Adventure, baby!

Sydney

Edward Scissorhands

I was really keen to see this stage show but didn’t manage to get tickets. A work colleague of mine sold me his the day before the show as he was unable to make it – really tough for him, but fabulous news for Rosalie and myself.

I saw the movie a long time ago and didn’t remember much of it – the show was faithful to the movie from what I remember, but what resonated most with me was the beautiful, haunting music.

The show was created by Matthew Bourne, and was a strange hybrid of dancing and what could almost be described as mime … it was very successful however and incredibly entertaining. The actor who played Edward was fabulous – as was the whole cast actually.

I would strongly recommend this show for anything who isn’t a big fan of musicals or dance shows as well as people who are.

The Incredible Hulk

I hated the first Hulk movie. I watched it on TV and changed the channel. Alec, however, loves the Hulk, so off we went to watch the latest incarnation of the big green beast.

I was so pleasantly surprised to find that it was an enjoyable movie. Edward Norton is such a classy actor, so his performance alone was riveting. There was lots of action, a splattering of soul searching and a dash of true love – everything you want from a super hero movie.

Alec was stoked that there was a “Hulk … smash!” line that made the final cut, and I was happy to see that there are more super hero movies in the works!

Photography Class – Fashion?

Tonight’s class was how to shoot for fashion. The lighting set-ups were a lot of fun and really useful – I have so much to learn!

Our model wasn’t really a fashion model – or a model at all it turned out! She was a 5’2″ film student from France… Still, she was very obliging and tried her best to make 10 students happy 🙂

Here are the results of my attempt. I’m quite happy with the pics except that the background doesn’t look as white as it should – I will have to do some re-touching in my old friend Photoshop I think!







Pugs in Fashion

I have a pug obsession. And a clothes obsession. Combine them and you get this photo shoot from Vogue Italia, by Steven Meisel and featuring Linda Evangelista.









SATC – The Movie

In the years since Sex & The City ended, I’ve watched all of the episodes many times over. I’ve been awaiting the return of these old friends for a long time!

I took some clients of mine to see the movie in Gold Glass for a treat – my first Gold Class experience. It’s pricey, but so worth it! The seats are like reclining lounge chairs and there is a lot of space between the chairs and rows so it almost feels like your own private theatre.

The movie itself was OK – not brilliant but enjoyable. It really was like catching up with old friends. I thought it could have been a lot wittier – they had a lot of jokes but they were cheap shots in my opinion. I also thought the over-riding themes of forgiveness were too strong. Miranda gets cheated on and Carrie gets left at the alter – but both are urged to forgive their partner. The feeling that was being portrayed was “you’re getting old, you have to compromise now” rather than feelings from their earlier episodes when they would have ditched the guys pronto.

I did however enjoy the movie in total and will watch it again. The clothes were great, Charlotte was fabulous and I always love seeing NY in movies.


Random Sydney

Just a few pics from the weird weather lately.

This one was driving in to work this morning. The fog right now is amazing. I can’t see out my office window.


Sunset yesterday – love the colours and light!

Cafe Sydney

I love to eat. I am a fussy eater but I eat a lot of the few foods I love.

One of the benefits of my job is I now get to occasionally eat at restaurants that I would otherwise never be able to afford, such as Cafe Sydney at Circular Quay. They didn’t have much food catered to vegetarians, but I still managed to find plenty to scoff down.

Tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella, basil, aged balsamic and extra virgin olive oil.


Peppered wagyu carpaccio, truss cherry tomatoes, olives , baby capers, pecorino, horseradish and lemon dressing.


Seared scallops, mushroom and pancettea tart with a green pea sauce.


Zucchini flowers with gorgonzola and ricotta filling, tomatoes and olives.


Grilled tuna with salt cod brandade filled zucchini flower, kipfler potatoes, peas and salsa verde.


Mashed potato and steamed greens.


Roasted lamb rack with confit shoulder, jerusalem artichoke and jus.


Bitter chocolate ganache tart with honeycomb iced parfait . DELICIOUS!


Strawberry and vanilla trifle with moscato and meringue sticks.


Chocolate pudding.


View from our table.


Even on a cloudy day the view is amazing.

Blue Mountains Offsite

I spent two days in the Blue Mountains on a work offsite. We stayed at the Old Leura Dairy – a pretty cool place! It’s been completely renovated and is a really quirky, unique place to stay with either a loved one of a group.

The dining room table set up for morning tea.


Fireplace – definitely needed in winter!


Fresh salad.


Mmmmm fruity goodness.


Renovated building – note the corrugated iron.


Roasted capsicum with rice.


My favourite carbs.



Kitchen in the main building.




Mmmm scones.


This is the three-bedroom cottage I stayed in.


My bedroom.


My bathroom.



The living room for my cottage.


Hard at work as the evening progressed.




Noodles!


Magic beans.


Fresh veges. They catered very, very well for the vegetarians.


Lemon tart.



This was the entrance to one of the bedrooms.


On the 10km mountain bike tour.

















Waiting for food.



Save me!


The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian

I loved the Narnia books when I was young and read them many many times. Something that I never noticed before watching tis film was how battle-filled they are. C.S. Lewis has a talent for writing battle scenes in a way that makes them suitable for a young child to read. I think it has to do with the unemotional language he uses.

In a movie, however, it’s hard to have battle scenes that aren’t confronting in a movie that’s really for young people, so the movie ended up being quite dark. While there are no shots of any actual blood being shed, there are still scenes of mass slaughter.

What I did like about the movie was the character development of the eldest Pevensie boy, Peter, who is being treated like a child again in England and wants to be treated like a man. I also liked Prince Caspian himself – though I’m unsure about his French accent.

It’s hard to say exactly how much I liked the movie because it was extremely difficult to get lost in it. We were unfortunate enough to be seeing the movie in a cinema that was mostly booked out by a youth group, who talked, yelled, laughed as sad moments, screamed at romantic moments and ran up and down the aisles throughout the entire movie. It was disgraceful, selfish behaviour and I just wanted to stab them all with my huge umbrella I had rather than concentrate on the movie.

I guess I’ll just have to see it again before I make my mind up!