new blog- felicityandsam.blogspot.com

Hey everyone, I forgot to let you all know I have been on vacation and have set up a new blog for my travels, so my family and friends can keep up with our adventures... mostly just beautiful photos (its the camera not me haha) of south america so far, but in a couple of weeks we head up to central america for a while so stay tuned! x

National Geographic Travel Photography 2011 Winners

These photos are a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!

by Leslie Alsheimer

Fernanda Credidio

 Ilan Shacham

 

Places I've been to recently...

So I've been a bit lazy about updating facebook etc, but since finishing uni, I've had the opportunity to catch up with old friends, relatives and revisit my favourite places, so here are some photos i've snapped along the way, with my awesome new camera (ended up getting the Canon 60D with 2 lenses for those who care about that sort of thing.... good enough for me anyway..) enjoy! x

These are on the way to Jindy, and Lake Jindabyne on a summers day- no snow in sight!

Bar Beach

Sammy ripping it up at One Mile :)



Laws degrees in Australia + Films you need to watch!

I would like to apologise for my extended absence from blogworld!! Although, for some strange reason, I seem to have had more hits while I've not been posting, so maybe I should take that as a sign? haha...

Anyway, as you might know from previous posts, I've recently completed a law degree, BUT in order to graduate I have to do a 4 month placement... Which has been a nightmare trying to organise... So how it works is, you have to approach a business/law firm/NGO whatever, and beg them to take you on full-time/part-time/for free so that you can be admitted into the NSW Supreme Court... so I guess that's all very well for people who know a solicitor, or who studied hard and got excellent marks, but for the rest of us plebs, you're basically slave labour.... Anyway, so I've been travelling back and forth from Newcastle to Sydney, volunteering at a refugee casework place, which has been really really interesting...but wait for it, I started a real, PAYING job this week at a local council, which has also been a learning experience... so WOOHOO, the end is in sight for this placement, and I will soon be an admitted solicitor!

Anyway, so enough with the life update and onto movies I recommend you see ASAP... It's funny I haven't watched films in a long time, I've been really really geeky and watched endless TV series,  (which i think i will make the subject of a future post....mmmm...) (geeky because after I watched all 4 seasons of Battlestar Gallactica, I've been trying out all other types of Sci Fi, so stay tuned!)... anyway, so I hadn't seen any movies in ages, and then suddenly all these awesome ones were out and I've been luck enough to watch them!

So last night I went to the Sydney Film Festival... Anyway, I went with 3 of my best friends in the world after we ate dinner at Spice I am in Surry Hills, to...wait for it...

Taken from Rotten Tomatoes

Even the Rain (Tambien La Lluvia) Admittedly the draw point initially for the girls night was that ahem Gael Garcia Bernal (*swoon*) happens to be in said movie, you know, the guy from Motorcycle Diaries (another AWESOME must see movie)...

But anyway, I digress as usual... Even the Rain, was a beautiful thought-provoking movie. I remember studying the IMF/World bank's privatization of water in Bolivia, and the riots and peasant protests against the 'structural adjustment policy', but as it happens, I had forgotten. I guess that's what happens, another riot or natural disaster supersedes whatever the last catastrophe was, and you just forget that the events are still important in the minds of those who were involved. Anyway, I don't want to give too much away, but suffice to say, the landscapes are lush, tropical and beautiful, and the city is dusty and dry at the beginning, then a gritty urban war zone by the end.

Image taken from Sydney Film Festival site

It is filmed more like a documentary than a movie, and I came away thinking how amazing the local guy Daniel (played by Carlos Aduviri) was. He was incredible, and heart-wrenching in the role, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than a few tears at the end of it! Loved Loved Loved this movie, and you should see it NOW!

 

From Rotten Tomatoes website

Easy A: Ok, so it's not a deep movie by any means, but it was funny. and I officially have a girl crush on Emma Stone. She is hilarious. There's not really much to say about the content, it's your average hot girl in high school, rumours about sex spread like wildfire etc etc but it is laugh out loud funny, so definately worth 90 minutes of your time....I think my favourite scene was when she opens the birthday card from her grandma... it cracked me up because I do ridiculous things like that when I'm bored too haha... Click here to see a trailer... 

From Rotten Tomatoes

Monsters I hired this thinking it was a follow on movie District 9 that one where aliens land in South Africa as refugees. It wasn't a follow on per se, but basically it is 5 years after a NASA probe which was carrying alien samples crashed upon re-entry to the atmosphere, and there is a huge 'infected' zone between Mexico and the United States which has been quarantined off, as the aliens now live in the jungle there.

I know it sounds far fetched, but I think that it was  really realistic portrayal of how something like that would play out- you know how non-native species (weeds) take over the natural plants and animals as they have no predators to cull them, well this was a similar sort of thing, except that the non-native species happened to be from a different planet.  Anyway, so this rich girl is in Central America, and her father has asked his employee, a  seasoned photo-journalist to get her back to the States safely.
Anyway, events happen and they miss the ferry back to the USA and have to travel through the infected zone....

From Rotten Tomatoes

 It has beautiful scenery and landscapes, and it made me so keen to go on our trip to Central America, despite the aliens that live there.... haha.
So yeah definitely see this movie, it's not your usual aliens are attacking lets blow everything up movie, it is a much more realistic, and therefore scary portray of what could happen when science fucks up....

 

From Rotten Tomatoes

City Island Ok well i watched this a while back, but I just want to shout my praises, because it is so so funny, in a weird/black comedy/morbid way, which is exactly my humour. So if you are easily offended by non-conformist family roles, don't watch it. The basic run-down is something like this. Hot guy gets bailed from jail by the prison warden, who happens to be his dad but he doesn't realise this. The dad hasn't told anyone that he had a child before he married current wife. The paroled son moves into the boat shed at their house, then both the mum and daughter want to have their way with him (well. sort of.), the son has a fetish for larger ladies, and the dad is an aspiring actor...anyway, I thought i loved it, and would definitely recommend it.

Pictures that caught my eye this morning...

From Design*Sponge

Le Voyage Creatif

FrouFrou

 Song of Style

fashiontoast

Well what do you think of this?

Berlinde De Bruyckere, Marthe, 2008, Wax, epoxy, metal, wood and glass, 280 x 172.5 x 119.5 cm.

Art Tattler says this of Marthe:

"In Marthe (2008) Berlinde De Bruyckere (Born 1964, Ghent – Lives and works in Ghent) shows a body in duality, disgusting but still half-human, a hand found in its twig-like limbs reminiscent of Ovidian-style transformation; it too, despite its lifelike physicality, is sexless, headless, inert, a re-imagined object. “It is not because you never see a head that it looks like it has been cut off. It is, rather, that I no longer think the presence of a head is necessary. The figure as a whole is a mental state. The presence or absence of a head is irrelevant.”

"Their lack of eyes and sex emphasised the importance of seeing each body as a whole. A few years later she turned to the horse as subject, covering pseudo-anatomical works in familiar materials that inspire both a sense of nightmarish displacement and of visual comfort, of animal suffering and material abstraction.

The horse pieces are eyeless [K36 (The Black Horse)], 2003) and sometimes headless too (K21, 2006). The glossiness of their skin underscores all of the things that are covered and hidden, a sensual, almost tender casing for these uncomfortable shapes."

 I have to agree with the disgusting statement. The whole thing makes me want to throw up, but I can't look away, and I want to keep looking at it... Its like giving birth to an adult, or a lab has grown the person or something....It makes me think that perhaps human cloning ain't such a grand idea at all if this could be the outcome of it....!

Soundwave Sydney 2011 what to see....

So the festival that all lovers of metal and punk and hardcore wait for all year in Australia is upon us again! After last year's fiasco, where we were stuck in the car park for 3 hours trying to leave after a day that was in the high thirties with no free water in the back of beyond that is Eastern Creek in Western Sydney (EW) being the adopted North Shore girl that I am I refused point blank to even buy a ticket because I was not crossing the great divide back over to Penrith (or wherever Easter Creek actually is...far far away).

But great news!! Soundwave Sydney is now at Sydney Olympic Stadium so much more convenient, and it has a lay-out that everyone knows because it is the homeland of the Big Day Out festival woohoo double plus! Although, if they have $6 bottles of water like they did at No Sleep Til Sydney festival I may swear off festivals FOREVER. Big Threat. and only after I go to Blues Fest in Byron bay in April. (There are still tickets for the Tuesday to see...wait for it.. Bob Dylan, Tim Finn, Paul Kelly, Grace Jones....!!!)

Anyway, without anymore further ado, here is the cream of the crop in my opinion of the Sydney timetable/line up for Sunday's Soundwave festival... And yes, of course I've included my favourite songs from each band :)

First clash of the day:
2.20-3pm Millencolin on Stage 3                 OR                2.20-3pm Terror on Stage 6 

How do you decide between these two stellar bands? Well it's going to be hard. Millencolin, with their infectious punk show will be the best chance for a sing along all day, and what's not to love about Swedish punk? However, if you really can't decide, there would be the chance to see them play with Pennywise on Monday night at the Roundhouse at UNSW, which I am very very tempted to do! So i guess Terror with their massive massive hardcore sound will win out on the day, particularly because they are playing on a really small stage, so there is likely to be a decent circle pit started, which are hilarious to watch as long as you don't get a kick to the head in the process!!

3 - 3.55pm 
Go and stand in a line and buy some over priced mid-strength beer, (no more than 2 per person) and talk about how awesome Terror/millencolin was...

3.55- 4.25pm     Primus    Stage 2
Well. To be honest for me Primus is a filler. I know, I know, how could I admit that and post it on the internet...  But it will be fun, just for their mad bass playing, and to hear classic songs like 'Winona's big Brown beaver' .... ....

4.30pm- 5.20pm   SLASH!!!  Stage 1
Well as long as he plays Sweet Child o Mine I think we'll all die happy!
Apologies for the quality of this clip, Youtube has some shockers....

5.20-6pm The Amity Affliction  Stage 6
This is going to be HUGE.... They are an awesome Brissy band that have had major airplay on Triple J this year...Here's a link to their song Fruity Lexia... yup. they named their song after a carton of goon you drink when you are 16 at parties and split between 3 of your friends.... *shudder*....now that is hardcore...

 5.40-6.40pm  Slayer  Stage 4
Now the other big decision of the day will be whether to cut the viewing of Amity Affliction short so you can see the entire Slayer set, or only catch 40 minutes of Slayer. Again it's a tough choice... but my vote is on staying for the whole Amity Affliction set, because I have a feeling they will be as tight as Parkway Drive,and when it comes down to it... I'll choose hardcore over metal any day..... Although... SLAYER.... ah. they'll be back! And my favourite song for your hearing pleasure- South of Heaven of course!

6.10-6.55pm   One Day as a Lion   Stage 1
Yes. Dammit another freaking clash. Whoever organises these line-ups is some sort of joker. So after you've seen Slayer, you'll have to RUN across to the other side of Olymic Park to try and squeeze in the end of Zack de la Rocha's successor band to Rage Against the machine. I mean seriously. Who in their right mind would organise a festival timetable this poorly. Ar. As much as I would love to see this whole set, after I would have already cut short Slayer to see the whole Amity Affliction set, i can't justify cutting it even shorter to see Zack play.

6.55-7.55pm     Queens of the Stoneage    Stage 1
Obviously nothing to say here except that they are AWESOME!

8pm- 10pm     Iron Maiden   Stage 1
Oh Yes. Another freaking clash. GAR. Now a true metal fan would stay to see this whole set. And it would probably be on par with Megadeth's show at No Sleep Til Sydney apparently (although I also missed this due to conflicting band scheduling....!).  however. I will be leaving early (after 80 of the 120 minutes....) to go and see my highlight of the day.....

9.20-10pm   PENNYWISE!!!!!  Stage 6
Pennywise Pennywise Pennywise.
Made all the more better for the fact that ZOLI from Ignite is now the lead singer.
Holy Shit.  And if you are really lucky you will get to see them again on monday night in all their glory at the Roundhouse!!! woooohooo... :)

So there you have it. My picks for an awesome day of music. Although, in my experience at Festivals you spend the whole time waiting around for people and don't ever get to see the bands you want to see because you are waiting at the 'meeting place' or stuck in a queue somewhere or drunk or whatever. But one can HOPE that this is the way the day will pan out!!

Douglas Freidman photography

Some amazing looking houses I've found on the Douglas Freidman site- WOW!

 

South America holiday....

So I've been incredibly lazy about posting anything recently because I have no internet connection anymore... I've been trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to get a legal internship so that i can graduate but it seems to be taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R gar.... Anyway, so I am officially unemployed for the first serious amount of time since I was 17 and it's scary.... and BORING... I mean there is only so much sitting at home a person can do without getting frustrated with the monotony of it all! I could never be long-term unemployed! The worst thing is trying to get the legal internship, if it was just getting a job I wouldn't have had such an issue, but getting a start in law seems to be particularly hard living in a relatively small area such as Newcastle, where most law firms seem to focus on either commercial or family/criminal law, and these just aren't areas that really interest me that much!! Anyway, to stave off the boredom, I've been planning a holiday we will be (hopefully!) taking in October, once I've been admitted into the NSW Supreme court as a solicitor... Although I think I will miss another university graduation, as they are usually held at the end of October from what I remember...  ... Maybe I'll just hire a gown one time and take photos in it and pretend I sat through the ceremony and got my degree on stage in front of a massive hall full of people like everyone else does :)

Anyway, i've discovered this travel blog by a couple who have done a fair amount of backpacking, so enjoy their pictures (from Ardiuu's Flikr account via here), and check out their blog for all their incredible stories right here at Two backpackers

Another helpful South America travel blog I've found is via here, which focuses on traveling with your partner in crime, which obviously apart from being a really fun experience carries with it some added complexities such as... getting sick of each other and being a long way from home if things go to shit!
Anyway here are some amazing photos from their travels to make you insanely jealous!

Hair cut....

So...I am really lazy about my hair. I only go to the hairdressers every 4-6 months, becasue firstly, secondly, it's expensive and lastly, because I hate small talk and I get bored chatting to the hairdresser lol... Anyway, I pretty much always have long hair, because its much easier to tie it up in a bun when I can't be bothered, than have to wash, dry, straighten etc short/fringed cuts... Even if I see pictures of Scarrlett Johannsson and think "Oh yeah I could pull that off..." In reality I know better...So pretty much the only interesting thing that happens to my hair are the colour changes! I can never decide if I want to be brunette or blonde, so inevitably I chop and change between the two... This time I was going to keep it blonde for longer, but then, after looking for inspiration on the net I decided it was time for a move back over to the dark side.... I think it may have been the Taylor Momsen hair that did it for me hahaha....

    

Lounging around...

Atelier 688

Unknown!

Design*Sponge

Design*Sponge

Design*Sponge

Martyn Lawrence-Bullard

Martyn Lawrence-Bullard

16 House