If there is a heaven, everyone will feel as though...

they are at a concert. The other night I went to see Imagine Dragons at the Palace with a very dear friend of mine. This is a bit stupid and sentimental to admit I guess, but every time I go to a concert I always return a little sadder - not because I didn't have a great time (THEY WERE FRAKKAN AWESOME!! I WANTED TO JUMP ONTO THE STAGE AND THEN HUG THEM ALL FOR BEING SO FRAKKAN AWESOME, AND THEN RUN AWAY BACK INTO THE CROWD) it's just that seeing people - strangers - enjoying something together and sharing in the atmosphere, so full of excitement and happiness...well I dunno...I wish life always felt like that I guess.

But enough of my sentimetal blabbing...Here are some pictures...we had a really good view from the balcony :D

and a video...which has for some reason, turned sideways...kind of ruins the effect...the concert was not sideways  

so it's been a while...

Hello again Dear Little Blog...It has been quite a while since I've posted here...I have no excuses...only that life gets in the way I guess...
Anyway, the last few months have been speeding by. Between volunteering at the Melbourne Writers Festival, keeping up with homework, and half starting all the other plans that dance in the back of my mind, I have been busy. But I'm happy to say that I still managed to find some time to clear that epic patch of weeds in the back yard and make way for some vegetable patches. Here is my handiwork so far...

Nasturtium et future lettuce

this patch is gonna be for silverbeet et lettuce (note the weeds taking over the background...just you wait weeds...just you wait...)

Future Flower Barrel being eaten from the bottom up by spinach

They have been living inside the laundry...this is what you would see if you were a nosy hobbit peering in...

apple tree, fig tree and basil 

peppermint :) 

Basil, with little basil seedies catching up:

sunflower in its own greenhouse

It's really nice to be able to potter about for twenty minutes or so whenever I get home from work/uni, watering plants and making sure nobody has died. Last year I gave them all people names (the capsicums were all Giovanni) but this year I've planted so many different things that I'm gonna forget what they are if I do this...I will of course, give them people names as soon as they have all grown enough to be distinguishable from one another.

If anybody has any gardening tips or stories, I'd love to hear them, I'm still learning a lot about plants, just by mucking around in the garden mostly...Hope all you other gardeners are enjoying the sunny weather!

fragment...

'There is no antidote, he writes, against the opium of time. The winter sun shows how soon the light fades from the ash, how soon night enfolds us. Hour upon hour is added to the sum. Time itself grows old. Pyramids, arches and obelisks are melting pillars of snow. Not even those who have found a place amidst the heavenly constellations have perpetuated their names: Nimrod is lost in Orion, and Osiris in the Dog Star. Indeed, old families last not three oaks. To set one's name to a work gives no one a title to be remembered, for who knows how many of the best men have gone without a trace? The iniquity of oblivion blindly scatters her poppyseed and when wretchedness falls upon us one summer's day like snow, all we wish for is to be forgotten.'

~ p.24 The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

Mario et Luigi

Talking to Nonna, and I just found out that out of Nonno's seven brothers, one was called Mario and another was called Luigi.
I have no words to say how cool this is :)

Making the room a nice place again...

So I moved back into my old room and decided that it needed a change. Here is how it looks at the moment. I must say, it is nice to have some books out, they have been living haphazardly in strange piles hidden away inside various cupboards for the last few years...

When Homework Becomes Tedious...

MAKE CIDER!!! 

Advisory: do not try this alone. It will take you about a hundred years to peel the apples. But if you do it with your favourite people (I did :) look see: http://paper-lantern-caught.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/home-made-cider.html) peeling apples is great fun.

1924's Peter Pan

Peter Pan is one of my favourite things - E-V-E-R-
And so I wanted to share how Excellent Nana is in this video ;)
Also, their costumes are so beautiful, really takes you to another time 

CLICK HERE FOR MAGIC LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8njtIAQsqs

Peter Pan Bread

Came across this on ebay, and thought it worth sharing. 

I'm still not quite clear on what it actually is though :/

Patrick Dougherty

Whist doing some research for a uni project last semester, I stumbled upon the artist Patrick Dougherty, and then a few months later was lucky enough to see one of his exhibits in Melbourne (I thought it was pretty cool timing, since I had just found about him not long before :) 

When I saw the sculpture of his in Federation Square (pictures above - also, they're not my photos, so apologies to whoever I stole it from on google! ) it really struck me how there seemed to be two different worlds inhabiting the same space: on the one hand, cars, trams, and people rushing by in the city, and on the other hand, this serene little forest hut offering an inviting little sanctuary from the city. And to be able to create a piece of art that does this, and place it right in the middle of the city itself; well, that is both a great achievement and a valuable contribution by my reckoning.

Anyway, here are some more of his images from the internet, and here a link to his website, http://www.stickwork.net/

Enjoy!

Come into the forest! Come walk with the trees!

The one in the middle almost looks like it has a face :) 

Memento Mori

The Sublime Tourist

 

Just listening to a lecture for Gothic Literature, apparently in the 18th and early 19th centuries there was a trend of going to places like Switzerland in pursuit of 'the sublime' - that transportative feeling that accompanies great scenes of nature and wonder. This ^^ picture was from the lecture, but here are some more I found online.. 

from the Tate Gallery website ^^

Caspar David Frierich ^^

There are heaps more, but if I stay in front of it any longer I'll never leave the computer screen and my face will probably melt :/

Fleet Foxes - The Shrine/An Argument

If you havn't already, I recommend you watch Fleet Foxes' video for 'The Shrine/An Argument'.

It is a really beautiful song, and the animation video clip is like something out of a long-lost world. Here is the link on youtube, and below are some screen shots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yAxIdkF2Qo

It makes me wish I made my own animations. But alas - apart from one video made in a year eight computer class where a hot air balloon falls to the ocean floor and all the passengers get eaten by a giant fish - my experience is very limited on this front...