the rebirth of all things nanna (and pa)

image source

Has anyone else noticed all the old people in Melbourne’s CBD? 


Yes? 


Well, let me enlighten you; they’re just kids playing dress ups. 


I know this has been going on for decades; little girls taking their mother’s high-heels and scribbling on lipstick onto their little puckered lips and all over their cheeks. Little boys picking up razors and trying to shave off the peach fuzz on their faces. Admit it, you wanted to grow up fast too, didn’t you?

But in this day and age, ladies and gentlemen, some might think this desire to grow up is going a tad too far. Maybe it’s fashion. Because it seems all the trendies are wearing ankle-length dresses and kitten heel boots, with their suspendered, bespectacled boyfriends on their arms. 


Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of vintage. 


I have doilies in my bedroom, ornaments that date back decades, and a killer pair of leather pixie shoes that probably came from the prehistoric ages. They all have a bit of history laced between their hand-painted goodness, and I guess that’s why anything deemed va-va-va-vintage has a price tag with about a million zeroes. 


Places like Retro Star on Swanston St in Melbourne’s CBD have some amazing pre-loved clothes for some amazing extortionist prices. 


Maybe I’m being unfair. 


Fashions are expensive. Retro is cool, thus retro is fashion. So I go home with a 1920s felt beret and an empty wallet. Shops like these are glorified Salvation Armies without the donation goodness. How do you think they feel? At least they’re getting the much-needed funds to help people in need, but how many of those customers are feeling charitable rather than, “fcuk yes, vintage dress!” So much for altruistic charity.


Poor Salvos.

A few years back, I bought this white onion-sleeved shirt from an opportunity shop. 10 bucks and complete with embroidery and gorgeous painted buttons. It looks great in summer with denim shorts. However, my mum refuses to wash it to stop me from wearing it; according to her it’s a granny shirt. 


My boyfriend on the other hand, thinks I look like a pirate. Not the look I was going for. Obviously beauty is in the eye of the be-wearer.

But there is that appeal to the good old days. Pick up a classic film or novel, and you’ve got a film or a novel (depending which you picked up) full of reasons. There is an appreciation for the old-fashioned; people love a hardcover book, the warm fuzzies you get when you receive a letter in the mail that isn’t a bill. 


I miss my own good old days. I’m getting too old for this and I’ve just become an adult; my younger brother gets the whole 3D movie thing while it just hurts my eyes and makes me cranky.

this calls for celebration!

Taken by surprise has hit 1000 views!

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog 

even if you might just have a peek every now and then!

You're all very lovely

and I will keep writing

and taking pictures

if you are here to read

and have a look.

Thank you.

To celebrate, 

I've redone some parts of the blog, 

adding easy-to-find-the-post category tabs

and

 a pretty new blog header!

Hope to keep taking you by surprise,

Jessica-Anne

xxx

lilac and tangerine mani

nail polishes from Sportsgirl

a little chat with THE INBETWEENERS

from left: Lachlan, Maddi, Niko and Jesse
photography by Matt Jones

The Inbetweeners are neither here, nor there. But from playing at Rats at the Colonial Hotel to becoming the opening act for Children Collide’s The Loveless Tour in August, their candid tunes will catch you and take you away to that place somewhere in the middle, somewhere tucked away and special.

Fronted by the crooning voice of Maddi Connaughton, the Inbetweeners are made up of the guitar riffs of lead ax Jesse Hunter, Lachlan Peavey slappin’ the bass, and Niko Kordos on the sticks.

I begin with the textbook genre question and am instantly met with a collective sigh. With wry smiles they told me they just resign to calling themselves indie rock when people ask because it’s so broad and ambiguous.

But what makes you different from other “indie rock” bands?

LACHLAN: Probably Jesse’s dancing.

JESSE: I’ve got some pretty intense dance moves.

NIKO: It’s because we’re all individually different, like Peavey (Lachlan) is a funk guy and he tries to put that in our songs, which I hate because I like punk and metal. We have to try to balance and make compromises.

MADDI: That makes us sound like we fight all the time…

The quartet of quirky characters met in high school and entered Triple J Unearthed in 2010 and from there have been playing regular gigs at locations like the Brunswick Hotel and 161. Where our radios are saturated with quick moneymakers, the honesty of this group who describes themselves as people who just “love making and playing music” is unbelievably refreshing.

What has your favorite experience been so far?

L: The grand final for the Battle of the Bands at the Bali Corn Hotel. There was so much energy and such a big crowd.

N: We also had a wireless guitar lead so Jesse could jump into the crowd; he was soloing on the street!

M: I like when we play gigs and get lots of free drinks cards.

What about any less-than-savory experiences from gigs you’ve played?

M: We opened for a band once and it just fizzled.

L: There was this huge room… and about 10 people.

What song is a real crowd pleaser?

N: I find we get the biggest reactions from “Peavey’s Song”, a lot of people tell me that they like that second last song we play at gigs.

“Peavey’s Song”? Is that a working title?

N: Rule of thumb is if they wrote it and it’s untitled, it just becomes the name of the song.

J: Let’s think of name for Peavey’s Song right now!

N: What about that line from the chorus? ‘You’re burning up, burning out…’

M: Isn’t it ‘spinning out’? There’s no ‘burning out’!

N: Sing it then!

M: (sings) YOU’RE RIGHT THE LYRICS ARE ‘BURNING OUT’! Let’s just call it Peavey’s Song; we’ll be honest.

J: In the meantime, we can’t think of a band name.

Looking for change?

N: Well, we’re named after a TV show. If you saw a billboard and there’s a band called “Everybody Loves Raymond” on it, it’d be weird. I mean, everybody DOES loves Raymond, but… It’s as if we’re called “Friends” or something!

M: The main rule is that all band names need to fit on a shirt or it won’t work.

With their influences being a mix of each of their own individual musical loves, from Marcus Miller to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from Muse to the New York Dolls, you’ll find them somewhere in between.

They’ve opened for the Scarecrows, Red Ink and Daydream Arcade, and now you can catch them on August 3^rd kicking off the first show of Children Collide’s Loveless Tour. To make the deal even sweeter, if you contact The Inbetweeners through their Facebook, they can get your discount tickets!

Want to play with/listen to/just chat to The Inbetweeners?

Facebook

Triple J Unearthed

For bookings

photography by Matt Jones

See more of Matt's photography here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Matt-Jones-Photography/182019828518252
http://mattjonesphotography.tumblr.com/

*Interview conducted June 19th 2011, information correct at date of interview

an important lesson in love

Let me explain the concept of “love at first sight.” You’re going about your business, whatever that may be, when suddenly, you see something from afar. It’s like a dramatic zoom in a film; and you feel your eyes literally hone in and your heart begins to think it would be a good idea to jump out of your chest. The palms go sweaty, the mouth goes dry, and then you realize that cupid's big heart-shaped arrow hit you in the back like a ton of bricks. And you think to yourself,

I have to have you.

I can’t live without you! My life would be meaningless without you! You’d make me a better person, and I refuse to go home without at least getting your number!

So you shakily walk right up to them, and hold out your hand. You fumble a bit, blush a tad, but then you’ve finally got that little piece of paper with those magical digits, hoping, hoping, to make them yours. You glance down and your heart sinks. Because you’ve just realized,

I would never be able to afford you.

So you turn to leave, call out an awkward, “thank you”, and walk out brokenhearted.

Did you realize I was talking about an item of clothing this whole time? Because if you didn’t, go back and read it again!

Ah, see? Yes, we’ve all had the boys (or the girls) that we pretty much dropped dead for on sight, but how many of those could you actually accessorize with?

Back to the point. This has actually happened to me, and I left the store a dejected mess. I was just walking past, without a care in the world, when something gorgeous caught my eye. My knees were buckling. My head was spinning. I may even have drooled a little bit. This is what I saw.

My god, I wanted it bad.

Not only would it match my gypsy cardigan and my Aztec print shoulder bag, but I knew that it had the ability to wrap me up, keep me warm and make me feel loved. Or, lovely, at the very least.

But as I reached for this scarf's price tag, my dream of this beautiful partnership was dashed. Cut into ribbons before my very eyes. Because in every love story, there is a villain. And in this tale, that conniving bad guy was,

My wallet.

Its gaping empty contents looked like a mocking grin. I was thwarted, and walked home empty handed.

Now, if this was an actual relationship between your friend and some handsome stranger, you would tell them to get off their mopey butt and chase them, wouldn’t you?

I walked past this store multiple times, pining for what seemed like something I’d never have. The outfits that would never be! The warm touch that would never caress my neck!

After the fifth day of walking past, I came to a conclusion. As I still loved this scarf after such a long time, it was pretty much guaranteed that I wouldn’t get sick of it, ever. And what better quality is there in a relationship than everlasting love? Even if it was for a scarf?

I decided then and there, that leaving behind something I loved when it made me happy, even if my head told me not to, my heart was saying, stop being so absolutely ridiculous.

And with the last scarf left in stock, I skipped all the way home (the skipping part may be a lie, although it probably isn’t).

The moral of the story? If you fall for a scarf, sock, dress, necklace, shirt, pant, boy, girl, man, woman, and can’t stop falling for them, just go and nab them, before somebody else does. I nearly missed my chance to be wrapped in scarfy goodness. Don’t let it happen to you.


*Scarf from Koko Ribbon Boutique, Black Rock