In awe

I am in awe of every inch of this book: beginning with the front cover, the wax-paper flyleaf, through to every word, image and texture on the pages. I squealed like a child when it arrived on my desk yesterday and have been longing to set-up camp on the couch with no interruptions, and simply follow Pia's dreams of wandering the earth...

This is also on it's way. I hesitated with this one, yet I am intrigued by the concept of living as one, whilst living among many. Where some people fear their own company, or simply the feeling of oneness, I relish it. I love my own family, yet I crave my own space, essential to allow myself to think and feel and breathe at a different pace. When you can separate the feeling of oneness from a feeling of isolation, it becomes wonderful. I wonder if my opinions will change after I read this?

This looks like fun - learn how to bind journals with the Wish Journal Workshop, courtesy of The Journal Girl Shoppe. And it's completely online (my kind of convenience). You can hear a lovely song in the intro video: Absolutely Nothing by Lilly Allen. Ooh, and she also has a zine called Page by Page.

fine fabric

Amy at badskirt was the lucky recipient of this prize. The prints and colors speak to me in so many ways. What fabulous combinations: typewriters and fabric, strong red and moss green, with a touch of vintage cream.

You must find time for reading

No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.
- Confucius

This, and other sage advice about improving our relationship with the printed word can be found at this amazing blog: The Mental Fitness Center.

La Mirada Film Festival 2011

On a sun-drenched Sunday, we scoffed down our tapas and red wine before heading into the ACMI theatre to watch Bon Appétit followed by the Q&A session with Unax Ugalde. For me, Nora Tschirner absolutely stole the show. [See the trailer here]

The films they made me watch

Returning to study part time while continuing to work full time has brought about many surprises. The first is the shock of an overwhelming schedule (all work, no play). The second, is discovering the silver lining in each cloudy assignment. I figured, choosing film-based units would be the perfect excuse to watch lots of movies. 'Watching TV again hey?' 'No dear, I'm studying'. And that really works for me!

The third and final surprise has been delving into films that I would normally reject. Looking at the list of movies I had to watch over Summer reminds me how much I enjoyed re-watching the classics (Jane Eyre, The Wizard of Oz and all the Hitchcock films). And it also reminded me of the fear I originally had, in having to sit through 20-odd Westerns. And the fear was justified: there were some absolute shockers!

Watching the Fincher films was a pleasure, in a gory, surreal sort of way. It solidified my adoration of Helena Bonham Carter for her character Martha Singer (Fight Club). But then it would, given I had to re-watch the 'Martha' sequence approximately 50 times to complete an assignment.

Back to the list that was...

The films They made me watch (2010 - 2011):

• 3:10 to Yuma (Mangold, 2007)
• Deadwood (Series HBO, 2004)
• A Fistful of Dollars (Leone, 1964)
• 3:10 to Yuma (Daves, 1957)
• Little Big Man (Penn, 1970)
• Shane (Stevens, 1953)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Hill, 1969)
• Johnny Guitar (Ray, 1954)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Ford, 1963)
• Stagecoach (1939)
• Frankenstein (Connor, 2004)
• Jane Eyre (White, 2006)
• Thelma & Louise (Scott, 1991)
• My Darling Clementine (Ford, 1946)
• Bandidas (Ronning & Sandberg, 2006)
• The Quick and the Dead (Raimi, 1995)
• Gunfight at the OK Corral (Sturges, 1957)
• The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah, 1969)
• Rio Bravo (Hawkes, 1959)
• Red River (Hawkes, 1948)
• The Great Train Robery (Porter, 1903) - early narrative
• The Big Trail (Walsh, 1930 - early sound & widescreen
• Brokeback Mountain (Lee, 2005)
• Appaloosa (Harris, 2009)
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dominik, 2007)
• The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)
• Se7en (Fincher, 1995)
• Run Lola Run (Tykwer, 1998)
• Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
• Fight Club (Fincher, 1999)
• Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
• Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
• Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954)
• The Wizard of Oz (Fleming, 1939)
• Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock, 1943)

Late for the Sundance

Really, really must remember to check out the favorites from last month's Sundance Film Festival.

This guy - Adam Palcher - has a decent list of films to watch out for. At a glance, I'd like to see:

• The Guard - any dark comedy with Don Cheadle would naturally make my list
• Martha Marcy May Marlene - for the wonderful title and the possibly unsettling intrigue 
• Circumstance - for a story of character and location
• Life in a Day - a doco collated from YouTube content

While the study intensifies, I am distracted by the looming Alliance Francaise French Film Festival in Melbourne next month. It will be my first encounter with the AFFFF and I am just a tad excited! Hopefully I'll get tickets to all 5 films of choice - would love to see more if I had more time.

And then there is MIFF in the winter months. I recall seeing a few shorts at MIDFF many years ago which is quite dismal considering how much I love going to the movies, and the fact that it's been running for oh, around 60 years now.

No excuses this year - I plan to attend as many film festivals as I can manage, even if it means only a movie or two at each festival. It the experience of watching films that I know very little about, or have only a snippet of narrative that sounds a little bit interesting. Yes, it is time to step up the Festival-game.