Oh, Rachel Zoe

(For those in the know, it’s pronounced Zo, not Zoey)

Rachel Zoe, “stylists to the stars,” once famously Nicole Richie’s friend and eating disorder pal, has, like a host of her vain celebrity friends with too much time on their hands, got herself a reality TV show that follows her fascinating life in fashion for the rest of us who are clearly desperate to know what she does day-to-day - the Rachael Zoe Project. And it’s just as brainless as she is.

This makes it an almost mindless delight. I’ve only watched one episode, on a lazy Saturday afternoon whilst channel surfing with nothing better to do, and indeed if you have no better way to fill your time, this may just do. If you take none of it seriously – and fear not, Zo does that more than enough for you – it’s a hoot. She “dresses” her clients by giving her opinion on their outfits, drools all over designers such as Oscar de la Renta, never seems to have enough time to get ready, but always has “20 minutes” to go shopping, where she inevitably buy countless dresses she probably won’t wear (“I’ll look at it”), will tell her husband she “had in the back of [her] closet” and will no doubt lead to yet another fight with said (increasingly frustrated) husband, who has been contacted by the credit card company for “suspicious activity.

• “I see it, I want it, I grab it…I pay for it later” (she says as she pulls clothes off a rack)
• “I can’t keep anything alive except a cactus…and that died” (walking upstairs with flowers her husband gave her)
• “Brad, we’ve got to give her a coat or she’s going to wear god-knows-what”
• “I am, like, perpetually confused…about where I’m going with my day.”

Then there’s all the tension with Taylor, ex-assistant, who has moved onto Vogue, who hates the gay but charming underling Brad, who used to work under her and now has replaced her.

• Taylor: “Does Brad not f---king know how to use a telephone?”
  Friend: “I don’t think so.”
  Taylor: “Things like that infuriate me.”

Brad is one of the things that makes this show worthwhile; the other is the fashion. During NY Fashion Week, Zoe gets to attend all the glorious shows we plebs dream about, which are, believe me, gorgeous - but completely out of your - and my - price range.

Oh, (as Arielle likes to say) to be young and beautiful and fabulous and completely lacking in depth.

x
JAG

Happy Thanksgiving!

Who has plans?

x
JAG

A step in the right direction

Finally.

x

JAG

Sugarplum Fairies

The Nutcracker always reminds me of Christmas.























I remember seeing a production of it in Hawaii some Christmases ago.



It's such a beautiful, magical story - it captures all the joy, love and fantasy of Christmas.






























1 month to go!































x
JAG

The American Dream

Next year, I'm taking a winter intensive subject called "Searching for the American Dream." It's a history subject that involves going to the States for 3 weeks over the winter break in order to study the subject.

It is so incredibly awesome and I am so incredibly going! It's a quota subject, which means only so many students can go, and I was accepted!! I am so incredibly excited like you would not believe (or maybe you would). I might not be going on exchange, but like they say, when one door closes, another door opens.




















New York, New York!































Boston






















Washington D.C

I've never been to Boston, a baseball game or lived in an American college. It is going to be utterly fantastic.

x
JAG

Yo

So, today I'm going to do that thing, where I, like, go home - or as Sara might put it, retreat from civilisation - and not blog ever. Just kidding. I will be around cyberspace occasionally. But I plan to a lot of r&r - obviously to recover from the stress and high blood pressure than has been my two exams* - that's reading and resting, for those who don't know. Oh, and obviously catch up on my most beloved Supernatural, watch an obscene amount of movies, get up to all sorts of mischief with Sara, get laid, gorge myself silly, watch the sun set, dream about true love (or any love, really), be inspired, write poetry and hopefully get paid for doing nothing working for my parents.



It's gonna be sweet.





















Anyhow, less than a month til I go to Hawaii, about which I am super, super excited, and then on to Vegas, baby!































And I know y'all are going to miss me, so feel free to email, or whatever. You could write sonnets in my name,** if you really wanted. I wouldn't stop you.



What are your plans?***

x
JAG

*Can't complain actually, exams went pretty well, I actually have a really good feeling about them and didn't find them all too challenging - read: impossible.
**Pseudonym. Whatever.
***Winter. Holidays. It's all the same. Skiing!

AWOW: 7 & final

7.

Death is but the next great adventure.*
































I don't know where I sit on this one; I haven't thought about it all that much.
























But being the atheist that I am, I've never really believed in an afterlife. I believe we simply die.





























I love the stories of the Egytian afterlife, although I don't know if I'd want to be a part of it.



















The whole reincarnation thing is pretty cool. If you could come back as anyone or anything, who/what would you be?**
























x
JAG

*I know I have some hardcore fans so tell me, which BOOK is this quote from?!
**I realise that, sadly, it doesn't work like this.

AWOW: 6

“You have to be careful about your thoughts because your thoughts become your words. You have to be careful about what you say, because your words become your actions. You have to be careful about what you do, because your actions become your habits, and you have to be careful about your habits because, collectively, your habits become your character.”

6.

It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you.

Is it our actions that make us good or bad, or who we are?

I am composed of three parts. Foremost, I have a body and all of its organs made of matter. Secondly, I participate in the form of the human being. Third, I have a soul that tries to understand and do the good and condemn and avoid the bad.

Body

Form

Soul

I'm inclined to think both - because isn't it who we are underneath that drives us to do the things we do? I don't know that one thing necessarily defines us, if anything at all can define us - it is anything and everything that can say the most about "who we are."

So I started thinking about some of the things that might define me, and I came up with a short list and made a mosaic featuring them:

1. Australia, 2. Hawaii (America), 3. My friends, 4. Melbourne University, 5. My job - Boost Juice, 6. My beliefs - there's no God, 7. Where I live - farm, 8. Just A Small Town Girl, 9. Optimism

What you say no to defines you - drinking, smoking, drugs, prejudice.

What surrounds you will define you - family and friends. Aren't we judged by the company we keep?

What you stand for defines you - equality.

Your background and environment in the early years are the beginnings of what will finally define you . This nurturing and exposure combined with your genetic make up inherited over thousands of years is what builds your character, develops your integrity and gives you that aura and personality...Character, integrity and aura and personality are all the things that define a person.

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JAG

(Please, please somebody, for the love of all that may be holy and all-powerful, name this movie!)

Heartthrob or horrific?

Vampires, that is.



What say you?



(My only answer: Edward Cullen. Full stop.)



x
JAG

I Picked A Major I Like But I Resent Your Pessimism Regarding It

I've made my decision: this JAG is going to be an English Lit major and history minor, and she's looking forward to it! She's come a long way since wanting to be a creative writing major and spanish minor, but that's OK, because she's happy with her choices, and she's looking forward to it.

The Declaration:

I, JAG, picked a major I like. However, I believe (one day) I WILL BE SUCESSFUL and refuse to succumb to others' perception that I will fail and end up living in a cardboard box. I resent your pessimism (communitcations & business majors) for I am an arts/theatre/voice/cinema/music/art/photography/philosophy/creative writing/english major & I am optimistic. I shall find employment... one day.

Besides, how hard could it be?

So what if I end up living in a cardboard box? I'll make it out of books!

























They build 'em tough these days, I hear.

x

JAG

AWOW: 5

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.

5.



Are we the agents of our own destiny? Or merely the pawns of Fate, Destiny, the Gods or some higher order?



What fates impose, that men must needs abide; It boots not to resist both wind and tide

Is fate just an excuse - "for those too weak to determine their own destiny"? Do we control ourselves, our futures, or are we living out some predetermined future?

I'm more inclinded to believe that "we make our own fortunes and we call them fate." I also rather like the Devil's Dictionary definition of destiny: "A tyrant's authority for crime and fool's excuse for failure."

I've always been of the belief that everything happens for a reason, but that we are the masters of our own destiny, so to speak. Que sera, sera -- but we decide.

"We sow our thoughts and reap our actions. We sow our actions and reap our habits. We sow our habits and reap our character. We sow our character, and we reap our destiny."

x
JAG

O What Gendered Lives We Lead

Why must girls always be defined in relation to guys? They're either girly or a tomboy - that is, ultra-feminine, or somewhat masculine.





















Take Abbey-Louise Clarke, who recently joined her local fire brigade (not entirely sure why this is news, but it's the Herald Sun, so no questions asked).

Abbey-Louise Clarke plays footy, cricket, helps build houses and has just become the first female firefighter at her CFA station.

But Cobden's Abbey-Louise says she is no tomboy.

"I'm an ordinary girl who likes to do anything men can do," the 17-year-old said.

Are there such things as male and female interests, and why are they this way? Just because sewing has always been a woman's job, doesn't mean it is by its very nature, nor does it make it a feminine past time.





























As if there aren't enough stereotypes in the world.

x
JAG

AWOW: 4

A Week of Wondering (great acronym, eh?) kind of went AWOL for a while there, what with the Melbourne Cup (holiday!) and the election and then a Kenyan public holiday for the election, and what with it being SWOTVAC (or NOTVAC, if we're being entirely honest), and then essays due and a day of cramming and then the exam, and then a day off, and then a day off to recover from giving blood,* and then Saturday off because it's the Sabbath people, and you're not supposed to do anything on the Sabbath. Except rest. Which I dutifully did.

Anyhow, today's question is: are we better off not looking [for answers] at all? Not delving? Not yearning?^

To me, this is like the logic that we're better off not hoping, because without hope, there are no expectations, and without expectations, there are no disappointments. But then, what is there? Hope brings anticipation, excitement, and meaning - without hope, is there any reason to live? Without hope, there is only existence. I believe that we are hopeful creatures by nature, and that is what drives us.

Or maybe I'm just an insanely hopeful person. Also true.



This week is majorly messing with my head. I can't believe it's Sunday. It doesn't feel like Sunday, even though we had roast for dinner. It's like I'm stuck in some sort of unidentifiable time warp...oh boy, must be watching too much Supernatural. (But is there ever too much?)

Too much study = rambling.

Good night!

x
JAG

*No, really, I didn't need the day off. It was fine, and it didn't even hurt after.
^TV show?

Music is Love

I got tagged a really, really long time ago by those Two Crazy Girls, and I hadn’t forgotten about it, I was just mulling it over. C’mon, it asks for at least 7 songs that define your life, why, and favourite lines! I had to think about it.

Apparently, I discovered music in year 9. Well, that’s not strictly true. But a lot of the songs I hold dear in my heart/“define my life” stem from year 9, and associated memories (because they’re all fond – more or less). I go through lots of stages with songs and bands I love, but the ones that have stuck with me – my “life soundtrack” (so far), if you will – seem to be ones I have some connection to from year 9 and/or later years of boarding.

Of course, there are so many more, but I’ll cut it down to the Essential Eight:

1. Times Like These, The Foo Fighters
   This is the song that kind of defined year 9 for me, because it was on our end of year DVD and the lyrics just summed it up so perfectly:
   It’s times like these you learn to live again. It’s times like these you give and give again. It’s times like these, time and time again…
   


2. RESPECT, Aretha Franklin
   I first heard this song in year 8, when I had to learn it in order to dance to it as a witch in a play that was a variation of Rapunzel. It was hilarious. Then, when they played it in Chapel in year 9 and all the teachers dressed up in wigs and dresses (if I remember rightly) it brought tears to my eyes because it made me homesick. Now, it just makes me feel empowered.
   All I’m asking is for a little respect.
   


3. Superman – it ain’t easy, Five For Fighting
   I performed this song at my year 9 half-yearly concert and of all things, I played the drums! I’d never played drums before, but they needed someone and apparently couldn’t find anyone else, so they asked me. Fortunately, it was pretty easy and very straightforward. The performance was a success, and this song has been a favourite ever since. It’s just so, well, romantic.
   I can’t stand to fly. I’m not that naive. Men weren’t meant to ride with clouds between their knees.
   


4. Build Me Up Buttercup, The Foundations
   This song is just so upbeat, it sort of both defines me and year 9.
   Why do you build me up, Buttercup baby just to let me down and mess me around and then worst of all, you never call baby when you say will but I love you still. I need you, more than anyone darling. You know that I have from the start. So build me up Buttercup, don’t break my heart.
   


5. Goodbye My Lover, James Blunt
   I discovered this song in year nine, when it was performed at my brother’s speech night, and fell in love with it. I heard it again recently, and found I could sing all the words, though it’s been a long time since I’ve listened to it. It’s just so beautiful, so bittersweet and sad.
   You touched my heart, you touched my soul. You changed my life, and all my goals. Love is blind, but that I knew, and my heart was blinded by you.
   


6. Scar, Missy Higgins
   Most of Missy’s songs are favourites of mine, but this one’s just so optimistic and uplifting. I can relate, because it’s all about fitting in and figuring out who you are. When I heard it, it made a whole lotta sense, and it’s very inspiring.
   I think I realised, just in time, although my old self was hard to find, you can bathe in your finest wine, but I’ll give you mine. ’Cuz I’m a little bit tired of fearing that I’ll be the bad fruit nobody buys. Tell me did you think we’d all dream the same?
   


7. Landslide, The Dixie Chicks (original: Fleetwood Mac)
   I played this song in year 9 at the end of year concert, and it was a huge deal for many reasons, not least because it was the first time I sang (and accompanied myself on piano) in front of a crowd. I played it again at my year 12 Valedictory Dinner. So it means a lot to me, because I associate it with people and times in my life which I hold dear. It also seems to say exactly what I felt at those times.
   Can I sail through the changing ocean tides, can I handle the seasons of my life?
   


8. American Pie, Don McClean
   Do I need a reason? This is just a fantastic song…also, my friend introduced it to me, and Don Maclean is one of her favourite singers, so it kind of reminds me of her. Doesn’t it just strike a chord in everyone?
   A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance and maybe they’d be happy for a while.
   

Whoever wants it…can have it.

x
JAG

No Such Thing as a Pregnant Man?

Thomas Beattie (better known as the Pregnant Man) is expecting another child.

So what?

This is provoking hundreds of complaints from people whose business it really isn't. People who call themselves "open-minded" then go on to say "this is just gross. These people need to get some definate therapy and sorry IF you a woman taking hormones to be a man and vice versa, IT is the female of our species to bear children, can't get around that no way," or "this is just not right and he must be some kind of thrill seeker. Why didn't he wait to be a man they have have the surgery after he gave birth this is just a freak show plain and simple. nothing else. FREAK SHOW," among other tasteful and balanced comments.

Is he a man? Isn't he a man? Is our sex - both gender and sexuality - defined by who we identify as or our biology? Does it really matter? They want to have a family, and they've found a way - isn't that the important thing here? What's the controversy, and why does everyone care? Are we so gender-defined in our culture that men can't give birth? Really, what's the big deal?

Would it really kill people to be a little more open minded and less judgemental? Or is there such a thing as being "too open-minded" about an issue like this, as Holmes245 would like to aruge?

(I think Holmes' argument is much like my brother's own stance that I'm too open-minded, I have no standards, I agree with and accept everything etc - void. We're not anarchists, for goodness sake. We're just less stereotypical than you are, and we don't freak out if/when things or people don't fit convention.)

x
JAG

What do pirates look like?

The headlines of Navy kills three pirates off Somali coast in the online news intrigued me, to say the least.

And this is just one of the headlines:

Admiral's 'Urgent' Plea: Pirate-Fighting Sonic Blasters

Inside Pirate Central
Somali Pirates Hit Another Seven Ships
Russia to U.S.: Let's Team up, to Fight Pirates
Could Mercenaries Return as Pirate Foes?
Pirates Hit Six More Ships Off of Somalia
Somalia Pirate Crisis: A Little Law and Order, Please
Pirates to NYT: "We Just Want the Money"
Sonic Blasters, Mercs vs. Somali Pirates
Somali Pirate Vessels vs. Navy Tech
U.S. Navy: Pirates Not Our Problem
Somali Pirates Seize Ship-Load of Tanks
French Troops Snatch Pirate Hostages
Pirate Attacks Up 75%; Nearly One Raid Per Day
Secret Weapon of the French Anti-Pirate Raid?
Behind the French Anti-Pirate Raid
Old-School Counterinsurgency in Somalia
Somali Pirates At It Again
Argh! Nigeria Pirates Recycle Gov't Guns
France Raids Pirates!
Arrrr! Warships vs. Somali Pirates





Somali Pirate Map Found!

"They are armed to the teeth, ruthless and desperate, but claim to adhere to their own code of conduct. They have grown so powerful that they threaten to cut a vital trade route, and fearful merchants are crying out for naval escorts. In the seas off Somalia, it seems as if the so-called heyday of piracy at the turn of the 18th century has returned, with an estimated 1,000 pirates organised into five main fleets stalking a latter-day Barbary Coast."

"Seizing a ship is surprisingly easy. Under darkness, fast boats pull alongside slow-moving ships, and the pirates scramble aboard. The small crews are unprepared and easily overwhelmed. The bandits raid the ship's safe and then focus on their main prize: ransom for the ship and crew. Along with the human risk go higher shipping costs, financial uncertainty and the potential for serious environmental peril if a captured oil tanker is damaged."

Pirates by numbers
£9bn estimated annual losses due to piracy worldwide.
90-95 percentage of world trade carried by ship.
300 approximate number of sailors currently held hostage by pirates worldwide.
198 the number of pirate attacks so far this year.
$1m average ransom for a ship taken by pirates.
1,000 estimated number of pirates in Somalia.

Apparently piracy isn't the glamorous, swashbuckling lifestyle it used to be.

There are still perks:

























x
JAG

To Write Love on Her Arms

Rescue is possible, if only we love.



x
JAG

The Little Bitchy Blog That Could

300 posts!


So it's all celebratory from here on in. Mostly of my awesomeness, but also of this blog. Which, obviously, stems from my own awesomeness.


I am:

• excited about Christmas!

• not so enthused about tomorrow's exam, and hopefully not going to fail...

• totally addicted to flair

• loving this video all over again

• discovering new heights of procrastination

• enjoying the warm weather, sunny days and ability to wear dresses again!

• delighted by Enchanted, and glad that I have finally seen it. It thrillerd my inner romantic to little pieces. Have been singing "How Does She Know?" all week.

• going to achieve a goal by giving blood on Thursday
• Tossing up between studying a double English Lit/History major or English Lit major and History minor next year
• Searching for the American dream
• Compiling a long list of books to read over summer
• Trying not to take time for granted

x
JAG

Remember, Remember

The 11th of November

90 years later.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

In your memory, we live and are ever grateful.

x
JAG

ABC Movies

Anahita tagged me again!

1. Pick one film to represent each letter of the alphabet.

2. The letter "A" and the word "The" do not count as the beginning of a film's title, unless the film is simply titled A or The, and I don't know of any films with those titles.

3. Return of the Jedi belongs under "R," not "S" as in Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi. This rule applies to all films in the original Star Wars trilogy; all that followed start with "S." Similarly, Raiders of the Lost Ark belongs under "R," not "I" as in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Conversely, all films in the LOTR series belong under "L" and all films in the Chronicles of Narnia series belong under "C," as that's what those filmmakers called their films from the start. In other words, movies are stuck with the titles their owners gave them at the time of their theatrical release. Use your better judgement to apply the above rule to any series/films not mentioned.

4. Films that start with a number are filed under the first letter of their number's word. 12 Monkeys would be filed under "T."

5. Link back to Blog Cabins in your post so that I can eventually type "alphabet meme" into Google and come up #1, then make a post where I declare that I am the King of Google.

6. If you're selected, you have to then select 5 more people.

These are all films I've enjoyed, with exceptions: V - I've seen V for Vendetta, but really didn't like it; no other V films come to mind (that I've seen) and X - I haven't seen X-Men or X Files or any other film starting with X; the only possibility that comes to mind is Malcolm X, which I have seen and was quite good (but doesn't start with X).

American Beauty
Babel
Casablanca
Devil Wears Prada, The
Elizabeth
Fiddler on the Roof
Grease
Horton Hears a Who
Incredibles, The
Jane Austen Bookclub, The
Knocked Up
Lion King
Mr and Mrs Smith
Ned Kelly
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Painted Veil, The
Queen of the Damned
Romeo + Juliet
Sound of Music, The
Toy Story
Under the Tuscan Sun
V for Vendetta
Waitress
X Files: I Want to Believe, The
Y Tu Mamá También
Zoolander

This is an open tag.

x
JAG

Worse Than a Female George Dubya?

This is beyond scary to even think about, but so too is this:





















This, however, is just funny:

"Fox News, a channel generally flattering in its coverage of the "Palin phenomenon", reported that aides were astonished when they learned she was unaware that Africa was not a country but a whole continent.

She was also said to be unable to name the countries that belong to the North American Free Trade Agreement: the US, Mexico and Canada.

Unnamed McCain advisers, their ire no longer constrained by campaign discipline, complained that the Alaskan Governor had been unco-operative. The New York Times reported the McCain circle was angry about her decision to speak to someone she thought was French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but was, in fact, a Canadian radio DJ playing a prank."

But is this fair?

"She has become the most mocked bird in American political history. But the longer the mocking goes on, the more I do care. Somehow I can't help being niggled by the fact that if she were a man, the hysteria being whipped up by comedy writers and the commentariat about her shortcomings just wouldn't be happening. Not to this degree, that's for sure.

Palin is not the first ill-experienced or ill-equipped person to run for high political office. The big difference is that these people are usually men and they are never — repeat never — subjected to the same scrutiny or reduced to the same kind of personal attacks as women."

Yeah, right. What Palin has been subjected to via the media, internet and, frankly, conversations among people in general is because she is a joke.

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JAG

Together, as one world, yes we can

Dear President Obama:

As citizens across the world, we congratulate you on your election, and celebrate your campaign commitments to sign a strong new global treaty on climate change, close Guantanamo prison and end torture, withdraw carefully from Iraq, and double aid to fight poverty. No one country or leader can meet the world's most pressing challenges alone, but working together as one world in a spirit of dialogue and cooperation, yes we can bring real and lasting change.



The Global Message to Obama Wall in Washington DC is becoming a powerful symbol of unity and reconciliation between the US and the World. Sign it online.

x
JAG

Thank you, America

Thank you, America, for being the change we need to see in the world.

McCain's concession speech was truly magnificent, gracious, kind, honourable, a reflection of the man he is - patriotic, proud and selfless, as Obama recognised in his acceptance speech.

Obama's speech was fantastic. The anticipation building up to it was also amazing - even in a little TV room in a little college at the University of Melbourne, Australia, we were all very excited. He was powerful, strong, passionate, but ever realistic as to the challenges of today, of tomorrow.

"I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nations promise in the months ahead."

"I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctors bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair."

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there."

[The ever accurate Horsey]

Yes we can.

Thank you, Barack Obama, for being the change we need to see in the world.

x

JAG

Adoration

This clip was at the end of last night's episode. It was hilarious. God, I love those boys.

x
JAG