CREATE..every day.

Last week I had a huge whinge to my boyfriend after wanting to make him something for our '6th month' but then I came to the realisation that I am neither good at drawing, painting or writing songs. I can make skirts (but he won't want one) and I've put my creativity into cooking before so that was a no-go zone. The day after my whinge and tears of frustration he gave me this:

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Now instead of whinging that I don't think that I have creative skills now everyday I will create something..err..creative! Today is day 4 and this is what i created:


It's a guy (modelled off Ned Kelly) with paper aeroplanes in his beard. Originally I was going to make his beard out of blue swallows with their wings spread out but I'm not good at drawing (yet!)

I'm ready to be heartbroken.

Tell me why I am absolutely besotted with Camera Obscura's new song 'French Navy' from their latest album "My Maudlin Career"?
Watching the videoclip makes me feel ever more infatuated..perhaps it's because I'm in love..
The part of the song that gets me the most is the chorus when she sings:

"I wanted to control it, but love I couldn't hold it"

where the violins play blissfully. Sigh. This kind of music gets me out of bed in the morning.

...The same applies to some new songs by Red Riders after the departure of Adrien Deutsch last year. The riders have come up with some new songs for the album 'Drown In Colour' and I think the two I have heard so far are fantabulous!
Listen to 'You've Got A Lot Of Nerve' & 'Ordinary' at their myspace. The videoclip for 'YGALON' is to die for!

Antique Delight!

To start off I will just tell you this: the women in my family go bezerk over antiques. My Mother, my Grandmother, my Aunty..and now me. Over the past few years I've embraced a more feminine style of dress, so I now wear the floral dresses my Mum always wished for me to try on. I enjoy taking pieces of a fashion from another era or another country and adding it to my style. Along with this change in me (which co-occured with a change in my life direction- doing a Speech Pathology degree) I have also come to appreciate and adore antiques. I'm not referring to antiques like old scrubbing brushes..but antique jewellery, plates, cups & saucers, cutlery etc. I like that objects so old can last in beautiful condition and that they have a story even, even if you know nothing about the antique except that it is so-and-so years old.

A few days ago when I went to my Grandma's house she called me into her room where she said she had something to give to me. She started off with the modesties of "I'm not sure whether you'd like it or not.." and she pulled out a red suede blazer from her wardrobe: I knew the blazer wasn't for me because my Grandma is a 5' size 6. But attached to the blazer was a wonderful locket/brooch that she detached and put into my hand. I have never received an antique from my family before so this was truly something that amazed me. All I know is that it's most likely 100-150years old, during the Victorian rule. I already have worn it twice in the past three days although I am scared to lose it, but I love wearing it with the knowledge it has a history, it has been passed through two continents already to my knowledge, perhaps even more!

My shoulders need warming.

Today I went on a single-woman adventure to hunt out either a cute coat, jacket or knitted jumper (of the snowflake or deer design kind). But before I embarked on such an adventure I went to Tresors in the Strand Arcade inbetween Pitt St & George St; it is the most darling place. It is the size of a large walk in wardrobe and is crammed with antique delights. I bought my mum an 1830's plate from there for mother's day with the floral design in the centre of it *drool*. They have such beautiful trinkets and deceased peoples' paraphernalia there. I could spend a very long time in there pulling out every thing and observing. It is a bit pricy but definitely worth it if you love florals, antiques, vintage things (not much clothing there)or just lovely objects in general.

After that I went to multiple second hand stores, weaving in and out of the streets of Surry Hills. Firstly I noticed there was a very strong scent of spices on Crown St and I could not detect what the origin of the scent was! But soon enough my salivary glands became excited but my legs led me to shopping.

I strolled into Zoo Emporium hoping to find a cute knitted jumper (remember the one I mentioned with deers and snow flakes?) but I was unlucky..there was a nice warm houndstooth knitted cardigan (oh it was a tad Chanel) but it was far too big for me and it has lots of yellow stains on it so I thought it best to leave it to the moths to dismantle. Then onto the adjacent stores, Puff 'n' Stuff has some lovely things but the women there were a bit snobby. I don't get that, why be snobby for? I guess they'd only be nice to me if I were a model or in a band..

I popped into Minty Meets Munt , I was welcomed by the booming psychedelic guitar reverb of Jimi Hendrix and the woman who assisting me was an absolute darl (nudge nudge Puff'n' Stuff) and we managed to have a great conversation and I found an adorable black tulip skirt from there. It's now on my "I want" list! Whisked myself into Cream On Crown hoping they'd have something to warm me up in winter but there was a sad rack of..well..not very much..apart from a rack full of faux fur jackets. Faux fur or fur jackets for that matter wouldn't suit me, so I had to pass on that..but I was advised that they were getting a whole lot of stock in today/tomorrow so I guess I was a tad early.

I did some more walking and headed to Paddington, this time I smelled spices too but there was a much more sweeter tone to the spices. One again I nearly drooled. My main aim was to visit the Alannah Hill store, I never get to go in there so I thought today was my day..then I see they are undergoing renevations until June 20th. Absolute bummer but I turned the corner to Stellino where I ended up buying a faux leather jacket (YES I KNOW I CONFORMED BUT WHEN I NEED SOMETHING WARM ON MY ARMS AND IM TOO PICKY WITH COATS AND CARDIGANS AREN'T ENOUGH WHAT ELSE COULD I DO??)
I opted for the faux leather because my mum recently turned vegetarian, so I kinda would feel a little guilty. My thoughts: The animals are staying warm (& alive!) if i choose faux leather and I'm keeping warm at the same time Plus, I'm pretty sure the leather bomber jacket look will be out pretty soon so why spend a lot?

Then I headed home and had a snooze on the bus. zzzzzz. I found no coats I liked, I had no luck with the cute knitted jumper but i did find a jacket. So I guess it was an ok effort, although next time I'll make sure I have a second opinion (or third!) because I am so indecisive.....

GIGS THIS WEEKEND!
*Friday- Red Riders @ The Annandale (that reminds me..I still haven't bought a ticket *gulp* better do that pronto.
*Saturday- Ghoul are playing with Made In Japan and We Say Bamboulee @ Spectrum. I luuurve Ghoul. They have given me an audible-phenomenon-experience that I have never had before. The best way for me to describe it is like when you dive into a pool and the sound just dampens and spreads out and you just feel absolute calmness. Ok, that wasn't a good way to describe it..but it was an awesome experience!

Friday, the first day of the weekend.

So I have no uni and no work on Fridays. Except today I was meant to sit at home and do study - reason being I have an exam next week. But outside was beautiful and it wasn't freezing like it has been the past week, so I indulged in the sun and ate home made lasagne. Mmmm. But that was all after I put purple semi-permanent dye in my hair. You can only see it in the sun.

And I am learning how to tame my HOLGA.

The evolution of Starky.

Back in the day I used to have an auditory romance with a Sydney band named Starky,and when I say back in the day I mean a few years ago..YES they were conceived in 1999 (according to wiki!), YES they produced a few EPs followed by a self-titled LP with an awesome cover and songs with great hooks resonating the feelings of breaking hearts. YES their single "Is This How It Ends" was nominated for an ARIA. YES the band began writing and recording a new album before the it was decided Starky was to be no more. The band's last show was when they supported Lost Valentinos on the 17 Deaths Single Tour in Mid 2007 and that was the end of that. But I continued to wear my Starky shirt and reminisce dancing at their gigs.

Then in October 2008 we were informed that Beau Cassidy and Jonathon Wilson of Starky (+ another musician) had gone on to form a new band under the name of Sad Waters. The name is rather reflective of what you hear- the music and vocals are melancholic, spacey, tranquil, allow you to transition into another place- it's is easy to lose yourself in it. When I listen to their tracks up on myspace, specifically "Domino" it makes me imagine videoclips of slow-motion movement of things falling..I can imagine water falling and rebounding off the surface into other beads of water.
Their most-played track "Listen Lovers" is my favourite although it makes me sit and mull over feelings of hurt in the past. There is a change in the direction of the song and it lifts up a notch drawing out the feelings of having to let someone go and knowing that it ends in liberation. I am excited for the day that Sad Waters announce that they are going to play a gig, I'm extremely curious as to what the experience will be like.



But that's not the only evolution the band has undergone, Beau Cassidy and Nick Neal have recently formed another band with drummer Graeme Trewin (ex-Peabody and The City Lights member)named Dead Beats Club. "Let Me Wander" is a completely different sound to that of Sad Waters, instead projecting a full bodied British rock sound with garage tones and structure that slightly remind me of The Straight Arrows, but more polished and with less punk.
I could go on and describe what the rest of their music sounds like and I could compare it some more but why don't you just go listen yourself!
Either way, I like what the Starky ex-members have come up with and I hope they just continue to grow in these new bands and play a rooftop or warehouse gig in the near future because, to be honest, Sydney local music hasn't been that exciting as of late.

Oh dear, Dear Patrick.

Patrick Wolf has been a bit busy as of late, recording for his upcoming LP called "The Bachelor" and in the mean time he has directed, along with a Director of Photography, a new video to suit the single from the new LP. This single is titled 'Vulture' and our dearest Patrick who wears cute little shorts with cute little shirts and ties and school boy apparel whilst being all glittered up has gone over to the 'dark' side. Some may say he has evolved as an artist. Some may say he has ruined his former image. He has embraced his personal sexual experiences and has appeared in the videoclip dressed in leather bondage-style. His hair is still blonde though. I could only watch one minute of the video before I felt that I couldn't watch anymore. I didn't even get around to listening to what the new music was like.



The monochrome video is injected with shadows and quick shot-cutting techniques to make the video as a white quite intense and as if we are viewing a collection of black and white intimate photos. I have a feeling a lot of his fans won't be able to take this approach very well at all. But then again from what I've seen on his myspace page a lot of people are embracing it too (whether they are gay or straight). Yes, everyone knows he is homosexual and everyone accepts it..but this side of his sexuality is difficult for a lot of people to swallow, especially with this transformation from a gorgeous gypsy boy to this gothic sexual imagery.

Some people saw this coming, but I guess with sexuality there usually comes complexity that is hidden behind closed doors. So obviously Patrick didn't really reveal this side of him earlier (although his videoclip for 'Tristan' was pretty dark..) but I guess he feels comfortable now to reveal it to the world to some peoples pleasure and some peoples surprise. Oh how controversial!

If you want to see his new "image" you will find a photo or two in his photos album on his myspace

Illustrations:

Is the sun inside?

I'll tell you something..

I can't stand when musicians wear sunglasses when they are playing on stage, indoors at nighttime. Talk about pretentious.

(E.g.:Oh Dr. Dog, why did you have to disappoint me?

Bear & I.

A friend of mine is bloody good at the guitar. He has a beautiful Gretsch! Even better he can play the banjo and a range of interesting instruments. But I've never heard him sing, that was, until today when he told me he put up a demo under the band name of 'Bear And I'.

I have listened to his demo over and over and it's getting lodged into my head. Open your ears and take a listen. It's only a rough demo but I think it's brilliant.

Bear & I