Definitely one to watch in HD!

22 months
1,357 hours
30 people
2 ladders
1 still camera
288,000 jelly beans

Can you imagine working on a project like this for 22 months straight? Without a green screen? The “making of” video is really worth seeing if you want to know how they did it.

Now I need to find out what else Kina can do – what a cute little song!

Edited to add: This cover of Fast Car by Tracy Chapman gave me goosebumps.

I’m not quite sure how it came to be Monday again so quickly (didn’t we just have one of those a few days ago?)  The weeks are zipping by faster than I would like and I’m finding myself swept up in the madness of it all. 

This weekend I finally admitted that I had lost my grip on time when I finally began to put away my Christmas presents.

… in mid February.

Each year my parents ask me to put together a wishlist, and each year I try to make it more ridiculous than the last.  I try to include at least one pet (this year it was a pony and a bunny rabbit) and as many age-inappropriate toys as I can think of. 

And that is how I found myself, at the age of 31 (and 11/12ths), with a kit to build my own kaleidoscope.

The least I could do for my parents was to put it together and paint it pretty colours!

The kit contains different lengths and widths of cardboard tube, plastic end caps, plastic “lenses”, mirrors and coloured beads.  You need to supply your own polkadots.

I was surprised (and maybe a tiny bit embarrassed) to discover that this kaleidoscope is actually pretty great!  I made a little video on my iPhone so that you didn’t have to miss any of the action.   

(Oh!  But you have to promise to click through to Vimeo and watch it in HD.)

And by the way, that incredible music comes from an album called Soundtrack for Everyday Adventures by Lullatone.  I discovered them on the weekend and immediately bought two of their albums.  It’s all toy pianos, xylophones and melodic percussion – and it’s basically the happiest music on earth!

It is a legal requirement of reading this blog that you watch their adorable video. 

(How was your weekend?  Did you do anything silly?)

As far as I’m concerned, the stand-out single of 2011 was Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know, featuring Kimbra.  The video is equally as captivating as the song, so if you’re the last person on Earth to know about this incredible track you really need to watch the video above.  It’s magic, and so is the rest of Gotye’s latest album.

It came as a complete surprise to me that this song could handle a reinvention, but Walk Off the Earth and Sarah Blackwood recently got together and recorded this astounding cover.  Once again, the video is every bit as thrilling as the song and I had goosebumps!

Such a perfect tribute to the original.  I think I’d better go and find out what else this band can do…

José González – Heartbeats / La Mar (The Ocean) – The Beautiful Girls / Stuff and Nonsense – Missy Higgins / Girl with the Red Balloon – The Civil Wars / History’s Door – Husky / Darlin’ Won’t You Come? – Bob Evans / Biding My Time – Busby Marou / Falling Aeroplanes – Darren Hanlon / Give Me Tonight – Art of Fighting / Love Is All – The Tallest Man on Earth / Treehouse Song – Nina Nastasia / Trailed – Gossling

I made this cute little mix tape tonight, and thought I’d share it with everybody here!  It’s mostly mellow, acoustic tracks and there’s a bunch of great Australian singer/songwriters in the mix too.  It’s the sort of thing that you should listen to at night, I think.

Get comfy (hot chocolate is optional, but recommended) and enjoy the pretty tunes!

RSS buddies: if you don’t see a little flash player at the top of this post you might need to click through to my site to play it.

Day 2: Your Closet

Today’s photo for the 30 Day Challenge is a little collection of my favourite colourful dresses.

Little blog, I have been very unkind to you this month.  I’ve been having a little too much fun offline!

I have lots to write about over the next few weeks, but I thought I’d start by sharing this beautiful tune by Charlene Soraia while I figure out what to write about next.  Apparently this song was used in a Twinings commercial in the UK and now I need to find out what else she’s recorded!

Enjoy.

31 Photos in 31 Days

Early each morning I am greeted with this pretty view from my bedroom window.  Is it any wonder that I can’t seem to get out of bed and take myself off to work?  Do you think my boss would understand if I was an hour late?

If I was my boss, I would understand.

This morning I took a couple of minutes to soak in all the colours, and I realised that I had Nick Drake’s From the Morning floating through my head.  It was the perfect soundtrack to this pretty, pretty morning.

httpv://youtu.be/Q2JjJPDz3EE
From the Morning – Nick Drake

A day once dawned, and it was beautiful
A day once dawned from the ground
Then the night she fell
And the air was beautiful
The night she fell all around.

So look see the days
The endless coloured ways
And go play the game that you learned
From the morning.

And now we rise
And we are everywhere
And now we rise from the ground
And see she flies
And she is everywhere
See she flies all around

So look see the sights
The endless summer nights
And go play the game that you leared
From the morning.

httpvh://youtu.be/8UVNT4wvIGY

It’s been a while since Gotye released an album, but it was so worth the wait!  Somebody That I Used To Know (featuring Kimbra) is one of the best singles of the year, and for the past few weeks it’s been renting a big chunk of space in my brain that I probably need for thinkin’ good and stuff.  Oh well.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to seek out the video, but for the past week I’ve played it over (and over) and I had to share it here.

It really has to be said that Gotye and Kimbra are magical together.

Speaking of Kimbra, are there some shades of Regina Spektor in there, sometimes?  I’m not sure, but whatever she is doing I hope she doesn’t stop.  Such a breath of fresh air.

httpvh://youtu.be/yHV04eSGzAA

httpvh://youtu.be/6i1mr9amqeg

Oh wait, I’m supposed to be posting a photo every day this month!  Here’s a photo of the Walter White paper doll that I spotted tonight and printed as soon as I could!  We are so obsessed with Breaking Bad in this house.

31 Photos in 31 Days

Click here to see “Full Hearts & Empty Rooms” on iTunes

I heard this magical song by Emma Louise for the first time last week, and was happy to discover that she’s a Brisbane/Cairns girl like me. I bought her EP Full Hearts & Empty Rooms a few days ago and it’s been on a constant loop ever since.

This was the only version of the song that I’ve been able to track down online, and it seems to be an older recording than the one that made it to the EP. I love the raw beauty of this version.

Emma Louise – 1000 Sundowns by undercover tracks

(If you’re reading this via an RSS reader, and there is no flash audio player above, please click through to listen)

I met a boy who made me cry
He said, “stay away from my kind”
I said I appreciated his honesty
And I stayed away for a while

Then he cried and I laughed on the telephone
and we talked for hours
He says he wants to be a rock star, well so do I
so I guess it would never work

But on these summer nights when the weather’s fine
I miss him by my side
oh, by my side

And when the wind blows west from the hills
on these April nights I think of him
Oh the boy who surely taught me how to love
showed me how to trust, and I gave in

And oh, our love it was strong, it was so deep and we were young
and I was a little bit naive
But still how I was in his arms for 1000 sundowns
it was a love worth remembering

And on these summer nights when the weather’s fine
I miss him by my side
oh, by my side
And oh, my darling, say that you miss me too
on these summer nights
you miss me by your side

I know, I know I’ll see your face at the gates of heaven
when it’s my turn to go
But, oh Lord, please do not pass judgement on us
we were but young and full of love
And, oh please, let me cry in his arms just once more
for 1000 sundowns
for 1000 sundowns

There is more info at her Myspace and Facebook profiles. Hopefully a website (and album!) isn’t too far away.

I’ll leave you with Jungle, which has been the most popular single from the EP. There are big things ahead for this girl.

I might be a little late to the party, but the first time I heard this song was this morning on my way to work. Busby Marou was doing this week’s Like a Version for Triple J, and before covering Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun they played a gorgeous acoustic rendition of their own song, Biding My Time.

I have a habit of falling in love with beautiful acoustic ballads, so it was with trepidation that I checked out the original mixed recording. Turns out it’s just as good, and I’ve been playing it all day at work! And singing! In harmony!

I know. My coworkers are extremely fortunate.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

So this cute song by Lulu and the Lampshades is pretty catchy, right?

A bunch of other people on YouTube thought so too! There are so many great covers of this song, and I think I might even like this first one as much as the original…

So easy, even a six year old can do it!

And finally, this one man band: