Growing up I always wondered how people could pick a favorite Beatle. Like picking a favourite child or pet, or even a favourite season, it didn’t seem right – each Beatle played an equal part in my Beatlemation, blending together like a perfectly synchronised string section or rainbow ice-cream. Though after watching Martin Scorceses George Harrison biopic ‘Living in the Material World’, I think it is safe to say that as of 2012, I now hand my alliance to George. A man of peace, truth, wonder, youth and the world, George ...]]>

Guest Contributor//Holly Rankin

Growing up I always wondered how people could pick a favorite Beatle. Like picking a favourite child or pet, or even a favourite season, it didn’t seem right – each Beatle played an equal part in my Beatlemation, blending together like a perfectly synchronised string section or rainbow ice-cream. Though after watching Martin Scorceses George Harrison biopic ‘Living in the Material World’, I think it is safe to say that as of 2012, I now hand my alliance to George. A man of peace, truth, wonder, youth and the world, George revolutionized musical relationships between the West and East – taking the Beatles’ sound to India; created the first large-scale benefit concerts (Concert for Bangladesh) and amongst endless other things, wrote some of the best songs known to man-kind.

‘Living In the Material World’ is the first documentary solely about George. Released in 2011, it comes at a time when the world is, quite obviously, very messed up. War runs wild, economies are crumbling left, right and center, mainstream media is more than often corrupt with agenda’s and publicly supported cultural revolutionaries (like the Beatles to the 60′s) are on the brink of extinction. But in the hands of people, always, the world has a chance for change, and the world is changing.

In these confusing times, we need to look back on people like George Harrison, people who lived and practiced peace, strength and determination. George constantly filled his world with inspiration, and in turn inspired others around him.

Watch the film ASAP. It is long, but ridiculously worth it.

Some George-written life changers; Long Long Long, Something, My Sweet Lord.

George Harrison – poem by H Rankin

What comes is not a gentle sound
Nor a word that I could speak
But a feeling of white roses
Or the ocean on the beach
The kind of force of nature
That runs into your arms
When you least expect it
And you suddenly feel calm
A master and a teacher
And a friend you will become
A shaman like a rainbow
And meanwhile all is one

Lisa// BIG thanks to Holly for this inspired article! What a ray of light George is in the musical world! I wonder who we’ll hear from next on the Like-List…?

Lisa : )

Guest Contributor RM//

Have you ever thought knitting was too hard? Did you have a little go and got into a terrible tangled mess?

For words of inspiration from a delightfully old fashioned lady I introduce you to Elizabeth Zimmerman.

On hearing the remark, ‘I’ve always wanted to knit but I just can’t,’ she replies rather sternly, ‘Pish, my good woman, you can plan meals can’t you? You can put your hair up? You can type? You can write fairly legibly, shuffle cards? All of these things are more difficult than knitting. You just ...]]>

Guest Contributor RM//

Have you ever thought knitting was too hard? Did you have a little go and got into a terrible tangled mess?

For words of inspiration from a delightfully old fashioned lady I introduce you to Elizabeth Zimmerman.

On hearing the remark, ‘I’ve always wanted to knit but I just can’t,’ she replies rather sternly,
‘Pish, my good woman, you can plan meals can’t you? You can put your hair up? You can type? You can write fairly legibly, shuffle cards?
All of these things are more difficult than knitting. You just don’t want to knit, so why pretend that you do? it’s not compulsory; take up something else.

Or in a kinder moment,
‘If you hate to knit, why bless you, don’t; follow your secret heart and take up something else. But if you do start out knitting with enjoyment, you will probably continue in this pleasant path. Properly practised knitting soothes the troubled spirit and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.’

Elizabeth Zimmerman [ lived 1910 to 1990] was brought up in England with governesses and went to finishing school and then art school. She had a gorgeous command of the English language and a rather blunt but refreshing way of looking at the world. She revolutionised knitting at a time when it was all rather stuffy and slightly boring. She was passionate about knitting and was continually thinking up easier and more practical ways to knit. Her baby surprise jacket is still very popular and was designed to be knitted in one piece and be reversible in case of little accidents!
There are several books which go back to 1974. ‘Knitting without tears.’ ‘Knitters Almanac.’ ‘Knitting workshop.’ They are fun to read and very inspiring. It’s hard to just blindly follow a knitting pattern after reading them. ‘Knitters Almanac’ follows Elizabeth knitting her projects every month for a year and it is a funny, personal account full of great knitting ideas.

Her daughter Meg Swansen is a talented knitter [ of course] and continues a publishing house called ‘Schoolhouse Press’ in America which was where Elizabeth lived for most of her life. She shared an old school house with her German husband and knitted him many garments during the long Wisconsin winters.

If this has inspired you, try the beautiful hand spun wool at the Spinners and Weavers Guild at 655 Nicholson St., North Carlton, Melbourne. Apart from the yarn they sell hand spun, hand knitted garments for adults and babies. You may even find a Baby Surprise jacket there. The prices are very reasonable for absolutely unique pieces. Elizabeth only ever knitted in pure wool.

CAST OFF

- Ruth Mitchell

Photo found here.

‘Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises.’
Elizabeth Zimmermann

What a compelling woman she was! My favourite EZ quote, ‘If you hate to knit, why bless you, don’t; follow your secret heart and take up something else.’ I love it.
Big love to my endlessly inspiring Mum, for sharing EZ with us!
Lisa x

Sometimes quick blogs can be the best. Here’s hoping! 15 minutes before my flight boards – I usually leave it to the last minute so that gives me… Maybe 25 minutes? Vite-Vite! Oh my golly gosh! Firstly, I am SO SUPER-DUPER excited about my new album! WOOHOOOOooo! What a bloody thrilling experience it is, spending days and days and weeks and months experimenting and going half-raving-MAD ( Well, I’m already half-mad, so maybe just finishing the job..!) in the studio with Dann and Alex, knowing that these songs and ideas we’ve come up with ...]]>

Sometimes quick blogs can be the best.
Here’s hoping!
15 minutes before my flight boards – I usually leave it to the last minute so that gives me… Maybe 25 minutes?
Vite-Vite! Oh my golly gosh! Firstly, I am SO SUPER-DUPER excited about my new album! WOOHOOOOooo! What a bloody thrilling experience it is, spending days and days and weeks and months experimenting and going half-raving-MAD ( Well, I’m already half-mad, so maybe just finishing the job..!) in the studio with Dann and Alex, knowing that these songs and ideas we’ve come up with are going to be floating into your ears this coming year! I can’t WAIT to start playing shows again! CAN. NOT. WAIT.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, I have been in the studio for a while… I can only say ‘for a while’ as I have little recollection of how or when we began – it could be a year or so – but I can say that it is simply a beginning-less and endless task of love + creativity + evolution….! I’m enjoying taking my time and being so open and free with the beast! I say ‘beast’ in an affectionate way… Helping me tame the thing is production magician, Dann Hume, and engineering expert, Alexander Gooden, both whom you’ll find on Twitter tagging me into embarrassing one-liner’s…! We’re all addicted to that thing!! Not good for studio-productivity!!! But I unashamedly love it!
Alright! Just had to get that initial burst of adrenalin out of the way! We can move on now to other parts of life! Oh shit, 20 minutes is nearly up…! Gosh I wouldn’t be a very productive journalist would I? A few para’s in 20 minutes? It really has been a while since school! Hmmm… I can work on that…!
So this Like-List is looking quite empty still! I need some Budding Creative Types to interrogate for my YOUNG & FREELANCERS category… Another thing I can work on…! Look, I really must go – I’m off to Sydney to see the Family… (The ‘in-laws’- only we’re not technically married… What’s the ‘term’ for that? Un-in-laws? No, that sounds like you’ve broken up… pre-laws? Or is that too presumptuous? ) …before this x-mas day business kicks off. And lastly – how beautiful is that photograph up top? It’s by my long-time photography crush, none other than the Parisienne minx herself, Carla Coulson!

Merry X-mas / Happy Hanukah!

Lot’s of LIKE and LOVE…

Lisa xx

(Don’t worry, I made my flight – I added this next bit when we landed.)

PS. Speaking of x-mas – Darren Hanlon invited me along to his Famous X-mas Show in Melbourne last week! We sang a few songs together (one of mine, one of his ) and it was really a very curious adventure – a few first-world problems ticked me off to begin with; I had forgotten my wallet after being in ‘studio-land’ all week and wasn’t even wearing ‘stage-clothes’; so I ate a muesli bar from the IGA across the road with my remaining $2.60 worth of shrapnel in the bottom of my bag, ( I was too proud to ask Dazz for dinner money- a bit silly now, I do realise! And I hope that’s ok that I just called him Dazz – Steph Hughes called him that all night, I think it suits him better than Darren!) But, even MORE interestingly, Dave Dondero was supporting! I seem to have missed this in the lead up to the night – therefore I was understandably astonished by the presence of this gentle giant of a man with his American drawl and appetite for beer and polite side-of-stage conversation. Those who are familiar with him know that he was famously responsible for inspiring the SHIT out of Connor Oberst, of Bright Eyes, when he was a young lad. Connor now releases Dave’s records in America and Darren does the same here in Australia. Go HERE to check out Dave and HERE for DAZZ. And THEN Dazz played – what a guy! HOW GREAT IS HE? Holey SHIT I havn’t laughed that hard in a while!! Did you know he’s started a band in his Nan’s nursing home and they rock out? That guy is a LEGEND. Steph Hughes jumped onstage and sang a heart warming, salt-of-the-earth rendition Paul Kelly’s From St Kilda to Kings Cross with Darren and then came Dave for a duet with Dazz too. When I finally stumbled through his song, an endearing new Americana-style ballad about a man and a woman asking each other which country they would prefer to live in together, (a question I would find VERY difficult to answer! Now I think about it, I’ve actually got a song on my new album, called Pretty Thing, which is about America and Australia swooning over each other..! ) well, I just had to tell everyone how bloody beautiful they all were! My big heart was getting BIGGER, and more giggly, with each song that Dazz played – the crowd laughed and sang along and heckled affectionately, mostly about Gympie, the small town he’s from, which made for a WHOLE LOTTA LOVE in the room! Anyway – THANKS DAZZ for having me !!

PPS. That was a LONG PS.

x

Look at this gorgeous cafe! I’ve been meaning to write about it all year! It’s built in the skeleton of the old Coin Laundry behind Armadale station. I read in a review that they heard my song, ‘Coin Laundry’ playing while they were having their breakfast! How adorable. I used to live in the area (Armadale, Melbourne) and always went out of my way to pass by it on my way to the station. I will most definatly be paying it a visit. You can visit them online here! Lisa xx

I am so glad to have you visit!

One of my favourite reasons for being is to share inspiration.

I’ve dreamt of beginning an online culture-collection for a while now… I thought this would be a good way to share ideas… …from books and libraries, to music and must-see gigs, to organic hotspots and sustainable lifestyles, to art and gallery exhibitions, to wellbeing and spiritual havens, to that perfect coffee, to designers, to the young FREE-lancers of our generation, the film makers, the fellow musicians and their stories, to poetry, to ...]]> Hello there, gentle net-trawler…

I am so glad to have you visit!

One of my favourite reasons for being is to share inspiration.

I’ve dreamt of beginning an online culture-collection for a while now… I thought this would be a good way to share ideas… …from books and libraries, to music and must-see gigs, to organic hotspots and sustainable lifestyles, to art and gallery exhibitions, to wellbeing and spiritual havens, to that perfect coffee, to designers, to the young FREE-lancers of our generation, the film makers, the fellow musicians and their stories, to poetry, to recipes and much, much more…

It’s a very simple idea.

Everything I * L I K E * goes here!

Input welcome! If you have something Short’n’Sweet that you LIKE and want to contribute, please contact me on TWITTER at lisahmitchell)

Welcome to the { LIKE LIST } !

Lisa xx

Here is a little sumthin’ to fang out for X-mas maybe? My dear friend Erin whipped these up and kindly shared the recipe with us!

Cupcake 250g butter 250g sugar 250g almond meal 4 eggs 75g flour

Icing 100g raspberries 100g icing sugar 100g butter (room temperature)

Cupcake Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour and almond meal. Spoon into patty cases. Cook for 15-20mins in a moderate oven. Allow to cool before icing.

Icing Puree berries in a food processor until smooth. Pass through a ...]]>

Here is a little sumthin’ to fang out for X-mas maybe? My dear friend Erin whipped these up and kindly shared the recipe with us!

Cupcake
250g butter
250g sugar
250g almond meal
4 eggs
75g flour

Icing
100g raspberries
100g icing sugar
100g butter (room temperature)

Cupcake
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour and almond meal. Spoon into patty cases. Cook for 15-20mins in a moderate oven. Allow to cool before icing.

Icing
Puree berries in a food processor until smooth. Pass through a sieve. Mix together butter and sugar until creamy. Add the berry puree a bit at a time until combined

Garnish with more berries.

The best thing about this recipe is the actual cake. It was moist and dense (in a good way) and a little bit nutty and chewy. The icing is also pretty awesome due to the real raspberry flavour. My cakes took a little longer than the recommended 20 mins but this will obviously depend on your oven and the size of the cakes. The only problem I ran into was when I added the berry puree, it changed the consistency of the icing but I think that is because it was a bit cold so if you make sure the ingredients are all at room temperature this shouldn’t happen. I used frozen berries for their more economical price too. All in all pretty delicious and I would definitely make them again.

Erin Dixon x

Lisa x

El Joyero Cafe 923 High Street Thornbury VIC 3071

-Poached eggs with tomato relish, pancetta and braised leeks with thyme -Tuna Sambo with sweet paprika and lime mayo, avocado and alfalfa sprouts -Latte -Soy flat white -Burmese Oolong tea from Shan Plateau

The eggs were cooked to perfection and tasted ...]]> A friend of mine reviewed this delightful Thornbury ( Melbourne, Australia ) cafe for us to drool over…! It is a favourite of mine and they do vegetarian dishes as well!

Lisa x

Where we went:

El Joyero Cafe
923 High Street
Thornbury VIC 3071

What we had:

-Poached eggs with tomato relish, pancetta and braised leeks with thyme
-Tuna Sambo with sweet paprika and lime mayo, avocado and alfalfa sprouts
-Latte
-Soy flat white
-Burmese Oolong tea from Shan Plateau

Was it good?

The eggs were cooked to perfection and tasted awesome with the salty pancetta and mellow leeks.
The tuna sandwich was really fresh and the alfalfa sprouts were a cool touch.
Coffee at El Joyero is always a winner.

The Verdict:

Killer coffee, super tasty eats. I’m already a frequent visitor and wouldn’t hesitate to tell my friends to give it a shot too. *****

http://www.myspace.com/eljoyerocafe

Erin Dixon | eating + drinking

Bush treasure:

Driving home we forgot to take the right exit and ended up going way over the Bolte bridge. It turned out to be a beautiful mistake to make at sunset…