it's the music that makes us

In my car today, I pulled out an old mix CD, made last summer with the vision of long road trips backed by an inspiring soundtrack. The road trips didn't happen unfortunately, though it did still get a thorough workout around the streets of Melbourne.

It's been a while since I've had a listen, but today I've re-fallen in love with these cheery tunes. The sun was shining through the car windows, warming my stockinged legs, I was heading home from an enjoyable day of sub-editing work (via a quick shopping stop on Chapel St), and I hummed and tapped along to these whimsical tracks.

There is nothing new featured. Nothing electronic. Nothing dancey. There is lots of acoustic. Lots of pretty voices. Lots of imagery.

Hopefully this summer it will fulfill its ultimate purpose and accompany me on a long, windy drive along Australia's east coast. I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy.

1. 66 - Afghan Whigs
2. Someone's Daughter - Beth Orton
3. Burning - The Whitest Boy Alive
4. She Moves in Her Own Way - the Kooks
5. Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig - Jens Lekman
6. He Keeps Me Alive - Sally Shapiro
7. Pot Kettle Black - Tilly & the Wall
8. I Don't Do Crowds - Camera Obscura
9. Naive - the Kooks
10. You Are What You Love - Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins
11. Hugging My Grudge - The Boy Least Likely To
12. Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken - Camera Obscura
13. I Summon You - Spoon
14. Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill - Jens Lekman
15. Strangers - The Kinks
16. Pictures of Houses - Tilly & the Wall
17. Felt Tip - Love is All
18. Close Call - Rilo Kiley
19. Rainbowarriors - CocoRosie
20. New Year's Kiss - Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
21. Sea of Love - Cat Power

Inglourious Basterds

If you haven't already, do yourself a favour and go see Inglourious Basterds.

As with any other movie receiving rave reviews, I was wary, and prepared to be disappointed. A cynical view perhaps, but from past history, a valid one. However, in this case, I think the praise from reviewers and adoring fans was justified.

The central theme of the revenge film - killing Nazis - automatically earns brownie points. Add to that brilliant direction from Quentin Tarantino, an intense yet consistently entertaining script and a talented (and decidely attractive) cast - you've got yourself a quality flick.

And the horrifying, stomach-turning violence that I'd been warned about was somewhat of an exaggeration. Okay, sure, I may have covered my eyes at one or two points in the viewing (one word: scalping), but there was definitely peeking through fingers. If anything, the sheer extent of the death and destruction became quite comical. Why kill off one person when you can slay every character in the scene in a high-speed, messy bloodbath?

Despite running at about 2.5 hours, Inglourious Basterds managed to hold my attention throughout, and the time flew past. Fact and fiction are mixed flawlessly to create a riveting, gory cinematic feast.

All in all - a satisfying, engrossing, tense yet playful WWII representation. A+.

in bloom

Spring and florals. Not exactly rocket science, I realise. But on a walk today, cherry blossoms lined the walking trail, and my neighbour's garden was a virtual field of pretty pastels. It put a spring in my step (no pun intended) and inspired me to document some of the flowery goodness fashion has to offer.

It's getting heated

There's nothing that can make you feel dreary and lacklustre during a drizzly Melbourne winter quite like being bombarded with other people's travel photos from a European summer. Each day I'm faced with album after album named 'Europe 2009', 'Rome-ing', 'Euro Trip!' and 'IOS BABY!!' One sympathetic person even chose the title 'Our European Tan'. It's gotten to the point that logging into Facebook requires a mental debriefing, assuring myself that summer is coming, the fake tan bottle is still sitting in my cupboard, and porcelain skin is in fashion again anyway...isn't it? Because that's what my skin is - porcelain. Not pasty. Not wan. Not washed out... Just humour me on this.

The deep, coffee tan and warm, relaxed glow of my travelling peers has certainly sparked jealousy, and a sudden desire to drop everything, jump on a plane and jet set over to the Greek Islands. But as the weather warms up, and the we're teased by sporadic periods of sunshine, Melbourne's overall mood appears to be on the up. Who needs to lie on a beach in San Sebastian when we have our very own stretch of sand right here in Mordialloc? So you're sipping espresso in Paris. Big deal, I'm doing the same thing in Fitzroy. And that gelati from Florence - does it really compare to what Trampoline has on offer? Sure, Europe is amazing. Sure, I wouldn't say no to a quick sojourn around the Croatian coast. But there's no denying that Melbourne in spring is a great place to be. As the rain clouds disperse and the winds lose their icy chill, the streets fill with people, the Earl Grey's are replaced by James Boag's and a sense of anticipation permeates the air. Spring is here. Now all I'm hanging out for is that first Sunday session in the sun, and maybe even the beginning of 'My Melbourne Tan'.

TST - Speaking Zaans

Check out the recently released video clip for Melbourne indie band TST's track, Speaking Zaans.

Good stuff.

Getting High

despite the recent criticism, it seems high waists are here for a while longer....even for guys

Hey Shorty

Every day the Same

This morning I had one of those typical 'so many clothes but nothing to wear' moments. Running late for work, I stared into my overflowing cupboard (one of two), rifled through the racks, threw garments all over my bed, and amid a mess of scattered jeans, dresses and cardis declared that nothing was right. Oh, how simple were the days at school, when we got up late, threw down some breakfast and flung on the same uniform we wore the day before. And the day before. And the day before that. Conformity conshmormity.

For 365 days, life will once again be that simple for Sheena Matheiken. Starting from May 2009, she has pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Well, there are actually seven identical dresses that will be on rotation - she may be environmentally conscious, but she's also conscious of the stench of year old musty clothing.

There is a point to this experiment. The Uniform Project will be used to raise funds for the Akanksha Foundation, a non-profit organisation helping to educate underprivileged children in India. Donations received throughout the project period will be used to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for children living in Indian slums.

She says of her venture:

I was raised and schooled in India where uniforms were a mandate in most public schools. Despite the imposed conformity, kids always found a way to bend the rules and flaunt a little personality. Boys rolled up their sleeves, wore over-sized swatches, and hiked up their pants to show off their high-tops. Girls obsessed over bangles, bindis and bad hairdos. Peaking through the sea of uniforms were the idiosyncrasies of teen style and individual flare. I now want to put the same rules to test again, only this time I'm trading in the catholic school fervor for an eBay addiction and relocating the school walls to this wonderful place called the internet.

Personally, I think she's onto something. I mean, for 365 days she willl be free of the stress that is Morning Outfit Construction. Sure, she has to work out a different way to wear the dress each day, but really, what's a bit of accessorising? She gets to enjoy the fun part - taking the ingredients and cooking them up into something delicious. And two months in, she's proving herself to be quite creative. See below.

Florence + the Machine

I'm currently enjoying the sounds of indie act Florence and the Machine. A collaboration between English artist Florence Welch and several musicians providing backing for her vocals (the Machine), their tunes are catchy, quirky and a whole lot of radness.

The recently released Lungs is an amazing debut album from the 22-year old. With an often bluesy, souly sound, it has the ability to be easy listening, inspiring, energising and an emotional outlet all at once.

2009 has been a big year for Flo, what with performing at Glastonbury, Oxegen, supporting the White Lies, Friendly Fires and Glasvegas on the Shockwaves NME Awards tour and winning the Critic's Choice Award at the Brit Awards. But there's still much to come, with Reading and Leeds music festivals and their very own UK tour in the pipeline for the remainder of the year.

She certainly knows how to make an entrance.

Florence + the Machine - Lungs. Go. Buy. Now.

I can see right through you