Communique

Allura: I have a que for you (not in regards to the ad): do you think that you're politically correct most of the time, that it makes you a bit rigid/uptight - when say for instance, someone said something that was politically incorrect, instantly you'd correct them? I was just thinking.

Elena: What?
Haha :)
Do I give such vibes?
No but really I am uptight as when it comes to being PC. Especially here where everyone is sooo PIC like ALL THE TIME. It makes me crazy how they talk about aboriginals as blacks etc. At first i always corrected them but it just made me look bad so now i just kind of let it go.
BUT was it my friends in Finland I would deffo say something.
So yeah I am uptight as.

Allura: Lol. Pls… don’t take this the wrong way. No, I don’t give that vibe from you. I’m all for it also, being politically correct. But yeah, sometimes ignorant people are difficult to talk to when they are blurting out racist/discriminatory remarks. I get so frustrated and I’d end up just rolling my eyes.

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

Allura: Also... if you don't mind me asking, how are Muslims in Finland treated? =) I was just curious.

Elena: Muslims in Finland. Hmm..let me think. As far as I can remember Finland is ok with muslim needs such as wearing a hijab and building mosques and providing halal.
I dont think it is so much the islam that gets hated in finland its more certain folk groups such as immigrant somalians that do.
We just have a problem integrating them into the society and this way a certain amount of say rapes or crimes are done by young somali men which of course makes the average finn think that they are all like this.
So yeah I think being a muslim is ok but an immigrant..hmm...there is still a long way to go.
How's the situation in America at the mo'?
And again it's weird 'cos I have been very into my islam for the past month or so actually.
Reading books, watching documentaries etc.
Then you ask me this :)

Allura: The reason I asked is because I am reading about this book; the aftermath when Theo van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim extremist in the Netherlands.
The topic of the book varies, but one thing that I’ve been pondering in relation to the book about how are Muslims being perceived and treated around that area or in general, North West/East Europe. Also how tolerance, when it gets out of hand can create havoc in the society instead of promoting peace: “A terror regime of political correctness is ruling over our country” - Ayaan Hirsi Ali. If you haven’t read one of her books yet, the Infidel. Check it out =)
I had a Muslim class last semester and it made me aware of many aspects of the Muslim society. I respect the culture - well except for the extremist and such (primitive aspects of it). It was once very rich and flourished immensely: culturally, politically and in arts. Very interesting period. Fascinated me.
Anyway, at the moment in terms of immigration, the situation is still in some ways a bit heated. Although I think lately the debate has shifted toward the Latinos. And that’s because of the drug war that has been going on in the border of US and Mexico. Regarding the Muslim, well as you know… learning how to speak Arabic and about the Muslim has increased these past few years. Tolerance is being promoted, although I can’t speak for everyone, especially the Conservatives. Those people are beyond me.

I'd have to say nay.

I absolutely love Chanel.
And even ol' Carl but this
ad with Audrey Tautou
just simply reminds me of
Amelie.
With a less fabulous male
part too!
I did not like him and it
all felt a bit...I don't know..
not Chanel 5 for me.

This is my favourite of
perfum ads.
By Sofia Coppola:



Oh and I think I just got
Coco Mademoiselle
by Chanel for present!
And you can still keep
No. 5 as 'yours' :)

- E

The Beatles

I thought this was great advertisement.
And the animation is pretty wicked as well.
It captured the Beatles popularity/height, from 1960s to 1970s -when they broke up.

Yay or Nay?

Wicked animation.

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

Toulouse-Lautrec pour toi.

For about two weeks now I have been following a wonderful
documentary series on the infamous Henry de Toulouse-Lautrec.
He has taken me around the most famous quartiers du Paris,
through the filthiest pubs and brothels, to the most magnificent
underground scenes with singers, songwriters and larger than
life characters such as Oscar Wilde.
It has been two smoky, wine filled and intriguing weeks for me.
But most importantly he has taken me to his atelje.


I got to know that Henry adored girls who loved girls.


And sad, forgotten prostitutes.






But most of all he loved all ladies of red hair.
According to him we smell different to other
women. And that I thought was beautiful.

- E

Father's Day/Summer Solstice

Last Sunday we celebrated Father's Day and in my own little way the First Day of Summer.

Gathering of the Gamit Family.

Above are my cuzzo's and auntie's.
Below (L-R): my fave Ate ("big sister" in Tagalog), Mum & Auntie Gloria.

This is my Mum to right - her name is Violeta, and Auntie Glo to the left.

!Filipino Food!
What you see here are pretty basic Filipino food.
What's interesting about our family is that my Dad's brothers, they're married to my aunties who are from different parts of the Philippines. So the food is a bit mixed.

Top: Fruit salald and cantaloupe with milk. Delish and refreshing!
Very much like agua fresca melon, w/ milk.

Below: Battered fried fish. Filipino Spaghetti (it's a bit sweet) - I think my Mum makes the best. Potstickers.
B-b-q's. Fresh fruit. Lumpia (mixed of shrimp, meat, and veggies). Turon (wrapped banana and jackfruit, coated with brown cane sugar). Goat stew.

Despite my exam the next day, I enjoyed myself. It was relaxing.
From time to time hanging out with my family is not so bad
(though sometimes they stress me out just b/c they're so chill)

Good times!

I'm all for it!

First of, my apologies for I haven't been posting.

These past two weeks had just been pure intellectual ecstacy [and still ongoing].
Intense summer school.

Btw, I'm taking these four classes:
- History of Europe's 20th Century
- Medieval Ages (High Middle Ages)
- and Dos Anthropology's
Very interesting! I'm loving it! I just wish I could take it in normal settings.

Should we...?

The only thing that disturbs me with this blog is...the mess!
I call for a clean up!!!

I think we should have only a couple of simple categories such as:
Allura (your posts)
Elena (my posts)
Books
Food
Nature
Love

Or something....
Just to make it easier to find things.



What do you think?
I think we should!

P.S I can make the categories and then we slowly start putting
our own posts into those categories through 'edit posts'...

My midsummer night with food.

As you know we are in the middle of a quite cold winter here in
Western Australia. But where my heart is they were celebrating
midsummer last Friday. So I had to join in any way I could..

..midsummer night dinner!

We started off with some fresh salad from the local veggie market.

Followed by smoked Tasmanian salmon, capers and lemon.

Fresh small potatoes with chives, capers, pepper and sour cream.

Oh and some eggs with caviar as well! Yum..

And finally some gluten free chocolate cake with raspberries
and million-of-trillions of schmillions. Blissss!

- E

Forgetfulness.

Of all the beautiful action poetry in here I found this one to be my favourite!


It is a little film about the things we forget...all the time...

..how all these things pack up their bags and move to small
fishing villages in the back of our brains...

...things such as names of authors...quadratic equations...

....and even names of planets!

'' ...and the moon in the window seems to have drifted from a love poem you used to know. By heart.''

- E

BiLLy CoLLins

I think you will Love this...

Check this out:
http://www.bcactionpoet.org/

I love this sort of things.

Childhood

Crayolas and I had fond memories.
All THANKS to my Dad.

You see, when I was little he would send me boxes and boxes of them - seriously!
If I remember correctly, I was the only one in school who had all the colors and the coolest Crayolas.
They weren't just Crayolas, they were stateside Crayolas - lol! Which made them Extra special.
Oh I tell you... how happy I was everytime my Dad would be back from abroad w/ my Crayolas.

I loved coloring - even now.

With the Crayolas that my Dad brought, were the Coloring Books.
I had tons of these.
I perfected Coloring way back when... I loved it!

Makes me smile...

My Dad was and still is (despite how things are) the best.

Prepare yourself...

make sure you have something to wipe your tears away, within reach before clicking:

http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/#/0

Oh sweet life...

Extremely loud and incredibly close.

You must read this.



Meet nine year old Oskar who has just lost his
father in the 9/11 and he will take you on an
incredible adventure around New York city!
I believe you will fall in love with him.

Here:

'What about little microphones? What if everyone swallowed them and they played the sounds of our hearts through little speakers, which could be in the pouches of our overalls? When you skateboarded down the street at night you could hear everyone's heartbeat, and they could hear yours, sort of like sonar. (...) That would be so weird, except that the place in the hospital where babies are born would sound like a crystal chandelier in a houseboat, because the babies wouldn't have had time to match their heartbeats yet. And at the finish line at the end of the New York City Marathon it would sound like war.'

It is one of the single most beautiful books I
have ever read in my life.

- E

Karl Lagerfeld

I think you'll like this documentary.
K. Lagerfeld, he talks about relationships (i.e. friendship, partnership, etc...), life, and of course, art.

It fascinated me, throughout.
K.L. is a very interesting person and I think that after watching this you'll get a gist of what he is.
It may not tell you a lot of about himself, but rather the documentarians fascination of him, still you'll get something out of it.

Also, the way Rodolphe Marconi shot this documentary is just beautiful - very artistic.
He followed K.L. for two years and I thought the cinematography was just gorgeous and well done.
I like R.M.'s style.

Let me know what you think of it...

Check this out...

http://www.swimmingcities.org/
"The Swimming Cities of Serenissima is a fleet of handmade boats and a crew of artists traveling the Adriatic Sea from Slovenia to Venice this May and June, 2009. We made art boats from junk and will be performing the dreamy story of a drifting metropolis during the Venice Biennale, a celebrated contemporary art exhibition."

You know anything about them?
Have you encountered them?

Some days luck just knocks on your door and asks you out to play.

As I made my way out the door this morning
I had no idea I was going to be royally surprised.

And with what?


A Penguin Books shoulder bag!!!!

I love Penguin Books and things that you can
order online such as pens, coffee mugs and all sorts.
But I can never afford them myself so you can guess
how bloody happy I was when I found this little
thing hanging off our garbage bins where someone
had left it last night.
Even the trash collector truck had missed it which I
took as a token for mine and the bags sealed future together.

I believe you and I were meant to be bag!

- E

I adore cool commercial

I got this habit after mi dear Auntie.
We appreciate the creativity of people who make these...
Think about, creating something that will only last for 30 seconds or less that has to convey something to the audience, or else... well nothing will come of it, except buzzzzzz in their heads and confusion.

Anyway, some are downright cheesy but if you look hard enough and the patience, there are some pretty awesome commercials on TV that are worth checking out - like this recent Toyota Prius Commercial.

Went to see...

Up, the latest movie by Pixar.



I'm not going to tell you much b/c I might ruin the movie for you.
All I can say is that it's about an elderly man who created his own airship using his house and heliums of balloons, which uplifted the house from its foundation. And together with a young boyscout, they set off on a big adventure.

Check it out! I think you're going to like it =).

Cheers, A

How to: Celebrity Head.

Celebrity Head is a relatively easy and an extremely fun
game to be played in good company while sipping away
a couple of cold ones.

Here is what you do:

- write the name of a celebrity on a piece of paper or tape
and then fasten it on the forehead of the person sitting
to your right

- everyone then takes turns in asking yes or no questions
about the character that they might be
( am I male / female, am i in the music business etc. )

- the first one who guesses then wins!






In Swedish we call it 'galenpanna' which kind of refers to a crazy head.
I actually had to ask how to play this game from a Swedish blogger
but little did I know that most of my friends here already new the game!

Such a small, funny world we live in.

- E

Prevally Walkabouts.

Driving down south is always fun I think.
So pretty.

The colors of this place are just amazing. So amazing.



We rented a house for very little money and it ended up sleeping
three couples and two singles. Wicked. And such a beautiful house
too! Mostly we just surfed but also drank beer, ate good food and
played celebrity head. Here is J with his Celebrity Head character!

Then we got a bit tipsy and sat on a high wall for the rest of the
evening just looking at the stars and talking life.
Great weekend I would say.

/ E