Micmacs

I am loving all the French movies I've been able to see lately. I went to the Luna Leederville yesterday just to see any movie, and lucky for me Micmacs was playing.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet is amazing; the way he creates his quirky little worlds, and charms us with his eccentric, clever characters. Very entertaining, but I would have liked to laugh just a bit more.

Is it better to live with a bullet lodged in your brain, even if it means you might drop dead any time? Or would you rather have the bullet taken out and live the rest of your life as a vegetable? Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes? Is scrap metal worth more than land-mines? Can you get drunk from eating waffles? Can a woman fit inside a refrigerator? What's the human cannonball world record? All important questions to ask, while watching this movie.

17/04/2010 - Tears For Fears & Spandau Ballet @ Sandalford Winery

Forgot to put these photos up earlier. Philip surprised me with the tickets a week or so ago. A great night of music and wine. Hah. Anyways, enjoy the long shots and blurry faces, courtesy of my camera with the good zoom dying on me...

Tears For Fears

Spandau Ballet

Goodbye Cadbury, You've Had A Good Run

Though I'm quite sure I've seen it around before, I've just discovered (and become addicted to) Cocolo's Organic Fair Trade chocolate. I've never had much of a sweet tooth. The only time I ever really eat chocolate is at Easter time when I get a few Lindt chocolate boxes, which last me for a fair amount of time. But this is the best-tasting supermarket chocolate I've had. Bonus: It's organic and supports Fair Trade!

Cocolo only uses organic ingredients, to ensure the chocolate's smooth and velvety taste - no refined sugars or additives, and GMO free. Instead, the chocolate is sweetened from evaporated cane juice - which is filled with all the nutrients which would have been extracted to make white sugar. Their cocoa and evaporated cane juice are all sourced from Fair Trade Co-Operatives. Which means the growers (often from the poorest countries) are paid fairly for their produce, and enables them to invest in education, health, their environment and communities.

Better yet, they come in 8 sophisticated flavours; all also organic.

I don't pretend to be a hardcore environmental activist or anything, but this choice is easy. The chocolate tastes so good, really. I wouldn't go researching on the internet if I wasn't genuinely amazed. Oh, and the packaging is 100% recycled paper! Just think, all this knowledge from walking into Coles yesterday and seeing this chocolate marked down. I'll definitely be buying Cocolo from now on.

Learn more about Cocolo, and Fair Trade...
www.cocolo.com.au
www.fairtrade.net

The Worst Hotel In The World...

...is the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel, in Amsterdam. Oh yes. It's real, and they have a book. The ads are real too!

I was feeling quite bookish yesterday, and decided to hit Oxford St. Books for something really good to read. I walked out with the above, as well as a book I've been wanting to read for about 6 years now, Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton.

When I was studying Philosophy in my first year of uni, my lecturer recommended him to me, and I can't believe I'm finally getting around to reading it.

Oh, and if you're planning on visiting Amsterdam some time, you can make a reservation at Hans Brinker Budget Hotel, here.

Don't Sweat It!

I've never been a fan of sportswear, ever. But I'm quite liking the grey sweatshirt trend right now. So comfortable, and so easy. Anyways, I saw this in Witchery last week, and had to buy it. I loved the zip-off sleeves. How to wear?...  

Add some knee-high socks, and a long messy side braid, and you've got Alexander Wang's 2010 Spring Collection. Happy times ahead.

Drink Coca Cola, the Karl Lagerfeld Way...

... Which he prefers, "in a delicate crystal goblet, to accentuate the taste" (as shown by model Coco Rocha, above).

I saw this new ad campaign for Coca-Cola and was so surprised at how pretty and chic it was... then I noticed the silhouette of Karl Lagerfeld on the bottle. My second thought was ... What the hell is Coca-Cola Light? It's no sugar for me, and when I was overseas I learned that there was no such thing as Coke Zero. But they have all sorts of other Coke variations. So I thought it might have been some new elegantly flavoured line, which explained the high fashion campaign approach. Turns out it's just Diet Coke.

But anyways, that's not the point. I'd love to see ad campaigns like this in Australia, perhaps on a large billboard in the city. But I guess this kind of aesthetic isn't that appealing in small city culture. Although, they've clearly been trying to make the city very high-end in the last year or so. Still no word yet of a Chanel boutique on King Street *fingers crossed*.

Coco looks great wearing the 'Karl' look, sans grey ponytail and shades of course. The touch of pink on the bottle cap, just POPs out. I wish they'd bring the line out here. I'd love to keep one of the bottles.

There's a French Boutique selling the bottles for 3.50 Euros. As well as a "special limited edition boxed version, with matching bottle opener", which will cost you about 47 Euros - approximately AU$69.

[All images were taken from: www.styleite.com]

Drip Aviators

How cool are these drip style lens aviator sunglasses by Ann-Sophie Back, from Opening Ceremony? 

Paint Jam

Ray Charles

Dan Dunn is this improvisational painter who creates these amazing portraits and paintings in minutes! He's one of those crazy speed-painters.  

You've got to see him at work: 

http://www.youtube.com/user/dandunn57 

and check out his amazing portraits: 

http://www.paintjam.com/Dan-Dunn-Art.html 

My favourites are the portrait of Ray Charles (above) and Louis Armstrong (below), but here are some others ones I like...

Louis Armstrong

John Lennon

Statue of Liberty

Albert Einstein

All images were taken from [www.paintjam.info/]