Born to Try

It's Anzac Day today, which is Australia's and New Zealand's national day of remembrance. At first I was thinking of using the 'Last Post' as song of the day to acknowledge the men and women who have served during conflicts, however, I feel a bit unqualified to write about it and I don't want to accidentally be disrespectful.

Instead, I then thought of having an Australian song, and it was by chance that a couple days ago I was doing a quiz and one of the answers was "Delta Goodrem". So I thought, let's have a throwback to childhood and have the 2003 hit 'Born to Try' which is so nostalgic. Yesterday was the first day in probably thirteen years that I saw the music video and I was actually surprised to find that I could not just sing along, but belt along when the crescendo hits to it's climax. Also, I was also surprised that I remember the music video itself so well.

'Born to Try' is from her 'Innocent Eyes' album (which is also a fantastic song, probably my favourite song of hers), and for those who are my age, it probably dominated a lot of friends parties and sleepovers; that and 'Predictable', 'Innocent Eyes' and 'Lost without you'. I know it certainly featured in a lot of my friends parties when I was eight until probably twelve.

'Born to Try', listening to it again now I'm twenty, all of a sudden, it seems more relevant to my life, because let's face it, I have more challenges now than what I had when I was a kid. A song that I used to like based on the sound, now seems like a really insightful lyrical song about how to regard life:

That I was born to try

I've learned to love

Be understanding

And believe in life

But you've got to make choices

Be wrong or right

Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like

But I was born to try

So here is 'Born to Try' and hopefully people also find it really motivational: 

Actually, because I really have entered the nostalgic mood with Delta, here is also 'Innocent Eyes': 

Movies based on true stories

I've been so unmotivated this week. I've watched my favourite movie ('Stuck in Love') six times when I should have been writing essays, but I can't seem able to get things started and have done whatever I can to procrastinate. Which is why I thought it about time to write a post, which I haven't been very good at keeping up to date recently.

Today I watched a movie called 'Woman in Gold' starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. I'm really fussy when it comes to watching movies. I'm a real tough crowd because a lot of genres, plots or characters don't interest me at all, however, I have discovered over the past couple of years, that films that I really enjoy seem to be the ones based on true stories, people and events. For example 'Pride' which I saw at the cinema twice and has become one of my top films.
I like the fact that films are a way to tell history that may have previously been unrecognised. I didn't know anything about the LGSM and I found it incredibly interesting and so glad that their story has been told and is accessible to a contemporary audience, so it won't be forgotten over time.

'Woman in Gold' is about Maria Altmann- forced to flee Austria during the Second World War, being a Jew- who sixty years later wants to reclaim her family's paintings that were stolen by the Nazis. Amongst these artworks was a portrait of her Aunt Adele, painted by Klimt. It is a very iconic work of art, which  at the time was on display in the Belvedere Palace. The movie shows the legal battle of the return of her family possession with the help of the lawyer, Randol Schonberg. The film is very cleverly set, with it's present day (late 90's) overlapping with flashback scenes of her life prior to the war. It is a really interesting story which is eye-opening to the injustice and fear that occurred in Europe during the Nazi regime.

'Portait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I'- Klimt

Recently I have also seen the brilliant 'The Imitation Game' based on the work of Alan Turing during the Second World World. I hadn't heard of him before, I feel really bad that I didn't until I saw this movie, because the guy was a genius. He was able to crack the Enigma code, which was thought to be unbreakable until he proved otherwise with his group at Bletchley Park. This film too has the different time frames, of during the war and the process of developing the machine, and after the war where Turing is questioned by the police which reveals him being a homosexual. The film is excellent, with the talented Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing. I highly recommend watching this film, because not only is it fascinating, it also recognises one of the greatest war heroes and geniuses of the 20th century.

I'm not a massive fan of Tim Burton. One of my closest friends would hate me saying that, but other than 'The Corpse Bride', I never really got into his other films. However, I watched 'Big Eyes' a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic! I remember my dad telling me about this particular case a while back when the movie was soon to come out and thought it extremely interesting, but never got around to actually seeing it. And I'm so glad that I eventually made the effort, because I loved it so much and once again, it is based on a true story. It's about Margaret Keane and her artwork which her husband, Walter Keane had claimed as his own. During the 50's and 60's, he was a famous artist who completely exploited his wife's talent and this movie shows their artistic and romantic relationship. He treated her terribly and when they separate, Margaret finally had the ability to reveal the truth and it follows the lawsuit that emerges.
Margaret Keane (who is portrayed by the gifted Amy Adams) is a great artist and I really love her 'Big Eye' paintings, which are captivating and draw the viewer in. It's like the eyes really are the gateway to the soul. (On a side note, Lana Del Rey has a song featured in the movie, which is haunting and really suits the film and the style of the artwork).

By Margaret Keane 

A world of my own/ Very good advice

As many of my friends would know, I'm currently slightly obsessed with the cover artist Tanner Patrick. But I promise it's not completely shallow (mind you, he is absolutely stunning), because he has an incredible voice. I happened to discover him when Adele's song 'When we were young' came out and I was listening to it on youtube, because at that stage, I didn't have the album (which my old flatmate gave me for Christmas). I listened to his version of the song, and I was like "WOW! This guy can sing!" It's my favourite song on Adele's new album, but I have to admit, I really love how Tanner Patrick sings it. 

But today I'm not going to talk about 'When we were young' because everyone knows (or should know) this song (it's brilliant if you haven't heard it), so instead I'm going to introduce Tanner Patrick's cover of a mash up of two songs from the Disney adaptation of 'Alice in Wonderland.' 

I've mentioned before my love for 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' in last weeks music post and I thought "why not keep the theme running two weeks in a row?" 

I feel like Alice most of the time (not having a clue what's going on, going along with it, not listening to other people, just doing my own thing and stumbling into weird and whacky situations, etc.), so it makes perfect sense why I love these Lewis Carroll stories. My favourite poem has always been the Jabberwocky, when I started school I was given my grandpa's copy of 'Alice in Wonderland', I grew up listening to the audiobook at night when I couldn't sleep. Even in the UK, I didn't realise until I got there, but Lewis Carroll's family home was in Guildford, and he wrote 'Through the Looking Glass' there and died there, and when I was decorating my room, I bought posters of the original sketches. So now, my mini crush is singing "In a world of my own/ Very good advice"... it's meant to be. 

Vegetarian Pastry Triangles

The other day I improvised my dinner and ended up making these really nice vegetarian pastry triangles. It was also extremely easy to make:

Ingredients:
- Puff Pastry (one sheet per person, so you end up having two triangles each)
-Pumpkin
-Silverbeet
-Fetta
-Egg

In preparation:
-roast pumpkin
-boil silverbeet

Steps
1) Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius
2) Cut pastry in halves in a triangle shape
3) Spread roast pumpkin as a sauce-like base
4) Cut up silverbeet into small pieces and place on sheet
5) Crumble fetta on top
6) Fold pastry in half and close the edges to stop the filling falling out
7) Beat an egg and using a brush, glaze the top of pastry
8) Put triangles in oven and wait for approximately 20 minutes for it to cook

And it's done! (I also boiled broccoli and carrots on the side) You don't necessarily have to use these fillings, you can experiment. This is just is what I did and it came out really delicious, so if you ever want to make something, here is a combination that has been tested and yummy to consume.

How it came out

Mad Hatter

I've said this numerous times, I am addicted to dark and twisted songs and Melanie Martinez's 'Mad Hatter' certainly is that. My favourite childhood story is Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and already you know from the title, this song is filled with endless references to the most loved Lewis Carroll stories... but much more disturbing. Even more disturbing than the Tim Burton movie adaptation (which I didn't like). For example, the line "We paint white roses red, each shade from a different person's head" etc.

I absolutely love this song from Martinez's 'Cry Baby' album, which came out last year. I wrote a post about her song 'Doll House' last year before 'Cry Baby' was released, which is also an incredible song that is very dark. The brilliancy of her album is that each song has what would at first appear innocent  in theme, like the title 'Tag, you're it' or 'Teddy Bear'. And she has such a sweet voice, but similar to Lily Allen, don't be fooled by her voice, because once you actually listen to what is being said, Martinez is singing about really extreme and serious issues, with 'Tag, you're it' about being raped and 'Teddy Bear' about being in an abusive relationship. The album is certainly explicit and not for easy listening and it sounds bad when I say it's one of my favourite album compilations.

I really do love her songs and I'm really sorry if I offend anyone for saying that. It's filled with disturbing themes and I wouldn't recommend it for many people because it does contain lots of upsetting imagery. 'Mad Hatter' however, is quite tame in comparison, which is one of the reasons why I chose to write about it today (also, I woke up with it in my head and has remained in my head all day, which I was quite happy with because it is a fantastic song). But Melanie Martinez is an extremely talented songwriter and I think it is refreshing having songs that do deal with what usually are considered tabooed subjects, because they are really serious issues that aren't talked about in society, when really people need to aware that these sort of things are happening and should be stopped.

Okay, this post just turned much more serious than I expected it to. Sorry about that. So here is 'Mad Hatter' which is, as I said someone in this post, is a great song:

Dualistic Week

It has been a very exhausting week with a balance of negative and positive aspects pretty much every day.

Monday
Negative: had a class presentation due and it felt like I was in front of a firing squad
Positive: that night I skyped a few of my closest friends from the UK

Tuesday
Negative: had another assessment in class which I was really nervous about
Positive: after the assessment I got to hang out with some of my closest friends at uni and that evening I skyped another great friend who's from Germany

Wednesday
Negative: was waiting for my bus for 15 minutes in the pouring rain
Positive: I got to visit my nonna then my favourite cousin and then spent the evening with mum

Thursday
Negative: I was so tired all day but had to start essay research
Positive: I had a hot cross bun for lunch

Friday/ today
Negative: woke up early to write my essay that was due today
Positive: I finished my essay on time! And look how pretty and colourful my notes were:

So now I'm just going to unwind and listen to Lana Del Rey in the background while lying in bed and trying to ignore the noise of the house that's getting demolished behind where my bedroom is.

Catch & Release

I'm really exhausted, so it's going to be a really short post today because I can hardly keep my eyes open. I had a presentation assessment today and have another tomorrow and then an essay due later this week, so I think despite just coming from the mid-semester break, I'm just beginning to crash and want to go into hibernation and wake up when I graduate. Over the past couple of days I've had my iPod on shuffle, not really knowing which artist to listen to while doing homework, so I've just been skipping critically through my collection of eclectic songs, which is an extremely revealing exercise. What I mean is, sometimes I can't pinpoint my precise mood and after skipping songs by the hundreds and listening to a very select few, I discover how I'm really feeling which I may not have realised before.

Now, after that long winded introduction, today's song is Matt Simons' 'Catch & Release' that came out a couple of years ago. It was the song that I prepared for myself last night to listen to first thing when I woke up this morning. I don't really remember doing this last night, but I expect my mentality behind it is that it begins with the sound of waves before the acoustic guitar begins it's rolling accompaniment for the soft vocals. The lyrics, singing and music are really lovely and a really gentle way of starting the day, which I was really thankful to myself for choosing, because I must have gotten it ready while half asleep at 3am ready for my wakeup after a few hours.

Despite feeling completely wrecked after today, at least this song is a positive start and finish to it. Also, it was first played to me by one of my friends in the UK, when it was one of my last days with them, so it has nice memories associated with the song.