IN LOVE

So, this cover (like a version) was recorded a while ago now but I am still so in love with it... and Matt.

Amanda Blake

A few months ago when I was reading my beloved Frankie Magazine, all readers were lucky enough to receive a lovely Amanda Blake poster, which made my day.

Amanda Blake is an American artist who produces the cutest, and most fantastic oil pantings, varying from portraits, children and night skies, as well as many many other slightly obsure, but wonderful, scenarios. Check out her portfolio here: Amanda Blake's portfolio

I discovered Amanda's artwork whilst studying Art in year 12. That was probably the most stressful year of my life due to that subject, but nevertheless... I did discover some amazing artists and learnt lots about many people that I would not know about otherwise!

Check out Amanda's art blog here: http://amandablakeart.blogspot.com.au/

happy snaps

A collection of lovely shots that were taken by a few of my friends over the last few summer months. I love them.

NU MUSiC

So... Tonight I rode my shitty little bike down to the closest JB-HiFi to spend literally about an hour and a half, deciphering over what I should buy. I received a couple of vouchers for my birthday and christmas so I was keen as to use them - finally!
Out of my top ten picks, I decided to get six. Obviously I wanted them all, but the fund situation wouldn't permit. So, the final list that was purchased is the following:

1. Last Dinosaurs - In a Million Years (a record I have wanted to get my hands on since I heard their track "Zoom" which has the biggest bad-ass rif you have ever heard. I literally couldn't get it out of my head for days!)

2. First Aid Kit - The Lions Rawr

3. The Kooks - Junk of the Heart

4. Passanger - All The Little Lights

5. Gypsy and The Cat - Gilgamesh .....and finally

6. The Shins - Port of Morrow (Shit yes!)

Once I have listened and sought through all of these lovely records I am going to review "The Shins - Port of Morrow" because it has been so highly anticipated and who doesn't love a banging Shin's melody?

FILM REEL #2

Tonight has been lonely yet lovely. I went down to china town by myself and indulged in a little asian cuisine, vegetarian dumpling soup which was delicious and nutritious. Next came a stroll down Gouger St whilst having a peruse through the window of a small boutique store which I parked close too (there was a really nice watch in there). I came home and had the urge to indulge myself further, but not with food, with culture. So, I downloaded a few classic films that I am so, so excited to re-watch.

1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. Hugo
3. Inception
4. Pulp Fiction

Time to lose all train of thought and get into these bad boys!

Madness in March

Living in Adeliade is always the most exciting when it comes to the month of March. The weekend that has just past is definitely worth writing about as there were so many amazing gigs, festivals and other events which complete this crazy yet fabulous month. Womadelaide kicked off on Friday, and continued through til Monday. As much as I wanted to attend the festival in its entirity, I was only able to live it up all Saturday, day and night. The day was amazing, filled with wonderful world music, and meeting the percusionist from one of my all time favorite bands, Jinja Safari. Jinja was one of the first gigs that we saw on the day, who completely set the mood. Their rad jungle-pop beats and amazing enthusiasm left us chipper head to toe, with our bodies swaying to their glorious tunes. If you haven't heard of Jinja Safari before, I definitely reccommend it. It also doesn't go astray to gaze into the eyes of all of the band members who are all of sex god status...

The rest of the day was filled with crazy dancing, chilled siestas under the shade, lots of cider, and basking in the sunshine which made for an amazing day even if I did spend my life savings. Without sounding like a crazed alcoholic, Monday morning was arisen with excitment and began with a cheeky glass of Moscato. The crew came over to my house, and we were blasting tunes to the likes of Fat Boy Slim, Skrillex and The Wombats, all of which were playing at the Future Music Festival which we began drinking a little bit too early for. Although the day seemed to all roll into one big blur of fun in the sun listening to fantastic beats, it was none the less, totally awesome. I was surrounded by all my buds and honestly had such a good day. Highlight of the day was for sure the Wombats, even if I did miss their final and best song "Let's Dance to Joy Division".

Mermaids - Jinja Safari

BLISS

When you are young, your parents and family members alert you that you won't know yourself until you reach a certain level of maturity and self actualisation. I always thought that this was silly. As a child I never understood that you couldn't ''know yourself'' because, well, how can you not? You are you, and no-one else knows what you feel like or think about 100% of the time. Recently, I have come to realise exactly what those wise ones were talking about. I believe that I am finally falling into my own personally designed, individual spot in the world, and I know that things will become easier from here on in.

I am not entirely sure about everyone else, but as a teenager I always had a sense of longing. No-matter how hard I tried at school, how many new people I would meet, or how many different phases I went through, it was always there, whether I knew it at the time or not. Recently, I have begun to realise what sort of person I actually am and what direction I am heading through in the maze that we call life. In the last few months especially, I have been alerted to the smaller things in life, and how one little change in ones behavior or actions can make all the difference. Lately, I have been trying to surround myself with things that make me happy, not anyone else, just me. No matter how much I am judged, whether it be good or bad, I have learnt that I can't always put other's needs before my own. To move toward that feeling of self actualisation, I have been learning, very slowly, that some people are just not worth my time. The people that surround me currently each have there place, and all make me incredibly happy to be around.

The feeling that the wise owls from my youth were trying to describe to me, I believe is an ulitmate feeling of happiness, which can be found in every aspect of your life. I like to think that I am slowly but surely working towards this, and sometimes I just get it. Get what you ask? The feeling of ultimate happiness, that nothing can tear me down, that I am a whole.

This may seem incredibly contentious, or corny, or even lame for that matter... But those who know the feeling I am talking about, will understand this completely.

INSPIRATION

Matt Corby

I have been meaning to post about this for a long time, so I am finally writing about the wonderful evening I had last year at one of Matt Corby's Secret Garden Shows in Adelaide. The house that it was held at was so much further than my friend Zenon and I had anticipated, yet the adventure there was fun in itself! We cranked some of Matt's t00ns to get us in the mood for the night that lay ahead. We arrived a lot later than most of the people who came to the garden show so we were seated close to the back which ended up being quite good! Matt was sitting directly behind us for most of the show, until he had to play of course, which already had Zenon dubbing my antics the same as those of a 15 year old girl obsessing over her favorite pop star. As amazing as it was to be in such close proximity to Matt, Zenon and I had a little bit of a giggle at the actual 15 year old girls who were going up one by one, attempting to charm him with their highschool ways. The show was amazing, his vocals are just as good, (if not better) than his records, and he played all of my favourites which is also a super big plus when you attend a gig of such calibre! At the end of the show, we went to have a chat to him and ended up talking to him for a solid 10 minutes about all sorts of things. He is such a lovely guy and I was so excited and happy that I was able to meet him in person! I am so so so pumped to see him again at Jive at the end of Feburary, which I will hopefully have another story to recollect!

A day of discovery...

Currently listening to the lovely musings of The National, I was inspired to post an update relating to my recent escapades. As my brother and I are as it seem 'lonely souls', living the life with out parents for a couple of weeks, I have been full of mixed emotions. Feeling lonely at night when the family is usually yelling about one thing or another, to completely relaxed during the days I find myself sitting at home whilst enjoying a day off from work. Night time turns me into an anxious wreck, between feeding the dawggy-dawg and ourselves yet maintaining a nutritious meal base and maintaining housework. All in all, a shell of mixed emotions seems to sum me up rather well at the present.

Yesterday was such a lovely day. Lazy sunday afternoons are the absolute ultimate, and not having to work through them is even better. My bud Emilie arrived at my abode mid-morning as I whipped us up a vege-filled egg breakfast, yum! After chilling out around the breakfast bar, we ventured into the city to take a look around Gilles St Market where I was lucky to find some amazing purchases! I am rather proud to boast that I picked up a lovely teal green cord blazer for $5 and a pair of creepers and two rings for $20!

 

The angsty asian girl who sold me the creepers had done some serious makeshaft DIY by covering the front in glitter glue, something my daft self believed that I could chisel off. So as it goes, my bargain creppers are currently half restored, being that the front is still covered in glitter with pockets of a lovely green suade poking through. I am definitely disappointed that she cover the green up in glitter as they actually look much, much better without it! Maybe that's why she was selling them in the first place...

The rest of our day consisted of a drive around the back streets of Goodwood, sussing out some hidden little spots of goodness that I had driven by one day. On the particular day of my journey into the land of lost-ness I came across a little church with a bright blue and red door, surrounded by a cottage garden and a tabby cat running around. I was so annoyed that my camera was unwillingly sitting on the self in my bedroom, whilst I was out discovering some could-have-been great snapshots. So yesterday, I decided to take emi to this little church and take the much deserved photo that I had been wanting to take for weeks!

We also scouted out the Brown Dog Cafe which I drive by on a daily basis on my travels to work, but had never actually ventured into. Turns out it was infact as great at I thought it would be, the coffee was amazing and the local talent that worked there weren't infact too bad either. All in all, a wonderful day!

P L A Y L I S T

Fake Empire - The National
Runaway - The National
Folding Chair - Regina Spektor
Dance Anthem of the 80's - Regina Spektor
Just A Boy - Angus and Julia Stone
Flume - Bon Iver
Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits
Naked as we came - Iron and Wine
Angeles - Elliott Smith

HAPPY NEW YEAR

As the beginning of 2012 commences, as always I am ready to thrust my abnormally large ambitions into the air. I think that it is rather fitting to begin this first post of 2012 with my new year resolutions list, partly because it will re-enforce myself to attempt achieving them... so here is the list!

- become fitter and more motivated
- save lots of pennies $$$$$$$
- keep my room of bed clean
- increase my surfing skills so I can stand for slightly longer than 2 seconds
- teach myself the guitar
- write some lovely music
- become a better person
- read more, write more, paint more

So there they are, the list that I will aim to improve this year. The list was slightly inspired by a number of beachy types that I met over my three week holiday around parts of the great ocean road. I had such an amazing time, and the scenery was absolutely magnificent. I think this is the first year which I have actually come to appreciate the beauty that Australia and it's magnificent beach towns have to offer. They are so beautifully un-touched, and simply breath-taking. I think all Australians should definitely take the time to visit atleast somewhere along the great ocean road, oh the things I would do to go back!
Majority of my time was spent in Port Fairy, a little town approximately 20 minutes away from Warnambool in Victoria. It is such a lovely town, small, but lovely. The main street which seemingly appeared to be two due to it's L shaped nature, was abundant in old style shop fronts with little treasures of a different nature inside each one. After about a week there, I was chaperoned onward by my friends on the way to Falls Festival in Lorne.
The 2.5 hour drive to Lorne was so brilliant, we had the tunes pumping, scheming how to get our alchohol into the festival whilst taking in the view before us. Falls Festival itself was so much fun. I had such an amazing time and the group that went down with myself were all so wonderful, we all had the best time! There were so many well-known acts at the festival, but we failed to see them all. Top three acts of mine would have to have been Kimbra, who's recorded music doesn't do her justice, Grouplove and the Kooks, all of which were out of this world good. Finally the trip ended back at Port Fairy with the fam, camping for 3 weeks straight definietly has its down sides but over-all was such a good time :)