Feeling of the Day....

[ via Amy Miles Books ]

Sound Garden...

It's sooo beautiful. It's one of their slower pieces but you gotta check out what these 2 awesome musicians are capable of...

Wise Words...

[ via Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

The Hobbit: Barrel Fight Scene

This will always be my favourite Middl Earth fight scene (even though I never like the book of "The Hobbit" so much), toegether with the epic battle in "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"... The choreography is just awesome. Oh, and the making of is kinda fun too...

Happy Halloween!

[via TinMoi ]

On the Big Screen...

One of my most beloved painters. I've always adored his paintings. And the trailer looks superb... One more week 'til it'll be in the cinemas here...

Feeling of the Day...

[via Change of Heart Pit Bull Rescue ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via priceless existence ]

Catch a vista of maples in that long light and you see Autumn glowing through the leaves.... The promise of gold and crimson is there among the branches, though as yet it is achieved on only a stray branch, an impatient limb or an occasional small tree which has not yet learned to time its changes. 

-Hal Borland

On the Big Screen...

I finally managed to watch PARADE'S END, an HBO/BBC drama mini series starring Benedict Cumberbatch (among others in an amazing cast) based on the same-called novel by Ford Madox Ford from 1924-28. Loved it. Constantly on the verge of tears, I have to confess. It's such a sad story most of the time (don't worry, there is a Happy Ending), also because it's mostly dealing with the effects of WW I on British society in general and certain characters in particular. It's beautifully written, the set décor is very apt, the music was great and then of course acting - brilliant! (Still no fan of blonde BC but it was suitable for the role!). There's drama and love and tragedy and costumes... What more do I need?! I know there's a lot of movies, documentaries, books etc. dealing with WW I this year since it's the 100 Year Anniversary (sadly enough).This has been a turning point in history, Austria included. That's basically what the series is about - how people struggled with the situation and how it changed them. Absolutely worth watching, I'd say!

I stole a few quotes on the book (but they work with the movie adaption as well) here that perfectly sum it up:

"...by no means a simple warning as to what modern warfare is like...[but] something complex and baffling [to many contemporary readers]. There was a love story with no passionate scenes; there were trenches but no battles; there was a tragedy without a denouement." 

-Robie Macauley 

"This is what the late war was like: this is how modern fighting of the organized, scientific type affects the mind.^"

^{-Ford Madox Ford, introduction of "Man Could Stand Up"}

On Stage: Frankenstein

[ via TNL ]

Just back hom from the amazing National Theatre Live's encore screening of Danny Boyle's Frankenstein. I loved every bit of it, and not just because of Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller (it did help, though). Tonight we had Benedict as The Creature - I didn't know which version it would be when I got the tickets and it would have been great either way. 

I'm usually not a fan of modern productions/settings but here everything was convincing. The cast, the stage set, the music, the lighting... I have to confess I think it was much more of an experience to watch on screen because the camera (angles) were amazing and added to the fantastic overall feeling.

The cinema was packed. 98% of the audience were (teenage) Cumberbitches (the fandom among my readers will understand) and the remaing 2% were passionate theatre loving retirees, slightly distracted by the sheer mass of excited females all round them... I even spotted 3 or 4 guys in the audience who were being dragged along by the girlfriends, from the looks of it... I've never seen so many people in the small English Cinema Haydn (my favourite English cinema by the way) here in Vienna, not even at the Coriolanus screening with Tom Hiddleston earlier this year. Back then, the majority of the audience (giggling schoolgirls mostly) came unprepared for the play and looked rather confused and disappointed (they probably should have read the play before). 

Tonight, people certainly knew what they were about to see. Still, everyone was amazed at the end. It was even better than imagined. I was captivated. And I wasn't the only one. Up to this point, the best play I've seen so far (from the overall impression and the quality of the cast) has been The Master and Magarita (based on M. Bulgakov's novel, production with Simon McBurney's Complicite theatre group) at the Wiener Festwochen (read review here) - and that's not any easy one (especially since it was more than 3 hours). Tonight I added another one to that list. (And next's year's HAMLET in London with BC will definitely get there, too. Yeah, I got tickets!)

Feeling of the Day...

[ via CumberBEES ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via DavidVHD/RO ]

Wise Words...

[ via Keltie Knight ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ a sky full of winter stars ]

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us. 

- Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat

Sound Garden...

I love this one! Always been a favourite of mine. Just heard it on the radio again this morning...

On the Big Screen...

That one was my fav book of Cecilia Ahern. It constantly made me laugh and cry. I loved it. Let's see if the movie can capture that magic I found in between the lines back then... Time for a re-read, I guess...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Facebook ]

Feeling of the Day...

[via PictureSocial ]

I thank you God for this most amazing day, 

for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, 

and for the blue dream of sky 

and for everything which is natural, 

which is infinite, 

which is yes. 

- E. E. Cummings

Feeling of the Day...

 [ via live laugh love ]

The autumn wind is a pirate. 
Blustering in from sea with a rollicking song 
he sweeps along swaggering boisterously. 
His face is weather beaten,
 he wears a hooded sash with a silver hat about his head... 
The autumn wind is a Raider, pillaging just for fun.

- Steve Sabol

Le Inspiration...

Wow, these are absolutely beautiful! Fantastic flowerworks by Love, Limzy
I'd love to wear a dress like that, made of flowers...

Lim Zhi Wei, who goes by the nickname Limzy, is a Malaysian artist based in Singapore. Limzy's works are curated on Instagram herself as she treats it as a gallery of its own and a place that conveys happiness through art for everyone to enjoy. It is indeed life changing. Her works have been featured by both local and overseas media including Instagram homepage, Mayhem Magazine Australia, Elements Magazine Malaysia, Push Culture and Uncertain Magazine Singapore.

For year 2014, Limzy will be expanding her series of Flowerworks and #wearflowersinstead. Her artworks are currently represented by Art Xchange Gallery Singapore. 

You can find more of her awesome creations on 

her blog at www.lovelimzy.blogspot.com

her Instagram at www.instagram.com/lovelimzy

Wise Words...

[ via Sun Gazing ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

When ideas float in our mind 
without any reflection or regard of the understanding, 
it is that which the French call revery, 
our language has scarce a name for it. 
- John Locke

Wise Words...

[ via Books Rock My World ]

Le Inspiration...

[ via rabitsfortea ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

Sound Garden...

I only recently discovered Leonard Cohen for myself... A shame, I know. This one is just so beautiful...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via just.a.moment ]

Fall has always been my favorite season. 

The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, 

as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale. 

- Lauren DeStefano, Wither

 

Sound Garden...

Just came across this by chance... It's beautiful!

Sound Garden...

Begin Again... Perfect soundtrack for a relaxed Sunday. I really love this song but the whole album is fantastic as well. And the movie is great, too. I left the cinema feeling so happy and musical...^^

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

By all these lovely tokens September days are here, 

With summer's best of weather and autumn's best of cheer.

- Helen Hunt Jackson

 

 

Wise Words...

[via The Reading Room ]

Feeling of the Day...

 

[ via pricesless existance ]

Daylight, full of small dancing particles and the one great turning, 

our souls are dancing with you, without feet, they dance. 

Can you see them when I whisper in your ear? 

- Rumi, as interpreted by Coleman Barks

Feeling of the Day...

[via LA DOLCE VITA ]

Ideals are like stars;

 you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. 

But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, 

you choose them as your guides, 

and following them you will reach your destiny. 

- Carl Schurz, 1859

Featured Blog: Book Mania!

I haven't featured another blog in quite a while but this one I simply have to share with you! For everyone who's just as addicted to books and libraries as I am!

 Check out BOOK MANIA!

Wise Words...

[ via Pinterest ]

Feeling of the Day...

[via The Reading Room ]

Wise Words...

[ via BookBrowse Books ]

Sound Garden...

Good morning! Something to sing and dance along... as I (almost) did on the tram on my way to work... I might not be a fan of Monday mornings but this really lifted my mood!

Feeling of the Day...

 [ via Eredel ]

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. 

Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. 

Smell the rain, and feel the wind. 

Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.

- Ashley Smith 

Renovation Update...

For those of you who didn't know yet (because I haven't invited you in to lend me a helping hand - yet!), I am currently renovating my future apartment. Same adress, just one floor above. Hopefully I'll be able to move in by the end of the year... We've been re-constructing ever since the beginning of the year because we had to revolutionize pretty much everything. Now we're getting to part where floors/walls etc. are being done and interieur questions come up...

I've spend the last week with painting all rooms. Still one more to go...On Saturday my IKEA kitchen was delivered (I choose this one but with different elements and a black work disk)!

So here are some highlights of my weekend:

• I'm allergic to the paint (obviously) I used for colouring the walls (only when on my skin... and I had it sprayed all over myself LOL) which resulted in some nasty skin irritation on arms and face including a swollen eye ;-)

• Whenever I move, something hurts. Especially my arms and shoulders are sore... 

• Developed 3 blisters on my right hand. I ignored the slight pain and take it as a sign of hard work^^

• Yes, you can put together an IKEA kitchen all by yourself, but only if your sister and her bf are craftsmen geniuses! Had our private Tool Time session (without any incidents apart from me losing some screws on various occasions or falling over something on the floor...

• No, going to IKEA on a bad-weather Saturday afternoon (because you need one thing to put the kitchen together) is the worst idea ever. All it did was to cost me a great deal of time and some nerves... 

• Chocolate is essentiell for being successful! :-)

• You know who your real friends are: they spend days with you painting and dragging stuff around, endure your various complaints (believe me, there were many!) and bring food and beer in the eveningto cheer you up and admire your achievements (and tools)! :-)

• Yes, I did have fun!

CONCLUSION:

No, I will NEVER EVER move again anywhere else. As much fun as the whole renovation thingie is, I won't do it again! EVER!

Sound Garden...

Because this is the perfect soundtrack for painting the walls in my apartment...

On the Big Screen...

Quite some years ago I've read Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell simply because my grandmother had bought them and everyone was already saying how incredibly good they are. Even as a complete layperson when it comes to Physics (and I admit I was never too interested in that matter) it was so well-written in a way to easily unterstand the complex matter! I really really enjoyed the read.

Some time later I caught BBC's film on TV by chance... Okay, so I'm a huge Benedict Cumberbatch now fan but back then I had no idea about him and still was impressed with both the storyline and the actor.

[ Read article here ]

So right now it's Eddie Redmayne's turn to portray Hawking. Really really curious and excited about the new film... Movie date, I'd say!

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Amanda Patterson ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

That old September feeling... of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air.... 
Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee 
in that annual autumnal beginning, 
as if last year’s mistakes and failures 
had been wiped clean by summer. 

-Wallace Stegner

On the Big Screen...

I think I want to see this one...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via So Overt It's Covert ]

It is what you read when you don’t have to 
that determines 
what you will be when you can’t help it. 

- Oscar Wilde

Sound Garden...

Simply because it makes me wanna dance every time...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Gruener Baum ]

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. 

-Frank Lloyd Wright

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain. 

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Wise Words...

[ via Kay One ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via PreventDisease ]

La Cuisine: Strawberry Cupcakes

I saw those wonderful deep red strawberries on the market and simply couldn't resist. They looked so delicious! And they were! Those little sweeties are perfectly going with some coffee on a summer's day... Very refereshing!

Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients
makes 12 cupcakes

For the sponge
2 eggs
120g sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
75g butter
75ml milk
150g white flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
peel and juice of 1 lemon
200g fresh strawberries

For the topping
250ml whipped cream
250g curd cheese
250g Quimiq
1-2 T sugar
fresh strawberries to decorate


Preparation

Preheat oven to 180°C (356°F).

Beat eggs with sugar and vanilla sugar until very light and creamy.

Melt butter. Mix with milk and  fold into the egg-sugar mixture.

Fold in flour, baking powder and salt. Add lemon peel and juice.

Wash strawberries, cut into slices and carefully fold into the dough.

Fill into 12 paper cups in a cupcake tray up to 2/3.

Bake on medium shelf for about 15 minutes. Then let them cool off.


For the topping, mix Quimiq with curd cheese and sugar. Beat whipped cream until stiff and fold into cream. Let it cool in the fridge for 1 hour. Fill into piping bag and pipe onto the sponges. Decorate with sliced strawberries.

Bon appetite!

La Cuisine: Stracciatella Raspberry Cream Cake

Yesterday I had some friends over for a BBQ to celebrate the birthday of one of them. This was a perfect "excuse" to try out this fantastic cake! The combination of chocolate sprinkled cake with a raspberry cream topping was perfect for a warm summer night in my garden... Looks quite fancy but wasn't too hard to make. Besides, I wanted to make it slightly bigger than in the original recipe so I took one and a half times the quantity of everything.

Straciatella Raspberry Cream Cake

Preparation time: around 70 minutes (exclusive cooling time)

Makes 8 pieces

Ingredients

150 g mellow butter

3 eggs, room temperature

250 g flour

1 tsp baking powder

100 chocolate sprinkles

225 g crystal sugar

1 package vanilla sugar

375 g raspberries

5 leaves of white gelatin

400 ml cream

100 ml crème fraiche

50g dark chocolate

springform Ø  16cm

Icing sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180°C (356°F). Grease springform.

Mix flour, baking powder, chocolate sprinkles. 

Melt butter in a bowl over boiling water. Beat butter until smooth and stir in 125g of sugar and beat until foamy (3-4 minutes). Add vanilla sugar and eggs and the flour mixture. Fill dough into the springform.

Bake on medium shelf for 60 minutes. Afterwards let it cool off on a cooling rack.

Cut cake into 4 layers. Put one layer on a cake plate and put a cake ring (9 cm high) around it.

Put a few raspberries aside. Now puree the rest.

Soak  gelatine leaves in cold water for about 4 minutes. Beat cream until stiff. Put gelatine into a pot and dissolve at medium heat. Add 5 tablespoons of raspberry puree and the rest of the sugar (100g) to the hot gelatine and mix together. Take pot off the heat and add the rest of the puree and crème fraiche. Put the pot into cold water until it turns slightly jelly. Stir occasionally. Whip in 1/3 of the cream, then add the rest. 

Put approx. 3 tablespoons of raspberry cream on the first layer and spread it. Add second layer on top. Repeat the same procedure with all 4 layers. 

Remove cake ring. Spread cream all around the cake. Fill the leftover cream into an icing bag with a star-shaped nozzle (10 mm) and place 9 (or as many as you like) rosettes (spots) on the top.

Put cake into the fridge for at least 6 hours.

Finally, melt chocolate in hot water bath. Place leftover raspberries on top of the spots. Dribble liquid chocolate over the cake.

Shortly before serving, sprinkle icing sugar over cake. It will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. 

And it looks pretty awesome from the inside too. I added some extra raspberries in between the layers because I had way too many.

Bon appetite!