My Nephew...Scout the Dog

My sister recently adopted a new member of the family, a Kelpie/Collie named Scout (after the character from the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird.")

Here is a few snaps of him with his Aunty...me!

What's on my Mind: Queensland Flooding

Recently I took a trip to the east side of Australia, more specifically to the city of Brisbane in Queensland.  It was a disaster to say the least, right from the moment when our plane was delayed in taking my family and I.  However, the many misfortunes that my family and I experienced while on holiday (such as Dad losing his phone , my last pair of contact lenses ripping etc) does not even slightly compare to what the people of Queensland are going through right now.

Perhaps you have heard about the Flooding in Queensland, perhaps not... however for Australia, it has been classed as one of the worst natural disasters the nation has ever experienced.
   
For me, being there was something in life that I have never experienced.
  The weather was something else from the moment we stepped into the airport in Brisbane last week. The sky, a dark, thunderous grey should have been a sure sign that something awful was about to happen.  Each passing day, I would press my face to the window of my car to watch as the rivers continued to enlarge in height.  Being visitors to this state however, my family and I thought nothing of it, and continued to enjoy ourselves as best we could under the circumstances of the weather.

But waking up on the Tuesday of this week to find that a mini tsunami has ripped through the town of Toowoomba, killing a least 7 people, and destroying a number of homes...words cannot describe the feeling that overcomes you, knowing that you are only a small drive away from the area, and that you are now in a town that is isolated.  My family and I realised that we could not escape back to our home in Western Australia.
    So I cannot even imagine what the people of Toowoomba, and the rest of Queensland, who lost their houses, their possessions, the lives that they have built, or even a loved one, must be feeling right now.  The woman, whose young son was swept out of her arms by the floods as rescuers attempted to pull them safety, or the teenage boy who sacrificed his own life to save that of his younger brother.

Through a stroke of luck, the roads were re-opened to the airport yesterday morning, and my family and I were able to grab a flight at 8.30pm back to Western Australia, before the unfortunate timing of a King Tide overtook the city of Brisbane, leaving it submerged.  Now, sitting back in my living room, and are now like many of you who are watching the footage of the floods on your televisions, I am forever grateful to that stroke of luck that brought me back here. 

Throughout all of this hardship however, a special mention must go out to the Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh, who has led the people of Queensland through this unimaginable time.  Although appearing exhausted yet tireless, the state's leader held a press conference every two hours to keep Australia informed, stating, "this weather may be breaking our hearts, but it will not break our will."

The worst may be over for now, however the road of recovery for Queensland will be one that is long and tiresome, with the state being classed as "post-war recovery."
Donations to the victims of the Queensland may be made here: http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html
They will be very much appreciated. 
Please also keep your thoughts with the 17 that have lost their lives, and the 70 that are still currently missing.

Having been apart of this natural disaster for a short amount of time, I know that the events that have occurred in Queensland will be ones that I will never forget, and my thoughts will forever be with those that suffered loss.

What's on my mind: Tron Legacy

Is it me...or is Tron Legacy a good movie?
Call me sad, but I've actually gone to the cinema three times to see this film, once in 2D and twice in 3D.

A quick summary:  Sam Flynn, the 27-year olf son of Kevin Flynn, is looking into his fathers  disappearance when he is pulled into The Grid, a virtual world of violent games and vicious programmes.  It is not long until he discovers that this is where his father has been trapped for the past 20 years, and they both find themselves, along with Kevin Flynn's loyal confindent Quorra, in a race against The Grid to reach the portal into the real world.

I won't give anything away, just incase some of you have not seen it (shame on you!) but I will say this...it is literally like listening to music with your eyes.  The visual effects were as good as, if not better than that of Avatar, and the soundtrack by Daft Punk tops it all off.  I love listening to it in my car at full blast...good times!
Don't expect it to actually be in 3D, because it isn't.  Everything is just 1000 times clearer and very surreal, so the 3D is definitely worth the money.

Favourite Moment:  Definitely the Grid race with the light-cycles. And also the final scene, a perfect ending :D

Go see this fantastic movie immediately if you haven't!  I have no doubt that this is my favourite movie of 2010.

So....

I guess this will become easier with the more blogs that I write, so since beginnings are always awkward, I'll just write a little about myself.

My name is Lucy.  I just graduated High school (something that seems impossible when you first begin, but don't worry, you'll get there!)  My motto in life is to leave the world in a better place then when you found it. 
I'm pretty strong minded, if I feel strongly about something (positive/negative) whether it is in terms of movies, books, songs, places I have visited, the lovely old news, even politics, I will most likely post it up on here.

My goal in life is to work on films, whether as an editor, a script-writer or even director.  I was in the specialist Media Production and Analysis Course at my school, and during those two years that I was there were some of the best times that I had in my life.  I met some of the most amazing people, and my classmates and I became so close that, when school had finally finished, it was like having to leave a family.

I am fairly passionate about different cultures, I would love to save up enough money to go out and travel.

I love to dance.  If dance didn't exist then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't either.  I love the strictness that can come with ballet, the freedom that comes with contemporary and jazz, the fact that it is probably one of the hardest sports out there!!  (Sorry, but we ballerinas put footballers to shame!)

I also love to write, anything from short stories and my own journalism pieces...if I didn't love movies so much then I'm quite sure I'd want to be a journalist.

Besides geeking out on movies, dancing and writing, I'm an extreme lover of life in general.  I know that probably sounds way cheesy, but I just think that having an optimistic frame of mind will help you view your bad days as something that makes your good days seem even better. 

Wow....glad I got this all off my chest!
Hope you enjoy your time here!

Love Lucy