#4sqDay 2011

haluuu... people of the world!

this is a live update from frontera sol of mexico!

its #4SqDay today! foursquare day is on april 16th: are you celebrating too?

i understand that foursquare day is a community-driven event that was started last year by nate bonilla-warford and jessica barnett. walter elly has recently joined their team.

most companies usually only get to celebrate themselves once a year, on the day their company was founded or product launched. for foursquare, that’s in mid-march, when SXSW hosts its annual tech (interactive) extravaganza in austin, texas. not content with just one day though, the new york city-based startup has been trying to get users and businesses on board with the movement to make april 16th the official “foursquare day” (get it? four squared equals 16. someone in marketing is a clever devil...).

and for updating my 4sq from here, i managed to unlock the #4sqDay 2011 Badge!... w00tz! ツ

so if you are in klang valley, come-on down now to celebrate too! once you registered, you will receive a set of such a kewl 4sq Swags from the organizer. get more info about this meet-up here.

friday favourite: rachael mcenaney

i believe this is my second friday favourite! sowey there was none last week as i enjoyed myself in jakarta through-out the whole weekend... w00tz! i wanna sit down and write about it someday. so watch this space for the updates ya. or better still, i have not even upload the pics on my flickr yet; but to those of you people who is on my fb list, i am sure you have seen some of the pics that i have posted... ツ

basically my trip to jakarta was all about 'lansing'. and talking about lansing (line dancing), do read more about the benefits here. some people still had the old thinking that line dancing is for older generations, maybe because when line dancing started it was almost all country music. but now since most styles of music is catered for it including rock & roll, swing, pop and chart music; many young people have come into the picture.

line dancers around the world knows rachael mcenaney. in fact she is one of my favourite line dance choreographers. she was born with a family background of ballroom and latin champions will celebrate her 30th birthday this august. this year is probably her best year in terms of achievement and awards. will she reach higher ground? we're sure she will, especially with her love of dance. since 4, she has discovered and trains in many different forms of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, ballroom, latin, salsa, hip hop and many others.

rachael finished college in 1999 with excellent GCES results and A levels in sports studies, french & german. rachael began teaching linedance in york, england at the young age of 15 and she completed her first competition at the UCWDC european championships in 1999 and emerged as a star the following year. since then, she has won numerous accolades and awards for her instruction and choreography (see her achievement & awards here). according to her, she was inspired by at least the following personalities: rob fowler, pedro machado, jo thompson szymanski and paul mcadam among others.

among most of her choreographies that became local line dancers' favourite: jesse james, BCO, snap your fingers, and ooh! i like that. i practiced with my lansing friends to the latter last week in pj, and ooh! i like that... we had so much fun and laughter...

"the dancer believes that his art has something to say which cannot be expressed in words or in any other way than by dancing... there are times when the simple dignity of movement can fulfill the function of a volume of words. there are movements which impinge upon the nerves with a strength that is incomparable, for movement has power to stir the senses and emotions, unique in itself. this is the dancer's justification for being, and his reason for searching further for deeper aspects of his art." ~ doris humphrey, 1937

"dancers are an admirable bunch of people. the way they work. the stress is extraordinary. it's a difficult career. i think it's hellish; the fact that they are over the hill as they're emotionally maturing. that calls for a terrific strength of character." ~ lady d. macmillan

alice in wonderland costumes

i happened to want to attend a fairy tale line dance party two weeks ago... when alice in wonderland wandered around my mind ever since i first knew about the party. it also made me wonder if there is such a thing as a alice in wonderland costume out there?

after some research, not only did i find some alice costumes, but also found out loads of interesting stuff about where the story comes from.

the animated film alice in wonderland that i was watching made it's premier way back in 1951 and was produced by walt disney but the original story comes from the book alice's adventures in wonderland which was written way back in 1865 by an english author called charles lutwidge dodgson under the pseudonym lewis carroll.

the book is basically about a girl named alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantastic world populated by creatures that have human like features.

many of the main characters of alice in wonderland and through the looking-glass, a book written later by lewis carroll have made their way into popular culture and thus there are also many fancy dress costumes based on alice in wonderland and through the looking-glass.

in some more detail, the main characters and where you can find the costumes are listed below:

alice in wonderland costumes

the character of alice often said to be based on alice liddell, a child friend of dodgson's. but dodgson himself said many times that his 'little heroine' was not based on any real child, but was entirely fictional. alice in the books is a logical girl, even pedantic, especially with humpty dumpty in the second book. according to through the looking-glass, she is seven and a half years old. alice in wonderland takes place on may 4th, alice liddell's birthday. through the looking glass takes place on november 4th, her half-birthday and alice even says that she is "seven-and-a-half - exactly."

alice is often shown wearing a pale blue knee-length dress with a white pinafore overtop, although the dress originally was yellow in the nursery aAlice", the first coloured version of alice's adventures in wonderland, that you can find in many alice in wonderland costumes. her blonde hair is held back with a wide black ribbon, and because of this they are now commonly called "alice bands".

the one that i wore was specially tailor-made for me by an aunt back in hometown. i was there about two weeks before the party. none of the local tailors willing to sew the dress. then i remembered that my aunt is the one whom i know that is really good in sewing. trust me people, i just showed her this pic and what an amazing job she did! i, as her niece of course was really proud wearing the dress that day... ツ

the white rabbit costume

the white rabbit appears at the very beginning of the book alice's adventures in wonderland, he wears a waistcoat, and mutters "oh dear! oh dear! i shall be too late!" alice eventually follows him down the rabbit hole into wonderland. the rabbit shows up again towards the end of the book, as a herald-like servant of the king and queen of hearts.

there are many white rabbit costumes and fancy dress outfits on the web and many even have waist coats, even the rabbit from playboy has a waistcoat and many can be used if you cannot find a "real" white rabbit costume.

the queen of hearts costume

the queen of hearts in alice and wonderland is a foul-tempered monarch, that carroll himself pictured as "a blind fury", she is quick to pass death sentences at the slightest offence. her most famous line in the book and one which she repeats often, is "off with their heads!"

the queen of hearts costumes are some of the best looking fancy dress outfits i have ever seen, even if you are not planning on a alice in wonderland theme, you could use these costumes just to be a queen of whatever!

the king of hearts

the king of hearts, when compared to the queen of hearts, is pretty moderate in the wonderland government. for example, when the queen, who enjoys ordering people to be beheaded, attempts to have alice executed because she was unable to answer who is lying down in front of her, the king of hearts reminds the queen that she is only a child.

other characters in alice and wonderland include and some of them shouldn't be too difficult to find generic costumes:

• the mouse


• the dodo


• the lory


• the eaglet


• the duck


• bill the lizard


• the caterpillar


• the duchess


• the cheshire cat


• the hatter


• the march hare


• the dormouse


• the knave of hearts


• the gryphon


• the mock turtle

although tweedledee, tweedledum, humpty dumpty, and the jabberwock are often thought to be characters in alice in wonderland, they actually come from through the looking-glass, but are sometimes included in film versions of the book.

anyway i hope that if you are looking for fancy dress costumes from alice in wonderland, i have in some way made the task easier as well as filled you in on a few facts from the story!

friday favourite: ailera stone

someone has been complaining that i haven't blog for such a long time. 3 months i must say? well if any of you follow me its all because of the malware thingy duh! i have tried to do everything in every way but the blog still didn't work. so i gave up! and recently that someone asked. i was like- eh! you can see it now? so... ok! here i am again.

i thought of this idea of posting my 'friday favourite' on fridays. it could be anything or whatever that i like to share with all of you. soon or later you will get to know of how i come out with this. in the meantime, let's start it out:

visit official site | blog | flickr

what can't you love about these images? dreamy, warm, romantic and feminine - it's all about the wonderful thing on earth that made me fell in love with my first friday favourite: ailera stone. to see another part of the world from her eyes (she's a lithuania-based young photographer) is something essential for self-retreat. her blog is also very genuine and full of emotions captured on the lens... you're my first friday favourite, stone.