a birthday and a book

and both are all about julie. happy birthday dear friend. 

this year i decided to read 12 books across 12 months. i'll probably read a hell of a lot more but these 12 are special. way back in december of last year i asked twelve friends to suggest a book for me to read. the email read:

     "I’d like one book title that has meant a lot to you in your life.  It can be a book from your childhood (bring it on), or something that you struggled with but came to love, or completely blew your mind or anything in between. It may be something that everyone else but you absolutely loathed, but I’m game to try it on. The only stipulation is that it can’t be in a language other than English because I really don’t have time to learn a new language at the moment".

so book one of the 12by12 was the great brain by john d. fitzgerald suggested to me by julie. she remembers reading the first in the series and not being able to wait to get to the next. i bought that as well.

john's the youngest child of three boys and the middle brother tom, aka the great brain, is a carpet bagger of a boy. he can con his way into and out of anything. each chapter is a new adventure where you get to meet the inhabitants of the town of adenville in utah. it has a tom sawyer/ huckleberry finn feeling to it - set in around the same time and what adventures the brothers have. what i found interesting was that fitzgerald didn't steer away from death or a child amputee, raised issues of religion and tolerance and bigotry. it was a light read but full of heart and fun.

giant vo-vo

vs

now whilst i was never a huge fan of the regular sized biscuit iced vo-vo, i'm definitely loving the giant cake i made this afternoon. i copied what i spied on a blog i follow raspberri cupcakes. instead of the cake recipe on the site, i used a highlight cake recipe that was my nan's and my mum passed down to me. damn tasty.

film adoration

i cannot gush enough about this film. not only did it look spectacular but i loved the story, the story was AWESOME. i haven't read the book, nor did i really know what the story was about besides there being a boy, a robot thingie and that's possibly about it. for a time i thought it might be animation, but no... it was just beautifully shot and told. and... and.. and the story was about an early film maker. how utterly charming. sigh...

i wish i had been alive at the beginning of film, or radio or television. there seemed to be dreamers and daredevils and people just living to make extraordinary things probable. thanks to mr selznick for writing the story, john logan the screenplay and mr scorsese for directing hugo. don't miss it.

it's time to play the music

a wander through city square on the way to starbucks. how cool are the trees that have been yarn bombed? i do love my city, have i said that before?

then down the road to melb central for the muppets. i liked it but i so wanted to love it. really wanted every frame to be about the love. but. yes, i know i've written a but, but there were long moments at the beginning of the film that just didn't work for me. okay, i'll confess it may have been the human elements of the film. i'm not used to it. muppets to me means muppets, and it seemed a little broken in places. i loved the muppet sequences and even the cameo human scenes but just not certain about the jason segel and amy adams bits. so for me this was around a four coloured rainbow and not the full seven, but still worth a watch.

watched the film and not read the book

i liked this... i wasn't sure what to expect besides sublime acting. the story had a slow build and really didn't get much faster, but the suspense was so intriguing and subtle. i was drawn into the world. very excellent indeed.  gary oldman was fabulous. i had the hots for him since watching dracula (yes i know, but it's still a favourite) and hunted out all his films - as i said, a fabulous actor.

home again home again

and there were books waiting for me.  can you see the pattern here??

i'm melting... melting...

for some reason we chose today to wander around the township. but it wasn't going to get any cooler so while i'm here i'd best see what i can.

this is the view of downtown alice from the top of anzac hill - we're looking directly south and the gap in the macdonnell ranges is standley chasm.

next on the agenda after a pitstop for a icy colourful drink was the telegraph station.... the station was built in 1872 as part of the overland telegraph line that would connect australia with england. a wonderful series on constructing australia was broadcast on the abc in 2007 recreating the building of the wire from adelaide through to darwin.

afternoon delight in alice springs

mum

mum's sisters, heather and christine

yah to being with my mum and family. it's been way too long. flew in this morning for a week of hanging out in celebration of my uncle's 60th later on in the week (i bought him the original stubby shorts that he's been wearing for the last 30 years).

39c today and i can see all week being in the early 40s, i'm prepared to move very slowly and stick to the shade (when i'm not in the pool).

oh, the littlies in the spa are alyssa and sam. happy holidaying me.

sunday walking

led me to this...

and this...

i liked this film - funny and sweet. just what i needed.

more of a want than a need

but it's a book and i'm me and it's chock full of crafty goodness. pip lincolne blogs over here and she's awesome too.

has a girlie crush

let me explain. i've loved neil gaiman's writing for a little while now and last month had the pleasure of seeing him and tom stoppard at the athenaeum (yah), but i've told you this.

anyway, neil led me to his wife, amanda palmer (who surprised all of us in the foyer of the athenaeum with a twinkle in her eyes and fingers on her ukulele). now this woman has been haunting me for the past couple of years. she seems to have a love affair with australia (don't blame her, awesome country i have here) and i had been seeing posters for her gigs all over the place and i never took the hint.

the universe must've taken a back hand at me to wake up... yes, it took me long enough. i am now enamoured with amanda palmer. she is witty and funny and compassionate and bloody insanely talented and i love the way she thinks. looking on, she just seems to live her life fully, completely whole-heartedly. how exciting to live a life like that. maybe that's what 2012 is all about, taking a leaf from her book??  maybe.

another eh!

i'm almost wondering why i bothered. to waste my time and money. it wasn't as if i needed to escape a hot day, nor that it's the only movie out there that i want to see at the moment.

yes, i was disappointed. i enjoyed the insanity of the first one, but this one... um... not so much. can't even blame it on the direction of guy ritchie - it seemed his usual fare, but even the story was lacking. and one would expect the camaraderie (and cuteness) of the lead actors to keep me entertained but no.  ho hum is all i have to say.

back to writing my own films then.

last day of christmas holidays

words were written and i'm on target for my filmvic submission in a week's time.  eek!

went along to melb central to watch war horse. and i have to say that for all it's prettiness it was ordinary. it pulled at the heart strings a little and the older gentleman sitting next to me sniffled and blew his nose through the credits but honestly, the story was weak. it was nearly 2 1/2 hours in length and a great way to get out of the terrible heat but did it warrant 146 minutes of screen time? another strike spielberg, sorry.

a view from an aiconditioned tram of a melbourne summer. love this city.

orange and poppy

not sure about this cake. i used a new bundt tin and a new recipe so the jury is still out. i ended up putting lemon icing on the orange cake and will take it along to work for my colleagues to devour tomorrow.

it ended up being a pretty good weekend. friday and saturday nights were spent with friends, old and new and they made me realise that the rut that i've got myself into i can just as easily get myself out of.  

wake up! 2012 is here.

the very least i'd like to achieve this year:

daily - words

weekly -  a film, dancing, baking

monthly - a garment, a book (to read, not write)

yearly - travel (domestic and international), a script, a book (this time to write)

and many other grand adventures will be had.
do something you've always wanted to this year.