I have a pile of stuff on the computer desk which were intended to become blog fodder.  However, the pile has grown and time to blog has not so it’s time to de-clutter and move on.   Of course, I have to comment first.

– Infertility treatments should not be publicly funded.  In an essay in the CMAJ, Dr. Jeff Nisker asserts that this is “socially based discrimination” but I disagree.  There was even an assertion that it’s discriminatory for birth mothers to select adoptive parents that they feel will give their children the best future.  Publicly funded health care systems have finite funding and must select what to fund based on the most benefit.

– If you have a moment, I recommend reading the poem “Sons and Mothers” by Dr. Larry Reynolds.

– In another essay from the same issue of CMAJ (11/10/2009), Dr. Shane Neilson writes about John McCrae, the author of In Flanders Fields.  He was a physician and a soldier who lived quite an amazing life.  The essay is about the role of death in McCrae’s life.

– Dumb quote from a smart man:

“It’s not important to be perfect here.  It’s important to act, to move, to start the ball rolling.”

That’s from former President Bill Clinton about the health bill currently before the Senate.

Seriously?  Just do something?  That is just so wrong.  I expect my government to do get it right not to just throw something together and tweak it as they go along.

– Why are local free papers always ultra left wing?  See Planet S.  Oh, wait.  Perhaps to distinguish themselves from the regular media which is usually just regular left wing?

–  Well, I was going to link to a Globe and Mail article but I can’t since I have to have a premium membership to do so and I won’t pay for it.  You can find a bit of it here at #25.  Instead, I’ll just say that if governments are cutting scholarship dollars, they should not cut merit scholarships.  Keeping the best and brightest students in a province often requires an investment.  Plus, shouldn’t we reward academic acheivement?

– LUSH is handing out postcards to “End Canada’s License to Kill” with a cute little white baby seal on the front.  Awwwww.  Apparently they didn’t hear that Canada has banned the killing of whitecoats since 1987.

– The Saskatoon Public Library won’t let children 10 and under visit the library without an adult.  So stupid.  Kids can be dropped off to go swimming but not to check out a book.

back again with another oldie of the week. this time I was very inspired by the jazzy stuff coming from labels like ninjatune, mo-wax and wall of sound records and the allover smooth n relaxed vibes from releases of f.e. luke vibert, amon tobin, funki porcini, clifford gilberto, etc.

one example of my jazzy experiments is the 1998 tune ‘allthatjazz’ – a lush groovy swingtune flavoured with livedrums. I sampled a lot of fragments from old jazz records, like trumpets, trombones, bass, etc. – enjoy and have a chilled sunday!

hell g. – allthatjazz

I must be in a mood. I have been sitting here saying “Lushhhhh, Lusssssshhhhhhh …”, I must have been making faces as well, my daughter wanted to know what was wrong with my eyes. Sure, try explaining that one. I went with the grin and nod to avoid risk of looking like a wacko.

Lush is wonderful! I had never heard of it until just recently. And ohhh la la do I like it!

About LUSH

The folks at LUSH are a step aside from what we most often hear. And when you take a look at their products, and packaging I’m sure you’ll stand to agree with me. Each item is packaged when mailed, and it’s not heavy wrapping. It’s thing paper wrapping (on the bar of soap of course.) They have beliefs of making effective products, using fresh, organic* fruit and vegetables, fine essential oils, and safe synthetics.

I got to try out, Washday Greens Shampoo

Washday Greens – This shampoo lives up to it’s name. I was surprised when I put the shampoo in my head. It’s very green. Don’t be alarmed. The fragrance of spearmint, and peppermint were wonderful, and so refreshing. Chlorophyll (the stuff that makes plants green), helps to balance out oils, while bay leaf tones the scalp. I loved that it really did balance out my oily hair! It was a lift that was well needed. I could stay in the shower to smell the refreshing mints for hours! After my hair was dry, I could still smell the mint, and it felt as if I had washed away built up ick using this shampoo.
Buy It: $16.95 – 8.4 oz bottle

SnowCake Soap – It has a wonderful smell of almond cake icing, while your washing with it, it really throws out the scent. Mmmm so good. All of my little dogs were waiting outside the bathroom door for me, I suspect they thought I had goodies hiding in there with me. SnowCake soap feels so soft and smooth against your skin. One thing I wish it had more of is lather. I like lots of lather. I would use SnowCake Soap again, just because of how well it felt on my skin, and how I didn’t feel greasy, or oily after I was out of the shower and dried off.
Buy It: $6.95 – 3.5oz bar
I would also like to try Father Frost Soap – Looks like midnight and smells like a garden. If you’ve been good all year round, you may just be rewarded with a large piece of this Christmas soap made with apple juice and cranberries …. You can even use this for a center-piece for Christmas, and after the festivities, cut it up and share it with your friends!

LUSH has a wide variety of products, to sweeten every name on your Christmas gift list, or to fill stockings to the brim. Including, but certainly not limited to gifts under $25. Take a peek, aren’t these precious?And remember, this one is less than $25!

Snow-Fairy Gift

Mon anniversaire approche, et je ne vois pas pourquoi je serai la seule à avoir des cadeaux.

Alors pour mes 26 ans, je vous propose ce petit concours.

Pour participer, il vous suffit de mettre cette image

sur votre blog et de me laisser un commentaire à la suite de cet article et uniquement celui-ci en me disant pourquoi vous méritez de gagner

Des savons homemade :

Savon L’espiègle

Savon Jour de (G)Rêve

Savon Halloween

Savon Pomme Féérie

Savon Christmas Lolita

Etc

Des surprises cosméto homemade

Des produits Lush (Merci à Géraldine):

Savon à la coupe Tsar des neiges

Emotibomb Pile ou face

Ballistic Bouboule de neige

Ballistic Le rose, c’est quelque chose

Mini ballistic Lush Pudding

Savon à la coupe Miranda

Savon à la coupe La Bohème

Shampooing Brillantissime

Je vous souhaite bonne chance, vous avez jusqu’au 3 décembre 23h59 pour participer.

Le tirage au sort aura lieu le 4 décembre dans la journée.

Les personnes qui n’ont pas de blog peuvent participer.

LES PARTICIPANT(E)S :

1- Savonnaute 2- Mary 3- Rozdsabless 4- Soleil41 5- Ninie

6- Sealeha 7- Marion 8- Lamity 9- Bethrave 10-Lils

11- TiteMarie 12- Blandine 13- Nymphadora 14- Mavalca 15- So Lovely Thing !

16- Fleur de Kiwi 17- Eau de flore 18- Krolett 19- Orangerouge 20- Fifi

21- Marie-Neige 22- Nin-8 23-Michèledesbois 24- Chrissy 25- NAMOUR

26- FéeSabBio 27- Willmel 28- Anaïs 29- Zsa Zsa 30- Maryt

31- Erialc 32-Lysisca 33- Cyrielle 34- Gazelle

Piggy savings bank by alancleaver_2000

I’m thinking a lot about money this week.

I want to be better with my finances and maximize my net worth. I’ve been horrible keeping my shopping budget but I will pare it down and reign in my bad habits.

This is a peek into my New Year’s Resolution (it’s early but quite necessary!)…I’m trying to lower my essential expenses, increase my savings, and spend less on non-essential items. I want to be more environmentally sustainable by using less plastic, limiting my red meat consumption to once a month (max), and being more aware of my wasteful habits. I want a more minimalist lifestyle in which my base expenses are as low as possible which frees up my finances to plan for my future.

As with all goals, it’s best to have smaller short-term goals that contribute to the big one. My most recent goal is to make my shower toiletries more eco-friendly…a la LUSH. So far, the goals are listed by increasing difficulty in finding alternatives.

• No bottled shower gels or body wash: Going back to soap bars, maybe shower jellies and solid body scrubs later
• No bottled shampoo: The solid shampoo bars are working well so far
• No bottled conditioner: I haven’t tried solid conditioner yet, but I have a feeling this will remain in bottle form
• No canned shaving cream/disposable razors: Not sure how to go about this one…

Annual Savings: $100+ and 36+ plastic bottles

The next step is limiting the amount of disposable items I use like paper towels, Kleenex, face wipes, cotton balls, sandwich bags, plastic wrap, etc. I can’t get rid of disposables altogether, but I can certainly cut back! I’m thankful for what I have, but it’d be better to have less junk.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Kollade precis på senaste avsnittet av HIMYM, “slapsgiving 2″ love it!

Pipi var här en sväng förut och hälsade på. Hon hade med sakerna jag köpte från Lush när vi var i Stockholm. Nu har jag min älskade snow fairy här! En stor duschcreme och en parfym.

“Snow fairy” och “Angels delight” måste vara dom godaste dofterna i hela världen. Dom borde finnas i sortimentet jämt.

I’m still debating about whether or not to keep my orange Fluevog Fiorenzas (I just really don’t like the color orange anymore).  But one thing is definitely for sure, my goldenrod Malibrans aren’t going anywhere.  I adore these shoes.  They were my first real style investment, and they were worth every penny.  I may feel fickle about orange, but I love goldenrod for an accent color.

See how much more boring this outfit looks when you can’t see the shoes?  My Malibrans really make this outfit shine.

Oh, and these shoes are very popular with the kindergartners at my school.  They love the bright color.

Dress: Lush
Cami (under dress) Gap
Cardigan: Ann Taylor LOFT
Belt: Vintage
Tights: Target
Shoes: Fluevog Malibrans
Purse: Thrifted and re-conned
Necklace: Chocolate Cake Jewels

I got home from work around 9:00 tonight… it’s been another full week. I’m gonna try to keep this entry short, because I’ve still got to paint my nails and try to find some pink clothes. We’ve got to dress in pink for the rest of the week to go along with our latest promotion (spend $50 and get a free medium Snow Fairy shower gel, or spend $80 and get the large shower gel or a Snow Fairy prepackaged gift for free).

Even though I wasn’t scheduled to work until Thursday, I ended up working a shift at Lush on Wednesday, because 2 girls called in sick. On top of getting a few extra hours, I also got a free Mange Too massage bar out of it!

Work this week was pretty uneventful. I worked Wednesday (10-3), Thursday (8-12), Friday (8-5 at a temp job), Saturday (1-6), Sunday (1-6), and today (4-8:30). I also work tomorrow (8-2) and Wednesday (8-2 at a temp job). Whew! I haven’t had a full day off since last Tuesday, and I only have Thanksgiving Day off before I have to work all weekend (Black Friday, AHHHH!!)… it’s alright, we need the money!

If I haven’t said this already, Lush is a great place to work if you like to goof off and aren’t afraid of making a fool of yourself. We are actually encouraged to be crazy, loud, silly, etc. We dance, we shout, we throw stuff (ahem, Shower Jellies), we blow bubbles, and just have a good time.

That’s why Saturday was the most entertaining day this week. Days like this are the essence of why I love working at Lush. The beginning of my shift (whenever we weren’t busy… when there are people in the shop, we’re all about being on task and giving great customer service, but when it’s slow and there’s no other stuff to be done, it’s a different story!) consisted of hula hooping, singing and dancing to 80’s rock, and throwing shower jellies around the store with my coworkers.

I also spent a good hour or so standing out in front of the shop with another girl, pouring bubble bath back and forth between two pitchers. Now, this may not sound fun or interesting, but we get creative. We have to attract attention (business!), so we like to see how far apart we can get the two pitchers without spilling. At one point, I was able to take my pitcher all the way to the floor, and she had hers almost above her head! It was fun… it would be nice if I had a video to post of our act!

Now, this next story is funny, but also kind of… umm… sad awkward embarrassing. My manager and I had decided that we were going to have a high kick contest (she said she had the highest kicks in the company, so I had to prove her wrong!). So, we stood on opposite sides of the front door (inside the store–we didn’t want to stand outside in the hallway and get in the way of people walking by… we only get in the way of people in our own store… heehee), and had a group of coworkers standing nearby to judge. We each took a few turns, but as Jen was in the middle of one of her kicks–and this is like something straight out of a sitcom, it’s so unbelievable–a one-legged girl comes into the shop! She looks at us and says, “Looks like you guys are having fun…”

We were both mortified! Thankfully, she smiled, and asked about a product she was looking for. Both Jen and I spent a good amount of time showing her around the store, and she bought a couple things, but we both felt so bad! After she left the shop, we couldn’t help but laugh about it, but it was mostly because we were so embarrassed! Oh well… just another day in the life of a Lush salesgirl, I guess!

I'm a huge fan of airplane bottles.

Now this to me is the epitome of Whiskey Tango when it comes to enjoying a Kenny Chesney concert in Philly. I uncovered these gems when I was rifling through my phone the other day and thought I would share them. They both were actually guzzling tall daiquiris like their stomachs were on fire. The one cat we’ll call “No Shirt Mcquack”(Above) was snoring to beat the band, and the woman “Bag lady Magee”(Below) was in my best guess, chasing rabbits in her dreams.

The scent of the two of them reminded me of college and what the kitchen floor at 10 Cedar Street in Orono would smell like after having 75 people drink their throats off all night in a 5 bedroom house. I mean hey we all get after it before concerts, but for $100/ticket I’m not going to nap through the undercard to get to Kenny. We had a ball with these people and if I’m not mistaken, I think Brawn might officially be on their christmas card list.

Tall Daiquiris make me drowsy

SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
-GRIZZ

From LUSH.   Go check him out on flickr here!

Konversation nyss:

Robin: Jag går och duschar nu!
Jag: Okej! Glöm inte att tvätta fötterna
Robin: Nej, ska ta hand om dom ordentligt.
Jag: ..använd inte scrubhandskarna bara.
Robin: Nej, tänkte ta din Lush Herbalism!

MAN SKOJAS INTE OM LUSH!!1

Tra poco più di un mese arriverà il giorno dei regali ed è quindi ora di inziare a suggerire qualche Idea  Creulty-free da mettere sotto l’albero! Come non parlare allora della nuova collezione natalizia proposta da LUSH!

L’edizione limitata di questi prodotti offre una scelta davvero ampia e profumatissima! Sono disponibili prodotti singoli o bellissimi cofanetti regalo a prezzi davvero invitanti!

Per chi non conoscesse questa marca Lush  è un’azienda cosmetica che realizza prodotti efficaci utilizzando frutta e verdura, olii essenziali e sintetici sicuri.  Il loro grande rispetto verso gli animali porta a non utilizzare ingredienti di origine animale e per questa ragione è un azienda Vegana. Tali prodotti non sono testati sugli animali e Lush si appoggia esclusivamente a fornitori aventi la sua stessa politica. tutto e superfresco, supernaturale, fatto a mano e golosissimo!!

http://www.lush.it/main/category.php?node=49

I prodotti della collezione natalizia, come tutti gli altri, sono disponibili sia on-line sia nei negozi Lush!

Well it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas so I’m making a list and checking it daily to keep giving you the gift ideas you’ve come to expect…like

 LUSH  beautifully wrapped and eco-friendly limited edition holiday products snuggled away in enticing gift  boxes. Innovative, mysterious, and oh so sweetly scented like  Bath Time Favorites( $39.95)–a  tin is full of nine limited-edition and best-selling Bath Bombs, LUSH’s classic invention which fizz around the bath emitting  essential oils.  Go green and  reuse the pretty tin box – fill it with warm winter cookies or use it to store holiday ornaments (after you’ve used up the goodies inside of course)!

Contents: Lil’ LUSH Pud, So White, Cinders, Butterball, Blackberry, Avobath, Big Blue, Think Pink and Honey Bee Bath Bombs To Be Jolly $16.95 To Be Jolly has a selection of bathing delights to keep you jolly all the way through the cold, winter season. For some extra fun (and a clever way to reuse your wrapping paper this year), dress up the snowman tag in true paper-doll fashion by cutting up and using the gift wrap pictures to dress him up and, of course, keep him warm. Contents: Mr. Butterball Bath Bomb, Ice Blue Soap, and Cinders Bath Bomb Color Me Christmas $29.95

 Color Me Christmas  comes full of five decadent treats all huddled under one roof. Bonus: the box is meant to be colored in, so it’s a great way for children to personalize the gift before giving it to a loved one. And since it’s filled with super fun bath goodies, it makes a great gift for kids too! Contents: Strawberry Santa Shower Jelly, Lil’ LUSH Pud Bath Bomb, Candy Cane Bubble Bar, Mr. Butterball Bath Bomb, and Satsumo Bath Bomb Special LUSH offer for online shoppers! Spend $70 and get a FREE 250ml Snow Fairy Shower Gel. Spend $90 and get a 500ml Snow Fairy Shower Gel OR Snow Fairy Gift Set! www.lush.com

I just finished my first week as an actual (non-trainee) sales associate at Lush! I worked Tuesday (10-4), Thursday (8-2), Friday (3-8), Saturday (11-4), and Sunday (2-7).

Tuesday was a fairly uneventful day. I spent the first hour or so removing the skincare products from their shelves, cleaning the shelves, and then putting the products back. Not too exciting… After that, the other sales associate and I had to clean and restock the bubble bar display.

Sidenote: These are two of my favorite bubble bars…

Those things are tough to stack! Since they’re all handmade, each bar is shaped a little bit differently from the others, and certain bars (like Amandopondo… my worst enemy when it comes to stacking) have little extras on or in them, which makes them very difficult to arrange in such a way that the stack will be sturdy and avalanche-proof. It took us a couple of hours to do the entire display, especially since the store was open (you can’t remove all of the products at once, but rather have to do it in sections, and you must stop whatever you’re doing if a customer comes in so that you can assist them). I finished with the bubble bars around 1:30, and then spent the rest of my shift assisting customers or, if it was slow, wandering around the store smelling and looking at products (it’s easier for me to gain product knowledge if I’m actually holding the product in my hand, so slow periods during my shift usually become study sessions…).

Thursday morning I went in at 8:00 in the morning to help receive our weekly shipment. This was a fun morning! The girls and I arrived around 7:50, but the shipment doesn’t usually arrive until 8:15/8:30, so we went down to Starbucks to get some coffee (Pumpkin Spice Latte with an extra shot of espresso–woohoo!). The guy showed up with the first of 3 pallets around 8:25, and we set to work on receiving the shipment–one of the girls read the labels and marked the boxes (so we knew which had been counted), the other checked them off on the invoice, and I (being the newbie, I assumed this was how it was going to go–and I was right!) got to move each of the boxes off of the pallet and stack them in a corner of the store. We did that for each of the three pallets, then decided to run upstairs to get some breakfast at Chick-Fil-A (we finished unloading the pallets around 9:00, and the store didn’t open til 10:00, so we had plenty of time to get the boxes unpacked and/or put away). We spent the rest of the 9:00 hour unloading boxes, most of which contained prepackaged gifts. We had to throw a few of the boxes into the back room (boxes of new bath bombs and bottled products, mostly), but finished unpacking almost everything before the store opened at 10:00. The rest of my day was spent arranging the prepackaged gift displays, filling holes in the displays around the store, and assisting customers (of course).

Ian picked me up when my shift was over, but we had some time to kill before heading to his lessons (I rode along with him because we were planning to go out to dinner that night–see my previous blog entry, which is called “5 Amazing Years.”), so I brought him into the shop to show him around. I gave him our “Soft Hands Treatment,” which consists of using our Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter, Ocean Salt Body Scrub, Buffy Body Butter Bar, and Dream Cream Hand and Body Lotion. He LOOOOVED that… just kidding… he was a good sport about it, though. We wandered around the store so I could show him all of our cool stuff, and then ended up buying him a Hybrid shampoo bar (which he really does like–he was really surprised after he used it for the first time!).

Hybrid is made with charcoal, fennel, liquorice oil, and tahini. It also has chunks of cocoa butter to condition and soften hair!

Friday was a surprisingly uneventful day. I don’t really have much to say about it… we were pretty slow most of the afternoon, but then got a huge rush around 7:30. I was scheduled to stay until 8:00, but ended up staying until 9:00 to help out because it was so busy!

Saturday was an awesome day. My manager, Jen, asked everyone to come dressed as our favorite prepackaged gift. I chose Jolly Holly Days, which looks like this:

I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite gift, but I have a lot of clothes in that teal blue color, as well as a scarf with both the right blue and green. It worked out well. The day was going pretty smoothly, though maybe a little slow. During one of our busy periods, though, I hit the jackpot! A man came into the store with his wife and two daughters. I asked if they’d ever been into a Lush before, and all of the girls were first-timers (that surprised me–he had been there before, but the girls hadn’t… ).

They all seemed pretty excited, so I told them a bit about the store, and then offered to give them each a Soft Hands Treatment. By the time they were half way through the treatment (rinsing off the Ocean Salt), they were already raving about it. I finished up the treatment, then the dad turns to me and says, “Okay, I’d like to get the complete treatment for each of the girls.” Yes, that’s right! That’s three Lemony Flutters, three Ocean Salts, three big Buffy Bars, and three Dream Creams! I grabbed a basket, loaded it up, and continued to show them around the store. He also purchased three $15-20 chunks of our Sultana of Soap (one for each of the girls), and then let each of them pick out a lip balm as well. The only thing he bought for himself was a Fresh Face Mask! By the time I got to the register to ring up his purchase, I could hardly contain myself! The total sale came out to about $380!!!! I put all of their stuff into 4 separate bags (he wanted each of the girls to have their own, and then one small bag for his face mask), thanked them, and wished them a great weekend.

As soon as they were out of the store, my coworker (who had rung up their purchase for me since I was busy wrapping soap and putting together each of the girls’ bags) printed out a copy of the receipt so that I could put my name on it and tape it up on the “wall of fame” in the back room (anyone who makes a sale over $150 gets to print a copy of the receipt and put it on the door in the back to celebrate)! So, after taping up my receipt and doing a little happy dance (oh yes, I did a little happy dance ), I headed back out onto the floor and got right back to work. If only my manager had been there when I made the sale! She just had to go on break 15 minutes earlier… When she came back, though, she saw the receipt on the door. She came out with a big smile on her face, congratulated me, and offered me a reward–a big Buffy Bar!

The Big Buffy... (cue the angelic ahh's!!)

Needless to say, I went home in a wonderful mood that night… up until then, I had still been lacking a little bit in the confidence department… I was still a little iffy on some of my product knowledge, I’m kind of shy to be a salesgirl, etc., but that success was just the boost that I needed.

Sunday was the last day of our “buy any gift over $40, get one for $20 or under free” promotion, so I spent a good part of my shift taking down the window display (so that a new one could be put up on Monday) and finding homes for all of the gifts that were taken out of the window. Because there were so many people working, the gift areas ended up looking pretty shabby. In the words of my manager, “It looks like Santa just threw crap everywhere.” So, she took charge of the gift tree in the back, and asked me to reorganize the big display right by the door. I love doing that kind of stuff! It was definitely a challenge, but once I finally finished, it looked MUCH better!

The last couple hours of the evening were pretty busy, so I was glad when 6:00 rolled around and it was time to close. Jen started closing out the registers and preparing the deposit while Lauren and I did dishes, put lids on the tester products, and swept. After Lauren was done sweeping, Jen sent her home, which left me to do the mopping. Jen’s a really cool manager. We talked while I mopped and she finished money stuff, then we took out the trash and locked up. We were even done a little early (well, around 6:45, instead of 7:00)!

I was so glad to be done with work on Sunday night. I love this job, but I have some killer blisters on my heels from the shoes I’ve been wearing. They’re finally starting to heal up a bit, since I haven’t worked in two days. I don’t work again until Thursday , so they should be fine by then…

Well, that concludes my first week at Lush. It was pretty great! Thanks for sticking with me and reading the whole entry!

I am a LUSH junkie.  The holiday lineup for 2009 is looking adorable.  Jumping the gun?  I don’t think so.  Come on, folks, I work in retail.  It’s been Christmas since Halloween.  Things I want!

let them eat cake

gnome name

snow cake soap

li'l pud

sexy boy massage bar

The new website is looking great, too.

I do not usually experiment with beauty products; once I find something that works, game over. But that plan changed when I received my first ever Lush bath bomb. Lush is an amazing beauty products seller with locations all over the world. The company believes and promotes green living, and have been doing so even before it became hip. They invent their own products and fragrances from organic ingredients and each product has a sticker showing who made it, when it was made, and when its best by. Because they’re made from all natural ingredients, every product has a wonderful fresh and non-chemical smell that your ordinary bath products might give off. In fact they smell good enough to eat (which you could if you wanted to!).

Search their website for a location in your area, shopping online does not do this company justice. Every single salesperson I’ve ever run across in a Lush location, everywhere from London to Tyson’s Corner, VA to New York City, are extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the products. They’ll be able to assist you in finding something perfect for you or in giving a fun gift. It’s also a fun time to try everything out! Some of my favorite Lush beauty items:

I Love Juicy shampoo: a clarifying shampoo that I try to use once a week. It takes out all the grease, dirt, and product left in your hair and leaves it shiny and clean with a really fruity scent that reminds me of summer. I use it with a Garnier Fructis conditioner to make sure my hair stays moisturized from root to tip.

The Sex Bomb bath bomb: a favorite not only for its name but its amazing smell and moisturizing capabilities. Drop it in the bath and step into a wonderful experience.

Marilyn Hair Treatment: a perfect organic product for maintaining you blonde. Set it on your hair and it makes your blonde highlights brighter and more noticeable. The lemon in it is perfect for blondes but will make all hair types nice and shiny.

"Aww, Together They're CUTE"

‘Find A Place To Be Safe’ is the second album release from German post-rockers ‘Collapse Under The Empire’. The follow up to their self produced debut, ‘Systembreakdown’ is instrumental post-rock at its purist, which is at once its main selling point and its biggest flaw.

At its heart, musically this album revolves around the key rock instruments of bass, drums and electric guitar, with heavy use of piano. All these play well off each other well, none hogging the lead position left open by the lack of vocals. As is the way with post-rock, ‘Collapse Under The Empire’ aren’t afraid to call in the help of synth, digital effects and drum machines. Personally, while the drum machine has a nice effect, I’d much prefer to hear their real drummer, who is actually quite talented. The rest of the synths and effects create nice textures in the tracks where they appear, including the times when they appear to be aping an orchestra.

While this is all well and good, I have trouble finding anything original about this album. Everything here is done to a high level of polish, and it’s all very listenable, but none of it leaves a lasting impact. I can’t help the feeling that I have heard it all before. As I said before, this is post-rock at its purist, but they don’t step out of their post rock boundaries in the slightest. Sure, they reach out to the different edges of the genre, from the straight rock instrumentation, to electronic digitisation, from happy chill-out to heavy melancholy, but they don’t go any further than that.

Which isn’t to say that I don’t like this album, I actually really do. The problem is the reason why I like it. I can’t help but treat it as great backing music. This is an album I will enjoy, but only really while doing other things. I can’t find enough here to make it worth sitting down and letting it be the focus of my attention. This is good for the band, as I could see them being able to get their songs used in music and movies for this very reason, but it isn’t brilliant for making them stand out from the crowd.

If you want some well-made post rock as a soundtrack to whatever your doing, then I would recommend picking up ‘Find A Place To Be Safe’. If you are looking for something new and interesting to challenge you musically, then I would look elsewhere.

(Find A Place To Be Safe is released on 27^th Nov 2009)

6/10

Standout Tracks:

Crawling

Far To The Part

A Smell Of Boiled Greens

So, I promptly deserted this blog for a month. Nice, I know. But I’m back. And I’m cute, so you’ll forgive me.

When I first created this, it was a place for me to mope about an ex (whose leaving me had a stronger effect than the relationship did). And I think that I ignored this blog because once I had the opportunity to mope, I didn’t want to. I’d spent so long pushing myself out, and being pulled out by the ones I love, that I didn’t want to fall back into sentiment. So I’ve edited that first entry and can proudly say that I’ve had a really successful first month here. I work 5 different jobs, all of which have their own separate set of challenges, live with the best friend and roommate that a girl could ask for in a… different living situation, and have been taking an awesome class. No, I haven’t been auditioning much. But I’m singing all the time, and making rent. The auditions will come in time, but I don’t want to try to smush too much in at first– everything at the right time.

4 of my 5 jobs are doing catering/event promotions– This is by contract, so some weeks I can get offered 12 jobs, and some weeks (like this week) I can get offered 1. It’s a huge challenge, not to mention the challenge of pretending I know what I’m doing all the time, but I feel like I’m doing well so far. If I could suggest a way for anyone with hospitality experience to jump into NY life, this is what I’d say first. I’ve gotten to know the city in a unique and fascinating way– 1 night I’m pouring wine in the Meatpacking District for the 2009 Food/Wine Expo, the next I’m working Ivanka Trump’s wedding reception in SoHo, the next I’m on the UES at NY Presbyterian catering a donor dinner. What an absolute blessing it’s been to get acquainted with this city and make rent.

My other job is retail sales for LUSH Handmade Cosmetics. Of course, this makes me only about 1/2 what I make catering, but it’s guaranteed money every month, so even if I’m not booking enough events, I know I will make rent every month. The people I’m working with are really cool, and I’m lucky to have a job where I can stand by the products and the company values.

So I’ve been in town for… 6 weeks now, and have already jumped into my endless circle of sleeping with unattainable/unavailable people. Currently I’ve got a beautiful, amazing woman who I’ve been sleeping with for about a month who can’t take me seriously, but apparently can look past it when I’m going down on her. Why I thought NY would be different, I don’t know– it’s just as hard to find available women here as it was in Ogunquit. My current prayer to the universe is that I meet a really great woman FRIEND who will come with me to gay bars and give me confidence to meet women who are also single and not judgmental/ageist. Ha- amusingly enough, that was my prayer when I got here, and Scott & I thought I’d found that in this woman. But noooo, I HAD to go and sleep with her, and she HAD to love it. It’s tough to be great in bed, I’ll tell you.

Of course, as soon as I begin sleeping with a woman again, I feel like someone sends a memo to men everywhere to start hitting on me. Isn’t it RIDICULOUS how that happens? It started a couple of weeks ago, I had men slipping me their numbers at work, cornering me, etc. And there’s no nice way to say ‘yeah, I’m single, but I’m not going to go out with you.’ So I make something up, or am gracious and say thanks and try to ignore them the next time I cater there. What’s a girl to do. Oh, I know – find a girlfriend.

Less rain today but still coming down.  Reminds me of an old science fiction story about a planet of rain, how people went crazy in the constant rain.  The contrast of the lush grass versus the gray skies always makes me think of life growing despite the bleakness.  The isolation of the sheets of rain coming down gives one the sense of being alone even when surrounded.  Rather like the experience of being on a motorcycle.  Being isolated within a group.  Maybe that is the symbol of rain.

När det gäller ansiktsmasker så är min favorit en från Lush. Nackdelen är att den är ganska dyr, så det blir lyx någon gång i månaden. Därför brukar jag använda billigare masker emellanåt.

Jag tänkte tipsa om mina 2 favoriter bland billiga ansiktsmasker. Eftersom jag har ett Dollarstore i närheten köper jag dem där för 10kr/styck, annars finns svenska återförsäljare listade här.

Märket som producerar dessa, Montagne Jeunesse, har flera olika sorter för olika hudtyper. Vissa kommer i engångsförpackningar och andra är avdelade på mitten för två åtskilda “portioner”. De är BUAV-godkända, vilket innebär att de inte testas på eller innehåller djur.

“Blemish Mud”, till vänster, innehåller Aloe Vera och “Organic Tea Tree”. Den är en “pore cleansing face mask” som fungerar förvånansvärt bra. Jag har inte så mycket hudproblem men jag märker ändå skillnad före och efter. Dessutom luktar den gott, lite som eukalyptus.

Den högra, “Sauna Masque”, är en rosaröd lermask som man bara ska ha på i ett par minuter. Den ska ta bort överflödigt fett i huden, också pore cleansing. Resultaten har varit lite olika för mig men den är enormt skön, den är nämligen självvärmande och blir varm när man använder den. Ett hett tips (pun intended) nu i vinter, sjukt skön att använda när man varit ute i kylan.

De är helt klart värda att testa. På bilden uppe till höger har jag på mig Blemish Mud-masken. Gissa vem som ska till Dollarstore imorgon och uppdatera lagret…

In fiecare an, de la Craciun, fac cu drag cadouri simpatice de la The Body Shop sau de la Lush. Mi se par ludice, practice, la indemana… si imi place atmosfera din magazine cand fac cumparaturile.

In acest an, sper ca si la noi sa avem pachete retro cu tema momentului: anii ‘80.  Colectia Favoritele Anitei mi se pare senzationala…

De abia astept, de fapt, Craciunul!

"Does playing it on the floor make it noisier?"

Exploding Head is a wall of sound, albeit one with a few bricks missing. This isn’t a complaint; in fact it’s something that helps separate them from a lot of other noise rock bands. What I really mean by the holes in the wall is that they aren’t completely impenetrable; they have moments of openness where melodies and a pop sensibility slip through.

The self-proclaimed “Loudest Band in New York” take effects pedal laden guitar, and layer it on top of pinpoint accurate drums, high gain bass and low key vocal lines. This is also the order of how well you hear different instruments in the mix, too. If you are a fan of great singers and heartfelt lyrics, then A Place To Bury Strangers are not the band for you.

A lot of the time, it’s hard to distinguish singer Oliver Ackermann’s voice from the rest of the noise going on in the track. From what I have made out from repeated listens, the melodies are rather generic pop ones, and the lyrics aren’t incredibly inspired either, so don’t worry, you aren’t missing much.

It’s not an easy listen on the noisier tracks, but when that light shines through the cracks in the wall, they can produce some moments of quality. It’s just a pity it seems to be mixed so badly, and those melodic moments are so few and far between.

6/10

Standout Tracks:

Deadbeat

Exploding Head

Smile When You Smile

(Originally reviewed for LUSH Radio:http://lushradioreviews.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/review-a-place-to-bury-strangers-exploding-head/ )