Movie – “Ladies in Black”

Sydney, Australia 1959.

“Ladies in Black” is a movie with its own charm.

Hello Friends,

I liked watching the “Ladies in Black” movie for its women’s stories, vintage fashion and the dive into history. I’m not intending to write too many spoilers in this post. The movie did make me think a lot as you can probably tell by this long article. “Ladies in Black” is a quality production and a companion for another great, vintage-themed Australian movie, “The Dressmaker”. You can read the "The Dressmaker" posts here 

the shop ladies dressed in black clothes
Patty (Alison McGirr), Leslie (Angouric Rice) & Fay (Rachael Taylor)
source; http://www.abc.net.au/

Coming of Age

The movie begins when a likable young woman, Leslie (Angourie Rice), has finished high school and goes to work at the women’s section of a Sydney Department Store. The uniform for the shop clerks is black.

Leslie has weeks to wait to find out whether her school results are good enough for her to be accepted to study at Sydney University.

The story shows Leslie growing up in the company of the older shop clerks. She changes her name to the more feminine, Lisa. Having worked around the sophisticated gowns at Goode’s she’s not so keen on the fancy dress her mother sews for her. A pale pink, innocent dress with a peter-pan collar and a large ruffle hem.

Initially, her father doesn’t understand, appreciate or support her ambition to go to University. She is a girl and what relevance has university got for her. She’s only going to get married and have kids in the future.

The continental people she socializes with, change her views, and open her eyes to a richer culture, and a happier life.

Lisa’s coming of age story is mostly gentle and sweet with no nasty surprises. Thank goodness! I was cheering for Lisa to overcome her obstacles. Angourie Rice made Lisa a believable character and she is a wonderful young actress.

showgirls from a club in Sydney
source; https://www.imdb.com/

Circular Stories

The movie does not have a straight line progression of plot with a dramatic climax and resolution. The movie showcases a different type of story-telling. It’s a series of stories within circles. Each circle tells of a woman’s relationships with herself, the other woman and men in her life. The story circles intersect or overlap at the women’s workplace, a department store called ‘Goode’s’ which is located in the middle of Sydney.

Fay (Rachael Taylor), looking for love with a romantic man
source; https://www.theguardian.com/

Fay’s Romance

Shop clerk, Fay (Rachael Taylor) is disillusioned with romance with Australian men. Magda (Julia Ormond), the Slovenian fashionista refugee plays match-maker and introduces Fay to a passionate Hungarian man, Rudi (Ryan Corr) who is going to make his fortune in Australia, the land of opportunity.

There was a scene between Fay and Rudi that really touched my heart. The scene was filmed at maybe the Blue Mountains (beautiful), inland from Sydney. Fay was confessing very personal information to Rudi. Rachel Taylor’s acting in the scene was superb. Some of the best acting I’ve seen, ever.

this scene between Fay (Rachael Taylor) & Rudi (Ryan Corr) was special
source; http://www.abc.net.au/

Racism of the 1950’s

Some European people fled the Second World War and came to Australia to start a new life. Initially, the war refugees were housed in migrant camps, and later integrated into society. The movie portrays the Australians as thinking the Europeans/Continentals were a strange mob they didn’t understand. They were lesser, desperate people somehow.

The Hungarians war refugees in the movie regarded themselves as having cultured tastes in food, wine, books and music. Whereas they thought the Australians were descended from convicts, the lowest class of people in Britain.

The racism themes in the movie were best highlighted with food and fashion. The Australian sandwich for lunch versus the salami, olives, fetta cheese and antipasto dishes of the Europeans. Drinking Australian beer versus glasses of imported wines. Magda (Julia Ormond) was in charge of the ‘Models’ section of women’s clothing in the Department store. The cocktail gowns on display were elite, exclusive, expensive, and only came in one size, model size. She sold the dresses with European fashion flair, chic and her exotic accent. The other ladies worked in the women’s clothing and accessories section of the store gazed at her from their counters, watching Magda's behavior in puzzlement.

I loved the character of Magda, with her womanly, sensual, fashionista flair. Julia Ormond’s acting was a pleasure to watch.

Magda (Julia Ormond) in the 'Models' section of the department store
source; https://www.theguardian.com/

The Blurb

(from www.ladiesinblackmovie.com.au)

Set in the summer of 1959, when the impact of European migration and the rise of women’s liberation is about to change Australia forever, a shy schoolgirl (Lisa) takes a summer job at the prestigious Sydney department store, Goode’s. There she meets the 'ladies in black', who will change her life forever. Beguiled and influenced by Magda, the vivacious manager of the high-fashion floor, and befriended by fellow sales ladies Patty and Fay, Lisa is awakened to a world of possibilities. As Lisa grows from a bookish schoolgirl to a glamorous and positive young woman, she herself becomes a catalyst for a cultural change in everyone’s lives.

Watch the movie trailer.

Have a happy weekend.

♥ Ashlyn

Romance books are more than ripe for television

Hello Friends,

Have you ever read a fantastic romance novel and wished someone would make the story into a movie or perhaps a television series? With romance being the top-selling genre of books world-wide, I have to wonder why we don’t see more books adapted for the small and big screens. It doesn’t make sense. Readers love their books, and watching the character’s romance brought to life would be a sweet luxury, addictive...binge watching…lots of heroine-led stories…won’t complain.

I’ve watched a few of the cable channel Hallmark movies in my time, because I didn’t want to watch violence or crime shows. During 2018, I strayed over to Netflix to check out the entertainment program there.

Anyway, there’s good news coming out of Sony Pictures Television and “The Ripped Bodice” bookstore in Los Angeles. Yay! The two have partnered to develop romance-focused projects for television. Woo-hoo! The sister duo of Bea and Leah Koch are romance book sellers who have a unique connection to romance readers and authors. Romance novels are waiting to be made into shows and the Koch sisters are poised to make a difference.

Read all about it over at,

Praise the romance novel gods!

The Mary Sue

It’s a match made in, well, a romance novel.

Entertainment Weekly

Have a happy weekend,

♥ Ashlyn

Egypt – Travel & Temples

Hello Friends,

After I wrote the post about Queen Hatshepsut a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t stop thinking about Egypt and how I would like to travel there.

In the 1980's, I first learnt about the great engineering project to build the Aswan Dam. During the 1970's, it took the work of an international team to relocate the Temple of Isis on Philae Island to another island of solid rock and save it from being flooded by the new dam across the Nile River. I wanted to travel to Egypt to see the temple back then, but I wasn’t able to live that dream.

One day, I will travel to Egypt, the land of ancient wonders. This week, I have a travel video from an Australia television show called Getaway, which offers information on holiday destinations around the world.

The hostess in the video is Catriona Rowntree. She has been travelling for the show for 20 years. Her love of travel began in Egypt. She went there on a school excursion with her ancient history teacher. A classroom with a difference!

Catriona Rowntree Cruising Along the Nile
source: https://www.escape.com.au/

The video below is part 2 of 3 video episodes made about Egypt and Jordan. I selected it for Catriona’s visits to three different temples—Hathor, Isis and Edfu. Some of the temple footage is very brief.

Temple of Hathor

Temple of Hathor, Dendera.
Some visitors say there is a soft, sweet and loving atmosphere inside the temple.
source: Google Earth 

The Goddess Hathor is a reason to smile and be happy. She was associated with love, joy, beauty, dancing, singing and music. She was represented with cow ears. There are lots of images of her face near the top of columns.

Hathor, Cow Goddess, nurturing Mother
source: Google Earth

Her images were allegedly defaced by Christians in antiquity, to kill the spirit of Hathor. Her temple is one of the best preserved in Egypt and is a popular attraction today.

Vivid, turquoise blue color is featured in her temple which dates back to the Old Kingdom (thousands of years ago). She was the patron saint of turquoise miners. 

Inside the temple, Hathor columns and turquoise blue artwork
source: Google Earth

Hathor was also a Goddess of fertility, sexuality, nurturing, and a divine mother. The temple walls have information about the feminine principle, and help raise consciousness into the divine wholeness of creation.

People also visit the Temple of Hathor to see the melted granite stone steps leading up to the roof. The light bulb carving—did the ancient Egyptian have electricity a long time ago? The zodiac signs painted on the temple ceiling after Horus, derivative word, horoscope, Horus, god of sky, god of kingship. Finally, the site has the last remaining image of the famous Cleopatra standing with her son, Caesarion, who was fathered by Julius Caesar.

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After visiting the Temple of Philae, Catriona stays at the legendary Cataract Hotel which is famous for inspiring crime author Agatha Christie. She wrote, “Death on the Nile” while she stayed at the hotel.

Enjoy the travel video to Egypt!

Wishing you joy, beauty and happiness.

♥ Ashlyn

Movie – “Crazy Rich Asians”

This movie is fresh, fun, colorful and glitzy. The overarching storyline is about a couple in love meeting the mother which doesn’t go down well, and what to do about it. Some people have labelled the story the return of a ROM-COM. Diversity wins with this movie.

Hello Friends,

Crazy Rich Asians has some universal themes which can touch people around the world.

Like the good times of a Bachelor and Hen Party at scenic locations where cash is no problem. Driving the famous streets of Singapore in an open-topped car, tropical islands, day spas…

A spectacular and unique wedding like I’ve never seen before. I couldn’t believe the bride walking through a water pond filled with flowers. The wedding scenes were misty and magical.

Like when Mr. Right doesn’t tell his girlfriend his family is mega-rich and they have certain traditional expectations for the type of woman he should be dating and wooing into marriage. Miss. Right discovers she doesn’t have lots of money, a prestigious family (her single mother), or society connections to impress his relatives. Fail!

For some Asian people living outside Asia, the movie has brought up ideas of culture and identity.

I enjoyed watching the contemporary romance between Nick (Henry Golding) and Rachel (Constance Wu), the couple who lived in New York and traveled to Singapore for his friend’s wedding.

Awkwafina, who also starred in Ocean’s 8 is such a cool actress. She was a humorous and helpful friend to Rachel in this movie.

The character I enjoyed a lot was the top class performance from Michelle Yeoh playing Nick’s mother, Eleanor. She was a scary lady as well as elegant and dignified.  She upheld traditional values and managed the family while her husband was away on a business trip. Rachel and Eleanor had their final show-down in a Mahjong parlor. While I didn’t understand the game, it was clear that the older and younger woman were trying to outwit each other with strategies. The winner was a surprise. Eleanor showed that some traditions can be freshened up for modern living. Love has a power that transcends obstacles. Beautiful!

The Blurb

(from Warner Brothers Pictures)

The story follows New Yorker Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) as she accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding), to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. Excited about visiting Asia for the first time but nervous about meeting Nick’s family, Rachel is unprepared to learn that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. Not only is he the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families, but also one of its most sought-after bachelors. Being on Nick’s arm puts a target on Rachel’s back, with jealous socialites and, worse, Nick’s own disapproving mother (Michelle Yeoh) taking aim.

It soon becomes clear that the only thing crazier than love is family, in this funny and romantic story sure to ring true for audiences everywhere.

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Watch the movie trailer. 

Have a happy weekend.

♥ Ashlyn

Happy Father’s Day for Sunday, 2 September 2018

Hello Friends,

Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing Dads around the world.

Some Fathers are involved in the lives of their children from the very beginning. They value their relationships with their kids. For this year’s tribute to Dads, I’m posting about a special children’s book which was illustrated and written by Snezhana Soosh.

Snezhana was inspired to create the book by the bond she had with her son, and the relationship she didn’t have with her own father. He didn’t know how to show his love for her. She’d observed other fathers sharing tender moments with their daughters. Illustrations of the big, gentle papa and the tiny girl were her expressions of the love and tenderness she’d lacked and very much wanted for herself. She hopes fathers will see in her paintings how important they are in their kids’ lives.

Dads can do anything when they’re hanging out with their children. Dad By My Side celebrates fathers and loving relationships with kids.

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The Blurb

A heartwarming celebration of the special relationship between a father and daughter from Instagram sensation Soosh.

Whether they're playing make-believe, making you smile, or warding off monsters under the bed, dads are always there when you need them. Debut picture book artist Soosh celebrates fathers with a gorgeously illustrated and moving story about the parent-child bond.

When Soosh first posted her initial series of images of a larger-than-life father and his adorable daughter on Instagram, fans from across the world immediately took notice with over 2 million views on a popular viral content website in a single week.

These illustrations now come together in a universally relatable story of familial love for parents and children to share.

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Dad By My Side is available now from several book sellers.

Here’s the Amazon.com 

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Watch the video, “The Love Between Dads And Their Little Girls In Heartwarming Illustrations By Ukrainian Artist”

Have a lovely weekend.

♥ Ashlyn

Women in History 5 - "Queen Hatshepsut of Ancient Egypt"

 

Hello Friends,
Queen Hatshepsut put on the false beard of a male pharaoh and ruled Egypt during the 18^th dynasty. No doubt she had her reasons for giving up being a Queen and becoming a masculine figure of authority. The names she used as king were grammatically feminine participles, and were not hiding her female status. She was innovating the dynastic traditions or bending gender rules already. 

Hatshepsut’s kingship was one of the most successful in Egyptian history. She was powerful. She led a military campaign. Trade flourished and Egypt grew wealthier. She built her famous temple at Deir el-Bahari in the Valley of Kings, Luxor. 

Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari in the Valley of Kings, Luxor.

The building has three levels of smooth geometric lines set against the backdrop of rugged, rocky natural mountains. The lower courtyard once had gardens of trees and shrubs.

source: Google+ France Michard Knapp

 She added obelisks and a “Palace of Ma’at” (Goddess of truth, justice, balance and morality) to the temple of Karnak. Hatshepsut royal name was Ma’at-ka-re, “spirit of harmony and truth”. 

The next pharaoh in the royal succession tried to erase her name from history.

The modern day gentlemen who discovered her mortuary temple and tomb judged her deviant reign by the prejudices of their own minds. However, now researchers are changing their thinking about the great Egyptian Queen and also King.

Next up, I have a link to an article written by Elizabeth B. Wilson for the Smithsonian Magazine, which discusses the original soap opera way of thinking about Hatshepsut and some possible reasons why she declared herself king.

Hatshepsut’s Temple.

source: Google+ France Michard Knapp

The Queen Who Would Be King

A scheming stepmother or a strong and effective ruler? History’s view of the pharaoh Hatshepsut changed over time

By Elizabeth B. Wilson

Smithsonian Magazine 

The Queen Who Would Be King

It was a hot, dusty day in early 1927, and Herbert Winlock was staring at a scene of brutal destruction that had all the hallmarks of a vicious personal attack. Signs of desecration were everywhere; eyes had been gouged out, heads lopped off, the cobra-like symbol of royalty hacked from foreheads. Winlock, head of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s archaeological team in Egypt, had unearthed a pit in the great temple complex at Deir el-Bahri, across the Nile from the ancient sites of Thebes and Karnak. In the pit were smashed statues of a pharaoh—pieces “from the size of a fingertip,” Winlock noted, “to others weighing a ton or more.” The images had suffered “almost every conceivable indignity,” he wrote, as the violators vented “their spite on the [pharaoh’s] brilliantly chiseled, smiling features.” To the ancient Egyptians, pharaohs were gods. What could this one have done to warrant such blasphemy? In the opinion of Winlock, and other Egyptologists of his generation, plenty.

The statues were those of Hatshepsut, the sixth pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, one of the few—and by far the most successful—women to rule Egypt as pharaoh. Evidence of her remarkable reign (c. 1479-1458 b.c.) did not begin to emerge until the 19th century. But by Winlock’s day, historians had crafted the few known facts of her life into a soap opera of deceit, lust and revenge...

Read more: The Queen Who Would Be King

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The video below is from the Irish Audio Project.(I ♥ listening to Irish people speak) It’s a short radio documentary about the forgotten women of history called, AMAZING GRACES - Hatshepsut, the 'She-King' of Egypt.

In 1828, Jean-François Champollion discovered the partially erased name of a pharaoh, accompanied by feminine titles and conjugation. He was very puzzled - pictorially, the pharaoh was male, but hieroglyphically, he was a ‘she’.

Piecing together the sparse clues, a story emerged that the woman pharaoh had kept her step-son, the rightful heir, off the throne. Forgotten for thousands of years, Hatshepsut, the She-King of Egypt, emerged two centuries ago as an evil, power-hungry stepmother. However, using forensic evidence from the mummified remains, discovered in 1989, the truth of Hatshepsut's life and reign emerges. 

Enjoy your weekend.

♥ Ashlyn

Women in History 4 - "Hedy Lamarr, inventor of the sound frequency concept behind Wifi"

Way back in the 1940’s actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr was following her own initiative and working on radio guidance for torpedoes in World War 11. She was a woman without any formal training in science and engineering. What did a beautiful Austrian actress in Hollywood know about such things?

She said inventions came to her easily. Her breakthroughs in thinking eventually led to the development of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS technology which is estimated to be worth $30 billion today.

Hello Friends,

An incredible woman from history, Hedy Lamarr passed away in 2000. She’s back in the news again after talk that Wonder Woman actresss, Gal Gadot is considering a role in a television series about the life and career of Lamarr.

Hedy Lamarr started acting at 17. She was once called the most beautiful woman in films. In 1938, she left Europe and starred in her first Hollywood movie during the Golden Age of cinema. 

Hedy Lamarr 1939, Argentinean Magazine
source: Wiki Commons

In the years that followed and led to World War 11 she learnt that radio-controlled torpedoes could easily be jammed and set off course by the enemy. At the time, England was surrounded by German U-boats. Her first husband was an arms maker and she’d previously had dinner conversations about German military technology.

With help from a composer and pianist, Hedy designed a mechanism that instead of using a single radio frequency, it could you use multi-frequencies to send a signal and not be interfered with. The concept was called frequency-hopping which she patented in 1942. The invention was rejected by the U.S. Navy because it was a technology that came from outside of military institutions. However, in 1962, the Navy used and improved the concept as a reaction to the Cuban missile crisis.

Hedy had no formal training in science and engineering. She was a self-taught inventor. Her Hollywood home had a studio where she could work on her innovative ideas. Her achievements were largely kept a secret, and she’d rarely taken credit for her own work.

“People have the idea I’m sort of a stupid thing,” Hedy Lamarr said in a tape recording.

Today, Hedy Lamarr’s multi-frequency signal idea is used in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS technology.

Recently, a documentary was made about Hedy Lamarr. Watch the trailer to “Bombshell”, The Brilliant Mind of Hollywood Legend Hedy Lamarr.

More news about trailblazing women…

British physicist Dr. Jess Wade has written 270 Wikipedia pages for trailblazing female scientists in an effort to get every woman “who has achieved something impressive in science to get the prominence and recognition they deserve.”

Read about it here, huffingtonpost.com.au 

Have a happy weekend.

♥ Ashlyn

Women in History 3 – “The Forgotten Classical Music”

A woman playing a piano is a familiar image. Women have enjoyed listening to classical music too, but in yesteryears, did they ever write it?

According to historian, Anna Beer, yes they did, and the women deserve to be remembered as part of our cultural heritage.

Hello Friends,

Cultural historian Anna Beer has written a book about women composers dating back to the 17^th Century. Against the odds, some women did succeed in creating classical music which was a world for men. Some of the music in Anna Beer's youtube playlist is wonderful and beautiful (link at the end of the post).

Getting the music out into the world was a challenge for the feminine composers. The expectations in the past eras of history were for women to become wives and mothers. The women tried many different approaches to breaking the glass ceilings or open the door to the exclusive music sanctums.

Barbara Strozzi provided music as well as sex to her music patron. She was a courtesan in Venice, a singer of erotic songs for men and she also published her own music.  

Lili Boulanger, a French woman, presented herself as a femme fragile, a fragile woman, a girl. She was not a threat to the establishment. She went on to win the highest musical honor. 

Barbara and Lili are two of the composers featured in the book,“Sounds and Sweet Airs” written by Anna Beer. 

The Book Blurb

"The cultural historian Anna Beer’s rewarding new book about the forgotten women of classical music includes insightful portraits of eight composers, a couple of whom are truly forgotten, like the 17th-century Italian Francesca Caccini. But penetrating essays on better-known figures, like Clara Schumann, are even more interesting for the way Ms. Beer conveys the sexism and lifelong frustrations some immensely gifted creative artists encountered.” ―Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times

As Heard on NPR's Weekend Edition

“Absorbing ... [Beer] writes with rich detail and sympathetic insight about [these women's] ambitious, adventurous battles to overcome barriers to creativity."

— Publishers Weekly

"Savvy, sympathetic ... essential and insightful study of a woman’s unsung place in the closed world of classical music."

—The Wall Street Journal

SOUNDS AND SWEET AIRS reveals the hidden stories of eight remarkable composers, taking the reader on a journey from seventeenth-century Medici Florence to London in the Blitz.

Exploring not just the lives and works of eight exceptional artists, historian Anna Beer also asks tough questions about the silencing of their legacy, which continues to this day. Why do we still not hear masterpieces such as Hensel’s piano work "The Year," Caccini’s arias and Boulanger’s setting of Psalm 130?

A long-overdue celebration of neglected virtuosos, SOUNDS AND SWEET AIRS presents a complex and inspirational picture of artistic endeavour and achievement that deserves to be part of our cultural heritage.

The featured composers are Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Marianna Martines, Fanny Hensel (née Mendelssohn), Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger and Elizabeth Maconchy.

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“Sounds & Sweet Airs” is available now for the Kindle price of $9.78 US.

Here's the link to Amazon.com

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Read more about it the book here, National Public Radio
Discover the composers in “Sounds and Sweet Airs” by Anna Beer, listen to a playlist of beautiful classical music on youtube, here

When I’m driving, I often listen to the radio channel that is all classical music. It has a very calming effect. If I’m driving through the Australian bush or forest, and surrounded by nature, the music is magical. Rarely do I ever hear any music that was composed by women.  How much longer will these musicians remain forgotten?

Enjoy your weekend.

♥ Ashlyn