Films Every Day

From above: Beginners // Lennon NYC // Submarine // Medianeras // Tiny Furniture // The Future

It's a week into the Melbourne Film Festival and I've had a pretty busy film schedule so far. Last year I was a festival volunteer, which was a great way to see a shitload of films, but this year I've been living it up after splashing out on a mini-pass, and have seen films every night this week. I saw Submarine last night, which was wonderful and charming and far exceeded my expectations. I guess in the past I've been let down by films that I think are going to be awesome, so now I try not to buy into the hype. I needn't have worried though, Submarine is definitely hype worthy! Tonight I'm seeing Beginners, then The Future and Lennon NYC - it is hard sometimes not to get too excited about films, I'm really looking forward to all of these ones!

p.s. Do you think the fact that Miranda July's The Future has a talking cat in it, and Mike Mills' Beginners has a talking dog makes them the best couple ever?

Sparkle Motion

Sequin graffiti in Reykjavik, by artist Theresa Himmer. I already want to go to Iceland one day, but if this is what their street art is like, then it makes me want to go there even more!

From here.

Chai Time

A few years ago I went to an Indian cooking class taught by my friend's Mum. We made paneer from scratch, saag paneer curry, raita, ghee, dhal, chappatis, pulao rice, halwa (semolina pudding), and chai tea. It was all so delicious and amazing and actually easier than I'd thought. I got so excited about how great cooking classes were and vowed to take more. Of course, I haven't taken any since! But I have been getting right back into making chai - which would have to be one of the easiest things we learnt.

This chai is so spicy and peppery, it's perfect for drinking on cold Winter evenings. And once you have the spices the only fresh ingredients you need are ginger and milk (which can be substituted for soy, btw). Cheers!

Kuwaii Kicks

I've had my eye on Kuwaii's gorgeous range of handmade shoes for some time, and last night, after lots of trying on and tough decision making, I finally ordered myself a pair! The shoes are all handmade in Melbourne by one of the city's last remaining shoe manufacturers, so it's a two week wait until my chosen pair arrives.

Kuwaii's clothing line is also beautiful, ethically made and really worth checking out - have a looky here !

Winter Uniform

Winter wardrobe by Banana Meet-Cute featuring cotton knit sweaters

Winter Uniform by Banana Meet-Cute featuring vintage sweaters

Winter Uniform #2 by Banana Meet-Cute featuring a peter pan collar blouse

Because it usually takes a good hour for my brain to wake up in the mornings I decided I needed a 'Winter Uniform' to make things easier in the dressing department. So this is my weekday wardrobe - shorts over tights, with a jersey on top. Plus a good warm duffle coat, scarf, mittens and flat shoes - simple, no?

Seventies Paparazzo

Debbie Harry (1977) // Duran Duran (1981) // David Bowie (1975)
// Joan Jett (1978) // Rod Stewart (1976)

Photographer Brad Elterman began his career as a teenager in the seventies, taking photos of all the biggest celebs and the most decadent parties in Los Angeles. If you click through the links above you can read his stories about each photo - I really recommend this, I've just spent half the morning reading about Elterman's adventures. Things were certainly different for photographers back then. I especially love this story, about his photo of Rod Stewart (above): 

"If you were in-crowd or involved in the music industry around 1976 you knew that Rod Stewart played soccer every Saturday at the Coldwater Canyon park in Beverly Hills. He was nuts about his game.

I showed up every weekend with a long lens and I shot away. Rod never seemed to care. I would dash off to the color lab; then the next day on to the post office to mail my color slides to the teen publications in London. They purchased them all and demanded more.

Photos of Rod kicking a ball can get a bit mundane after while; but if you wanted to make the real dough, you needed to get Rod with a girl. This photo is just what the London Daily Mirror wanted. Not only did they love the chick in the photo, but the icing on the cake was Rod with his pint of beer in hand! That is what made this photo!

During these magical days at the Coldwater Canyon park, not once did anyone say No Photos nor did another photographer ever appear. Today, it would be total bedlam to photograph a star of Rod’s magnitude in a public park. The last time I drove by the park the soccer field was gone and the Department Of Water & Power had taken over the property. I will always have these wonderful memories of Rod, the soccer field, and that chick with the endless legs!"

Dogs Outside

Some good dog squee, from here and here.

Streamers

Brous - Streamers (Extended Version) from Sophia Brous on Vimeo.

I can't stop listening to this song, by Melbourne's Brous.

House Love

The Auckland home of Karen Inderbitzen-Waller and Delphine Avril Planqueel is now up on the Selby, and it's possibly the greatest house I've ever seen! I love the clutter, the backyard, the wallpaper, their pet bunny, the miles of Crown Lynn crockery, and the bedding made from vintage underwear - I love it all!

Not Quite Golden

Finally! Some pictures from my short trip to the Gold Coast. I saw lots of high rises and walked along the beach, and it was warm enough to do all this while wearing a t.shirt - no huge heavy coat and scarf! Then I came back to Melbourne and fell ill with a terrible nasty flu. Hence the long time between posts…

Also last week I met the lovely Kate from the best ever blog Lovelorn Unicorn. She was just as lovely and charming in person as any reader of her wonderful blog would expect. I am just sorry that I may have passed on some of my nasty flu germs to her, rather bad form indeed.