"My Beautiful Backside"

no worries ... this will not feature any nude pics and does NOT concern my own backside ... trust me!

So, today I had to take my car back to the dealer to get something sorted for me (not gonna delve into it, at least not today) and while I was waiting for the guys to weave their magic, I grabbed one of the magazines at hand to while away the time. It happened to be some magazine issued by Mercedes Benz, but it was not specifically about their cars; it had features about New Zealand, an artist, some projects the group finances and design in general.

While going through the latter pages, I stumbled on this photo:

It is a sofa by Moroso and it is called "My Beautiful Backside". Is it just me or do you also think that it simply looks lovely? (Follow this link and enlarge the photo ... it gives it more justice, trust me).

I would love to have something of the sort in my future house ... it's swanky and unconventional, but I'm afraid that I will never afford something of the sort (especially since I cannot find a price tag anywhere and it seems that it has been designed for the Salone di Milano expo of 2008) *sigh*

[via: (I'm afraid I do not know the name of the magazine)

Moroso - the designer label

Doshi Levien - the designer

Mocoloco - the source for the picture posted in this post]

summer roundup

sooo ... after quite a long hiatus, i'm back :)

What have I been up to in the past few months? Well, quite a bit actually :)

I've spent most of the time since my last post till mid-July at work ... covering shifts, etc. But come July the fun starts :)

I've spent a weekend in Comino with my better half. The plan was to spend a couple of days away from the madness of Malta, the Maltese and the madness of work, and to work on our sun tan, BUT ... it didn't occur to me that on weekends, a lot of Maltese go to Comino, until I got there and could hear the music blaring from across the beach. But we still managed to enjoy our time, until Sunday evening came round and we were in pain due to the sun burns we got in a space of a couple of hours (on Sunday itself!).

But all in all it was great ... I enjoy the landscape and seascape of Comino, the beautiful beaches, and the idea that you can't be reached by anyone (especially if you simply switch off your phone :))

After such a nice break, and ... how shall I put it ... after making some time available for reflection, it was time to undertake quite a daunting task ... that of buying a car.

I've whined a bit about this decision on this blog (not half as much as I've done with my boyfriend, poor thing) so as you can imagine it was not an easy one ... especially when you consider how indecisive a person I am. Anyhooo ... I had seen this ad on the newspaper for a 2nd hand car, and I had gone to see it. It was in a good condition and the price was within budget ... so all that was left was for me to take the decision. Anyway to cut a long story short, I bought the car so finally I have my own ride, which I'm not really keen on driving (but that's another story, might write it down some other day).

And once that was covered it was my time to cross the pond and go to Canada, precisely to Prince Edward Island, where I've spent 3 blissful weeks away from work *zones out for a couple of minutes ....* It's a lovely little island, and by little I mean that it's 22 times larger than Malta, hehe. It's a wonderful place, each and every house has it's lawn, there are trees on the side of most roads, and if you drive a few minutes away from the suburbs you will be treated with wonderful views of vast meadows, trees, grazing cows, sheep and at times even llamas!! From a consumerist point of view it is close to heaven - you will find anything you need and most of the time it is dead cheap, plus good customer support.

It was a great holiday, and I'm really grateful towards J's family for welcoming me into their own home, and taking the time to show us round and spending as much time with us as possible :)

As i told you in my last post, I have some special news for you :) While I was in Canada I've received an sms from my sister-in-law breaking the great news that in February I'll become an aunt!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! I'm finally becoming an aunt!!!! The news still overly excites me :) (hence the post about the Kookles Nursing cover giveaway ;) )

Now that those three weeks are over, we're back to this dusty, over crowded, but beautiful rock. I'm sorry that I'm back to work, having to listed to all levels of stupidity being spewed out of some of my clients (not the mention 75% of the commentors on The Times of Malta), but I'm glad that the "refreshed feeling" hasn't worn off yet ... let's wait till I get a bunch of overtime shifts to work just coz everyone went on holiday, then the b*tch will come out again.

Hope that everyone had a nice summer, and managed to take a couple of days off to unwind and maybe enjoy a dip in the sea :)

Kookles Nursing Cover giveaway

I know I know ... I need to update you about my summer ... but in the meantime I'm posting this link as I would like to win this for someone special ... details will follow in my next post ... PROMISE!! :)

So, what's this all about? Grosgrain is being generous enough and giving an opportunity to her readers to win a Kookles nursing cover. Basically this is a convenient cover which you can use so that you can still nurse your child in public without having people ogle at your breasts. I think it's a lovely idea :)

Check it out at: Grosgrain's - Kookles Nursing Cover GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!! ... and keep your fingers crossed for me :) hihi

why I think Maltese politicians are full of sh*t

See the image below?





These are all the election leaflets we've received in a single day.

What I hate about this is that ALL of candidates emphasise ad nauseum the importance they give to the environment in their agenda.  Honestly, if the protection of the environment is your top priority on your agenda, why on earth do you feel the need to send out a whole magazine detailing your life (of which, frankly I do not give a damn, especially about your childhood, and when you got married, and why you married that girl, bla bla bla) to all households in this country which is not even printed on recycled paper, or not printed with soy inks.

I know that you need to market yourselves, but frankly, I'd rather receive your website address on a small piece of paper (and then I'll check out your views, recommendations, etc etc.) then receive a daily mass of junk, which more often then not ends up littering our streets because some people feel the need to pointedly rip the opposite party's papers and throw them out in the street to emphasise their hatred towards that party.

Ah, one other thing, I don't give a damn how and where you were brought up, I don't care to see huge photos of you with the party's leader, I don't care about your wedding pictures, and I don't care about seeing nice shiny photos of you with various other persons - there's facebook for that!

What I find increasingly irritating in this election is that the issues that are being discussed are more of a local (and even personal) level than an European level.  What does Gonzi and the electricity bills have to do with the MEPs?  I have to say that each and every day I feel even more disappointed by all parties who are more ready to take the whole country for a ride instead of working their ass off to safe guard the interests of our country.

cuteness: tableware

OMG OMG OMG!! this Pepe and Friends tablewares collection by Camila Prada is sooooooo cute! If I had a house of my own I would seriously consider getting something of the sort!

[via: Apartment Therapy]

eyecandy for the bibliophile 6

The Italian company Cassina came up with the above bookshelf, which when you place two together, they look like a giant opened book.

Now that's quite a nice idea, ain't it? :)

[via: Design Milk]

oh for heaven's sake!

Today I've ran into a couple of articles which made me groan. 

Times of Malta ran an article saying that a group of Muslims in Malta have said their prayers on the Sliema promenade after they have been turned out of an apartment which they were using to meet up and pray.

The journalist interviewed one of the onlookers who said:

"Malta is a Catholic country. They have no right to come here and pray in front of us. I don't care what they do in the privacy of their own home but not here," one Maltese woman said."

... spoken like a true Catholic!!  Obviously other persons commented on this article and took this position. For heaven's sake!! If you believe that Malta is a Catholic country and you are a Catholic, then practice what the Catholic church preaches.  Be tolerant!!  Also, if the Maltese are allowed to have their festas (which I love!!) which are considerably noisy, and can have their processions and their Easter peagants (which I really hate) which border on the gory, why should we stop a group of persons from practising their religion if this is done in a quiet and respectful manner?  As far as I know they were not doing anything indecent or creating havoc, etc. so why should we complain?!!  Anyway, if you want to read this article and all of the comments you can go here: Muslims gather on Sliema waterfront.

On to the next show of stupidity of the day.  The Mail Online states:

"State-funded organisations are being ordered to boost the proportion of female, black and gay staff to reflect the make-up of the UK population under plans unveiled by Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman."

It goes on to say that:

"Earlier this month a leading academic [Dr Louise Livesey of Oxford University]

 said the BBC should employ more women to help make shows such as Top Gear 'female-friendly'."

So let's look at this from Top Gear's point of view.  As Top Gear's executive producer Andy Wilman aptly replies:

"I also do believe that this sort of claptrap is very patronising to women, because it assumes women can’t enjoy a show’s presenters on merit, but can only appreciate a programme if spoken to by one of their own sex.

As I’m sure our regular viewers know, on account of them normally having more common sense than politicians or academics, Top Gear is a male show, in that it revolves around three males enjoying their love of cars.

That doesn’t make it macho, or exclusatory, it just means one of the show’s editorial pillars involves a journey into the male mind, in the same way that the excellent What Not To Wear veers more towards the female mind."

For Pete's sake! Stop this crap! We don't want to see women everywhere! I don't want anyone to change the format of their product just because someone has decided that we are not inclusive enough. In Malta we are already ruining the education of our children because someone has decided that we have to be inclusive. I had a chat with a couple of friends of mine a few weeks back who happen to work closely with kids and they have confirmed what I've always thought. This inclusivity thing does not work! Instead of helping a child who has learning disabilities to move forward, we are setting back the rest of the class because this child cannot keep up. Anyway, back on the original topic, the Mail Online has also stated that:

"Critics fear programmes will be forced to hire actors, presenters and producers on grounds of gender, ethnic background or sexuality, rather than suitability for the show. [...]
Mr Hunt [Now Tory culture spokesman] said: 'Allowing broadcasters creative and intellectual freedom over the content of their programmes is vital in a free society."

I hate how new shows have to include an Asian, Caucasian, Black, Indian, tall, short, disabled, with glasses, without glasses, with moles, without moles, hairy, non-hairy, bald, with hair ... characters. You can actually have a show without having to include everyone you know! And this selectivity actually gives a different product which can have it own appeal. Honestly, stop ruining everything!!!