Kerbedanz, Anthony Bourdain And A Little Bit Of Friction

There's a line in the late Anthony Bourdain's book 'Kitchen Confidential' that has me thinking lately...

The quote precedes a slightly offensive rant on vegetarianism, where Anthony condemns the notion that we should abstain from eating well in the name of health and wellbeing. The book was published in the year 2000, long before casual hatred of a particular cohort was frowned upon. Perhaps in this case, the good old days are better left in the good old days, if you know what I'm saying.

Anyway, the quote stirs something inside of me that I think all of us feel occasionally. The feeling that we should be enjoying our lives a little more than we are. Tony's philosophy, is that in order to live fully we have to make a mess, take risks and get beaten up a little along the way. He says we should eat the taco or the oysters from the questionable street food vendor because if you're lucky enough to avoid the toilet dribbles, it might just taste incredible.

Eat the food, take the trip, wear the watch.

RIP Tony

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Just Published: The Kerbedanz 65'27'' Is A Watch For The Thoughtful

The best piece of advice I’ve ever received came from a shirtless, fire-breathing hippie named Tyson.

One evening in my early twenties, for a reason I can’t remember, I was having a hard time. My friend Tyson walked up to me and with his dreadlocks flowing in the breeze, said to me, ‘Mitch, if you’re ever stressed out in life, all you have to do is focus on your next breath.’ Wise, if a bit obvious, words from someone who was perpetually barefoot.
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Remembered well, his advice has pulled me through hard times and accompanied me on good ones too. Making sure you’re still breathing is an important part of life after all. Although Tyson works at a bank these days, and probably wears shoes, he’s the closest thing to a prophet I’ve ever met. If there is such a thing. In hindsight, what he was talking about that night was the benefit of slicing our lives up into smaller more manageable chunks, so as not to get overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. Or maybe he was just high… I’ll never know.

“ When I look at the 65’27’’, it makes me think of all the ways I use intervals of time in my life. I count the minutes until my wife comes home, remember how many years I have left with my kids, and try not to take anything for granted. ​ — Mitch Barber

Almost twenty years later, I visualise his concept a little differently now. Our pre-set intervals of time, 60 minutes, 24 hours, 30 and 365 days I see as the rungs of a ladder. Rungs with which we can use to climb through our lives one step at a time. I try not look too far past the next step or I’ll lose my footing. The only step that matters is the next one. Make sense? We can do almost anything if we break things into small enough pieces.

Minutes, hours, days. Using these predetermined measurements is a useful, albeit, sterile way to live our lives. But what if we could measure our moments differently? What if we took a leaf out of Tyson’s magical book and used a more romantic interval of time? Something more akin to poetry than the 60s and 24s we’re used to. Well, Neufchatel-based brand Kerbedanz may have just what we need, with a little sparkle thrown in for good measure.

This is a story about an important birthday, a brand-new CEO and a watch that gives you something to look forward to, once every 65 minutes and 27 seconds.

First section done, breathe…. On to the next one.

The Lebond Award

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to help my good friend Asier Mateo present the Lebond award at the Dean's Honours and Awards Ceremony at The University Of Melbourne. Architecture graduate Je Yen Tan recieved a Lebond Siza as recognition of his studies and commitment to architecture. It was a very cool night and it was an honour to be there.

Thank you Asier for your trust!

“ LEBOND IS AWARE OF THE IMPACT OF ARCHITECTURE ON SOCIETY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE LEBOND AWARD IS TO RECOGNIZE AND GIVE VISIBILITY TO THE BEST ARCHITECTS OF THE FUTURE AT THE TIME OF THEIR GRADUATION. ​ — Asier Mateo

SmallSeconds In Print - The Format Question

Like anyone with a project they're excited about, I talk about SmallSeconds a lot. Anyone who I deem interested gets an earful of print media this, storytelling that. Most of the time my victims are supportive, sometimes they're uninterested, but what I love most is when they have feedback. And the most common feedback I get is...

What is with the format Mitch?

SmallSeconds in print will be a large broad sheet newspaper - 380mm × 578mm. The format was invented in the Netherlands in 1618 as an alternative to the the smaller quarto format that was popular at the time. It was then adopted more broadly (get it?) in 1712 when the British government imposed a tax on page count rather than size. The broadsheet allowed publishers to ship more words, on less pages, for less money. Got to love a tax dodge.

But why choose it for SmallSeconds? By design, the broadsheet format isn't 'premium', and that's on purpose. It's a deliberate departure from the glossy, book-like format of existing watch magazines. There's two reasons for the decision.

1. To remove some barriers, and put new ones up - The watch industry is famously price-exclusive and in order to welcome new people, I want to keep the price down. Broadsheet newspapers are famously inexpensive to print, with the added benefit of being cheap to ship. It will, however, be subscription only, so some commitment will be necessary from readers. It's a good middle ground between accessibility and effort on both side. It's a relationship and a partnership between publisher and reader.
2. To add a little bit of friction - I want the readers of SmallSeconds to enjoy the their time with the publication. Focus and attention are at a premium these days and sometimes we need to be forced to slow down. Creating a publication that is deliberately large and a little awkward to hold while walking is a choice I made at the start. I want you to sit down with a cup of tea and enjoy it with both hands. It's big on purpose.

Have any more feedback for me? Please reply to this email! I respond to everything. And if you're excited about SmallSeconds In Print, click the button below to be added to the waitlist!