Contents 04 14
The icons that made Mini cool.
SCREEN ADDICT? Tips to reclaim your spare time.
THE family string
Denise Picton's Book Launch Interview
33 39
Interview with a Baby Animal
FOR THE LOVE OF A MINI
24 28
DAVE LESLIE
the window, 1949 Film Noir Review
JIMMY HORNET GIG GUIDE
40
The Stone Roses - Album review Pop Preservation Society
46 52
10 Hacks to morning glory
LOVELY JUBBLY Cool Shops and Stuff
Editor Anthea Palmer Contributors Jennifer Considine Ruthie Greenock Steven Scheloske Victor Stranges The Hornet Press 229A Swan Street, Richmond VIC 3121 thehornetpress.com info@jimmyhornet.com
I remember distinctively the first time I saw the Baby Animals. The clip was Early Warning 1991, live from the Basement. I was sitting on the floor of a seedy motel room, behind the venue my band was playing, waiting to go on stage. In the short term, It gave all band members a kick in the pants. Performance energy, musicianship, songwriting, on-stage connection. Lift your game, Drama Queen. In the long term, it was crushing. Some of us were so taken with the Baby Animals, that it seemed pointless to expect our own band to succeed in the same genre. Years later, I had the opportunity to work with Dave Leslie and the first rhythm section line-up change. We were both working with BlackStar. Dave was playing it, and I was selling it. The band's 30th Anniversary Tour gave me the perfect excuse to touch base, and fortunately interview guitarist, Dave Leslie. By Anthea Palmer
Photo: Dave Leslie
DAVE LESLIE
INTERVIEW WITH A BABy ANIMAL
Did you have a good, tingly feeling about the debut album pre-release? The whole experience of recording the first album was for me quite overwhelming. Being flown to New York for a couple of weeks of pre-production with Mike Chapman, and having our songs deconstructed, and reconstructed in a rehearsal "boot camp" was quite intense. Recording at Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. It wasn't a dream come true as I'd never even dreamed that hard. I just hoped that what I had to contribute was worthy of all the fuss. It was an amazing experience though. Life-changing. The biggest "tingle" I got was the first time I heard "Early Warning" on 2MMM. that was a goosebumps moment I can still feel.
How would you describe working with the legendary Mike Chapman? Being an Australian, we got Mike's sense of humour from the get go.
Funny man and great stories, some of which we listened to, doeeyed, over & over again. His vision for where a song could/should go was very inspirational. We would come back after dinner sometimes and he would play Sex Pistols ( or some other motivator..) full blast on the big monitors just to give us a BIG vibe. "Ain't Gonna Get" was recorded that way with a few beers in us and "Pretty Vacant" ringing in our ears!
What was behind Frank Celenza and Eddie Parise leaving the band? Musical differences, senses of humour, boundaries, the usual stuff. We're seeing other people but still friends.
How has the greenroom scene changed from then to now? In the old days, we used to compare the "shenanigans" we go up to the night before. These days we discuss remedies, recipes & renovations.
What's your favourite Baby Animals song? That's an interesting question because my favourite songs to listen to aren't the same favourite songs to play. If I was to pick a trifecta of each. LISTENING: Don't Tell Me What To Do, Nervous At Night, This Is Not The End. LIVE: Hot Air Balloon, Bonfires, One Too Many.
Chowie Photography
You've played guitar for a list of iconic musicians. Who gave you the biggest "pinch-myself" moment? There have been many of those moments. Having the opportunity to perform some of the greatest hits with some of my heroes is a dream come true. Jamming onstage and off with Edward Van Halen was beyond even dreaming. A particularly special moment was when I got to hang & chat with Chris Whitley in his ( very dark.,) dressing room for a little while before he went on stage. We were sharing a bill on a gig for a Seattle radio station ( selling/pushing our product..). He signed my copy of his.. x
We don't like the word regret, but if there's one thing you'd do differently from a career point of view, what would it be? I would like to have been more aware ( too busy having fun..) of opportunities when they presented themselves. Understand what you're signing.. and read the small print.
And the best one. Don't think that what you're going through ( either Euphoric or Devastating ) will last forever. It didn't.
If you could collaborate with anyone (still alive), who would it be? I would love to work on a project with Stewart Copeland and/or Sting. (I can still dream, can't I?) Forces of nature. Our household was "Police" crazy from 1st album onwards. My parents took me, my younger brother & sister to The Police concert at the Hordern Pavillion in '79. Dad got into a fight in the second row trying to protect his young from the surging crowd. He won. Big fan, here. I have a couple of ideas in 7/4 that I'd love to jam on. Tania Smith Photography
Baby Animals aside, what other projects are you working on? I have another band/project called TRUCK. Melbourne-based bunch of guys who are all great musicians with varied influences so it makes for an interesting combination. We have an album coming out later in the year. Recorded by Ricki Rae and mixed by Kevin Shirley. We're starting to gain momentum and have a national tour supporting baby animals coming up in August. It's a busy night for me doing double duties but excited and grateful to be able to use different sides/facets of my playing with both.
What's your favourite Dad joke? My favourite dad joke is... Q: Why does a giraffe have such a long neck? A: Because its head is so far from its body. ( thank you, I'll see myself out...)
visit baby animals visit TRUCK
FOR LOVE OF A by Anthea Palmer
I learned to drive in a friend’s beat-up, white, Toyota Corolla (thanks, Jim Lean, for your generosity). The first car I owned was a beat-up, white, Mini Cooper. I frickin’ loved that car. Was it the thrill of my feet being so close to the bitumen? Was it the box-shaped door storage for my cassettes and nick-nacks (originally designed to fit a bottle of Gordon’s gin)? Or was it just the rock’n’roll cred this little car had achieved? On hearing of the Mini Recharged release (more on that later), I was inspired to look at who and what made the Mini so iconic. Photo: Mini Recharged
Cool from the Start? In his book “The Mini Story,” Dr. Andreas Baum explains “The mini has been cool right from the start … It is loved for its unconventional looks, its personality, and the fact that it is different … Mini’s home is in Britain but otherwise it is nationless, classless, adaptable, individual, and simultaneously open and connected.” Let’s be realistic, Doc. There may be some truth to your statement, but there are also some super cool humans to be thanked for their contribution to the Mini's success. My favourites, in no particular order ....
David Bowie Before he found international fame, Bowie (known then as David Jones) worked during the early 1960s on the Mini assembly line for the British Motor Corporation. He reportedly maintained a lifelong affection for the Mini. When asked what the classic Mini meant to David Bowie, he gave a one-word answer: parking. When asked why he thought the Mini design had lasted so long, the answer was the same: parking. In 1999, David Bowie was commissioned to design a MINI to celebrate its 40th anniversary. He created a mirror-plated classic Mini, inspired by the fable "Emperor’s new clothes." The Emperor was naked but believed himself to be dressed in a fine set of new robes. Bowie liked the fact that anyone who saw the car would also be looking at their reflection and thereby becoming part of the Mini.
The Beach Boys The popularity of Mini expanded on an international level when The Beach Boys posed in front of a Mini Moke as a part of their international tour in 1966.
The band used modified Mini Mokes, commissioned by Capitol Records and carried out by 'King of Kustom Kars' George Barris in 1966. Five were built for the boys themselves and they were called 'Mini Surfers'. These special Mokes came with candy stripes, a special fringed canopy, and golden record wheel discs. They also had an 8-track sound system with removable speakers. Supposedly an additional twenty were built to give away to radio stations throughout the US, raffled in special Beach Boys competitions.
David Bowie on the BMC Mark-I MINI assembly line. Photo credit MOTORGRAPHS and classic 1275cc.tumblr.com
The Beatles Although they were the ‘Beatles’, every one of them drove a Mini. John Lennon ordered a Mini in 1964 – even though he didn’t have a driving license. Paul McCartney owned a 1965 Mini Cooper S which was then personalized by renowned body maker, Harold Radford. It had Aston Martin California Sage Green metallic paint and Aston Martin rear lights. It also had rare halogen headlamps and built-in fog lamps which retracted into the grille, and a wall-to-wall black leather interior. The car met with an unfortunate end. He lent it to a friend, who subsequently crashed it.
In 1965, George Harrison painted his black Mini Cooper a psychedelic red and gold to be featured in the band’s film ‘The Magical Mystery Tour.’ He gifted the car to the late Eric Clapton, who owned it for a while before returning it. Ringo Starr’s was sold to Spice Girl Geri Horner, a woman who would go on to define British pop culture herself, only 30 years later, and in a slightly different way.
Peter Sellers In 1963 Peter Sellers ordered a lavishly trimmed Mini from Hooper Motor Services Ltd. Traditionally Hooper worked on Rolls-Royce and Bentley, so the Mini was an unorthodox order. The car was cloned by Radford for the Pink Panther sequel 'A shot in the Dark'.
The Monkees Monkee Michael Nesmith commissioned Radford to build a special Mini when on tour in the UK in 1967. The car was based on a new Austin Cooper 'S' and came in Sable (chocolate brown) with gold coach lines, beige leather, and Wilton wool interior. The laminated windows were tinted in double Shadowlight so that not much of that inside could be seen. The dashboard was made to Mike's specific wishes and included a Halda speed pilot and no less than 25 independent switches with warning lights on almost every switch.
Mary Quant Quant is often credited with inventing the miniskirt. It is said that in 1963 she named the style after her beloved Mini Cooper car. In 1988, Quant designed the interior for a limited edition. It featured black-and-white striped seats with red trimming. The seatbelts were red, and the driving and passenger seats had Quant's signature on the upper left quadrant. The headlight housings, wheel arches, door handles, and bumpers were all "nimbus grey," rather than the more common chrome or black finishes.
Mini Recharged In 2021 MINI released "Mini Recharged," stripping out the combustion engine of the classic Mini, and replacing it with a modern, all-electric drive. They claim to have carefully conserved the car's charm and historical pedigree whilst adding a silent drivetrain, instant go-kart acceleration, a range of around 99 miles, and (most importantly) zero driving emissions. In addition to the new, recharged model, there are also some newcomers flying the Mini flag. Britney Spears, Kristen Stewart, and Lily Rose Cooper (Lily Allen) have all been photographed driving the pint-sized package. You must change with the times to survive, and I, like many, am relieved to see this iconic car moving onward, and upward! Beep beep, beep beep, yeah!
SCREEN ADDICT? Reclaim your free time and beat screen addiction. By Jennifer Considine Screens are addictive. Video games, social media, online quizzes, and snackable articles filled with images and gifs all trigger dopamine to be released in your brain, making you feel happy and relaxed. Screens are addictive. Video games, social media, online quizzes, and snackable articles filled with images and gifs all trigger dopamine to be released in your brain, making you feel happy and relaxed. Over time, your brain gets accustomed to this excess of dopamine, causing you to seek out more and more screen-based gratification to get the same effect. Many people find that they spend hours staring at screens but do not enjoy this time or get a true sense of satisfaction from what they're doing.
Are You Addicted? When you're addicted to something, you will catch yourself making excuses as to why you need that particular thing in your life. Common phrases you might find yourself thinking are, 'I'm too tired to do anything, I just want to watch TV,' or 'It's impossible to live without social media/smartphones in this day and age.' The other tell-tale sign is that you reach for your phone or the TV remote without thinking about it -- you are acting on a subconscious impulse, and therefore not taking control of your actions. Screen addiction is very common and nothing to be embarrassed about -- in fact, there is evidence that some tech developers deliberately design social media, streaming services, and video games to be as addictive as possible.
You Are Your Habits The more you do something, the more you want to do that thing. If you want to spend your free time away from screens, pick an activity and make a habit of it. The best way to introduce a new habit is to start small with a realistic goal. Saying, 'I want to read all evening instead of watching Netflix,' probably will work for one or two nights before you go straight back to watching telly. Instead, try setting a goal of reading for 20 minutes after dinner before you turn on the TV. Once you get into the habit, you can extend your reading time or introduce new activities. This approach works for any activity, including taking exercise, chatting to a friend, joining a club or class, or starting a creative hobby.
Find Your Passion If you are spending a lot of time doing screen-based activities without particularly enjoying that time, you might lack a passion or purpose. Modern life is tiring, but a passion or purpose can invigorate and inspire you rather than drain your energy. Calculate all the hours you spend scrolling through social media or watching shows you don't particularly enjoy, and then ask yourself what you could do if you assigned even half of that time to discover and develop your passion or purpose. It might be a hobby you loved as a kid but gave up when life got too busy, a side gig or business you want to dip into, a voluntary pursuit, or a skill that will improve your life or career.
Get Outside Spending time outdoors is essential for good mental and physical health, but excessive screen time tends to make the outside world less spectacular and enjoyable. Being outdoors means slowing down, something you're not used to doing as you grow accustomed to the fast-paced, instant gratification world of screens. But the more time you spend outdoors, the more your brain will adjust and the healthier you will feel, and you may find yourself better able to notice or manage impulses to pick up your phone, especially if you do this subconsciously. Try going for walks or runs in nature, organising outdoor social events like barbecues or picnics, trying an activity like tree climbing or bouldering, or even planning a camping trip.
Stay Mindful The addictive nature of screens means it's very easy to slip back into old, mindless habits of reaching for your phone or remote without thinking about it. Practise mindfulness to develop an awareness of your thoughts and behaviour and try to focus on the goal of happiness and enjoyment. Your free time is limited and precious. Stay aware of your actions -- when you notice yourself reaching for your phone, ask yourself if you really want to spend time on social media, or whether you'd rather be doing something else. Try to ensure that you enjoy and benefit from the activity rather than mindlessly engaging in something that brings you no happiness. The trick to overcoming any addiction is awareness and choice. How you spend your free time is a choice, but the addictive nature of many screen-based activities can prompt unconscious behaviour urges that you act on without realising what you're doing. Take control of your leisure time and make active choices about how you want to spend it. Give yourself a break when you fall into old patterns, try to stay mindful of your choices, and consider detoxing from your most addictive screen-based activities.
BOOK LAUNCH : THE FAMILY STRING Our contributor, Denise Picton, launched her debut novel, and we were there to bask in the glory. The new Dymocks store in Regent Arcade, Adelaide is a splendid home for soon-to-be treasured books. Converted from the Regent Theatre, the high, majestic ceilings and vast open space were abuzz with excitement as Denise Picton appeared to address the audience of a hundred eager readers.
Where do you get your inspiration from? This is my first book published, but I’m currently working on my eighth novel. The process has been the same, pretty much, for all the novels. The best analogy I can give you is, that it’s a bit like walking down Rundle Mall, on a really blustery day, wearing a velcro suit. As stuff just swirls around, bits of it stick to you. Sometimes it’s just a sentence, sometimes a bit of dialogue, it might be something I’ve read. Sometimes they will stick, and then fly off again, and I’ll forget them and won’t use them. Every now and again something really sticks. It might be just an idea that I’ll find a little place for in a book, and sometimes it is the idea for a book. I’d love to tell you that I sit in a dark room, and think very deeply about terribly important things, and then surface some extraordinary theoretical theme, but no. Sometimes things stick, and then I have a go at writing about them.
What was your motivation for writing the book, and what did you want your readers to understand? The real answer to this question is … no, nothing! I did not write this book with an idea that I would want the reader to be educated, I didn’t want to exhort anybody about anything. I didn’t want to illuminate. I didn’t want to straighten up people's thinking. I just really like writing stories. Some authors are very good at using a novel as an incredible vehicle to expose, to highlight, and that’s terrific, but it’s just not me.
What do you do about writer's block? I don’t have writer's block. I have writer’s diarrhea.
What was your inspiration for The Family String? I was thinking about what I remember about my childhood, and I decided around 11 years were the strongest memories, and for me, they also included the fact that my family was members of the Christadelphian Church. Many of my memories are about what it was like to be part of that community.
Then I thought about what my earliest career memories were, because I’m quite old, and I decided that the strongest ones were from when I worked for the Children’s Protection Society of Victoria. In those days it wasn’t a government department that did the investigations, it was a charity. You often had trouble getting the courts to accept there was a problem, even if there were broken limbs. You had terrible trouble getting the courts to accept that there was sexual abuse, and it was almost impossible to get people to accept that there was emotional abuse. The feeling was that children belonged to parents, and we didn’t have a right to talk about how they were raising them.
So I was thinking about those two experiences, and I knitted them together into this book, The Family String. It is a story told through the eyes of a twelve-year-old. What was interesting about writing it that way, is that at that age you are trying to understand how the world works, and you can look through the window to the adult world but they haven’t given you the keys to the door yet. So you understand some things that are going on, but not others. It’s a story about what happens when there’s tension between a mother and a daughter, and when a mother is unavailable because of what she is dealing with. That was the inspiration for writing The Family String.
VISIT THE FAMILY STRING VISIT denise picton
The Window 1949 Director: Ted Tetzlaff Stars: Bobby Driscoll, Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy By Steven Scheloske When exploring the world of film noir, it is easy to get caught up in the big-budget classics, but for me, film noir blossomed in the world of gritty B-Grade movies. It is here that we truly see the grim reality and disillusionment felt by struggling Americans post World War 2. One great example of a small film making a big impact is Ted Tetzlaff’s The Window. Based on Cornell Woolrich’s story The Boy Cried Murder, it tells the story of 9-year-old Tommy (Bobby Driscoll) who escapes the sweltering Manhattan heat by sleeping out on the fire escape. While there he witnesses his neighbours, Mr and Mrs Kellerson (Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman) murder a man. Frightened, he rushes to tell his parents what he saw, but due to a history of telling lies, they do not believe him. Desperate to be heard he tells the police – but even they don’t believe the child. The only people that do believe him are the Kellersons; and they want to silence Tommy. Laverne and Shirley
It is very unusual to have a child as the lead in a film like this, but Bobby Driscoll, famous for being the original voice of Disney’s Peter Pan, does an amazing job and receives my vote for the first great child actor in American film history. His performance was so good that it earned him a special academy award for Most Outstanding Juvenile Actor. Driscoll manages to convey not only the obvious fear of being hunted and killed by his neighbours, but also shows us his sadness and dismay at living in a ghetto neighbourhood with a realism that is beyond many more experienced actors’ abilities.
The support actors also deliver fine performances that highlight the stark reality that the American dream has been pulled out from under their feet. Tommy’s parents played by the wonderful Barbara Hale and 5-time Academy Award nominee Arthur Kennedy are easy to empathize with as they struggle financially to maintain their tiny, dilapidated apartment while dealing with their son and his tales. Our villains, the Kellersons are also perfect. We never have a full understanding as to why they killed, but we do know that like Tommy’s parents, they too are living below the poverty line in a terrible apartment and are desperate to escape their bleak reality.
Bobby Driscoll Adding to the strong performances is the look and feel of The Window. Ted Tetzlaff may not be a name that jumps out to the average film enthusiast, but he was an exceptional cinematographer with 115 films to his credit (including Hitchcock’s brilliant Notorious) before he began directing. He lends his photographic eye to not just every shot, but also to the set design and lighting. The visuals of the grim apartments perfectly display how difficult life is for all the central characters. The lighting with its shadows and dark corners is classic noir, and this is all captured with some brilliant and unique camera work.
The Window may not appear on anyone’s best films of all time lists, but it is an excellent and unique example of film noir. It has a tight script and is filled with brilliant performances and wonderful camera work. It is perhaps not the easiest film to see here in Australia, but if you get the chance, you will be in for a very rewarding experience.
Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale
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The Stone Roses “The Stone Roses” (1989) By Victor Stranges I was working in a suburban record shop that still carried vinyl in 1989. CDs had, by then, outstripped sales of vinyl. Some may remember this, but in 1989 cassettes seemed to outsell everything as cassette players were still in literally every car. In the store, I remembered we stocked The Stone Roses’ self-titled debut LP on vinyl. This was before the internet and we heard this was a great album. We heard through word of mouth, or if you were fortunate enough, you may have caught a review in one of the overseas British music rags.
The Madchester scene going on at the time with pill-popping acts like Happy Mondays providing a soundtrack to the ecstasy crowd, wearing floppy hats and baggy trousers. Closely aligned with the indie dance scene, there was something unique going on in Manchester. In came The Stone Roses.
The Stone Roses actually viewed their music as better than any other band in the world. But was the hubris warranted? I can’t say they were better than whatever band you can think of but in short, their self-titled album is one of the best debut albums of all time.
Like Patti Smith on the first line of her debut album, Horses (“Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine”), The Stone Roses singer, Ian Brown, asserted a different spiritual claim on the first line of their album’s first track, ‘I Wanna Be Adored’. “I don’t have to sell my soul, he’s already in me.” The brooding minute and a half lead-up of Gary "Mani" Mounfield’s bass build-up cascades into John Squire’s glorious guitar avalanche as drummer Alan John "Reni" Wren hits his stride. This is a triumphant opening to an album that is full of surprises and unexpected turns.
The Stone Roses recorded their debut album at Battery Studios and Konk Studios in London and Rockfield Studios in Wales between 1988 and 1989. It was produced by John Leckie with enough freedom given to the band in the studio which gave them songs ranging from under one minute to nearly10 minutes. Though they had an indie band sound, there was a 1960s sentiment that covered much of the record. From the musical bed of Simon & Garfunkel’s 'Scarborough Fair' in the band’s 59-second song, ‘Elizabeth My Dear’ to the pastoral guitar leads in the wondrous, ‘I Am The Resurrection, which interestingly starts off sounding like the Roy Orbison ‘Pretty Woman’ drum intro.
I often think about why I love this record to this day and I am thinking it’s that classic musical sentiment that had one foot in musical tradition and one in the future but looking forward. It was a musical summary of what came before 1989 in Manchester to what was to come when other great bands used a similar template, such as Oasis. Guitarist, John Squire, influenced a generation of rock guitarists with his psychedelic approach to guitar playing. It wasn’t ‘guitar shredding’ or power chords but the subtle melodic designs that were entwined amongst the most brilliant of song writing. ‘Waterfall’, ‘She Bangs The Drums’, ‘Bye Bye Badman’, ‘(Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister’ and ‘Made Of Stone’ are categorically timeless classic British songs that sound just as fresh today as they did in 1989. And ‘Shoot You Down’ is a tremendously original song if you want to seek out the album’s softer side. It epitomizes the beauty of Squire’s guitar, Mani’s bass trances, Reni’s understated drum shuffles, and Brown’s narcissistic and mysterious softly sung lyrics.
There were at least a couple of tracks that fit right into the Madchester scene such as the 9-minute and 54-second, ‘Fools Gold.’ I can’t tell you how great it was in 1989 to walk into a mainstream club and hear ‘Fools Gold’ pumping through the PA system.
One of the most affecting tracks on the album is ‘This Is The One.’ The song precedes Nirvana (or Pixies) in the quiet to loud and back to quiet department. Though not as pronounced or ironic as the aforementioned 90s groups, the song is braided by a 1960s musical obsession. The lyrics are beautifully simple, interesting, and sometimes indecipherable but always melodic. The historical significance of 1989’s ‘The Stone Roses’ was formidable according to writers, Sean Sennett and Simon Groth. They said that The Stone Roses "virtually invented 'Madchester' and built a template for Brit-pop" with their debut offering. Although the record had some fellowship with rave culture and dance music, Angus Batey from The Quietus argued that it was a 1960s-inspired jangle pop album featuring little or no influence of dance beats or grooves, with the exception of ‘Fools Gold.’ The album had more to do with The Byrds guitar sound and classic songwriting smarts than it did with the dance music of its time.
VISIT POP PRESERVATION SOCIETY
10 Hacks to Morning Glory by Ruthie Greenock
Not everyone is a morning person, and even if you do rise with bright eyes and a bushy tail, there are good habits you can embrace to set yourself up for a successful, and stress-free day. Here are our ten favourite morning hacks,. 1. Night Before Preparation The key to a stress-free morning is minimizing your to-do list. Prepare whatever you can the night before: lay out clothes, prepare your packed lunch, ready your gym bag, and so on. If you are home-based, get your work-space ready with a fully-charged laptop, daily planner, and stationery set out.
Prep your breakfast by freezing individual bags of smoothie ingredients or chopping veggies for an omelet. While you’re at it, make sure the dishes are done, and your room is tidy before you head to bed. That way you can wake and focus on the day ahead, rather than cleaning up from yesterday.
2. Ditch Your Phone Aside from wasting precious time by snooping on your ex’s feed, avoid checking your texts or emails within the first 30 minutes of the day. Doing so causes your mind to immediately jump into work mode and your to-do list. Instead, leave your phone out of the bedroom and spend the first 30 minutes of your day doing something that makes you feel good (see below).
3. Selfish Time If your mornings feel more like a race against the clock, consider waking up 15 minutes earlier than necessary. This enables a slow, calm start to your day. Whether you spend the extra time meditating, indulging in a luxurious skincare routine, or just brewing a cup of coffee with a moment of silence, once up you will not miss the 15 minutes of extra sleep (I promise!).
4. Gratitude On this occasion, we are going all “Oprah” on you by touting the benefits of gratitude. Being thankful can improve relationships, boost happiness, and reduce stress. When you start your day with gratitude, you’re setting yourself up for a calmer and less stressful day. Include gratitude in your morning routine by writing down five things you’re grateful for in your daily planner, listening to a meditation on gratitude, or gratitude journaling.
5. Snooze is Out! Maybe hitting snooze is as much a part of your morning routine as a cup of coffee. Perhaps you set six different alarms over the course of 30 minutes, knowing you’re going to ignore everyone except the last? Do you go to bed with good intentions, but then hit “snooze” several times until you’re running late? While the “snooze” button is how many of us start the day (the bed just feels so cozy!), it can have a negative impact. Hitting snooze messes with your circadian rhythm, which can cause grogginess that lasts for hours. The few extra minutes of sleep you’d get from snoozing through your first alarm just isn’t worth it. Sleeping a little longer won’t make you more well-rested since your body won’t be able to go through a full REM cycle.
6. Get some sunlight Getting sunlight first thing in the morning tells the body that it’s time to wake up by suppressing melatonin production, giving you more energy. As soon as you wake up, open the blinds and turn on the lights to get your body energized and ready for the day. Try to get sunlight in a pleasurable way, whether that means taking your dog for a walk or having a morning coffee on the patio (just don’t forget your SPF).
7. Move your body Getting your body moving in the mornings has many health benefits. It improves focus, manages stress, and provides more energy. The most important part here is to listen to your body. If your body is energized and ready to move in the morning, schedule workouts before your day gets started, but if your body wants to wake up slowly (and you’re more of an afternoon-workout person), don’t force yourself to exercise. Moving your body in calming ways, like a walk outside or simple stretches, will give you all the same benefits for a much calmer morning.
8. Morning Playlist Jump into the day by listening to a killer playlist. The goal is to combine all of the songs that energize you, destress you, or make you want to dance. Turn up the volume while you’re making breakfast, taking a morning walk, or sipping coffee, and remind yourself that the purpose of the day is to enjoy it.
9. Scheduling Before you dive into your workday, make a to-do list and rank it from the most important to the least. Decide how many items it’s feasible to complete so that you’re not too overwhelmed. Plan how to time batch tasks, like spending 30 minutes in the morning and afternoon answering emails instead of checking your inbox throughout the day. Don’t forget to schedule one thing you’ll look forward to, perhaps a happy hour drink after work, or a play outside with the kids. Scheduling will not only reduce decision-making (therefore reducing stress) but will help you feel in control of your day.
10. Set Intentions Intentions are signals to the brain and higher self about what to focus on for the day. They put your reticular activation system (RAS) to work. Your brain is overloaded with information every day, and it simply cannot absorb all those colours, noises, and facts, so it filters them based on your belief system. It assists with thought and action clarity.
.Don’t be rigidly attached to them, rather they should be fluid and dynamic. An example of intentions might be; today I will eat slowly and mindfully; today I will be more loving to my partner; today I won’t be afraid to try difficult things. Just one intention per day can help you live a more productive and self-aware life.
Ramona Nordal Print
L O V E L Y
Vener Padded Chair Carpanelli
Bow Glass Works
Dark Cranberry Pistachio Bar Barossa Valley Chocolate Company
Sean Brown & Xylk Hype Grocery Bag
J U B B L Y
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S ol Wo en od
AB
Wheels & Dollbaby Makeup Bag
23rd st Red Citrus Gin
Desserted Shag Cusion Kip & Co
1460 Pascal Confetti Boot Doc Martens
INTIMATE MUSIC LOU NGE