Adventures

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Heaton Flats to Mt Baldy included in upcoming Meetup hikes

There are some great hikes for the first two weeks of May

http://www.meetup.com/Hiking-Coachella-Valley/

http://www.meetup.com/Hiking-Coachella-Valley/events/116987492/ Mt Baldy via Iron Mt

https://www.facebook.com/cyril.kaicener?ref=tn_tnmn

Please visit my website
http://www.hiking4health.com

Our favorite gems from Bangkok!

Well, as usual we came back from our trip with a few fun additions to our closets (not that either of us needs any more clothes!) It's seriously impossible to walk out of a market empty-handed! There are just way too many cute collars and bright colors! Here are a few of our favorite pieces from this time around:

*I know many of you have asked us where exactly we got all of these items but the majority of them were purchased at random vendors on the streets and in the markets. Sorry we can't be more specific friends! However if you are ever in Bangkok you should be sure to check out the Chatuchuk weekend market... plenty of goodies there!*

Stef's favorite pieces are:
a flared denim skirt, a bright green and orange checkered dress, a brown polka dot dress with an oversized peter pan collar, a peach blouse, a color-block mod mini dress, a cropped cat print top, a tan collared dress with a backgammon print, and an adorable black and white mini dress with orange floral print.

Erin's favorite pieces are:
A fun polka dot & heart print party dress, a cream dress with bird print, a green mod mini dress, a mustard cropped top with polka dots, two cute purses, a vintage floral mini dress, a fringe Chang tank top and a pink and red floral dress with tie.

XO

Autumn Sonata (1978)

Although Autumn Sonata borders on self-parody because writer-director Ingmar Bergman indulges his pain-freak sensibilities to an excessive degree, the innate humanism and sophistication of his style—combined with two extraordinary performances—give the picture resonance. A tough drama about the ways parents and children hurt each other when they’re unable to connect, the film is particularly noteworthy as the only project on which cinema’s two most famous Bergmans collaborated: Swedish-born Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman returned to her native land (and her native tongue) to give one of the most affecting performances of her career.

Swedish-cinema icon Liv Ullman plays Eva, a middle-aged woman living in a remote part of Sweden with her husband, meek pastor Viktor (Halvar Björk). Eva excitedly prepares for a rare visit by her mother, Charlotte (Bergman), a world-famous concert pianist. Immediately upon Charlotte’s arrival, however, myriad complications in the mother/daughter dynamic become evident. For instance, Charlotte is supremely chilly and withholding. Accordingly, while Eva was growing up, Charlotte was an absentee parent who expected her domestic existence life to be sunny and undemanding; by shunning family-oriented stress, Charlotte made real emotional connection with her daughter impossible. As a result, Eva became bitter, insecure, and needy. Thus, upon reuniting with her mother, Eva can’t stop herself from dumping loads of resentment onto Charlotte given the slightest opportunity. Furthermore, Eva surprises Charlotte by revealing that Charlotte’s other daughter, Eva’s sister Helena (Lena Nyman), is living in Eva’s house. Helena is severely disabled, and Charlotte finds time spent in Helena’s company excruciating—Helena radiates emotional thirst that Charlotte cannot quench.

Filmed in extremely close quarters (the story rarely leaves Viktor’s humble house), Autumn Sonata is suffocatingly bleak. Writer-director Bergman almost never leavens the intense psychodrama with brightness or humor, so viewers are smothered by the dysfunction and pain of two complex women caught in an abusive cycle. At one point, the picture gets so heavy that Eva muses, via voice-over, how much she wishes she could simplify her existence by committing suicide. It is a testament to both leading actors that neither Charlotte nor Eva comes across as caricatured or contrived; these people seem agonizingly real.

Adding to the grim quality of the experience is Ingmar Bergman’s choice to treat the piece more like a novel or play than pure cinema; actors speak in long, unbroken monologues and, on many occasions, speak directly to the camera or in theatrical soliloquies. Were it not for the amber-tinged beauty of Sven Nykvist’s cinematography and the consummate skill of the leading performances, the film’s arty flourishes would be fatal flaws. But with writer-director Bergman’s masterful hand pulling the strings, Autumn Sonata feels less like indulgence and more like an experiment—it’s as if the filmmaker deliberately discarded arbitrary storytelling conventions and used whatever tools he could in order to push as deeply into the anguished souls of his characters as possible.

Autumn Sonata: GROOVY

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

rainbow beach freestyle

rainbow beach freestyle from tex on Vimeo.

Vintage/rustic bedroom inspiration.

Wow guys, I can't believe that it's already May 1st! Not only does that mean that summer is just around the corner but it also means that I have exactly one month to get everything packed up and ready to move into my new place! Eep! A month may seem like a long time, but when it comes down to it I know that time will fly by way quicker than I anticipate. (Doesn't it always?)

I had briefly talked about the fact that we are moving a few weeks ago, but now that the time has come to start packing up it definitely seems like more of a reality. It is sort of bittersweet because a part of me is pretty sad that I will be leaving the house that I have lived in for the past 6 years (and that has been in my family for almost 70 years), but I am also really excited for the challenge of making a new house into our home. It is also exciting to think about starting fresh when it comes to decorating; don't get me wrong, I still love having a vintage aesthetic in my decor, but I do plan on doing it with a bit of a different twist this time. Our new house is older than our current house (it was built in 1939) and is very much a character home filled with lots of original architectural details (which I absolutely loooove!) It is such a gorgeous, well-built house and I want to try to enhance it's beauty rather than pack it full of a million different trinkets and bulky furniture, ultimately hiding any special details. I think it's safe to say that I will have a big spring cleaning session in my future!

I have a folder on the desktop of my computer where I am constantly saving photos of interior inspiration and new ideas, so I thought it might be fun to share some of my ideas for my new bedroom with you today:

Let me paint you a bit of a picture of what our new house looks like so you can envision what I am planning on doing: first off, I think that our new house sort of has a cottage-like feel to it, I can't really pinpoint why that is, but every time I am there I feel like I have been transported back in time to an old cottage in the English countryside. There is just something so tranquil about it that I really want to try to embrace when it comes time to make decisions on decorating. So I decided to try to incorporate some of that rustic feeling into the decor along with my staple vintage pieces.

- Black and white photos: I love the look of how the old neutral photographs pop against the bright color of the wallpaper. There is just something so magical about old black and white photographs.

- Wrought iron bed frame: Our current bed frame is a teak-colored, angular wood frame and I have personally just grown tired of looking at such a heavy piece of furniture in my bedroom (especially considering that our new house doesn't have a huge master bedroom either, so maximizing space is a priority.) I also just love the rustic country feel that the old wrought iron bed frames have and how much more open and airy they look compared to my chunky wood one. We also have a beautiful wrought iron staircase leading to the second floor of the house so I think it would be great to play up that feature.

-Vintage floral print wallpaper: Not gonna lie guys, I'm pretty surprised that I don't have any wallpaper in my current home. What's wrong with me?! This is something that I have always had a soft spot for so I am pretty shocked that I have never incorporated any of it into my house. (Okay, that's a lie, I did once when I first moved out when I was like 20, but it was ultra-modern looking and not exactly what I am talking about here.) So yes, this time around I really want to work some into my decorating. I am thinking of just doing one feature wall in my bedroom (perhaps the window wall?) with a pretty floral wallpaper and then just painting the rest of them a soft complimentary tone and having nice neutral bedding with pretty throw pillows. Mmm... that sounds pretty perfect right about now.

Anyways, that's all I have for you at the moment, but I will be sure to keep you posted on the progress! Many 'before photos' have been taken and I'm so excited for the day that everything is done and I'm ready to share the 'after photos' with you!

XO, Stef

photo sources: (clockwise from top left)

one // two // three // four // five

The Cowboys (1972)

Although John Wayne’s actual cinematic swan song was The Shootist (1976), which depicts an aging gunfighter’s quest for death with dignity, the Duke’s earlier film The Cowboys is in many ways a richer closing statement about the themes Wayne spent decades exploring in Western movies. Instead of merely pondering the question of whether a man who lives by the gun must die by the gun—the poignant central theme of The Shootist—The Cowboys explores all the qualities, bad and good, that defined the Duke’s screen persona. His character, Wil Andersen, combines frontier values, heroic self-sacrifice, macho stoicism, and, of course, that most American of qualities: rugged individualism. The fact that Andersen’s journey inadvertently inspires a group of boys to become young men molded in Andersen’s honorable image perfectly echoes the manner in which Wayne’s characters inspired generations of moviegoers. So, whether you love or hate Wayne’s on- and off-screen politics, it’s easy to appreciate the elegance of this picture’s symbiosis between star and story.

Based on a novel by William Dale Jennings and adapted for the screen by Jennings and the husband-and-wife duo Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., The Cowboys tells a simple story about noble characters clashing with craven ones. In the beginning of the movie, rancher Andersen preps for a cattle drive until his crew abruptly quits to join the Gold Rush. In short order, Andersen finds himself interviewing an unlikely set of replacements—several schoolboys, some teens and some even younger. When the kids display unexpected determination, he agrees to hire them. However, word of available work also attracts a gaggle of varmints led by Asa Watts (Bruce Dern), whom Andersen quickly identifies as a dangerous type. Andersen refuses to hire Asa’s gang, and then sets off on the drive with the kids as his crew. A series of frontier adventures ensues, during which Andersen gruffly mentors the boys on what it takes to succeed in the cattle biz. Meanwhile, Asa’s nefarious gang trails the cowboys, eventually leading to an infamous showdown between Dern and Wayne—the climax of the duel won’t be spoiled here, but suffice to say one single moment helped cement Dern’s typecasting as a crazed villain.

Although the storyline of The Cowboysis so schematic as to seem a bit like a fable, the piece works—mightily—because of immaculate craftsmanship and vivacious performances. Director Mark Rydell, himself a thespian, does a gorgeous job of blending different types of acting, so everything from Wayne’s stylization to Dern’s improvisation feels unified; Rydell also draws fine work from young performers including Robert Carradine, who made his screen debut in The Cowboys. (Grown-ups in the fine supporting cast include Roscoe Lee Browne, Colleen Dewhurst, and Slim Pickens.) Cinematographer Robert Surtees captures the rugged beauty of untarnished landscapes, while composer John Williams’ music strikes just the right balance of excitement and wistfulness. And if the movie’s a bit bloated at 131 minutes, so what? Thanks to its careful treatment of resonant themes, The Cowboysis arguably Wayne’s best film of the ’70s.

The Cowboys: RIGHT ON