Whenever I wander past a bag/purse store there’s some gravitational pull that forces me to go inside. I know it’s very female of me, but I just love bags. Despite only buying a new one last week, I was forced by my insatiable obsession to wander into another bag store today. I was having a look around and the woman in the store directed to me to a display of Guess bags.

Holy beep.

Over the past few months I’ve noticed more and more Guess bags around – but NEVER have I seen so much ugly in one place. Concentrated evil. Oh how the pleather shone and the glitter burned into my retinas. For the life of me, I cannot understand the appeal of these ghastly things.

Overkill much? I don’t know what exactly they’re trying to achieve. I assume they’re supposed to look “designer” and not like someone threw up a pile of ugly and put straps on it. With a $300 price tag on several of them in the store, I am honestly ashamed of the female gender for forking out that kind of money for a plastic bag. They’re the type of bag I’d expect to see draped over the arm of a middle-aged woman with bleached blonde hair, excessive tan and hot pink claw-like nails.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing of all was that the Guess bags in this store were CHAINED TO THE DISPLAY CASE. I’m talking chains with big-ass padlocks. What kind of deluded criminal would want to steal something that hideous? :[

Needless to say I didn’t leave the store with a Guess back in tow. However, I wasn’t empty handed and I’m quite happy with my plain, boring GENUINE leather caramel Colorado purse.

I was talking to a friend, Alex, tonight. He received some ridiculous bulletin on myspace about the establishment of a White History Day. What the?  Ironically enough, this myspace page that apparently exists to create racial equality is covered in comments containing racial slurs.  Ignorant much?  After a bit of discussion with Alex, and reading his bulletin of ranting in response, I decided that I was irritated enough by this ignorance to bitch about it myself. This was further fueled by the poster (who shall remain nameless) of the bulletin in question who is even now continuing to vehemently defended his “white heritage” over two hours after the bulletin was posted.

For those of you too disgusted (or lazy) to read the bulletin, I’ll give you the gist. Basically, there are many American holidays that are celebrated by ethnic minorities – but none *gasp* that are allocated to “white ethnicity”. The poster of this bulletin argues that it is mortally unfair that “whites” are restricted from celebrating their heritage in the same manner as holidays such as Black History Month.

Generally, holidays serve a purpose. Holidays celebrating ethnic diversity (and all historical holidays for that matter) have been created throughout history to mark milestones. Some are linked to a specific date and a specific incident, while others (like Black History Month) are established for remembrance, education and awareness. Each country has their own holidays that are specific to the cultural development of that country, targeting cultures and heritages that have helped shape their society.

“White” is not a heritage. Half of our globe is made up of people of white skin. There’s as much ethnic diversity between Caucasians as there is between people of an entire spectrum of colours. “Caucasian” is made up of a series of subsets that hold their own heritages. Two thrown out by the poster of the bulletin were German and Swedish (his heritage that is so poorly and unfairly represented in America). Both of these countries have their own holidays in their respective countries that celebrate their cultural heritage. If one day I decided to pack up and relocate to America, should I begin complaining about the obviously racist intentions of not including a day dedicated to Australian’s in the American calender? Of course not. Australian’s have played no important role in the historical development of American society. I may as well move to a country that doesn’t speak English and start demanding they all learn it to accommodate me.

Ethnic holidays are based on nationalities. Asian holidays are for people of Asian-American heritage. Hispanic holidays are for people of Hispanic-American heritage (Mexican, Cuban, etc.). “Black” holidays refer to those celebrated by people of African-American heritage. Africa and Asia are continents. Mexico, Cuba and other Latin areas are countries. I may not have been a whizz in geography, but where exactly is “Caucasian” on the map? Skin colour and heritage are two completely different concepts. What exactly would a “white holiday” celebrate? Everyone sits around at a barbeque, shooting off fireworks and discussing the colour of their skin?

I could rant about this all day, but it’s past midnight now so I will leave it at that. A little food for thought.

I felt required to blog this half-ass recipe because it is seriously delish. Take this to a barbeque and I guarantee it will be the first thing devoured.

Ingredients

- 500g bacon

- 1 large onion

- Handful of chives

- 300mL tub of sour cream

- 1 “slab” philadelphia cream cheese (I believe it’s 250g)

- About a cup of shredded tasty cheese, depending on your taste

- 1 cob loaf of bread

- Your preference of savoury crackers

Directions

Preheat your oven to about 180 degrees celcius (about 350 F).

Chop up the onion finely and throw it in a fry pan with the bacon. It’ll only take a few minutes – fry it until the onion is translucent. While that’s cooking, get out a largeish mixing bowl and drop the slab of philly cheese in. Cut it up a bit into smaller pieces so that it’s easier to melt. Tip the bacon and onion on top of the philly while it is still hot. Pour the sour cream on top of that and mix until the philly cheese has melted through. Throw in the shredded tasty cheese and stir it through, as well as your chives – finely chopped.

The cob loaf will be your serving bowl. Cut a slice off the top of the loaf, ensuring that the hole will be large enough for people to dip into. Pluck out the white bread from the inside of the loaf, breaking it into small dipping-size pieces and set them aside. Don’t take ALL of the white bread out or your bowl is going to be pretty flimsy – leave it about half to an inch thick.

Pour the bacon mixture into the loaf, place on a large oven tray (you’ll need the extra room) and put it in the oven. After about 10 minutes, add your white bread dipping pieces to the tray, and the top slice of the cob that will act as the lid. Remove from the oven when the dipping bread is browned and crispy.

Arrange on a pretty tray, put the lid on top and TA DA! This dip is best served hot – the mixture thickens as it cools down. You’ll need some additional crackers for dipping, I’ve found that crunchy bagel chips are amazing with this dip. Enjoy!

Saturday the 15th March marks the date of the third annual Dusty Days music festival – and I am SO there. The line-up includes acts such as Sneaky Sound System, The Potbelleez and most exciting (for me) SPIDERBAIT!

Spiderbait was one of my favourite bands back in my tweeny highschool years. I have never seen them live and I’m really looking forward to hearing some of their oldies (hopefully they’ll play some). Sneaky Sound System should be great, they completely rocked out when I saw them at Live Earth last year. The below song by The Potbelleez is my current song obsession, so hearing it live will be awesome.

Ahhhh I can’t wait. Just hearing that one song will make the whole weekend worthwhile as far as I’m concerned. Now to find some accommodation and organise cars/who’s driving over .. etc. Wagga (where it’s being held) is about a 2.5 hour drive away – and as I’m the one that works from home (which apparently translates into “you’ve got nothing better to do”), I’ve turned into organiser in chief.

Cannot wait. Dusty Days, here I come.