Loving, Lately

Here are just a few things I've been enjoying lately. You've most likely heard of some, if not all of them, as I can be a little late to the party but that doesn't stop me lapping them up :)

The online mini-series City Ballet delves into the lives of dancers at the prestigious New York City Ballet, in easy 5 minute segments. There are two series of 12 videos, and I ate them up!

Serial. I know, who hasn't heard of this podcast? But it has blown up for a reason. In case you are yet to experience it, here's the summary from their website:

On January 13, 1999, a girl named Hae Min Lee, a senior at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Maryland, disappeared. A month later, her body turned up in a city park. She'd been strangled. Her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was arrested for the crime, and within a year, he was convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. The case against him was largely based on the story of one witness, Adnan’s friend Jay, who testified that he helped Adnan bury Hae's body. But Adnan has always maintained he had nothing to do with Hae’s death. Some people believe he’s telling the truth. Many others don’t. 

Sarah Koenig, who hosts Serial, first learned about this case more than a year ago. In the months since, she's been sorting through box after box (after box) of legal documents and investigators' notes, listening to trial testimony and police interrogations, and talking to everyone she can find who remembers what happened between Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee fifteen years ago. What she realized is that the trial covered up a far more complicated story, which neither the jury nor the public got to hear. The high school scene, the shifting statements to police, the prejudices, the sketchy alibis, the scant forensic evidence - all of it leads back to the most basic questions: How can you know a person’s character? How can you tell what they’re capable of? In Season One of Serial, she looks for answers.

This true crime detective story is pretty sensitively examined and presented, but I wonder how it will conclude. Will we find out if Adnan is innocent or not? That's the crux.

Miss Moss consistently smashes it with her beautiful blog. With New Zealand's summer on the way, this post of archive images from the 1920/30s shows those girls knew how to have a good time and look killer doing it.

I love hearing music on the streets of Auckland in the run up to Christmas, even more so when it's totally unexpected. Here's soul funk band The Hipstamatics being awesome in Ponsonby.

Lastly, I'm a sucker for a pretty dessert. I made this pear and almond cake using this recipe, and plan on doing' it again for Christmas. Nom!