Apologies for not posting anything in 3 weeks but I have been super busy completing something big from my Summer Challenge List... Yes that's right- I'M NOW A FULLY QUALIFIED LIFEGUARD.
Hells yes. So if you need help from drowning just gimme a shout, I am quite the pro now and will be even more so when I get a job at the local pool.
For the past week I have been getting up at 6.30 (even earlier than on a school day) to do 4 hours of swimming trainging and 4 hours of CPR and First Aid training. But it has all paid off and now my certificate is in the post. I'm still buzzing.
So here are some beach and Life Guard (kind of, well not at all) related photos to celebrate from the July 2010 issue of Velvet, modelled by Heather Marks and photographed by Enrique Badulescu. They are making me lust after a waterproof cover for my Canon 1000D...
Thanks for all your wonderful comments, I'm going to start replying to them all now! Lotsa love Beth Ruby xoxo
ps) Pinch and a punch for the first of the month :)
My favourite adverts on television are the Miss Dior Cherie ones. The flowers, the Eiffel tower, the bicycle and the balloons all contribute to give 3 minutes of pure unashamedly girly fantasy and the ultimate dreamy escapism.
When I found out that Sofia Coppola directed this- a name I had heard many times- I knew I had to find out more about her. With her dad being the famous directer Francis Ford Coppola and her mum being Eleanor Coppola, a set designer, film really is in her family’s blood as a quick Wikipedia search revealed.
So I invited my film loving friend around and we rented out the DVDs for Marie Antoinette and Lost in Translation to see why people admire her so much.
Marie Antoinette
Having seen countless beautiful stills from Marie Antoinette (I would be prepared to say that 99% of teenage girls' Tumblr blogs contain at least one from it) I had high expectations. Gowns! Puppies! Cake (especially Macaroons) Champagne! Shoes! French Interiors! Literally all of my favourite things!
But that is all that it turned out to be.
Superficiality with no depth. There are only so many establishing shots of Versailles and scenes of the 'Skins' parties of the 16th century I can see before I long for a more complex narrative, complete with actual dialogue- it felt like the characters hardly spoke.
The audience gets no real sense of Marie Antoinette as a person. We all know how the film is going to end so we want to feel some kind of sympathy for her; being sent away from home to get married at 14 and then getting executed at 38. But it's hard to feel sympathy for a lady who spent ludicrous amounts of money lavish parties whilst the French people were starving (not that the film was that critical of the Dauphine)
So when the inevitable ending came, with the symbolic last shot being the Queen's private room in ruins, complete with chandelier on the floor and curtains in tatters, me and my friend were disappointed that we felt no sympathy for her.
What I loved however was the soundtrack which featured The Strokes (one of my favourite bands) At first it was odd to have a period drama with this type of music for the backing track but it actually went perfectly with Marie Antoinette's Rock'n'Roll lifestyle.
The mix of modern and classical music was just right but what didn't work so well was one shot with a pair of lilac converse amongst all her other satin heels. Now I'm no historian but I reckon I’m correct in thinking that Chuck All Stars were not around in the 1750's. Very odd.
A classic example of style over substance I grew desperate for the storyline to push on and *GASP* less puppies, macaroons, gowns and shoes. Nope I never thought I'd ever say that in my life either.
Visually stunning and every single frame worthy of a teenage girls Tumblr "reblog" it was beautiful to watch but I expected more from this celebrated film about one of the most famous Queens in history.
Lost in Translation
In comparison to Marie Antoinette you can actually empathise with the relatable ‘lost souls’ in ‘Lost in Translation.’ Bill Murray plays Bob, an aging actor unwillingly agreeing to star in a commercial in Tokyo and its here where he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) who is here because of her photographer husband. This chance meeting of two strangers out of their depth in this huge city sparks a friendship between the pair.
Sofia Coppola wrote the screen play as well as directed it and it is obvious how she won Best Original Screenplay for it with amazing lines such as: "I tried taking pictures, but they were so mediocre. I guess every girl goes through a photography phase. You know, horses... taking pictures of your feet."
This is a funny and sweet film with touching performances from Murray and Johansson who really put life and soul into Sofia's script.
So now I need to see Sofia Coppola's first film called ‘Virgin Suicides’ which on IMDB has the user recommendation "Sopfia Coppola is a genius" and then her new film ‘Somewhere’ which is out later this year and from the looks of the trailer is going to be a good one (and it has The Strokes again! What a bonus) Just looking at these two trailers shows her versatility and talent as she can switch between different genres, whilst always giving them her own unique spin.
She is definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Beth Ruby xoxo ps) I have just got home from seeing Inception. MY MIND IS BLOWN. If you haven't already then go and see it now!
After last week’s trip to London I am even more in love with my country's capital city than ever.
The shopping trip was a late birthday/end of exams treat and me and my friends loved it. We shopped till we dropped. Starbucks breakfast on the train there. Lunch at Westfields shopping centre. Tube to Oxford Street to check out Urban Outfitters and the 4 storey beast of a Topshop. Then a red double decker bus to dinner at Carluccio's Italian restaurant in St Pancras station before getting the train from Kings Cross (unfortunately there was no Platform 9 and ¾ though because it was under construction and being the Harry Potter nerd that I am I was devastated) back to Newcastle which seemed so drab and quiet when we got back at 1am in comparison to the vibrancy of London.
The must have Percy Pigs- vital for every train journey. Many thanks to Emma for supplying these bad boys!
The predictable cup of Starbucks for the train as well. Mine was a Caramel Macciato, in case you were wondering.
My beautiful best friends Xanthe (left) and Emma (right)
WESTFIELDS! The biggest shopping centre in Europe! With everything from Accessorize to Miu Miu, it was insane. We even got lost it was so big haha.
The really cute little ice cream parlour in Westfields. Me and Emma were very tempted to steal the pretend motor bike seats in our favourite colours.
Me looking very happy with all my shopping bags. It was a very productive shopping day with buys from: MAC, Pandora, Zara, Topshop and Urban Outfitters.
The beautiful St Pancras station. I can't wait to go back and people watch! There are so many interesting people in London, from all over the world, making it such an exciting place to be.
And for the record people in London have AMAZING fashion sense. I had so many style crushes by the end of the day.
So as you can see from our cheesey grins, we had an incredible trip. I can't wait to go back later on in the summer holidays (fingers crossed!) and do my usual touristy photos down the Southbank and get my lovely cousins who live there to take me to my ever growing list of galleries and exhibitions.
Hope you are all having a lovely summer like me, dearies!
Before you find out the outcome of the meal I want to state for the record that I put alot of time and effort into this meal for my family. I had this on my Summer Challenge listbecause I hardly never cook (my Dad is amazing at it so I don't even bother when he can rustle something up twice as fabulous in half the time.)
So I spent ALL day in the kitchen trying to create a masterpiece.
I pored over recipe books from Jamie, Nigella, Gordon, Delia, you name it and decided on ciabatta topped with goats cheese, rocket and tomato for starter, a slow roast lemon and thyme chicken for mains and "molten chocolate babycakes" for dessert.
But it did not turn out the way I planned.
The starter was average (a 5/10 rating if it was Come Dine With Me) the chicken for the main course was dryer than the Sahara desert (which would have gained 1/10) and the rice I made to serve for it went ballistic. Who knew that rice could be inedible from being burned and undercooked simultaneously? And that it would fill the whole kitchen with it's evil uncooperative fumes?
However the pudding (slightly) made up for the untouched mains. They were gorgeous. And as I am a firm believer that every cloud has a silver lining, the fact that the main course was inedible meant that people could finish these AMAZING Nigella LawsonMolten Chocolate Babycakes- with a name like that how could they taste like anything other than pure chocolate perfection?
Here is a photo of my creation: (I won't bother showing you photos of weird bread, burned rice and freaky chicken) But I had a go and that's the main thing and all that jazz etc etc etc.
I don't think I will be showing my face in the kitchen for a long time though as my 10 year old sister had a go at her own 3 course meal and would have received 30/30 on Come Dine With Me for her Calzone Pizza perfection. Yep I was out done in the kitchen by a 10 year old. I'd better get used to it.
Wish me luck on my other challenges (hopefully they will be more successful than this one...)Many virtual hugs and kisses, Beth Ruby xoxo
Thanks for all your wonderful comments, I'm going to start replying to them all now!
