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!