If you like it...

It is that time of year again chickies, that time when one must get pen and paper or laptop and keyboard and declare their favourite things of the year. I love and hate this time of year. I LOVE finding out other peoples favourites, then judging them. But I HATE writing my own lists as I fear being judged. Luckily, this year I do not need to do any lists as there is only one song, one video, nay one person whom I love above all others - Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé's fierce alter-ego.


The music video for Single Ladies (as well as the song) has made my year, I love it. And there is a lot to love. The repetition of the line, 'Single ladies, Single ladies' over and over. 'If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it' - classic lyrics. Then there is the video, my god. From the leotards to the rad dance moves to the ass slapping and the bionic hand, there is not one element I dislike - it is all genius.

As a belated Christmas present here is the mp3 and if you have not seen the video yet, I beg you, implore you to follow this link to YouTube and watch it (due to evil record companies I can't put the video on the blog, sorry guys), it will make your 2008.

Beyoncé - Single Ladies

Merry Christmas

I know we're a few days late, but better late then never i say. Look forward to some good old fashioned end of year posts over the next few days. 

Hope you've all gained at least 5kgs and that Santa spoilt you as much as he did me.

xoxo

Your Personal Moon

Your Personal Moon is a collaborative art project between two Russian artists, Leonid Tishkov and Boris Bendikov. From what I can gather from various websites and bad Google translations, is that the project is an ongoing series of photographs and installations based on a concept by Tishkov, with photographs taken by Boris Bendikov. Some websites seem to think that the light boxes are made for production, which would be awesome and I would love one for my backyard, but as far as I can tell it is solely an art project.
Tishkov says the idea for this project came when he wanted to recreate this work by the Belgium Surrealist artist, Rene Margritte.

Rene Margritte, Le Seize Septembre, date unknown

From that first photograph the idea seemed to take off and the artists have created many photographs of the moon lightbox in various locations. These are some of my favourites from the collection, but you can also find more images here and if you are brave enough to take on Google translations you can read an interview with the artists here.

Summery Seduction

ll


Is anyone else having trouble believing that we're currently residing in the season of Summer? I don't know about you, but I feel like I've only bared my legs to an unsuspecting world a handful of times since Autumn and ordinarily, well....it would have been more like four or five handfuls (poor world). Not that I'm complaining. I hate summer. I always find miserable weather inspiring, and heat and sunshine just...laze inducing. So really, this is a fitting farewell before I brave the oppressing burn of Southern India.

Anyway, I'm sure that at least once in the next month or so while I'm away a moment will arise in each of your lives when the thought of cooking or eating anything involving heat will induce nausea. What follows will be just the thing for that day. This recipe is also for my friend Tim who has recently acquired a vegan housemate and asked for advice on what to feed her. Tim: this. Or, if we're to dip into my small archive, you could also go with this or this, or even this, sans egg and butter.

This recipe really is gorgeously cooling, and almost unsettlingly attractive for a food-stuff. It's all coy in pink and green; I half expected it to jump of the plate, give me a flower and do a little curtsey. It would be just the thing for a post-gluttonous boxing day lunch, and would also make a very classy entree at a summer dinner party. The boy and I enjoyed it all the same as a light main course with some rice and steamed boc choy to the side, on an almost warm night earlier this week.


Silken Tofu with Pickled Ginger, Cucumber and Mint

Adapted from the Longrain Cookbook: Modern Thai Food

Ingredients

1 400g packet silken tofu, carefully sliced (I picked up a locally made one from Choku Bai Jo in North Lyneham shops - delicious!)
1/2 Cup Coriander leaves
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 a small red chilli, finely diced
1 lebanese cucumber
2 tablespoons Pickled Ginger (available at Asian Supermarkets)
1 spring onion, finely sliced on a sharp diagonal

Dressing
1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon finely sliced (or morta and pestle pounded) ginger

fried shallots, for garnish

Method

Combine all dressing ingredients and set aside.

Cut your cucumber in half, lengthways. Turn each peice on its side and finely shave into thin half-ribbons, using a sturdy vegetable peeler, thusly:

Combine the cucumber with the herbs, ginger, chilli, and spring onion, and pile artfully atop the tofu.

Drizzle with the dressing, and sprinkle over the fried shallots.

Enjoy, preferably with Jasmine tea served in pretty little cups. Pure class.

Of Candy, Empty Promises and Terrariums.

dd
Friends,

I know lately it seems like all I've done is promise recipes, and have yet to deliver, but, cross my heart and hope to die, I have a whole heap lined up to give you in these last two weeks before I depart for my Indian adventure. Seriously, I've taken photos and everything.

Oh, also, you should know that I've solved my Secret Santa dilemma (not that you ever knew about it, or cared - but I'm just so proud of myself that I have to share). I'm going to make mine a terrarium! (a cute little one! in a jar!) Hopefully it will turn out something like this one, from TheOakLeaves's etsy shop:



Then, if it's a success I'm going to make one for each of my bedside tables.

But if you'll excuse me, right now I have to dash to the supermarket, buy ingredients and make these. Pronto. I don't even care if it's 10pm.

Sincerely &c.

Julia.

Old at 22

I never thought I would feel old and decrepit at 22, but I do. And it is all thanks to this girl, who I found on Hel Looks.

Tuulia, 11
"I like lolita style, because it's beautiful. I discovered it at Moon Kana's gig.
Now I'm wearing a shirt and shoes from China, a skirt made by my mother's friend and a headdress that I bought at a rock festival in China.
My mother has found many lolita-inspired clothes for me. I've also customized my clothes. Here at Ofelia I got an idea to make jewellery from old playing cards."

Not only does she have a great name (I imagine it to be pronounced like Julia, but with a T), but she is 11 years old! Her personal style is not my style, but the fact that she has so much style and intelligence about fashion at such a young age blows my mind. I'm fairly sure that when I was 11 I was still wearing my favourite stirrup pants with a turtleneck jumper and some kind of jelly sandal, or my Mum's favourite cat patterned jumpsuit. My sister and I had matching pink, black and green, floral patterned jumpsuits with pictures of cats on them, complete with googly eyes. I wish I was joking.

I also felt a little old and decrepit over the weekend, as the mud and the rain and the cold at Meredith Festival did dampen (haha) my enjoyment a little. Gumboots, however, are my new heroes, I do not know what I would have done without them. So waterproof, so mud resistant, so much fun to stomp around in, so rubbery...officially run out of things to say about the mighty gumboot. I wish mine had been as awesome as these, instead of boring black.

Sorry to have been so neglectful recently readers and thank you for staying with us, I promise lots more posts from now on!

Hello from Meredith!

If it had only been this wet we'd have been happy.

This is a super quick hello from Vanessa and myself as we huddle together trying to dry our selves after the wettest festival of our lives: Meredith Music Festival 2008.

Highlights included Man Man, Holy Fuck, Final Fantasy and the conversation i had with some randoms about how mega shit MGMT are. Low points included being constantly wet, our tent filling with water, sleeping in a wet sleeping bag, bogan mud fights and the mother fucking wind. Though, like most wet things, it was still pretty fun.

Full details when we get back to Canberra tomorrow.

Yours with a future pneumonia,

Jaimie.
x0x0

*heh, i fixed my somewhat hilarious typo.

Pleasant Distractions

kjkj

Oh dear. We've really neglected you of late, haven't we? We are three of the worst kinds of fake millionaires ever. The kind who spend all their money on drugs, plastic surgery and pussy, and none on bunnies, the environment or wasted youth. We're absolutely wretched.

My only excuse is that I am currently working in a job which essentially requires me to perform the following three tasks:

a) change et al (in italics, no full stop) to et al. (no italics, full stop).

b) change words ending in ...ize, ...ization etc. to ...ise, ...isation etc. (it seems many academics still don't get Australian spelling).

c) change " (double quotation marks) into ' (single quotation marks).

ALL EFFING DAY.

Which, as you can imagine, doesn't really leave me feeling all that artsy, crafty or witty.

On the plus side, however, such mundane work allows for tricky simultaneous working and day-dreaming to a degree limited only by my imagination (which is, in reality, quite dull at the moment, dominated largely by thoughts such as "oh gosh, I'm bored...I wonder if I should invent something...oh, I know! Maybe some kind of like, purchasable, synthetic chest-hair for men and women", or "oh gosh, I'm bored...why does hair fall on the body in such a specific pattern?....", or "oh gosh, I'm bored... I wonder where snails go during droughts?", "oh gosh, I'm bored...I really wish I was plaiting chest hair", or "mmm....chest hair"). Seriously though, I really do wonder about those snails. Don't you?

I took this photograph after one of the first rains we'd had here in months. The footpath was crawling with them!

Anyway, when I'm not day-dreaming about chest hair or snails, I do spend a lot of time carefully considering my plans for that glorious thing valued so dearly by those in full time work* (especially that of the editorial variety): The Weekend. Since weekends, like mornings, scarcely existed to me at all in any important way in my life prior to office work, I've only recently come to appreciate the sanctity of those two days beginning with S which fall at the end of the week. I plan to cram as much into this one as possible.

Thusly: A list of that which this weekend's Shortlist currently includes (otherwise entitled: Julzie recommends Pt 2):


1. Eating delicious mulberries straight off this tree.

2. Making these muffins. This is perhaps the greatest recipe for a baked thing I have ever discovered. And I hoard recipes. And I don't even ordinarily love, or even like sweet things. Not even kidding.

3. Taking said muffins, along with a salad (I thoroughly recommend this one, even if it isn't particularly seasonal) and a bottle of Rosé to the top of Mount Ainslie for a picnic with lovely friends and lovely lovers.

4. Thinking about this video, and how I am going to force my life to change because of it. You should watch it. It'll make you feel disgusted, depressed, guilty, inspired and motivated. In that order. Which really is the best kind of order, no?

5. Reading lots and lots of this fantastic book and fantasising about my trip to Southern India. (Oh yeah, I'm going to India. In January. I'm trailing this new thing called impulsiveness. So far I'm not so sure that I enjoy it.).

6. Going to see this at Canberra's very own National Film and Sound Archive

7. Making some kind of DIY craft project for my house. Contenders include this, and this.

8. Completing a very exciting DIY project of my own, soon to be featured on this here blog.

9. Listening, a lot, to this.

10. Contemplating the possibility of applying for a PhD thesis in Anthropology on long-stay caravan park culture in Australia.

And if I'm not thoroughly exhausted by all of the above:

11. Posting a recipe, just for you.

xxx

*I use this phrase lightly, as I am technically only in full time work for this one week, and on average arrive at my place of employment at around 10.30am. Still, I'll thank you not to impose your own values onto the degree to which I suffer.

Thunder Power and Ambivalence.

Thunder Power

We get sent a lot of MP3's from bands and promoters wanting us to hype the crap out of their group. Being the wonderful procrastinator i am, i try to listen to most of the stuff we're sent. And people, usually it's balls. Utter rubbish. Try to re-glue my eardrums together kind of crap. So when i found something i actually kind of like i got all excited and felt i needed to share it with you fine young cannibals.


Thunder Power are a 6 piece from Omaha. The lead singer sounds small and her vocals have been described as smokey, which cracks me up even though i know it probably shouldn't. Her voice is quite similar to Tracyanne Campbell's of Camera Obscura. They play soft indie-rock tunes, that honestly kind of verge on annoying (like so much 'twee' music), but get stuck in my head so badly that i find myself listening to them pretty much on repeat. They play happy, boppy music that you don't really have to concentrate on. I like them, even if my ambivalence doesn't exactly portray it.

Cover art and CD for Thunder Power's EP 'Love yourself'

Here are my two favourite songs from the EP;

Take a Hike
Imaginary Rules

Think of a mix of current popular twee outfits and you'll have a sound close to theirs. If you're into that sort of thing check them out here. Heh, their Myspace says they sound like 'kittens with wings and lightening fingers'. Way to be lame Thunder Power.

Meh, they go okay, but they are stellar if you're used to utter crap in your MP3 inbox. Please people, send me something good.

Yours with love,

Jaimie.

Remaking Fashion

John Galliano for Christian Dior, Dress model no. 39 2000, spring–summer designed,
2003 made, The tramp collection, NGV

In a couple of weeks I am heading to Melbourne for Meredith Festival and as much as I am looking forward to Meredith, which is a lot. I am also looking forward to staying with my sister in her new pad, shopping, hanging out and spending all my tax return, which I suspect will be a pittance. Since I am a bit of a nerd I am researching a few things that I want to do and included is the Remaking Fashion exhibition at the NGV. I only found out about this exhibition today, but after reading the outline/summary/low-down of it, I am super excited. It's also free, which fits into my almost non-existent budget perfectly. The list of designers whose work is included almost made me squeal with excitement: Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons, Maison Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, Yohji Yamamoto, Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, Nicholas Ghesquiére for Balenciaga and John Galliano for Christian Dior, as well as Pierre Cardin toiles from the 1960s. Sounds amazing! The NGV collects a lot of fashion pieces so it has an extensive collection to draw from.

Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, Top, skirt, overskirt, leggings and shoes, hat and bra, 1982–83 autumn–winter, Nostalgia of mud collection, NGV

Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, Dress and Necklace 2008 spring–summer, NGV

The idea behind the exhibition is to look at the construction process behind the garment, and how these functional elements have now become part of the overall aesthetic of the clothing. Items such as zippers, studs and boning (hehe, boning) are no longer just functional components, but are often used as purely decorative elements. The focus of this exhibition is all part of the deconstructive realm that is particularly characteristic of some modern designers and an element of fashion which appears to be gaining increasing popularity in mainstream fashion. This can be seen in the recent collaborations of Comme des Garçons with H&M, and Christopher Kane collaborating with Topshop in the UK. I have a very limited knowledge about fashion so hopefully this exhibition will give me a bit more. Fingers crossed it's as rad as it sounds!

All photos and info from the NGV website

Love in all its various incarnations. Part (1.5)

Hehehehe, i just found this video clip to Sin With Sebastian's song 'Shut Up (And Sleep With Me)'.

You've got to watch it.




Happy start of week kidlets.

Love in all its various incarnations. Part (1)

Fetish 1: Picture by David Lynch, shoes by Christian Louboutin.

Sexual fetishism is defined by Wiki as the sexual attraction to, or arousal by, materials or objects that aren't commonly associated with sexuality. So basically, fetishism can be seen as anything that causes a person sexual arousal that is considered a little left of center.

A friend informed me that there's a fetish night at Cube this Saturday evening (oooh, tonight! ) which sparked my interest in the theme 'love' and what forms 'love' can take within our society. This is the first of several posts exploring this 'ideal' if you like.

According to my google search on fetishes, shoe fetishes appear to be most popular, or shall i rephrase, more socially accepted. Some other well known ones include amputee fetishism, leather fetishism, infantilism (sexual arousal through wearing diapers and be treated as an infant), and algolagnia (pain fetish). Some of my more obscure favourites include swim cap fetishism, vorarephilia (desire to be eaten), scatophilia (sexual arousal through involving feces), and then there's the good old wholesome fun of asphyxiophilia (arousal from self-strangulation). See this list of paraphilias for more arousing fun.

Fetish 5: Picture by David Lynch, shoes by Christian Louboutin

According to my old friend the DSM-IV, sexual fetishism, in all glorious forms, can be diagnosed as a clinical disorder if it causes the person experiencing it considerable distress and discomfort. Apparently these days people tend to embrace their specific fetish and there are clubs, stores and secret societies that help unite people in their unique eroticism.

I find the concept of fetishism liberating. I believe it's responsible for the idea that there are no longer many sexual taboos. So, what does that mean for us? Basically, we can have sex and be aroused however we like provided that it doesn't disturb the other people involved. How liberating is that? My feminist foresisters would be proud.

The Red Bubble's fetish section has some fabulous art works and what appears to be a fairly tight-nit fetish community if anyone is further intrigued...

Duck Tape by Bobby Bare on Red Bubble.

We live in a fascinatingly diverse world.

Shut Up (And Sleep With Me)- Sin With Sebastian

Love Song Number 7- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Tekno Love Song- CocoRosie

Human- Carpark North

Beer Bites, Part One: India

Melissa at The Traveller's Lunchbox recently wrote that despite the massive life changes she has endured over 2008, the year will probably always be remembered as one in which she made an awful lot of jam. Which made me realise that my years are often defined by the discovery of particular foods, or 'food movements', too. While this year was one in which I moved out of home, wrote a thesis, had my first real job and started a blog, it was also one in which I became a vegequarian (who eats chicken on occasion), planted my own herbs and tomatoes, started shopping at farmer's outlets, and blogged a lot about food.

Last year was somewhat less eventful, and thus will always be remembered as the one in which I discovered beer. Sure, I had drunken beer (sometimes in copious amounts) previously. And although at the time I was pretty sure I enjoyed it, I realise now that I mostly did it in a highly unfeminst attempt to bond with men folk. No better way, I always say, to form friendships with males than by indulging along side them in cheap, yucky, bogan Australian beer (although I acknowledge that this probably says far more about my social skills than those of the average Australian man).

So it wasn't until my Indochina trip of January '07 that I truly learnt to love beer. Asian beer. Every meal in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia was accompanied by a long neck of the local brew, for which I usually paid roughly between 0.5 - 1.5 Australian dollars. There is nothing better when dining on the dusty banks of an empty Mekong in Phnom Pen than a long brew of Khmer beer (even though it does taste unmistakably like eggs), or a Beer Lao with a fifty cent all you can eat vegan banquet in magically lit night markets at Luang Prabang, or a fresh beer Hoi with a delicious bowl of steaming pho on a tiny chair positioned precariously on the edge of a busy road in Hanoi. Nothing. Better.

So, in delayed celebration of the discovery of my love for Asian beer, love of the truest, most feminist kind, I intend to post a series of recipes of yummy nibbly delights to enjoy with certain brews from that mystical east.

The idea for today's post (which, in turn inspired this series of posts) occurred to me by accident, when I prepared one of my favorite cheap, easy and quick snacks this afternoon - poppadums with various Indian fixings. I sat down to eat it and realised, achingly so, that it would be simply perfect with a beer. An Asian beer. The Indian brew, Kingfisher would have been ideal in the interest of keeping things ethnically correct...but the bottlo across the road had none. So instead I went with my all time Asian fave, Tiger. I'm no good at describing its taste (I said I liked beer, not that I understood it), but it goes perfectly with anything spicy. So I sat down to feast and drink...the boy studying across from me, and the sounds of live jazz from the pub across the road floating in with the afternoon breeze which tickled our freshly hung Nepalse prayer flags. It was a most divine Sunday afternoon.

Tiger Beer with Poppadums and Indian dips.

As much as I enjoy a good curry, I often find it is all the extra bits - raita, chutneys, pickles, poppadums, naan - that I truly love about Indian food. They also, as is the topic of this post, make for great nibbles with beer...and are fantastic as a pre-dinner thang, or just with casual afternoon beers with friends, lovers, or indeed, alone. I haven't given too much guidance here, because I generally just throw whatever I have on hand together, so I think experimentation is key. You might also like to make some of that bannana and coconut thing, but, as banana is the one and only food that completely scares the bejesus out of me, I did not.

To make the poppadums, simply follow the instructions on the back of the pack. While I believe the deep fried method is undeniably better, I made mine in the microwave today out of intense Sunday-afternoon laziness. You could substitue fresh naan bread from your local Indian shop, but there is something about the crunchy, fragrant, chick pea flavour of poppadums I love, and I generally always have a packet in my pantry.

Cucumber Raita
I like this quite nontraditionally chunky, so I combine about half a roughly chopped cucumber with 2-3 tablespoons of natural Greek yogurt, half to a full tablespoon of lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of fresh finely chopped fresh mint, or one teaspoon of dried mint flakes, and plenty of salt and pepper, and maybe a pinch of ground cummin or coriander. Mix well.

Tomato and Coriander
Combine two roughly chopped ripe as ripe tomatoes, with your desired amount of finely diced red onion, two teaspoons of finely chopped coriander, 1/4 of a teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

I also mix a good, sweet commercial mango chutney with lots of extra chilli flakes, and serve it along side the poppadums and dips. To be honest, this is my favorite bit, and is often the only thing I can bring myself to prepare. So I wont judge you, even a little bit, if you decide to skip the dips, and just go with the chutney, or an assortment of chutneys and pickles, even.

All ingredients can be prepared up to several hours in advance, although the poppadums might go soggy, so probably best to make them fresh. Serves approximately four people for beer nibbles, or two for a light lunch.

The perfect space

.,,

I've been scouring the interweb lately for quirky, cheap and easy decorating ideas for our new abode, and this room has to be my favorite find yet. I just love the use of old boots as vases for dried flowers, the georgeous mirror, rich wall colour...and, most of all, the rumpled sheets.

I'm pretty sure if I lived here I would spend my days in bed writing succulent erotic novels and drinking mulled wine, and my nights entertaining local artists, poets and miscellanious creatures of the underworld.

From Bilyana Dimitrova's new book, via Apartment Therapy.

It's a fresh spring, so let's sing...

Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, Fake Burst via Ruby Mag

This song seems appropriate today. I'm sure I don't have to tell you why.

Yeasayer - 2080

Baking melodies with Pikelet.

Pikelet (aka Evelyn Morris) by Lauren Bamford

To backtrack to my series of posts on Australian artists, this post will focus on lovely Pikelet.

Pikelet is a musical outfit fronted by the superbly talented Evelyn Morris.

As i couldn't find an enormous amount of information about Pikelet on the interweb, I'm going to imagine that when Pikelet needs flour (metaphorical or not) for her creative endeavours, she walks to the local supermarket that lies at the end of her Melbournian lane way (Pikelet lives in the outskirts of Melbourne). When she's sick she can't send anyone to get her eggs (as there are no other members in her band) , so she has to be very creative with how she gets her ingredients (or comes up with songs). And gosh golly, creative this fine lady is.

I would describe Pikelet as 1/3rd saccharine and sprinkles (not to far removed from the sounds of Decoder Ring and Goldfrapp), 1/3rd do-it-yourself wonder woman (as she is responsible for most of the instruments you hear on her tracks), and 1/3rd curious and mystical (because i'm getting lazy and her music can be a little 'crazy'). Combine these parts to create a perfect concoction of fluffy acoustic Lo-Fi . Mmm, delicious.

Learn more about this clever cookie here. She's one album to her name thus far and has toured with the likes of Camera Obscura , the Microphones and Sufjan Stevens (just to further wet your appetite).

Here's a lovely video of her performing one of her songs. It's gorgeous, sit through it.

And here's an MP3 for you to keep (buy the album here).

Bug In Mouth

- Pikelet.

'Cause I'm your lady

I really love a good cover. Song variety, blanket variety, substance variety; i'm not terribly fussed about the type.

So in the tradition of cold nights, and for the loss of a vital member of the Number One Millionaire community, here's a collection of some of my favourite covers. Use them as needed.

Human Behaviour (Bjork)

- The Decemberists

Nothing Compares to You (Prince*)
- Dan Kelly

This Modern Love (Block Party)

- Final Fantasy

Faith (George Micheal)

- The Boy Least Likely to.

Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death (Scout Niblett)

- Jens Lekman

Modern Love (David Bowie)

- Syme

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've*) ( Buzzcocks)

- Nouvelle Vague

Power of Love (Jenifer Rush)

-Final Fantasy

I hope you enjoy these songs. They're some of my all time favourites.

Stay well and safe. Remind people that you love them.

A Nautical Look at the Crayon Fields.

The Crayon Fields's cute factor is off the freakin' radar.

I've decided that we haven't had enough music on our dear little blog recently and I'm going to try my best to remedy this situation by possibly introducing you kids to some fun new bands.

I've been kind of harsh on our lovely Australia over the past few years, choosing countries such as Sweden and Canada for my first musical port of call, over looking delightful bands battling for attention right in front of me. This week I'm going to showcase some of our best treasures and gems.

One such band I've recently grown very found of are The Crayon Fields. Man do I love these guys. Home port for these gorgeous buccaneers is Melbourne. Canberra hipsters became familiar with these kids a few Thursday's ago at Gangbusters. Apparently they rocked it and I've heard nothing but rave reviews of their set since. Damn my Thursday night obsession with Heroes!


They sing dreamy pop songs which make me feel all light and giggly. It's perfect music for a warm afternoon picnic with a loved one.

Buy, buy, buy! (This site has all the pretty tidbits available for you to buy, and some more songs).

This MP3 is from their upcoming 7"; the precursor to their sophomore album.

Mirror Ball- The Crayon Fields

All my friends.

Oh gosh... It's been over a week since i last posted?! Edit: It's been two whole weeks!!! I've been trying to write this post for a week now. Yes, i suck.

I have some crazy talented friends, and kings and queens of blogspot, my gorgeous groupies have done it again. Boy do i have some treats for you today!

I have had the pleasure of recently befriending a beautiful young lady by the name of Georgina Edwards. She undertook the incredible feat of animating a 37 second stop motion animation on the wall adjoining 'I Trip I Skip', and 'Unit Concepts' in Canberra. It's mind blowing. I also think quite highly of the music scored to compliment the piece.

My lovely sister Kiri recently put a little flip book illustration on youtube too. It's very cute and equally 'Kiri'.

My friends who are in the band Hancock Basement won one of Triple J's Unearthed competitions! They're pretty clever and you can check them out here.

And of course, how could i have forgotten competition Sunday (wooooo!). I still haven't won anything (boooooo), but hopefully we will win something with this competition page here.

Love you all, promise not to wait a fortnight before my next post.

A spring broth

k

Hey peonies.

So I promised you a recipe, and I am nothing, nothing if not a deliverer.

So from my home to yours, a bowl of buckwheat noodles in gingery-spring broth.

This soup is almost ludicrously simple to prepare. You merely boil the noodles (in a few short minutes), then bring a simple broth to the boil and simmer for five, chuck it all in a bowl with a little silken tofu and some spring vegetables, pour yourself a glass of wine, sit, and devour pleasurefully (with chopsticks, please). Honestly, I don't know why any sane person would eat these, when they could eat this. It is also ludicrously cheap (which, now that I've moved out is going to be my new bent, so you know), and ludicrously healthy - full of fibre, protein and vitamins.

Moreover (if, at this stage you still need a moreover), it is incredibly comforting on these indecisive, warm one minute, freezing the next spring days, and fabulous if you, like me, are feeling a bit under the ol' weather. Kind of like the Asian-inspired, semi-vegetarian version of chicken noodle soup.


Buckwheat noodles in springy-ginger broth

Adapted loosely from Marie Claire Zest by Michele Cranston

A few points:
I would love you to consider the broth as a basic suggestion to play around with. Try different spring vegetables - Asparagus, Asian Greens (especially delicate ones like tatsoi), bean sprouts or even exotic mushrooms like oyster or enoki). Or maybe even experiment with different noodles, like somen or udon. Just make sure you keep it clean, simple and fresh - the very essence of Spring.

Ingredients
1.5 litres of chicken or vegetable stock (you should really go with quality here. I'm not suggesting you make your own from scratch or anything, but I find it works best with 500mls of quality liquid chicken stock from the supermarket, and 1ltr of water into which one vegetable stock cube has been dissolved.)
400g buckwheat (soba) noodles
2tbs Japanese soy sauce
3tbs fish sauce (if you wanted to be genuinely vegetarian about this, experiment with other Asian sauces, like Chinese wine, sake, or just up the level of soy and add some lime juice)
1.5 tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste (optional)
400gm silken tofu, carefully sliced into 2cm cubes
2 shallots, finely sliced on the diagonal, for garnish
10 or so sugar snap peas, sliced on the diagonal, for garnish
finely sliced red chillis, for garnish (optional)

Method

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. I like to warm the tofu while this is happening, so I place the whole container (unopened) in the water, and pull it out with tongs once its come to the boil.
Cook the soba noodles according to packet instructions. Usually this takes around 2-3 minutes. Drain and put aside.
Bring the stock, ginger, sauces and wasabi to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
Divide the noodles into four deep bowls, top with the warm tofu, and pour over the broth. Garnish with the shallots, snap peas and chilli.

Serves Four(-ish).

In one week...

In one week and one day this will hopefully be me

Frederic Leighton,Flaming June, oil on canvas, 1895

sleeping peacefully and radiantly, recovering from a seriously awful week of Uni assessment.

Otherwise, this will be me.

John Everett Millais, Ophelia, oil on canvas, 1851-2

Dead in a lake. But obviously, still peaceful because it will all be over.
Happy weekend everyone.

Also...

I wish it was cooler and the Australian dollar wasn't in such a pitiful way so that I could buy and wear some of these gorgeous and oh-so-cozy wrist worms from Sandra Juto.

Senior Stylin'

My thesis is due in three days. I am equally excited and terrified at the prospect of being rid of it. In fact, I think I am writing this post right now in order to procrastinate from finishing my thesis (which, to be honest, could be done in a few short hours), because I actually, kinda, don't want to let it go. My life will feel so...empty. I mean, honestly, what am I going to do with myself if not procrastinate from thesis writing? Seriously, suggestions?

Well, if nothing else, I have dozens of recipes planned to share with you as soon as I birth this creature which has been inhabiting my mind, body and soul for the past nine months (coincidence, no?), and reclaim my camera. I even have some incredibly speedy sweet ones, for a change, and maybe even one or two of Mediterranean leanings (as apposed to non-descript 'fusion' asian). Who would have thought?

But, in the mean time, I leave you with this fabulous fashion site. It gives further verification to my long held belief that people are, indisputably, most fabulous in their seventies.

Competition Sunday!

Eyes on the prize by Paul Hardy

Phoah! Talk about competition mecca! This here site is my pick of the week for winnable comps.

Go forth and win free stuff my pretties!

Happy competition Sunday!

Keep your shirt on!

Smelly, fat, hairy men upset me more than unavoidable sweat marks left on plastic chairs as a disgusting present from the overly sweaty guy in the lecture before yours.

It's not even summer yet and my eyes have already been abused by over weight, middle aged bogan men drinking beer in the middle of the day.

For fucks sake people, keep your shirt on! (And yes, that means you bogan chick in the Australian flag bikini).

Face Hunting in Australia!?!?!

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!

Omg......

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE FACE HUNTER IS COMING TO AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's Spring Rollercoaster Ride

Image taken from Blissful Images' Etsy Shop.

Hey gang,

I've had a very topsy-turvey kind of a day, so to compliment this, i'm going to entertain you with a very topsy-turvey type of post.

Is it just me that thinks this photo is simply hilarious?

This evening i enrolled to vote in the upcoming US election. I got on my moral high horse, pledged my allegiance to the democratic party and then logged on to their site to further confirm what a great human i was for 'making a difference'. Phoah! This was the first site that came up when i clicked on their link from google... I'm not sure what i should have expected, i mean, this is America we're talking about. My OS vote probably won't be counted anyway. Execrable.

A New City Life- Pants Yell!

Two of the boys i work with at my 'rehab for kiddies', decided to leave today. One left in a flurry of fright (jumping out of a moving car), convinced the police were waiting for him back at the residential site, and the other boy, apathetic to the last moment, shrugged his shoulders and ambivalently announced that we could all go fuck our selves.

It's the first time any of the kids i've worked with as a counsellor have left, and it's been a massive slap in the face. Sometimes i think i care too much.

Is it wicked not to care?- Belle and Sebastian.

My new, beautiful bike arrived from the mystic land of ebay today! It's fabulous and absolutely made my day!

Moonracing- Bikeride.

Now it's 11.41pm and you find me lusting over this incredible wall of plates i found on SF Girl By Bay, today's favourite blog find.

I'm feeling slightly more centered now.

I hope your day was lovely.

Fascinating stuff

What my recent Uni assessment has resulted in (apart from average marks) is a spate of Internet shopping. Oh yes, procrastination is a dangerous thing. In the past I have been guilty of browsing eBay and other shops excessively in an effort to distract myself, but this is the first time I have actually bought anything. Oh, actually that’s totally a lie. I did by a bunch of stuff from American Apparel last year. Recently however, my Internet browsing has not resulted in just one solitary, understandable and explainable purchase. Oh no, this has been at least four purchases. Eck. My first and favourite purchase though is this completely wonderful and beautiful fascinator.

My hair looks like it should be where my face is in this photo. I am not a great photographer.

I bought it from the amazing web shoppe Bona Drag, where I could have bought a lot more things…I was so excited when it arrived as I, like Julia, absolutely love receiving packages in the mail. It reminds me of when I lived overseas for six months and my mummy would send me care packages. Little did I know when I purchased this fascinator that I would be receiving free gifts. Free gifts! I love free gifts almost as much as I love packages, maybe even more. I should have taken photos when it arrived but in my haste to rip it open I forgot. The fascinator itself came beautifully wrapped in decorative tissue paper and accompanied by a mix CD that I assume gets sent out with all Bona Drag products, as well as a thank you card. Both were such lovely touches. I felt so special and all this for spending money on something beautiful. What a great deal.

After the fascinator had arrived and I had decided to post about it (a few weeks ago now, I’m a bit slow) I did a little Internet research and discovered a number of things.
1. This fascinator is almost an exact copy of the one worn in the film Brick, which I had completely forgotten.
2. Two other bloggers had already purchased and blogged about this very same fascinator, which I think is a great recommendation. Check them out at Susie Bubble here and dreamecho here for even more fabulous ways to wear a fascinator.

And as a free gift for you dear readers, a few of the songs featured on the Bona Drag mix tape.

Naked, if I want to - Cat Power
At amber - Morrissey
Different drum - The Stone Poneys

Mount Eerie, glowing in Paddington.

Image of Phil Elverum taken from John Vandersclice

On Thursday night i had the pleasure of seeing Phil Elverum of The Microphones/ Mount Eerie and the Lucky Dragons play an intimate gig at the Paddington United Church in Sydney.

Having forced myself out of bed at 6am that morning, spending half the day drowning in paper work and then hungrily finding my way to Sydney, I arrived at the gig in a dream like state, where objects didn't quite appear solid and people gave off a warm glow which somehow gave the perfect set up for a truly unforgettable night.

Much to my dismay, i arrived at the venue late thus missing Pikelet, who i've heard was enthralling. As we walked in to the church Lucky Dragons had already started. People were seated in a circle on the floor around a guy, a girl and a myriad of different crazy instruments. From the center of their circle they projected moving images that complimented the music onto the roof of the church. Hands were held, dancing created, magnetic rocks vibrated and we experienced a unique, perhaps futuristic, method of musical expression. It was spellbinding.

And then Phil played. Unashamedly awkward, humble and lovely, Phil performed for the audience, not like so many other bands who play for self gratification. He sat at the front of the church naked from effect lighting, on a stool with his acoustic guitar and a microphone. As we held our breaths, our hearts beating in our ears, he played new, old and everything in between. Throughout the performance he invited us to ask questions, took requests and involved us in his creation. His voice was crystal clear and people sat in silence as what he sang resonated with each of us uniquely.

Photo of Phil captured on the night was taken from Oceans Never Listen who have the set list and a gorgeous review of the night, which i highly recommend you check out if interested.

I Want Wind to Blow- The Microphones

The Glow, pt 2- The Microphones

Do you remember?

lkl;k;lk;lk

Oh, of Montreal. So zany with their watermelon faces and androgyny and Outback Steakhouse jingles. So lovable, too. And just between you and me, I recently sneaked me a peek at their upcoming release Skeletal Lamping, and I liked what I saw. More importantly, I also liked what I heard.

Here, have a bite:

of Montreal - An Eluardian Instance

Tasty, no?

Tastier still is all the crazy merch you can get when you order the album. In an effort to promote "exceptional objects", you can choose from a range of whimseys, including a paper lantern, t-shirt, tote bag, wall decals and more, which all come with a download code. It's like digital downloading made materialistic, but more exciting than the "conventional, right angle plagued CD packaging" of yore. In the words of the band:

We hope this idea catches on and, in the future, square CD packaging will be abandoned forever and only interesting art objects will fill record stores. We envision a time when you’ll be walking around your local record shop and be like, “What’s the new Radiohead album again? Oh yeah, a bonsai tree in the shape of a deformed goat, I see it over there."

How very avant-garde.

I was totally set to splurge on the $90 Package Deal (featuring the CD, awesome wall decals, a lantern (!), t-shirt, tote bag, buttons, stickers, download codes for extra goodies and some kind of polyvinyl compilation) but then the $30 postage fee struck me as a touch excessive. Damn this hemisphere and all its southerness!

Also, just in case you're yet to have munched on this delicious delight:

of Montreal - Jimmy (M.I.A Cover)