Adventure, baby!

Sydney Life

Double Movie Date Night


Alec and I had a double movie whammy on Sat night. I hadn’t heard of either movie beforehand, and they were both really great, thoughtful movies.

Amazing Grace
This is the story of William Wilberforce, the man who brought about the abolishion of the slave trade in the UK. The title is from the song, Amazing Grace, that was written by John Newton, a former slave owner who found God, repented, wrote the song, and became a preacher.

The movie is inspiring. It made me feel like I should be doing something more worthwhile with my life. It also filled in a big knowledge gap. I find it unbelievable that people were treated in such a way (much in the same way that live animals are exported overseas today and in similarly disgusting conditions) so the British people could have delicacies like sugar in their tea. A lot has been written about slaves in America, but I’ve heard very little about the slave trade run out of the UK. It certainly shed some light on a dark period in history and how the efforts of one man made the world a better place.

In The Land Of Women
This is Adam Brody (The O.C)‘s first big role, as a porno script writer, who is feeling lost after being dumped by his actress girlfriend, so moves in with his elderly, wacko Grandmother to find himself. Out in the burbs he meets Sarah, a mother of two teenage daughters, and forms a friendship with both her and her eldest daughter.

The film is essentially a drama, focusing on the tender relationships between people, the healing power of forgiveness and acceptance, and lesson in being kind to people because until you look through their eyes, you really can’t know what life is like for them.

A really moving film, only flawed by Meg Ryan’s recently enhanced lips. To collagen-pumped lips, Australia says no. Adam Brody however, proves himself as a future leading actor, not just a teen soap star, with his poignant performance.

The Rocks Aroma Festival

Alec and I went to the Aroma coffee, chocolate and spice festival at the Rocks today. It rained and there were many many people, but we still managed to run into Jamie and Alice, and to have many coffees and chocolate thingys.


Chocolate shots.


This is what being hyped up on coffeeeeeeee and chocolate shots looks like.

For The Puppies


The RSPCA is my favourite charity, so it was great to be able to attend the RSPCA Paws For Celebration Ball this year with some fellow Googlers and eBay/Shopping.com-ers. Animal cruelty makes me so angry. The money raised from the ball is going towards starting an education program for youths to stop youth violence towards animals. I think the program is a great idea. I don’t understand how anyone could be cruel to an animal, and it obviously says a lot about the people who to the unspeakable things to defenseless animals and the type of person they are going to become in society.

Beverly and I dressed in our fancy frocks.

Clubland


I thought this movie might be something about going clubbing. I thought it would be another dodgy Aussie movie. I was wrong. Clubland is one of the best Australian movies I’ve seen in a long time. A real family drama, the movie focuses on a dysfunctional family, including the matriarch, Jean, a British once-(semi)famous comedian trying to revive her dying career in clubs, and her son, Tim, a shy young man trying to find his own life outside the shadow of his over-domineering mother.

The tense and also tender family relationships really hit a nerve. We’ve all had moments where we think our family is the nuttiest, most impossible family that ever existed. I felt like mine was quite sane after watching this movie.

One of things I love about Australian movies is that when they get it right, boy do they get it right. Just like Murial’s Wedding, Clubland is touching, uncomfortable, warm, romantic, funny, painful and finally, joyful. Everything a good movie should be.

RENT

I love the musical RENT. I just found this on YouTube and it made me remember how awesome it is. Spread the RENT love people!

Pretty Ballerina

These are one of the pairs of ballet flats I bought on the weekend while with Bev. The others are soft black leather with cream piping and ribbons that tie around the ankle. They arrive in two weeks. I can’t wait!

Rainy Sunday

The day didn’t go as planned. A trip to Kirribilli markets was a bit of a bust – we had French toast at a cafe that was dreadful, and the markets were full of miscellaneous crafty stuff rather than “art and design” as was advertised. I had then planned to take some arty photos of Luna Park, but down came the rain and home again we went.

I did however manage to get this one photo of Alec holding my pink umbrella for me while I took some photos so my camera wouldn’t get wet. Bless his cotton socks.

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic.
You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense.
Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries.

You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places – or a very different life for yourself.

Transformer … Robots in Disguise!

After many months of waiting, Alec and I saw Transformers this weekend. I didn’t have very high expectations of the movie, so was happy to come out of the movie wanting to see it again as soon as possible.

The CGI was fabulous – seamlessly integrated into the live action. The storyline was better than I had expected, and the writing was great – some really funny lines as well as some tributes to the original cartoon.

“I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?” Ha ha ha 🙂 Can’t wait to see it again.

I have started to go a bit crazy with my snappy cam, taking pictures in places like the movie cinema, as seen below.



IKEA

I am totally hooked on IKEA. I am transforming our junk cupboard in the hall into a shoe cupboard a la Carrie Bradshaw. I find their food somewhat disturbing though.

IKEA “chocolate”. Yeah, suuuuure it is.

IKEA $1 hotdog. Is there actually any meat in there?

Don’t do it Alec!