Sunday, August 30, 2009

For Stars Will Rise Again



All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.
— Anatole France


There is a stark contrast between my mood tonight and my mood from last Sunday.

It may sound a little off to you, but i find a sort of distorted comfort in melancholy. I'm not sure whether it's because it brings back bitter-sweet nostalgia for my angsty youth, or whether it's because it helps remind me that I'm alive. I see things differently when in this state and I don't think I would have appreciated For Stars Will Rise Again quite as much if my world wasn't a little dark right now.

For Stars Will Rise Again is a gorgeous site of pictures and quotes that have helped to lift my heavy mood.

These songs generally help me too:


MP3: Green Grass of Tunnel - Múm
MP3: Postcards From Italy - Beirut
MP3: Leaf House - Animal Collective
MP3: Like Castanets - Bishop Allen
MP3: Walkabout - Atlas Sound
MP3: Nothing Ever Happened - Deerhunter




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Friday, August 28, 2009

You! Me! Dancing!



Beer, sleep, dancing, dressing up; IT'S THE WEEKEND MOFO'S!!!

Is it just me or has this working week gone disturbingly fast?

Here's a list of weekendalicious songs for you to put on your dancing shoes to.

See you tonight, highly attractive people.


MP3: Glamorous- Fergie
MP3: We Share Our Mothers Health - The Knife
MP3: Ramalama - Roisin Murphy
MP3: No Sex For Ben - The Rapture
MP3: You! Me! Dancing! - Los Campesinos

Thursday, August 27, 2009

All is Love


I thought I would be upfront with you all; most, if not all of this post has been pilfered from other blogs. Not the text, that is all my own genius, but everything else. Not that my posts are any other way usually, come to think of it.

Where the Wild Things Are - I am so excited for this film. I get a little emotional every time I see the trailer (pathetic). Which I am sure you have all seen by now, but just in case you haven't ~



Maurice Sendak's original book has been adapted for the screen by Spike Jonze and co-written by Dave Eggers (!). To add to the indie hipster wet dream that this film is, Karen O has done the soundtrack with a bevy of musical babes. Karen O and the Kids includes, YYYs Nick Zinner and Brian Chase, Dead Weather/Raconteurs members Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence, Liars' Aaron Hemphill, the Bird and the Bee's Greg Kurstin, Services' Tristan Bechet, and Gris Gris's Oscar Michel, as well as a children's choir.

Unfortunately I don't have a downloadable version of the first single, "All is Love" but you can listen to it here. Tell me what you think!


Also read this which I found here.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Dreaming is free


Have I ever told you guys how much I love Blondie? No? Well, let me amend that now. I love, love, love Blondie and more specifically Debbie Harry. LOVE. She is everything I am not, but secretly want to be.




The only times I have ever considered going blond are when I look at photos of Debbie Harry. Amazing, considering her hair often looked shocking in the 80s, but that is her awesome power.


I hadn’t listened to any Blondie for a while, but my love was rekindled, strangely enough, by these images from a magazine editorial inspired by Debbie Harry. Enjoy, along with a few of my favourite Blondie songs.






Thigh high boots are becoming more and more desirable to me. Uh oh.


MP3:Blondie - Dreaming
MP3: Blondie - One Way or Another
MP3:Blondie - Hanging On the Telephone
MP3:Blondie - Sunday Girl

Monday, August 24, 2009

These Are My Twisted Words

Image by Todd via You Could a Drawed Pictures

'These are my twisted words.
When I feel you still walking,
I know I should not look down,
But I’m so sick of just talking.

I just can’t handle it.'

MP3: These Are My Twisted Words - Radiohead


Sunday, August 23, 2009

Sunday, Lovely Sunday



Ah, Sunday. Not usually my favourite day of the week, but today was really just lovely. I feel refreshed, organised and ready to start a new delightful week.

Here are some of the highlights of my day and a playlist of merry songs to accompany my cheery mood;















MP3: Sunday, Lovely Sunday - Edson

MP3: AC in Hcmc - Most Valuable Players

MP3: Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken - Camera Obscura

MP3: Deli - Delorean




Today's lowlight; I went for a run, my legs failed and I unceremoniously fell to the ground taking off a great deal of hand skin. Boo. Check out my midget legs in this picture though, amazing right?




And finally, even though I've had a most spectacular day, this lovely Sunday I am still most grateful for my adorable friends.

Have a good week dearest readers.

xoxo

Saturday, August 22, 2009

69 Love Drawings



Thanks to some hardcore face-stalking (thanks Tara), I fell head over heels in love with How Fucking Romantic, an AMAZING blog that illustrates the wonderful Magnetic Fields album, 69 Love Songs. IT'S JUST SO GREAT! My favourite song illustration is 'Absolutely Cuckoo'.

Happy Saturday lovely people.



Thursday, August 20, 2009

Playtime


I just bought this playsuit from my number one favourite store and today it pops up on the cherry blossom girl, one of my favourite blogs. Naturally, Alix being French and amazing it looks far, far better on her, but I would like to think I look a tiny bit as cool as she does when I wear mine.



Sometimes the world is just too small. Or maybe Topshop is just too big.

All photos courtesy of the cherry blossom girl

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Heartland



I received a pretty exciting email today informing me that Final Fantasy's 3rd LP Heartland is going to be released in early 2010.

I'm a huge fan of Owen Pallett's. If his tour late last year and this song from the new album are anything to go off; we're going to be in for an amazing LP.

It's well worth the watch.



Monday, August 17, 2009

Words


Image found via Eat All Of You

Walk in silence,
Don't walk away, in silence.
See the danger,
Always danger,
Endless talking,
Life rebuilding,
Don't walk away.

Walk in silence,
Don't turn away, in silence.
Your confusion,
My illusion,
Worn like a mask of self-hate,
Confronts and then dies.
Don't walk away.

People like you find it easy,
Naked to see,
Walking on air.
Hunting by the rivers,
Through the streets,
Every corner abandoned too soon,
Set down with due care.
Don't walk away, in silence,
Don't walk away.

Atmosphere- Joy Division




Image found via Montmarte's Sketchbook


Breaking up is hard to do.


MP3: Good Woman- Cat Power

MP3: Dirty Dishes- Deer Tick

MP3: How It Ends- Devotchka

MP3: Nude- Radiohead

MP3: Last Goodbye- Jeff Buckely

MP3: Damage- Yo La Tengo

MP3: Atmosphere - Joy Division

Sunday, August 16, 2009

DIY Sundays: Skeletal Lamping

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Another rainy Sunday, another perfect excuse for indoor crafting. And what better a winter project than one which promises to cast beautiful, warm, cozy light around your bedroom, perfect for reading or moodious snuggling?

I am aware of two ways of covering your own lampshades using a dashing fabric of your choice. My way, and the proper way.

For perfectionists, excellent instructions for the proper way can be found on the fantastic Melbourne craft blog kirin notebook. For this particular method, you will need to find a wire lampshade frame. I hear you can get them from good craft stores. I was unable to find one.

For my lazy method, you will need a pre-existing lampshade, which is made of a fairly sturdy plastic interior, over which fabric has been glued (I just bought some ugly shades which were on sale at a lighting store). You will also need some spray-adhesive which you can buy at an art store for around $10, and which will soon become your new best friend. Not only does the aerosol make you feel a fun kind of giddy, but the glue itself is all kinds of useful for neat, sticky application of one surface to another. Think of the possibilities! You will also need to acquire some pretty fabric of your choice, and probably more than you think you need. I'd go with cotton or linen or some other kind of non-stretch material. Quilting fabric is perfect. I would also recommend a pattern with at least a little bit of white, because this enables some beautiful pure light to shine through. (For Canberra readers, I have four words: Addicted to Fabric, Phillip. Best fabric shop on the south, or I'd imagine, any side of our humble town.)


Method:

1. This slightly dodgy process (which I completed so quickly that I took no photographs, apologies) requires you to rip the existing fabric off the plastic interior of your lampshade. I found this fairly simple with the shade I purchased: I simply made an incision on the top of the shade using scissors, and cut and tore it off in sections. If your shade is too flimsy it is likely that chunks of plastic will come off with the fabric, which is why I recommend a fairly robust product.

2. Measure and cut your fabric to shape, making sure you leave at least two centimetres overhang for both the top and bottom of the shade.

3. Spray both the shade and fabric with spray adhesive. Wait for the glue to feel tacky, then carefully stick the fabric over the shade, as if applying contact to school books. The spray adhesive should make this step remarkably easy, messy and wrinkle free. Make sure you leave a few centimetres overlap at the back of the frame, and stick these together firmly.

4. For a neat top and bottom, you want to fold the fabric over the top of the shade, then hook it under the wire that runs around the top of the frame. So measure and cut the overhang so that when folded inside the shade the edge will tuck neatly underneath the wire. Apply a little spray adhesive to the wire, then use your fingernails to glue the fabric securely underneath it. Repeat for the base of the frame (detailed diagrams of this step can be found at kirin notebook).

5. Screw your shade onto your lamp base, and add a globe which will cast a nice, gentle, warm light.

NB. I bought my two mismatching milk glass bases at an antique store for a fairly decent price. They were pretty dusty and disgusting at the time, but cleaned up real nice and fresh. I recommend you hunt around for some pretty and unique ones, otherwise you can pick up fairly plain metal bases at furniture stores like IKEA and Freedom.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

The dark arts of sweet potato and aoili

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Here, as promised, is the recipe for sweet potato planks with basil aoili. But first, a confession: I have never made sweet potato planks with basil aoili. It remains strictly the domain of my man-friend, Thomas. Thus, the recipe bellow is written in minute, somewhat pretentious detail (apologies for that) by him, and I can take no credit for any successes or failures you may have with it. Although I am quite certain I could make sweet potato planks with basil aoili, and indeed have often aided him in the process of doing so, it is indisputably one of those recipes that always tastes best when someone else makes it for you.

If you've never made real aoili before, I thoroughly recommend you try it. It's not that hard (just be very, very patient when adding the first few drops of oil) and is so much more delicious than anything commercially available.

Tom's Sweet Potato Planks with Basil Aioli

As Julia doesn’t dabble in the dark arts of sweet potato and aioli, she felt it would be better if I enlighten you on the subject. So here, by popular request, is the recipe:

Cut two medium sweet potatoes into chunky plank-like chips (2-3cm fat, and as long as possible). Make them slightly fatter than you would think, they seem to shrink in the oven.

Toss the planks in a small drizzle of olive oil and arrange on an oven shelf or baking dish – make sure it’s non stick/baking paper lined if using a tray of any kind. Throw a few garlic cloves in as well (not peeled) with just their bottoms chopped off.

Bake at around 220 ºC until browned on all sides. You may have to tun them at some stage if you’re not cooking on the oven shelf. (Note: while cooking the chips directly on the oven shelf may result in more evenly browned chips, it may also result in a sticky, sweet-potato-y residue that is difficult to clean. If you don’t like cleaning, go with the baking paper or non-stick tray.) Smaller chips may become slightly burnt but are still quite delicious. If you don’t end up with nicely coloured chips that’s ok too, they’ll still be delicious. Also, make sure you take the garlic out when it’s soft – don’t burn it. But don’t open the oven too much or the chips won’t get hot enough to crisp up.

Now you can whip up your aioli. Pop one egg yolk into the milkshake cup of a stick mixer* along with the squeezed out pulp of the roasted garlic cloves, a splash of lemon juice, and a dessertspoon or so of water. You want this mixture to be able to engage with the blades of the stick blender.

With the blender on and engaged with the aforementioned mixture, VERY gradually (drop by drop) add approximately one cup of oil, using half good quality extra virgin olive oil, and half a more innocuous oil such as light olive, canola, sunflower or vegetable (you can experiment with quantities but the more rich the oil, the richer the aioli will be). You want the mixture to thicken to the consistency you would expect from a good quality mayonnaise. You can probably make around a cup of aioli from one egg yolk. If the mixture starts to separate (you will know), stop immediately and transfer to another container**. You are either mixing too fast, or you have added too much oil. Don’t beat yourself up about it though, as the more mistakes you make, the better aioli maker you will become.

At this point you can either taste and add more lemon juice or garlic (you can use fresh for a more aggressive garlicy-ness, or add more roasted for a softer, more evocative warmth on the palette), or upgrade your aioli into a basil aioli by stirring through a mixture of a handful of basil, a splash of extra virgin, and half a clove of fresh garlic that has been either pounded in a mortar and pestle (the best way) or blended. I find the basil really complements the sweet potato taste. You could even use purple basil if you are an aesthete.

Serve the planks generously sprinkled with salt flakes (I recommend Maldon) and cracked pepper, and a large amount of aioli for dipping.

ADDENDUM:

*It is also possible to produce aioli with any other kind of beating device/implement, such as a food processor. I, however find that a stick blender is generally less likely to fail.

If one wishes to be a historical purist, it is also possible to conceive aioli in a mortar and pestle with the simple addition of a garlic clove. Just bash up the clove and, drop by drop, bash in the oil (in the mortar and pestle). This requires great patience but results in a fair amount of status within the aioli community, and smug desire to turn one’s nose up at those who require the use of egg or electricity to produce their aioli. You can also use this method to ‘rescue’ you separated aioli if you’re out of eggs. Just begin the new aioli in this way, then transfer the new mixture to another vessel and gradually blend in the separated mixture.

**If splitting occurs, it can either be cured using the mortar and pestle method mentioned above, or by simply adding a few drops of boiling water and blending rapidly.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Tuesday Treats

Bunnies in SPACE!!!

I've made two discoveries this week that have made me CRY with laughter.

The amazing video above was found via Lolbunnies, my new favourite website.



My other find was this amazing website; what Chuck wore. I can't even explain how great it is. If you're a Gossip Girl fan, check it out yo.

Enjoy, motherchuckers.

Monday, August 3, 2009

The Spoils of Underemployment

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For the past few weeks I've been a touch underemployed.

But it hasn't been so bad. It's left me with plenty of time to:


Go on spontaneous holidays to the beautiful Blue Mountains with a rather charming man.



Cook delicious meals {sweet potato chips with basil aoili and sauteed silver beet with marjoram and Bulgarian feta).




Craft lampshades



Paint



And appreciate the first peaks of Spring.


Yes. In fact I'd say it's been quite grand.

{stay tuned for recipes and DIY lamp instructions in the coming days}