stars rain sun moon

More from Southbound

2012-01-28T22:11:00.003+08:00

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!

2012-01-23T09:46:00.000+08:00

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

2012-01-17T10:20:00.000+08:00

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

Pizza and Chips

2012-01-15T15:57:00.000+08:00

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

2012-01-14T17:54:00.001+08:00

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

2012-01-14T17:21:00.002+08:00

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.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T21:10:00.003+08:00

December is officially the month that I become extremely lazy with posting. I think it's the break from university which means that I'm not procrastinating on my laptop as much as I am during the semester. December has been a month of ups and downs, in all honesty I haven't really accomplished a great deal but I guess I'm just getting over the strain of second semester (... that's what they all say). I started enthusiastically on my long list of books to read, however stopped short when I really wasn't too much of a fan of the first book I dug into, Norwegian Wood. However, I've been forced into starting On The Road by my boyfriend who is in love with it. In all honesty, the only reason why I caved after many years of resistance is because I'd like to be able to critique it with honest examples. I've watched two films this month as well, Melancholia and We Need To Talk About Kevin a couple of weeks ago. They were both incredibly intense and stressful films, and I still don't know exactly what I think about them, so I'll leave any thoughts about them for another time (maybe a day when my stomach is a little less filled).

Anyways, these snaps are all photos from my Christmas lunch which was filled with oysters, lobster, tomato salads, ham and sashimi. It has left me about 5kg heavier and completely satisfied. And finally, I leave you with some few family snaps from my Christmas lunch:

Surprise flowers

2011-12-06T17:10:00.001+08:00

I received flowers for passing my driving test yesterday, wooooo! Other than that, holidays have been nice. Haven't done too much stuff and I think I'm starting to hit a slow point in terms of running out of things to do (slash becoming sick of being in the house all day long) but I really shouldn't be complaining. Uni will be coming around quickly. Going out for taco's tonight with a bunch of friends from uni, yummy.

2011-12-02T20:41:00.001+08:00

source; viv's flickr photostream

There's never really many snaps of me on this blog, besides from photobooth snaps, because Viv always takes them and never uploads them. So I've stolen some from her flickr. These are snaps from over a year ago when every friday night we used to grab chai tea from tiger tiger.

Iku Sushi and whatnot

2011-12-02T20:18:00.001+08:00

Viv and I had a lazy Thursday shopping slash errands fest. I ended up purchasing all these cheap silk shirts from a vintage store on William street called Miss Brown (it was so cute, I really should've asked to take snaps but it didn't occur to me at the time) which will be really cool to wear in the summertime. Then we lunched at Iku Sushi, also on William street. It's famous for its cheeseburger sushi but I've never been game enough to try it, there bento boxes with classic teriyaki chicken and fish are good and cheap.

The summer so far has been fairly lazy, Ive almost finished Norwegian Wood but I'm slowing down a little bit because it's starting to drag and become too crazy for my liking. I think I'm going to tackle Love in the Time of Cholera next, I've tried it once but couldn't get past the first chapter.

Drive

2011-11-29T20:37:00.001+08:00

Amazingly sharp scripted and edited film. Also loved the eighties inspired pink typography and soundtrack to match. Not much a fan of Gosling however, but he played the part well. And you all know my feelings about Mulligan! I couldn't say a bad word about her pretty petite face.

Swedish Hasbeens

2011-11-27T21:27:00.001+08:00

source; Annabelle's Hasbeens via blushing ambition

After almost a year of um-ing and ah-ing over whether to purchase Swedish Hasbeens I've finally made the plunge and purchased the classic super high natural hasbeens. I was going to buy the clogs at Gorman, however they just never looked as nice as the Swedish ones. Man, the Swedes always know how to do it the best!

sixties

2011-11-27T13:37:00.001+08:00

source; Tatler August 2011 scans via tfs

2011-11-27T12:57:00.001+08:00

Fruit Markets Phuket

2011-11-25T20:38:00.001+08:00

Heading out to my friends next door neighbors house warming wearing my favourite Gorman mustard silk shirt. My fringe really needs to be trimmed and I want to kill this summer glow I have going on (that's what you get for spending too much time in the beach sans sun cream.) Yes, I'm pretty asian when it comes to having tanned skin, I've just never been one that looks good tanned. But on the plus side, I have four pear rekorderligs to finish and I'm bringing my film camera out with hopes to finish the roll of film currently residing in it.

Freaks and Geeks

2011-11-25T19:47:00.001+08:00

source; screencaps

New favorite cult television show. It's only eighteen episodes long, and lasted one season but has since reached a pretty huge cult following. I'm totally in love with the whole 90s grunge vibe it has going on (Lindsay, the main female lead is in jeans and a khaki green parka in almost every shot of the first two episodes) and it has young grunge versions of James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jason Segal. Man there are so many new and old (but never watched) television shows that I have to marathon this summer. They include; Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Freaks and Geeks, Big Love, Modern Family, Scrubs, The Mighty Boosh, 30 Rock, Flight of the Concords, Popular amongst catching up on others.

Having said that, it's summer here now. I've spent the past couple of days since my last exam at the beach with a beer in hand, reading, chilling, watching Star Wars and really not doing anything at all. It's amazing.

summer reads

2011-11-22T14:22:00.001+08:00

All the books I've purchased over the past six months and had no time to read D:

2011-11-22T13:39:00.001+08:00

source; viktor vauthier

$200 later and just invested in a skateboard. Let the summer begin!

Procrastashopping

2011-11-21T18:23:00.001+08:00

source; pascale grob, APC

I'm just a little bit in love with the whole minimalist look mastered by designers like APC, Acne and American Apparel. I have so many simple striped tees it's ridiculous. Pretty much just procrastashopping away from my communications exam tomorrow.

Bondi

2011-11-21T16:32:00.001+08:00

Old snaps that I found whilst rifling through my computer from when I stayed at Bondi beach last January with Viv and Ella.

2011-11-21T16:28:00.001+08:00

It's a little bit of a tradition that whenever Viv and I travel, we will always source out a decent place for Dim Sum. Here's some snaps of my favourite dishes from our last dim sum sesh.

Winter Wharfs

2011-11-19T12:59:00.001+08:00

Freezing cold, wearing a cape, windswept on the wharf at St. Kilda.

McQueen Spring 2011

2011-11-19T11:52:00.001+08:00

Such a lovely collection.

Summer Goals

2011-11-18T22:38:00.001+08:00

Three exams yet to be completed and five days until chilled cider can be enjoyed on the beach. And then, three months of uninterrupted summer bliss. So many things to be achieved, dreams to be be checked off. We are the ones that let them come true. Let's get to it.

2011-11-17T11:57:00.001+08:00

Sporadic blog posts ftw. It's mainly because I haven't taken my camera out in about a month, due to exams and Viv being in Sydney for the past couple of weeks. I've just been hibernating away, studying and watching heaps of television. Only another week and everything will be over.

Yesterday I took a well deserved break (not really deserved at all) from my non-existent study and went on the hunt to buy some uber cool boys clothes for my boyfriend (he has about 3 shirts which he alternates between, and two pairs of jeans both with holes in them...) I ended up buying myself some guys shirts from General Pants too (seriously, the skater tomboy thing is still running through my veins). I really can't resist leaving General Pants empty handed, it's like some sort of crime or something. The first two shirts were raglans (2 for $50!), which I've wanted since I started skating. Technically I'm supposed to be sharing them with him, but whatever, they are amazing. He actually bought some really cool cheap monday chinos and a pair of jeans which look really nice. The other shirt I bought was this Arvust yellow, white and blue striped organic cotton shirt (pictured) which is actually the most comfiest thing ever and fits really nicely. I've also been needing glasses for the majority of this year now, but kinda procrastinated getting them as they really make me look like a downright hipster. But after studying for these exams, I've realised that the actual health of my eyes is probably more important than caring what people think haha.

Love is a temporary madness

2011-11-17T11:46:00.001+08:00

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don’t blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being ‘in love’ which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

— Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Study study

2011-11-08T10:57:00.002+08:00

I've been a lazy blogger, haven't really been doing anything all too interesting besides studying. I saw Norwegian Wood last week and I didn't love or hate it. I was planning on reading the book before the film, but I just ran out of time and it was about to leave the cinemas. I think when I saw it I was tired and in a bit of a crappy mood, plus it was really long so I lost a bit of concentration. I'll have to rewatch again in the holidays. I've bought so many freaking books over the past month that I just don't have a spare second to even consider reading them. I have to start sticking to the rule of, no buying of new books until all of the last ones have been read. I really can't see that happening anytime soon though.

Colenimo

2011-10-31T22:23:00.001+08:00

(Colenimo Lookbook)

My friend introduced me to Colenimo this afternoon, and I've fallen in love with almost every piece in their Autumn 2012 lookbook. I'm saving up to move out soon, so these pretty pictures will have to satisfy my cravings. Arghhh complete independence or a pretty wardrobe? So many first world problems I can't even begin to start...

2011-10-31T15:10:00.001+08:00

"We can never know what we want, because living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come"

~ The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Stress stress stress. Here's some more snaps from Phuket, I took a ridiculous amount of photos of the same thing because I wanted to finish the roll haha. I so badly would like to return, everything just seems so simple there.

2011-10-23T18:06:00.001+08:00

Submarine screencaps

Melbourne sunsets

2011-10-18T15:36:00.001+08:00

Sunset at St Kilda, Melbourne

I remember this day being incredibly freezing, windy and we also got a tram fine that morning so we weren't exactly in the best mood. But there was the most gorgeous sunset, and all of that anger and fatigue fizzled away.

2011-10-17T22:16:00.002+08:00

"Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

- Carl Sagan, excerpted from a commentary address delivered May 11th 1996

Trams

2011-10-16T22:38:00.001+08:00

I think I forgot to focus these shots, but I kinda like it.

Birthday cider

2011-10-16T18:57:00.002+08:00

Today was my best friend, Viv's, birthday. We celebrated by going to dim sum in the morning and enjoying some cheese, crackers and cider on her porch in the afternoon. Happy Birthday Viv! You are amazing and I love you.

2011-10-13T23:49:00.001+08:00

Film from Phuket! Like I've previously mentioned, there is extreme vignetting because I used my digital lens on my film camera. However in these snaps I kinda like it. Looking over this roll, it really made me want to go back to the leisurely days of reading and contemplating existence. University and life is just far too complicated and stressful right now. coughfirstworldproblemscough. One month til exams! Eeeeep!

I bailed on Hip Hop Karoake at the Bird and Jugular at the Fly By Night Club this evening to go to Viv's house, watch AusNTM and make Viv cook me eggplant & mushroom tempura. The contemplative midnight bus ride home was very refreshing too. Best decision ever.

Photobooths

2011-10-10T17:50:00.000+08:00

2011-10-09T12:43:00.001+08:00

from left; Gorman staring into the sun lime green silk shirt, Gorman seeing spots skirt, Il Bisonte black cross body bag, Bally Ellie mustard shoulder bag and Il Bisonte black satchel.

I spent an entire weeks paycheck in a day yesterday, terrible I know but there are just so many pretty things out at the moment! Mustard and lime are definitely my two favourite colours of the summer season, I can't wait to wear long summer skirts, dresses, wedges, shirts and sandals again. I bought all of this plus a Southbound ticket in where Beirut, one of my all time favourite bands, are performing. Yay for summer!

Stripes and new specs.

2011-10-08T18:50:00.000+08:00

Viv with her new round orange specs. Awwwww yeah.

2011-10-07T15:21:00.003+08:00

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

-Steve Jobs

Fruit Markets

2011-10-06T14:57:00.001+08:00

Here's some snaps from the fruit markets in Phuket. After developing a few roles of my Nikon f60 (35mm) I've fallen in love with how it saturates the colours oh-so-much better than anything a digital camera could do. On the downside, I really need to buy a proper lens for this camera (i'm still using my 18-55mm lens intended for my Nikon D90) as this lens has a really ugly vignetting on 70% of the snaps. Besides that, I'm starting to love film much more than digital, however I find it works better for travel photography and whatnot as I prefer working with digital for social events. In other news, I've laid of posting for a tad as University has been ridiculous over the past week back and my life is becoming as dramatic as an episode of Gossip Girl. Rest assured, all is well.

Rooftop Cider Bar

2011-10-03T17:26:00.001+08:00

Rooftop Cider Bar Melbourne

Plaid

2011-10-01T19:33:00.001+08:00

Venn Café

2011-10-01T19:30:00.001+08:00

Finally I remembered to take my camera with me for my very many Venn dates that I have weekly with both Viv and Sarah. Venn is a café, art gallery and store all in one, located on Queen Street in the city. It has a really clean and nice design and scrumptious food that I love. The coffee is one of the best I've tasted aswell! I usually order the quiche with a side of salad and Viv usually gets the bagel. Also, the people that work there are really lovely too and always up for a chat. One of the girls (picture in the blue overalls) always wears the most adorable outfits and always has the most interesting necklaces.

Also picked up my last roll of film from Melbourne, and it contains quite a few snaps from Phuket also so I'll be uploading them in the next couple of weeks.

Frida

2011-10-01T00:47:00.002+08:00

source: stockholm street style

Very old snap I know, but she is just too amazing all the time and this is exactly my style at the moment.

Macarons

2011-10-01T00:46:00.000+08:00

Viv and I tried every single macaron that we stumbled across in Melbourne. They were all amazing.

Quinn

2011-10-01T00:36:00.001+08:00

source: self made screencaps

Man, Quinn is ridiculously hot in the latest episodes of Glee.

On that note, it's my favourite time of the year! That is the of month of returning television shows! I'm running a little bit behind on all the new season openers, and haven't even attempted to watch anything new. But so far, Gossip Girl is looking interesting and I'm quite surprised that they managed to keep it together for five seasons (I must admit though, there was a point where I almost stopped watching at the beginning of season four). Glee is average but the whole Quinn subplot is keeping me interested. And yup, actually that's all I've had time to keep up with. I still have to catch-up on Greys, The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Community, Parks and Recreation, Modern Family and Law & Order:SVU. Gah, it's possible that I may watch an excessive amount of television. It's okay, I can justify it by being a Communications student ^____^

Gathering of sorts

2011-09-29T16:07:00.001+08:00

Had some friends around last night and my friend let me test out his lens. It has an amazing depth of field! However the negatives are it has a fixed zoom and is incredibly heavy to carry around.

Ooops I've been so busy recovering, watching glee and cleaning that I almost forgot to submit my communications assignment due in about twenty minutes! Oh dear!

Midnight in Paris

2011-09-25T22:27:00.000+08:00

source; self made screencap

Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present. The name for this denial is golden age thinking - the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in - its a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.

Woody Allen's new flick that I watched on the plane- liked however didn't love.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

2011-09-25T20:44:00.002+08:00

I finished my three hundred and seven page novel in one sitting yesterday, and it was truly one of the most outstanding pieces of literature I think I have ever read (no exaggeration here). It was Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which I have intended to read for quite some time now, however I always shied away from it. This was probably a result of the many reviews which highly commended Kundera's work, which, despite being flattering, made me believe that the novel was going to be a complex read. You see, I very rarely find myself in philosophical reading moods when I'm in the middle of university due to the fact that I generally always have several volumes of intense reading to do already. However I found Kundera's writing far from convoluted. Despite being highly philosophical (the book essentially challenges Nietzche's concept of eternal recurrence), his writing was poised, succint and thorough throughout the whole book. Kundera begs the reader to consider the essential dichotomy of life, which reflected in the title of the novel, is the paradox between light and weight. Furthermore, he links this with the very essence of men (light) and women (weight). They exist as separate entities, but both are a necessary element for existence and they are both forever complimenting each other.

The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?

Kundera establishes an intricate set of events through the eyes of four starkly different, however intertwined characters that both question the fundamental nature of the human condition however also a historical perspective of the Russian invasion into Kundera's home country the Czech Republic. I saw a lot of myself in both the two female leads, which represent both weight and light respectively. Tereza, who is the prime example of weight, has several insecurities that are almost identical to my own. She is idealistic, and thinks concisely in black and white. She holds an obsession with being different and not fading into the distance, if only it was a simple act of holding a book under her arm. She finds weight in her work and in being an intellectual. She holds a fear of simply just being another body, which is amplified by Tomas' continuous infidelities.

She had come to him to make her body unique, irreplaceable. But he, too, had drawn an equal sign between her and the rest of them: he kissed them all alike, stroked them all alike, made no, absolutely no distinction between Tereza’s body and the other bodies. He had sent her back into the world she tried to escape, sent her to march naked with the other naked women

On the other hand, Sabina is the prime female example of light through her obsession with rebellion and disobedience. She is light as a result of her profound satisfaction in the act of betrayal.

Betrayal. From tender youth we are told by father and teacher that betrayal is the most heinous offense imaginable. But what is betrayal? Betrayal means breaking ranks. Betrayal means breaking ranks and going off into the unknown. Sabina knew of nothing more magnificent than going off into the unknown

Tomas is clearly the hero of the quartet, despite being a womanizer. He is the archetypal example of light as he separates love and sex into two unrelated entities- something that Tereza cannot do- whilst loving Tereza, has sex with several other woman at the same time. He is by no means a romantic idealist, and doesn't really change too much within the novel. I was incredibly attracted to Tomas' lightness throughout the novel and his cynicism towards the perfect ideals of politics and romantic love.

Making love with a woman and sleeping with a woman are two separate passions, not merely different but opposite. Love does not make itself felt in the desire for copulation (a desire that extends to an infinite number of women) but in the desire for shared sleep (a desire limited to one woman).

And the last of the characters is Franz. I disliked his character the most, he was obsessed with weight and incapable of lightness. In all honesty, I found him a rather conservative and pathetic character. All the characters compliment each other on their need for their opposites. Tomas needs Tereza's weight, and conversely Tereza needs the lightness of Tomas. Sabina and Tomas are drawn together by their lightness, however their relationship is nothing more than a physical meaningless one. All in all, The Unbearable Lightness of Being was a wonderfully elegant read about irreconcilable love and difference within the nature of being.

This is probably the longest review that I've written in quite some time, and probably haven't perfected it as much as my writings back in the day (you see, I would very much like to go back into the pool right about now because it is the middle of the afternoon and the sun is heating up). I'm going home tomorrow evening and will be back in Perth early Tuesday morning. I've heard it's cold and rainy there.

Phuket

2011-09-24T15:50:00.001+08:00

Phuket is amazing and I haven't changed out of my bathers for the past three days straight (possible exaggeration for effect here)! I've done nothing but go for epic runs (yesterday I managed 12km in just under an hour, which I'm pretty sure is my personal best) and subsequently spent the rest of the afternoon swimming off the sweat and lying by the poolside reading with watermelon juice by my side. I've been bathing in 50s and 60s music through and through, from The Beatles to Otis Redding to The Coasters with a little bit of Viv-inspired k-pop chucked in for lolz. I've eaten just as much yummy Thai food as I've been excersising so hopefully it has all evened out!

I've been working with predominately film photography this trip, I find that it is much more suitable to landscape photography whatnot, and on the other hand digital is more productive for social gatherings and whatnot. So I won't have many images til I return back to Perth but here's some digital ones for the time being!

Isabelle Faith

2011-09-22T19:17:00.001+08:00

source: isabelle-faith on deviantART

I spent the six hour plane ride (why does Perth have to be so far away from everything!?) catching up on Australia's Next Top Model. I've been a pretty avid follower of the series since the beginnings (has seven seasons really passed?) and always had my favourites (some more memorable ones being Chloe, Simone, Alice B, Caris, Alama, Cassie and Kelsey). This season my favourite is, quite surprisingly, by far Izzy. She's a crazy little goth girl, a persona that I've always wanted to pursue but never had the guts, and she is so lovely and down to earth. She has really striking features and can do high fashion along with kitsch quite well too. Other favourites from this season so far include Jess, Montana and Elizabeth

Now I think my yummy lunch has settled I'm going to go for an epic run along the beach following by a dip in the pool and then maybe a massage or something. Who knows!

Phuket

2011-09-21T23:40:00.001+08:00

Petit Bateau striped shirt, A.P.C. denim shorts, Ray Ban Wayferers, Longchamp pliage in Braise, Converse high tops, A.P.C. sandals, Ralph Lauren mens shirt, Invisible Inc Suncream, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundra and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

I can't sleep so I decided to put this together. I'm going to Phuket in a couple of hours (as you probably have realised if you've read the past few posts haha). I'll pretty much be living in all of this. I'm loving the whole simple striped shirt or oversized mens blue shirt look with either a pair of simple sandals or converse and denim cuffed shorts, classic wayfarers and Longchamp pliage. It's so effortless but chic. The two novels on the side are the ones that I've picked out to enjoy, and I'll be lathing up the suncream because I hate being tanned.

Norwegian Wood

2011-09-21T22:11:00.000+08:00

I saw the trailer for the screen adaptation of Murakami's novel Norwegian Wood the other day when I went to see Beginners for the second time (which I loved even more the second time around) and can't wait for the release now. I read one of Murakami's other novels Dance Dance Dance in the holidays and quite enjoyed the tone of the book. The writing style was ever so simple, however it held a scent of elegance within it that I really appreciated. I've never been too much of a fan of the embellished works such as Dickens and his companions. I'm leaving for Phuket in a couple of hours and will hopefully pick up a copy of Norwegian Wood to read while I'm over there. The film looks heartbreaking albeit very very promising, and anything with The Beatles in the score is bound to be at least decent.

Jordana Evans

2011-09-21T11:07:00.002+08:00

source: self made Submarine screencaps

I've heard from several people that she looks like me, besides from the dark hair, fringe and perhaps slightly asian eyes I don't really see it.

I'm going to Phuket tonight for a four day trip of nothing but lazying around on the beach, having salt water hair, reading, massages, running, eating yummy Thai food, listening to jazz, market shopping, photography and all in all just a break from university and to spend time with my mother. I'm in the process of packing and I have, like usual, way too much stuff. It's just, I need gym clothes, beach clothes, nice going out daytime clothes, nice going out nighttime clothes, trashy going out nighttime clothes, pyjama's, bathers, leisure books, studying books, toiletries, shoes, film single lens reflex, digital single lens reflex, laptop. Arghh, I work in a luggage shop and this is my fifth holiday this year, I really should know how to pack by now but I still find that there's way too many possible situations and way too much to pack.

Pretty much the two greatest people in my life.

2011-09-20T23:34:00.001+08:00

Viv, Sarah and myself on the streets of Melbourne.

I'm in the process of designing and producing an online portfolio for my communications unit. It's a rather simple task, in terms of design, and I pretty much have my blueprint down pact. However several problems are arising with Dreamweaver and the logistics of it all. I've never used it before and it's so different to just basic design work on Photoshop. It's so difficult to literally just place text on a particular part of the page, or to have a header or whatnot. I'm considering copying a template html (like what I have with blogspot), or even just writing my entire html code myself. The first option seems like a little bit of a cop out and the second one sounds way more tedious and time consuming. Argh, my website design is pretty much exactly like the layout of this blog but it's a million times harder to achieve on Dreamweaver. Looks like I'll be mucking around with this thing all night.

Acne

2011-09-18T22:29:00.001+08:00

And, finally. On the Saturday Viv and I popped into Wasteland to check out their winter sale stock. I stumbled across an Acne jacket that was half price, loved it but had to pop back into work because I was taking way too long on my break. However, I was thinking about it alllll weekend, so I popped back in after swing dancing, tried it on and pretty much couldn't resist despite having a million jackets. It is amazingly comfy, warm and convenient and even has an insert puffer jacket for the cold cold months in Europe!

I've become super skater boyish recently, and now with the addition of this jacket I really really want a proper longboard. I went to see some friends this evening in Subiaco and pretty much went ultra tom-boy on them, I don't think anyone has ever seen me in a beanie and/or jeans with converse haha.

Saturday

2011-09-18T22:19:00.001+08:00

I didn't have my camera on my so these phone pictures of the scrumptious food at my favourite café, Venn, will have to do. So yeah, Saturday, again worked my usual shift and had another date however this time with Viv. We discussed more future plans of ours, including the idea that she might move to Korea for a year after she graduates to learn and eventually teach Korean. If she does, I'll probably go over as well for 2-3 months during my break and explore the country. Saturday night, babysat and then went around to a friends house for midnight making of florentines and watching Archer-- which is my new favourite television show btws.

This morning I planned on working again, however received a call from a friend of mine two hours into my shift concerning swing dancing lessons. Swing dancing is something I've wanted to do for about the past three years now, so it was too good of an opportunity to pass out. I skipped out of work, and had a lovely afternoon learning the basic swing dancing steps. The music was wonderful aswell, and i've now spent the past hour assembling a whole pile of classic jazz, swing and soul pieces from the twenties right through to the sixties. So much goodness!

Fridays, Ballet & Il Bisonte

2011-09-18T22:13:00.000+08:00

This weekend was incredibly exhausting and filled despite sticking to my non-drinking rule, which hasn't, in the slightest, been a difficult task. I frantically handed in my History paper on Friday, 200 words over the limit and severely lacking in adequate research. Had my weekly lunch date with Sarah at Venn in the city, which was lovely to chat about university and whatnot. Friday afternoon I worked my usual shift at Hunt Leather, in where I finally decided to indulge in some luxury leather goodness from my favourite designer in the store, Il Bisonte. I purchased a watch, which has been on my mind since it came in, and secondly a leather pouch which I'll probably end up using as a clutch for nighttime or just general papers and whatnot. Il Bisonte products are all hand-made in Florence, Italy from natural Spanish leather that is designed to patina over a period of time. Pretty much this means the colour of the leather in the picture will, in about 5 months, turn to a very lovely honey colour as it reacts with the environment around it.

Friday evening my mother treated an old friend of mine, Ronan, and myself to tickets to the West Australian Ballets performance of Taming of the Shrew at His Majesty's Theatre. Despite being a highly anti-feminist play, I enjoyed it quite a bit. The costuming was fantastic, as well as the two leads maintaining very hilarious roles incredibly well.

Procrastaskate

2011-09-15T13:36:00.001+08:00

George Viv and Hannah at the Rooftop Cider Bar in Melbs.

I'm learning how to skate! It's incredibly relaxing and uber cool and I can't wait til I can actually skate around uni and not stack it every two seconds. Also people are being particularly irritating today. It's probably because I'm stressed and I have this stupid History assignment due, but seriously some people need to grow up and get a life. It's getting rather ridiculous.

Imma go procrastaskate some more !

Submarine

2011-09-13T23:21:00.000+08:00

Most people think of themselves as individuals, as if theres no one else like them on the planet. This motivates them to get out of bed, eat food and walk around like nothings wrong.

Oh yes, so the film. I fell in love with it! Two weeks in a row now, date night has had amazing films. The cinematography was gorgeous, the soundtrack (created by the lead singer of the Artic Monkeys, Alex Turner) was superb and the script was hilarious. I enjoyed the film much much more than the book, besides the change in ending (I won't spoil it for those of you who are yet to read and/or watch it). Directed by British comedian Richard Ayoade (most of you would probably recognise him as Moss from The IT Crowd), Submarine follows the story of fifteen year old Oliver Tate, who is concerned with two things- firstly his new-found relationship with Jordana Bevan, who is "moderately unpopular, therefore making romance between the two of them likely." and secondly the relationship of his parents, which he monitors through the dimness of his parents light switch. The film, from the trailer and publicity alone, seems like the trite coming-of-age story that we've all seen before blah blah blah. However Ayoade's soft cinematography, and playful script leaves pretentiousness out of the picture and in the thoughts of Oliver. The film pretty much reminded me of my nerdy pretentious albeit self loathing 15 year old person, and how he imagined his world to be like it is in the films and whatnot. Anyways, it's definitely going to be placed in my top 5 films of this year methinks.

Jus Burgers & Churros

2011-09-13T22:13:00.001+08:00

I had a film night date with Viv tonight. Jus Burgers for dinner, watched Submarine then went for Churros afterwards. Yummy.

Submarine Trailer

2011-09-11T12:52:00.003+08:00

I just received a phone call from a really old friend of mine who I haven't seen in months who just told me to go watch Submarine immediately because apparently the girl in the film is identical to me haha. After reading the book and all the hype surrounding this film, I shall be seeing it after my stupid assignments are done on Tuesday. Wooooot!

Melbourne Snaps & More Travelling?

2011-09-11T12:26:00.000+08:00

More snaps from Melbourne. Viv and I have been planning all our future trips interstate and overseas, so far its:

January 2012: Sydney

July 2012: Canada/USA or Korea/Japan

January 2013: South-East Asia Tour-- Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and possibly Taiwan

July 2013: Europe? Probably...

January 2014: Somewhere uber cool and exciting!

Also, I want to go on exchange back to France again for a year this time, so I'll have to pop that in somewhere and I'm pretty keen on a South America trip although Viv wouldn't be able to handle it and I probably couldn't go anywhere without her (whipped, I know).

In other news, I went to the Arts Ball last night which was lovely. All the girls looked so pretty and all the boys were all very attractive in their suits. I'm not drinking for quite some time after having a few bad recent evenings, but I sipped on a glass of red wine all night and danced to the really cool jazz 60s music that they were playing. I didn't get any snaps of what I was wearing because I'm on the organising committee and thus was running around after work trying to organise everything and had to get changed really quickly, but hopefully some from the night will surface around. But now it's time to settle down, write this politics essay and organise a french oral that I have this week. Oh but it's such a lovely day outside!

PS. this new blogspot arrangement is annoying me a little bit, the html code is now all fancy and harder to write with!

Spring threads & Wicked!

2011-09-07T17:33:00.001+08:00

I bought this shirt for $15 yesterday on a whim at my universities weekly shop sale thingo (I actually have no idea what it is, it's just a random assortment of things being sold on campus every Tuesday) and have actually fallen in love with it. It has this cute little gold top button, white collar and it's made from this really comfy silk pattern. It's just one of those shirts in where the cut is really flattering. The weather is so lovely at the moment, I could spend all day long lying in the sun doing my universities readings and embracing the sunshine. I finally can start wearing a little bit of variety at uni now aswell, instead of my thick jacket that I always have to wear in the wintertime. I have quite a few assignments due next week, and three shifts at work not to mention a university ball on Saturday night so I've been stressing out just a tad but other than that life is fairly swell. Just a week of stress than I'm of to Phuket! Wooot! In other news, my mum scored some free tickets for the musical Wicked tonight, so we're dressing up, looking pretty and going to a really nice restaurant at Burswood before seeing the show. I'm pretty excited. Also, I'm eating Nutella in the bottom picture. 'Tis very satisfying.

Fatty Fridays

2011-09-02T22:42:00.003+08:00

Tonight we made wontons and spring rolls and it was amazingly fatty and I will not be able to eat anything else for over a week. I also planned my proposal to Viv, we will marry when gay marriage is legalised, and planned out the life of our kid that I'm going to have through IVF. It was amazing.

I always went back to my old high school today to check out it's arts day (thats like, for those of you who don't know, a day dedicated to both the creative and performing arts and showcases things like dance, music, photography, art, cooking, chorale etc) and pretty much became ultra nostalgic for the days in plaid skirts and navy blazers. Even though high school sucked, I still missed those days chilling in the media room and being a nerd. It also reminded me of those days where I uploaded to this blog 4 or 5 times a day...

Natalie

2011-08-31T19:26:00.002+08:00

(teen vogue scans dec/jan 2009)

Lace tights & silk shirts

2011-08-31T19:07:00.003+08:00

It's heating up, finally! I've always, and will always be, a winter child but it's nice to be able to wear patterned tights, silk shirts and simple cardigans again ie. what I wore to uni today. Also lying around on the lovely uwa campus lawns, summer is just so much more of a sociable season. I can't wait til the festivals start up again, not to mention beach days and Sunday afternoon barbecues.

Doc twins

2011-08-31T19:01:00.001+08:00

Fridaaa

2011-08-21T20:39:00.002+08:00

Frida Gustavsson via TFS

Ah! She really is oh-so-gorgeous. This outfit is so laid back uni student and I wish I could look as perfect as her all the time <3

Rooftop Bars

2011-08-21T20:31:00.001+08:00

Cherry Blossom

2011-08-18T10:32:00.002+08:00

These photos were taken back in Bordeaux last spring (Australia's autumn) when I was living there last year. Very much in the mood for summer right about now.

fumer

2011-08-18T10:16:00.002+08:00

They are both amazing.

Eternal Sunshine

2011-08-13T19:33:00.004+08:00

"I can't see anything that I don't like about you.
But you will! But you will. You know, you will think of things.
And I'll get bored with you and feel trapped because that's what happens with me.
Okay.
Okay."

~ Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I'm pretty sure I've posted this before, but it applies so much to my life right now that i'm going post it again.

Arts Ball

2011-08-13T17:48:00.005+08:00

(source; valentino lookbook)

Argh, today the moment I walked off the bus the sky turned to grey and it bucketed down with rain for the entire walk home. Such luck I always have with the rain. In other news, I have a university ball coming up within the next month and I have no idea what to wear, I'd love to go in something like a black velvet gown with red lips and curled hair, something potentially 40s and kind-of dark and mysterious (see photos). It's fun to dress up and look pretty and i'm rather excited for it to be honest, even though balls are totally pretentious and expensive. I have this vintage velvet black dress that I'm fairly certain I'll end up wearing.

University is into it's third week and I have a French test on Tuesday. It shouldn't be too difficult as we haven't covered too much content as of yet. Life's pretty damn good at the moment, although I've been flat out since uni began (probably just me overreacting when saying that- there has only been two weeks after all.) Booked both the Wombats and the Jezabels tickets and found out that Beirut are headlining at Southbound which should be amazing as they're pretty much my favourite bad (have you listened to their new album The Rip Tide, ah ear orgasm right there.) So excited. It's pretty much all good things in my life at the moment, everything seems to be aligning. Better not jinx it...

St Kilda, Melbourne

2011-08-13T17:31:00.001+08:00

The wharf at St. Kilda in Melbourne with Sarah.

Submarine; The Novel

2011-08-09T17:47:00.001+08:00

Just finished Submarine. It wasn't bad, but I think I was a little bit too old to enjoy it as much as I did. I've been indulging in far too many indie high school awkward tragedies that tell you that life as a teenager sucks but it will get better. They're all so trite but oh-so-amazing.

Degraves Expresso

2011-08-09T15:29:00.000+08:00

Rocket Science

2011-08-05T22:05:00.004+08:00

"Resolved: that Hal Hefner should really stop letting the world tell him what's possible and try to find out for himself. Maybe that's just a life's philosophy suited only to some of us, those who cherish winning. So maybe it's not for you. But I think it is."

A film filled with awkward high school kissing scenes and debate tournaments was definitely one that I knew I was going to not only enjoy but love. Written and directed by Jeffry Blitz conceived on the basis of a fictional equivalent to the documentary Spellbound, Rocket Science captures the clumsy first moments of teenagedom, following a 15-year-old stutterer who decides to join the debate team after being asked by it's star member. I pretty much just loved the way the film summed up awkwardness in one single kiss-- which was one of the most excruciating scenes to watch. It's coming of age plotline was one that we've all seen before-- boy falls in love with girl, gets his heartbroken etc. However it's blunt, square cinematography as well as uncomfortably long shots made the film so much more than a typical teenage high school drama. It conveyed a sense of modern eloquence in the dealings of mundane coming of age issues, amongst the likes of Rushmore and Juno. Ahh this film has to be up there with one of the classic high school dramas made. I'm tired and ceebs writing eloquently, but in short, if you're a fan of the awkward teenage melodrama; watch it!

Melbourne; Day One

2011-08-04T16:51:00.003+08:00

Sooo Melbourne! In the beginning weeks of the Uni holidays I went to Melbourne with my two best friends Sarah and Viv. It was amazing awesome fun, we did nothing but take photobooth photos, drink warm cider, make lame that's what she said jokes, eat plenty of Japanese food and shop. Melbourne is one of the prettiest cities I think I've ever visited, it doesn't have the same amount of history that many of the European cities have, however it makes up for it in atmosphere. The abundance of cafés and laneways is amazing, and we managed to find new places to venture within the city every day. Sarah and I flew in the day after Viv and went straight to the QVB markets (see snaps) as we were waiting for Viv to come from a friends house just south of Melbourne. More snaps to come!

Seventies Pads

2011-07-31T00:14:00.003+08:00

Argh for some reason the vignetting on these snaps turned out excessive and quite horrible but I loved this house so I wanted to post them anyways. It's a family friends house of ours that is just in the north of Perth, it has the most lovely 60's feel to it. I want my house to look something like this when I grow up!

Uni goes back not tomorrow but the next day. I'm quite excited for this as I feel I've gone into a bit of an intellectual slump. Also, I get to see all my friends at Uni that I don't generally see in the holidays! I'm 150 pages down into Submarine and finding it hilarious. I really wish I read it when I was a little bit younger as the awkward moments in the book would have related very well to my 15 year old self, but alas I guess I'm still an awkward weird girl now.

Good Advice

2011-07-29T22:06:00.002+08:00

Dance Dance Dance

2011-07-29T22:01:00.007+08:00

"People die all the time. Life is a lot more fragile than we think. So you should treat others in a way that leaves no regrets. Fairly, and if posible, sincerely. It's too easy not to make the effort, then weep and wring your hands after the person dies."

- Dance Dance Dance, Haruki Murakami

Just finished this novel and I'm not entirely sure what I think about it, I think I'll let it sit for a while but I adored the character of the thirteen year old girl, Yuki. Man, I wish I was that cool when I was thirteen.

183

2011-07-27T23:13:00.002+08:00

Just before Melbourne my best friend Viv and her housemates had a garage sale selling all of their old clothes to make money for some more. There were some pretty good finds sourced from the good sammies of the upper north, south and east aswell as old pieces that had been altered to suit. It was a success and they should be having another one sometime soon, I'll let you guys know the details when they are released!

On The Bright Side

2011-07-27T00:32:00.000+08:00

(source; google images)

The stand-out international film from the film festival I was volunteering at last weekend. Unfortunately this just happened to be screening the same night as On the Bright Side Festival that I had tickets too, therefore didn't see it.

On the Bright Side is the Perth equivalent to the annual Splendor in the Grass festival, except much smaller without many of the big bands (such as Regina Spektor, Coldplay and Kanye which I'm pretty much dying on the inside because I can't see them). It was amazing. I arrived just in time to see Warpaint kick off, I'd previously seen them at the Laneway festival earlier in the year and they were just as good the second time. Next up was James Blake. He was amazing and adorable all in one with his mellow dubstep translating more effectively onstage than I thought it would. The Grates really impressed me with their stage presence. The Kills were after, however my hunger couldn't last another couple of sets (there wasn't really another break til about 10pm that night and I hadn't eaten a thing all day) so I skipped them and then watched Tame Impala from the back. I normally like supporting local acts, but Tame Impala already have a pretty strong support base here, I've seen them at almost every festival they've been at this year and I'm not a huge fan of their music. We pushed our way quickly to the front for Modest Mouse which, in all honesty, were another disappointment. They didn't play crowd-pleasers, and considering their music is pretty hit and miss the audience didn't get as into it and I did (rather embarrassingly I must admit). They ended with The View, which didn't seem like the right ending song. But I was too buzzed for The Hives to really care. And boy, they were truly amazing. They are just the band with the most stage presence and allure. They interacted with the audience, made it into a proper show. The guitarist was oh-so-adorable and the entire band were just really incredible. One of the best live shows I think I've seen in quite some time (I usually do say this after every band I see, but this was different).

Anyways, I'll be seeing Submarine as soon as it is released in the general cinemas. I'd like to get a copy of the novel first and give it a go. The entire score is composed by the Artic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner so I'll probably give that a listen too before I watch it. Hopefully I'll be able to hold out or I'll just cave in and watch my downloaded version -_-

WAMI'S

2011-07-24T22:53:00.001+08:00

Wami's (West Australian Music Industry) Awards after-party

05.13

2011-07-21T21:12:00.003+08:00

For my good friend Ella's birthday the trio headed into Northbridge and had lunch at this cute little café called Little Willies. I've noticed that since the small bar license has been approved many cool cute little bars and cafés have been opening up in small laneways around Perth and whatnot. There are so many new places to check out. Perth is really starting to look like a cool modern city! As much as I love traveling, i'll always love Perth for it's small town charm and clean streets. There's nothing quite like it.

Malaysia

2011-07-20T21:39:00.001+08:00

At the moment I'm in the middle of uni holidays, so I've taken up both a few extra shifts at work and also I'm volunteering at the Revelations Film Festival screening over the next week at the Astor Theater in Mt Lawley. I've had fun these holidays, but I must admit the few days after Melbourne I went a little bit crazy with not much to do and no uni to stress about. There's another week and a half of holidays so I shall try and do the things that I never have time to do, that means uploading prints!

Here's some snaps from when I visited Malaysia for my cousins wedding in the middle of May. I didn't manage to take too many shots because I was too busy shopping and enjoying food (that's a lie, I spent most of it behind a computer trying to get all my assignments completed). But these are the first prints I've uploaded from my Nikon F65 film camera given to me by my uncle in January. They turned out wonderfully and I can't wait to take more on the next roll. The first set developed weren't too good (out of focus, off-centre etc) but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I'm also using a lens intended for my digital camera, which results in slight vignetting in some of the photos shot in lower lighting. It's cool in some photos, but in others it just looks like I'm trying too hard, when in actual fact I'm just too poor to buy a proper lens that fits my camera. Oh wells, this is the beginning of all the snaps to come!

Oh also, sorry my writing in this post is a little incoherent, I'm exhausted. Sleep time.

Late Nights

2011-07-15T19:43:00.002+08:00

I'm currently refreshing my uni results page for it to come out. Apparently they have, but the server is down. Argh.

Happiness?

2011-07-15T19:39:00.001+08:00

"About being happy? That's not the most important thing. People don't write sonnets about being compatible, or novels about shared life goals and stimulating conversation. The great loves are the crazy ones, and I'm not a fool"

kate

2011-07-13T17:59:00.001+08:00

New Room.

2011-07-13T17:10:00.005+08:00

I moved house about 6 months ago and have yet to take some snaps, so here they are! It's much more spacious then my old room and its lovely and light in the afternoon. Urghh I've been home a week since Melbourne and I just can't find anything to do. I can't stand those people who say that they're bored all the time because only boring people say that they're bored... but these holidays just seem to be going by so slowly. It's bizarre that I spent a good 8 months last year doing nothing but do nothing and I didn't seem to get bored once. Oh well, uni timetable is done. Fingers crossed on a three day uni week, wooot! And it starts in 2 and a bit weeks. I think once it starts I won't really be complaining much longer.

One thing that I have managed to do these holidays is become completely obsessed with all forms of trashy high school television shows. At the moment it's Pretty Little Liars. It's so terrible, but I've always dreamed of having my very own Ezra...

I have 3 rolls of film from Melbourne in line to be developed and scan so once they are I will slowly start uploading and spilling the deets.

Melbourne

2011-07-13T16:53:00.001+08:00

For the first ten days of the uni break I went to Melbourne with my two best friends Viv and Sarah. We spent ridiculous amounts of money of photobooth snaps amongst other things. Here's a taster.

Flicker Roids

2011-07-13T16:12:00.002+08:00

Some of Viv's polaroids from Flickerfest last January.

Sleeping Beauty

2011-06-16T23:54:00.003+08:00

Ahhh so badly anticipating Jane Campion's new creation. 24th June is the day of many exciting things- the release of this film, the end of exams and the day before Melbourne!

The motto of exams...

2011-06-16T23:51:00.002+08:00

the perfect meal.

2011-05-11T00:51:00.003+08:00

(source; tumblr)

winter is refusing to arrive.

2011-04-18T22:39:00.003+08:00

..

2011-04-11T20:45:00.004+08:00

(DeviantART from top; Ladymonroe, Warbzz & Lczoor)

"... It gives up smoking although I have decided to give up, and then gives up smoking just when I've accepted the fact that I'm a smoker and always will be"

~ Micheal, The Reader

Viv's Crib

2011-04-04T21:36:00.001+08:00

The King's Speech & True Grit

2011-03-29T14:22:00.001+08:00

I've been seeing quite a bit of film recently, so here's the beginning of a whole heap of film interviews.

One of the cinemas in my city has a double feature showing every Monday, the films are sometimes an odd combination (I remember once they showed Matilda followed by A Clockwork Orange) however, the tickets are cheap and you get to bang out two films in a night. Last Monday's feature was particularly epic; they showed, The King's Speech (this years Academy Award Best Picture winner) and True Grit (a respective nominee). Both I enjoyed equally in different ways.

(source;google images)

The King's Speech screened first, and although I thought it was a little long towards the end, I thoroughly enjoyed it. For such a mundane theme as a King trying to speak, I went into the film a little cynical as to how it would be entertaining. However, director Tom Hooper managed to capture the audience through his brilliant score and script. He also achieved this through, most notably, the techniques used. Many intrusive fisheye lens, eye-level camera shots were used which evoked the idea of constriction as a result of being (to an extent) voiceless. Furthermore, it placed the audience on the same level as the King.

(source;google images)

As for True Grit, I'm not particularly a fan of any western films. The idea of revenge and private justice just doesn't really do it for me in a film, coupled with tacky American accents and the conquest of the wilderness just bores me most of the time. But, it was the Coen Brothers, and although I haven't particularly loved any of their work in the past (don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed their films, but I've never fallen head over heels for any of them) I thought that I should probably see the film. And like most of their previous films, I liked True Grit but it isn't something I'd see again or particularly loved. Hailee Steinfeld (who plays Mattie Ross) was excellent, and really deserved the credit she received especially considering her age (she was 14 at the time of release). The film is a typical story of western vengeance and follows Mattie who is in search for the man who killed her father. She finds the best man in town to accompany her, the merciless Rooster Cogburn (played by the one and only Jeff Bridges). Watching two films subsequently made me lose slight interest during the beginning scenes of True Grit, but it managed to hold my focus until the end of the film.

All in all, the two films were an enjoyable watch. I preferred The King's Speech over True Grit, probably due to a number of things. The first being the era they were set in; the pre-world war two era that The King's Speech was set in is one of my favourites and thus the socio-historical context probably influenced my preference over the western True Grit. And secondly, because Colin Firth is to die for and Geoffrey Rush is an amazing Australian actor.