plastic is spastic

along with moronic parents who smoke around their children and ppl who thnk its gr8 to rite n typ n txt lnge, plastic bags rate extremely high on my <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">burn in hell list</span>. plastic bags don't just urk me... no, the very sight of them leaves me twitchy and sweaty, hot blood rushes to my ears and i feel strangely violent. <div><br /><div> </div><div>when i was 17 and working at a supermarket, the highlight of my day was refusing bags to suited yuppies buying packets of gum and tic tacs. They'd get all pouty, I'd remind them that hands, oddly enough, are excellent at holding things, and then my greasy-haired supervisor would drag me into the locker rooms for yet another talking to about customer service yap yap yap.  </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>those green Woolies and Coles bags aren't too attractive, I'll give you that, so to entice you (my beautiful, savvy, eco-friendly readers) into staying clear of the evil plastic spawn, I've done a bit of a round-up on my fave alternatives...</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.chipchop.com.au/">Chip Chop</a> </span>is the brainchild of sydney designer Hannah Chipkin, and reflects her colourful, left-of-field perspective on all things big and small. An eco-advocate, Hannah not only designs canvas totes but also cotton tees (organically-farmed), washed denim bags and quirky jewellery. I LOVE the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Origami+Pilates</span> one but alas, it is currently all sold-out... The <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Bag Brown Big</span> comes in at a close second though...</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251812039612447906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-HTIBmcX9A0gqDXd-c4z5SAfuuxfRsoGzdNQyCATtR-E8kt5renU8AbBjlKnr5454F8WG_UR7j5gFDcoDkFTmHCOKJE4_eh25dt1YDJiPux0lSPitQQPft0PvFsY4uJnzxMWV_cX5jI/s400/bag3.jpg" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251812033396162866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD72mSvRmfQ6iCdaH3nkl8awE7H-YY43rboPe83qFUL3tWohvlFGj_ydUruSa1NsXBf3aQjR0gcuGKrg4oAOGpz1BNe1J6QbHB06hCca2TuFkfjVQ4rYN2nZCArf92m2FABsq_DtIYW5Y/s400/bag2.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When i heard on the grapevine that one of my fave jewellery labels <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.elkaccessories.com.au/">Elk</a></span> was foraying into the world of accessories, my heart skipped a little beat. My excitement was completely justified when i laid eyes on their first attempt at a bag; a gorgeous organic, undyed cotton tote, printed with Elk's eco graphic in non-toxic inks. Perfect package, vous ne pensez pas?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251823848116752066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULKue1z33XRSDZI1lGSkS-DDlO9YRc7jVAWtqErkZB5N1fmNJ8QtbrJ3e-rbpSwFlmWXhHbRslWSgDtW3lpMnhOIL8Am-sUW23zSE3O8I84IfDtA2aFzyC0wd7OaZOnmc-IlokPc4XsU/s400/Picture+10.png" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Although not as pretty as Chip Chop or Elk, a lot has to be said for the <a href="http://www.envirosax.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">EnviroSax</span></a> range, founded in Australia in 2004. The original designer reusable bag, these come in packs of 5 in more than a dozen prints, and have an attractive price tag to boot. Perfect for the handbag or the car glovebox; these cuties fold up into the niftiest little squares.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251822158416275746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbGvaLsBLPvCF23wHzFwfH2DD9kV-eyWu5MkkNJEtw-4TfYBKqCWpuO6knj1xjuOl1ZNNXS7DjLE1lAXW6MYbQy4Uw43ICuYKPyub7lUtZUbpg_OoCBxzuOxdPI0VNruevDowGBSgRds/s400/bag4.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You've probably heard of <a href="http://ww.bagladies.com.au/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The Bag Ladies</span></a> before, they've been on the design radar for a while now and have proven not to be a passing fad; they've been going strong since 2006. They boast a truckload of cute slogans which are screenprinted onto vinyl, canvas, demin and cotton totes. My picks:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251821792963004066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivd6Zawq-s6LM2R0mZb1vY1TqhQkkr2z6IxxOnFhgMONY8CW-AZt96d0KTbbf0JURPEv5GuLGP6IFv_DT84dhWtaBhpwx3-zKDnpOfKD5XIF1itF_g9fEEwM6UGjkBJm4H0Zg7Xyd_W3c/s400/bag5.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251821792387129522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHW3MyS7uc40CYy6NskgyDPCu7V-EZ7V-vr-tUb-xKG1gr6xHikOvwTMLJb8iINB-2prAerqSh5hdUqDiTxU89vbdNvvhjRF91dLrw_excvZE1FgibnRhn26L8eoX66W-ofcwyGbNydEA/s400/bag6.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Eco-conscious US fashion label <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.shopbeausoleil.com/bag.php">Beau Soleil</a></span> (translates as 'beautiful sun'), has produced one of my definite stand-outs this season; the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Reduce, Recycle, Renew</span> bag. I always go a bit weak at the knees when it comes to this ultra-clean classic style; i just have a bit of a thing for canvas and navy blue. I'm sure it's because of all the Esprit my mother dressed me in as a child (albeit very trendy i must add). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Doesn't the slogan remind you of reciting rhymes in primary school? <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">'Between 11 and 3, stay under a tree'</span>... <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">'Slip, slop, slap'</span>... But i'm not complaining; anything nostalgic is fine by me! </div><div style="text-align: left;">Cos it's US it's a little harder to get your hands on, but the website link I've given you offers quite a few different online stores (plus, at US$44 how can you go wrong?)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251826458525751746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cf29gtyRKWLQryKxnctjdCP8Q6YssqfsCLUASJEI8x1JZrBmV6TBoK48mRl3vQ7_55xBpWiV_z814THsjRgbsrzzKsPaKPNCFS7dSI50zETBAiievvn_6VKcQxUCaPwAUPQwsQQCn3A/s400/bag7.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Alright my greedy hens, you've kept me up waay past my bedtime... can you just give up the plastic already? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">ness x</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;font-size:11px;"> </span></div></div></div></div>

plastic is spastic

along with moronic parents who smoke around their children and ppl who thnk its gr8 to rite n typ n txt lnge, plastic bags rate extremely hi...

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banana-rama

<div><div>tonight I had my friend CM over for an evening of Good Bad TV (you know, those shows/movies that are so horrifically bad that they're actually good), which obviously called for some delicious baked goods. Inspired by a recipe posted recently on one of my fave blogs, <a href="http://blog.piajanebijkerk.com/WordPress/"><span style="text-decoration:none;text-underline:nonecolor:windowtext;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Pia Jane Biljkerk</span></span></a>, I decided to put all my overly ripe bananas to good use and cook up some <a href="http://blog.piajanebijkerk.com/WordPress/2008/02/11/sunday-bake-off/"><span style="text-decoration:none;text-underline:nonecolor:windowtext;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">banana and chocolate slice</span></span></a>. I couldn't find the exact recipe on her blog, so i just took direction from the photograph and made it up. It was delish! recipe below:<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">chocolate and banana slice</span></span><br />1 cup self raising flour <br />pinch of salt<br />1/4 cup of milk <br />1 egg, beaten slightly <br />1/2 teaspoon baking powder <br />3/4 cup castor sugar <br />60 grams butter <br />1/2 cup mashed banana (pref. very ripe)<br />1 ripe banana (for topping), sliced thinly<br />1/2 teaspoon cinnamon<br />1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg<br />1/2 cup coarsely chopped good quality dark chocolate (i used Lindt)<br />1/2 cup finely processed Dutch cocoa<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">1. </span>Sift flour and add salt, sugar, baking powder, chocolate, cocoa and spices and stir gently together. <br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">2.</span> Melt the butter over low heat and mix the egg, milk, butter and banana together, combining well. <br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">3.</span> Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly combine the dry ingredients. <br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">4.</span> Pour into a greased lamington pan and bake for 25 - 30 minutes in a moderate oven. <br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">5. </span>Reduce the heat, layer thin slices of banana over the top of the slice, and cook for a further 5 minutes until banana is golden. (i also sprinkled some brown sugar on top to create a caramelised effect). </div><div><br /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251680917568478674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2mQ8f9XXv3t9srdHzWFAuuQo7Xvuo0h1HB8ssO6T2NioCa9yJzNGLOGCRRSWv1uTegoGmw-3j-0cvVt15cod7Y-CWvPMqW-kXKYmgZPmV3yggDYweW0uZmOJEwaISDdlveskJSnvbN4/s400/choc-banana.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /><br /></div><div>Did anyone catch Nigella Lawson on Enough Rope last night? I was so pleasantly surprised by the interview and more than a little embarrassed i have to admit. I have always pinned her as quite aloof, and a bit of an airhead. I was proven wrong though - she is one classy, super-intelligent, hypervigilant woman. She gave incredibly insightful opinions on the state of food across the world, on the obesity epidemic and discussed the seemingly worldwide view that her cooking shows are merely food porn. If you missed out, you can catch some of the highlights <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/"><span style="text-decoration:none;text-underline:nonecolor:windowtext;">here</span></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>love this:</div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">andrew:</span> you call yourself greedy, you use that word a lot about yourself. True story that you once accepted the challenge to eat 20 pickled eggs in ten minutes?</div><div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">nigella:</span> I’m not sure how many. It may even have been 30. But that I’m afraid was not so much about greed or not so much greed for food but financial greed because there was a thousand pounds riding on it.</div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">andrew:</span> what was it like to eat, did you win the bet?</div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">nigella:</span> i did it and I felt slightly contemptuous that anyone thought they could beat me in the eating stakes.<br /><br />classic!</div></div></div>

banana-rama

tonight I had my friend CM over for an evening of Good Bad TV (you know, those shows/movies that are so horrifically bad that they're ac...

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chaos theory

My apartment building is in the most densely populated suburb in Australia, or so they say. Summer comes, the windows go up and it's amazing what you overhear. We are all sandwiched together in our squat art deco buildings, separated only by alleyways where homeless men come to rest their heads. Tiny dogs yap from crowded balcony courtyards, the British backpackers across the way celebrate a perpetual party and the smell of pizza wafts from the nearby takeaway joints.<div><br /></div><div>Neighbours yell and smash wine glasses, walk around in their underwear, have noisy rave parties till 5am, pedal squeakily on their exercise bikes, pour dirty water out their windows, renovate their marble-lined bathrooms with rusty drills, practice the tuba at lazy staccato intervals, snore and laugh and fart and fight and have quiet, murmuring sex. </div><div><br /></div><div>It reminds me of all the sharehouses I've lived in; hearing other people's business and making the decision not to listen (or care). At first the intimacy and noise worried me; now i chime in as loudly as i want. I vacuum at midnight, wash laundry in my machine that thumps and jumps all over the floor, cook curry with the windows pushed open and the radio blaring and dance crazily in my underwear to old, scratched records. </div><div><br /></div><div>This morning, the sun is high and burning hot circles in the sky. The wind pushes my shutters slowly back and forward (slightly creaky) and the pigeons squark with excitement, their dirty beaks pecking at food scraps on the ground. Planes soar overhead and the washing from the backpackers hostel next door keeps gently wafting off the rooftop clothes line and into the crooked tree branches. Their yelps of surprise always make me smile. 'Blimey!' they cry, yellow squares of toast+vegemite hanging from their fingertips. 'My singlets gone and disappeared again,' they remark in bewilderment, standing on the rooftop in their fluro boxers, staring out at the laundry-lined trees. </div><div><br /></div><div>Homeless men and women loiter outside the Wayside Chapel, blinking sleepily as they shake off the remains of last night's interrupted sleep. Junkies take their morning hit; and the smell of booze from the last of the Kings Cross dipsomaniacs carries rank in the tepid air. Greasy burger wrappers rise and flutter, sailors from the nearby naval base saunter by, dipping their hats at girls in floral dresses, and the glint of the nearby Harbour Bridges winks at you from the distance. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yachts bob and up down in the marina at Rushcutters Bay; in Kings Cross fierce strip-club bouncers chat merrily with girls in lingerie under flashing fluorescent lights. Manicured poodles and their buff owners trot up and down the oak-lined avenues of Elizabeth Bay and in Potts Point, Chanel-clad women and punks with purple hair sit happily side-by-side, idly people-watching and sipping espressos.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is precinct full of contradictions, of oxymorons and stereotypes. Of wealthy widows and heroin addicts, of fairy lights and prostitutes. It gives me hope that blindingly different people can co-exist (relatively) peacefully together, that it might well be as easy as recognising the difference between tolerance and understanding. </div><div><br /></div><div>I love the noise and the smells and the screaming and the hustle and bustle of it all; it seems to placate me. It feels comforting, like hearing your father snore in the next room when you were little. It keeps me grounded, reminds me that unusual is always normal and that things are not always as they appear to be. </div><div><br /></div><div>happy friday :)</div><div>ness x</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>

chaos theory

My apartment building is in the most densely populated suburb in Australia, or so they say. Summer comes, the windows go up and it's ama...

Read more »