2/15/2013

Modalu (Online Shop, UK)

Modalu is a British brand that specialises in good quality, hand-crafted classic-style stylish leather goods. They do not stock large products of each item, but the ones they have are the classic Pippa handbags, and some more seasonal and dressy bags and wallets. They usually have simple designs, appropriate for work and formal events, although some of the bags have seasonal colours and can be worn casually.  

Modalu's products have very good quality leather, beautiful greyish inner lining, and simple but catchy golden metal-ware touches.

Despite the quality of the products and the classy design, the pricing is quite affordable, even  "cheap", especially if you are purchasing from Australia, and from Perth, where any leather good costs a fortune. 

The brand has a great deal of stockists in UK, Ireland, and a good part of Western Europe, but not in Australia. Their online shop, however, is great.
 
Modalu's website is very clean and easy to navigate, and the ordering system is very simple. You can pay by credit card or Paypal. They charge you a tax fee depending on the area of the world where they are shipping and the weight of the product. Delivery and returns within the UK are free, but shipping to Australia and other  non-European destinations has a flat fee of 15 Pounds.

The shipping and delivery by courier is fast, and takes about  4-7 working days for Australia. The orders are not traceable, but they are delivered so fast that I didn't find this to be a problem. If you register, you can check the status of your order, and see whether your parcel has been dispatched or not.

Customer service is very good. I had to cancel an order on a waiting-list item in the past, and they were very understanding and refunded me immediately without hesitation or questions asked. 

The colours on the photos are very similar to what you get, but a bit toned down, I would say. 

They do have discounts, at the change of season, and online offers. Check the site often, because you could a great leather bag for half its original price.

2/09/2013

Yoko Ono

Years ago, a friend of mine passed some of Ono's records on to me. He always thought that I would like her music and her. Since I did not like her public persona, I did not listen to her music until about two years later. When I decided to listen to it, I knew why my friend had insisted - Ono's music is crazy, daring, experimental and very intimate at times. One of those music styles that you like or hate, not for the masses.

I have always thought that Yoko Ono has/had a sharp aura, if that can be said. That is, something that makes the onlooker uneasy and unsettled despite Ono being quite small and, at the moment, an old lady. She seems to have a very strong edge, something that would cut you into tiny pieces if you dared to look at her in the wrong way or asked her a stupid question. Still, if you look at her photos with John, especially the more intimate ones, she looks like another person, a soft gentle happy lady.

I woke up last Tuesday night thinking about Yoko Ono. I am not making this up. My brain does funny things to me sometimes. It just came to my mind, in the middle of the night, how unjust and unfair Mass Media has been with her. Most importantly, how John Lennon's life and artistic creation changed for the best, after they met.

Doesn't Ono come immediately to your mind when you hear the name John Lennon?  This is my case. Lennon is, to me, Lennon plus Ono - them kissing, embracing, naked, their bed-in interviews and anti-Vietnam protests. I cannot imagine Lennon singing "Give Peace a Chance" without Yoko Ono. I did not live the Beetles-mania, so, to me, Lennon is more Ono's than Beetles'.

Do you know anything or remember Lennon's first wife, Cynthia? I do not. I had to look for her photo and biography on the Internet. She looks like a normal pretty lady, still unremarkable. Like a nice human being, who loved and was loved by Lennon, put up with his crap, and had a baby with. I am not saying that she has to be despised for being an average wife married to a famous person. I am saying that she did impact Lennon in a less powerful way than Ono did. 

Ono was a remarkable woman when she met Lennon. She was an avant-garde artist, an intellectual with a vision, and with much clearer ideas than Lennon on what was to be done in the world of Music. She was a woman who had made a living out of her talent, and had an opinion on everything. At a personal level, she  came from a harsh relationship and a missing abducted child, but she never exploited her personal misery to present herself as a victim. As my friend told me, imagine the impact that a woman like that must have had on Lennon, a normal guy with enough talent to take what she had to say on board. It is true. Ono transformed Lennon into the best possible version of himself at a human level, and that without even trying, without forcing anything, without changing who he was, without putting up with his misogynist crap. He did the same to her. It was like a chemical reaction that, once the right elements are mixed, creates magic. This is perhaps the reason why, unlike other artistic couples, they did not end breaking-up due to abuse, envy or clash of the egos. These two were remarkable fitted for each other at every possible level, despite Lennon's cheating later in life.
   
The Mass Media and the general public have always disliked Ono, or at least  talked or portrayed her in a way that shows a macho misogynist attitude towards any woman who is brilliant, has talent and a brain, and is an individual. It is easier to attach her success to Lennon's halo, blame her for the Beetles' break-up and for Lennon's break-up with Cynthia. When she came into the public scene, she was not especially girly or pretty, had too much wild hair, she did not use make up, she was opinionated, she was not a Westerner - therefore, she was unlikeable. If this wasn't enough, she was not singing "la la la" sort of songs, nothing popular that would make her appealing to the general public. She would be yelling at times, literally. She did not give a damn about what the masses or the Media thought or said about her, so this irritated everybody. Most importantly, she has always used the Media when it suits her, mostly for good causes, and not the other way around. When she decided to lead a private secluded life, she did just that, despite the interest of the Press.  

The question we have to ask ourselves is, would have the Public and the Media reacted and judged Yoko Ono the same if the case was the reverse? That is, Ono a man and Lennon a woman? Of course not.
 
Ono has always been, and still is, a reserved woman, an active avant-garde artist and peace activist. The culture of the 21st century owes her as much as it owes John Lennon, perhaps more, because she was "hated" for just being a female intellectual, a daring artist, an activist, and, most importantly, for not conforming, for being just herself and living her life the way she thought/thinks it should be lived.

 I cannot but like and admire Yoko Ono, despite her halo of scary edginess. Yoko Ono was way ahead of her time, even if we do not sing her songs. Although her public image and appreciation has been softened and increased in the last two decades, we will have to wait for her death for Ono to be fully recognised as the great woman she is.

2/08/2013

Undiewarehouse (Online Shop, Australia)



Undiewarehouse is a Sydney-based online shop that sells women and men underwear, hosiery, and bra accessories, from medium range well-known brands, at reduced prices. Although the range of products is small, the products are definitely up to date and this season's fashion.

This is a perfect place to find staples or fav seasonal fashion items when they are out of stock at your local store, or a bit expensive there. This is especially true in Perth, where some things disappear from the racks to be never replaced, especially if they are seasonal items. I bought a few pairs of my favourite tights from here, which have not been available at David Jones or Myers for weeks. The discounts change from product to product, but are noticeable, especially off the retail sale period.

The site is no fuzz, not especially glamorous, but easy to navigate and shop from. You can check out as a guest or as registered customer, and can order using free normal shipping, which is free (and takes between 2-5 working days), and express shipping for $9.90. Still, you will have a tax figure added to your purchase. 

The tracking system is really good as your parcel will be sent by Post Australia; you can track it by using the Post Office tracking page, but Undiewarehouse will also send you tracking emails with info about your parcel.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Generally speaking, the quality and resolution of the images is poor, which is especially evident when you zoom them in. Moreover, most products, like bras,  camisoles, corsets etc. just have a frontal photo, sometimes the package of the product. The ideal thing is having photos of a model wearing the products on, plus single individual photos of the product. It doesn't cost a fortune to have this done.

Although the site uses SSL encrypted checkout, I couldn't see the lock symbol or SSL sign properly displayed on the page, which always makes me hesitant to shop online. I usually pay through Paypal, but Paypal rejected the transaction from the site three times, and it has never happened to me in other online shops. This needs to be improved.

As many other online shops, they use online shipping lodging, so you get your tracking number immediately. However, this lodging does not mean that your parcel has been shipped. Therefore, the period the site marks as average, counts from the date of shipping not for the date of purchase. 

TIPS FOR SAVING

+ Wednesdays have all shipping costs waved for registered post on orders over $30.
+ Orders over $100 have all free postage. 
+ If you become a member, your get VIP reward points, which are exchangeable for discounts on your next online purchase.

1/31/2013

"Inglorious Basterds" by Quentin Tarantino (2009)

Inglorious Basterds is the story of a group of a Jewish USA guerilla that go to France, during the Nazi occupation, to kill a group of high rank German soldiers during a military German film opening.

The strong powerful music, the use of 60s's-style typing and tempo, the visually explicit violence, and the "inspiration" from other movies are all Tarantino trademarks present in this movie.

The script is not as brilliant as Kill Bill, and reminded me more of Reservoir Dogs in its tone and style, but the film is truly entertaining, thrilling and captivating at times, obscure and pointless sometimes. It has, in a way, the playful mood of a the Great Escape, with a bit of comedy, drama, adventure, violence and little bit of romance added here. 

 There are not good or bad people in this movie, all are nasty in different degrees. The "basterds" are extremely violent and inhuman, which somewhat dilutes their good intentions of fighting inhuman violent people. If you are as cruel as the cruelest person, you are not better than them, even if your principles and aims are very different. On the other hand, German soldier Zeller, despite killing 300 soldiers in battle, does not enjoy or feels proud for doing that, which makes him more human than any of the basterds. The Jews-hunter is very clever and likeable, more than any of the basterds who are less clever, more naive and idiotic than this sophisticated German.
 
In many scenes, the violence is justified, but in others is not. Although this is quintessential Tarantino, by treating all moments with so much explicit violence, the tone and tempo of the movie get diluted; if Tarantino had dosed the violence in the film, leaving some of it for the dialogues, the spectator would have been less overwhelmed visually, and the film would have been more balanced.

Most of the main actors are good in their respective roles. I especially liked Christopher Waltz  as the ruthless Jews-Hunter, Daniel Bruhl as sweet soldier Zoller, Diana Kruger as the hot spy, and Mike Myers in his little cameo. Brad Pitt is OK in his role, but I find his facial gesticulation over the top, and truly annoying. On the contrary, Melanie Laurent is too hieratic and emotionless in her performance. Some of the secondary roles and actors are almost caricature-ish, so one does not know if this is a demand of the script or the actors not being specially inspired in their respective performances.

I consider the ending a big flaw. It can be understood as a projection of the Universal unconscious, but it lacks fictional verisimilitude not just historical one. This fictional licence rests credibility to the story and puts a sort of childish ending to a film that is not bad.

Despite its shortcomings and not being Tarantino's best, Inglourious Basterds is a very entertaining film that makes good points about the nature of violence, has an overall good cast, and has some good performances. 

1/27/2013

"Little Otik" by Jan Svankmajer (2000)

Little Ottik is a bizarre horror comedy that adapts and reinterprets the folk story of Otesánek (aka Greedy Guts) for the big screen.

This is the story of the struggle of Bozena and Karel to hide and control heir piece-of-wood son Otesánek, a freak of nature with an insatiable hunger, from their neighbours.

The film re-examines the myth of the primeval creation, in which the natural order is subverted and disrespected. The couple succumbs to an act of greedy love that produces, as a result, a greedy gluttonous carnivore woody creature. Svankmajer depicts with great insight the sins of parenthood in our modern world, in which children are spoiled rotten, and anything they do is excused or justified. The movie also depicts with great humour and realism the social dynamics of small groups in blocks of apartments and neighbourhoods, paced not only by a net of support, but also by gossip, the power of appearances, and enmities and tensions.

The role of food in this movie is also very interesting, as most human characters in the movie eat disgusting porridge-like meals, despite them longing for meat, while Otesánek, a wooden creature, is eating meat all the time!

The Actors are all great and charming in their respective roles. Veronika Zilková plays with great conviction barren wife Bozena, while Jan Hartl plays with sweetness her doubtful and confused husband Karel. Also terrific are the actors playing the good-hearted neighbours: Kristina Adamcová as the incisive rebel child Alzbetka -who is also the catalyst of the story-, Jaroslava Kretschmerová as Alzbetka's sensible Mother, Pavel Nový as Alzbetka's working-class male Father, and Dagmar Stríbrná as the building caretaker.

The stop-motion animation of Otesánek is delightfully odd, and the drawn illustrations (by Svankmajer's wife) shown in the book that Alzbetka is reading are colourful and artistic. Also delightful are the episodes involving the interaction between old spectacled neighbour and Alzbetka, which are really really naughty.

On the negative side, the film was shot using ugly-looking 1970-like colours and lighting, which are a bit weird for a 2000 movie; still they somewhat go well with such an odd story. Moreover, the movie is too long and its pace too slow at times, and that is not excusable in this case.

Little Otik is a grotesque mesmerising adult tale with a great story, terrific performances, and very interesting themes. Nothing you've watched before!

1/25/2013

MooGoo (Online Shop, Australia)


MooGoo is an Australian company that specialises in natural hypo-allergenic low-in-chemicals cosmetics and body care products. The brand started with an adaptation of an cow udder cream to the treatment of eczema and psoriasis, and has become a successful ever-growing cosmetic brand. At present, they sell, skin, scalp, hair and body products, and special creams for eczema, psoriasis, acne, sensitive skin, and much more.  The pricing is very good, more or less the same price you would pay for any commercial moisturiser or cosmetic product, but way better, way safer, way more natural and it is Australian made and operated.

The success of the brand is due to mouth to mouth advice, which says a lot about the company and the quality of its products. In fact, I myself learnt about it thanks to Jenny B., who mentioned the brand in one of our Yelp outings. I have been told that this is the case with other people, too.

I have tried many of their products and they are all great.

MooGoo products can be purchased from different pharmacies and natural remedies shops throughout Perth. However, my experience is that none of them has the full range of MooGoo products, at least the four places I have visited so far. This makes MooGoo's Internet site perfect for shopping everything you want in one transaction.

MooGoo's website is easy to navigate, informative, colourful, bright and fun. A cow is looking at you no matter where you go, always. Shopping from the website is no fuss. You have all the products listed, and its ingredients and virtues clearly displayed and commented about. 

You can check out as a guest or as registered customer. They accept payment by credit card, Paypal and Internet direct deposit, and orders over $50 are traceable. Many of the products have similar prices, or slightly cheaper, as the prices they are sold in the Perth stockists I visit. There is flat rate of 6.90 Dollars for any Australian shipping order, which is not bad if you order many things at once. International orders have the shipping fee waved, unless their heavy shampoo and conditioner bottles are in your cart.

Shipping is fast, and it is express for Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia. If you are not at home, you can opt for delivery at the door -but no responsibility accepted if lost- or deliver through Post Office, which is great. My parcel contained a generous sample of one of their creams, which was a nice surprise. We all love freebies, don't we? Their packaging is great with straw fibres used as filling. So organic, environmentally conscious, and very "cowy" indeed.

Customer service is based in Australia (Monday to Friday) and the lady at the other end of the phone was extremely helpful and nice.Their answering machine has a cow's moo as introductory greeting, which is kind of funny.

MooGoo international expansion has started, with branch websites starting to operate in UK, Ireland, USA, and Malaysia, and stockists overseas starting to be found and listed.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
1/ Tracking device should be provided even if you are not a registered customer.

2/ I love cows and MooGoo's website, but I think they could improve a bit their packaging. What works for a website or a booklet is not that appealing for a cosmetic package. At the moment, the brand looks like a baby products brand. This is not a complaint, I like the Swiss-ish fresh looking of the brand, but other packaging would help the company to sell better. Their cleansers bottles are, however, an example of how to pack something in a very appealing way and catch the eye of customers who have never heard about the brand before.  

3/ The Delivery Company that MooGoo uses should be advised to leave written notice of visit if nobody is at home when they visit. I had to call Customer Service because I did not know if the parcel had been sent, was lost or where had been taken.  

1/21/2013

Zurich Airport Dayrooms & Rest Area (Switzerland)

Zurich Airport Dayrooms & Rest Area
Ph.: +41 (0)43 816 21 08
Booking email
(Photo courtesy of the Zurich Airport's Website)

PROS 
+ Very easy to find within the airport.
+ They have rest rooms with long-chairs, and proper rooms (single, double or family). 
+ Wonderful lady at the desk, at least the day I visited. You won't find a friendlier person in the whole airport. Danke! 
+ Spotless clean facilities.
+ Comfortable room with a small bed, water basin, TV, several wall hooks to hung your clothing and little more.  
+ Seconds away from several budget restaurants.
+ Fair value for money - You pay for what you get. Still, I found the prices very cheap, having into account that this is Switzerland and Europe.
+ Simple but comfortable lounge area with computers, flights monitors and papers.
+ Wake-up call available.
+ They provide one-hour free Internet.
+ You can book by email. Mention your complete name, nationality, and flight details (date, time, flight number) of your arriving/departing aircraft. 


CONS
- This is more a good backpacker facility than a proper hotel. Dayrooms really describe what this place is. It serves a function if you need to stay a few hours. However, if you need to stay overnight, go outside.
- Bathrooms and showers are on the corridor, not inside the rooms. They are separated for women/men, though.
- You must pass a Police check-up counter  to enter and leave the area, and must show your passport each time. That is a bother.
- To get your free Internet hour, you need to register your mobile number and your password will be delivered by SMS. Why making things so difficult for just 1-hr? This is so last century!
- The toiletries in the room are reduced to a sachet of soap and 2 towels. The bathrooms have dispensers of body wash and soap. You can purchase very cheap amenities sets at the front desk, and hire more towels, robe and stuff like that if you stay overnight.
- The single room and its bed could be a bit small for you if you are a big person or very tall.