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Fashionista ~ Career Woman ~ Op Shopper ~ Online Shopping Addict ~ Bargain Hunter ~ Child Rearer ~ Book Reader ~ Social Commentator

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Woo what a storm

Today is an excellent day to be home sick from work (as I am), curled up in PJs and ugg boots. It has been raining and pouring and windy all day (and all of last night). The thunder and lightening (and hail!) last night was insane. We did loose power but only for a few minutes.

This being my first year living in Canberra, I wasn't sure whether this sort of crazy weather is the norm or not when it's supposed to be Spring/Summer. Apparently it's not. One guy called in on the radio and said "I've been here in Canberra since 1952 and I think I'll give last night the black belt".

As I type, it is still pouring with rain and very windy. Last night we had about 45 mm of rainfall, and that would be a lot higher now since it hasn't stopped pouring today. Apparently Sydney (and Melb?) have had crazy storms too.

I didn't get any shots myself, but here are some reader submitted photos of last night's lightening (from the Canberra Times)

Photo by Tom Corra

Photo by Chris Smith

Photo by Tom Corra

I wish I had thought of driving up Mt Ainslie to watch the light show!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

You gotta get you a... Crazy Asian Contraptions #1

A few weeks ago, I posted about some cheap and cheerful stocking stuffer ideas from TinyDeal. Today's post is also about TinyDeal, but this time I'm focusing on the strange, weird, unusual and just plain creepy gadgets and contraptions that appeal to an Asian market.

This is going to be the first of a series of 2 posts, because there are just too many of these funnies.


Fashionable Anti-ultraviolet Sunglasses with Elastic Strap for Dogs

"Anti-ultraviolet, protects your pets from ultraviolet radiation. Fashionable glasses, makes your pets look cool"

 

Magnetic Electric Eyes Massager

"9 different massaging modes, eliminates eyestrain and tension, prevents myopia or suspends turning into high myopia (Hmmm.. dubious claim), increases blood circulation, nourishing the skin (What can't these do!?), alleviates insomnia by inducing a state of deep relaxation, helps relieve mental stress"


3-Layered Air-Inflated Cervical Vertebra Tractor Inflammable Neck Brace Support

This appears to be a triple layered air cushion, inflated with an attached pump, that you put around your neck. The claims: "Effective for releasing stiffness, muscles spasms and stress on neck, head and shoulders area, Improves blood supply to neck muscles, tendons, and ligaments to promote a total relaxation, Allows any body position: lying, sitting and standing, And any daily activities, like walking, running, working and exercising etc (You should DEFINITELY wear this while running...), Suitable for computer operators, programmers, desk workers, people spending long periods sitting, aging people and so on"

 

 Indoor Weight Loss Slimming Half Sole Slippers Fat Buster Leg Slim Shaper Shoes for Ladies Women (apparently, if you stand on a half shoe like slipper thing, you'll magically loose weight and tone your muscles because of the precarious balancing act you'll be doing...)

"Half sole design, creates a 9°angularity, can stretch and straighten leg muscle, also can make your hip callipygian (this is actually a word, I googled it! It means 'to have well shaped buttocks. not sure how you can make your hip have well shaped buttocks, but anyway...), Special design with separate toe slots, you can apply nail polish with the slippers on, Timer: 2-3 times a day for 5-10 minutes each time, rebuild your slim leg figure anytime you want"

 

Slim Mouth Piece Exercise Clip Face Shaping Cheek Slimming Beauty Tool for Gents& Ladies - also known as a "smile trainer"

 "Inside spring tension will force your mouth to use muscles to close the device. By this way, your muscles around the mouth is strengthened and tightened. Beauty helper for gents& ladies"

 

Higher Nose Shaper

"Clip it on the nose, can make the nose higher and straight. When you are watching TV, reading book, or doing yoga, you could wear this nose up clip. No pain and clip it on your nose only 10-15 minutes per day" (It certainly LOOKS painful!)

 

Portable neckline slimmer

"Effectively resistance to tone, tighten and lift saggy, underlying neck muscles. It is a totally physical therapy design. Gently firms the underlying muscles of the neck & tightens the skin for a dramatic lift"

 

 

Slimming Neck & Jaw Curve Created Under A Jaw Rolling Massager

"Creates charming and slimming neck for you. Improves blood regulation & smoothen neck muscle. And removes double chin (see, it must be magical!). Great helper to build up a prominent neckline."

 

Shouting Vase holds your anger - from Japan Trend Shop

"Turn your loudest, most urgent frustrations into mere whispers with the Shouting Vase. The plastic jug is designed to fit over the contours of your mouth and absorb your screams and shouts, “storing” them in the vase and emitting a softer version of your angry cries through the tiny hole at the base."

 

Eye Slack Haruka

"Just three minutes a day with the Eye Slack Haruka and you should see improvements in the excess or sagging skin around your eyes. Safe and easy to operate, just put the included pads onto the Haruka and then lay it under your eyes. The battery-powered vibrations and gentle heat will then start to improve the condition of your skin, seemingly taking years off you while lessening those tell-tell weary signs of age."


For Part 2 of the Crazy Asian Contraptions series, click here.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Christmas Wishlist

iphone 4S

ipad 2
A vintage style bike, in pastel blue (but with a wicker basket)

A cute floral seat cover for the bike

and super cute retro style helmet


An easy to use sewing machine

Manicure, pedicure and full body massage vouchers - enough for the next year ;-)

Oroton Kiera B hobo bag in black


A selection of Carly Paiker's jewellery - there's too much that I love from her range

An all expenses paid trip to the USA: flying first class, staying in 5 star hotels. Visiting New York, LA, San Fran and a few other places. Oh, and why not throw in Canada while we're in the area!

Several types of delicious gourmet tea

A selection of Mimco's delightful hair accessories

Casada Maxiwell massager

A fully automatic and self cleaning coffee machine


Xbox + Kinect + a large selection of games

A custom made, super luxurious cat run

Airfryer

A super powerful Dyson vacuum cleaner

And a robot vacuum cleaner, to lighten the load

A mirror that is also a jewellery organiser

 This little studmuffin to be my city cruiser, and a new bigger Mummy-style car as well:

Oohhh yeah
While we're at it, can I also request a brand new house with no mortgage? And a billion dollars so I can quit my job?

Wow, once I got started I realised I could go on and on and on and on.... I think I'd better stop now! This was fun though... ;-)

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Reasons to hate Kyle Sandilands


#1. He is not funny or entertaining. He has no personality, no talent, no style, no looks and no intelligence.

#2. He is arrogant, insensitive, disrespectful and adds nothing to TV or radio. Every time he makes the news for another 'head stuck up his bum' incident, we hope and pray that it will be the last that we hear of him. Like herpes, he resurfaces, more painful than ever.

#3. I am ashamed to be associated with him as an Australian. He is an absolute embarrassment, and it is a sad reflection on our society that he is still a public figure and role model despite his continued indiscretions.

Let's look at some of his behaviour in recent years....

* The latest incident in which he said that about a journalist who gave his new (crappy) TV show a negative review: Some fat slag on the Telegraph website, sorry, the news.com.au, has already branded it a disaster...What a fat bitter thing you are, you deputy editor of an online thing. You’ve got a nothing job anyway. You’re a piece of shit... you little troll... You should be fired from your job. And your hair. Your hair is very 90s. Yeah, and your blouse. You haven’t got that much titty to be wearing that low cut a blouse. Watch your mouth, girl, or I will hunt you down."

This is ongoing, and he has made matters worse by refusing to apologise, and continuing his despicable tirade. This is his supposed "apology": "If you took a personal offence to it Ali I'm sorry, but maybe you should think again before you start going (against) different people. If they say I can dish it out but I can't take it, I never ever dish it out first. I only ever retaliate to someone else's crazy allegations."

* He commented on air that Magda Szubanski, who publicly battled to shed weight, would lose more "in a concentration camp". Szubanski, whose father was a Polish freedom fighter who hunted down Nazis, said Sandilands' remarks were "abhorrent".

*  In 2009, a 14 year old girl admitted on air that she had been raped when she was 12 years old, during a lie detector segment. Kyle's reply? "Right.. is that the only experience you've had?"

* After being fired from Australian idol, he called Ricki-Lee Coulter a "bitch" with a "then-fat mouth" on air in reference to her publicly agreeing to the decision to fire him. This aggressive response to criticism is a continued theme.

* In 2010, he interviewed 3 of Tiger Woods’s former mistresses, asking one of them in reference to the size of the star's genitals if he was a ‘‘massive donkey’’. When she responded with yes, he asked her: ''Were you surprised, [saying] 'Man, you're half Asian, half black, obviously the half black is what's going on downstairs'?''

* In 2006, Sandilands called a heavily pregnant journalist, Fiona Connolly, a ‘'fat toad'’, ‘'fat lying mole" and a ‘'little cretin'’, after a column she wrote about faked phone calls on The Kyle and Jackie O Show. He also said he would hire a private investigator to film her and her family "then I'm going to put it on a website and I'm going to show everyone what members of her family do that are dodgy".

* In 2007, Kyle was a guest on Big Brother. He went crazy when denied coffee in the house, and one comment made to Big Brother was “This might work with your little peasants you’ve got in here, but this is a different story dealing with me. When I am speaking you will shut your pie hole.” Kyle then refused Big Brother’s request to remove his hat as part of the rules for being in the diary room. A 15-minute stand off ensued as Big Brother refused to talk until Kyle removed his hat. The shock jock demanded to be released from the room and repeatedly bashed a microphone stand against the door. 

* He spent 20 minutes threatening violence and yelling at the guys from Australian band Frenzal Rhomb because they mildly insulted Jackie O. This was in response to Jackie O turning up at 8pm to MC a music festival, when she was scheduled to start at 11am (only 9 hours late). The band started playing music over Jackie O's drivel - the festival was already running late, and the band had to play to a reduced set time. Later that night at the after party, Jackie O's personal bodyguard confronted the boys and threatened violence. On air, Kyle told them "if it was me up there, it would have been on for young and old from the start". When the band asked Jackie if she endorsed her body guard threatening them, Kyle jumped in and said "Yes, well I do" and continued to say they would never have their songs played on the network etc.

* Threatening violence is quite a theme. On TV, he said he wanted to punch comedian Dave Hughes in the throat. He has also told journalists he'd "punch (them) in the face" if they invaded his privacy. Another quote: "Lot of dirty, filthy, rotten, disgusting tricks from a lot of media companies and I'll never forget who they are and one day I'll be in a position to seek some sort of revenge... I've got a list and I will slowly weave my way through it". Yes, sounds like a psychopath.

* He made these comments about Geoff Field, a newsreader on his Breakfast show:  “he's closer to dumb than most people think” and “like a step child you can't get rid of.” He went on to say, "He was running off down to HR . . . bitching and carrying on . . . I told him you can argue back . . . but you are never going to win . . . Geoff's an older gay man, easily offended.”

*  He forced one staff member “to masturbate in the Black Thunder one night because he'd done something wrong”, while another staff member verified it. “It took him about eight songs to do it,” Sandilands recalls.

* The most deplorable? In 2009, a young Cambodian-Australian woman, whose family were refugees from Pol Pot’s regime, entered a competition to bring the aunt she had never met to Sydney from the US. When the plane landed, they were told of the‘‘twist’’: the aunt would be concealed behind one of three doors and unless the niece chose the right one, the aunt would be flown back home immediately. The niece chose the wrong door. For eight minutes they cried and pleaded, even falling to their knees. After news and ad breaks the aunt was finally allowed to stay. 

Those are some of the main incidents that made the news, but there are way more. 

Apart from "Vile Kyle", there are others to blame.

(1) Jackie O, who continues to work with him for her own personal gain. She agrees with most of what he says and doesn't ever criticise him, just laughs along like a dumb floozy. She obviously has no morals, and is equally despicable. If Kyle finally gets the boot over his latest incident and she survives, that is not a proper outcome.

(2) Fox and Austereo, for continuing to bankroll him despite his continued bad behaviour. Obviously the "personal counselling" that he has undergone to keep his job has not helped. Good try!

But who is the most to blame?

THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC... for continuing to listen to him, ensuring that his show has high ratings so that immoral, money grabbing executives and his co-star continue to support him. If he didn't bring in money, no one would employ him. 

I have never liked him, but I also have not made a conscious decision not to listen to his show until now. After all, Canberra has seriously limited radio options and the Take40 show plays good music and interviews good bands. That means that until now, I have contributed to this problem. I urge you all to reconsider your support for Kyle's radio shows and change stations if you hear his voice!

To paraphrase Shakespeare, "The fault lies not with the stars, but with ourselves"

Perth Op Shops Deliver

What would a weekend in Perth be without some op shopping? I took my little sister along with me and we had a great day trawling the wares in a few of my favourite shops.

 Some sort of Pyrex look a like - says 'made in England', and has some numbers printed on it - but no brand! $2

 Florsheim shoes $5 and Misano peep toe shoes (brand new!) $5. Both genuine leather.

 Cute carved servers, $2

 More plates - $6 for 4 large and 4 small. I wasn't sure about these but for the price, I decided I'd take them home anyway. The brand is "Ironstone Petite - made in Japan".

 Another basic work blouse - $2

 Katherine silk blouse - $3

 Portmans casual tie blouse - $4

 Spicy Sugar work dress, brand new with tags - $6

 The peep toe flats in action!

I also got some non op shop shopping in (albeit rushed, there is only so much you can squeeze into a short trip)...
Sunglasses from Target- reduced to $3.75. I am on an expensive sunglasses BAN. Yes, I am punishing myself for my inability to look after my sunnies. In the past 2 years, I have lost/broken/destroyed 4 pairs of sunglasses. Not cool when the average outlay on a pair is in the hundreds of dollars. So, until I can demonstrate sunglass responsibility, my upper limit for a pair is $30. This is especially ironic because I *almost* broke this pair on the first day I wore them- they somehow got pushed out of the tray they were in at the airport scanner, and then got caught in the conveyer-belt and got crushed. Somehow they didn't break, but it was a close call.

 Target dress, $15. There is something special about finding an item at target which has been reduced, and then scanning it on the 'price check' machine and it scans at lower than the marked price. Always a bonus, and it happens quite frequently!

$40 reduced to $29.88 reduced to $19.87 reduced to $14.86!

Linking up with Sophie's Flea Market Finds.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Images of Perth... love this city!

Here is a snippet of my weekend in Perth, in photos.

 My Grandma's chicken soup - there's nothing quite as comforting as this, and it can't be replicated. The special ingredients are her love, devotion and care.

Perth is always about family for me, and this is my youngest cousin. She has a lot of personality, and has always chosen her own clothes since she was a toddler. She is also a real poser - if I could show you the facial expressions, you'd be laughing extra hard. This one doesn't shy from the limelight (actually, she insists on always being the center of attention, which is cute but gets rather annoying...)

 Peach Fantasia by Azzura Gelati - one of my favourite desserts of all time

 Perth city by night, view from South Perth



 Voyage Kitchen, Sorrento


 Sorrento beach - this is not one of Perth's nicest beaches in my opinion, yet it's still so beautiful. Perth has the best city beaches in Australia, hands down.




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