the pretty devo’d.

I’ve been long awaiting the release of The Pretty Reckless’ debut album Light Me Up, and finally today I went and bought it (a hard copy, not off iTunes -_-)…..aaaaaand was absolultey devo’d when I heard the content of some of the songs. Ok, I expected to have to skip through some of the songs on the album – what with Taylor Momsen’s public determination to break her Gossip Girl mould by being as controversial as possible (she played Jenny Humphrey for 3 seasonson the show) – some of the statements that come out of her mouth are shocking! She’s only, what, 17? They seem to be ridiculously transparent attempts at baiting her many critics (many critiscize her for the fact that, despite her crazily young age, she smokes and drinks and appears to live the cliched sex, drugs and rock n roll lifestyle. I think they probably have a very good case there.)

Anyway, I was right – amid some a-ma-zing tracks there are some with shocking lyrics that make me shudder to hear – things a girl of her age shouldn’t even know about, let alone be boasting about in her music!  OK, TAYLOR MOMSEN – we get it – you’re controversial, you’re a rebel, you’re the next Courtney Love, but can you please write some songs that dont glorify drugs, sex or alcohol?? And get back to your previously amazing fashion sense that didnt involve you wearing your underwear on the outside?

The redeeming songs on the album include Just Tonight and You – You is probably my favourite track on the album - it’s mellow and sweet and such a far cry from their usual style that you’d swear someone else was singing it. Although I love her deep, raspy rock voice (listen to Zombie, and you’ll understand – in my opinion, that’s Taylor at her best! By far my alltime favourite Pretty Reckless song), You seems to show a completley different side to Taylor – it contians alot more raw emotion and alot less random raging than the other songs. Think Paramore’s The Only Exception. Except twice as good and with a bit more attitude. It’s great. If you are quick to remember what songs to skip, its an amazing album to blast full volume in the car. Or anywhere for that matter. Even better tip, get the album on itunes, delete the seedy songs, and have fun with the rest! Coz when she’s good, she’s really good!

Anyway thats my rant for the day. Still love the band, love Taylor Momsen, but man I’m praying she finds Jesus, and soon!

Xo

So today on the way home from work I had my iPOD on shuffle through my BarlowGirl music – and this song came on that I havn’t listened to in aaaaaages.

Sometimes I pass up oppertunities God sends my way to speak to someone about Jesus, or to simply even just show the love of God to someone I come across through a simple word or gesture – I pass them up I guess because in the past Ive worried about making a situation awkward or offending someone. Hearing this song made me realise how silly I was and how much I was basing those meetings on what I thought I could achieve in my OWN strength, not God speaking or moving through me and through the situation! And sometimes, actions will speak louder than any discussion you could have with a person – you could spend hours and hours TELLING someone about how much Jesus loves them and what he sacrificed for them just because he loves them – but sometimes SHOWING them will have a greater impact – there are plenty of people who can talk the talk, but the ones that walk it and try to really be the hands of Jesus on earth simply by LOVING people will make such a huge, huge impact. God really used this song to bring me back to that! Read on to see what I mean – the lyrics of this song are so spot on, so awesome!

“Keep Quiet” – BarlowGirl

Oh the things I’ve sacrificed
So that I could bring You to this world
I want them to see You in me
But Your name just keeps them far from me
So I’ll keep quiet
Let’s hope they see I’m different

Jesus, Jesus why’s your name offensive?
Why are we so scared to tell this world You’ve saved us?
When all of the hope of the world’s in Your name
Why are we so scared to say
Oh Jesus Oh Jesus

If I avoid to speak Your name
Tell me would You do the same to me?
If relevance becomes my goal
Tell me will I lose You to its hold?
But if I keep quiet they’ll never see I’m different .

Jesus, Jesus why’s your name offensive?
Why are we so scared to tell this world You’ve saved us?
When all of the hope of the world’s in Your name
Why are we so scared to say
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus

I’m sorry I cared about my name more than Yours
I’m so sorry how could I hide You anymore
But if I keep quiet
They’ll never see I’m different

Jesus, Jesus why’s your name so offensive
Why are we so scared to tell this world You’ve saved us
When all of the hope of the world’s in Your name
Why are we so scared to say
Oh, Jesus

The second verse in particular smashed me – If I avoid to speak Your name, tell me would You do the same to me? If relevance becomes my goal, tell me will I lose You to its hold?

The Bible says this:

Matthew 10:32-33 

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”

Umm….eeeep! Enough said. But really, why would we want to do anything but proclaim far and wide how amazing our God is? Seriously! I mean, if you know Him you will know that He is the most amazing, powerful, LOVING, passionate, personal being in the universe!! How can I keep that silent?? Im almost bursting at the seams wanting to share this with people!!! Its so exciting!! And if you dont know Him (yet ) how could you not want to???? You do, trust me on this one!

Xoxoxo

Vogue Germany August 2010

I wondered if Abbey Lee Kershaw could possibly get any more amazing – and along came this shoot! Incredible! Featuring Abbey, and among others, her rocker boyfriend Matthew Hutchinson, this hippy, 70′s-inspired shoot is a-ma-zing!


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L’Amour.

Wildchildddd

Disturbing Fact:
(This is completley irrelevant to my previous post, but irrelevance is my forte, so whatever.)

I have watched Wildchild 3 times today. And once yesterday. Just started it’s fourth round for today 5 minutes ago. Granted, it’s background noise to my blogging, but disturbing none the less. Now would probably also be a bad time to admit that it’s one of my favourite movies.

X

Decorating fever

Right now I’m loving interior design, decorating and art blogs.
designismine.blogspot.com is my favourite! It’s a quirky collection of fashion, food, interiors, cute photos and eccentric online buys.

I’ve also fallen head over heels for Etsy.com – it’s the best spot to stop for gorgeous, quirky, affordable photography and funky type prints. There are hundreds of individual stores inside Etsy.com (think eBay) – these Etsy stores are definatley worth a peek:

Dearcolleen – quirky type prints and stationary (dearcolleen.etsy.com )

UrbanPinkPhotography – gorgeous photography – everything from carnival scenes to couples dancing on beaches (urbanpinkphotography.etsy.com)

Irenesuchoki – love the prints of New York and Paris! (irenesuchoki.etsy.com)

KeepCalmShop – vintage inspired prints and posters (keepcalmshop.etsy.com )

Photos from designismine.blogspot.com and keepcalmshop.etsy.com

to all of those who wronged me, i am i am a zombie

Right now my sister is watching a bunch of Veggie Tales clips on YouTube – all I can hear in the background is a Squash singing “I need to tell you somethin’, I don’t got a belly button.”

Best.Show.Ever.

To prove my point, I will force the following video upon your oculi (aka eyes.)

Ok, so I realise that was probably the worst vid I could have posted to prove how great Veggie Tales is – the douchey voice over doesnt really do it justice.So it looks like you’ll have to take my word for it. Which is ok, coz when I say something is good, it’s good. Every time. Except when it’s not.

But whatever.

Time for today’s rant debate. Well it’s not really even a debate. Since I’m writing this via blog, and you are reading it with your eyes. So unless you can contact me telepathically, this really isn’t a debate. It’s a statement of fact:

I hate the Kindle.

Seriously, it’s my worst nightmare. It’s bad enough that we’re buying more music off itunes instead of the real thing these days, now they bring out digital BOOKS??

Oh, this is it by the way: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015T963C/?tag=gocous-20&hvadid=4139607947&ref=pd_sl_7caym1p0w_b

Long live the tree-books. Came across this on Urban Dictionary today:

Tree-book

A book printed on dead trees, i.e. paper, as opposed to an e-book, which only exists electronically. Compare with snail mail.

Thomas: Hey, how do you like your new Kindle?
Andrew: I don’t know, I haven’t used it yet. I’m still trying to finish all the tree-books I’m reading.

Burn that Kindle, Andrew. Burn it now. If plastic or metal or whatever it’s made of can actually burn.

But seriously, can you imagine reading Tolstoy or Jane Austen via ‘e- book’? Might be a little hard to mentally transport yourself to the 1800′s when you are reading from a piece of plastic, which might I add, will probably destroy your eyesight over time. But it has an adjustable backlight, you say? So does Earth – it’s called shade.

No new book smell, no suspensful page turning, no sense of satisfaction when you finally finish reading – because it would be like reading one long email. There’s something awesome about having the hard copy on your shelf and being able to go, yep, I’ve read that.

This could be falling on very deaf ears here but I’d say about 18% of you  agree with me on this one. The world is always looking for ways to be lazier, to have to exert themselves less.  Hence Online Shopping. Hence escalators. Hence the Kindle.

Arghh.

I like this guy- Raymond Bianchi of “The Irascible Poet”  >>

“I certainly do not want all bookstores to go away in favor some electronic paper whatever the hell that is? Imagine not being able to browse a bookstore and find that right book?

Someone please tell me what we are to do?

I don’t want to read books- even bad ones on a computer screen. I want to sit with a book and coffee and read books that are objects not just pixels. It is bad enough that Google is stealing every book ever published but tell me why are they trying to kill the bookstore? Frankly I have had enough please go away Kindle and the rest of your satanic brethren….”

http://irasciblepoet.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-i-hate-amazon-kindle.html

He sounds like a cool guy, Raymond. Very smart. Very wise. Very SPOT ON!

Oh shoot, I just realised I missed “The Pacific” tonight – I promised my boyfriend I would watch it. Ahhh. Stupid Kindle occupying all of my thought-space and making me a bad girlfriend. I blame you.

But also me, just a little bit.

bookworms unite.

I’m such a bookworm – usually I will have up to three or four books on the go at any one time. Then I got a full time job, and that number has backslidden to 0, at the very best…1. Largely due to time constraints but also due to the fact that its been hard to find anything worth reading lately. I dont have time to trundle over to Koorong for good trash-free fiction, and sifting through a mainstream bookstore to find something interesting, then flicking through and censoring it to make sure its worth my time and brain activity takes alot, alot, alot of effort.

Then last week I hit the goldmine – I wandered in to Angus & Robertson desperate for something to read and randomly picked up The Heist Society by Ally Carter. Can I also say that finding a good mystery without a tonne of blood and gore is also extremely difficult these days? So I picked up Heist Society and just bought it, hoping that it was good. It was amazing. Read it.

I can happily say that I am back to normal at last – my reading list includes:

Sweet Little Lies - Lauren Conrad (Don’t judge me, if you want fun, mindless chick lit to down the stress levels this is the perfect book.)
The Divine Dance - Shannon Kubiak Primicerio (About the Dance women participate in during their life – and whether they are dancing God’s Divine Dance, FOR God, or the world’s Dance for the approval of other people. It’s opening my eyes!)
Princess Academy – Shannon Hale (Again, it sounds lame, but I love fairytales and I’ll admit it! Plus, it’s ratings are going through the roof, so it must be good. I hope.)

There is an old man sitting next to me humming a backstreet boys song. Or Human Nature. Or Savage Garden. Whatever, it’s a boyband and an 80 year old man is humming it….??? Ughhh now he is drumming his fingers on the table. Dude take your phone of loud speaker! Stop sipping your drink so loudly! Developing eye twitch. Yet another old man messing with the Tranquility Bubble. Or am I just very intolerant?

No, there is no way I’m intolerant. Thought dismissed.
Cough.

chaos by design

I once again feel the need to rave about the Olsen twins. They are beyond amazing!
Instead of telling you why (because you should already know) I will simply SHOW you…..

so once again im on my break, chilling out in a public place and forcing my cynical observations of human nature on my lovely friends via blog. Apologies. Not really, you love it. I really am wondering why the little boy over in the playground is yelling at his grandad, calling him ‘Mummy’. Also half wondering at the wisdom of blogging outside in an electrical storm. Ummm. Oh shoot i forgot my umbrella today. That will make walking home from work a tad uncomfortable. Pretty sure the only person who can run through a storm and come out the other side still looking like Blake Lively is…Blake Lively. And im pretty sure someone with an umbrella runs beside her, if purely to protect her Choos. Fun times ahead!