Blogtoberfest!

Ah, another year, another Blogtoberfest! I just had to join in again with my new blog since I had such a great time last year discovering other people's awesome blogs and making some new friends too.


My first post comes somewhat late in the day but I put all the blame on a combination of IKEA fatigue (have you ever noticed after you leave that you've spent about ten times more money and stayed for three hours more than you intended upon entering the store?) and watching Jerseylicious with my Mum. Seriously, this show is completely addictive. I think it has something to do with the radioactive fake tans combined with overly teased hairstyles that somehow make for compulsive viewing. 


However, despite the IKEA fatigue I did end up buying some really pretty fabrics so i'll post some pics of them tomorrow. 


If you want to join in the Blogtoberfest fun, head on over to Tinniegirl!

Book Stuff: An Intro to Awesome Graphic Novels

I thought I would write a series of posts about some of my favourite graphic novels that have been turned into movies, as I was inspired by the totally sweet adaptation of Scott Pilgrim that hit the theatres recently. Plus I think that the graphic novels i'll be writing about also make for an excellent introduction for the comic book-shy people out there. So if you have previously shunned comics as purely for 13 year old super nerds- check out the ones featured in the next few posts- you won't be disappointed! So without further ado, here is the first instalment:

PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi: graphic novels (2000) and the movie (2007).

What It's All About: Persepolis originally consisted of two separate novels (originally in French) called Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return that have now been combined into one book. I would define Persepolis as a "thinking persons" graphic novel and a perfect starting point for someone who thinks all comics are juvenile.

Persepolis is an autobiographical account of Satrapi's childhood during the Islamic revolution in Iran and her adolescent years spent in a boarding school in Vienna. Each volume is divided into smaller sections containing a small story. From being forced to wear a veil to school (The Veil), seeing violent political demonstrations for the first time (The Trip) to typical teenage rebellion (The Vegetable), Satrapi shares many intimate details of her fascinating, if somewhat frightening, upbringing. Persepolis is wonderful because even though much of it details the radical and sometimes violent changes that were occurring in Iran, the story retains a quirky sense of humour and sense of innocence throughout. Presenting her story in a comic book format is an awesomely unique way to bring Satrapi's moving, captivating experiences to life-which definitely sets it apart from your typical by-the-numbers autobiography.

The comic itself is drawn in a simple yet distinctive black-and-white style which seems to suit the story and convey the emotions of the characters perfectly. What I especially love is that the movie is actually animated (and therefore not your typical comic turned-into-a-live-action-movie-deal) in a perfect rendition of the comic's unique illustration style.

Quote This: Marjane's Grandmother: "Listen. I don't like to preach, but here's some advice. You'll meet a lot of jerks in life. If they hurt you, remember it's because they're stupid. Don't react to their cruelty. There's nothing worse than bitterness and revenge. Keep your dignity and be true to yourself."

Reading Persepolis you get a fascinating insight into Satrapi's life with a good dose of humour and a free modern history lesson thrown in as well. Both the book and the movie are well worth a look due to their story, heart and all round general awesome-ness.

Retro Stuff: Little Owl Teapot

Oh dear it's been a while since my last post! All blame must go to the impending due dates of some evil university assignments. Anyways, I managed to pick up this awesome little teapot from the local antique store and I just had to share it:

It's a little Japanese tower made up of an owl teapot and two little cups. Really, how could I ever resist a teapot that has a little winking owl on top? Plus it was only $23! What a cute little bargain. And a total hoot. (I'm sorry I just couldn't help myself).

Retro Baking With AWW Recipe Cards

Ahh, Sunday baking. Is there any better way to end the week then with a massive dose of sugar and sprinkles?

The awesome Pip over at Meet Me At Mikes had the sweet idea to start cooking recipes from those old school recipe cards made by the Australian Women's Weekly and luckily I told my Mum about about it and 'lo and behold, she whipped out her own little WW box of recipe cards that were hiding in the top kitchen cupboard!

While it isn't the complete collection of cards, there are still about 226 of them which isn't too bad! Thankfully, (in my sweet-toothed personal opinion) we have the best sections which are: Favourite Cakes, Popular Biscuits & Slices and Light 'n' Lovely Cool Desserts. However I particularly love the name of the section called The Important First Course. Like if you don't get the first course at a dinner party right you'll be doomed to be known as a sub-par hostess for all eternity or something.

I thought i'd have a go at baking the butter cake from Favourite Cakes section and it turned out pretty great. The batter is really thick but it turns into a lovely soft and crumbly texture once it's baked. I doubled the recipe and ended up with a massive square cake and a smaller loaf cake. I think the loaf cake will have to be frozen given the general hugeness of the square one!

I only ended up with one burnt finger in the process too (yes, contrary to personal belief I sadly do not have asbestos fingers).

All in all it turned out to be a successful retro baking afternoon with the Australian Women's Weekly! I only ended up with one burnt finger in the process too (yes, contrary to personal belief I sadly do not have asbestos fingers). Personally i'd love it if they brought out recipe cards like this again because the recipes tend to be pretty simple and uncomplicated, plus I just love the whole recipe-cards-in-a-box thing. It's how our Mothers and Grandmother's and Great-Grandmothers kept their recipes and I just think it's really awesome.

Movie Stuff: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

First blog post! Yay! In honour of this momentous occasion I thought I would do a movie review because I love movies so very, very much!

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is hands down one of the best, most original movies to come out in ages. Really, how could you resist going to see a movie whose tagline is "An epic of epic epicness?" (Much kudos to the genius who thought of said tagline).

The movie is based on the super-popular Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The series consists of six novels in total and the cute, manga style black-and-white drawing style is simple yet wonderfully effective. They would make an awesome addition to any self respecting book nerd's library.

The plot of the movie is pretty simple: somewhat geeky, bass-playing Scott Pilgrim (geek pin-up boy Michael Cera) falls in love with the quirky-cool Ramona Flowers. Unfortunately she has some major baggage in the form of seven evil exes whom Scott must fight to the death if he wants to keep dating her. Bring on the witty banter, rad music and completely, utterly awesome fight scenes.

By far the best thing about this movie is that it is just like a video game. Evil foes burst into a spray of coins upon death, points are scored for every baddie that is defeated and bonus points and free lives are up for grabs. If you ever loved playing Sega, Nintendo or vintage arcade games then you will go nuts over this movie. Gamer nerds will wet themselves with excitement when they see this, I guarantee it.

What I love about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is that it doesn't try to distance itself from its comic book roots. Instead director Edgar Wright (who also directed the hilarious zombie rom-com Shaun of the Dead- seriously, if you haven't seen it then rent it now!) goes to town and the result is a hyper-energized, somewhat insane comic book/video game brought to life on the big screen. If you are in any way a nerd it would be a betrayal of your kind if you didn't see this movie. Seriously!

If you're in the mood for some other (rather more questionable) video game adaptations check out these other movies:

- Super Mario Bros. (1993) Super bad. Really super bad.

- Resident Evil Series (2002-onwards) Dodgy, yet somehow watchable because of that fact. Milla Jovovich in tight outfits doesn't hurt either.

- Streetfighter (1994) It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme. So yeah, it's pretty bad. Yet also unintentionally hilarious.

-BloodRayne (2005) So bad it's just well....BAD. Worse than all the dodgy video game adaptations put together, which is saying something. YouTube it to see for yourself! I dare you.