The blog's a moving.

Hi all,

I hope you all had a fantastic New Year, and that 2010 is a much better year than the last. Thank you so much for reading my blog and being a part of the last year. I'm moving the blog to my I Love Wednesdays page and it will be the face of ILW.

I hope to see you all there at http://www.ilovewednesdays.com.

Love you all,

Len

The Picnic Music Mix

It's a ridiculously hot Wednesday night and I'm sitting in my office finishing up everything that needs to be done before Christmas. I'm trying to finish it all tonight so that tomorrow I can relax with Nick and maybe go for a picnic.

I've already prepared the perfect Picnic Mix to go with our outing. If not, I'm still going to listen to it tomorrow, though probably in a dimly lit office starting at the screen. At least I know the music is going to be killer!

You can check it out on iTunes along with some other ILW playlists. Or you can sample some of it below.

Hope you all enjoyed your Wednesday and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and that you get to spend it with all the lovelies in your life.

(Also, you might notice a running theme with trees in the music mixes. I do so love trees. This one's my favourite in Centennial Park...and yes I have hugged it...it was oddly comforting).

Tuesday

Oh, how I loathe thee, Tuesday. Really, I don't hate all Tuesdays, just this Tuesday. I feel rather like a headless chook. My website and email are down for the day, because the server they were on has died. Luckily there's backups and whatnot, but whilst the new server is being built and everything being restored, I am sans email.

So, if anyone is wondering why there's no love being returned, it really isn't that I've shaved my head and decided to join a cult. I still love you all, just have no way of seeing or responding to it all.

However, it also means that I got a day off, a day to play, and boy did I ever!

I sometimes think that we get into creative fields so that in a way we don't have to grow up. We get to play, take photos, draw pretty pictures (well, logo designs for companies, but they're pretty, and they are pictures). But still, it's an awesome job, if you can call it that, and today was definitely one of the reasons I love to do it.

I went around taking photos. This is one of them.



Definitely one of the perks of being a photographer. Loads of camera gear and the entire city to explore.

Rush for a change of atmosphere

While listening to Big Audio Dynamite's song Rush I started thinking about all the things that have changed in the last year. I know, very strange song to start thinking about life to, but well, sometimes that's the way these things go. The last year has been a crazy, hectic and ultimately awesome year. I've spent it doing what I love, and I can honestly say that I can't imagine doing it any other way. Even with the sometimes sleepless nights because of deadlines, it's always worth it.

But, with the good comes the bad, and I have had quite a lot of loss in terms of family and friends that have passed away this year. To be honest, I don't think any of that hit me until very recently. When you take one hit after the next, you don't really realise what's happened until you get a moment to resurface, at least that's how I felt this week when I got to reflect on the year gone by. Saying that, I'm really grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of those people's lives and have them be a part of mine.

This is a photo of a rose from Nick's grandmother Marisa's funeral last year. We left it hanging upside down to dry. It reminds me of her every time I see it.

Where The Wild Things Are

Nick & I went to see Where The Wild Things Are last night and I have to say that it was an absolutely amazing piece of film-making. I was a little worried at the start that it would be another of those movie adaptations that goes in the "why did they do it" pile, but I was pleasantly surprised. Though, I shouldn't have been worried with the very talented Dave Eggers handling the screenplay and the ever awesome Spike Jonze directing. If you have haven't heard of Spike Jonze, his movies Being John Malkovich & Adaptation should show you how brilliantly he can bring very weird concepts to life.

I'm absolutely in love with the cinematography, the story, the directing, everything, including the absolutely phenomenal soundtrack that perfectly accompanies the story by Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Absolutely stunningly haunting and melancholic.

The fantastic movie was topped off by our trip to Borders and checking out some magazines, this in itself, not that fantastic, however, as Nick was making his purchase I noticed a Where The Wild Things Are crown behind the counter. I said to the two guys behind the counter that it was awesome, and that I totally wanted to get one, the lovely guys actually gave it to me! I really felt like a kid in a candy store...a candy store in which everything is free and wonderful.

I did a little happy dance, to which Nick & the Borders guys can attest to, put on my crown and proceeded to drive home.

The End.

Inspirations Abound: Where The Wild Things Are

So, I've been a tad obsessed with Where The Wild Things Are, and eagerly anticipating it's release in Australia this Thursday. It's a story that I think most of us grew up with and I'm ridiculously excited about seeing it. I'm actually thinking about getting tickets early for it, and perhaps treating Nick & I to gold class.



I've found myself also obsessing about all things Wild including the recent Where The Wild Things Are clothing collection by Opening Ceremony and their range of jewelery. I want it all!




I also came across this shoot styled by the incredibly inspiring Sasha Leibowitz for Karen magazine. It reminds me of playing dress ups as a kid and definitely has a Where The Wild Things Are feel to it.



Edward Gorey's gothic, macabre illustrations.



Nothing, and I do mean nothing, would be complete without a music tying everything together and my inspirations aren't any different. The video for When I Grow Up by Fever Ray and the music itself has an eerie quality that is absolutely mesmerising. Hope you enjoy

A Little Bit Of Silliness

I was cleaning up my muck about CF card, which is a separate card I have that I take silly photos or personal projects on, and I only clean that one out every once in a while.

Today I came across these photos of Natalie Biller & I. We were having a meeting about our beauty shoot with Tereza Kysilkova some time in October (yes, it has actually been that long since I looked at this card), and I had my beauty dish set up from taking my self-portrait series for the ILW website.

Well, you can see for yourself what we got up to. These are my favourites and also rather silly.