More from Southbound

This southbound I used shotty reject store disposable cameras, instead of the usual polaroid disposable ones. Pretty big mistake, as most of them weren't the best quality. Nonetheless, here's some more snaps from this years Southbound festival.

In other news, this summer has been passing splendidly. We've had 40° heat for the past four days, which sounds quite terrible but I've had nothing to do except for laze about the house and go for a swim so it really wasn't too bad. I've picked up a few hobbies, which includes skating, playing piano and swing dancing. Australia day came and passed, and so did the hottest 100 of 2011. I chose my units for 2012, and after much um-ing and ah-ing decided to keep studying French, International Relations and Communications. My next investment will be a proper lens for my film F65 SLR, and everything else is going to go into saving for post-university travels. So much to do, so much to see!

One of my summer goals was to learn how to cook, so my boyfriend and I have been making dishes out of Jamie Oliver's 30-minute meal recipe book. Here's some snaps from our fifth meal we've made. It's amazing how all the different dishes mesh together and all have complimentary tastes and spices. So far we've made the killer Jerk Chicken, the Wonky Summer Pasta, Mustard Chicken, Pregnant Jools Pasta and lastly Moroccan Lamb Chops (pictured).

Southboundy

Just a few snaps from Southbound, with more to come. Beirut, by far, the best act.

Pizza and Chips

Depressing days equals some mass gorging on chips with mushroom dip and delicious pizza with Viv yesterday evening.

I think I'm afraid to be happy

How can you be afraid to be happy?

Because whenever you get too happy, something bad always happens

- Charlie Brown to Lucy

借りぐらしのアリエッティ

I've been dying to see the new Ghibli anime The Secret World of Arrietty, since the shorts were released and finally did last night at the Luna outdoor cinemas. The film follows the adventures of Arrietty, a thirteen year old ten centimeter tall girl and her equally as small family, known as the Borrowers. Arrietty meets a human 'bean' (a rather funny translation error that occurred throughout the film) called Sho, who despite all her warning from her parents that human beans are dangerous creatures, befriends him. The animation, like always, was quite amazing and intricate. The exploration of the world of the Borrowers was made real by Hiromasa Yonebayashi's attention to the tiniest of details, most noticeably the single drops of water filling the mugs of the borrowers which really allowed the viewer to connect with the magnitude of the situation and the diminutive world of Arrietty. The set design of the films was incredible, with ticking clocks reverberating through the floorboards and outdoor landscapes all finished off with the precision of a static illustration. Despite some accusations of a banal conclusion, I thought the film still preserved the fragile imagination of a childs mind, and for the older viewers, a sense of nostalgia of Ghibli's other films such as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro.