- Hot bods and (some) cool routines are barely keeping my attention on So You Think You Can Dance. Why did anyone give Natalie Bassingthwaighte a hosting gig? Why do the judges never fight or say anything funny? Why does it go for so long? Why do the dancers do something stupid every time they walk in to meet their choreographer? WHY?
- I really like the high saturation photography of Ninagawa Mika. Especially the flower shots. Found via galadarling.
- Interesting? I figured blogging must be good for something.
- I’m loving the beautiful photos and cool clothes snapped at The Sartorialist.
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by Ashlee on January 19, 2008
in misc
I went and saw the film Juno this weekend. It’s very cool. Great aesthetic, even better script (lots of great lines) and just generally very likeable. The soundtrack is also excellent (it has Belle and Sebastian on it…) and ranges from twee to Sonic Youth.
The main narrative is about teenage pregnancy, but the way the film looks at the dynamics of relationships is really clever. It’s not just a movie about teenagers, even though the main protagonist is 16, because the adults surrounding Juno are just as interesting.
The film also looks at the ideas we have about what makes a good parent, and the social constructs surrounding the process of pregnancy. Adoptive mothers don’t feel like they can have baby showers, pregnant teenage girls don’t feel that they can go to prom. But it’s not just about the chicks… fatherhood and male responsibility is also an integral part of the plot.
All this, and it isn’t even the slightest bit preachy or pretentious at all.
And the ending is so sweet it made me quite teary.
Go see it, I say.
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A few years back, naming your business after Toys ‘R Us was considered to be a cutting edge marketing move. Pipes ‘R Us, Pups ‘R Us, Colonoscopies ‘R Us. You name it, someone has taken it and stuck ‘R Us after it to try and make it seem like they have thought of an interesting business name.
But a new copycat trend is sweeping through the businesses of Sydney and the world at large.
It seems that if you want to start or rename a business these days, sticking the letter ‘i’ in front of the name of your product or store is a sure fire way to get people thinking you are witty and original. Even though Apple has clearly, and extremely visably, already done that with their entire product range.
At first it was just iPod accessories, like the iTrip. Which kinda made sense. But now all manner of businesses are jumping on the bandwagon and today I saw one of the finest examples around.
Our local pole dancing studio, which has always stuck out with it’s lime green facade, has decided to rebrand. It is now called iPole.
iPole? iPOLE? What’s next, a restaurant called iEat? A laundry called iWash? A hardware shop called iNail? A brothel called iF*&*%$%#$%K? (indescriminate and overly lengthy use of symbols to represent letters to mask a swear word is for the benefit of my mother who sometimes visits here… I think the letters stand for flapjack, or fruitcake or somesuch mother)
What makes people think this is an original and good idea? Why? And whenever the iPod-beater MP3 player is finally conquered (probably by the guy who started facebook or something), it will seem very dated and naff.
But that being said, which do you think is more catchy… iBlog (Apple has probably already branded that anyway), iBitch or Snarky Rants ‘R Us?
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Tonight I went and saw a really awesome doco called My Kid Could Paint That. It tells the story of little child art prodigy Marla Olmstead (who was 4 when the doco was made) who apparently creates these amazing abstract canvases all on her own. It was a very interesting film. It raised questions about the validity of contemporary art, the nature of art as a commodity and what truth lies in art.
It also took an interesting look at the way media treats these ‘unbelievable’ stories… relishing them, then turning on their subjects… when the integrity of Marla’s work is questioned, the commercial interests of her parents and art collectors, as well as her family’s reputation and her mum and dads ability to parent, are all challenged.
I also liked how the documentary maker was bought into the story, and was questioning his own ethics and responsibilities as a filmmaker.
It was an interesting insight into how modern art relies so much on public perception, and how adults had turned a childish painting pursuit into a huge adult deal. When money is involved in the creative process, it inevitably changes everything.
Lots of questions were raised…
In telling a story, do you fundamentally change it? Is it possible for anything constructed to be true? By measuring talent, do you quash it? Can anything commodified be true? Is contemporary/abstract art actually ‘art’, or a just a construct of psudo intellectuals?
Thought provoking, and I highly recommend this doco.
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Yesterday I went to Bronte Beach for breakfast with two of my beautiful ladeeez. It was very yummy and very lovely. So sunny and the beach is just beautiful. But the best thing of all was that I discovered the recipe for some kickass toast… it has now officially replaced vegemite and light philly spread as my favourite toast topping!
This toast would kick the ass of anything Rosie Beaton on JTV could make with some hungover rockstar on Saturday mornings.
Drumroll please!
I present… toast (preferably gluten free rice bread, cos it tastes great)… with jam and ricotta!
So yummy! The jam I am using at the moment is a strawberry, blueberry and cranberry combination, but I think it would work equally as well with any berry jam. I feel my quality of life has now improved thanks to this toast.
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by Ashlee on September 22, 2007
in misc
I haven’t seen such a great film in quite a while. Forbidden Lie$, an Australian made documentary, is a brilliant movie that delves into the web of lies spun by Norma Khouri, author of the apparently true book on honour crimes, ‘Forbidden Love’, that was shown to be a sham by Sydney Morning Herald journalist Malcolm Knox. The characters in this documentary are so amazing they are hard to believe. Norma herself is just undescribable. You have to see it yourself… so cunning and manipulative. Malcolm Knox is great, and the documentary maker Anna Broinowski is brilliant- her frustration with Khouri only goes to show how deep the web of lies goes. Khouri’s Brisbane neigjbour was a fantastic character, and so was Khouri’s dodgy Greek husband. But my favourite character was Jordinian journalist whose name I forget. She was one of those people you want to grab and loudly exclaim "you are awesome!"
Made me wanna get out there, kick down some doors and win a Walkley or somethin’.
But it also raises heaps of important questions about the nature of truth and the role of journalism… as well as Western perceptions of Islam, and it is a stark reminder that you can’t believe everything you read.
Personalities, research, good editing… this doco kicks ass. Go see it. You can’t help but be fascinated.
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