Saturday, February 28

"Shadow Virgins"

Have you ever noticed, the most mesmerising of music performers are those who talk to and interact with their audience? This Thursday night just passed, I had no option but to swoon over the amazingly wonderful Lior as he drew in the audience with his beautiful melodies and an abundance of charisma!



It's funny that I even ended up as a member of the vast crowd that filled the Fly By Night Club in Fremantle on Thursday evening actually, because I hadn't even planned to be there until I received an unexpected phone call the previous afternoon. A friendly voice belonging to a young lady named Amaya called me on Wednesday telling me that I had won a double pass to the show, and would just need to rock up and state my name at the door to be on my way to Lior Heaven. So there you go. All those times of thinking it wasn't worth entering in those little competitions at the front of street magazines (i.e. Drum Media and Xpress), and yet there you have it. I finally won something!

One thing that I love about going to the gigs of singer/songwriters is that their support is often going to be of a similar nature to their own style, creating a window of opportunity to discover new Australian talent. Unfortunately I can't remember the names of the support acts of the night for the life of me! However, the following guy was amazing (pity about my timing!)...



... and the second act of the night (I think her name may have been Freya) got to perform "I'll Forget You", a duet originally recorded with Sia, with the man of the night himself! Her vocals are truly amazing.



One of the beautiful things about this particular tour of Lior's is that he has teamed up with shadow artists Stephen Mushin and Anna Parry, to create a fascinating animated backdrop, all created and performed by hand. You have to remind yourself of this, because it's truly incredble to think that somebody could perform it so smoothly, as well as creating the effect of objects floating off into the distance etc.



The shadow board also proved to come in handy for one particular gentleman that made sure he was apart of the audience that night. Once stepping onto the stage and announcing his nerves, the image on the backdrop changed and read the 4 little words that filled the room with love and even made me a little teary(!): "will you marry me?"
It was honestly one of the sweetest moments, especially when it was followed by Lior's "This Old Love" - we'll grow old together... and this old love will never die...

All in all, with Lior's amazing music, his sense of humour and stories, along with letting us participate in clapping and back-up vocals for 'Superficial', (and not to mention my great company for the night, many thanks to Chris for coming with me!), the night was absolutely awesome.

Friday, February 27

Remembering How To Play


My Favourite Childhood Toys
  • PJ Sparkles
  • Lego
  • Bundle Baby (Nursery Kids)
  • My Child - "Rosie"
  • Barbie and her caravan, ferrari, and even her cardboard house with a loveseat and all
  • Polly Pocket
  • our play kitchen
  • a giant and rather ugly baby doll that would make noises when you "fed" it with a bottle (aka sticking the bottle between its lips), or stuck the dummy in its mouth
  • Playground Kids
  • Gameboy Pocket
  • Super Nintendo - Super Mario 3!!

As you can tell, my nurturing girly side was overtaken with the nerdy and compulsive desire to enter a 2D virtual reality. Nice.

On another note, recalling all of these toys (that came before the uprise of Nintendo, etc.) makes me all too nostalgic of the times when you could call upon your imagination to entertain you for the day, and you barely needed to try very hard to do so. I so badly want that same kind of creativity back! If only children knew just how lucky they are.

Sunday, February 22

Weekends Past

Baseball finals, hotdogs, nachos, sisterly-bonding, long drives, life on the canals, boat trips, beer drinking, frangelico, cheese and wine, good company, brass band funk, my first cider, new friends, old friends, solitary runs, family walks, the waterside, wind, and learning to be




But alas, memories of the previous weekend spent in Mandurah are slowly fading, and this weekend is coming to an end; It's time to face uni life all over again

My summer break just died

Thursday, February 19

Pockets of Heaven


My Favourite Restaurants

You can see why I love these places by checking out these links!:

Little Creatures, Wagamama, Dome, The Moon, Cocos

Tuesday, February 17

Lost Time


(making up for last Thursday)

The People I Love The Most
  • Mum
  • Marissa
  • Natalie
  • Dad
  • Phoebe
  • Nonna & Nonno (RIP)

    Photobucket

Those that love you unconditionally are the most important people in the world

Tongue Twisters May Treasure These Tangy Treats


Baked today: Poppyseed and Lime Cupcakes with Lime Drizzle

P.S: Mum won't be pleased. There's 36 of these babies waiting to be devoured, and my darling mother only just started her "diet" yesterday... I'm so cruel

Saturday, February 7

"I've Never Missed A Stranger Before"


In memory of one tonka tough goldfish
You were an amazingly friendly fish little Angus
We'll miss you and the way you lit up our kitchen counter


For those that don't know, I received a goldfish from my university last semester as part of what was known to us as our "kit project". Each student in the unit 'Visual Praxis' was given a bucket full of bits and pieces to make art from, as well as inspire us. You can only imagine the commotion that came with discovering one of these "items" was a live goldfish!

I was almost certain that he was going to die the day I got him, the poor bugger. But alas, he survived for just about 5 months! And now his sadly drawn out death (it was over 2 days) will indeed continue to serve as inspiration.

It was funny what issues surfaced in the event of a goldfish dying. For one, my mother and I had opposing views concerning euthenasia for a fish - And it surely made me question my values. Would I feel the same about a human? Could I bare to let them suffer right through to the end? It's also troubling me a little that I'm not too upset by his death. Is it because I expected him to die sooner rather than later that whole time, or simply because I never bothered to give the fish a personality, like we tend to do for other pets such as cats and dogs?

So be the questions of life...

Thursday, February 5

Psst


Things Most People Probably Don't Know About Me

  • I was brought up to be a Catholic - baptised, holy-communion(ised), yet never quite confirmed
  • I can't swim
  • I don't have much of a right ear drum / am partially deaf in that ear
  • My childhood "thing" was taking modelling classes
  • The length of my fingers makes it impossible for me to click
  • I share my birthday with Emily Dickinson
  • I learnt guitar for 2 years, keyboard for over 1 year
  • I'm some kinds of artistic
  • I secretly enjoy baked beans

Monday, February 2

"All My Loving"

I'm well and truly intrigued by the butterfly effect: If the financial recession means less customers in the shops, thus less money for businesses to pay their employess with, and therefore less hours for me to work in the week - then so be it that I otherwise fill my time with baking and drawing! I'm not complaining.

The other day was my second attempt at making cheesecake cupcakes which, in my humble opinion, combines two of the greatest concepts in the world of baking. In both endevours I took my recipes from the amazing book '500 Cupcakes'. My first ever batch, all that time ago, worked out quite well. They were made in the Texas muffin tins (which make 6 large muffins) and simply had blueberries arranged on top. I thought I would be a little more adventurous with my second batch the other day, and go for a low-fat variety that had blueberries throughout the filling, as well as trying to make some sort of crumble to sprinkle over the top.



And yet I still don't feel like I've perfected the art of little cheesecakes! I'm thinking that it's not really worth the money spent on large amounts of ricotta to make the low fat variety - as they are a little plain, and the margarine used in the base makes them slightly too moist. While both versions are definitely decadent, they seem to lack a little something. A little something I must find.

It's possible that I've found the answer.



How sweet are these little raspberry cheesecakes? These come from the amazing book 'Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse' by Kaye Hansen & Liv Hansen, which is packed full of the most adventurous cupcake creations I have ever seen! Not to mention some fantastic tips. At first glance, you could be sure that you heard that little cupcake whisper "I love you"...
All too perfect for Valentines Day!

Aside from some rather pleasing aesthetics, the recipe - though in American conversions - looks promising. Unlike previous occassions, there is no ricotta (only cream-cheesey goodness/evilness), no icing sugar (just your average castor sugar), the use of flour (which I found unusual), as well and using the zest and juice of lemons. Lemon cheesecake is truly awesome, and this addition to the recipe would save me from listening to my mother's complaints that my cheesecakes need a flavour through them; "something like lemon".

And doesn't that raspberry sauce look divine? How to make that sauce:

In a food processor, combine and mix until pureed:
  • 1 six-ounce container fresh raspberries, gentle washed and picked over
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or Framboise liqueur

Strain into a bowl to remove the seeds. Set aside.

Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Meanwhile, I've seen heart shaped pans in Kmart for just over $8.00 for a pack of 4, or individual pans that have more shape (and possibly a longer lifespan) for $12.00 each at a specialty homewares store.

No matter what, such a sweet idea is bound to impress! So if you're a firm believer in reaching a person's heart through food, you can't go wrong with appropriately-shaped cheesecake.