Eminem featuring Rihanna - Love the way you lie

I've been loving this song for awhile but hadn't heard the full song, just snippets and had never seen the music video.  I tapped it in on youtube and I've got to admit it was one of the most touching, poignant music videos I've seen for a long time.  Eminem and Rihanna make a powerful pair singing about the complicated pull of an abusive relationship - Rihanna as a victim of abuse herself and Eminem with his turbulant relationship with his ex wife.  I've read critisim on the net about the video glorifying abusive relationships but I see it as more of a cautionary tale of how love can keep you tied to a situation you should never be in. 

Rihanna sneers through the video showing her distate for the subject mixed with the emotion of love....'Like the way it hurts' portrays the feeling of being tied to another person and feeling like you deserve it or that pain is an expression of love. 

Eminem is powerful as the remorseful abuser who can't quite control himself and regrets it the instance it's done.

I've read a few scathing articles on the internet claiming the video is glorifying violent relationships but why would Rihanna - a victim of abuse - participate in such a video?

Beauty advice

"For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry, For Beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day, For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others."
This was once said by the very elegant, very beautiful Audrey Hepburn.  Miss Hepburn had a grace and dignity and her beauty came from within - from her heart - and shone outwards.  On the news tonight there was a piece about the Girl Guides campaigning for photos in magazines to be issued with a statement showing which ones are airbrushed and which are not.  Personally, I am all for this as these images of so called perfection are harmful for young girls who can not possibly abtain that perfection - how could they for in real life it doesn't even exist it is a mere illusion created by computer imaging, with that technology anyone can appear to be 'perfect'.  Perfection is a dangerous concept, I believe, nobody is ever perfect and it's the flaws which make us unique, make us quirky - Brooke Shields was known for her brows, Cindy Crawford for her beauty spot, Georgina Jagger for her gappy teeth.  Beauty is having the confidence to say to the world 'this is me, take me or leave me.'  It's the mischevious twinkle in the eye, laughing when something is funny even if you laugh alone, it's finding joy in the small moments.  It's being the you you were born to be.

Westfield London haul

Today for the first time ever I toddled to Westfield Shopping Centre in Sheperd's Bush London.  I was in London to drop off a photograph for a competition I'm entering and thought I'd pop in for a quick bit of retail therapy.  Quick it was not.  Three hours later and I toddled back out, arms ladden with bags full of goodies.  Here's what I got:

•  Tea!  This is one English habit I have quite happily picked up.  I love tea -particulary Twinings Breakfast Tea with a dash (alright, a dollop) of honey. 
• Marie Clarie magazine - my guilty pleasure reading material.
• Knee high socks from Topshop which are very pretty and I'm going to turn into arm warmers.
• Two singlet tops from Topshop.
• Vaseline for making lip gloss.
• A ready meal
• John Frieda brunette shampoo and conditioner.
• body gloves and body wash from the Body Shop - it's the cocoa butter one.
• Makeup brushes - various brands from Boots.

Tower of London

A little while ago I visited the Tower of London - I've visited it quite a few times I have a slight obsession with the place and so here's my photography from my visit.....

The Queen's house:  This is where Anne Boleyn spent her last days before she was beheaded for treason and adultery against King Henry VIII.

This is a memorial dedicated to all those who were beheaded at the Tower. 

The White Tower is the oldest part of the Tower of London.

The outside walls of the Tower and the grassy area which was once the moat.


All photos by Tania Maree