Sunday 28 April 2013

MUSIC HAUL #3.

I've rediscovered old songs, listened to some really old songs and heard some fresh new releases. And none of that will be in this Music Haul.
Lately I've been intrigued by the number 23 but seeing as you probably won't want to read about, let alone listen to 23 new songs, I'll probably do 5 today/tonight. Hehe. I hate that show.
It's weird because when people do these kinds of posts I listen to the first few then skip over everything else. It's like when I get my Insound newsletter - it's filled with so many new songs and acts that I haven't heard of that I try to just listen to at least one song because I become so overwhelmed by the thought of not knowing who someone is. I am supposed to know everything. It's like my purpose in life. Laugh out loud.

1. Misery - Veronica Falls

These guys sound like they just stepped out of some happy little love shack that the B-52s sang about ages ago. Misery is (ironically) an upbeat song that I just want to jam to with a creepily massive smile on my face. It has these positive old-school vibes and it's like the Beach Boys meets Peter Bjorn and John if they all lived in the 90s listening to Esthero.
That's a really creepy image with their eyes wide open.

2. Eyes Wide Open - Gotye

This is a rather old song from Making Mirrors (2011) and "Somebody That I Used To Know" was on the same album but it is a spectacular song. The production and sound of the song meshes perfectly with the lyrical content - I believe it is one of those environmental songs.
The video is so strange but memorable and wow.
Oh, and this is my little brother's favourite song. His second favourite is probably Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles.

3. What a Pleasure - Beach Fossils

These guys rock. Every song they make is musical genius. This song has a killer bassline and the composition is amazing. I love the feeling I get when I listen - it's like you're somewhere you can't be. I remember the first time I felt that was when I was about 4 and I stood staring at the desktop wallpaper and realising that I could never see the hills in the image and wondering what it would be like to live in that world that didn't exist - and yet even if it did, the clouds would never be in the same spot and if the photo was indeed real it could never be taken again. Deep, I know. Sort of.

This was my first encounter with deep feelings.


Have a listen. Every time I do I get transported to this place that I know I'll never be able to visit, like the depths of space or a lighthouse I made up inside my head 8 years ago.

4. This Disorder - The Features

Firstly, this song's lyrics are amazing. It can connect with anyone that has ever experienced a mental disorder and the confusion that can come with it. The lyrics are so poignant and raw and honest and encompass the topic so perfectly. It's a sensitive topic to sing about but this band does it so well.
And it's a rocking song. The melody is catchy and the vocalist sounds great. The chorus is great to sing along to, and this song is pretty fun to dance to as well. I think I should make a playlist of songs that would be great fun to play at parties even though the lyrics say otherwise.
What a great song. Ah.

5. Two Fingers - Jake Bugg

I first came across Jake because someone said that he was Cara DeLevingne's boyfriend (she's amazing.) Unfortunately, they've split, and I'm sad.

Jake's song "Two Fingers" sounds like it was pulled out of a time machine. Jake is like a modern Bob Dylan with the singing style of the Beatles a little. It sounds amazing.

He did cite his inspirations as some of those really classic musicians from about thirty years ago and it shows through his rough, raw music.

Actually I think classic songs are those performed by people who have died. Seriously. No one covers Teen Spirit because Kurt isn't around. No one covers Imagine because Lennon was shot. People don't even cover Joy Division that much because Curtis isn't here anymore either. So that's classic music for you. Back to Bugg.

It's a groovy song with attitude and it's so feel good and you can't help but clap along.

So that's this music haul! Comment for some suggestions for me to listen to or nominate for the next haul or Song of the Week! Till then, keep it classy.

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK #2.

So as you know I'm back and I realised that there's only one Bubble and Squeak that I've done and it looks kind of odd if I have a #1 but no #2.

Here are some random things that will give you a glimpse into the strangely wired inner workings of this mind of mine. Careful, it's hot.

1. Papillionaire bikes.

LOOK AT THAT BEAUTY
This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the most beautiful contraptions known to man.
If you saw my Maui post you would've realised that I took a random photo of a random bike because it looked randomly pretty. Serendipitous, I know.
These guys at Papillionaire make the most beautiful vintage bikes and I want one. I need about $500 though, so if any of you readers are charitable billionaires - actually, pa-billionaires (you laugh here) - please contact me as soon as possible. I do accept messages by homing pigeons and underpaid social networking interns.

2. Kaisercraft bookends.

ADORABUBBLE I KNOW
As an avid bookreader (not bookworm. I am not long and thin), I encountered a frustrating hiccup today when my wonderful books toppled over and wouldn't stand back up. It was so horrible. I was being rejected by my own children.

Anyway I found these adorable bookends from Kaisercraft and they make me so happy.
I'm annoyed because although they cost $18 at the least, the shipping is about twice that and the ones with free shipping are $40 anyway. My dad is whipping up some crazy concoction in the garage as we speak I type. Alone.
The bicycle ones are my favourite and because they're MDF you can paint them or wallpaper them or staple mini bunting on or leave them plain.
If you haven't worked it out yet I love vintage bikes.

3. Maple Bacon Sundae.

Yes, folks, these things do exist. (They're endemic to America).
Heart attack right there, folks.
I had it at a Denny's diner on my holiday and I will admit that it wasn't that bad. The bacon bits were really crispy and all but the maple syrup and ice cream tasted pretty good. Try it.

4. The Lord of the Rings.

I found that my uncle had this lovely old copy of all the Lord of the Rings books in one massive volume compilation thingy.
 
It's massive and heavy because it's hardcover and the font is ridiculously small but I love it so much.
And Gollum is freaking HILARIOUS. "Nice sensible hobbits." I want to name any child I ever have Gollum or Meriadoc or Legolas. Or maybe Batman. That sounds nice.

5. The Great Gatsby film.

Well this film is probably going to be my life.

Not only does it have amazing actors, it was filmed in Sydney (straya pride?) and the soundtrack is spectacular. Andre 3000 and Beyoncé covering Amy Winehouse. Jack White covering U2. Florence + the Machine. Gotye, The xx (OH MY GOLLY GOSH I LOVE THEM). Sia. (No Lana del Rey. I'm not a fan.)
The cast is amazing although I would think that Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) would look a bit younger and less mafia. I can't really complain though. This film will be phenomenal (I hope.) It will be a bit odd seeing the Roaring Twenties in 3D but I think I'm here for the set and the costumes. Yay.

6. Tom Odell.

This man is now my new music crush. Seriously. His voice is so emotional, his songs and performances have such truthfulness about them and he has a nice face. Or at least cool hair.

His music is ridiculously good. Take a listen.

And here below is his cover of Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble".
Brilliance at its brilliant best. And the way he says 'love' is just...ah.

6. Two Door Cinema Club - "Handshake" video.

This video is crazy and surreal but it is so intriguing and there's lovely close ups of all the band members' faces and seeing Alex Trimble poke out his tongue to help a scruffy looking man win the game of his dreams makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside like hugging an unshaven man that's just been popped on the barbecue. In a good way.

7. Sleeping With Sirens new album.

ANYONE ELSE PUMPED FOR THIS NEW RELEASE?! actually after hearing the lead single "Low" I'm still quite excited but I have to say that it isn't as good as some of their other releases. It's still spectacular but I was expecting a much more different sound to their last work. I guess the dramatic change with Bring Me The Horizon kinda swayed my expectations for the new Sleeping With Sirens album. Even so the song is still pretty awesome.

And that's the Bubble and Squeak for this time! Maybe I should do one at the beginning and/or end of each month, when I decide to change my desktop wallpaper. Although I set it to this lovely scheme that changes every half hour to accommodate my short attention span.

Saturday 27 April 2013

HONEY I'M HOME.



Baby I'm back! Children I've come! Relatives I've returned! Humans I'm here!

Ok I'm done. Cringe all you want; it was brilliance at its bountiful, beautiful best. With a hint of alliteration.

If you haven't worked it out, ladies and gentlemen and not-so-gentlemen (you should be ashamed of yourselves), I have returned. It's the Return of the Queen. Literally from out of the clouds.

here is a nice story I can tell you about the plane trip!
it will take a minute.

They played I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift on the flight and we all made goat noises in unison. It was a display of our wonderful connection through the ultimate medium of self expression - our favourite imitation of a caprine species.
it was so hilarious that I laughed until I stopped.

Thursday 25 April 2013

PEARL HARBOR.

Today I visited the historic Pearl Harbor with the fam. Plus Grandma. Although everyone seemed to think that she was my mother - either she looks young or I look old =_=

It was rather interesting because we got to take a look at the USS Missouri and see how the battleship worked. We also got to visit some of the War Memorials and really got to appreciate what the people who fought actually did.

The spelling of 'harbor' put me on edge - in fact, all the American spellings and 'ain't's and accents have driven me to breaking point. Oh dear.

We got to read about the Japanese Kamikaze attacks and the Surrender.

It was a pretty cool trip but the highlight would definitely have been what happened to my younger siblings.

My siblings were playing tips and chase or whatever kids nowadays do and as it had rained this morning the ground had these disgusting puddles everywhere. Of course the youngest sister tripped and fell in the puddle.
And of all things, a Japanese tourist came up to her and asked her if he could take a picture of her! He did, and took it back to his wife and mates and friends and they all stood laughing at my sister.
My other sister, a volatile maniac, said that she wanted to punch the man in the face because he was being rude. Lovely.

So that was our trip to Pearl Harbor/Harbour!

Excuse the photos. My little brother took them.









Sunday 21 April 2013

MAUI.

So I've been in Maui, Hawaii for the last few days and it has been one of the most beeeeeeeautiful places I've been to.
The most beautiful thing I've seen is probably when you can see the shadow the clouds cast on the hills. The ocean is pretty cool too but these cloud shadows are strangely stunning.
Oh yeah the weird photo of my hand was taken on a really cold windy rainy day so that's why it's so dark.
While I've been here I've taken a few snaps of my trip so here they are:

1. Ice cream from the Aloha Ice Cream Parlour - well, chocolate banana with a sprinkles waffle cone. It melted really quickly because it was such a hot day. Ugh.
2 & 3. Flowers outside our condo at the Luana Kai.
4. Probably the prettiest bike I've seen - creamy fenders, mint detailing and lovely handlebars and seat.
5. My hand. In the car at the Haleakala National Park. It was so cold and all you could see outside was clouds and that was kinda scary because we were 10 000 feet above the ground and when we hit the top the bathrooms were freezing.
6. My brother thought that this rock was probably a diamond in disguise at La Perouse Bay.
7. La Perouse Bay.
8, 9 & 10. In the car, driving along.

Some of these photos can be found on my Instagram: @girlwhosenameisntnaomie so follow and like and comment and stalk.



















Saturday 20 April 2013

CLOCKWORK PRINCESS REVIEW.

So my signed copy of Clockwork Princess arrived! And of course I read it in two days. Sigh. I am beyond salvation.

But although it is still a palatable book, I am saddened to say that the book was a disappointment. The anticipation of a dramatic steampunk showdown like in the Mortal Instruments was unforgivably fizzled out. Instead we got Tessa becoming ridiculously annoying and our hearts broken and confused and plain emotional waffle. And extremely anachronistic and out of character behaviour from Will and Tessa. They had suddenly become Jace and Clary. Or maybe Magnus and Alec.

No news here - spoiler alert.

So I found that the introduction with Aloysius Starkweather was a bit disconnected from the story, even though it ended up making sense later on in the novel. It felt a bit like a news report in the way that everything felt a bit too exaggerated - Adele's childishness (she's 12! Not a baby!), Aloysius' presence in the room (it WAS written from his perspective, but it was overwhelming) and the constantly recycled description of the Silent Brothers. Give me a break.

I loved the interactions with the Lightwoods, though. When Gideon and Gabriel wrote that letter to the Consul about Charlotte's hats - I was laughing with such force that I dropped the book. 'She is unlikely to be concealing additional heads on her person.' Gideon IS an unsung comic genius. Gabriel was awesome in the book, except when he was all tongue tied around Cecily. Seriously? This is a LIGHTWOOD we are talking about.

Sophie is an epic character. The scene with Gideon and the scones had me cracking up. And her Ascension is one of of the most sappy but strangely satisfying scenes in the book. Her feistiness made the women in the book redeemable - Tessa was okay in the first book but she's fizzled out to an annoying teen (like Katniss and Clary and Isabelle and Maia and Tris and Cassia and Lena have before her). Charlotte and Sophie, bless them, are left to fight for women. Yay women.

BUT...Charlotte used to be my hero. She kind of mellowed out in this book. Sad face. It probably was because she was pregnant and didn't have to deal with a bitter Will anymore, but it just didn't seem normal for a Shadowhunter to suddenly become a suspiciously doting woman. But Henry - HENRY! He's become more accessible and funny and awesome and loveable and clever and he would make a great father to Charles Buford Branwell. BUFORD!!!

Jem. Will. Tessa. Oh, the drama.

My friends had already spoiled most of the book for me, but they didn't tell me how annoying Tessa would get. Or how boring Will would become. Or how unexciting Jem would be.
When Jem is dying and all you can't help feeling that maybe Tessa should just let him go. Don't get me wrong, I love Jem. But sometimes he just becomes unbearably mediocre. Jem just sits there waiting on Tessa and death. And when he ends up being more rebellious than Will, you know you have a problem.

Will becomes this weirdly maternal figure and heaps love on Tessa and Jem and he mellows out and kinda reminds me of my grandmother. Although his reaction when Jem 'dies' and his parabatai rune has a hissy fit is extremely satisfying.

Tessa. Ah, Tessa. Worthless upstart. Utter simpleton. The bane of book readers everywhere. She has made the horrific transformation from a strong, talented young woman to a worm. Maybe because she engaged in venereal activity out of wedlock.
That's right. Tessa, who is fretting because she is alone with a boy who isn't her brother or fiancé, is suddenly ripping Will's clothing off. This scene is so anachronistic - even harlots wouldn't have been this forward back then - and out of character. Suddenly Will is declaring unwavering love and Tessa is kissing him and then they, ugh, tessellate. Not cool.

I think one of the best scenes in the book was the opening, with the Institute fighting Benedict Lightwood in the form of a worm. Astriola, I love you. Will's worm jokes are almost as hilarious as the duck jokes.

The Consul is just an idiot. He's a little villain that we just appease every now and then to avoid having to face Mortmain. The Inquisitor is just a nice guy. Magnus is AMAZING. My love for the freewheeling bisexual is not romantic, but utter adoration. Magnus is hilarious and loveable and sensitive and awesome. And Asian. Hehe. I cannot fully express my love for this man warlock thing asdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnmsvtgvjgzaasblkescvguhffxcvvccggsajbjvfsjklljcczsfgbnv

Now, to the supposedly evil man hell bent on bringing about the end of the Nephilim. Mortmain is supposed to be some horribly mean anomaly of a human who doesn't deserve to live. But Mortmain's plans don't end up that evil - he wants to make new Shadowhunters who happen to have demon blood. Yeah, it's bad. But I can't help feeling Clare channelled all her evil into Sebastian and left Mortmain looking like a sissy. I love Cassandra Clare. But she really could try to make the final Infernal Devices break the annoying trend of final books always being really bad.
At least in the final scene Ithuriel is really cool and Jem fights with Will for the last time. *sheds tear*

The epilogue is just sappy with everyone marrying everyone and Will and Tessa naming their kid James and them all being lovey dovey. Even when Will died (I know! It's traumatic.) it somehow lost its emotional charge. In fact, there wasn't much emotion in the book that really shocked. Maybe when Jem found out that Will loved Tessa. And when Jem deduced that Will and Tessa, uh, engaged in a physical manifestation of their romance.

I was just confused when we hit 2008 and Jem somehow lost his runes and kissed Tessa and then they...? It was confusing.

I would recommend this series to anyone. And therefore read this book to finish the series. It is still a palatable book, although compared to the other two it is PATHETIC.

Enjoy. I love books. Quack.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

SHORT.

This will only be a short post since I am sitting in a rented white van in a foreign country with chickens pecking around on the road. Tell me about it.

I am so bored out of my mind right now that I'm reading and editing old blog posts. And lo and behold, I have found the most horrific things - grammatical errors.

I don't make spelling mistakes. And I usually don't make outright errors in my grammar either. Unfortunately, the extemporaneous nature of my writing means that I am open to the possibility, however unlikely, of making errors.

If any of you while reading notice these errors, PLEASE comment or something or other. Then I will correct it and the world will be a better place.

SONG OF THE WEEK #3

Being the idiot that I am, I forgot to do this post.
It seems that every time I do a song of the week, I struggle to wait a week to do the next song. And during that wait time, I completely forget to do a new post.
Although I have been overseas without a laptop. So I can't link songs until I go home and add YouTube vids to my posts.

So this week's song is going to be Funeral For A Trend by British India.

This is a rocking song. The vocalist's (I forget his name) singing has a nice tone in that half the time he's just speaking the rather awesome lyrics.
The guitars waft around with their understated heaviness. These guys are like lazy rockers.

I also picked this song because they have just released another album - Controller. It has a pretty wicked album cover. I'm really excited to listen through it - Funeral For A Trend is from Thieves (2008). The lead single from the album, I Can Make You Love Me, has a pretty cool video involving minotaurs. Epic.

They are from Sydney (woo!) and I was really excited because we know someone who is pretty cool with their manager. He goes to quite a few of their gigs and everything. I think that's pretty cool, but you guys in the back are probably rolling you eyes and muttering 'good for you'. Yes, good for me.

So there's the song. I wouldn't say it's punk, although the vocals aren't always sung. It's a sort of mature-cathartic-uplifting-nonchalant-discombobulated garage rock. Oh, and they're Australian.

Update: The vocalist's name is Declan Malia and he plays guitar.



FOLLY AND THE HUNTER.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Folly and The Hunter have a new album! It's called Tragic Care but it is anything but tragic. Hehe. That was horrible.

Anyway I have fallen in love with these guys and finally overcome my dislike of Canadian music. Justin Bieber and Alanis Morrisette kind of spoiled it for me.

They're this fresh indie folk band but it all works so perfectly and their new album is as great as their debut although the cover art of the debut is spectacular.

Haven't bought the album as it's not on iTunes yet because of some ungodly glitch. Also because I don't have utorrent with me ;)

Standout is Moth In The Porch Light. It sounds so Dorian. It reminds me of Teardrop by José González. I love it.

Buy the album on iTunes when the glitch is resolved or listen on YouTube or Spotify or whatever you listen to music on. Yay.

And their band name is pretty awesome. Anything that has Folly in it is awesome.

Folly and The Hunter: Moth In The Porchlight. Thank me later.


Extra: Thankyou to the three people who have left comments on my posts so far! First person ran a blog that sold, uh, 'manly enhancements.' Ugh.
Second and third, however, claimed to know me in real life and to be an occasional stalker reporting for duty.
Thanks so much guys for commenting. It makes me happy.
But PLEASEEEE subscribe or follow or just read all my posts. I love my blog and hope you guys can share the love. Ugh love is overrated.

Friday 12 April 2013

FLIGHT.

I love airports. For some reason they just appeal to me so much.
Well I flew out today and I remembered that although I love airports, I hate plane trips with a vengeance. Well, the trip isn't too bad. The views are amazing, even though we went at night and you couldn't even see Gollum clawing at your window. It was so dark.

Nah but after take off we saw the lights of Sydney below us and it was so pretty. And you could see the heavy traffic on Parramatta Road. Of course.

But oh dear I hate plane food and the pressure and the claustrophobia and the bathrooms and the cloying thought that you're going to plummet 10000 m to the ground. I used to think it was like a train ride. Yeah, like trains can just fall from the sky, burst into flames and become a Titanic of the skies. You get the idea.
I like heights. The view is always cool. But I also like heights because I know that I'll be safe on the ground soon after the adrenaline rush. I get no adrenaline rush on planes. This is not a comfortable situation.
The food is horrific. Hate to say it, hate to think about it. It's bland and heavy and gluggy and I know there's nothing I can really do about it except fly business class. But still. It's pretty gross. I swear they could put anything in there except rats' tails and human foetuses. And we ended up paying like $120 for the family.

Planes would be cool if you flew during the morning and saw the sunrise, then landed just after sunset. The sunset was beeeeeautiful and I'm just waiting to see this sunrise in the land of sunshine. Pfft.. That's a new one.

I'm still on the plane, but obviously I can't post it because it would be a safely hazard violation and then the CIA will come and take me to Area 51 and lock me in a scary basement. Because the Americans have basements.
Oh, and also because international roaming data costs crazy amounts of money. You'd need a home loan to finance a blogger's Internet abroad.

Well considering I'm on my phone, surrounded by sleeping people, sitting on a tin can, listening to my awesome music and reading The Lord of the Rings, this isn't a bad plane trip. As long as the meal agrees with my stomach.





Tuesday 9 April 2013

BLEUBIRD.

This will be only a short post. I'm not at home, and this is my first mobile post. Fingers crossed it works!

I'm just going to blog today about one of my favourite blogs, Bleubird Vintage. Her photography is spectacular and it's so endearing to get a peek into someone else's quaint little life on the other side of the world.

She has designed some really great stuff and written some great DIYs that I'm dying to try. Her children are adorabubble. They're cutie patooties!

The photo at the bottom (mobile blogger won't let me put pics anywhere else) are her sunglasses designed for children. I want a pair of those yellow ones.

Actually I should blog about my favourite blogs and websites and random stuff. This is so fun.

Well Bleubird Vintage is most definitely a great blog to check out so if you have time, head to bleubirdvintage.typepad.com and take a look around!

Till next time, take care.

Monday 8 April 2013

FAVOURITE THINGS.

The other day my friends were asked who their favourite superhero was, what their favourite songs were and all these other favourite things and preferences.

I'll answer five of these.

1. Favourite superhero?

Gwen Tennyson from Ben 10. She is a LEGEND. I've always kinda liked Ben 10 more than the Marvel characters mainly because it's so much easier to follow and less dramatically charged and hilarious when Ben changes into the wrong alien.
Gwen's boyfriend Kevin E. Levin is pretty epic too. The fact that Gwen is also an Anodite made her awesome. And her hair! She's like Hayley Williams but more awesome.

2. Favourite song?

Knowing me, I have no favourite song. That's like asking me which is my favourite finger.
Let's pick five.

  • Never Run Away - Kurt Vile (check previous post)
I would give my description/praise of this song, but I already did. But I'll say that he sounds like a Beck a lot. And I love it.

  • While We're Young - Pegasus Bridge
I did a short review of the band before in a previous post as well. Ok. Maybe not a review.
This song is my favourite by these guys - it was written way before YOLO so it's ok with them saying While We're Young. No need to bring out the guns.
It's catchy, has a good melody and is a heck of a lot of fun to dance to.

  • Words - Ane Brun
Already mentioned here. Hm. Same blog post as the other two songs :/ it's truly beautiful.

  • Kill The Director - The Wombats
These guys are the best. I loved them first.
Their lyrics are quirky, witty, and somewhat introspective. Their latest album (well, 2011) was so subtle and understated and mature, but their debut (which this song is from, 2008?) is energetic, lively and a lot of fun. Any song with the lyrics 'If this is a rom-com, kill the director' is a good one.

  • Hands - Alpine
These guys are so fresh. They sound almost minty.
I don't know how to put it into words - they're music sounds crisp, clean and perfect. It's like standing in a white room. Not blank, but it's all light and airy and wonderful. The clean guitars perfectly match the high, ethereal vocals which travel from dissonance to haunting melodies in seconds. It's beautiful.
Actually, they were originally called Swiss, which would suit them perfectly as well.
They're Australian, which makes them that little bit more satisfying. Knowing that you're supporting local acts makes me happy :)

3. Favourite food/cuisine?

I like Mediterranean food.
There's this show on TV where this man goes around the Mediterranean to all these countries like Tunisia and Greece and he cooks all this food and it looks amazing. I love olives. Mediterranean just has such unique flavours and scents and visual appeal - it's invigorating.

I also adore Japanese food - its simplicity and the mastery of these simple things just make it all amazing. Udon is a very good idea in winter.

4. Favourite book?

This one's tough. I really like dystopian novels and sci-fi but those really psychological and symbolic books are some of the best I think. There's nothing quite as satisfying as reading a book that makes you think.
A book I love is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - classic, and rightfully so. I suggest you go read it if you haven't already. And The Lord of the Rings. And The Great Gatsby.
I do love YA fiction - The Hunger Games, The Selection, Divergent, Delirium, The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, Matched and all that jazz.
There are some books that I am dying to read, like House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. Or Lord of the Flies (yes I know I should most definitely read it.)

5. Favourite colour?

Favourite colour. Ah, the bane of quiz takers everywhere. This is the hated question.
I would ask people to guess my favourite colour, but since the only reader of this blog is me (if you do read, please leave a comment! Please?! So I know you exist!), I am just going to say my favourite colour is mint.



UTTER PERFECTION, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
I love everything mint. The colour, flavour, scent. Also helped by my love of Alpine - they're pretty minty.
I also love Dr. Martens shoes. So those shoes are now my life.


So there's some of my favourite things!

Sunday 7 April 2013

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK #1.

This post is just going to be random stuff that I found. Let's go.
I think this dress is from Primark. I don't even know who they are, really, but it's from a Spring/Summer Collection '11. It's a really pretty dress. I like the print and shape, and that model is stunning.

I did a post on fab ciraolo a while ago - you can read it here. This is Frida Kahlo, another amazing artist (albeit a more mature one.) To have these two great artists together is like when two amazing musicians work together or even when you eat two delicious things together and they work. Like peanut butter and Nutella. It's amazing.

Actually let's do some more fab work in this post. Keep scrolling.
this just reminds me of Jordan Baker from The Great Gatsby. I love it.
This is one of the designs of SnorgTees. They make heaps of funny, nerdy and plain creative t-shirts and hoodies, and I intend to buy some soon. :)
 These are my lanterns above my bed. Aren't they pretty? I picked them up at Typo for $15 I think.

 I bought the bag, glasses and flower crown at this year's Sydney Royal Easter Show - what a great day! Bag is from Yak n Yeti ($15), glasses are from a pharmacy ($10) and flower crown from that same pharmacy ($5). Pharmacies are great.
Here is a pretty picture from Laurence-CE on deviantArt. It's really quite pretty. I just love the light and the wide expanse of green.

So there's my first bubble and squeak. Seeing how much random junk I accumulate, expect to see a lot more of these. Till then, take care. yay



MUSIC HAUL #2

It occurred to me that this blog may end up 80% music, considering that I find great new music on a pretty much daily basis.

So I've pretty much decided to do another Music Haul. If anyone actuallllllllly reads this blog, then you'll get a whole heap of music. Great.

1. Words - Ane Brun

Words just can't describe this song. It's one of those that isn't sad, but more nostalgic. It makes you feel sad and happy and excited and calm and a bit like a river or something. Or a really old tree. In a good way.
"this song makes me feel like a tree". wonderful.

But it just cuts down through everything and the video doesn't outweigh it or fall short. They work together really well. And when I watch it I don't know whether to cry or smile or just nod. So I just listen, like you most definitely should.
Also I don't know what's on his arm. Maybe it's in a different language - Ane is Norwegian. (I actually speak a tiny bit of Norwegian from a few friends I have over there.)

2. Ribena - Pegasus Bridge.

When I first heard this band, they immediately became my obsession. So you will understand how upset I was when I found out the broke up. BROKE UP!!!

I really don't like it when good bands break up - things just seem so great and then BAM! your life is over.

This song is so cool - the lyrics are catchy, the beat rocks and Ed Turner's vocals are perfect. The whole album is great, so if you like this song, leave this blog, buy the album and then come back to read the rest of the post.
This song is a dose of awesomeness. You should've bought the album by now.

3. Never Run Away - Kurt Vile

Kurt has a pretty cool name. And a real knack for music.

The song itself is pretty catchy - I really like the chords at the beginning. They're a bit offchops, like Kurt, but in a good way. I think he could be one of America's new iconic singer-songwriters. He often writes in jagged time signatures and whatever but it works.
Kurt's voice is rather amazing and so is his vinyl collection:
I'm really excited for his new album - two days! WOOOOOOOO

And his daughter is just so adorabubble. And they have matching outfits.

That's it for this Music Haul - I have so many great songs but if no one reads this or if people just get bored I won't put more than three songs on. Ever.

Keep it classy, or the consequences will never be the same.

SHOTS OF A GARDEN.

All of these photos are taken with my phone because I don't have a camera. These are photos from my garden and a few others'.

Oh yeah they're not very good. A work in progress maybe?!







I like the photos with the flowers the best. I also hope you like my shoes ^_^ yay

DIY PILLOW.

Okay. So last year for a project I did I made a pillow with this design:
...aaaaaaaaaaaaaand it turned out like this!
I hope you like my bedspread ^_^ Ikea.

I CAN SEW! Domestic goddess alert - marriage proposals now accepting.

I used fabric crayons for the letters - they're really good, actually. Fabric markers work quite well also. I had printed out the top design and just stuck it under my fabric - it's quite a sheer polyester/cotton blend - I think it's 80% polyester and 20% cotton. The synthetic helps the crayons stick.
You just draw the design on - some of my friends draw the reverse onto paper and then transfer it on, but it comes out very faded and it would've been too difficult with all the letters and such.
You draw your design on then you lay a sheet of paper on. Iron it until the design shows through the paper - don't use too much steam, because then the paper will go all mushy and gross. Ew.

I also drew the silhouette with the crayons, and then cut it out and appliquéd it onto the material. I used Vliesofix, some German appliqué thing - also known as Bondaweb. It's a roll of paper with some sticky glue stuff that only becomes sticky when you iron it. I think you could just use interfacing or some other product - ask at your local craft store or wherever you shop for material. Once your material has the glue on it, stick it onto your material and sew the edges with a zig-zag stitch.

Finally I added a zipper and sewed the edges together. I filled the pillow with this white hobby fill stuff and now it's all fluffy :)\
It took me AGES to sew my zipper but I found this rocking tutorial online of how to sew a zipper at makeit-loveit.

So there's my pillow! It looks really cool and quite a few people have complimented me on it :D


BOOKWORM.

I am an avid reader. Books rock.

It's really exciting because I'm getting a signed copy of Cassandra Clare's new book Clockwork Princess! AHH!

So annoying, though, how my friends keep spoiling the book for me =_= ugh. But I'm so pumped to read it still.

I'm not really sure where this post is going but it was really annoying this morning because daylight savings just ended and we turned out all muddled with the clocks and all. Geez.

Oh that's right! I'm reading The Lord of the Rings right now. Once you get past the REAAAALLY boring bit where they're in the Old Forest just strolling around, it gets better.

I'm also reading The Great Gatsby on my phone - yes, iBooks isn't that bad. It's weird because I used to hate e-books with a vengeance but ever since I've downloaded all these FREE(!) books and realised how refreshingly convenient it is to read on a device, I've been tame. Books are still better though.

It is so strangely satisfying to buy a new book (or old book, depending on whether you're a hipster or not) and read it. The pages just feel so real.

Well I guess that should be about it. If you want to read any of the books, buy them at a bookstore, on your electronic whiz machines or borrow them from your library. Who said you had to return them? ;)
Clockwork Princess
Buy Clockwork Princess
The Lord of the Rings
Buy The Lord of the Rings

The Great Gatsby
Buy The Great Gatsby