The World Beneath

...by Cate Kennedy.

15 year old Sophie lives with her single mother Sandy in Ayersville, Australia. Her mother is a 45 year old ditzy woman still living like a hippie who believes in karma, thinks being a vegetarian is important, smokes an occasional joint and still bravely sells home-made jewellery at the markets as a job. Then there’s her dad Rich. The one who left when Sophie was barely a year old. And since then, then only form of correspondence has been through letters and the phone. He is a freelance photographer with a ponytail and still living in the past. Both her parents still reminisce about their glory days as young adults when with fervour they participated in the Franklin River Blockade in Tasmania. 

Things kick into action when Rich decides to take Sophie to Tasmania for bushwalking and more importantly, for an opportunity to bond with his estranged daughter. Despite Sandy’s reluctance, Sophie has made up her mind. She wants to get to know her dad who seems so much cooler than her mum. As Sophie travels to Tasmania with Rich and explores the beautiful wilderness, she comes to realise that her dad isn’t who she thought he was.

This is a beautifully written book about parenting and family dynamics. It is about the clash of generations and the struggles of a family. It is about individuals trying so hard to live in the glory of the past or the vision of the future that they forget to live in the present. It is about love and redemption. It is about the ups and downs of teenage life but also of parenting. And finally, it is about survival. Not just in the true sense of the word but also of one's spirit. 

The characters by Kennedy were extremely well drawn out. Sophie as the sullen 'emo' teenager who had to grow up too soon and take charge is brilliant. Your heart goes out to her. Sandy as the kooky mother is hilariously pathetic. And Rich as an arrogant know-it-all is all too real. The picturesque scenery of Tassie makes you want to visit the place. All in all, it was a fast-paced read that keeps the reader engrossed till the very end and does play with your emotions. I would definitely try to read other novels by the same author given her flowing style and narration. 

I give it a 4 out of 5. 

***This has been reviewed as part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2011***

Until next time,

Cheers!!! 

Gasping at the New Theatre

I went for my very first play yesterday. [Yes, it only took 27 years]

I watched 'Gasping' at the New Theatre at Newtown. It has been written by Ben Elton of the Blackadder fame. Lockheart industries is looking to market the next-big-thing to make a profit. An executive at the Lockheart organisation with a go-for-it attitude, Phillip, comes up with a brilliant idea to market --- designer air. He comes up with a 'Suck & Blow' machine which helps people purify the air they breathe in, thereby giving them a higher quality of living. As they market it to the upper classes, the children and young adults and finally, to everyone, the machine becomes a hit and profits rise dramatically for Lockheart industries. However, soon people start to hoard their supplies of air for a rainy day resulting in a drop in the oxygen levels. At this point, corporate greed takes over as new schemes start to charge peoplefor the air and to invade third world countries for their air eventually culminating to a climactic ending while the world struggles to get air.

This is a brilliant satire by Ben Elton looking at corporate greed and the advertising industry and how it makes a mockery of us. For me personally, given my disdain for the advertising industry and the corporate world, this was the perfect play to watch. The idea of selling air is not very far fetched when you see how the corporate world and advertising industry together have managed to make a market out of another natural resouce --- water. After all, what you can get for free from your taps, some people still fall prey to buying a bottle of about $3 worth of water everytime. The manner in which the advertising industry targets you with slogans implying you 'need' something because you are worth it is well portrayed through the play. And of course, how the corporate dogs will stoop to any level and have no morals when it comes to making profits at the cost of the general public.

The performance by the cast of 6 actors was also excellent. The cast included Alan Faulkner as Sir Chifley Lockheart (the CEO), Oliver Wenn as Phillip, Richard Cox as Sandy, Julia Kennedy Scott as Kirsten (the marketing manager), Samantha Roylance as Miss Hodges and the environment minister, and Natalie Rees as the weather girl and a reporter. I have never seen or heard of any of them before but they were all really good in their parts.

All in all, I really enjoyed my very first play. And you can bet I'll be going again. Especially to this venue where the tickets were a mere $28. To those in the Sydney area, do go and watch this if you enjoy satires.

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

You know you are tired when...

...you don't seem to care about food splattered on the kitchen counter. Even after it is a day old.

...you can't read more than a page before going to bed.

...you don't feel guilty for missing the gym.

...your road rage is heightened. To crazy levels.

...you don't give a shit what colleagues you don't like think about you. And you are not your careful self when talking to them.

...you are straight up with unmotivated clients telling them upfront that if they are not keen to do the work, there is no point in coming in.

...leaving dishes in the sink for longer than usual is not a problem.

...the thought of going out on the weekend is not as exciting.

...dinner is a pain in the arse. Both making and eating it. And buttered toast feels like heaven.

...even though you are out of wine, you can't be bothered to make a trip to the bottle shop to buy another one!

...you forget where you were headed in a conversation and stop mid-way.

...you can't be bothered to run around with your little kitten.

...you haven't cleaned the crap from your car in more than a month. And you have discarded on-the-go breakfast containers.

...you don't have the energy to comment on blogs despite reading the posts. And you have difficulty replying to comments on your own.

...you can't pay attention to anything on TV for longer than 5 minutes. Except maybe for the Big Bang Theory.

And of course, you keep counting down to Christmas eve.

4 more weeks of work to go.

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

Do cats play fetch?

You know that game you play with dogs? Where you throw them a ball or stick or something and they run and fetch it and bring it back to you? And then you wrestle them to get it all slobbery out off thier mouth?

Well, I always knew dogs played fetch.

But never thought cats did.

Until I met Pebbles. My little kitty with an identity complex.

She plays fetch. I kid you not. She has this toy --- a green lizard --- and can play fetch with it and bring it back and wrestle with you and then go fetch again and continue the cycle till she's tired. The difference is there is no slobber on the lizard. 

Pebbles wrestling with the lizard

And still wrestling

I still wonder whether she thinks she is a dog. In many ways, she seems like one. Very affectionate. Loves to follow me around. Greets me at the door when I'm home from work and then follows me around. Follows me around in the morning when I wake up. Did I mention she follows me around like my shadow?

Gotta love her!

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

Gratitude Photo Challenge: Day 2

Day 2: Smile

Remember this little fella? You previously saw him in my hands here. This is a shot of him with one of the blokes working at the reptile park. If you look closely, it looks like he is smiling. [The croc, I mean] Of course, it must be a forced one given that his snout(?) is taped shut.

Smile folks! :)

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

Sixteen too old in the modelling industry

...so says a modelling agency in Sydney.

This modelling agency believes 13 is the right age to start the career as in Europe models are of that age. 13. What I find weird is that the executive of this agency started modelling at 13 and then ended up battling an eating disorder around 18. And yet, she is promoting the same. [She still looks like she has an eating disorder, by the way]

You would think that someone who was asked to lose weight and ended up starving themselves to look like a pre-pubescent child would have more insight into this horrible industry than trying to promote other young children and adolescents to enter it instead!

First and foremost, I never seem to understand what is so attractive about young women looking like pre-pubescent boys. No boobs. No butt. No flesh. How in the world do clothes like that sell when most women in fact have boobs and butts and thighs? Secondly, I am stunned that parents would let their 13 to 16 year olds get into an industry that promotes a negative body image. I have no issues with children modelling for children's products but there is something seriously wrong when you have a 13 year old who is overly sexualised and promoting something a skeletal woman should wear. 

This girl is 14

It is bad enough that young girls are fed sexualised messages every day thanks to the wondeful media. But it's worse when they see younger and younger girls in that and then have others want to be like them. And it's scary to think that an industry where so many women (and now men) battle an eating disorder, they still promote it in every way they can.

At the end of the day, most women don't look like skeletons. Most women won't can't wear the clothes modelled by these pre-pubescent looking models. And most men don't find women like this attractive.

The modelling and fashion industry has a lot to answer for. In a day and age when Australia and other countries are trying to promote healthy body image in the industry, agencies like these are a slap in the face.

What do you think?

Do you reckon 13 is too young to be a model? [Not for kids' clothing]

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

Gratitude Photo Challenge: Day 1

Day 1 of the photo challenge involves a photo of my favourite food. Most of you probably know I love Indian cuisine. However, I must add that Lebanese cuisine comes a close second.

The above was a scrumptious meal at Al-Aseel restaurant at Greenacre with my friends some weeks ago. They have amazing food and the price is quite reasonable. The first photo is a plate of Kafta while the second one is a meat platter with kafta, chicken and lamb.

And now I am craving it again!

Until next time,

Cheers!!! 

Happy 40th Birthday...

...to the best man I 'know'.

Yes, Gilly turns 40 today. I was fortunate enough to meet him back in 2008. That's where the above photo was taken. With me next to my hero. [I have cropped myself out for this blog]

Happy Birthday Gilly! You are still my hero and always will be.

Your biggest fan ever,

End of yearitis

I think it's that time of the year...when you start counting down to time off and losing interest in going to work. Except, the problem is, work doesn't go away.

I have been noticing lately that I am quite tired and honestly counting down to Christmas when I have about 10 days off work. I find myself hoping some clients won't show up. Which I know is bad. At the same time, when I am with some of my clients, I quite enjoy the challenge. But yeah, I think when it comes to the end of the year, mentally and physically, I start to feel a bit spent. It doesn't help that weekdays have had good sunny weather and then weekends are overcast and windy or rainy. Gah!

So anyway, it's only 6 more weeks to Christmas (a.k.a. TIME OFF!!!) That translates to 30 working days.

Is anyone else suffering from end-of-yearitis? What are your symptoms? 

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

30 Day Photography Challenge

I have had a lot to write about lately and yet for some reason, been unable to actually pen it down. And so, I thought, for a change why not do a photography challenge? And I found this one on Postively Present via google search.

I don't intend on doing this challenge every single day. Nor do I intend to do it consecutively (because after all, I might want to rant about stuff and post other things). But I am looking forward to doing it.

If you want to join in, go ahead. Do credit Positively Present though because they did come up with the idea.

Happy Clicking!

Until next time,

Peace on earth

The grandmother died. Yesterday.

Exactly one year and one day after my mum's bypass surgery.

I won't pretend to be sorry. I'm just relieved.

I understand it might be hard for my dad. After all, no matter what I thought of the woman, at the end of the day, she was still his mother.

But now my parents can finally start living their lives. Finally.

Peace shall now hopefully prevail back in their house. And hopefully, the next time I see them, they won't look as aged as the last few times. 

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

The Boat

...by Nam Le.

'The Boat' is a collection of 7 short stories of individuals across the globe. The author is a Vietnamese-born Australian who also spends his time in America. His stories are not just of Vietnamese or Australians but rather of different ethnic groups across different countries. There is the struggling author and his difficult relationship with his Vietnamese father; a hitman in Colombia who is just a teenager and his struggles with having to kill his friend; an aging painter and his relationship with an estranged daughter; the young Aussie teenager at Halfhead Bay; the American woman struggling with her friendship in Iran; and finally, a group of Vietnamese people on The Boat escaping war-torn Vietnam and the trials and tribulations faced by one young girl estranged from her family.

The stories all revolve around characters facing some kind of pressure in their lives and attempting to deal with these whilst trying to attain some form of control. Two stories that stood out for me were 'Cartagena' and 'The Boat'. The former is the one with the teenage hitman in Colombia and the emotions and struggles kept me on edge all the way through. The latter, which is the last story in the book, is about the "boat people" escaping Vietnam and looking for better lives but at the same time, taking extreme measures to get there. In many ways, it was heart-wrenching. Especially in this day when there is a big deal being made about people arriving on Australian shores by boat, it gives us an insight into the difficulties faced to get here.

There were other stories though that didn't grip me as much...they seemed to have great beginnings but faltered somewhere. I think it was more about the characters than the plots themselves.

All in all, a decent read. I give it 3 stars out of 5.

***This has been reviewed as part of the 2011 Aussie Author Challenge***

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

Why J. K. Rowling couldn't kill Ron Weasley...

Did anyone else read the news that J. K. Rowling at one stage contemplated killing off Ron Weasley?

Don't believe me? Read this. But you know what? I don't think the series would have survived without Ron. Yes, yes, I know he isn't the central character. But not only is he my favouritest (yes, it's a word. It's my blog. I can make them up) character, he is one of the most loveable ones. Funnily enough, I prefer him, Hermione and Ginny and Fred and George and Sirius and Lupin over Harry. [Shock, horror!]  But besides the fact that Rowling would have had one very angry fan, here are some other reasons why she couldn't possibly have killed off Ron...

• Who would be the awkward, socially inappropriate person?
• Who would Hermione be angry with for going out with Lavender? For that matter, who would Hermione make jealous by going to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum?
• We wouldn't get half the sarcastic humour that is present in the books...
• Who would crack jokes with Harry about Trelawney?
• We wouldn't have the nervous new goalie...
• We wouldn't have had the chant of 'Weasley is our King'...
• We wouldn't get classic lines like "If we die for them, I'll kill you Harry" [in Book 7 when Harry decides to help Malfoy...]. C'mon...humour in a very tense moment!
• Who would be afraid of spiders?
• We wouldn't have the fights between him and Hermione or him and Harry...and let's face it, Harry and Hermione didn't fight all that much.
• Who would Fred and George tease?
• Or who would Ginny tease in the family?
• Who would be the cool red-head?
• And finally, who would be Harry's best friend and sidekick?

There is no way she could have killed off Ron. He is a loveable characters with an amazing sense of humour. If anything, Harry dying in the end would have been better than Ron being killed off!

So what do you reckon? Could she have honestly killed off Ron in the middle of the series and had a successful completion?

I for one cannot see how the story would have gone on.

But then, I am biased!

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

The Creative Hit

Image sourced via Magpie tales from here

The telltale signs

Of a frustrated writer

Stained ink on walls

And crumpled papers

He tries to work
From dawn till sunset
But the words fail him
With no creative ideas yet

As the days go by
The self-doubt grows
Thoughts of being useless
Lead to deeper lows

Reaching for the bottle
Might help with the words
But alas, all it does
Is make everything blurred

Inspired by other poets
He tries drugs for that high
While images dance in his head
The words are nowhere nigh

A stronger dose
Is what he needs
To help create that story
And sow its seed

And so the budding author
Shoots up a whole lot more
Waiting for the hit it gives
As the drugs seep into his pores

He will never write that book
Because the drugs didn’t work
Instead they left the author
Dead to the living world

***This has been written for Magpie Tales 89 and One Single Impression Prompt 192***

Until next time,

Cheers!!!