloured inks. The perfect accessory to keep in your bag with textbooks for the student needing some alternative cred, the cover usually features a sweet, well-dressed girl with an outfit that the struggling indie girl (or cross-dressing boy) can emulate.

Featuring reviews, interviews, intelligent and interesting journalism, advertisements that actually appeal and features on the designers, musicians and artists you wish you’d heard about before, Frankie is the magazine your art-school friends all dream of writing for.

For those too poor or cheap to actually buy a copy, their website is more than an advertisement for the latest issue. The blog contains entries about the kind of art, music, fashion and craft you’ll find in the “official” magazine, but it’s free to read, print and compile for a homemade-looking homage.

Equal in taste to Frankie magazine but richer in calcium, folate and vitamin A are the black-eyed beans (so titled to avoid confusion with and Google hits for the band the Black-Eyed Peas [Actually, we could use the search hits, we need the exposure]). If you happen to be stuck for inspiration at your next dinner party, perhaps you could try a dish featuring one of the ingredients mentioned in this entry. Consider especially the impression you’d like to make on your guests. The decision between a gourmet roulade de papier mache and an ethnic black-eyed bean hummus or dal could make or break your reputation as a host.