Check out Worth1000.com's star wars photoshop competition.

"I went to an art gallery the other day. The artworks were all right, I guess, but you know what they were missing? Wookiees. There wasn't one Wookiee in sight. Also no Jedis, no Storm Troopers ... in fact none of the artworks had any Star Wars elements at all!

In this contest we're going to rectify the art world's mistake by placing Star Wars character, items, vehicles and scenes into classic art works. Paintings, tapestries and sculptures are all allowed." - Contest rules.


I loved them so much I couldn't resist adding some of my favourites here.

I have caught the dreaded lurgy. Yes, I'm sick. Feeling sorry for me? The other day I was thinking about it, as I felt my swollen glands in my neck. I have only been sick about three times this year, not bad if you ask me. I am not getting sick as much as I used to; so this fourth time is not a big deal.

If I lived in the 'olden days' I think I would be someone similar to Miss Anne de Bourgh. Yes, that sickly Anne de Bourgh who isn't given a chance to show any personality. Like Mr Collins said, she couldn't be presented at court because of her poor health.



Anne is the poor sick little thing on the left.

I have always felt sorry for Anne. Dominated by her mum [Lady Catherine; that freaky lady with the wobbly chin] and subdued by sickness she is a pretty sad looking character. Poor thing. If I lived back then I'm sure I, like Anne, wouldn't have had the courage to go to parties like the other girls. I would have stayed at home by the fire for fear of catching cold. Staying healthy would be very important because as you probably know; a simple infection could be the difference between life and death.
However, now in the 21st century we have all sorts of awesome medicines that make us able to live through otherwise serious illness. But looking at the every day 'drugs' let me show you some of my favourites. These few things are essential to me when I am sick:

Panadol. Ah, nothing like panadol to perk you up whether you are officially sick or just feeling rather gross.





Otrivine. If you haven't tried it you should. Better than the pseudoephedrine equivalent pills [Phenylephrine] that make you feel groggy and don't really clear the nose [coldrex... you let me down]. Otrivine is awesome. But don't take it for more than five days in a row or you might become addicted, like my Grandad. He had to spray his nose every night.



Throat medication. If you don't have the magic throat spray or the guts to gargle disprin; Vicks or Robitussin throat lozenges are my favourites.






Gastro soothe. This awesome little pill relaxes the muscles in your tummy, thus lessening some vomiting and discomfort during a tummy bug. If you can keep it in that is.

Cough medicine. I don't care how dumb the ad is, Robitussin works and doesn't taste as gross as you might think. Forget honey or that old awful 'Irish moss' your parents swear by.


That's pretty much it, the five sick essentials. Apart from those, nothing helps a sickie like family, DVDs, good music, books and a hot water bottle. A little bit of sympathy goes a long way.


By the way, I did a little Pride and Prejudice character test and came out as mostly Mr Darcy and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Do the quiz yourself here.

The dreaded recital.

Yes, it is that time of year again. A few weeks ago my piano teacher announced when the annual mid year recital was to be. Although it is just a practise for the big official performance at the end of the year, we have still spent the past two weeks fervently practising our pieces, struggling to perfect them well enough so that no one in the audience will know when a mistake is made.
That dreaded day was last Saturday. I thought the freezing cold rain very fitting to the occasion. Traditional recital weather as far as I was concerned. We entered the tiny church, circa about the nineteen sixties so it is not a very grand performance venue regardless of the quality [or lack] of the piano. We had been warned about the dodgy keys though, so were well prepared if some of them didn't play. But we weren't fazed, as long as no one burst into tears after making a mistake we were good.
After arriving, shivering we went to ask where we were placed in the programme. My piano teacher, who looks suspiciously like Edna in the Incredibles just laughed with an uncertain look on her face. "I left the list at home" she explained. There was also a leak in the roof, "make sure you don't sit under it" she said. My sisters and I sat down with very heavy hearts, dreading the ensuing confusion.
She made us pose for photo of all the students, in which believe it or not, I did not even stand on tip toe.

Then it started. The piano teacher told us how everything would work, when you wanted to play your piece you would raise your hand, announce your piece and then preform. Thankfully the little kids went first, as always, playing their slightly pitiful pieces full of nervous pauses. We all clapped as you do, me more than ever because I remember being there once.
Nudges from the parents, I knew what they meant, 'raise your hand' 'preform!' 'it's your turn now surely!' But no, I always go last because I am her oldest and longest standing student there. Not exactly the best, but still. I sat back and enjoyed the music, especially might I add that Mozart Fantasia... wow, that girl will go far. I wanted to give her a big high five afterwards.
My heart was thumping, why? I play in front of people all the time! Why on earth was I nervous? Then I realised, I wasn't nervous about the music, my heart was only thumping at the thought of having to announce my own piece and it's composer [Matteo Albinez]. And oh! I couldn't remember his name for the life of me, much less try to pronounce it with a thick nervous tongue that could hardly say "Sonata in D." or was it "Sonata in F"? No, my sister played the Sonata in F. Confusing.
Then it happened, the piano teacher was looking right at me obviously aware of my reluctance to volunteer.
I sat down at the piano, squashed between my two little sisters. "One, two, three" I counted, hopefully my head wasn't nodding to the beats because that would look silly. We played the best trio we have ever played, it sounded absolutely stunning. No one would realise that we couldn't play it all the way through at our last piano lesson. The hard work was definitely worth it. It was very hard work too, three at a piano? It is more difficult to synchronize all three of us than to learn a whole Chopin Nocturne.
Then I did the Sonata in D. Hardly a sonata because it was only four pages of insanely stupid music. Sigh. Now only a few months till the end of the year concert, surely that will be more formal with a grand piano, pretty room and amazing pieces. Dud, then I won't be able to wear bare feet!