I hope she has her glorious blonde locks bouncing. Do I seriously sound like I have a girl crush on Allison Goldfrapp? I know Sean sure does, so its my only way to cope with such things. I canrsquo;t compete, so I might as well join.

Of course there is no way I can get a camera in that theatre. I hope one of the boys from JJJ is shooting tonight.

I hope Ms Goldfrapp is enjoying this glorious Sydney weather. The Canadian and I sure did yesterday. Isnrsquo;t this such a summer shot? Mmm, Irsquo;m so glad she is returning herself to Sydney again.

So I just posted and am now posting again.

Lately I am torn by a subject Irsquo;ve talked about before; my photography creativity, and now by even the ways in which I share what I do.

I think most creative people feel the need to change, start over, travel, discover, explore, renew and everything entwined with that. And because of that I am currently looking at ways to improve every creative aspect of my life.

I take photographs. I write. I dabble in online sites to fulfill a need to share. At the moment I am feeling all those feelings I felt as a 25 year old. Unsettled, needing a change, needing to explore the worldhellip;

and because of that, I fear I may delete all my photographs and delete my blog. At the same time, I am a very nostalgic and sentimental person, therefore erasing something that has documented years of my life is not really in my character.

So I ponder thishellip;do I start from scratch? Do I archive my blog and create something new? Do I focus just on photography? Do I focus on purely film photography? Do I sell the digital camera? Do I start a business? Do I sell my car and smaller things of any value to travel?

Sean and I have big plans for our future, our close future, so the travel thing will most likely happen later rather than sooner, but I am restless and this restlessness has never been good for me. Or maybe it has. I need a Sofia Coppola fix. Perhaps new avenues will appear before me, but before I trip over them, my insides will bounce and my lack of focus will cause me angst.

Time to kill the blog and start afresh?

Leigh Miller

Andrea Wyner

Jose Villa

Debi Treloar

Gertrude and Mabel - what I adore about Gertrude and Mabel is that they shoot completely on film.

These are just a few I love. I will now look through all their shots and realise what I did wrong with mine hehe

Switching to scary U2 Mad Manda mode now as news of the new album is going a bit crazy at the moment. Bono leaked some tracks out his window to happy cell phones below. This is no usual stupid act on Bonorsquo;s part this time, methinks they have finally realised that there is a thing called the internet which is great for hype. Yay Bono!

Yes, I have heard these tracks, there is a lot of crackle, a lot of waves breaking against the shore, a lot of annoying Europeans talking and saying ldquo;BONE-OHrdquo; all amidst some new U2 music which lightly plays in the background. I hear some Bono oh oh ohs and some heavyish Achtung Baby sounding guitar and thatrsquo;s about it.

I am however getting damn excited and I donrsquo;t even know why. After ATYCLB I was so NOT excited that I didnrsquo;t hype HTDAAB at all. I donrsquo;t think I even checked news about when it was coming. But for this album I am pretty pumped and feel like Irsquo;m reliving my first moments on the internet again. It was U2 that first brought me open eyed to the internets. I wanted to know all there was to know about the 4 Irishmen. It was then that I first discovered message forums and chat rooms. I was a big, fat U2ey chatting room nerd! I think I racked up something like 7000 posts (in about 2 years) on a rather large U2 message forum which I shall not name here.

I have made lots of U2ey friends over the years, had photographs published, been in a U2 video, got to shoot the band from the pit and met Bono all because of the internetshellip;OK, meeting Bono is a stretch but if it werenrsquo;t for my U2 net friends, I wouldnrsquo;t have met him.

It seems to have come around again that I am super excited about all the album hype, I love hype and hysteria even if the end product is disappointing.

I still remember how awesome watching the studiocam for ATYCLB was and how excited I got at hearing the first snippet of Beautiful Day. I loves the internets and I loves a little U2.

p.s. We are seeing Goldfrapp at The Opera House!

Looking forward to spending time with my family on the weekend. Girly weekend here we come. And hopefully a photo shoot too!

I need these little things right now as the Canadian is back home without me. I cannot begin to express how much I miss him. The excitement and commraderie of the Olympics is a welcome distraction at the moment. I also painted my nails green and gold. New low.

I am currectly watching Judohellip;JUDO, for Godrsquo;s sake. OK, now I donrsquo;t know how this Hungarian -Aussie Pekli has not won every tournament she has ever competed in. She is one scary lookin woman. If I had to meet her on a Judo mat, I would lay down and hand over the medal without letting her lay a hand on me. Surely scariness is a big factor in beating your oponents?

I am not happy that Sean has taken off just as Australia and Canada are playing each other in the hockey. Oh the joy I am missing out on by us whipping their Canuck butt.

Whatrsquo;s not to love about The Olympics? There are words spoken such as repechage, peloton, coxless, womens trap, birds nest and the noodle.

I love to hate the ads that will plague our TVs over the next 2 weeks..Irsquo;m already sick to death of granny in the suitcase and that Queen song. I love it.

When can you ever watch Synchronised Swimming other than in the Olympics? Does it even exist outside the games? What is it about watching swimmers do laps that makes me want to eat Uncle Tobyrsquo;s products? Why the hell is Tom the Chippie commentating on the Slalom? Why do I get such enjoyment when anyone beats the Americans? Where are Roy and HG? Oh so many questions!

My boy has taken off on a jet plane. I wonrsquo;t go into how that makes me feel because there is nothing worse than a blogger who whines and complains about their life. Instead I watch little Chinese gymnasts flip and turn on the beam and give you a few little discoveries for this week.

Irsquo;m sure I found these via other peoplersquo;s websites but I donrsquo;t remember where now.

• Gertrude and Mabel - I want these fabulous women to shoot my someday wedding. They shoot film! Incredible work.


• Jacqueline Veissid - the kind of photographer I want to be.


• Gigpark - Newish social networking thingie where you share you favourite recommendations of services and people out there. Add me as a friend.

I miss The Dream.

So I got my first test roll from the Yashica Mat 124 back. Not too bad for the first roll, most shots worked, the exposure wasnrsquo;t too bad on most shots. I only have one other completely manual camera and even that has an auto setting on it, so this was really testing my abilities, especially as it doesnrsquo;t have a working light meter.

The test roll was Fuji 160S which I think works really well with the Holga, but with this camera, its a bit too saturated for my liking. Irsquo;m going to do my next few rolls with Portra as I love that film.

Irsquo;ve got a photo shoot coming up next week depending on weather, so hopefully I will have some more Yashica goodness to share then.

I guess I am an artist of sorts..try to be anyway.

At the moment I am struggling with what I take pictures of. I have this expensive camera which I love but am not happy with what I shoot.

Sure, a lot of them are pretty and pleasing to look at but they donrsquo;t fill me with any artistic contentment. I know where I want to take my photography and what I wish I could be, but I canrsquo;t seem to get there. At times, I think having a fancy digital camera almost hinders my chance at growing as a photographer because things are so easy. Its very easy to take pretty photographs of blooming flowers and yummy gooey desserts but reallyhellip;what the hell am I saying about myself with those kinds of photographs?

Maybe I have to put myself on a ban of Famp;F photography (food and flowers) for a few weeks or even a month. I wonder if I could do it?! I know I really want to shoot portraits more than anything. I do shoot a lot, its just unfortunate that I canrsquo;t share a lot of them. I need models, seriously!

In becoming a portrait photographer however I as a person need to grow some guts. I am such a chicken around new people so its tough.

Anyone got any tips on how you deal with this artistic blockage?

In the past couple of months I have had to knock back 6 different weddings. These lovely brides and grooms have asked me to shoot their weddings and its absolutely heart breaking to tell them that I am not an actual wedding photographer. I teach 6 year olds for a living.

As I have talked about before, I am shooting my first wedding in September. Its for a very old, dear friend and someone whom knows I am no professional. Unfortunately for her, she and her new hubby will be my guinea pigs. I guess after I do that wedding, I will figure out if it is in fact, something that I would like to do more.

I adore weddings, I adore details and when I was a teenager I dreamed of being a wedding planner, so it kind of makes sense. However, I am also a very anxious person whom is nervous around new people, and I am very concerned about doing a good job. Weddings are highly stressful and I donrsquo;t know if I will actually enjoy doing it because of that.

Its so lovely to know that people like my style enough to want to ask me to do their wedding and I have felt terrible when I have had to say no to each of them. Anik, I hope you find someone fabulous!

In other photography newshellip;look what finally came in the mail! I just loaded some film, so fingers crossed that she works!

Its a Yashica Mat 124, which is my first real foray into Medium Format photography. This is why I have been wanting to delve into the med. format world for a long time. *sigh

Its here! Its here! I have finally received my Artist Copy of our Polaroid book, For The Love of Light. I cannot contain my excitement at being published in such a magically beautiful book, let alone any book! I can tick off number 2 on my 100 List. Well, kindahellip;I want my own book someday.

It is such a thrill to have been included with so many amazing photographers, many of whom I have admired from afar for a long time.  Its just slightly bizarre that my ugly mug is actually on the cover too. Jen tells us that there are only a handful of books left, so be quick if you want a special edition copy. They came beautifully packaged with a print of one of the photographs. I was lucky enough to receive Ann - Kathrin Kochrsquo;s gorgeous airport print.

Today is a good day.

The books are being shipped and some have already arrived for people in the States. There are only a few left, so be quick if you would like a copy. We are really pleased with how well the book has sold and so thrilled that it has been received so well.

Hopefully my copies will arrive sometime this week! Irsquo;ll be hanging out near the mailbox a lot this week as I am also awaiting the arrival of my new Yashica Mat 124 camera. Its my first real foray into medium format photography and I canrsquo;t wait.

Sean and I just got back from a mini trip to Victoria where we got to play in the snow. We had fun and I canrsquo;t believe these holidays are over already! Another term begins tomorrow..oh my!

Irsquo;m not paying $130 to go see one band at a festival that does not entice me at all. Its taking a big risk that they will do a sideshow however. Irsquo;ve never seen them live and am desperate to!

Oh shiny, frappy gods, please do another show in Sydney and please do not let it be on the same night Mr Bright Eyes is playing.

There isnrsquo;t any info on the website as of yet, but hopefully after Parklife go on sale, we may hear something.

Message from Allisonhellip;

Irsquo;ve decided to shoot as much film over the next 2 weeks as I possibly can. As of today, or as of 3pm yesterday, I am officially on 2 weeks holiday. So I have 2 full weeks to get in as much film shooting as possible.

My arsenal includes:

• Nikon FM3a - 35 mm manual SLR camera


• Polaroid SX70- Instant Polaroid SLR camera


• Holga 120GN- Lomographic 120 medium format toy camera


• Lomo Fisheye- Lomographic 35mm fisheye lensed toy camera


• Polaroid Spectra System- Instant Polaroid camera

I do not promise to use them all but I have a roll of Holga waiting to be developed and the Nikon is almost ready to be reloaded. I guess Irsquo;m just a little bit sick of digital at the moment. I will still use it in the next 2 weeks, no doubt (I did last night at our trivia night- which we won btw ) but Irsquo;m hoping to get a little more manual..part of that simple life Irsquo;m longing for.

****************************

And the lovely inspirations are from these talented photographers:

1. Untitled, 2. pentacon six - mr big, 3. reading #2, 4. Hello!, 5. Japanese scene, 6. 20, 7. Untitled, 8. commuting, NYC style, 9. hellip;, 10. climbing, 11. my brother told them they could walk home from the park alone if they wore cones on their heads., 12. Untitled, 13. a little bit of sun on an otherwise grey day, 14. Untitled, 15. little boy, 16. men at work, 17. bike ride in the country, 18. Bubble Fantasy II, 19. Untitled, 20. APPLE, 21. lichter, 22. 通路wish flower, stripped., 24. Marina, 25. wait., 26. I, 27. ., 28. ., 29. Untitled, 30. Untitled, 31. Untitled, 32. ., 33. mermaids, 34. maría, 35. Untitled, 36. Harbor way

Being that tomorrow is Canada Day and that this is the first Canada Day Sean has spent in Australia (we have been back in Vancouver each since he moved here) , I am going to honour all Canucks with these little Canadian tidbits.

• There are more donuts per capita in Canada then anywhere else on earth.


• 0.3% of all vehicle accidents in Canada involve a moose.


• Alberta has been rat-free since 1905


• There are 23 different words in the Inuit language for ldquo;snowrdquo; - How beautiful is that?


• Canada invented the chocolate bar, washing machines, zippers and roller skates!
  
  


• Canada has funny place names such as Manyberries, Skookumchuck, Cardigan, Moose Jaw and Pocahontas.


• They call their money loonies and toonies and a beanie is a toque- pronounced ldquo;tOOkrdquo; as in ldquo;spookrdquo;.

Check out some old posts from when I first visited Canada : Canadian Things that are genius , Canadian Things That Make Me Giggle , Canadian words I love

Scary that I recognise the blinds of their studio.

Courtesy Youtube and U2miracle.com and thanks to Daniel for the link!

I think I fixed them!

Comment away kids.

Weekend is here and i am loving these this week:

• windsweeping- its not often that you find a really good writer, she is fabulous.


• Theodora Allen - the type of photographer I wish I was.


• Style Me Pretty - Irsquo;ve always adored this pretty blog, not sure why I havenrsquo;t linked it before. I like it mainly for the photography.


• Melissa - Melissa is one of my favourite flickrites and she now has a blog. She also has damn good taste in music.

All photographs copyright to the respective photographers as linked above. Top left corner: Melissa; top right: Windsweeping; bottom left: Theodora and bottom right: Leigh Miller on Style Me Pretty.

there is an almost buzz, more a humm, dotted candle lights hanging from tree branches, bouncing in the breeze.

and water rusheshellip;

Soft and mellow..

ára bátur ended with a bang and now the rest of these tracks at the end of the album are very soft and dreamy.

Floatinghellip;

Haunting and quiet, a night time song. Eyes blinking still.

I got excited when I heard they had one song in English. Now Irsquo;m not sure SR should be heard any other way than how they usually are. I like not knowing what they are singing about. I like the unknowing bliss of confusion and beauty all wrapped up in the pocket of my winter coat. Thatrsquo;s how they feel to me.

A beautiful close to a beautiful album. Sigur Rós are like snow on my face.

This is very heart swelly too. Damn you SR. I mean really, must you create such crescendo building music that somehow pulls off being crescendo building, heart swelly music without being cheesy? I donrsquo;t know how they do it.

Another beast.

Oh, but Jonsi makes beasts beautiful. OK, this is too pretty to ruin with my words. But I do imagine its going to turn as we are only 3 minutes in to an almost 9 minute track.

So haunting and still.

Oh damn them, a boyrsquo;s choir? Seriously, where are the doves? OK here comes the turn. Big violin swell. Boys singing again. AND THERE WE HAVE IT. 7.46 haha! Doves released!

I told you it was going to be a beast. OK, how are they fitting the choir, orchestra and doves on stage at the Hordern?

OK, I canrsquo;t even fathom what this is after ára bátur. Sorry illgresi.