668 Beaufort St
Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050
(08) 9272 8848
A newsagent is a newsagent, right?, so what is new or different about Mt Lawley News? In the first place, it has local flavour. The place has been in its current location in front of the Astor Theatre and the Astor Gallery since I can remember, i. e. since arrived in Perth, and is a local institution in Beaufort St.
In the second place, the newsagent has a bigger and better selection of magazines than other newsagents, including a wider selection of "odd" magazines, plus international versions of some fashion and gossip magazines, a decent selection of stationary, cards and party needs, photocopier and lottery services.
In the third place, and most importantly, they offer a terrific service every time you visit, every day, every week, every year no matter you are the only person in the shop or the last one in a long cue in a busy day. They have hundreds of people visiting their shop, but they never seem to be overwhelmed, stressed or in a bad mood. The guys behind the counter, are fast, helpful, cheerful, respectful and have a sempiternal willingness to smile, greet and say something nice or in the right tone to the customer, since ever, always. Like Wow!
665 Beaufort St
Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050
(08) 9272 6867
Website
Facebook
Hours:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Sun 11:00 - 16:00
Mariposa is one of my favourite words in Spanish and indeed one of those shops that honours their beautiful name. They are one of the few perfumerys, a real one, in Australia, and have a huge range of male and female perfumes from exclusive world perfumiers, Creed, L'Artisan, and Amuage included. I could expend my whole
salary buying the many fanciful good-quality divine-smell soaps,
creams, candles, sprays, perfumes and make-up items they have. Everything is chic and exclusive. They don't sell
mass-produced corporate-owned fashion brands, but perfumes and perfume-related products that have a piece of history in the History of Perfume,
or that have been making perfumes in a very hand-crafty sort of way,
or are very innovative in the products they use. Mariposa is, indeed, a niche perfumery.
The ambience of the shop is very clean and modern, with the wood shelves full of bottles of perfume for you to test, and their beautiful goods and packaging really shining. The shop is a bit small, but it is easy to browse around.
Mariposa stands out not only for the products they sell, but also for their customer service. Mariposa's shop attendants are really wonderful. They will spend their time with you, generously, if you show interest in any of the perfumes, even if you say you aren't going to buy anything at the moment. They know their gild, and are passionate about what they sell, and about providing you with a great experience as a shopper. All the girls are approachable, chatty and very knowledgeable. Truly, they deserve the salary they get. They are that sort of shop attendants who can actually hold a conversation on perfume, instead of the usual lorikeets selling designer perfumes at Myers or David Jones. When you leave the shop, you leave feeling like a Royal, convinced that this is one of those places that truly understands what good service is and how to win customers.
Mariposa has two main downsides. The first one is their simplistic website, with barely any information about the shop, brands they cater for, or even an online-shop or sample program, as other high-end perfumeries have overseas. This should be Mariposa's next step. Facebook, is a bit, how to put it?, too "popular" for such an exclusive shop.
The second downside is the fact that they rarely have samples. Or at least this has been my experience in the past. This is, actually, a big downside for a proper perfumery. You win people with samples, so you make sure that they the big perfume houses send you a big bunch of those.
MIND
The products they sell are fantastic, high quality and very exclusive. Therefore, the prices have to match that. Still, you know that you pay the right price for the product, and that the prices are not inflated by the corporate brand behind the designer. These are nor corporate brands products, thank Gosh. Still, you can buy a box of adorable French Anisette drops or a posh Marseilles hand-wash or soap, and I am sure you can afford that. Sometimes you
have to forget about the world and indulge yourself, because life it is
too short, and you are a chic girl after all. Be grateful for being
able to afford things like these, and enjoy your whimsical purchase at
Mariposa.
On the other hand, they hold special perfume events and personalised attention from invited perfumiers. The last one was a hit, held on 8 and and an encore on 10 May 2013, with the presence of of Libertine's mastermind in the shop!
634-648 Beaufort St
Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050
(08) 9328 7464
http://www.planetvideo.com.au/library/books/
Hours:
Mon-Sun 10:00 - 23:00
There is something about Planet Books, Mary. There always has been since they opened six years ago. There is much than hype here, otherwise the allure would have vanished long ago.
Planet books is always crowded with a bunch of eclectic quiet people reading their books, looking at their books, seating on the couch perusing their books, browsing their stationary, and, occasionally, buying something. It is the relaxed atmosphere, their open but cosy space, the small popular children corner, the freedom to do whatever you like without anybody pestering your derrière, and the fact that you can find a mix of mainstream and independent titles, and an interesting mix of shelves devoted to the Arts what makes of the place so popular. Moreover, you enter a planet and have the whole Universe at your feet, with Planet Video, Planet Music and Daily Planet all interconnected.
The prices of their fiction and mainstream non-fiction books are average. Last week I purchased the latest Murakami's, and it is only three dollars more expensive than in The Book Depository - a good price! Their graphic design and illustration area is very expensive, but most people approaching those shelves, me among them, stay there perusing... They used to have all the editions of the Exposé Magazine and a great selection of illustrators, but this is no longer the case, and the selection of illustrators is not as good as used to be, but is still decent. Their painting and Arts shelves are a bit mainstream for my taste, still good.
They have a cute selection of posh stationary, sweet drops in cheeky boxes, and the funniest postcards in the city, so irreverent and politically incorrect that I always find myself laughing out loud at them.
The promotion of local artists and writers has been one of their focus since Planet Books opened its doors. This is, precisely, the place where Shaun Tan has launched and signed his books before he was known outside Perth not to say an Oscar Winner. Other local artists also launch and have launched their work here. Join their mailing list through their website and you will get the invitation, or check their Fasebookie: http://www.facebook.com/atPlanetBooks
The service is minimal, as this is part of the appeal to the visitors, many of us just book voyeurs or people who know what they are looking for. One of the owners used to be behind the counter at the beginning, and he was terrific to talk to. The current staff are courteous but a bit nosey-posey at times.
Perth Cultural Centre
47 James St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9492 6766
http://www.artgallery.wa.gov.au/
Hours:
Mon, Wed-Sun 10:00 - 17:00
The Art Gallery shop has some fantastic things that you want to have because they would be perfect in your ideal life, in your ideal posh house, and on your present gorgeous self.
The shop offers a great and innovative selection of Western Australian and International designers items. You can find an unique selection of Western Australian fashion jewels and clothing, a good selection of art books, art catalogues from current or past exhibitions, cards, decoration and house-ware, some seasonal calendars, fine-prints, and fabulous glass items.
Although most items are pricey or expensive, the shop has good discounts and sales during the year, so take advantage of those to get your precious treasured item. If you buy something expensive at least you know that it is trendy, artistic, unique and original. In other places you could be paying the same for posh items that are mass produced or not original at all. Their prints are quite economic, and their cards average-priced, so they will give you the excuse to buy something or to browse the rest of the shop at ease.
The staff are easy-going, and won't bother you if they see you just browsing around. They are quite attentive and friendly if you decide to ask them for help or buy something.
You are free to browse around but, please, don't touch! Ouch!
V. O. S. is a sui-generis romantic comedy directed by Spanish film maker Cesc Gay and based on the eponymous stage play. The movie is bilingual, spoken both in Spanish and Catalan, with a few sentences in Basque, and has a broken narrative with mirror-like happenings. It is a movie within a movie that shows the filming of the relationship and love story of two couples, who are the actors in the movie; they are playing both their own past personal story, the writing of the same, and its filming. Entangling!
Ágata Roca plays Clara, a single independent woman who says that she wants independence and an independent relationship but thrives for a traditional love story. Paul Berrondo plays Manu, Clara's best friend and father of her first child to be, who is sure about their relationship. Andrés Herrera is Anders, Manu's best friend, a freelance movie-writer and University teacher in a traditional relationship but unwilling to commit. Vicenta N'Dongo is Vicky, Anders' down-to-earth committed and serious girlfriend, who tries to step forward in their relationship. All of them play their respective roles with great freshness and empathy with their characters. The participation of the filming crew as themselves adds lots of charm to the movie, as they are incorporated into the story and not presented as mere workers.
The movie is very enjoyable, engaging and fresh, but also confusing. The main downs of the movie are three. The first is that the story is too theatrical, the weight of the studio around being overly present, and one feels the need for more outdoors scenes and some interaction with other people and characters, like their families, friends, or co-workers. The second, and most important, is that the fringes between the three story-within-the-story moments are not clearly defined since the beginning, and it takes a bit too long for the viewer to realize which part is which. Until you get the Aha moment the movie feels absurd and pretentious. It can easily discourage mainstream viewers. Finally, the drawing of the characters is a bit stereotypical. On one hand, it really highlights many of the problems that settled couples find in their mid 30s and the contradictions of human relationships, but on another you wonder that, if the characters are not actors why are they filming a movie? There is lack of internal logic in the film or that logic is not well-presented to the viewer.
Despite everything, I found the movie very enjoyable and intriguing, a mix between a Hollywood love story and one of Charlie Kauffman's approaches to film-making and film-writing. Original, fresh and entertaining, but also confusing.
Tangled is a free adaptation of the traditional fairy-tale of Rapunzel. A fairy-tale romance and adventure movie, but also a coming of age story in which Rapunzel leaves the too-oppressive maternal womb to discover the world and herself. Follow your dream and leave your child discover the world for herself are the two main messages of the film.
The animation is terrific, very beautiful and colourful, but more eye-catching than artistic I would say. However, the scene of the flying lanterns is just magical, extremely beautiful and inspiring, as well as the drawing of some of the forest backgrounds. The main human characters are great, very witty and lovable/hate-able. I found horse Maximus truly hilarious, and the chameleon very sweet, wise and naughty. I loved the fact that the animals don't talk, still they have their own personality and communicate with their owners in their own way.
The cast really shines in this movie, and I loved the fact that they were not the usual superstar actors doing the dubbing. Mandy Moore is great as the very sweet, forward and naive Rapunzel. Zachary Levi is cheeky and sweet in his impersonation of the rascal outlaw Flynn Rider. However, the Oscar goes to Donna Murphy, who is brilliant in her role of villain, and she is immediately hate-able as Mother Gothel; she is the epitome of a witch, and one of the best witches ever created by Disney.
Alan Menken's score and Glenn Slater's lyric have to be praised, as they really give the movie its soul and mood. Unforgettable is the song "I have a dream", sung by a bunch of ugly looking outlaws, which has great lyrics and melody. This is one of the loveliest scenes in the film, too. Also brilliant is Gothel's song Mother knows Best, that sums up very well her selfish approach to motherhood. The singing by Moore, Levi and Murphy is great.
I found some important flaws and miss-messages in the film, that are clearly noticeable, even for a child, and that were unnecessary. The first one is the physical appearance of Rapunzel's queen mother. She looks much younger than her husband, almost his daughter, and also looks like Rapunzel's older sister, not her mother. It reflects and shameless portrays the obsession for youth of modern society regarding women. An old man does not have any problem in showing his age, his wrinkles and white hair, actually that makes it more respectable. On the contrary, an old woman has to look young, unwrinkled and have her hair coloured to be likeable as an old woman. That was very disappointing.
The second flaw in the story is the fact that, despite Rapunzel living alone, isolated, incarcerated, never putting her feet out of her tower until rescued by Flynn, she's not only able to swim but also to dive! Are we all fools?!
The third flaw is the marriage thing. The princess is rescued by the prince; she has just turned 18y.o.a, the only human she knows is her fake witchy-bitchy mother, and she is so civilised and she is getting married at 18! I wondered why the script changed many of the quintessential elements of Rapunzel's primitive story and did not dare to do the same with this part. They could have simply omitted Rapunzel's age, or draw her in a more womanly way (she looks like a 13 year old in the movie not a 18y.o.!) and nothing else would have mattered, as the final marriage would have made sense.
Despite the flaws, Tangled is a very entertaining, fun and sweet movie for the whole family, full of action, adventure and sense of humour.
Level 1, 140 Hay St
access via Murray St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9461 3500
perth.library@cityofperth.wa.gov.au
http://www.perth.wa.gov.au/web/Living/City-of-Perth-Library/
Hours:
Mon-Fri 9:00 - 18:00
Sat 9:00 - 12:00
Did you know that there is a library in the heart of the city? No, no no. It is not the State Library. This is a small-not-so-small borrowing library with thousands of books, CDs, DVDs, talking books, foreign-languages learning material, and local history material (books and oral history material) in English and several other languages.
I have been using this library for years and I know they have a good collection of English literature (fiction and non fiction), a nice small selection of books in other languages, a decent collection of films on DVD, which is bigger than it looks as most of them are in other borrowers' hands, a small collection of music CDs and CD-ROM, and a decent collection of talking books. They also have large-print books, which are perfect for people with poor sight or impaired vision.
The cool thing is that you can borrow up to 8 items at a time with a 3-week return period. You can renew the loan for another 3 weeks if nobody else asks for the item/s you have; this can be a problem with new released DVDs, CDs and books. Through their online catalogue, you can reserve borrowed books, renew your loan, request interlibrary loans, suggest new purchases, and check out newly-arrived material. Visit: http://203.27.5.65/amlibweb/ and use you library card for in-depth use. The catalogue web is ugly-looking and not very modern, but still functional and very useful.
If you don't like borrowing or free stuff (a fact that would turn you into a weirdo, sorry!), you can go there to read the newspaper or your favourite book, listen to recorded material, use their free metered Internet, take your kids to their many children activities they organise, or take your grandparents to read the newspaper, learn computer skills or play Mahjong. They offer free individual tutoring lessons, for 45 minutes, for seniors to use the Internet on Thursdays (10am, 11am, 12.30pm and 1.15pm; to book your spot ring 9461 3503, or go to the information desk. Another added bonus is that, if you are are elderly, or are temporary or permanently disabled, or know anybody who is, they still can borrow books, as the Library offers regular Housebound Delivery Services, free of charge, to residents of the city of Perth; to organise things ring Karen at 9461 3500.
Most of the staff are efficient and very friendly, some of them quite passionate about their work, which always translates into the way they treat customers. There is also the usual rude staff person who diminishes the value of the library, but that happens everywhere. They need to implement and be firmer on their prohibition on mobiles, and get a better and comfier seating area.
The new temporary location is a great improvement with regards to the old one in the Commerce Chambers' underground. The current location of the library, although temporary, will be valid for a couple of years, at least until 2014, when the new purpose-built building is expected to be finished on their former location. Hopefully, the final location will be the modern library that old customers have always been dreaming of
To access the library at its current location, head to the escalator placed between the Coffee Club cafeteria and Forever New shop, and follow the corridor. The Library is located at the end of the same.
Run to the City of Perth Library, and get your home entertainment without getting into any dangerous money liaison. Whohoo!
