Weddings. Why?

Here's the thing. I LOVE attending other peoples weddings. I LOVE reading about other peoples weddings in magazines. I even LOVE the hazy idea of my own wedding, as it appears in my daydreams - that is to say, totally perfect in every way.




But actually making that happen is freaking hard. Seriously. We're at that point where all the high level stuff is done, so now its down to the details - and we all know how i am with details. The thing is, in my head i can see how i want things to look. I just wish someone else could come along and make it all happen. Cause i sure as hell can't be bothered.





I know. I know i should be super excited about seeing everything come together. But there are obstacles you know. Like when i see something i love and there's that voice in my ear saying "No. I'm sorry. You can't afford that." Cause Lord knows it costs a small fortune to get married in this city. Or when i see something i love AND i can afford, but there's that other voice saying "No. I'm sorry. That really doesn't work in this venue." Or when i see TEN things i love in magazines and hear my OWN voice saying "Ah crap. How the hell am i gonna do that????"




Plus, I'm notorious for changing my mind like, ten times a day. So. That doesn't help. Double plus, i always worry about what other people will think, and even though logically i know i can't please everyone, deep down i really want to. Triple plus, there are usually so MANY things i love that i can't decide which ones to focus on so that a consistent theme comes through. Instead of a collective jumble of bits of stuff that looked good separately but thrown together, kinda look like a yard sale.




It'll work out. And anyway, the REAL fun (i.e. work) begins after the wedding's over. I just had to have a rant because some days, this wedding planning business ain't what its cracked up to be. Phew. Glad we could all be honest about that.




I think i forgot to mention that while we were at the powerhouse museum last week, there was another exhibition celebrating 15 years of Rosemount Fashion Week - naturally, we dragged the boys along to that one too. I'm almost sure they had a good time. Totally.

Fashion! Fashion! Fashion! (Fifteen years worth suckers)

Ahhh juxtaposition. When bondage girl meets pretty ballgown.

This Michelle Jank dress is a stunner. I love the whole bird thing, especially cause they're not real.

What are these? Pom poms? Is anyone actually wearing this?

Me on the red carpet. That's my model face.

Two other pieces of irrelevant news from my life. The first is that i read an amazing book that i couldn't put down this week called The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Its set in Barcelona in the late 40s/early 50s, and is a classic example how sometimes in literature, a place is as much of a character as the actual people. It's about a boy called Daniel, who discovers a book called The Shadow of the Wind by the author Julian Carax - but WHO is Carax? That's the mystery that leads Daniel on a wild goose chase through the city and through time - past, present and future. Its a cracking good read, with characters i think you'll be taken by, like i was. Easily one of the best books I've read this year.

Secondly, David, Mel and I went to see Eclipse on Thursday, and once more i cringed through two hours of overacting and melodrama. Which i enjoyed immensely. As I've said before, the best thing about these movies is how bad they are. In particular, i noticed this third installment featured a lot of:

• Heavy, dramatic breathing after each line
• Gripping of the shirt or chest of another character out of passion and/or anger and/or confusion
• terrible special effects (WTF is with those wolves? The bundy bear is better animated for godsake)
• Bella and Edward talking about their feelings, and then Bella and Jacob talking about their feelings and then Bella and Edward talking about their feelings again. It was vomit-inducing. I literally gagged. Literally. On my popcorn.
• Lip quivering
• Good old-fashioned bad acting. Robert Pattinson - you are a bore, and you need to pluck your eyebrows. Must you speak in monotone the whole movie? Surely vampires are allowed just a bit of emotion. And Kristen Stewert - i detest your half-smiles. They make my blood boil. Please try to utter a line, any line, with some conviction next time. You seemed unsure of yourself and everyone around you for the entire 120 minutes i had to endure your presence on screen.

Luckily, Taylor Lautner, AKA Jacob the wolf boy, has his shirt off for most of the movie, so at least i got some eye candy. That kid is ripped, for reals. It would be more satisfying if i weren't ten years older then him, but hey. In my dreams, anything can happen.

My side-ponytail-with-a-scrunchie brings all the boys to the yard (or, the 80s make a comeback)

Ah the 80s. Some argue it has a lot to answer for.



But i say this.




It taught us to walk like an Egyptian. That girls just wanna have fun. That love is a battlefield. That we are the world! It gave us teased hair and baggy t-shirts and lacy gloves that served no purpose. It allowed us to express ourselves - blue eye shadow and all. Many a pleasant evening was spent playing pacman or tetris, and if you weren't that cool, there was always hungry hungry hippo. It gave us life long friends, like Mork and Mindy and Kevin Arnold and Alex. P. Keaton and the Huxtables. It gave us hero's, like Mr T and Rico Tubbs, Mr Miyagi and Ferris Bueller. Who, after all is said and done, can forget the great Tom Selleck as Magnum, P.I? And here's another two words for you - Indiana. Jones. We lost ourselves in tragic cinema - The Breakfast Club, Footloose, Dirty Dancing. I still bawl like a baby when i watch E.T. Some of the greatest catch phrases of our generation hail from the 80s. Who ya gonna call? Watchu talkin' bout Willis? Cowabunga dude? And i defy you to find me a decade that spawned a comedy trilogy greater than Back to the Future.




What I'm trying to say is, the 80s was a damn memorable decade. You can poo poo it all you want, but when we headed to the Powerhouse Museum on Sunday for their '80s is Back' exhibition, nothing could wipe the smile off my face.

The cube that boggled a generation.

Jo wastes no time - "computer" games are up first

Awesome graphics.



The Atari - bringing arcade games to your living room for the first time.

Culture Club. I don't even know where to start, but Boy George, i won't forgive you for Karma Chameleon. You really did want to hurt me.

Nothing, and i mean NOTHING, has ever or will ever beat 80s Kylie for me. I STILL rock out to Hand on your heart - the film clip for which she wore this dress. The exhibition also featured some iconic TV moments - like Scott's proposal to Charlene in Neighbours. Je ne sais pas pourquoi.

INXS gave Australia a good, solid rock band - and Michael Hutchence. This is one of his handwritten notebooks, in which he makes a list of things he wants to achieve. Number 4 reads 'Start my own strategy for world domination.'

Boys and their punk

Whoa there. Who let the jumpsuit out?

Ecstasy dance parties. It was OK in the 80s.

P.F Flanagan, whoever you are - i commend your efforts in the war to beat the breathalyser.

Condom Man says - use condoms. And lo, a superhero was born.

It wasn't all glitter and disco balls - the 80s saw the emergence of a new disease called AIDS - and the Australian gay community was one of the first to embrace AIDS prevention through education for EVERYONE - gay or straight. The Australian AIDS quilt project started in 1988 as a memorial for those who had died from the disease.

Wedding dress inspiration - Jo was thrilled to hear I'd be incorporating those off-the-shoulder sleeves in mine.

Me, loving the Madonna-inspired fashions of the decade. WHY oh WHY can't i wear a pink polka dot pleated skirt with matching shoes in public anymore? *despairs*

The national objective in 1985 was to stay alive.

80s toys - cabbage patch kids and Garfield and strawberry shortcake. I'm sure i had a tea-pot that was really a dolls house. And a glow worm.

Seriously, does anyone else remember these?? Were they from McDonald's?? Am i dreaming that??

Typical girls bedroom in the 80s, complete with garish graffiti-inspired bedspread, mini boom box and totally rad movie posters.

And that was just a taste of what we saw - if you grew up in the 80s, I'm sure you'll get a laugh out of this exhibition. GO. SEE. IT. You'll be humming Pat Benetar all the way back home.