Monday 16 November 2009

To the Love you find in Hell

The title is a quote from a wonderful quirky Australian Movie from the late 90's "Siam Sunset"

I have a soft spot for this Movie as it was filmed in my home State of South Australia and it reminded me of my first ever Holiday to the Outback in the late 70's I'm sure they even used the same Bus :) because every time we went over a bump my seat flew backwards, and the Trip was done on a shoestring Budget but we eventually got to our wonderful destination of Arkaroola and it stays with me till this Day.


Friday 13 November 2009

Blast from the Past

here is a clip by an Iconic Adelaide Band of the very early 70's Fraternity the lead singer is the late Bon Scott of AC/DC fame.






Fraternity (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Fraternity were an Australian rock band active in the early 1970s. They are notable mainly for their lead vocalist Bon Scott who was later to join AC/DC; and Jimmy Barnes, Scott's replacement, who went on to join Cold Chisel and have a very successful solo career.
Fraternity were formed in Adelaide,South Australia in 1970 by some members of the recently-split Levi Smith Clefs. They were without a regular vocalist until Fraternity's bass player Bruce Howe decided to call upon Bon Scott, whose group The Valentines had just disbanded. New Zealand musician John Bissett played keyboards in this early line up.
Fraternity released two albums and a few singles, which enjoyed moderate success in their native Australia. However, an attempt to find success in the UK was not fruitful and in early 1973 the band changed its name to Fang. By mid-1973 the group had stalled and gradually disintegrated, and the members returned to Australia. Some members formed the loosely-knit Mount Lofty Rangers with whom Bon Scott recorded a couple of songs before being seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in early 1974. When he had recovered, Scott joined AC/DC and Fraternity later reformed with a different line-up and continued until about 1975. By late 1975 Fraternity had been renamed Some Dream. In 1978, it was renamed Mickey Finn, which comprised Bruce Howe, Uncle John Eyers, Mauri Berg and Joff Bateman. By 1980, John Freeman had rejoined and a second guitarist, Stan Koritini, had been added and this lineup cut a self-titled album for the Eureka label. Mickey Finn released two Singles in 1980 and 1981 before fading from the scene.

Friday 23 October 2009

Tribute to Don Lane

Goodbye to a wonderful showman Don Lane who passed away aged 75, he was part of my Teens I remember fondly watching his TV show with my late Mum. Even though he was the Lanky Yank he will forever be part of Australia's Television Legacy.

Thursday 22 October 2009

Edgar Allan Poe free Audio



Audiofile are offering a free Download of Edgar Allan Poe Stories to their Customers from Naxos Books until 31st October. The link is
http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/epicks/1009_landingpage.html

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Friday 2 October 2009

80's Music Clip of the Week

This weeks Clip is by Tenpole Tudor Enjoy


Saturday 26 September 2009

Perfect Present for Old Punks




Came across this wonderful Wall covering on the Switched on Set Blog just Perfect for all the old Sex Pistols Fans , I still have a pretty much thread bare Sex Pistols T Shirt so this struck a chord with me , no surprise in the fact that it is designed by Vivienne Westwood for Cole & Son. Now all I have to do is to talk my Aussie other half into letting me get one. :)

Friday 25 September 2009

Love This Style


I was wandering through the fashion Blogs today when I came across this Photo I absolutely love it it is Chic, it is Comfy and best of all it is suitable for us Baby Boomers , very Simple and Elegant

Photo from http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

Wednesday 23 September 2009

80's Music Clip of the Week

Having lived through the wonderful Gaudy Fashions and Music Clips of the 80's I would like to share some of the Music from this fun filled Era, its embarrassing but I have Albums of the Music that will be featured enjoy.

No.1 we'll start off with Time Bandits - I'm Only Shooting Love

Tuesday 22 September 2009

Blog of the week


I would like to share some wonderful blogs that I have come across most are by accident from links on other Blogs so I would like to thank those Bloggers for sharing.

The first I would like to share is Gary Heller Photograph

http://www.garyhellerphotograph.blogspot.com

There are some wonderfully evocative Photo's of old Barns, Window Frames and Birds all conveying to me a fragile feeling of isolation they are just beautiful.

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Tuesday 15 September 2009

Booker Prize 2009

Article from the scotsman.com

Booker Prize: Historical novel favourite to win book award

A HISTORICAL novel about Henry VIII's adviser, Thomas Cromwell, leads the shortlist for this year's Man Booker Prize, which was announced today.
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel, which tells the story of Cromwell's rise to prominence in the Tudor court, is the bookmakers' favourite to win the prestigious award.

South African author JM Coetzee also made the shortlist with his fictionalised memoir Summertime, putting him in line for what would be an unprecedented third Booker.

Sarah Waters will be hoping to make it third time lucky with her novel The Little Stranger – she has been shortlisted twice before without winning.

There was no place on the shortlist for Irish author Colm Toibin, who has also twice made the shortlist without success.

The Man Booker Prize is worth £50,000 to the winner, but inevitably leads to a huge jump in sales, as well as international acclaim.

Last year's prize went to Aravind Adiga for The White Tiger, which has sold more than half a million copies and been translated into 30 different languages.

Completing the shortlist of books that will compete for this year's prize are Simon Mawer's The Glass Room, Adam Foulds' The Quickening Maze and AS Byatt's The Children's Book.

Now in its 41st year, the prize recognises the best new fiction in English, and any writer from the UK, Ireland and the Commonwealth is eligible.

A total of 132 books were considered for this year's long list of 13, announced on July 28 and after three hours of intense discussion, the panel of judges whittled the list down to the six titles named today.

James Naughtie, the chair of judges, said the six shortlisted authors were all writers at the peak of their powers.

"We feel it's a really strong shortlist," he said.

"We had quite a tough time because it was such a good long list. It was a tough time, without blood but with tears, because we had to say goodbye to some of the books.

"They are all very, very, good books that entranced us in different ways."

He added that the judges had not yet given thought to who might win the prize and said choosing one would be an enormous challenge.

Coetzee won the Booker in 1999 with Disgrace and in 1983 with Life & Times Of Michael K, and Summertime completes the trilogy of fictionalised memoir begun with Boyhood And Youth.

Naughtie defended the memoir's inclusion in the list, saying the book used "all the tools of fiction" to tell its story and was certainly not an autobiography in the conventional sense.

The book recounts a young English biographer's attempt to write the life story of a dead South African author, John Coetzee, through interviews with people who knew him.

One of the judges, Michael Prodger, the literary editor of The Sunday Telegraph, said, as an account of his character, Coetzee's book was both "unbelievably self-flagellating", creating a picture of a heartless and unpleasant man, and beautifully written.

"We all came away from this book wishing we could write like JM Coetzee but profoundly glad we were not JM Coetzee," Prodger said.

Byatt is the only other former Booker winner on the shortlist – her novel Possession won in 1990 – and, at 34, Foulds is the youngest author on this year's list.

His book is set in a lunatic asylum in the mid-19th century and tells the story of a meeting between the great nature poet John Clare, who is incarcerated, and the young Alfred (later Lord) Tennyson.

Naughtie and Prodger are joined on the judging panel by the comedian, writer and broadcaster Sue Perkins, the writer and critic Lucasta Miller and the academic Professor John Mullan.

The winner will be announced on October 6 at London's Guildhall.


The 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction shortlist:

AS Byatt – The Children's Book
JM Coetzee – Summertime
Adam Foulds – The Quickening Maze
Sarah Hall – How to Paint a Dead Man
Samantha Harvey – The Wilderness
James Lever – Me Cheeta
Hilary Mantel – Wolf Hall
Simon Mawer – The Glass Room
Ed O'Loughlin – Not Untrue & Not Unkind
James Scudamore – Heliopolis
Colm Toibin – Brooklyn
William Trevor – Love and Summer
Sarah Waters – The Little Stranger

Page 1 of 1
Last Updated: 08 September 2009 2:14 PM
Source: scotsman.com
Location: Scotland
Related Topics: Booker Prize



Booker Prize 2009 - AbeBooks

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Wednesday 9 September 2009

Lovely Surprise

I was doing a bit of Family Research today when I came across a blog called "Strangers in a Box" it is is written by a Lady in New Zealand who Picks up Old Photo's and tries to find their Family with the little details she has it's like a good old Mystery Hunt, anyway I was searching for a Relative when I came across a Photo of my Great Grandmother's Brother Jack found in a Shop in New Zealand how exciting I wonder how he ended up there and who was the Person that he had sent the Photo to.

here is a Link and who knows maybe someone else will find a long lost Relative

http://bygonedaysphotography.blogspot.com/2009/06/john-jack-william-allman-1895.html


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Monday 31 August 2009

New Kerry Greenwood Book


I love the Kerry Greenwood "Earthly Delights" Mystery Series starring larger than life Corinna Chapman, Baker and Owner of Earthly Delights Bakery set in Modern Melbourne, the books have a wonderful host of quirky characters from Witches, Retired Professor's ,Ex Junkies, Computer Geeks plus the Handsome Daniel Corinna's Lover. I have read and listened to all the Audiobooks and I feel slightly bereft when I come to the end of them so I am really looking forward to "Forbidden Fruit" being released in October .

Thursday 27 August 2009

Persephone Books

the persephone bookshopImage by this lyre lark via Flickr

I was looking up a book Description today and serendipitously came across a link to the Persephone Books homepage
it is a Publishing House that republishes forgotten Gems from the last Century mainly by women after a look through the Catalogue I will definitely be putting in an order, there are some very interesting books to be had, it has even given me some ideas for Christmas presents with their book a month.

"They are all carefully designed with a clear typeface, a dove-grey jacket, a 'fabric' endpaper and bookmark, and a preface by writers such as Penelope Fitzgerald, Nina Bawden and Polly Toynbee."


http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/index.asp

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Wednesday 12 August 2009

Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys album coverImage via Wikipedia

Had the pleasure of seeing "Jersey Boys" on the Weekend,I had a front row Seat which I hadn't realized till I got there my Ticket was Row B so I thought it was the 2nd row but no it was a fantastic front row seat and boy was the Show Great, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a Show so much, the Music and the Cast were incredible so for anyone visiting Melbourne from Interstate like me do yourself a favour as Molly Meldrum would say and go and see the Show





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Thursday 6 August 2009

Guilty Pleasure

Last week late one night I was Channel surfing and came across "The Accursed Kings" on SBS it is a 5 Part Mini Series based on the series of Books by Maurice Druon "Les Rois Maudits" it is a good Medieval Romp about Robert of Artois trying to get his Kingdom back from from his Aunt Mahaut played by Jeanne Moreau it is wonderfully over the top with the acting and Costumes, pure escapism basically a Costume Soapie, even the Trailer below is completely OTT, but I am completely enjoying it a very guilty pleasure.






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Sunday 2 August 2009

Something to look forward to

I haven't really come across any Movies recently that I wanted to to go and see but when I came across "Julie and Julia" it appealed to me straight away , over here in Australia it won't be released until October but I will wait patiently until then and may be pick up the book.

I also wondered which Cookbook I could follow for a Year and finally came up with "Gourmet Ireland" Books 1 & 2 by Paul and Jeanne Rankin from 15 years ago , mainly because we have cooked quite a few recipes from this book and keep coming back to them.







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Wednesday 29 July 2009

Favourite Book

I recently joined an online book group and one of the questions was Favourite Book , I have read so many Books in my life and I had to think hard about this but the one that came first and foremost to my mind was my childhood favourite of "Little Women" , I read this when I was 8 and my Mother was in Hospital I was staying with her Aunt and was given some books to read 2 of these were 2 different versions of Little Women one was the full version and the other was the special edition released for the MGM Movie with Elizabeth Taylor and June Alyson. I cried when Beth died she was my favourite of the Sisters and I also cried later when I saw the Movie on TV. I suppose most girls wanted to be Jo but I loved the Gentle sweet Beth and I always wished I could be as good natured and sweet as she was. I have recently located a copy of the MGM Book Version so can't wait for it to arrive.


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Monday 27 July 2009

Ca$h

Last night on World Movies I was lucky enough to catch Jean Reno in the Heist Movie " Ca$h "it reminded me of the wonderful films of the 60's a good fast paced Action Romp beautiful clothes and scenery I thoroughly enjoyed it.


Sunday 26 July 2009

French Theme


frameless

I hadn't realized how much of a French influence is around me from my Books , Prints, Shoes, Cooking and Music there is definitely a French Theme going on even my favourite Actor is French the fantastic Jean Reno.

The Print I wake up to ever morning above the Fire place in the Bedroom is Renoirs "By the Seashore" I bought it about 30 Years ago and I just love it it comes with me to every place I live, just looking at it makes me smile.




In the Art Gallery of South Australia we have a lovely little painting that Renoir did of his son Claude called Coco I always stop and look at it when I visit it is such a sweet painting.

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Friday 24 July 2009

Sniffles

Cover of "THE PROVENCE TRILOGY"Cover of THE PROVENCE TRILOGY

I am suffering from a Cold at the moment so I am cosied up in front of the Heater reading lots and lots of blogs on my Laptop, I am amazed at how many beautiful Blogs there are and the work and effort that people put into them to share with others , I can Travel around the world from the comfort of my own Lounge and the Photographs they share are absolutely delightful with many being used for my Desktop Background.

I'm also taking this opportunity to catch up on a bit of reading as well and just did a Random Pick of my To be Read Pile and was greeted by Peters Mayle's "The Provence Trilogy" so will make myself a nice cup of Tea and a slice of homemade Carrot Cake and settle down for the afternoon in Provence.
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Monday 29 June 2009

Cooking on TV

Hmmm first blog what do I write, do I put down what I've done or what I'm planning to do or do I just say that I am blogging this whilst watching the Australian version of Masterchef which I have funnily enough become quite a fan of even though it is completely different to the UK version which I loved.

Having Foxtel is great if you are an Armchair cook like myself with the cooking Channel being a favourite, Rachel Allen's Bake has inspired me to get out the old Sunbeam Mixer again and attempt to make some simple cakes and Trish Deseine's Paris Kitchen has made me want to Plan a Trip to France based around food, is there a connection here when both women are Irish and my earliest fondest memories of Food are my Grandad's mashed potatoes cooked for me in Ireland with his own grown Spuds and fresh Milk and homemade Butter.

Now I have to go off and trawl the blogs for home cooking Yummy


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