Diana Ross & Julio Iglesias

I love Julio. The man is a dreamboat! My mother is a huge fan, and I grew up listening to her sing along as she played his LPs at home. I also adore Diana Ross - that voice, those eyes, that hair! This clip is hilarious. I am totally dancing like this all summer long.

Lion's paws, anyone?

They're completey ridiculous, and ludicrously expensive, but I think these Christian Louboutin lion's paw stilettos are hilarious. They're the 'Alex' shoe from the Fall 2011 collection, for those with a penchant for frivolous, French designer footwear you probably can't actually walk in.

I want to go to Mount Rainier

Look at those glorious wildflowers! Those majestic mountains! The lush pines! I saw this photo of Mount Rainier in Washington on the blog National Geographic Daily and I'm adding it to my top five places I want to visit in America list, which includes Oregon, California, Texas and New Orleans. I'm also keen to visit Amish country in Pennsylvania. I'm fascinated by the Amish.

Vale Red Riders

Red Riders have announced they are calling it quits, which I think is a real shame. I listened to their 2009 album 'Drown In Colour' a hell of a lot, and I always enjoyed their performances. This isn't my favorite song off that album, but I think this low-budget clip is quite cute, plus it was shot around the corner from my old neighborhood in Sydney. Who hasn't wanted to climb a grand ol' Moreton Bay fig tree at some point in time?!

The Beagle King

Yesterday afternoon I was walking through the West Village when I spotted the most adorable Beagle puppy. I adore Beagles, but this puppy was the most perfect Beagle specimen of all time. I asked the owner if I could pat the dog, and he obliged. I should have taken a photo, but I was too busy playing with him to whip out my camera. This dog, courtesy of google images, looks similar. I am definitely owning a Beagle as soon as I have a yard.

I want to be the girl with the most cake

Apparently Courtney Love is planning to be the executive producer on a film about her life with Kurt Cobain, and she hopes that James McAvoy and Scarlett Johansson will play the leads. Let’s hope Courtney finds the right director and makes a real go of this. I don’t care what anyone says about her, I will always love Courtney, and remember every single line to all of ‘Live Through This.’ 

China's ghost cities

I just watched this great report from Dateline about China's empty cities: SBS Podcasts : Podcasts: Dateline

Best Coast + cats = even better

I love Best Coast

Awesome secret pictures of elephants

I've just discovered Smithsonian Wild, and it's awesome! http://siwild.si.edu/about.cfm

The Mafia goes yuppie

This story about a stabbing incident over the weekend in Brooklyn is rather fascinating from a news perspective, but what really piqued my interest is the idea of the mafia wanting to muscle in on hipster pizzerias in gentrified Brooklyn neighbourhoods.  The modern mafia: forget poker and prostitution, now trading in mustard-drizzled kale salads, deep-fried prosciutto balls and ludicrously overpriced bottles of Viognier.

            The New York Times - Mob link pursued

More Archibald works I wanna view...

Mother (a portrait of Cate) by Del Kathryn Barton

Waleed Aly by Abdul Abdullah

John Coetzee by Adam Chang




It's Monday again...

I love The Easybeats. And Fridays. And Australian music. And I especially love the cute boys with 60s hair in sharp suits & skinny trousers bopping along to this song!

Wish I could go see The Archibald

This is Ben Quilty's portrait of the artist Margaret Olley, which won this year's Archibald Prize, Australia's most prestigious portraiture competition. I think this is a wonderful rendering of Olley. This is what the Art Gallery of NSW website says about it:
When Ben Quilty first asked legendary painter Margaret Olley to sit for him she said no. ‘Her lack of ego is so appealing,’ says Quilty. ‘Margaret didn’t understand why anyone would want to see a portrait of her.’ Quilty met Olley when she was a guest judge for the 2002 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, which he won. ‘She’s been a friend and great supporter of my work ever since,’ he says. Born in Lismore in 1923, Olley was awarded the Order of Australia in 1991 for service as an artist and to the promotion of art. In 1996, she was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia. ‘She’s such an inspiration,’ says Quilty. ‘She was a feminist ahead of her time. She’s vigorously passionate about social and political issues, as well as art, and is enormously compassionate. Margaret has such an infectious attitude to both life and death. Recently, I was amazed at how many new works she had on the go. She said to me, “I’m like an old tree dying and setting forth flowers as fast as it can, while it still can.” I thought that was such a powerful metaphor.’

Go grrrrrls!

I just stumbled upon this article about an inspiring all-lady removals company in Melbourne specialising in moving women fleeing from domestic violence. A wonderful idea.

The Age - In the worst of times women do the heavy lifting

A Dramatic Reading of "My Father's Daughter" by Gwyneth Paltrow

A friend sent me this hilarious video mocking Gwyneth Paltrow's self-indulgent cook book. Paltrow perfectly encapsulates why I dislike women ranting and raving about their culinary prowess, essentially screaming, "Look at me and my cake! Look what a good woman I am! What a wonderful wife I make! What a loving and perfect mother! I AM SO DOMESTICATED AND I AM LOVING IT! Wow, it feels so good to be a PERFECT woman!" I enjoy cooking as much as the next person, but for god's sake, I am not defined by my ability to combine ingredients in a pleasant tasting manner, and I will not subscribe to old-fashioned stereotypes of what a good woman should be. Gwyneth Paltrow, please stop making us nauseous...

She & Him

I used to listen to a lot of M.Ward when I was at uni in Melbourne. He has a wonderful voice, and a pleasant, gentle singing style. I thought it was a brilliant idea when he teamed up with the delightful Zooey Deschanel for the She&Him albums, both of which were really quite cute.

Panda joy

Some days I think I should quit the news game and instead volunteer with a panda breeding program somewhere in the world. Pandas are endangered, and, as I learned at a zoo in the Sichuan privince in China, it's also hard for them to mate because the females are so feisty and it takes the smaller male pandas about five hours just to overpower them. Pandas really do make me very happy, and I think that if there were more pandas in the world, there might be more happiness, too. It's just a thought...

No more York Peppermint Patties?!

I was too busy eating cake for lunch with a dear friend at Cafe Sabarsky at the Neue Gallery over the weekend to have read this article, but I've just done so and now I feel sullen. I know sugar is evil, but I love chocolate more than any other food! More than wine! More than cheese! More than even a Baileys on ice!

The New York Times Magazine - Is Sugar Toxic?

Waaaaahhhhh..........

"I feel like a pig shat in my head!"

Doctor, Queen of the Upper East Side

I visited a doctor today. I am sick for the first time since moving to America. I was assigned the first available physician, and the one I received was a jolly man, short and ruddy-faced. I proceeded to tell him how I was feeling lethargic, with a sore throat and an upset stomach, before he interjected joyfully with, "Have you seen 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert' the movie?" "Um, ah, yes, yes I have seen that film," I replied. "Well, I've just seen the Broadway musical, and your accent is just reminding me of it!" he exclaimed. Then he asked me where I was from, gave the mandatory declaration of every American talking to an Australian that he intends to visit Sydney, and inquired as to whether you correctly pronounce Melbourne as Mel-born, Mel-bin or Mel-bonne. He told me I had strep throat, and must eat only bananas, rice, apple sauce and toast. When I asked about yogurt, he responded, "Oh my, there it is again - your accent is just taking me right back there! Oh, I love it, I just love it!" His love of Australian camp was infectious (pun intended). I left his office thinking of my inflamed tonsils, and also of Hugo Weaving, whom I used to see strolling through Darlinghurst on a weekly basis. I wonder if he knows what joy he has brought to the world?!

Cut Copy - Autobahn Music Box

awww.....

Americans often talk to me about their love of koalas. Truth is, I've never cuddled one, and these little fellas can claw your face off if you get too close. Cute doesn't always equal friendly. Australia is kind of a harsh place!

A sweet musical interlude

Boy soldiers

I first saw this picture of the Libyan opposition on the front page of today's New York Times while I was waiting for a coffee this morning, and have looked at it again several times since then. This boy must surely only be a teenager? It is such a striking image.

Libya's rebels don't really add up to an army

Lover + The Australian Ballet

A Dance For One. from LOVER® on Vimeo.
'Black Swan' kinda confirmed my thought that if I ever raise a daughter, I will not encourage her to pursue ballet. Mind you, I must admit that as a child, I was quite envious of all those other little girls who did take ballet lessons. Such grace! What poise! Look at their posture! I do find it mesmerising to watch (even if I am secretly pondering whether the ballerinas are tired and hungry and tortured). I guess you could say I'm conflicted about ballet, really, but I do wish I had Amber Scott's posture.

Cate Blanchett + Romance Was Born

I have always admired Cate Blanchett; I think she is an incredibly talented actress, an articulate advocate for the arts, and a gracious and stylish ambassador for Australia in general. She's also impossibly beautiful, hails from Melbourne, and named her her third son Iggy, so really, I'd say you'd be hard pressed finding a reason not to like this woman. She's on the May cover of Australian Harper's Bazaar wearing Romance Was Born, whom she has long championed.  Most of their stuff is too kooky for wear, but I quite like this embroidered floral number.

knowledge versus ignorance

Professor Ross Garnaut, the Australian government's climate change advisor, said today that tackling climate change is a battle between knowledge and ignorance. "There's no doubt that there is a battle, an awful battle between ignorance and knowledge going on. It's a great contest between the academies of sciences of Australia ... the academies of science of all of the countries of scientific achievement on the one side, and the shock jocks of Australia on the other. We've had these battles before in the history of our civilisation. This battle will have quite a lot to do with the future prosperity of Australia, the future quality of our civilisation. Our democracy is up to it." Let's hope he's right. ABC News Australia

I cannot wait to see this...

Woody Allen's latest film debuts at Cannes in May. Love Owen Wilson!

All hail the Queen

It was Aretha Franklin's 69th birthday last weekend, and she celebrated with a big night on the town in New York. Franklin has been battling pancreatic cancer but is now on the mend, and is apparently releasing a new album soon. Love her, and Robert De Niro, who introduces her in this clip. All hail the Queen of Soul!