Melbourne has been good enough to grant me a couple of extra weeks of cool weather this year, and I am eternally grateful. The next few days will be scorchers, but it was nice to get just one more wear out of my tights and cardigan today!
When I came home from work I noticed that our outdoor setting was bathed in warm sunlight, so I grabbed my laptop and a glass of wine and soaked up the rays. The cool breeze took the edge of the heat and I was in heaven. I wanted to stop time.
We had a pretty sunset, too. Maybe not as good as the last time I recorded a sunset from our dining room window, but still beautiful!
Music – Sunny Road by Emiliana Torrini
(I think I’m just about ready to share the next part of my house tour with you, so look out for that in the next couple of days!)
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!
Remember when Facebook used to let you add little apps to your main page? One of my favourites was a sketch app, and I used it to create this little drawing years ago. And then forgot all about it.
I rediscovered it today amongst my media files – I guess I must have recorded the animation using screen capture software. Love rediscovering old stuff!
Nothing warms my heart like a gloomy, rainy day. I’m lucky that I don’t really have to face the elements each day to get to work (thanks to my little car park), so I guess I get to enjoy this simple little pleasure without any of the annoying parts.
Yesterday Melbourne was hit with a big storm that cut off power to sections of the city, damaged homes and grounded planes at the airport. There was rumbling thunder all afternoon and plenty of lightning, and in the middle of the afternoon the sky was almost black with heavy clouds. Damage aside, it was beautiful!
By the time I got home the worst had passed, but I grabbed a big golf umbrella and used the last of the light to make a little video. Enjoy this footage of my rain-soaked little garden, and the vocal loveliness of Randy Newman.
(Oh, and please pardon my shaky camera work – it wasn’t easy to keep my iPhone still and dry with one hand while I held a big, heavy umbrella with the other! I wonder what my neighbours think of me, out in a lightning storm holding a metal rod in the air…)
shannon driscoll, teacher and screenprinter, reflects on her relationship with cats and the way they affect her aesthetics, both on the page and in the classroom
That really is a terrible cat. Maybe the worst one I’ve ever seen.
A very happy Caturday to everyone, especially Rah and Liz!
I couldn’t help but notice that a certain small dog had a very serious case of The Mondays this morning. He followed me around as I got ready for work, and eventually took himself off to a dark corner to listen to The Cure and write bad poetry. With his own tears.
There is only one cure for emo dogs – walkies. And it’s gonna need a soundtrack.
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.
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.
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.
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.
These beauties floated right over our house this morning, while I was getting ready for work. Tim spotted them when he went out to put my coffee in the car (I really do love that boy) and I raced out on the driveway to catch these shots.
I can’t help it – whenever I see them I am completely mesmerised.
And speaking of balloons, I named this post after the song by The Civil Wars. It comes from a spectacular album called Barton Hollow and I might be a little bit in love with them right now.
Every so often Melbourne has one of those sunsets that makes your jaw drop. Our little hilltop house usually gives us a great view of the show, and yesterday I felt like we had front row tickets!
(Well, maybe front row balcony tickets? It was still pretty great!)
Perfect opportunity for another time-lapse style video, right? Right! This was my setup on the dining room window sill…
And this is the finished product! Fifty minutes of footage condensed to four and a half. I only wish I had noticed that annoying reflection from the picture frame on my wall – definitely a lesson for next time.
It’s not quite as good as being there, but it’s pretty close. Enjoy!
Today’s photograph is a shot of the camellia out the front of my house. It’s completely covered in flowers right now, even though I have been raiding it to fill all the vases in my house! They seem to last for two weeks in water so there is a seemingly endless supply.
I’ve been home sick for the past couple of days. Today I curled up on the couch with a blanket and a coffee, and found myself staring out the bay window and watching the world go by. I thought it might make a cool little video, so I set up my iPhone on a pile of books and let it record.
Here it is – fifty minutes condensed to three and a half. It’s a pretty good representation of Melbourne’s “four seasons in one day” too!
The beautiful music is Mi Ancla by Mindy Gledhill.
I’m pretty happy with my little iPhone for doing such a good job! I wish I could share the original here – it’s so clear you can even see the little bees buzzing around the flowers.
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.
(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!
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…
