Freaky Friday - Joyce Album cover

Oh Joyce, there you are holding your sweet rose wistfully looking out from the bargain bin at the local record shop. But even at 50c, I'm afraid I have to walk away from you and your incredibly tight perm.

No Joyce, it won't be today.

Just out of curiosity, I typed in 'Joyce Retro Album' into Youtube,
and low and behold there she was! Joyce's album has gone viral man!

Someone, somewhere purchased this record and uploaded
abit of a megamix, if you will, of her LP.

Click here if you wish to hear a sample...and you know you do.

Top Secret, Val Kilmer

Long before Val Kilmer played Jim Morrison in The Doors, and the caped crusader in Batman Forever, he was the all singing and dancing Nick Rivers in the 1984 comedy Top Secret.

Written and directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, & Jerry Zucker, the team that also brought us Flying High! (Airplane! in USA) & The Naked Gun, Top Secret is a comedy about an American rock and roll singer who becomes involved in a resistance plot to rescue an imprisoned scientist.

It was a stock favourite among my brothers, sister and I, and it's been watched several, if not 100 times between us.

 Here is the original preview of the movie...

and a scene from one of Nick Rivers concerts featuring 2 songs 
'How silly can you get?' & 'Spend this night with me'.

Did you know?: Val Kilmer did all his own singing in the movie.

Nice one.

Royal Melbourne Show

I remember mum taking me to the show when I was a kid.

I can still recall that horrid stench walking through the animal pavillions. 

Long, dusty halls full of show cows, sheep, horses etc. I could not have been less interested. Those who know me know I'm not much of an animal person. Perhaps that's where it stems from!! Not even the baby animal nursery could bring me round.

crunch1977

The show bag hall was great though! (Long before you had to take out a small loan to fund your purchases for 1 or more children).

And so were some of the rides. Who could forget that urban myth about the carriage of the Mad Mouse shooting off the end of the track from high above into the crowd below?!

ponygirl summer

I am yet to take my own children to the show like my own lovely mother did (she is a far better and patient woman than me!). 

I can barely keep track of my kids in a normal park let alone the show!

Bad mother? Fun sponge?

Yes, probably both.

But I don't care. We'll stick with the little local fetes and markets for the time being. Where I'm sure the fairy floss tastes just as sweet.

ponygirl summer

The big pie!!

Featherston Mitzi Aristoc chairs

 I am very excited about recently acquiring these four 

Featherston "Mitzi" aristoc dining chairs for a great price.

They are in relatively good condition, so I'll probably just touch up the legs.

I'm going to pair them with a round dining table as we don't have alot of room to play with in our dining area. 

As far as what dining table to pair them with, I'm still undecided as to 

whether to go for a white laminate table such as this...

Or a hardwood timber table...

(which is also extendable & therefore super handy)

 Thoughts? Anyone?

Bueller...? Bueller...?

Freaky Friday - LARD

LARD: The key to true happiness in life.

Who knew?!

The Diamond Dog - Vintage Shop

On the weekend, my friend Jenny locked me in for a trip over to her side of the bay, and met me in sunny Seddon for a peek at 

The Diamond Dog, 105 Charles St. 

 

I loved it!

Awesome vintage (primarily clothing) shop, run by the lovely Sally.

Racks n racks of beautiful vintage dresses and clothes, and vintage furniture and wares placed around the store.

The vintage dresses were really reasonably priced and are 

sold in their original, beautiful state. 

(Unlike other shops that now shorten skirts and dress hemlines to meet a certain market. I'm all for up-cycling and re-cycling of clothes, but surely this could be done by the buyer if so desired after purchase? Seems criminal to chop and change vintage pieces in such a way! Just sayin'....)

 Sally at her awesome retro bar/counter.

Sally is great and really interesting to talk to, and happy for Jen and I to take our time round the store. She even asked me to hold the fort briefly while she popped next door! Must have an honest face me : )

You can check out The Diamond Dog's Facebook page here 

and their blog over here.

Here's a few more pics of the gorgeous wares at The Diamond Dog.

I hope to get back over that side of town to visit again soon.

Enjoy!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Here are two of my favourite scenes from this 1987 John Hughes classic 

starring Steve Martin as Neil Page, and John Candy as Del Griffith.

Scene 1) Neil & Del meet Owen and his horrendous tick.

Fun fact: According to Lulie Newcomb (Owen's wife in this scene), "John Hughes learned that Steve was a clean freak, and told Dylan Baker (Owen) to really spit and shake, so he could freak Steve out. Steve ran to wash his hand right after the shot." (source)

 

'People train runs out of S s s stubville...'

Scene 2) Neil loses the plot at the Marathon car hire desk.

Note: Language is extremely colourful, but the 

scene wouldn't be half of what it is without it.

I love the way the car rental agent starts scratching her

 head with her pen half way through Neil's rant - brilliant.

Retro IKEA II

In honour of the new IKEA opening up in Springvale, Melbourne but a short 20 min drive from me, I thought I would feature some more Retro IKEA homewares from the 1976 IKEA catalogue. 

(You can see my other retro IKEA post here.)

I haven't made it to the new store yet which is utterly ridiculous 

considering it has been open for a fortnight now. 

I'm not sure if I'm more excited about prowling the market hall for goods, or visiting the cafeteria....swedish meatballs!!!!

All pics annkarlstedt

SPAM - Since 1937

It seemed that everywhere I looked lately, there was a can of SPAM. 

The supermarket shelves, in a magazine article, and on the shelf at my 

local milk bar.

Do people still eat SPAM? And who are these people?

There must be a reason it's still being sold after all these years.
So, I decided it was time to revisit the old cupboard staple,
and purchased a can.

It's been approx 20 years since I'd indulged, and I was
pleasantly surprised - this jazz is tasty!!! 

SPAM burgers were our meal of choice and something we will definitely revisit again. Not every week mind you, but definitely again.

SPAM fast fact...

Here is the Australian SPAM ad with it's catchy SPAM jingle, that I remember from the late 80's to early 90's.

Next time you are in your local milk bar, or corner store - have a look on the back shelves...I promise a can of SPAM will be there.

Spring Blossoms

Spring Blossoms are out everywhere around Melbourne, and a sign that we are now on the homestretch toward the end of the year!

When I was young, the blossoms coming out signaled warmer weather to come, school holidays, daylight savings starting and christmas not far behind...

 

 jpellgen

mairag

AnaElisa's

craig cloutier

Lucee's

Freaky Friday - Heaven Sent

Yes, wear Heaven Sent perfume if you don't want
to smell like 'a woman with a past.' 

Seventeen magazine

Oct 72'.

Grease 2: Live in Concert

I have long thought that Grease 2 was so much more fun to watch than the original Grease movie.  With a fantastic cast including Lorna Luft, Maxwell 'Who's That Guy?' Caulfield, a wicked soundtrack of songs, motorcycles and Michelle Pfeiffer atop a ladder singing Cool Rider...say no more!

So, I am uber excited about the upcoming production of 

Grease 2: Live in Concert!

Season 2

Chapel off Chapel

Oct 12th - 22nd

Following a sell out premiere season, this smash hit concert style musical returns to the Melbourne stage bursting with back to back songs from the original soundtrack.

Starring Australia's most exciting talents Josh Piterman (West Side Story, Kismet), Melanie Ott (Hot Shoe Shuffle), Gemma Purdy (Shane Warne - The Musical) and an electrifying band.

 You can check out a short preview of the concert below. 

It looks AWESOME.

I'm really looking forward to hearing all those great songs live.

Can't wait - I may pop a valve on the night!

Visit 

www.grease2onstage.com 

to purchase tickets!

Let's do it for our country, our country wants us to.

Josh Piterman

Melanie Ott

Thank you to Executive Producer Katherine Armstrong for these fantastic images. : )

Revenge of the Nerds 1984

 
Opening car scene.

Felt like a chuckle, and this clip is gold...

Lintons Cafe and Garden Centre

Beautiful Lintons Garden Centre & Cafe in Mt Eliza,

has become abit of a meeting point for catch ups for my good friend Tara & I. 

 Lintons is the largest garden centre on the Mornington Peninsula & offers a huge array of plants, furniture & gifts.

The centres iconic main building is constructed from Mt. Gambier limestone, while the high vaulted glass ceilings, are a reproduction of the conservatory at Kew Botanic Gardens in England.

Tucked away toward the back of the property is Lintons Cafe.

The cafe is situated in the original 1871 farmhouse building that occupied the site, and is one of the oldest buildings in Mt Eliza. The sweet cottage with it's open fire, has a really cosy feel, and there is always a scrumptious array of cakes and slices on offer. Menu and opening times information here.

Although it was a dark and rainy day when we last visited, I couldn't resist taking some shots of the cafe and surrounds to share.

Enjoy!

The old farmhouse cafe...

Nursery buildings...

Main building and gift shop...