Pick a door, any door. Personally, I’d got for either Middle Earth or Hogwarts. Mainly cos of the elves (long-haired blonde ones or little tiny ones which need clothes, I’m not fussy!)
Image from here
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This week is about Escape, and with it came a new discovery for me only a couple of days ago – I found a Stargate hidden under the bridges of London, furreals! Finally I know where all the homeless people go to at night (why else would they sleep under this bridge? They’re waiting for us to all leave first), not to mention all those insomniacs who go out for noodles and come back six hours later - they jump through these portals. (you have to set the right code first or you’ll end up in a wasteland of angry Jaguar-headed baddies).
As you can see, one portal is to jump through, and the other one is to come back from, just don’t lose any body parts on the way back. Bit like those twelve princesses who dance all night and come back with tattered shoes – except you come back with an alien head or something.
Who needs TV and video games to escape, eh?
Yup, back to the ever-lasting sunset mission, which is of this shot I took of some clustered trees on a giant plains that I saw on the drive home. I like how the trees frame the sun as it rises, and how calm the skies look, so that the cool blues blend into the oranges in the sky. I’m glad that I finally managed to get a sunset away from the buildings and metal of the city, and finally get something a lot more open and peaceful-seeming! (Plus it makes me try to visualise a tiny lion cub being held up somewhere. )
Swans are amazing creatures (just look at the amount of literature and fairy tales based on them), and it’s always a treat to see one – let a lone see a mother swan with her cygnet babies! It took me a while to take these pictures because I wanted to get as close as I could without scaring them away, and thankfully I did manage to get a few shots of these fluffies cuties with their mother in very blue waters and some rushes.
And then they paddled away quickly after that.
My mother’s garden is blooming nicely, and so it should be, the amount of hours and work she puts into it. We’ve had our rose bushes for years, growing faithfully, year after years, in shades of pink, red, mauve, peach and white. Those rose bushes are the oldest thing I remember from my childhood in our garden (well, that and an apple tree we used to have, which our neighbours decided to cut down because it inconvenienced their plans to build an elaborate shed. Rude, I know).
I don’t see myself as a ‘girly-girl’, but I’ve inherited my love of flowers from my mother – she’s spent years tending to her garden, buying bouquets of daffodils, roses and gerberas to put in her special crystal vase on the kitchen table – and it’s something I would like to continue in my own home one day. My view is that you can have as many expensive trappings and furnishings in a house, but all you really need is a pretty bunch of flowers in a vase to bring life to your house.
For my mum, it’s lilies and roses. For me, gerberas and tulips. But nevertheless, whenever I see these pink roses, which are an odd, almost old-fashioned pink (think shiny party dresses and Cyndi Lauper pink lipstick from the 80s), I always think of my mum’s roses, growing faithfully in our garden, year after year, showing their faces to the sun.
I’ve stumbled across the wonderful Martin Brown‘s beautifully detailed paintings (not to be confused with Martin Brown the illustrator!), which look amazingly colourful, and have some seriously beautiful characters who look both magical and eerie. I love how these appeal to the fantasy genre, adding leprechauns, elves and dragons among ordinary mice and dogs; and grands Queens and Knights in Elizabethan style dress and fairy-tale-esque glamour.
I’ve been trying to find more images by this artist, but haven’t had much luck, but the ones I have see are just amazing – definitely an inspiring artist.
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- The Queen of the Night from ‘The Magic Flute’
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- Nobody told the dodo
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- “All the World’s a Stage”
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- The Green Knight
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- Mouse & Musician
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- King Oberon from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
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- Autumn
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- Winter
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- Mirdalph the Magician
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- On Guard
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- Haunted
I thought I’d join a photo challenge for this week, which was ‘Patterns‘, and post some kaleidoscopes I’ve made from photographs I have taken. It’s actually very easy to make a kaleidoscope, there’s plenty of software online, as well as mobile apps to do this, and I had great fun putting together.
This first one is of a beautiful bangle cuff I bought for my mum on her birthday, it’s one of my favourite piece in my jewellery box of borrowed things my mum’s collection.
This next one is actually my sister’s wedding bouquet. Yeah. Don’t tell her.
This is actually from a dress in my closet. It looks so much prettier here than the actual dress does. I think I should update my wardrobe, maybe. I like how quirky the hexagons look, almost a bit cartoonish.
Okay this is just my pyjamas. Yes, I wear polka dots, yes it’s not glamorous. Let’s move on, nothing to see here.
This is from a book I’m reading. Okay, fine, it’s a comic book about Superman’s and Batman’s children. It’s really good though, I promise.
Lastly, is this lipstick I have (don’t worry the orange bit isn’t the lipstick colour, I’m not that adventurous yet), it’s mainly an image of the lipstick case which has flowers all over it. I really liked the colour combination of this one.
I have lots more kaleidoscope images that I created, but these were my favourite, because they look nothing like the original image, and the amazing patterns look so surreal and arty. I could use some of these all wallpaper, maybe? Okay, not the polka dot pyjamas one, but perhaps the jewelled kaleidoscope for a sultan’s bedroom? Or a bouquet’d bathroom?
Just because buttons are one of the most awesomest things ever, and for some reason I’ve always liked them. I used to have a t-shirt with buttons all over it, until I grew out of it and it started looking like a crop top. Which wasn’t a good look, by the way. I love seeing big colourful buttons and crystals like this, and always want to buy some, until I realise I have nothing to sew them to.
New button t-shirt coming up, maybe…
“People started caring, and that’s an accomplishment for Pakistan.”
A nation holds its breath.
The scene, Pakistan’s polling stations. The players, Pakistan’s citizens. The men, women, the young people, the old. The rich upper-classes and the poor citizens. The famous stars and the ordinary public. The story, Pakistan’s day of elections. Landmark amounts of voters crowd by the thousands, queuing up to enter dusty huts, busy polling station, hot, crowded offices and buildings to give their votes. Scenes of voters, politicians, news broadcasters, are on everywhere on television, it’s almost as if the World Cup is playing. But this is a different game, Pakistan fights for its new motto ‘Change for Pakistan’ being echoed everywhere. Voters everywhere proudly hold up their insignia – purple ink on their thumbs to signify their votes, and show how they have done their part to make tomorrow a memorable day.
Why this buzz? What makes this election so different, so full of tension?
Because the change is being campaigned for by the charismatic Imran Khan, former Pakistan cricket captain, currently a politician, party leader, philanthropist and a man described as “Pakistan’s favourite son”. It can certainly be said that he has won a the nation’s heart, or at least, half of it, as the other half seems to be pushing for his opponent. Yet in such a critical stage of Pakistan’s state of affairs, where the previous President Musharraf is currently on the run in exile, over fears of Taliban’s involvement of affairs, and where corruption appears to be the norm, Khan represents the beacon which goes against all these. It’s no wonder, then, that he has won the hearts of so many in Pakistan so easily, he refuses to conform to the usual money-grubbing politics of his predecessors, and instead looks to making Pakistan a better places – so far he has campaigned to build hospitals for the poor, gained the love of the ‘bluejean- and T-shirt-clad youth of the country’ and has taken advantage of the discontent that is forming over the political elite.
I first became aware of Imran Khan’s mission to ‘change Pakistan’ from his manifesto, of sorts, entitled Pakistan: A Personal History, which pushes for a new way forward, and speaks of wanting to re-unite founder of Pakistan’s Jinnah’s ideals with the idea of a new Pakistan, through the medium of his own political party, Tehreek-e-Insaaf (Movement for Justice). Khan has since risen through the ranks, becoming more visible in his bid to equalise the rich and the poor, and has particularly charmed the young people.
I was not born in Pakistan, nor do I understand a lot of its politics, I regard myself as Pakistani nevertheless. I have not been to Pakistan for several years, and I would not be able to name all its provinces, rivers or famous landmarks, but this does not mean that I don’t feel a connection with the country, or that I cannot see it’s beauty. My parents are from Pakistan. I have friends from there. I maintain an interest in the country’s affairs, even if I don’t know it as extensively as I may understand British politics. It is easy, then to understand the love for the belovedly-named ‘Skipper’, and the feeling of anticipation which have been growing in the last few months, or even couple of years as Khan’s political party, PTI, has been gaining momentum.
A nation holds its breath.
The tension, excitement and anticipation has been growing for weeks. It feels like the buzz is everywhere. It’s even seeped into fashion, literature, social media, television, charity events. The ‘I K Kurtas‘ have been showcased on catwalks, and are sold out. Twitter is ablaze with comments, pushing for change, pushing for a ‘naya‘ (new) Pakistan, pushing for a shedding of the old. Rallies follow Imran Khan and his party, who makes a point of appealing to the young, to the poor and to the unfortunate who have previously been ignored.
A nation holds its breath.
On 7th May 2013, Imran Khan falls from a lifted platform. The result, he rises even more in star-dom, in the nation’s sympathy, and in the polls. While I question how much of the resulting scenes was manipulated to his advantage – Imran Khan woos the voters while on his hospital bed – it certainly has had the desired effect, in that single moment, the undecided voters seem to be following the Khan supporters. Bloggers point out how Khan lies on an ordinary bed surrounded by six other patients (while his opponent, Sharif, is flanked by expensive bodyguards and demands private care), news-broadcasters show images of the public crying and kissing Khan’s posters, and Khan himself humbly excuse himself and proclaimed that the deciding power would be with the people:
“I have done whatever I could do for my country and I did it because Allah blessed me – but on the 11 May decide your destiny. It is time for you to take the responsibility to make a new Pakistan.”
A nation holds its breath.
I don’t often write (or read!) about politics – it’s messy, complex, and depressing. But this has been hard to ignore. Live commentaries have been running on the voting polls all day. My parents have been following avidly on the Pakistani Channel GEO, friends have been regularly updating their Facebook and Twitter statuses to show their support for Khan, and acquaintances who live in Pakistan are giving a blow-by-blow account of their day as they elected. I find it interesting that friends who previously had no interest in Pakistan politics are just as gripped as their Pakistani counterparts in the outcome of today, and supporting Imran Khan avidly. It helps that we can identify with him – like us, he too lived in the UK, like us, he married an English woman, and like (some of) us, he is returning to his roots. Certainly I can say that I am more in tune with my heritage now than I was ten years ago. It helps that we see Imran Khan as ‘one of us’, he is the iconic representation of East-meets-West, and perhaps even of Pakistan finally coming to terms with itself and settling its unrest.
A nation holds its breath.
A momentous day in the country’s history, however, it not un-marred – there have already been several reports of violence, voters have been speaking of their frustrations of not being able to vote cleanly, and there is already uncertainty about whether Imran Khan really does, as his followers has been insisting, ‘have it in the bag’. Imran Khan’s work finally has come to a momentum after nearly two decades, months of campaigning, years of bidding, weeks of rallies and a final, tense few days of a message – ‘Change for Pakistan’. No one knows what the outcome is yet, as votes are being counted and polling stations are now closed.
The final question, really, is: Will Pakistan be able to change even if Imran Khan does not win the election? How much of this was part of the campaigns, and how much will his fall, both actual (from the lift) and the potential (from politics) affect the country? WIll the public eschew the idea of change and go for a tried-and-tested means of leadership in the opponent, Sharif? Nobody knows yet, and will not know until the resulting after the election.
All I can say now is, whatever the verdict, I hope that the people of Pakistan can continue the chain of hope and change witnessed over the last few months. There have been stories of kind acts, jubilation over the strength of Pakistani’s spirit and dedication, and an amazing amount of involvement from the citizens, the famous celebrities, the students, the poor and of course, the over-seas spectators.
For now, we are all holding our breaths.
I thought I’d show how a different range of colours on the same image can have a completely different effect, as well as different highlights and shadows the same photo can have. I edited this tree picture with various shades of blue and focus of light, and I actually do like most of these, although a couple are a little too garish. My favourite is probably the dusky blue version (top row, third), though, because it reminds me of something in the 70s. I dunno, maybe I’m just making things up here.
But I’d recommend you try it out, it’s surprising what results you end up with, and also which hidden things in a picture may get highlighted. Plus it’s always fun playing around with images on my mobile’s photo apps. )
