What a wonderful world

A gorgeous video featuring footage from David Attenborough's documentaries, narrated by him singing "What a wonderful world". So gorgeous. Done by UK ad agency RKCR/Y&R.

See a large version and article here: http://www.businessinsider.com/david-attenborough-bbc-what-a-wonderful-world-2011-12

Or watch the YouTube video here:

This is a new day, this is a new day today.

A nice way to say "it's never too late".

"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.
The second best time is today".

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.davykestens.be/self-improvement/why-most-people-dream-and-only-some-do-the-go-getter-theory

Midnight in Paris

This is on my weekend to do list, without a doubt.

Words from the wise

"Be yourself. Everyone else is taken".

- Oscar Wilde

Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.

I admit, I was in tears when I saw those red carpet speeches in London for the premiere of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It's quite stunning the journey of the Harry Potter films and especially the 3 leads - Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, & Daniel Radcliffe. They've literally grown up in front of a world wide audience, and spent their childhoods together on the Harry Potter set.

Check out this footage of the last days of filming on the Harry Potter set. Tear.

And some bloopers from the last film:

September

I can't believe it's already September - this year has flown! September for me means I'm older - 24 which means next year is the big 25 but let's not talk about that. In this beautiful state of Queensland, September also means...SPRING! The flowers in my garden are blooming, I've stowed away my hot water bottle and heater, and best of all, been to the beach! I can't get enough of the beach when the weather is good, so I'm looking forward to many beach trips to come - there's nothing like driving up to Noosa in a bikini, my little Yaris playing summer tunes and packed with yummy food and beach towels. Brisbane City really excels at this time of year as well - Southbank is alive with people, everyone is in the parks on picnics, the river (which was formidable and entering our homes in January) is glittering. It's such a beautiful time of year. Here are some of my spring pics - so far.

Strawberry picking  with Mum & summery nails

Strawberry fields forever

Beautiful Bulimba

Dicky Beach - Fish and Chips

Real life - it takes two

I had to snap these adorable little twins on a walk their dad on the weekend. What a cute snapshot of family life.

You always hurt the ones you love

I saw this much discussed flick last weekend - it's really worth seeing! Quite intense because it's a confrontingly realistic portrayal of a relationship just gradually falling apart over time; without a big, dramatic cause.

"Blue Valentine is the story of love found and love lost told in past and present moments in time. Flooded with romantic memories of their courtship, Dean and Cindy use one night to try and save their failing marriage. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in this honest portrait of a relationship on the rocks."

And if I broke your heart last night

It's because I love you most.

Potter Party

Oh yes, I did. What better way to celebrate the final Harry Potter film than have a par-tay full of Potter-inspired delights!

On the menu were Fizzing Whizzbees, Puking Pastilles, Acid Pops, Chocolate Frogs, Liquorice Wands, Chocolate Cockroach Clusters, Cauldron Cakes, Hagrid-inspired "HP" cakes, Ton-tongue Toffees, Treacle Tart, Hogwarts Black Lake with Sour Grindylows (jelly with sour worms), Ravenclaw Risotto and last but CERTAINLY not least - BUTTERBEER!!!! We had the Philosopher's Stone soundtrack blasting in the house, and the room was lit by candles making for a very Hogwarts-esque atmosphere. If you're skeptically wondering how we could possibly pull off Butterbeer - I can assure you, we did. Here's our recipe:

Nervous anticipation - will this taste like crap?!

BUTTERBEER

Ingredients - 300ml Thickened cream, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence, 50g butter, Vanilla cream soda, Connoisseur  Vanilla ice cream.

Step 1: Make butterscotch sauce. Simply put the cream, vanilla essence, brown sugar, and butter in a saucepan and stir until it combines and has a nice thick saucey texture, and most importantly, that yummy butterscotch taste.

Step 2: Put cream soda in a saucepan over high heat; bring to the boil.

COMBINE! We had a play with the butterscotch sauce: cream soda ratios and put a dollop of the vanilla ice cream on top of each drink for extra froth.

It was PERFECT, if I do say so myself.

Victory!

Honeydukes Goody bag to-go

Waiting...with Acid Pops

Goodbye, Harry Potter

FINALLY.

7 books.

8 movies.

14 years.

I've changed a lot since I first met Harry Potter when I was 11 years old, at Primary School.

I've finished primary school, moved cities 4 times, including a stint in San Francisco, finished high school, finished Uni, travelled Europe, got my first real job, my first promotion, first pay rise, second promotion, second pay rise, fallen in love, fallen out of love, moved out of home, got my learner license, my driver's license, my drinking license...! One thing that hasn't changed is my love for the Harry Potter series.

It's been an adventure. It's been an escape. It's terrified, it's entertained, it's comforted. I have so many great memories thanks to the Harry Potter books: lining up outside book shops in the freezing cold, waiting for the latest embargo to lift; seeing the story brought to life in film for the first time when the Philosopher's Stone was released; playing Harry Potter board games with my sister and our friends; making mum stop the car in the middle of nowhere in rural Australia to locate the only bookstore within 100km in order to buy my sister and I a copy of Order of the Phoenix on release day; sitting on a park bench in a tiny country town reading the book aloud, initially to my sister, then to half the town who gathered around to hear the story; reading for a whole day and a half non-stop, finally reaching the end of the Deathly Hallows, my sister and I both in tears - "but we still have the movies," we said. Today the last film comes out, and I can't help but feel like something amazing and irreplaceable is coming, finally, to its end. It feels like the end of (a somewhat prolonged!) childhood.

I'm of course going to the midnight session, and giving Harry a worthy send off with a Hogwarts-style banquet before the film. I'm going with my sister and my best friend: the two people who convinced me to start reading "those silly kids books" to start with. I can't wait to be surrounded by all the other previously-11-year olds, now adults, all in costume, indulging one last time in the joy and excitement of a Harry Potter event. Harry Potter will surely go down in history as one of the great literary achievements of all time; what other book do you seeing being read on the train by three different generations of people? I can't wait to re-read the story in the future, and to one day share it with my own children. And I'm forever grateful to have been a part of generation-Harry.

Mischief Managed. 

"A common muggle" thanks JK Rowling for Harry Potter on the wall of an Edinburgh bathroom at "The Elephant Room" where JK Rowling spent time writing Harry Potter.

Winter Warmers - Cottage Pie

I am loving cooking at the moment, so this weekend I made a Cottage Pie, recipe from this month's Delicious magazine. It was BEAUTIFUL. Such nice wintery comfort food. I altered the recipe for the mash (which was meant to include horseradish, cheddar cheese, and mustard) to instead be much more fattening, with thickened cream, parmesean, and sooooo much butter. Yummy.

Before:



After:

Real life

On the bus

Healthy afternoon tea

NYC

Who hasn't dreamed of spending some time in New York, New York? All this Sex and the City has me just dying to go back. Last night I went out with an old friend who now lives in LA - and she was talking about how when she was in her early twenties she decided she wanted the "New York experience" - so, she sub-let a flat and lived there for two months...not a bad idea! Sounds extravagant but what a brilliant way to be a local...briefly? I am dreaming & scheming as we speak.

Sex AND the City: update

I thought I should let you know I'm progressing well with Sex in the City! But spending less time with Carrie and the girls lately. You know you're addicted when you think "damn, my social life is getting in the way of Sex in the City!" = Sad Puppy.

Latest and greatest quips & quotes:

Samantha: Maybe his dick bends to the right?
Carrie: So what if it does?! I'll go left!

Carrie narration: Miranda was furious. It was bad enough that she had lost a case: but now, she was being harrassed by a sandwich?!

Carrie (to Miranda): You're telling me you're turned on by a sandwich?!

Miranda: I can't have SEX with a sandwich!! Can I...?

Samantha: You tell em' Friar Fuck!

FAVOURITE:

Carrie: I used to buy Vogue instead of dinner...I just felt it fed me more.

(You have to love a girl who has the latest Vogue for dinner :))

Dancing Machine

I've never been a great dancer myself but I LOVE dance as an art form so it's no wonder I love MICHAEL!

This is one of the most creative and stunning MJ dance montages I've seen:

Popular

I saw this and had to post it. This little girl is amazingly talented and SO CUTE. She is actualy the cousin of a friend of mine. In the video below she's singing "Popular" from Wicked at age 8 - the next video is a more recent version. TALENT.

"Don't be offended by my frank analysis, just think of it as personality dialysis..!"

"Think of
Celebrated heads of state or
Specially great communicators
Did they have brains or knowledge?
Don't make me laugh!

They were popular! Please -
It's all about popular!"

We had him.

This Saturday 25 June is the 2 year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death. It still feels very sad for me and for millions of fans all over the world. You will hear about Michael this week on my blog, & see some cool rare shots of him, words from his friends, and videos about who he was really and that show his amazing ability as a performer as well as his personal life and humanitarianism efforts.

"We had him" by Maya Angelou

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.

In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.

Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.

Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and he survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.

His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.

And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square.

In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael.

But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

- "We had him" written by Maya Angelou, performed at Michael's memorial 2009 by Queen Latifah.

Gardens of Edinburgh

I took these photos last year while exploring beautiful Edinburgh. Definitely one of the prettiest places I've been.

Become Legendary. Or just, fit.

Like most people, especially women, in this world, I'm trying quite hard to be a gym junkie! I've never been athletic - I was the kid who got out of school sports events with all kinds of phony stunts and forged notes from "Mum". I rathered (and often did) spend my time in the library, or at the theatre, over running around on the school oval trying to compete at something I'm inherently horrible at - group sports. To me, Cross-Country or the swimming carnival were horrors to behold, probably because I was always coming last...

Since school however, I've actually kept much fitter than lots of the sporty kids from school (who tend to balloon once they get out into the world of drinking and partying at university, & those early morning training sessions & the burning desire for the "age champion" become hazy memories through a blur of never ending hangovers and late night McDonalds runs). I've had a gym membership ever since I left school (even in San Francisco where I became quite the porker regardless - all day at the gym wouldn't have burnt those California Calories). My favourite thing to do at the gym is group fitness, but I'm trying hard to get into running with the help of the new Nike APP (Nike + GPS) which is brilliant by-the-way. This is my weekly program at the moment:

Day 1: Body Step (1 hr)
Day 2: Body Step (1 hr)
Day 3: Half hour running (1/2 hour)
Day 4: Body Combat (1 hr)
Day 5: Body Pump (1 hr)
Day 6: N/A
Day 7: Body Pump OR Body Combat  (1 hr)

Before you think to yourself, "wow, what a legend," I'm not actually hitting this target as yet! I'm getting in about 3 of the classes and sometimes the run. So I need to pick up my act. I may have hated sports at school, but I think it had more to do with the peer pressure and competitiveness of it all. I love getting in a routine at the gym - there's nothing better than feeling fit and healthy.

What do you do each week for fitness?

Are you struggling? Here's a bit of run-spiration:

Of course, I prefer this version, speaking of inspiring individuals and shoes:

For cool recipes and tips check out Lee's great blog, "Fit Foodie Finds" - she is all about being fit and healthy, even on a college budget! It's a great blog, and I say it with love when I say trust an American to think putting peanut butter on everything is HEALTHY! But truely she has some great tips and recipes, her posts will motivate you.

Take a leap.

Sex AND the City

I was never a fan of Sex and the City until I saw movie 1 a couple of years ago. In fact, until LAST NIGHT I thought the show was called Sex IN the City. I'm still getting my head around this misunderstanding.

This last week or so I have been on a Sex and the City binge, and I've commited to watching the whole epic saga. Although it can be lame and the characters are self absorbed I must admit that I am loving the shallow humour and human truths of it all. It's really quite genuis, the whole premise, not to mention incredibly entertaining to watch. My favourite thing about SATC: Carrie's internal monologues. LOVE.

Here are some great quotes from my current season - 2:

• Carrie: "Miranda was a huge fan of the Yankees. I was a huge fan of being anywhere you could smoke and drink at two in the afternoon without judgment." - "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"
• Miranda: "How did it happen that four such smart women have nothing to talk about but boyfriends? It's like seventh grade with bank accounts." - "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"
• Miranda: "Whatever happened to aging gracefully?"
  Carrie: "It got old." - "The Freak Show"
• Carrie: "You've never seen an uncircumsized one?"
  Charlotte: "I'm from Connecticut!" - "Old Dogs, New Dicks"
• Carrie: "The gay straight man was a new strain of heterosexual male spawned in Manhattan as the result of overexposure to fashion, exotic cuisine, musical theatre and antique furniture." - "Evolution"
• Carrie: "Sports night: every female's fantasy. A room full of captive heterosexual men all looking to be distracted during commercial breaks." - "Games People Play"
• Samantha: "You're going to take the only person in your life that's there purely for sex, no strings attached and turn him into a human being? Why?" - "The F--- Buddy"
• Samantha: "Here's what I think. Round up all the divorced men and keep them in a pound. That way, you get their whole history before you take one home." - "Shortcomings"
• Carrie: "The Hampton's Jitney is just like the bus to summer camp. Only instead of singing songs, everyone ignores each other and talks on their cell phones." - "Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women"

Carrie's quotes to live by on shopping, fashion and shoes:

He does nothin', the boy does nothin': domestic Gods.

Oh but these boys do. This made me smile. Chances are you thought you'd never see Michael Jackson scrubbing a saucepan, or Paul McCartney swinging off the end of a tea towel, for that matter - you were wrong.
 Enjoy.

Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney - washin' up.

Off the beaten track

I've been into escaping the city at weekends lately and thought I'd share some piccies of my little adventures.

I went on my first trip since childhood to Bribie Island..

Where the mummy and I feasted on Oysters, bread, cheese and wine at Blue Anchorage - BEFORE midday..

We also stopped in at a very cute little local market. This was nothing like the expensive trendy markets in Brissy - this was little old ladies selling pottery and jam, and men selling carved wood. I bought some tomato chutney and a block of wood which I'm going to make my new cheese platter. The mummy bought us both some gorgeous knitted socks!

The best thing about the market was NOBBY. Nobby was a 90 year old man who had a little stall set up of really old fashioned kids toys; hand made little wooden trucks, and aeroplane murals, all made by him and brightly painted. He was surrounded by kids, fascinated by the gorgeous little toys. It was cool to see kids fascinated by handmade wooden toys, not glued to iPads and gameboys. The best thing - Noddy didn't sell any of them he GAVE THEM AWAY to any child who wanted one. He had a little sign "If you can't afford to buy a gift, visit Nobby for a free gift". **BLESS**. I asked how he funded the toy making, and he said he buys the supplies with his pension money. Then he gave me a cute aeroplane mural and refused to take $5 for it.

I've also been to Toowoomba to visit the family - my sister & her BF have bought a house there, and their neighbour kindly gave us some oranges straight off their tree!

I took little Lily for a walk around Toowoomba and couldn't get over how pretty and autumy it was! Also, the people are so friendly. Unlike in the city where people mainly keep to themselves, everyone I passed said "hello" "good morning" "how are you going" or stopped to admire Lily. Friendliness...ahh

Someone was thoroughly exhausted after all of this excitement...