This is a real photo that I took last year driving past Jan Juc one day. It was something that I saw that it was too iresistable not to get out of the car to take it.
Thought I would complement the photo with a gorgeous poem...
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Why on earth did they choose Lionel Ritchie to sing at the second Grand Final on Saturday?
I can imagine a group of old AFL directors sitting around together talking about their CD collection and choosing Lionel Ritchie from that!
Had a bit of blonde moment and thought that Lionel Ritchie was the guy who sings Sexual Healing but google imformed me that was actually Marvin Gaye.
There are more people who are a little miffed by it than me, this is an excerpt from a HeraldSun.com.au article:
It seems there are plenty of people out there who think the commodore of croon is not the one we're looking for when it comes to our AFL grand final entertainment.
''I'm pretty surprised they didn't go for an Australian act,'' said Nick O'Byrne, general manager of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association. ''There's an opportunity to get so many great local bands, and in the midst of (the city council's) Melbourne Music festival, and the day after the AIR awards, which are real celebrations of local music, it's a bit laughable really.''
Who would you like to see play at the Grand Final?
Personally I think it should be someone Australian too, these would be my personal picks if I had to choose quickly!
1. Zoe Badwi - she is cool, fun, full of energy and great dress!
2. Sia Furler - she is an amazing singer with a great vibe about her. I liked her better though when she didn't have a fringe.
3. Michael Paynter - he is a pretty good new singer. Needs to tone it down on the facial hear though!
4. The Temper Trap - hard to go past these guys! And their music has some help from AFL who used their music in their promotional adds.
This is Tasha, a crazy young 2.5 year old Labrador cross German Short Haired Pointer.
She will be sharing some of her dog wisdom on this blog occasionally.
This is her wisdom for today -
"This is an apology to Tammy, I am very sorry for going through the bin in your bedroom, destroying your favourite teddy bear, Frank and putting mess all over the floor. It's just that I wanted to finish off the straz sandwhich you had chucked in there. I'm just a miu miu. Think I'll go back to learning Chinese instead of singing lessons."
A friend of mine recently broke up with her boyfriend. Such an experience has it's moments of extreme sadness for anyone. I think that this song is an ideal song to send to a girl friend who is in a similar position to cheer them up - just read the lyrics below. Hope the person who knows this is aimed at them feels better soon.
Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong
You're enchained by your own sorrow
In your eyes there is no hope for tomorrow
How I hate to see you like this
There is no way you can deny it
I can see that you're oh so sad, so quiet
Chiquitita, tell me the truth
I'm a shoulder you can cry on
Your best friend, I'm the one you must rely on
You were always sure of yourself
Now I see you've broken a feather
I hope we can patch it up together
Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
So the walls came tumbling down
And your love's a blown out candle
All is gone and it seems too hard to handle
Chiquitita, tell me the truth
There is no way you can deny it
I see that you're oh so sad, so quiet
Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Channel 10's latest new Australian comedy drama show, Offspring is fabulous!
If you have not seen it, the basic explanation for it would be it centers around Nina Proudman who is an obsetrican in Melbourne who is surrounded by a crazy, energetic and eccentric family. She is in her early 30s and had divorced earlier a crazy husband who had an obsession with blowing up every thing.
Much of the story line centers around her flirting and obsessing over the gorgeous doctor, Chris Havel.
The show very much speaks to women (although I do believe many men have a secret sneak peek at it and know what is going on!). Nina's has these panic stricken, crazy moments (as females do where we think everything is worse than what it is!) where her voice over is very easy for women to relate to.
The show had many over dramatic moments but it keeps you entertained and keeps you shocked!
Ok, I am not a football fan and this is definetly not a football/sport blog. But while I am doing a bit of posting on the now ex Geelong cats player Gary Ablett Jr, thought I would continue with a bit of banter on the topic. Last night at 1.11am I was taking a quick look at HeraldSun.com.au - and found that 7 out of the 10 of the most popular articles had something to do with the Geelong Cats issues with Gary Ablett Jr or Mark Thompson. Are Herald Sun readers obsessed with the controversy? Hmmm.....yes!
It looks as if Lauren Phillips might be staying in Melbourne according to the HeraldSun.com.au - Below is the article taken from the HeraldSun.com.au (thank-you) - which basically indicated she is staying in Melbourne and will have to become a local holiday maker on the Gold Coast but that shouldn't be a problem as her boyfriend should have some extra gold to pay for her flights and she will be wracking up the frequent flyer points. I hope she has her Every Day Rewards card from Woolworths that allows you to get Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
Interesting that money was part of the decision for Gary Ablett Jr to go to the Gold Coast...as he is already quite a savvy property investor.
LAUREN Phillips says superstar boyfriend Gary Ablett's decision to quit the Cats has been "hugely overwhelming" - but when and if she joins him on the Gold Coast remains a mystery. Fresh from holidays together in the Whitsundays, Phillips watched on as Ablett finally revealed the AFL's worst-kept secret. Despite her smile, the 23-year-old admitted the events had been emotionally taxing. "I think it's overwhelming for everyone who's involved," Phillips said. "It's very exciting for Gary in his career, and it's the next chapter in his book." To what extent Phillips will share Ablett's life in Queensland remains unclear. The TV presenter, Myer ambassador and university student told the Herald Sun last week she would remain based in Melbourne whatever her famous boyfriend decided, saying they were "not living together or out of each other's back pockets". But perhaps a clue was in a Twitter message she posted yesterday: "Back in Melbourne town ... Bloody freezing!"
He is the man with the cheeky chops smile but as most of you would be aware, Sir Richard Branson is a highly successful and flamboyant British entrepeneur who has built his Virgin empire to include over 360 different companies.
I really admire the way he does business, he doesn't believe in doing things into the traditional business sense that they teach at universities, he believes a lot of that is rubbish, he believes in people having fun and enjoying themselves in their work - when he first started out people used to get offered almost double their pay to work for other companies but they refused because they just felt so good and fulfilled working for Richard Branson.
Now I won't go into his extensive background and biography, if you want to take a further interest you can view that here and view his own blog or this article is fabulous too. But I would like to inspire you with a few fabulous quotes by him:
Right now I'm just delighted to be alive and to have had a nice long bath.
I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn't really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur in order to keep my magazine going.
A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.
I have always lived my life by thriving on opportunity and adventure. Some of the best ideas come out of the blue, and you have to keep an open mind to see their virtue.
Fantasizing about the future is one of my favourite pastimes.
Well, I'm somebody who is just living...living life, and if I get frustrated by something, then I like to try to put it right
Business opportunities are like buses, there`s always another one coming.
Ridiculous yachts and private planes and big limousines won't make people enjoy life more, and it sends out terrible messages to the people who work for them. It would be so much better if that money was spent in Africa - and it's about getting a balance.
In April this year, I went to Vietnam for a year. It is always fun to take photos of little kids and show them it with my camera - they love it and get all excited about it. Thought I would share some of these photos of the extremely cute little kids that I took some photos of. Most are in Hoi An.
Just a little post to say Goodbye to Gary Ablett Jr. He is going from SURF coast to the GOLD coast - literally the GOLD coast for him because he will be getting more gold coins to go up there.
Honestly, I don't really care about football.
But two years ago I remember watching the Brownlow Medal on television and feeling very sorry for the sadness in Gary Ablett Jr's eyes when he didn't win and this was all at about 11:30pm. The next day I had to drive to 1.5 hours to Torquay from Melbourne early in the morning. Around 11am I decided to go get some lunch from the Safeway and quickly rushed in. As I was going into the line, without looking, I intercepted with some rowdy boys and then one was kind of enough to know the rule of ladies first and let me go in front.
Next thing I turn around with a puppy dog like expression of tilting my head and asked the guy-
"Do you play football?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Are you Gary Ablett?"
"Junior - yes," he answered
"Oh my! I can't believe it, I saw you on the TV night, what are you doing here?" I responded shocked!
"Yeah I drove down this morning," he replied.
"Hmmmmmm aren't you supposed to be really hungover?" I asked a little puzzled.
"Nahhhh, I've got a Grand Final to play on Saturday!" Lovely GA replied.
"Oh, that's right..." - and I felt a little silly and out of the loop there.
So that was my funny moment with Gary Ablett Junior. But ever since then I have been a fan. He had an amazing energy about him and has a certain attractiveness about his demeanour. He also comes across very humble and shy but with a bit of a cheeky edge.
May he go very well up on the Gold Coast and write some of his own history as the first and greatest at his new football club.
But my one question is - what is Lauren going to do?
So little Gary wants to swap this (the Surf Coast) beautiful, uncrowded, pristine beaches in Torquay...
This is Jasmine, she is 17 and very excited about finishing year 12 soon.
Anyway as a side hobby, I do tutoring and Jasmine has been one of my students this year for English which she has improved dramatically with. She is fun loving, happy and friendly - also an aspiring model. A few weeks ago we had a photo shoot to add to Jasmine's modelling portfolio at Jan Juc beach. The photos turned out beautifully so I thought it would be good to show them off on this blog as she could be a famous model one day soon!
This is only part 1 of the photos, she had a number of different looks. The photos looks like a gorgeous beach day, however, Jasmine was hoping around the beach as the water was very cold. Best of luck for your year 12 exams Jasmine!
It's a long story how it came about but last year in July I had the pleasure of having dinner and breakfast with Ben Cousins and a few others. I was working as a journalist/photographer for a community newspaper at the time and luckily got to take a few snaps of him. At the time, I didn't know what to say to him as what do you say to someone who has done so much and had so many extreme experiences? But he wasn't rude, he was just like any other normal guy having dinner at a table and making general conversation. But gosh! when he flashes his smile that is full of energy, it is easy to see that cheeky little boy streak inside of him.
And what did we think of his recent documentary?
Personally I thought it was very brave and vulnerable of him to show some of the extreme footage. His dad was also very impressive how he was supportive and placid the whole time with him. He treaded very carefully and never had a big blow up with him, perhaps it is a testament to his father how Ben has now been able to turn his life around.
Here are a few of my own photos that have been sitting in my pictures folder on my computer of him - can anyone guess what beach it is in the background?
I remember at uni a lecturer saying that all adds are just selling magic. Well I wish the magic of this advertisement would happen for real - it is fabulous! Take out 1 minute to watch it. They actually put the real playground in Sydney and let people run loose on it! Now only if they would do this in Melbourne or Geelong! McDonalds have decribed the ad as “biggest brand TV commercial in Australia to date”. Tell me what you think?
Cheeky Lauren Phillips did a fabulous prank call to her boyfriend, Gary Ablett Jr last week after, the night after the Brownlow Medal when the cute little man was very hungover in the early hours of the morning. As you will hear, when he answers the phone he is woken up and sounds all tired - so cute!
Equally cheeky little Gary tells a lot of porky pies in it such as not following football!!? which makes it all the more amusing!
Have a listen and enjoy.
Also what do we think of her dress at the Brownlow? I thought it was gorgeous but a fraction boring. The Bulgari necklace is gorgeous -but is it really worth the $170,000 price tag?
Nevertheless, I must say I have always been in awe and envy of Lauren and Gary, they are a bit of a young power couple, they go to all the good events but at the same time are both 'kicking their own goals'.
THANK-YOU THANK-YOU THANK-YOU ok, what am I going on about? I'd like to thank my friend Steph of this marvellous blog, for sending me this email this morning with all these funny photos in it. Made me laugh and was just what I needed to brighten the day. I've chosen a few of my favourites and put them below. Hope you enjoy them.
Having not seen the first film, Wall Street that was made in 1987 (word is, it inspired many people to become stock brokers) - I went to see the 23 years later sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps last night.
The trailer is below but in my opinion, it doesn't seem to capture the feel of the movie very well - it only gives you an idea of what the film is about and where it is set. The full story line is a little bit too long and complex for me to explain on here but if you would really like to know you can read about it here.
Personally I could not understand all the technical stockbroker talk in the film, yet the film was very well written, entertaining and had some fabulous lines in it. It is also very slickly made with plenty of fantastic shots of New York and the characters seem to live and work around beautiful furniture.
Michael Douglas is amazing in the character of Gordon Gekko. An ex conman / business man who gets out of jail and basically treads an interesting path in the film to become a ridiculous weathly businessman again. He is charasmatic, complex and intriguing. There is a fantastic scene at the beginning of the film where he gets out of jail and is handed one of those, huge old brick mobile phones.
It is one of those films I would have loved to have studied at university, as the filmmaker Oliver Stone, has definitely put a lot of symbolism and meaning behind the film. There seems to be a lot of parallels between the film and financial crisis - particularly at it's very worst point last year. As I watched the high pressure scenes with businesses and stockbrokers facing large decisions, I was thinking that must have been the atmosphere for many people in simlar jobs when things were getting into sticky stituations last year.The film also touches upon the issues of greed and speculation - both things that cause many problems in the world.
There are, however, some fantastic quotes in the movie by Gordon Gekko:
It's not about the money - It's about the game.
Someone reminded me I once said "Greed is good". Now it seems it's legal. Because everyone is drinking the same Kool Aid.
The one thing I learned in jail is that money is not the prime asset in life. Time is
How about you stop telling lies about me and I will stop telling the truth about you
The government is like an ex wife. You give them half and they still want more
Have you seen the movie? Do you want to see it? What do you think?
It has come to my attention a bit of a similarity going on between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Chris Lily's character of Mr. G. Now I am not trying to have a political jab at anyone, I quite like Julia Gillard but after re watching the Mr. G clip on the blog here, it was suggested to me that I should do a post comparing Mr. G to Julia Gillard.
Here are the top 5 similarites between them (feel free to suggest your own):
1. Both have spiffy hairdo's
2. Their surnames both start with G
3. Both love a bit of drama
4. They are both, as Mr. G likes to describe himself, "bi-talented" - Mr. G is a performer and teacher whereas Julia Gillard is a politican and full qualified lawyer
5. They both have a lovely, similar tone to their Australian accents
She's had a lot of practice with all her on screen weddings, so it is no surprise that Kate Ritchie is looking glamorous and divine for her own wedding.
I think this photo is stunning, she looks very loving, he looks a bit plain but still nice and he doesn't bother the photo. They look very much in sync with one another. Excellent release of a wedding photo.
Today was an absolutely beautiful, t-shirt weather. I headed down to the iconic Bells Beach, home of the Rip Curl Curl and one of Australia's best surf breaks to take a few photos. Out of them all, the below four were my favourites.
What are your thoughts on this being Rupert Murdoch's favourite song? He is one of the most powerful people in the world. He also own a huge, highly expensive apartment in New York. Have a listen and read the lyrics below and if you feel like it, tell me what you think....
Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today
I want to be a part of it - new york, new york
These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it - new york,
new york
I wanna wake up in a city, that doesn’t sleep
And find I’m king of the hill - top of the heap
These little town blues, are melting away
I’ll make a brand new start of it - in old new
york
If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere
It’s up to you - new york, new york
New york, new york
I want to wake up in a city, that never sleeps
And find I’m a number one top of the list, king
of the hill
A number one
These little town blues, are melting away
I’m gonna make a brand new start of it - in old
new york
And if I can make it there, I’m gonna make it
anywhere
I am honestly not much of a cook at all - when it comes to cooking I feel like the child in class who is always behind and who just can't seem to grasp anything.
Yet a recipe that I can recommend that is easy, fast and hard to stuff up is this Easy Frittata with thanks to the Herald Sun. You can find the official link to it here. I have cooked this more than three times and must say it is healthy and you can vary the ingredients quite easily without it turning out like dog food.
VEGETABLE, RICOTTA AND BASIL FRITTATA
Serves 4
Ingredients
50g zucchini (diced)
50g butternut pumpkin (diced)
50g button mushrooms (halved)
50g potato (diced)
Half an onion (diced)
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 bunch rocket leaves
25g ricotta cheese
10 leaves of basil
5 whole eggs
50ml milk
Salt to taste
Roughly dice all vegetables and saute in a frying pan until tender. Place in an oven-proof baking dish. Sprinkle broken pieces of ricotta, cherry tomatoes, rocket and basil leaves over the top. Mix together eggs and milk, season, then pour over the vegetables and mix through.
Bake at 180C for 30 minutes. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then serve.
This is Tasha, a crazy young 2.5 year old Labrador cross German Short Haired Pointer.
She will be sharing some of her dog wisdom on this blog occasionally.
This is her wisdom for today -
"I am always watching you especially when I squint my eyes. Give me lots of toys or I bark at 3am for no good reason by my crying heart for no toys. Don't laugh at me in my winter coat, it makes me feel more human being than indoor cat."
